Ep 127: The Voice of God

For Your Sunday Morning Drive

Episode 127: The Voice of God

What does the voice of God sound like? Let's talk about that here in just a sec.

Welcome to the show. I'm Daniel Dalp, and this is For Your Sunday Morning Drive, the short podcast with the goal of providing some motivation, encouragement on your way to worship, and helping you recenter your mind on the spiritual things on a Sunday morning just like this.

I sure hope it does provide you with some encouragement this morning.

One of my favorite things is sitting down every week, or trying to get ahead of the game a little bit, and recording a big batch of these in advance. But I hope you know, I enjoy doing the show. I hope you enjoy listening to it.

Check out foryoursundaymorningdrive.com. There's a lot more information. We now have transcripts of every episode available there on each episode page. So if you know somebody that maybe doesn't want to listen to my voice—which is totally understandable—they can read it without the audio. It's all there for them in print format.

All of that to say, thank you for being here and for listening. Let's go ahead and get the show on the road today.

This is Episode 127, "The Voice of God."

Let's go to church.

Are we there yet?

Do you remember Don LaFontaine? You probably don't remember his name, but if you went to the movies or watched a preview anywhere from the 1970s to the early 2000s, I know you remember his voice.

He's that guy that would start movie trailers with the phrase, "In a world..." You know, sometimes I forget I can just put that stuff in here through the magic of editing.

Here's the real thing:

"In a world that's powered by violence."

"In a world without gas."

"In a world of wealth and privilege."

"In a world filled with violence."

Does that ring a bell now? How could it not?

Mr. LaFontaine had such a distinct, powerful voice, and this guy was everywhere. In his career, he did over 5,000 film trailers and thousands of TV ad spots. He was prolific.

His voice caught our attention and made us want to hear more, to believe what he was selling or see the film he was describing. His voice caused us to trust him, and when he spoke, people listened.

So much so that he was given the unique moniker, the nickname, "The Voice of God."

That's mighty big praise. And as incredible as Don LaFontaine's voice was, I highly doubt that it would rival the voice of the One who, with only His words, was able to speak the world into existence.

I don't know about you, but I often wonder: What does our God sound like?

What did He sound like when He spoke in Genesis 1:3 and said, "Let there be light"?

What did He sound like when He spoke to Noah and told him to build an ark? Or when He spoke to Abraham about promises of nations and lands afar off, and of stopping the knife meant for his son? Or when He called out to Moses out of the midst of a burning bush, or delivered that amazing discourse to Job, or spoke to Isaiah?

What did the voice of God sound like at the baptism of Jesus when He proclaimed in Matthew 3:17, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased"?

Or at the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 17:5, when He doubled down on this and then adds, "Listen to Him," or as the KJV puts it, "Hear ye Him."

I imagine that voice was beautiful and terrifying and loving and commanding and full of judgment, but also full of grace. I imagine it was amazing.

It's certainly interesting to think about.

It's also interesting that the voice of God implored those present at the Transfiguration—Peter, James, and John—to listen to the voice of His Son, that beautiful voice of the Savior who had those words that we so badly need.

Peter said it best when he replied to Jesus in John 6:68–69. This is after many of the disciples had left because they were offended by the words of Jesus, by those hard teachings, the Bible says.

But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Friends, we need the words of life spoken by the voice of our Savior.

We too have nowhere else to go, because when that voice speaks, we should listen.

And I don't know what the voice of God really sounds like. I know for a fact that it will be far and above greater than the voice of Don LaFontaine, even though he narrated some great cinematic moments.

Our God narrated the greatest story ever told, and someday that voice—the voice He told His disciples to listen to—will deliver both the greatest words that faithful human ears will ever hear:

"Well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord."

Or the most terrible words reserved for the ears of the rebellious:

"Depart from me. I never knew you."

My encouragement for you today is to live in a way where you don't dread the latter, but look forward to the former.

Because in a world filled with voices, both wicked and discouraging, I can't wait to hear that wonderful voice of God in person someday.

Well, those are my thoughts for your Sunday morning drive.

Now it's time to hear yours.

Our discussion questions for this week are:

What voices compete for our attention today, and how can they lead us away from the voice of Christ?

Peter said, "Lord, to whom shall we go?" What does this reveal about the uniqueness of the words of Christ?

And here's Evelyn with this week's kids question:

Who should we listen to more than anyone else?

Hey, thank you for listening. Thank you for riding along with us this morning, or checking us out whenever you listen.

And if you listen to nothing else this week, open up your Bibles and listen to the voice of God. He's got plenty to say.

I hope you have a great day, and I'll see you Sunday.