Worship Guide
Message Notes
Cypress Creek Church
Pastor Seth Bamberry
March 30, 2025
Ancient Stories That Matter Today
“Balaam and His Donkey – When God Has to Use a Donkey”
Numbers 22-23
⇒“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” Romans 8:14 NLT
1—Don’t Pray for a Word if you won’t Obey the Word.
• God Speaks through His Word – The Clearest and most Reliable Voice.
Numbers 22:12 NLT – But God told Balaam, “Do not go with them. You are not to curse these people, for they have been blessed!”
2—Every Voice isn’t a God Voice.
• God Speaks through People – But you must Sift Selfish Voices from Spirit-led Ones.
Number 22:6 NLT—"Please come and curse these people for me because they are too powerful for me. Then perhaps I will be able to conquer them and drive them from the land. I know that blessings fall on any people you bless, and curses fall on people you curse.”
3—God’s Whisper is Loudest when the World is Quietest.
• God Speaks through a Still Small Voice – but you must be Still to Hear.
Numbers 22:21–27 NLT—So the next morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and started off with the Moabite officials. But God was angry that Balaam was going, so he sent the angel of the Lord to stand in the road to block his way. As Balaam and two servants were riding along, Balaam’s donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand. The donkey bolted off the road into a field, but Balaam beat it and turned it back onto the road. Then the angel of the Lord stood at a place where the road narrowed between two vineyard walls. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it tried to squeeze by and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So Balaam beat the donkey again. Then the angel of the Lord moved farther down the road and stood in a place too narrow for the donkey to get by at all. This time when the donkey saw the angel, it lay down under Balaam. In a fit of rage Balaam beat the animal again with his staff.
Numbers 22:28-31 NLT—Then the Lord gave the donkey the ability to speak. “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” it asked Balaam. “You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!” “But I am the same donkey you have ridden all your life,” the donkey answered. “Have I ever done anything like this before?” “No,” Balaam admitted. Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him.
4—Hearing God Means Nothing if You Don’t Follow Him.
• Hearing Means Nothing without Obedience – God Speaks to be Followed, not just Heard.
Numbers 22:35 NLT—But the angel of the LORD told Balaam, “Go with these men, but say only what I tell you to say.” So Balaam went on with Balak’s officials.
Numbers 22:38 NLT— Balaam replied, “Look, now I have come, but I have no power to say whatever I want. I will speak only the message that God puts in my mouth.”
