Category: Sermons

First Dates and Road Trips

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You all know that I am the guy in charge of small groups at King’s Grant, so I want to make sure that I address why small groups are so important.

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On this Mother’s Day, I want to remind you that the FAMILY is the ORIGINAL small group. Think about what is accomplished in a family.

  1. Relationships are developed.
  2. Chores and workload are shared.
  3. Family members are protected and encouraged.
  4. Family and individual events are celebrated.
  5. There is a balance of time in working and playing.
  6. Children are birthed and raised.
  7. Children are nurtured and educated.
  8. Children are taught to become social beings in our society.
  9. Children become more independent and move out to begin their own families.
  10. Disagreements or a rouge family member, the so-called Black Sheep, bring grief and hurt to the rest of the family.

If it were not for faithful moms and dads, the family as a small group is not going to thrive or survive. To have a successful family it involves commitment by each parent, a shared vision, common goals, cooperation, patience, forgiveness, encouragement, and love (which is spelled T-I-M-E).

As was see the role of the family, I see a great comparison to the ministry of small groups. Let me broaden your understanding of families AND small groups by using two illustrations:

First dates: Think about the emotions that a first date evokes (fear, panic, shyness, self-consciousness, worry). There is pressure on a first date when the point of the date is to get to know the other person and they are supposed to get to know you.

There are the obligatory exploratory questions (Where are you from? What are your hobbies? Where have you lived? What is your major? Tell me about yourself. Tell me about your family? Siblings? Parents? What’s your dad like? Will he like me? (Guys, you know this is always in the back of your mind, or at least it SHOULD be if you want to date my daughter!).

Then there are the awkward responses, trying to look good, to look and act cool, make sure there’s nothing stuck in your teeth, any zits acting up? we want to make a good first impressions, (Is my deodorant still working? Does my breath smell bad? Is my hair sticking up?).

There is attention to the atmosphere and the place you go (quiet conversation, comfortable lighting, soothing music, attractive surroundings), after all, THIS could be leading somewhere. The point of a first date is to be alone; the relationship we are trying to develop is exclusive.

The same is true with church meetings. Think of a time when new people are stepping into the church, or into the faith community. Just this week we started three new small group classes. We want to make a good first impression so that people will come back for the second week (basically, will there be a second date?). There can be ice breakers to get to know other people. There can be sub-grouping to develop more conversations and lines of communication.

In Sunday School, we talk about our classes being open and welcoming of new people, but let’s face it, to new people, it often feels like showing up at someone else’s family reunion. It’s pleasant enough but the first date doesn’t always go well and many people choose not to takes a risk, or become vulnerable, or reach out. They just say, “It’s not for me” or “The topic or class is not of interest to me” or “I’ll attend if nothing else comes up” or “Don’t call me, I’ll call you.” The desire for anonymity often keeps people from getting connected.

Road trip: This is where you grab 10 random people who don’t know each other, and they get stuffed into the back of a van and head off to a certain location. I remember doing this in college; we had one of those out-of-state mission trips; 10 days of serving in downtown Detroit. There were freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors all together; not really knowing the people at all. It was nervous at first. Some were not too sure if this is what they wanted to do, but…

Twelve hours later when they get out of the van, how are they? Excited, laughing, there are inside jokes about Bob’s stomach ache for eating too many sunflower seeds, the tire blew out and the driver forgot his Visa card and everyone had to pitch in to buy a new tire, something happens inside that van as you move toward your destination. What is so different?

Everyone has a common goal, no matter how different each person is, when they open the door at the destination, they are excited to be there since they were on a common mission.

There is also something different about everybody, too. Everyone came for a different reason. Joe came because he wanted to do missions in the inner city. Ted came to see what it was like outside of the South. Judy came because she was stressed at school and needed to get away from campus to relax. Bob came because Judy was going and she’s kind of hot, so Bob wanted to sit next to her in the van. But remember that Bob ate too many sunflower seeds and got sick so his game was totally off.

So, when our small groups are so much like a first date, how can we make them more like a road trip? We need to create a context where we can build community, because that’s what it is all about. So often our goal is to build a larger Bible study class, when our goal should be to build a safe environment where authentic community can happen.

Starbucks is a great example: When you’re a regular at Starbucks, the barista knows your name, and you know theirs. Starbucks is more than a supplier of a great cup of coffee, it becomes a part of the daily routine for many people.

Every once in a while you might see it on the tables; a little card that promotes career opportunities at Starbucks or perhaps some other restaurant you’ve been to. Not that you were looking for a job, but perhaps you noticed what it said, “Create community: make a difference in someone’s day.” Since the topic of community is of interest to you, let’s pick up that card and read what’s on the back. “When you work at Starbucks, you can make a difference in someone’s day by creating an environment where neighbors and friends get together and reconnect while enjoying a great coffee experience.”

Starbucks appears to see itself in the business of doing more than selling a premium cup of coffee. It is part of their corporate purpose to create environments that connect people so meaningfully, it changes the quality of their lives. Now THAT seems familiar. The church needs to have such a mission statement!

According to the Starbucks website, they are selling the “Starbucks Experience,” there are even books written about it: one I found had five principles of the Starbucks Experience:

  1. Make it your own
  2. Everything matters
  3. Surprise and delight
  4. Embrace resistance
  5. Leave your mark

These can certainly be developed and found applicable for the church.

As far as the experience, are we as a culture are buying it. Starbucks is one of the 10 most trusted brands in the world. From a company whose primary product is coffee beans, they are selling coffee and promoting connection. Their success tells me that we are a culture of people who crave relationship.

Today the mission of Starbucks is this: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.

So, what are we going to do in the church? Just like at Starbucks, we have to LOVE what we are doing for the community. If we don’t love what we do or love the community in which we do it, no one else is going to love and sense that community we say that we want to develop.

When you are truly in love, you go to great lengths to be with the one you love. You’ll drive for hours just to be together, even if it’s only for a short while. I remember going to visit Kim who had gone home on a college break, at Thanksgiving. I drove what should have been two hours just to spend time with her, yet it took longer because my car was a 1961 Corvair that had an air-cooled engine that tended to overheat on longer trips, especially ones that involved driving through the mountains. And think of the stupid things you do: like inviting her to a state championship game playing in her city, when one team was a rival to YOUR high school, and then she goes with you, and she doesn’t even like football. But with her being a band person, I seem to remember leaving after the halftime show, freezing our tails off.

And then there are the special times together. You don’t mind staying up way too late to talk. Walking in the rain is romantic, and not annoying. You’ll willingly spend a small fortune on the one you’re crazy about. When you are apart from each other, it’s painful, even miserable. Kim was doing summer missions here at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, while I stayed in my college town working as a youth pastor at University Baptist Church. I HAD to drive all the way up here to see her, for a couple of days. That special someone is all you think about; you jump at any chance to be together.

In his book God Is the Gospel, pastor John Piper essentially asks whether we are in love with God:

The critical question for every generation is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?”

How many of you heard those words and thought, “You know, I just might be okay with that?” If you are as deeply in love with God as you say you are, you know you could never be satisfied in a heaven without Christ.

Sometimes a statement like that might evoke fear and guilt, but personal experience has taught me that actions driven by fear and guilt are not an antidote to our being casual toward God. I hope you realize that our only motivating factor is love.

Don’t we all crave love? And isn’t that what God wants from us, to crave this relationship with Him as we crave all genuine love relationships? Isn’t that what brings Him glory; when believers desire Him and are not merely slaves who serve Him out of obligation?

There is often a great disparity between how we feel about faith and how we are meant to feel. Why do so few people genuinely find joy and pleasure in their relationship with God? Why do most people feel they have to either pay God back for all He’s done (buy His love) or somehow keep making up for all their inadequacies and failures (prove their love)? Why are the words of Psalm 63:1-5 not an honest reflection of our lives on most days?

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

The solution for lukewarm living isn’t to try harder, fail, make bigger promises, only to fail again. We can’t muster up more love for God. When loving Him becomes an obligation, we end up focusing even more on ourselves.

As believers, we are called to surrender everything for Christ, and many churchgoers are not particularly thrilled with surrender. Beth recently led a Bible study on surrender, and it was confirmed that it is not something we really understand, like it is a sign of weakness to raise the white flag.

We can’t change without God’s help. The answer lies in letting Him change you. Remember His counsel to the lukewarm church in Laodicea? “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20). His counsel wasn’t to “try harder,” but rather to let Him in. James puts it this way, “Come near to God and he will come near to you” (James 4:8).

This is a fact: we need God to help us love God. And if I need His help to love Him, who is a perfect being, I definitely need His help to love people. Something supernatural must happen in order for genuine love for God to grow in our hearts.

Jesus tells us that the world will know that we are his disciples, that we have love for one another, but how does God know that we have love for HIM?

Look around at the Christians you may know. How would you define what a follower of Jesus really looks like? Perhaps your list looks something like this:

  1. Careful student of Scripture
  2. Zealous and active in their stand for God
  3. Appetite for worship and prayer
  4. Consistent in worship attendance
  5. Practices Scripture memorization
  6. Not afraid to pray in public
  7. Active in the local church
  8. Fasts and tithes regularly
  9. Has desire to stand against blasphemy and ungodliness
  10. Has firm grasp of basic foundational theological truth

For a long time I thought this is what would honor God and help me become more like Jesus. But look again; these are behavior traits not of Jesus’ disciples, but of His chief opponents, the Pharisees.

I’m convinced that real-life discipleship (becoming more like Jesus in character and attitude) is what happens between the gathering times at church. What are people like at home, at school, in the lunchroom, in the office, on dates, at parties, in the locker room, in the boardroom, on the computer, or the after-school job? What are they like when no one is looking? Do they demonstrate unconditional love, joy, peace, patience, concern for others, kindness, servanthood?

Real-life discipleship is marked more by footprints than by monuments. For me, discipleship focuses on long-term commitments rather than a one-time decision to “accept Christ.” It is forward motion, a journey, a marathon. People may look at imperfection and failures of so-called Christians, but remember that the word disciple means learner, not expert.

So, if these characteristics don’t describe a follower of Jesus, a disciple, a Christian, what does?

A fully devoted disciple of Jesus is actively:

Depending on the Spirit: A person who is actively depending on the Holy Spirit to transform and empower him/her to walk as Jesus walked (John 14:26 – But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you).

Interacting in Community: A person who is actively interacting with other believers in a small group for mutual care and spiritual formation (John 13:35 – Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples).

Submitting to His Lordship: A person who is actively submitting to Christ’s Lordship in every area of his/her life (Luke 6:46 – So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?).
Communing with the Father: A person who is actively developing intimacy with God through the spiritual disciplines (John 8:31 – Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings”).

Investing His Resources: A person who actively sees himself/herself as a steward of his/her resources (time, treasure & talents) rather than an owner, and invests them to advance God’s work (Matthew 6:20-21 – Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be).

Participating in Service: A person who is actively participating in acts of service toward those inside and outside the church for the glory of God (Matthew 20:27-28 – and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many”).

Leading People to Christ: A person who is actively seeking opportunities to share his/her faith with lost people through his/her personal style of evangelism (John 4:35 – You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest).

Expanding the Kingdom: A person who is actively committed to a ministry of multiplication both here at home and abroad (Matthew 6:33 – Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need).

So, the purpose of this message is to encourage us to love, love God in such a way that HE knows that we are his disciples. The 3:16 Scripture passages for this morning have a logical progression.

  • John 3:16 – God so loved US that he gave his only Son so that we might have everlasting life.
  • First John 3:16 – This is how we know love, that Jesus gave his life for us, we ought to lay down our life for others.
  • Revelation 3:16 – After a while, our love and passion for God can and usually fades, we don’t get cold toward God but we become lukewarm. The only reaction that Jesus has for this sort of casual relationship with him is to spit us out of his mouth, literally vomit out lukewarm water. Oh, how he longs for us to be either hot or cold.

This message is for all of us.

If you don’t know Christ personally, it is time to accept his invitation. He is knocking at the door and wants to come in and change your heart. It’s time to stop closing the curtains, hiding quietly behind a locked door, waiting for Jesus to go away like we treat a Jehovah’s Witness who comes to our door. It’s always at an inconvenient time, you have other things on your list to do that day, but your decision to follow Christ is one that you can put off for only so long.

As the famous evangelist Billy Sunday once said, “It’s payday someday” and one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. It’s not that everyone will be saved, but everyone will one day acknowledge that Jesus is Lord. Some will do so in the presence of God in heaven, while others will recognize this fact while they are eternally separated from God, because they chose to gain the whole world and forfeited their own soul.

Perhaps you are a believer but you recognize that your love for God has faded. You want to get back to your first love, reignite the passion that you once had for God. Today is the day to get things right with God. Don’t put it off until another day.

There are some in here that have never really experienced Christian community because you are involved in “drive-by church,” you float in and out of the worship experiences at your convenience and actively avoid getting involved in the lives of other believers. You can’t understand the Starbuck’s Experience of developing community if you never stop by the store. When is the time you finally tell yourself that you are going to get involved in a small group? It’s for personal development, spiritual growth, and to practice the 31 “one another” commands of the New Testament (I’ll save that for another day). Commands to

  • Love one another (John 13:35, 13:34, 15:12, 15:17, Romans 13:8, 1 Thessalonians 3:12, 4:9, 2 Thessalonians 1:3, 1 Peter 1:22, 4:8, 1 John 3:11, 4:7, 4:11, 2 John 1:5)
  • Be at peace with one another (Mark 9:50, 1 Thessalonians 5:13)
  • Be devoted to one another (Romans 12:10)
  • Build up one another (Romans 14:19, 1 Thessalonians 5:11)
  • Accept one another (Romans 15:7)
  • Admonish one another (Romans 15:14, Colossians 3:16)
  • Confess your sins to one another (James 5:16)
  • Encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11, Hebrews 3:13, 10:25)
  • Comfort one another (1 Thessalonians 4:18)
  • Pray for one another (James 5:16)
  • Serve one another(1 Peter 4:10, Galatians 5:13)

How can any of this being done in the context of a corporate worship experience? We can only obey THESE commands of the Bible by participating in a small group.

If you’re ready to get connected to THIS church, why put it off another week. Join this congregation by requesting membership, attend a Connections Class, or talking with me more about what it means to be a member of this congregation.

Right now, this time of dedication is for YOU to do business with God. You know when he’s knocking on the door of your heart. Open the door and allow him to come in and change your life forever.

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Coming to Grips with the Real You

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The Scripture reading for today: Romans 12:3, 1 Corinthians 12:7, Galatians 6:4, 1 Peter 4:10

The r12 series so far has been filled with powerful lessons on Surrendering to God and Separating from the World. Today the topic is to be Sober in Self-Assessment, basically Coming to Grips with the Real You.

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There is a person that we feel and believe ourselves to be, but we often fail to see ourselves from God’s perspective. The verses we read earlier have to do with spiritual giftedness, and challenge us to explore, employ and exercise the gift or ability that God has given to us. Galatians 6:4 is translated this way in the Message version: “Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others.”

While these are challenging messages each week, don’t forget to incorporate the small group experience. This is where we can talk about the concept and have a better chance of putting the topic into action. It’s like taking the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace class, this message is only 20% head knowledge, the 80% is bring about real life change and that happens only in the context of a small group.

So, as we begin, I have to ask a penetrating question: Who do you really think you are?

When you peel away all the layers of things like your job or success or the hurts or the pain or the abuse, and you look into the mirror of your soul – What do you see? Who are you? We go to the extreme to try and present ourselves in a way that’s a little bit different than who we are. We want to look good for other people, to find acceptance and value and significance.

This question is not an easy one to answer because there are many factors involved and many people who try to tell us who we are. To complicate matters, our desperate longing for approval drives us to seek and to look and to act and be what we think others want, rather than discover who we really are.

I’d like to tell you that older people don’t have to deal with this, but you will grapple with this all the days of your life. Who are you, really? What you discover will determine the quality of your relationships and the contentment of your life. An awful lot of people are doing a lot of stuff in lots of areas, looking for peace and contentment, because down deep they don’t know who they are. And if the truth is known, they really don’t like who they are.

It raises another question: What are the factors that cause me to develop this kind of invisible picture, this MRI of who I really am? How did I get that way? It could be our family background, our environment, our personalities, the significant others, role models from our childhood, the values and belief systems we were taught all play a critical role in the formation of our identity.

We’re going to jump into the book of Exodus, take a look at Moses, and try to get some answers. Moses had quite a journey trying to figure out who he was. At one point he thought way too highly of himself and he almost blew it. At another point he thought way too lowly of himself and almost blew it again.

Here’s one thing you need to understand. If you don’t get a sober self-assessment and understand who you really are, you will never fulfill the divine calling God has for you. It’s not about who you want to be nor who you think you are, God made each of us in a certain way. It’s because, you’re made for a purpose. Ephesians 2:10 says “You are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, to do good work – a good work that he has for you. So he made you in a certain way to fulfill that purpose. But if you don’t know who you are, you’ll miss it.

Moses almost missed it. To begin with, we must realize that we are on a journey. That’s point #1 on your outline, “Moses’ Journey reveals how to come to grips with the real you.” This isn’t a one-time experience where you walk away and got it all down. Moses’ parents, childhood, education, and experiences were God’s preparation so that he could fulfill his divine assignment.

As you look in Exodus Chapter 2, the children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt for about 400 years. But during these 400 years, the number of Israelites increases dramatically. The Pharaoh becomes a little nervous because there are so many Hebrew slaves. And he becomes afraid that these Hebrew slaves are going to revolt and take over Egypt. So he decides that the Israelite baby boys have to die.

Moses parents trusted God and have a baby anyway. They hid him for three months, but when she could no longer hide him, she put a little basket and waterproofed it. Then she put the baby in a basket and laid it among the reeds along the edge of the Nile River, where eventually the Pharaoh’s daughter would raise him as her own child in the palace.

A lot went into Moses life, but the point is: he had parents that were godly. They were willing to risk their lives rather than have him killed. They had faith. Perhaps his parents were whispering in his ear who God was. They taught him about Yahweh, the promises, the deliverance. And then he had parents that were willing to say, “You know what? If this is God’s will for you to live in Pharaoh’s house, then so be it.” Now, that’s surrender.

The second bullet in your outline, Moses had a warped view of himself. He thought too highly of himself, which hindered him from fulfilling God’s purpose for his life. Look at Exodus 2:11-12, “Moses had grown up, and he went out to visit his people, the Israelites. And he saw how they were doing forced labor. During his visit, he saw an Egyptian beating one of the Hebrew slaves. After looking around to make sure no one was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand. Remember that He’s a Hebrew even though he grew up in Pharaoh’s palace. He’s got these roots; he’s got these concerns for his fellow Hebrews. But he is the prince of Egypt, the next guy for the throne.

The next day, Moses sees these two Hebrews arguing and said to the one started the fight, “What are you doing, hitting your neighbor like that?” And then get this line in Exodus 2:14 (in the Message): “Who do you think you are?” It’s an interesting question. “Do you plan to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?” Moses gets scared and takes off, and Pharaoh gave orders to have Moses arrested and killed. So Moses ends up in the Land of Midian.

Moses thought too highly of himself. Now, here’s what’s interesting. Sometimes we get our assignment right: “This is what I’m supposed to do.” But we try and do it in our own energy. Moses basically thought, “I’m capable. I’m able. I’m educated. And guess what? I’m the prince. You know what? I call the shots here.”

He had confidence in himself. His warped view was that he had power, prestige; and he believed his abilities, his education, and his background gave him the right to call the shots. And he tried to do God’s will his own way, in his own energy and his own power. And because he had this over-inflated view of who he was – he almost missed it.

That’s true of us. You think, “I have this education. A job. I moved up. Then I did this. I’ve spent all these years working hard. I have this on my heart; I think my motives are right.” Then we move forward. I think Moses’ motives were right (delivering the people), but his methodology was wrong. And God had to teach him something.

But sometimes we don’t just have a too high view of ourselves that prevent us from fulfilling our divine calling. Sometimes it’s too low. Moses’ low view of himself almost prevented him from fulfilling God’s purpose for his life. Let’s walk through this part of Moses’ life as well. He meets God for the first time and basically has four excuses why he could not do the task God called him to do.

I’m going to skip some of the juicy parts and a lot of great parts, but in chapter 3, we find Moses in the back side of the desert tending his flocks. He’d been out with these sheep. He’s got a new world. He’s got a new wife. He thinks his life is over; ready for retirement and an easy life. He’s also hiding out.

As he’s out on this rocky terrain, he sees this bush. And the bush is on fire, but it’s not burning up. Moses comes near and God speaks to him in Exodus 3:9-10: “I’ve heard the cry of my people. And guess what? Your instincts to rescue them were right. And I’m going to use you to rescue them. I want you to go be my deliverer.”

A few years ago Moses would have been thinking, “It’s a snap, man. I’ve got it covered.” Now listen to him, here is excuse number one: “Moses says, ‘But who am I?’ “ Interesting question, isn’t it? Before, they asked him, “Who do you think you are?” Now it’s like, “Well, who am I?” “I’m a nobody. No one could ever use me. I’m a failure. I blew it. I’m nothing. How can you expect me to lead the Israelites out of Egypt?”

How many times has a too-low view of yourself kept you from doing what God has asked you to do? God might say, “I want you to do this. I have a task for you, just volunteer to be a servant or teacher at church.” And your response is “Well, who am I?”

Then God told him, “I will be with you.” Understand that we can’t serve in our own strength. Apart from Him we can do nothing. It’s like God says, “What’s really important is – who I am. And that I’m going to be with you.”

Now we get excuse number two. Moses is not convinced and he protested, “If I go to the people tell them, ‘God has sent me,’ they won’t believe me. They will ask, ‘Which god are you talking about? What’s his name?’ Then what should I tell them?” Excuse number one was, “I’m a nobody.” And excuse number two is that “I’m not smart enough.”

Let’s get back to you, and let’s say God lays it on your heart to teach children or students or adults in Sunday School. You start thinking “They’re going to ask me questions I don’t know. I’m no good at talking about the Lord or teaching a lesson. If I take this step of faith, I’m going to blow it. I’m just not smart enough. I didn’t go to seminary.”

So how does God answer that? With his name. God replied, “I am the one who always is,” or literally, “I am that I am.” “Just tell them that I AM sent you.”

Skip down to 3:18. God reassures Moses again. “Hey, you don’t have to be smart enough. The leaders of the people of Israel are going to accept your message.” And then he says in 3:21, “I promise even the Egyptians will treat you well. When you leave, you will not leave empty-handed.”

Now we move into chapter 4, and we get excuse number three. So God reassures him, “I’ll be with you. I’ll take care of it.” In Exodus 4:1 we read: “But Moses protested again, ‘Look, they won’t believe me. They won’t do what I tell them. They’ll just say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you.'” First, Moses says, “I’m a nobody, so God can never use me.” The second excuse is “I’m not smart enough.” Now it’s, “I’m not credible, they’re not going to listen to me, I don’t have the credentials. I don’t have the platform. They’ll never listen to me.”

Here comes the whole “turning a shepherd’s staff into a snake episode;” God tells him to perform this miracle and it will prove I sent you.

We are still not finished with the excuses, here comes number four. Moses seems to be a very slow learner. He’s had 40 years to get stuck in his ways. 40 years earlier he thought he was such hot stuff, but now he thinks he’s nothing. So as we pick up the story in Exodus 4:10, the Bible says – “Moses pleaded with the Lord.” So here’s a guy who’s really learning to pray. He’s pleading, ” Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God, no. No. No. No, not me.” So he’s pleading with the Lord. He says, “You know what? All your answers have been pretty good, but I’m just not a very good speaker. This is really going to take some oratory skill. I’m just not gifted. I don’t have the ability. You’ve got the wrong guy.”

God’s answer is, “Who makes man’s mouth?” God tells him he is created just as he wanted. And listen to this, after being convinced by the God of the universe that he is made exactly right for the job he’s being called to do, Moses says, “Lord, could you just send someone else?” Now, I think this is one of the most amazing passages in Scripture. You talk about mercy and grace. You talk about a guy backing into God’s will. He is as reluctant as he can be. And yet, God’s got his hand on his life.

And so God says, “Tell you what, Moses. I’m going to accommodate you, so Aaron, your brother – he’s a good speaker. You know what? I’m going to have him help you. And he can do some of the speaking. And I’ll talk to you, and you tell him what to do. And he’ll do a good job up front. He’s a good PR guy. But boy, he’s going to cause you problems later. He’s also an artist; he builds golden calves, and leads small rebellions.”

Sometimes we think too highly of ourselves and we miss God’s calling. Sometimes we think too lowly of ourselves and we miss God’s will. Moses’ trust in God’s promises and God’s character was reluctant, but it was there. He was taking baby steps toward a sober self-assessment.

Take a look in your outline for the answers to each excuse. We give God all these excuses and fail to realize we have inside of us all the power we need to do all God wants us to do.

Moses’ life reveals that a sober self-assessment is a prerequisite to fulfill your divine assignment. You can’t do what God made you to do unless you figure out who you are. Our key passage in the r12 study is Romans 12:3. It says, “For by the grace given to me, I say to every one of you, ‘Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the measure of the faith that God has given you.’ “

You know what he’s saying? “Look, you’re surrendered to God. You’ve offered your body as a living sacrifice. You’re saying ‘no’ to the world. You’re not going to let it conform you. You’re saying ‘yes’ to God. You’re renewing your mind.”

The first place to renew your mind is, don’t think too highly of yourself. Don’t think too lowly of yourself. Look into the mirror of your soul and realize this is who God made you to be. Do you know what this means? You have strengths and you have weaknesses. You have things in your past and perhaps you have terrible suffering. Some of you carry unbelievable hurts, and some have even been abused. You are more than the sum of your life experiences. Those experiences have produced scars that make it hard to trust people and have compassion. It is essential for you to have an accurate view of yourself, from God’s perspective.

Part of this sober self-assessment is: God’s going to bring other people’s strengths to help you. You’re going to find there are no lone rangers in the Christian life. You need others, and they need you.

Next Steps:

I want you to take out your outline and focus on the bottom where it says, “Top three strengths,” and “Top three weaknesses.” I’m asking you to do some thinking and fill that out. Most of us could quickly fill out the bottom part. “I’m not good at this; I’m not good at that.” You probably have a too-low self-assessment. And there’s probably a handful who could say, “I’m good at this or that,” but when you think about your weaknesses, you have a hard time coming up with anything.

So, what are your top three strengths? Jot them down. What are your top three weaknesses? Who are the people that you need in your life? While others can help us see ourselves clearly, no one can give you a totally accurate view of your life but God. Remember, You’re his workmanship. Literally, you’re his “poem.” His tapestry. His work of art.

At the bottom of your notes, let me get you started on some very specific application. Number one is “Ask God to help you recognize the warped mirrors of the world that have shaped your life.” Like a fun house mirror distorts or warps the image. If your child was struggling with life, and they came to you for help, you’d do everything you could to help them, wouldn’t you?

So don’t you think our heavenly Father will be even more receptive. You might say, “I’m a workaholic, or alcoholic. I’m pleasing people all the time. I say ‘yes’ to everything. I get overextended. I don’t like my body. I struggle with depression,” and on and on. And by the way, I’m just describing all of us in this room, at various levels, at various times.

This week, take that outline and share it with someone that you trust, and say, “I was in the service this weekend and we did this little exercise about our strengths and weaknesses. I think these are my top three strengths and these are my top three weaknesses. What do you think? Give me your honest feedback.”

Second, realize you are on a journey and begin it today. I’ve listed a couple items that can help you on that journey.

Final thing I would encourage you is: celebrate daily that you are unique, loved, accepted, capable, and being prepared to fulfill your divine assignment. Ask the Father that he would help you launch into the journey of a sober self-assessment, being able to see yourself the way God see you, in order to fulfill the divine assignment he have for you.

I challenge you to commit to these next steps, and to begin this week. May God bless you and more importantly, may you be a blessing to God this week.

Discipleship in 3D

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Scripture Reading for the morning was from Luke 15:22-24, part of the story of the Prodigal Son, “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began. (Luke 15:22-24)

The lost son in this story returns and the waiting father throws a party. When we reflect on our own experiences, we each may have a similar story of before we became a follower of Christ; we recognized our lostness and the fact that we were spiritually dead. The wayward son looked around at his circumstances and his surroundings and the Bible says that “he came to his senses” (Luke 15:17). I love that phrase. It tells me that the Christian faith does not expect us to check our brains at the door, but to discover that Christianity is a reasonable and rational belief system.

Another story about coming to life is found in John chapter 11, the story about Lazarus. Not a spiritual coming to life, but he actually came back from the dead.

This is a story about a man who goes from the barren tomb to the banquet table.

I believe that every person in this room will discover exactly where you stand with Christ. I’m going to make it very easy because I call this message, Discipleship in 3D. The D’s are listed in your notes. Let’s begin in John 11:33-35, and check out that first scene.

  1. What Jesus Saw (John 11:33a): Jesus saw that Mary was weeping, and also the Jews who came with her. A better word might be “wailing.” Think about it, Jesus had come down from heaven, stepping out of eternity where there is no sin, sorrow, tombs or tears. On a practical side, this family was special to Jesus, and he saw these special people grieving over the loss of Lazarus. So let’s move on to…
  2. What Jesus Suffered (John 11:33b): Jesus was deeply moved in his spirit and troubled. The word used is similar to agitated and pretty close to “snort” like a horse. It is used in the NT for displeasure or indignation. He was troubled, he literally shook with emotion.
  3. What Jesus Said (John 11:34): “Where have you laid him?” Note that Jesus was not ignorant to the location of Lazarus, but rather he wanted to get the people focused on the place of his greatest miracle to date. All these people made their way to the tomb. Think about it. All of us are also on the way to the grave. Why? Because of our sin. Jesus was going to the tomb for the same reason… because of our sins.
  4. What Jesus Showed (John 11:35): it is here that we read the shortest verse in the Bible, “Jesus wept.” This Greek word (dakruo) occurs here and nowhere else in the Bible, meaning he burst into tears. It is a different word used for Mary’s tears (John 11:31) and the tears of the Jews (John 11:33).
    1. This was no wailing in despair, it is the strong emotion of the Son of God, as we read in Hebrews 5:7 (While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death). He was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief; he cried because his heart was broken over the sorrow of his close friends.
    2. I think he also wept because he could see what the crowd could not, perhaps he saw Lazarus in paradise, surrounded by the saints of God. He was in a place where time stands still, where the hosts of heaven were eagerly awaiting the time for the Son of God to be glorified. He was barely introduced to Abraham and Moses; perhaps the saints were questioning him about what he knew about Jesus. And now, Jesus was about to call him back into this world of sin, suffering, pain and death. I think Jesus wept out of a different sorrow for Lazarus.

All of this is by way of introduction to the scene: the feelings of the Savior and the finality of the grave. All those around the tomb that day knew for certain that once someone lands in the graveyard, there’s no leaving, sort of like checking in to the Hotel California.

The Order (John 11:39a): We read that Jesus tells them to remove the stone. He is all-powerful, and he could have done it all by himself, but I believe Jesus wanted the people to participate in the miracle. This was going to be the greatest miracle yet, and he was not going to show off his power in an inappropriate was by commanding stones to move by themselves. Besides, Jesus commands people, not stones. Remember that story in Luke 19:38-39, during the celebration and entry into Jerusalem, “if these disciples remain silent, the stones will cry out.” Jesus wants people involved in his mission here on earth.

The Objection (John 11:39b): The objection to removing the stone was that after four days, there will be such a stench.

Here is where we will discover our first D of Discipleship; we discover for certain that Lazarus is DEAD. How can you tell if someone is dead? It is fairly obvious when it comes to physical death: the heart stops beating, the lungs stop breathing, the person grows cold, but Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:1 that we all “were dead in our trespasses and sins.” He was speaking to believers who were born again; so those who are not born again are still dead. We walk around people every day, and there are people in this room, who are dead on the inside. How can you tell?

There is no health: they might have physical health, but on the inside, they’re rotting away. Have you noticed that those who are dead will often engage in behaviors that will hurt them physical, emotionally, and relationally? They are involved in habits, hurts and hang-ups that are damaging to their health.

There is no happiness: people might say they are happy and have all they want, but there is no real or lasting peace on the inside, which only comes from knowing that our sins are forgiven and we are loved unconditionally by God.

There is no hope: These spiritually dead people seem to be fine as they go through life, but when it comes to eternal matters like physical death, they have no hope or assurance of what happens to them after they die; they fear the unknown.

Some of you sitting in here today can’t say for certain that you have passed from death to life. You wonder why you get nothing out of the worship experience, and can’t figure out what these church people are all about. Don’t feel bad, because the Bible tells us WHY you don’t get it. First Corinthians 2:14 says, “But people who aren’t spiritual (spiritually dead people) can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.”

Is this YOU? Are you dead? Those who are alive in Christ can tell that you’re dead, because we are able to inspect the “fruit” that people bear. But we are never to judge, because we reserve judgment for God alone. What needs to happen today is that you follow the steps of the Prodigal Son, come to your senses (Luke 15:17) and allow the love of God to flood your soul and forgive your sin. Come to life and be born again, born anew, born from above in order to become one of God’s children. Jesus is calling your name and he invites you to step out of the tomb and to walk in newness of life.

Lazarus was dead, but after calling his name, he is now delivered from the grave (John 11:44a): “he who had died came forth.”

  1. I believe that there is a reason that Jesus called Lazarus by name. If he would have simply shouted, “Come forth” everyone in the graveyard would have been raised from the dead that day.
  2. Jesus also called him in a loud voice, which tells me that when we do something for Jesus, let’s not be shy or remain in secret, but allow people to see Jesus through your words and actions. Let people see your good works and glorify the Father who is in heaven.

When we are delivered from death, God wants us to be set free from sin, which brings us to the second D of Discipleship, Lazarus was DEAD, but now that he is alive, he is DISABLED. He steps out of the tomb bound hand and foot and his face was wrapped with a cloth (John 11:44). He was wrapped up and held in bondage with the funeral garb of his day. The man is alive but he is not set free until Jesus tells the people to “unbind him and let him go.”

I think that many people in the room find themselves in this situation. You’ve prayed the prayer, you’re born again, delivered from death, but they are disabled and defeated by some sin that they are just not willing to give up. Jesus speaks to us daily about walking in a manner worthy of our calling and Christians, but you turn aside and refuse to get rid of the sin that so easily trips you up. What are some things that bind Christians?

Bound by darkness: (John 11:44) there was a cloth over the face of Lazarus, which prevented him from seeing clearly. For us, perhaps someone doesn’t really know that certain behaviors are sinful. He needs to be taught the Word of God so that they will know how to live and what sins to avoid. God’s children need to be able to walk in the light. Let’s learn what pleases God and and what displeases God.

Burdened by disillusionment: it is here that people can stop attending church and following Christ. Perhaps they thought that when they were made alive in Christ, their problems would go away. They have become disillusioned. Their passion for Christ has gone AWOL. Perhaps you’ve listened to too many skeptics bad-mouth the Christian faith to the point you are sliding backwards away from Christ. Jesus does not remove problems in life as much as he gives us a new way to deal with our problems.

Bought by declaration: Jesus tells the people to unbind him and let him go, so we must remember that the same power that raised Lazarus from the dead is available to us today. If we want to be unbound and set free, it is only through the power of God’s word. Jesus declared that we are to be set free. We are bought with a price.

Is this YOU? Are you disabled? You claim to be a follower of Christ, maybe you’re a member of this church, and have been baptized, but you have some sinful habits that continue to hold you captive. You’re disabled. The Bible talks about overcoming the world, and you have no clue what that is all about. It is only with God’s help, and the strength we find in gathering as the community of faith. Notice that Jesus told the people to unbind him; so for me, I believe Jesus does not expect us to be set free on our own.

The next time we see Lazarus, he is back home dining with Jesus. He has gone from the barren tomb to the banquet table. Imagine the celebration! But the mood becomes heavy when they discover that the Jew are seeking to kill Jesus, and while we’re at it, let’s kill Lazarus, too (John 12:10).

It is here that we get to the third D of Discipleship, Lazarus was once DEAD, then he was delivered from the tomb, yet DISABLED by things that had him bound. Now he has become DANGEROUS. Why is Lazarus dangerous? John 12:11 tells us point blank, “because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.” Our common enemy, the devil, saw Lazarus as a threat that needed attention. He needed to be eliminated. Lazarus was alive, people were coming to Jesus and that got Satan angry.

When you hang around with lost people, how many times do you get shot down because you don’t participate in whatever activity you are convinced that it is sin if you did it? Maybe it’s drinking alcohol at a bar, or living a promiscuous lifestyle or committing adultery, you insert the sin. The fact that you don’t participate is condemning to lost people; the Spirit convicts them of their sin and the best way avoid the guilt is to get rid of YOU. They think they won’t feel convicted if you’re not around.

When people are controlled by the enemy, they will seek to get rid of all that is holy. If you are convicted that your mission is to point people toward Jesus, then you my friend have a desire to be dangerous.

But there is another danger that is more subtle. What if Lazarus was simply happy to stay at the dining table with Jesus? Is that not a dangerous thing for believers? We come to church and we sit down and soak up inspiration, relationships, perhaps enjoy the entertainment, and now we have the potential to become consumers. The church can become all about me.

A great word-picture for me is the difference between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. Galilee has water flowing in and also flowing out of it; and it is full of life. The Dead Sea has all sorts of life and living water flowing into it, yet nothing ever flows out; nothing lives in it either. It is dead. Don’t let that happen to you.

I am convinced that what we need can be boiled down to this formula: Worship plus two. Coming to worship is fine, and enjoyable, but it is really non-committal. We just show up an hour a week putting in our time for God. We need worship plus two:

  1. Involvement in a Small Group: to develop community and put ourselves into a greater position to experience life transformation. We don’t really experience community when we sit in a pew looking at the back of someone else’s head. We need interaction and accountability.
  2. Involvement in a Serving Ministry: where I can give back and serve God and others. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).

It is dangerous to ourselves if we only dine at the Master’s table, but we can be dangerous to the enemy by making an impact on the world around us, and point others to faith in Christ.

So, where are YOU in this story?

Are you still in the tomb, dead spiritually? Then you need to repent and believe the gospel, and be born again.

Are you alive in Christ, but disabled by some sin that you can’t shake? Today can be the day that you allow Jesus to be your Lord, not just your Savior. Are there sins you need to forsake, seek forgiveness or repent of? Don’t wait another day. Once you know you’re disabled, how can anyone live that way any longer?

Perhaps you’re born again, set free from sins that used to plague you in your early Christian life, but now you realize that you need to be dining with Jesus on a regular basis. Any living thing grows, if it’s not growing, it isn’t alive. Disciples grow in their faith. We can teach you how to do that.

Finally, maybe you have been made alive in Christ, you’re no longer bound by habitual sin, your devotional time with Jesus is going well, but you realize that you have never become dangerous to the enemy. Today is the day you want to learn how to tell others about Jesus, how to let your light shine in dark places. Today can be your day to publicly tell Satan that you intend to be like Lazarus, you want to be dangerous.

The alternative is found in John 11:46, those who did not come to believe in Christ, went away to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. I don’t believe they went to witness for Christ, they went into the enemy’s camp rather than stand up with Christ.

So, are you dead, disabled or dangerous? Where do you stand with Jesus? The choice is up to you. There is always room to move toward a higher level of commitment to Christ and his church. What is your decision today?

 

Love One Another

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In the 1980’s, Tina Turner asked the infamous question, “What’s love got to do with it?” According to John, it has a lot to do with it. The key passage for today is 1 John 4:7-16.

This month Skip has been preaching out of First John, a series about Learning to Love God’s Way. It seems to me that love is a funny word. We use it to describe the intense feelings that we have, but the word is somewhat limiting.

In the New Testament, there are primarily three separate words used for LOVE, and all of them are translated into English as “love.”

  1. Agape is a word used to describe the unconditional love that God has for us, a divine sort of love that comes from the nature of God.
  2. Phileo is more of a brotherly love; like Philadelphia is actually the city of brotherly love.
  3. Eros is a word use to describe the intimacy we find within marriage, like the erotic love that binds together a husband and wife.

We use the word love today in regard to things like, “I love my wife” to “I love the Auburn Tigers,” to “I love pizza.” It would be a good thing not to confuse my love for Kim and my love for pizza by using the word phileo or even eros.

Love can also bring up WARMTH as we think about that special someone in our lives, or it can bring FEAR, and maybe even COLD SWEATS because we know this relationship is getting serious.

So today, I’m going to talk about love. Now men, I know this is a tough topic for all of us. We are not too strong on expressing our feelings. Our wives and daughters can be crying over something and we have no clue what to do or how to make it better, so most of the time, for good or bad, we just leave them alone.

And then there’s the church. It’s a place that is FULL of feelings. When we begin to understand the sacrifice of Christ, and the depth of love that sent Jesus to the cross, it is emotional, and we don’t often know what to do with that emotion. So, if we are unsure or uncomfortable, we simply do our best to avoid the situation. That’s tough when it comes to church. Let me tell you, I’m uncomfortable talking about love; I’m no expert and I don’t have it all together when it comes to love, but this letter of First John is WAY TOO FULL of love to simply ignore it.

I sense that many men don’t come to church because it’s just not all that manly to hear about a guy name Jesus who loves us. We sing about love, in public, and declare our great love for Jesus, who after all, is another guy. Wrapping his arms of love around us just seems uncomfortable to men who are not yet believers. At times I wonder if we need to “man up” the church so that we don’t set up unnecessary barriers to reaching unchurched men for Christ. But today, this message is about the Love of God, a love that so many people often do not understand.

John had a lot to say about love, he comes back to this theme over and over in this little book. The Holy Spirit obviously wants us to understand love from a much deeper perspective.

Let me submit to you that there are two things about love that I notice in this chapter:

  1. What Love Proves
  2. What Love Produces

What Love Proves (1 John 4:7-11, 14)
How often do we read stories or watch movies that have a theme of proving one’s love or loyalty? How many times must we QUALIFY our love since it can mean so many different things to different people? For instance, conditional love sets up restrictions. It says,

  1. I will love you BECAUSE; (you have done something for me in the past).
  2. I will love you IF; (you will do something for me in the future).

But I doubt many of us enjoy this conditional form of someone’s love, because it appears to be a selfish kind of love. People will love someone else for what THEY get out of it. We don’t find this sort of love in John’s letter. I think the better way to describe God’s love is: “I love you ANYWAY.” JJ Heller has a song on K-love and she puts it this way: I will love you, for you. Not for what you have done or what you’ll become. That is God’s kind of love. So, what exactly does love prove?

1. Our love for God is proven by our love for one another (1 John 4:7-8, 11): 7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.

  1. Love is a Test: Love is actually a test of our fellowship in God, and our worship of God, because John tells us that “God is Love” (1 John 4:8). Love is at the center of God’s being; it is his nature. Since God’s nature is love, it becomes the ONLY test of the reality of our spiritual life. If God is living through us, his love WILL shine through.
  2. Love is a Guide: Not only is love a test but love is a Guide. Think for a moment about sailing. A navigator depends upon a compass to help determine his course, but why a compass? It’s because a compass determines our direction. The needle points north. Why? It’s because the compass is responsive to the nature of the earth. God’s nature is love and it acts as a guide in life, so we act out his love the way he has already demonstrated his love.
  3. Love is Responsive: Not only is love a test and a guide, it is responsive. Since the nature of God is love; then the person who knows God and has been born of God will respond to God’s nature. As a compass naturally points north, a child of God will naturally practice love.
    1. So this type of love for one another is proof of our love for God and is a test of a sincere and true faith. Believers claim a special relationship with God, having become “born of God” (1 John 4:7). If we are children of God, we share his divine nature. Although we are not perfect, we have a higher calling in life, to become more into the image and likeness of Christ.
    2. Not only are we born of God but we have the capacity to know God. This word “to know” (in 1 John 4:7) is much deeper than to simply have an intellectual understanding of God. The word has been used in Genesis 4:1 to describe the intimate union between the first husband and wife. So, “to know God” signifies a DEEP relationship with God, to share his life and to enjoy his love.
    3. John goes on to tell us that the one who does not love God, does not know God (1 John 4:8). To me, this indicates the lack of a personal experience with God. How could someone know God yet not love as God has commanded? It could be that this person has the knowledge in his head, but he has never allowed that knowledge to travel the 18 inches down into his heart. This person has sincerely deluded himself into believing he is one of God’s children. This is a dangerous position to be in. Our eternal destiny hangs in the balance!

2. God’s love for us was proven by the sacrificial death of Christ (1 John 4:9-10, 14): 9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 14 Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

  1. Love is Real: John tells us, “THIS is REAL love.” Not “I love you because,” or “I will love you if,” but “I will love you unconditionally.” Romans 5:8 tells us that God demonstrated his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Now that’s real love. Bruno Mars sings about a girl he’s in love with, “I’ll catch a grenade for ya, throw my head on a blade for ya, jump in front of a train for ya,” but Jesus willingly gave his life so that the whole world might have everlasting life through his sacrifice on the cross and his resurrection.
  2. Love is Active: Not only is love REAL, but it is also ACTIVE. All you need to do is look at Paul’s description of love to discover that love is NOT a feeling, or an emotion; it is a verb, and it is active. Here is what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13: 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Now that doesn’t sound like an emotion or even a warm fuzzy feeling when she walks into the room.
  3. Love was Sent: Not only is love REAL, and ACTIVE, but it was also SENT to us from the Father. Did you notice that three times in three verses John mentions that Jesus was SENT? We know that Jesus was BORN into the world, that’s the essence of the incarnation; the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Children are BORN into the world, but John says Jesus was SENT; God had a mission from the beginning to reconcile all people to himself.
  4. Love was Sacrificed: So, love is REAL, it is ACTIVE, love was SENT, and it was also SACRIFICED. We may have asked the question at some point in our spiritual journey, “Why did Jesus have to die?” “Was there not some other way?” Look again at 1 John 4:9, it says, God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. His death was NOT an accident; it was intentional. A sinner’s greatest need is for life (according to Ephesians 2:1) because, without Christ we are dead in our sins. So, it is ironic that Christ had to die in order for us to have life. Second Corinthians 5:21 says, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

God is love. Have you really grasped the impact of that message? Have you embraced the love that God offers? Singer/songwriter, Chris Rice, understood this fact when he wrote a song called, Untitled Hymn, the first verse goes like this:

Weak and wounded sinner
Lost and left to die
O, raise your head, for love is passing by
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus and live!

God is love, and his love allows us to be reconciled to the Father. John challenges us to love others because God so loved us anyway (1 John 4:11, 7). Remember we are not saved by loving Christ, or loving others, or being good (or believing that we’re better than the next guy). We are saved only by believing in Christ, trusting Christ, receiving Christ. Once we understand the magnitude of his sacrifice, our normal response must be to love God, and to love others. This is a spiritual transformation that takes our heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh.

Hey, let me bring this to a close, so I’m going to save the second part of this message (What Love Produces) for some another time. Right now, we need to focus on our relationship with God. In this passage, John tells us what love proves:

  1. Our love for God is proven by our love for one another: If we say that we love God, let’s evaluate our current relationships: spouse, kids, neighbors, co-workers, your boss… are we demonstrating an “I love you anyway” sort of love?
    1. If not, what personal changes do you need to make?
    2. Who do you need to go to, in order to reconcile a relationship?
    3. Who do you need to forgive and demonstrate the love of God?
  2. God’s love for us was proven by the sacrificial death of Christ:
    1. Do you not yet understand the magnitude of God’s love for you?
    2. Have you experienced God’s love first hand? Or have you just become familiar enough with a few Bible stories? Maybe your faith is really just second-hand, like people in your family believe, so maybe that covers you good enough. Don’t deceive yourself with poor theology.
    3. God wants to take all the scraps, the left over pieces of the broken dreams of your life, and all the junk, and make a great piece of art, a masterpiece that resembles the one who sacrificed himself so that you may have life.
    4. So, have you embraced the love of God and personally accepted Christ as your Savior? That was the reason he was sent, to take you from death into life, to save your soul, and give to you everlasting life that can start right now.
    5. Or perhaps you have been playing around with church just being close enough to be comfortable with God.

*The more we love God, the more we understand the love of God.
*The more we understand God’s love, the more we will love him and love others.

If you need to know more, or get things right with God, don’t delay. Don’t put it off another week.

If you need to receive Christ, I’m asking you to move out from where you are and come up toward the stage area and talk about getting right with God.

If you need to recommit yourself to Christ and begin demonstrating God’s love or get involved in God’s mission in this congregation, don’t leave this building the same as when you came in. It’s time to make a change.

If you have been debating on whether to join this church, what better time to unite with this congregation than right now? Get involved and connected to what God is doing in this place. He has created you for good works, acts of kindness and love, and for service within a local body of believers. Let the Love of God make something beautiful in your life.

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In Times of Spiritual Dryness

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When I think of Lent, I think of the wilderness experience of Jesus. He is alone in the desert and being tempted by the enemy. The desert is a dry and dusty place where we might sense that God has forsaken us, but remember that we will never understand the joy of God’s presence until we experience the dryness of his absence. We truly do not know what we have until it is gone.

Many people at times express what can be called spiritual dryness in their lives. Some have said that they lack the desire to pray. Others have felt an inability to focus fully on God when they are in prayer. I suppose that we all face some degree of spiritual dryness in our lives from time to time. I looked in the Bible for an answer and found the words of the prophet Ezekiel both incredibly prophetic and comforting.

This is how Ezekiel records his experience.

“The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ I said, ‘O sovereign Lord, you alone know.’ Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones and say to them: dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.'” (Ezekiel 37:1-5)

At times we all have felt like a dry bone in the desert. We all have felt disconnected from God and desperately in need of the living water that only Jesus Christ can offer. In these incredibly descriptive words of Ezekiel, there is both a hauntingly candid view of the reality of our separation from God and at the same time the revelation of God’s promise to fill our parched bones with the refreshing truth of his Word.

As Ezekiel goes on to explain, writing as the voice of the Lord:

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.” (Ezekiel 36:25-26)

Ezekiel knew that God would reveal his Word, and that God’s Word, which would provide you and me with the truth of God’s love, was the only remedy to our dry bones. Several thousand years later, God sent Jesus Christ to this earth as “living water” (John 4:10), to renew our spirits and give us the possibility of new life in Him. As Jesus himself has said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

I am reminded of the writings of Madam Guyon, who was a French mystic who died in 1717. She writes on the subject of spiritual “dry spells.” She says that we must realize that times of dryness await us.

We must realize that God has only one desire. Certainly we can never understand a dry spell unless we understand what He desires. His desire is to give Himself to the soul that really loves Him and to that soul which earnestly seeks Him. And it is true that this God who desires to give Himself to us will often conceal Himself from us—from the very ones who seeks Him!

So why would God do that? Perhaps we need to learn the ways of God. Our God often hides Himself, but for a purpose. Why? His purpose is to rouse us from spiritual laziness. His purpose in removing Himself from us is to cause us to pursue Him.

I love Jeremiah 29:13, “You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.” A casual glance to see if he is there is not enough, we must search with all our hearts.

The Lord Jesus is looking everywhere for believers who will remain faithful and loving even when He has withdrawn Himself. If the Lord finds such a faithful follower, when He does return, He rewards the faithfulness of His child. He pours out abundant goodness and love.

Here, then, is something we must understand. We will have times of spiritual dryness. It is part of the Lord’s way.

But the fact we will have spiritual dry spells is not the issue. The important question is, “What you will do in times of spiritual dryness?” We must learn something about our natural tendencies. It will be the natural thing to try and prove our love to the Lord. During a spiritually dry season we try to prove to the Lord our faithfulness toward Him; we do this by exerting our strength. We will hope that such self effort would persuade Him to return more quickly.

This is not the way to respond to the Lord in seasons of dryness. So, what shall we do?

We must wait the return of God with patient love, self denial and humiliation. Even though the Lord has hidden Himself, remain constantly before Him.

Spend time with Him in worship and in respectful silence.

By waiting upon the Lord, we will demonstrate to Him that it is He alone we are seeking. We then demonstrate that it is not the selfish enjoyment and blessing we receive from being in His presence that causes us to love Him. We will be showing Him that it is not the pleasure which we experience, but our love that motivates us. We follow Him because it is the right thing to do and He deserves it, not because what we get out of it in the end.

So, be patient in your prayer during those seasons of dryness.

Let me ask you a question. What if the Lord called you to spend your whole life waiting for His return to you? How would you live if this were the fate the Lord had for you for the rest of your life? What would you do?

Consider this:

Wait upon Him in a spirit of humility, in a spirit of abandonment, with contentment and resignation. Spend time in prayer. Come before Him quietly and peacefully, recalling His presence even though His presence may evade you.

I would guess that if you would conduct yourself in this way, it will please the heart of God and compel Him to return to you much more quickly than any other.

Dryness. Dry bones. Parched deserts. Let’s go to the New Testament (John 4:1-42).

Jesus met a Samaritan woman at a well and asked for a refreshing drink of water. Jesus chose to spread the gospel by stretching the cultural norms of his day. The Samaritan woman openly questions Jesus’ statement about “living water.” It is only when He addresses her pain that she comes to believe:

“Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her. “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband—for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!” “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. (John 4:16-19).

Jesus names the things that have alienated her from participation in her community, and she eventually comes to believe that He is the Messiah.

There are times in life when we feel as if we are in a waiting room, unable to define what it is that causes our pain. Other times we know what the pain is, but no one acknowledges it. When I have experienced pain in my life, I have discovered that naming it is the first step in the healing process. Jesus provides help for us in identifying and treating our hurts, but often it is hard to see His grace on our own. God uses people in our community — family, friends and church to identify the sources of pain in our lives.

After this woman’s encounter with Jesus, she proclaimed the good news to her community. They believed in Jesus as a result of her witness, but she was only a messenger of the gospel. Their interaction with the woman led them to seek Jesus out for themselves. Members of our community can help us to see God’s healing work, but like the Samaritan woman they are only messengers. God knows our pain and always is waiting to help bring healing.

Earnestly seek God’s presence. Remain faithful in the dry places. Drink from the well as He provides refreshment for your soul. “Can these bones live,” O Son of Man? God only knows. (Ezekiel 37:3).

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Becoming Holy, Becoming Ourselves

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The primary passage for today is from Ephesians 1:3-6, focusing in on holiness. I listen to K-Love radio here in town and I love this song by Jason Gray. Here are a few lines from his song:

Now I won’t deny the worst you could say about me.
But I’m not defined by mistakes that I’ve made,
Because God says of me

I am not who I was, I’m being remade; I am new
I am chosen and holy and I’m dearly loved, I am new

Too long have I lived in the shadows of shame
Believing that there was no way I could change
But the one who is making everything new
Doesn’t see me the way that I do

Holiness is not talked about much these days, but the Bible is clear that God is the holy One who desires for us to be holy as well (Ephesians 1:4) and even Peter gives an imperative to, “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15-16). In many people’s minds, holiness is more associated with an attitude of superiority, like saying someone has a “holier than thou” attitude, which is actually found in the Bible (Isaiah 65:5), where in the King James says, “Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou.” The NLT puts it this way, “Don’t come too close or you will defile me! I am holier than you.”

Perhaps the single most important attribute the Bible gives for God is his holiness. The most familiar may be found in Revelation 4:8, where “each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.” So what does it mean to become holy?

First: I read recently that to be holy in a Christlike way, is in fact to become more truly ourselves.

  1. The point is that we should become the person God intends for us to become; no masks, no deception, no hypocrisy.
  2. We are to be people of integrity, be the same person on the inside and the outside, always being real and authentic.

Second: When we use Jesus as our example, we discover that he was a holy servant who relates to others.

  1. He mingled with people
  2. He hung out with sinners
  3. He knew lost people
  4. He made outcasts feel relaxed
  5. He accepted people unconditionally

The relationships he had developed with others were characterized by awareness, insight, and responsiveness:

  1. He noticed Zaccheus hiding in a tree (Luke 19:4, 5)
  2. He heard the passionate cry of a blind beggar in a noisy crowd (Matthew 20:29, 30)
  3. He took time for a foreign woman in distress over her daughter being cruelly possessed by a demon (Matthew 15:22, 28)
  4. He felt power leave him as a hurting woman touched the hem of his robe (Matthew 9:20-21, 22).

To become holy is to be less concerned with self, and more focused on the needs of others around us.

Third: Jesus also has a devoted closeness with the Father, and his single passion was the kingdom of God. The Bible teaches that Jesus was concerned with one thing, to do the will of the Father.

  1. Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house (or about my Father’s business)? (Luke 2:49)
  2. I can do nothing on My own initiative As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (John 5:30)
  3. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. (John 14:24)
  4. “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)
  5. I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. (John 17:4)

Without developing our intimacy with God, holiness will always be out of reach. Holy people are the ones who have made God and his mission first place in their lives.

How to Become Holy:

H – Heaven

  1. Presence: we will live in God’s presence. Focus on the spiritual discipline of solitude.
    1. Jesus retreated to the desert for 40 days (Matthew 4:1-2)
    2. Spent the night in prayer before making a huge decision (Luke 6:12-13)
    3. Sought the Father in a time of stress (Luke 22:41-42)
  2. Preparation: for heaven. Focus on the spiritual discipline of Bible study.
    1. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:13)
    2. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. (John 17:17)
    3. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments. (2 Timothy 4:13)
    4. Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it. (Luke 11:28)
    5. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1:22)
  3. Pursuit: being blameless and spotless. Focus on a bride being presented to her groom.
    1. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. (2 Peter 3:14)
    2. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. (Ephesians 1:4)
    3. I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. (Revelation 21:2-3)
  4. Paul: he called himself the chief of sinners. Focus on the worst person, yet still forgiven and made ready for heaven.
    1. No one is perfect, yet we have a new motivation for right behavior.
    2. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. (1 Timothy 1:15)
    3. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

O – Obedience

  1. Commands: of Christ, his conditional statements: Here are some awesome results for our obedience.
    1. Showing Our Love for Christ: If you love me you will keep my commandments (John 14:15)
    2. Abiding in God’s Love: If you keep my commandments you will abide in my love, as I have kept my Father’s commands and abide in his love (John 15:10)
    3. Perfecting God’s Love: But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did (1 John 2:5-6)
    4. Having God Live Within Us: If a man loves me, he will keep my words (John 14:23)
    5. Experiencing God’s Love: Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them (John 14:21)
    6. Knowing Christ Intimately: And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments (1 John 2:3)
    7. Being a Truthful Witness: If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth (1 John 2:4)
    8. Being a Friend of Jesus: You are my friends if you do what I command (John 15:14–15)
    9. Having Prayers Answered: And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him (1 John 3:22)
    10. Bearing Much Fruit: When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father (John 15:7–8)
    11. Loving One Another: We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:2–3)
    12. Being a True Disciple: I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples (John 13:34–35)
    13. Demonstrating Ultimate Love: This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (John 15:12–13)
    14. Obeying the Great Commission: Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:19–20)
  2. Confirmation: evidence of a changed life. Focus on metamorphosis, like the caterpillar transforming into a butterfly (Romans 12:1, 2).
    1. And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice–the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
    2. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

L – Lordship

  1. Confidence: about Christ. Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws. (Matthew 7:21-23)
  2. Crucified: with Christ. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
  3. Compassion: of Christ. Think of a heart transplant. Jesus had compassion:
    1. On the multitude without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36)
    2. On the hungry (Mark 8:2)
    3. On the ill (Matthew 14:14)
    4. On the blind (Matthew 20:34)
    5. On the demon possessed (Mark 9:22, 25)
    6. On the lepers (Mark 1:40-41)
    7. On the bereaved (Luke 7:12-13, John 11:33)
    8. On the lost (Luke 15:20, 1-2)
  4. Conviction: fire insurance in one’s spiritual life may be when we say yes to escape hell but are not really that interested in the things of God. Check out these lyrics by Jason Gray.
    1. More like falling in love, than something to believe in. More like losing my heart, than giving my allegiance. Caught up, called out, come take a look at me now, It’s like I’m falling in love…
    2. Remember that we do not make Jesus Lord of our lives, he is already the Lord; will we submit to his lordship?

Y – Yourself

  1. Conversion: Take off the old self, put on the new self. Make sure that you add this part to your story. Become the person God intends for you to become. He doesn’t save us for us to go right on living the same old way we did before encountering Christ.
    1. This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
    2. Our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin (Romans 6:6)
    3. In reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted (Ephesians 4:22)
  2. Conforming: to the imitation of Christ. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son (Romans 8:29)
  3. Conduct: yielding to the Spirit’s leadership. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. (John 14:17)

Self evaluation is an essential component as we live the Christian life, to always make sure we are of the faith (1 Corinthians 11:28, 31).

There is security in Christ because our salvation does not depend upon our own efforts, but there is an element of being in partnership with God. Check out this verse:

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).

Our challenge today is to become holy. At the beginning I mentioned that when we become the people that God created us to be, we become like Christ, and therefore please him beyond anything else, that we are walking in the truth (2 John 1:4, 3 John 1:4).

MercyMe has a song called, So Long Self:

So long self
Well it’s been fun, but I have found somebody else
So long self
There’s just no room for two
So you are gonna have to move
So long self
Don’t take this wrong but you are wrong for me farewell
Oh well, Goodbye, don’t cry
So Long Self

Become the person God has meant for you to be. Look over the list in the bulletin again. Decide today that your goal is holiness.

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Being Thankful for Our Mentors

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Chapter one of First Thessalonians introduced us to Paul the evangelist. Chapter two introduces us to Paul the pastor. It explains how the apostle cared for new believers in the churches that he started. Paul considered “the care of all the churches” (2 Corinthians 11:28) a greater burden than all the sufferings and difficulties he experienced in his ministry (2 Corinthians 11:2).

Just as God uses people to bring the Gospel to the lost, so He uses people to nurture new believers and help lead them to maturity. The church at Thessalonica was born through the faithful preaching of Paul and his helpers, and the church was nurtured through the faithful pastoring that Paul and his friends gave to the infant church. This helped them stand strong in tile midst of persecution.

In these verses, Paul reminded them of the kind of ministry he had as he taught and cared for the young church. Three pictures of his ministry emerge.

The Faithful Steward (1 Thessalonians 2:1-6) Paul had been “put in trust with tile Gospel” (1 Thessalonians 2:4). It was not a message that he made up or that he received from men (Galatians 1:11-12). Paul looked on himself as a steward of God’s message.

A steward owns nothing, but possesses and uses everything that belongs to his master. Joseph was a steward in the household of Potiphar (Genesis 39:1-6). He managed his master’s affairs and used all his master’s goods to promote his master’s welfare. Every steward one day must give an account of his stewardship (Luke 16:1-2). If he is found unfaithful, he will suffer.

The message of the Gospel is a treasure God has entrusted to us. We must not bury it, we must invest it so it will multiply and produce “spiritual dividends” to God’s glory. Some Christians think that the church’s only responsibility is to protect the Gospel from those who would change it (Galatians 1:6-9). But we also must share the Gospel; otherwise, we are protecting it in vain.

Faithfulness is the most important quality a steward possesses (1 Corinthians 4:1-2). He may not be popular in the eyes of men; but he dare not be unfaithful in the eyes of God. “Not as pleasing men, but God who tries [tests] our hearts” (1 Thessalonians 2:4). The Christian who “plays to the grandstands” will lose God’s approval. When we see the characteristics of Paul’s ministry as a steward, we understand what faithfulness means.

The manner of his ministry (1 Thessalonians 2:1-2).

Paul and Silas had been beaten and humiliated at Philippi; yet they came to Thessalonica and preached. Most of us would have taken a vacation or found an excuse not to minister. Paul was courageous-he was not a quitter. He had a “holy boldness” that came out of his dedication to God. Like the other Apostles before him, Paul boldly proclaimed the Good News (Acts 4:13, 29. 31).

His preaching was “with much contention.” This is an athletic term that means “a contest, a struggle.” The Greek world was familiar with athletic contests, and Paul often used this idea to illustrate spiritual truths (1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Philippians 3:13-14; 2 Timothy 4:7). He used this same word in Philippians 1:30 where he pictured the Christian life as an athletic contest that demanded dedication and energy. It had not been easy to start a church in Philippi, and it was not easy to start one in Thessalonica.

The message of his ministry (1 Thessalonians 2:3a).

“For the appeal we make does not spring from error” (NIV). Here he assured them that his message was true. Six times in this letter he mentioned the Gospel. This message of Christ’s death and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:16) is a true message and is the only true Gospel (Galatians 1:6-12). Paul received this Gospel from God, not from man. It is the only Good News that saves the lost.

The motive of his ministry (1 Thessalonians 2:3).

He was not guilty of “uncleanness,” for his motives were pure. It is possible to preach the right message with the wrong motives (Philippians 1:14-19). Unfortunately, some people in Paul’s day used religion as a means for making money. Paul did not use the Gospel as “a cloak to cover his covetousness” (1 Thessalonians 2:5). He was open and honest in all his dealings, and he even worked at a trade to earn his own support (see 2 Thessalonians 3:8-10).

The method of his ministry (1 Thessalonians 2:3-6).

Paul did not use guile or trickery to win converts. The word translated “guile” carries the idea of “baiting a hook.” In other words, Paul did not trap people into being saved, the way a clever salesman traps people into buying his product. Witnessing and “Christian salesmanship” are different. Salvation does not lie at the end of a clever argument or a subtle presentation. It is the result of God’s Word and the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 1:5).

Paul hated flattery (1 Thessalonians 2:5). David also hated it, “They speak vanity everyone with his neighbor; with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak” (Psalm 12:2). I once read that a flatterer is a person who manipulates rather than communicates. A flatterer can use either truth or lies to achieve his unholy purpose, which is to control your decisions for his own profit.

Some people flatter themselves. “For he flatters himself in his own eyes” (Psalm 36:2 RSV). This was the sin of Haman, that evil man in the Book of Esther. He was so interested in flattering himself that he even plotted to slaughter all the Jews to achieve that goal.

Some people try to flatter God. “Nevertheless they [Israel] did flatter Him [God] with their mouth, and they lied unto Him with their tongues” (Psalm 78:36). Flattery is another form of lying. It means saying one thing to God with our lips while our hearts are far from Him (Mark 7:6).

The Loving Mother (1 Thessalonians 2:7-8) The emphasis of the steward is faithfulness; the emphasis of the mother is gentleness. As an apostle, Paul was a man of authority; but he always used his authority in love. The babes in Christ sensed his tender loving care as he nurtured them. He was indeed like a loving mother who cared for her children.

It takes time and energy to care for children. Paul did not turn his converts over to baby-sitters: he made sacrifices and cared for them himself. He did not tell them to “read a book” as a substitute for his own personal ministry (though good Christian literature can help young believers to grow).

Paul had patience with the new Christians. Children do not grow up instantly. They all experience growing pains and encounter problems as they mature. Paul’s love for them made him patient, because love suffers long, and is kind (1 Corinthians 13:4).

Paul also nourished them. First Thessalonians 2:7 can read, “even as a nursing mother cherishes her own children.” What is the lesson here? A nursing mother imparts her own life to the child. This is exactly what Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 2:8. You cannot be a nursing mother and turn your baby over to someone else. That baby must be in you arms, next to your heart.

The nursing mother eats the food and transforms it into milk for the baby. The mature Christian feeds on the Word of God and then shares its nourishment with the younger believers so they can grow (1 Peter 2:1-3). A nursing child can become ill through a reaction to something the mother has eaten. The Christian who is feeding others must be careful not to feed on the wrong things himself.

A mother also protects her child. It was this fact that enabled King Solomon to discover which woman was the real mother of the living child (1 Kings 3:16-28). Paul was willing to give not only the Gospel but his own life as well. His love for the Thessalonians was so great he would die for them if necessary.

If we do not nurse the new Christians on the milk of the Word, they can never mature to appreciate the meat of the Word (Hebrews 5:10-14).

The Concerned Father (1 Thessalonians 2:9-12) Paul considered himself a “spiritual father” to the believers at Thessalonica, just as he did toward the saints at Corinth. “For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the Gospel” (1 Corinthians 4:15, NASB). The Spirit of God used the Word of God in Paul’s ministry, and many people in Thessalonica were born again into the family of God.

But the father not only produces children; he also cares for them. As he defended his own work against false accusations, Paul pointed out three of his duties as the spiritual father to the Thessalonians.

His work (1 Thessalonians 2:9). The father works to support his family. Even though the Christians in Philippi sent financial help (Philippians 4:15-16), Paul still made tents and paid his own way. No one could accuse him of using his ministry for his own profit. Later on, Paul used this fact to shame the lazy Christians in the Thessalonian church (2 Thessalonians 3:6ff).

Paul used the words “labor and travail.” It was not easy to make tents and minister the Word at the same time. No wonder Paul toiled “night and day” (Acts 20:31). He worked because he loved the believers and wanted to help them as much as possible. “For I seek not yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children” (2 Corinthians 12:14).

His walk (1 Thessalonians 2:10). Fathers must live so that they are good examples to their children. He could call the Thessalonian believers as witnesses that his life had been exemplary in every way. None of the members of the assembly could accuse Paul of being a poor example. God had witnessed Paul’s life; and Paul was not afraid to call God as witnesses that he had lived a dedicated life, while caring for the church family.

His life was holy. Our word pious is close to it, if you think of piety at its best and not as some fake kind of religion. This same word is applied to the character of God in Revelation 15:4, 16:5.

His life was also righteous. This refers to integrity. uprightness of character. and behavior. This is not the “righteousness of the Law” but the practical righteousness that God works out in our lives as we yield to Him (Philippians 3:4-10).

Paul’s life was also blameless. Literally, this word means “not able to find fault in.” His enemies might accuse him, but no one could level any charge against Paul and prove it. Christians are supposed to be “blameless and harmless” as they live in this world. (Philippians 2:15).

His words (1 Thessalonians 2:11-12). A father must not only support the family by working, and teaching the family by being a good example. He must also take time to speak to the family members. Paul knew the importance of teaching these new believers the truths that would help them grow in the Lord.

Paul dealt with each of the believers personally. “For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children” (l Thessalonians 2:11 NIV). As busy as he was, Paul still had time for personal counseling with the members of the church. While it is good for church leaders to address the larger group, spending time with people on a one-to-one basis is also needed. Our Lord was never too busy to speak to individuals, even though He preached to great multitudes. To be sure, this is difficult and demanding work. But it is rewarding work that glorifies God.

Paul encouraged the new believers. Children are easily discouraged, and new Christians need someone to encourage them in the faith. The word exhorting means “to call to one’s side, to encourage.” It does not mean that Paul scolded them. Rather, it means he encouraged them to go on with the Lord.

Paul also comforted them. This word carries the same idea of “encouragement,” with the emphasis on activity. Paul not only made them feel better, but he made them want to do better.

Finally, Paul charged them. This word means that Paul “testified to them” out of his own experience with the Lord. It carries the idea of giving personal witness. Sometimes we go through difficulties so that we may share with new Christians what the Lord has done. God “comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God” (1 Corinthians 1:4 NIV).

What was the purpose for this fatherly ministry to the believers? His aim was that his children might “walk worthy of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:12). Just as a father wants to be proud of his children, so the Lord wants to get glory through the lives of His children. “I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth” (2 John 4 NASB). Paul ministered to them in such a personal way because he was teaching them how to walk.

Every child must learn how to walk. He must have good models to follow. Paul instructs them to walk “worthy of the Lord” (see Colossians 1:10 and Philippians 1:27). We are to walk worthy of the calling we have in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 4:1). God has called us; we are saved by grace. We are a part of His kingdom and glory. One day we shall enter the eternal kingdom and share His glory. This assurance ought to govern our lives and make us want to please the Lord.

The verb in 1 Thessalonians 2:12 is in the present tense: “who is continually calling you.” God called us to salvation (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14), and He is constantly calling us to a life of holiness and obedience. “But as He which has called you is holy, so be holy in all manner of conversation [behavior]: because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy'” (1 Peter 1:15-16).

This passage gives us a beautiful example of New Testament follow-up. Paul has shown us how to raise the babies. He outlined the method of discipleship. We must be faithful stewards, loving mothers, and concerned fathers.

No wonder the church at Thessalonica prospered in spite of persecution, and shared the Gospel with others for miles around. They had been born right (1 Thessalonians 1) and nurtured right (1 Thessalonians 2). This is a good example for us to follow.

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A Clear Sense of Direction

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I love helping people to discern the will of God. It’s not an easy task. Many times they are looking for it in their own lives, but I have a different perspective. I figure if we can find God’s will, purpose and mission in the world, all we have to do is align our lives with that, and we can’t be far off target. God has given us certain principles to live by and we have a wide range of freedom to live within those guidelines. He sets up these guidelines not to punish or restrict us, but to protect us and provide the best.

“There is always time enough in a day to do God’s will.” —Roy Lessin

My pastor, Skip Wallace, gave this message on 14 October 2007, from Isaiah 30:19-21. Here are a few notes…

“Whether you turn to the right or the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it”—Isaiah 30:21

The Holy Spirit is our Guide
The Bible is our map
What is our Compass?

Life “COMPASS”

  1. Constancy – “Speak for your servant is listening” – 1 Samuel 3:10
  2. Others – “I constantly remember you in my prayers” – 2 Timothy 1:3
  3. Motive – “Search my heart, and see if there be any wicked way in me” – Psalm 139:23
  4. Passions – “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” – Philippians 2:13
  5. Aptitudes – “Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people” – 1 Corinthians 12:7, (The Message)
  6. Seasoning – “…though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you…” – Hebrews 5:12
  7. Sensible Decision-making – Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that… Galatians 6:4, (The Message)

Father, what do you want me to do for Your Kingdom?

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Investing in Eternity

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Think for a moment about money and possessions. Americans are spending a significant portion of their incomes on luxury items and recreation—and they are spending it fast. Why wait until you can afford something, if you can charge it and have it instantly? Outstanding consumer debt in this country has skyrocketed, leaving many people in financial shambles. They pursue the “good life,” the so-called “American dream.”

But there is no “good life” you can buy no matter how much money you have. The “American dream” is nothing more than an illusion and chasing that dream can become destructive. I read recently that the more money you have the more likely you are to commit suicide; and life expectancy decreases as income increases. Money adds to stress, and that in turn takes years off your life. I read Pastor John MacArthur who said that “wealth intensifies moral decline and family disintegration. Marital infidelity and divorce rates rise with income levels.” Obviously, money cannot buy happiness.

Truth enjoyment of wealth comes not from possessing it, but from investing it as God intended; into things that count for eternity.

The Story of William Borden (1887-1913).

In 1904 William Borden graduated from a Chicago high school. As heir to the Borden Dairy estate, he was already a millionaire. For his high school graduation present, his parents gave 16-year-old Borden a trip around the world. As the young man traveled through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, he felt a growing burden for the world’s hurting people. Finally, Bill Borden wrote home to say, “I’m going to give my life to prepare for the mission field.”

One friend expressed surprise that he was “throwing himself away as a missionary.” In response, Bill wrote two words in the back of his Bible: “No reserves.”

During his college years, Bill Borden made one entry in his personal journal that defined what his classmates were seeing in him. That entry said simply: “Say ‘no’ to self and ‘yes’ to Jesus every time.”

He was a graduate of Yale University in 1909 and of Princeton Theological Seminary. Borden was converted to Christianity under the ministry of Dwight L. Moody. He later decided to become a missionary to the Muslims of China, but died of spinal meningitis in Egypt during his training there at the age of 25. He is buried in the American Cemetery in Cairo.

When news of William Borden’s death was cabled back to the U.S., the story was carried by nearly every American newspaper. “A wave of sorrow went round the world . . . Borden not only gave (away) his wealth, but himself, in a way so joyous and natural that it (seemed) a privilege rather than a sacrifice” wrote Mary Taylor in her introduction to his biography.

Across town in the Egyptian National Museum is another grave, this one is called the King Tut Exhibit. The Boy King was only 17 when he died and his tomb was filled with literally tons of gold. The Egyptians believed in the afterlife, and that you could take it with you. But all of King Tut’s eternal treasures stayed right there until Howard Carter discovered his burial chamber in 1922. It hadn’t been seen or touched in 3000 years.

There are two graves in Cairo, one is off the beaten path, dusty and littered with garbage while the other is filled with unimaginable wealth. Our phrase of the month has been “you can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead.” One had invested in eternity and the other did not.

Scripture for Today: 1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19

This life is preparation for eternity; we brought nothing into this world and will take nothing out of it either. So how can believers send our treasure on ahead?

At the end of this passage, Paul talks about building a foundation, building a house somewhere in eternity. It’s metaphorical, yet speaks to the fact that we can take hold of what is “true life.” Many people today say they are looking for “the good life.” But Paul goes one step further and says, “if you understand how to be a good steward of what God has given you, and don’t let what you possess, possess you, you will learn about “the true life.”

An old story tells of a wealthy man who getting on in years called in a faithful employee, who had been with him a long time. He gave this trusted employee some surprising instructions. He said, “I am going on a world tour. I will be gone for a year. While I am gone I want you to build me a house. I have already purchased the lot. Here’s the check that will cover all the expenses. I want you to take this money and build a nice house. Draw up the plans yourself and do it extremely well. I will see you when I get back.”

So the old man departed and the employee went to work. With shrewd purchasing he cut corners at several points in the construction process. He used inferior materials at every opportunity, especially at those places that wouldn’t be easily seen.

Finally the house was completed and he produced a beautiful, exterior shell that covered a shoddy piece of workmanship. He lined his own pockets with several thousand dollars that he had saved by cutting corners. After all he thought to himself, the old man wouldn’t know the difference. He would never miss the money. So what if the house wasn’t that well constructed, he wasn’t going to be living in it that long anyway.

The first day back from the trip the old man wanted to see his house and so they drove there and as they were driving he said to his trusted employee, “You may have wondered why I wanted you to build this house.” “Yes I did” the employee admitted. The old man said, “Because I have a really nice house already.” “I know you do,” said the employee. The old man said, “Well you have been a faithful assistant for all these many years, I wanted to find a way to show you my appreciation. Here are the keys. The house is yours.”

What kind of spiritual house are we building with the money that God has entrusted to us? That’s really what Paul is talking about. Because in 19 he says, “they will lay up a treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age. That you might take hold of life that is truly life.”

You know he is not just talking to rich folks. Every believer is commanded to store up treasure in heaven. But how? While Paul addresses the issue of money in this passage, it’s more than just money and how much we put in the offering plate.

Robert Fulgum is a well-known author. He has written a series of best sellers the most popular probably is, “All I Really Need to Know, I learned in Kindergarten.” His books have grown to 15 to 20 million copies, in 30 languages, and 100 countries. He is pretty well off financially I would guess and as a way of keeping his spiritual life centered, do you know what he does? He visits his own cemetery plot. I don’t know what’s wrong with him but he said he likes to visit it. In spite of his great wealth, he said it reminds him to live life in a way that is rich toward God. And when he goes and visits his own cemetery plot he will sit down and he will say this to himself. “Don’t get lost here,” meaning this life, “Don’t get lost here. Know where you are going.” I don’t believe he was just thinking, know you’re going to die someday, but know you’re going to give an account and you don’t want to cheat yourself when you give an account of your heavenly investments.

So what is the key to investing in eternity? What are the marks of a good expirement plan? Well, let’s take a walk through this passage to discover how. Notice your outline in the bulletin, so you can follow along and fill in the blanks so we can I.N.V.E.S.T. in Eternity…

I – Interest as a means of great gain (1 Timothy 6:6)

Skip mentioned last week about the value of compounded interest. I’m not a math person and can’t explain it like he did, but I know the chart can have an exponential rise at the end. As we seek to live our lives for God, we are joined with a community of faith that adds even more to what we bring to God. It is like the value of the Cooperative Program, where many churches can do so much more together than one church can do alone. Same thing goes for individual believers. People can support causes, do random acts of kindness, and live a godly life, but when we all come together we can see the exponential nature of the body of Christ in action. Working together and individually we lay up treasure in heaven.

N – Nothing was brought into this world (1 Timothy 6:7)

Notice that we came into the world with everything that belongs to us. So everything that we currently say belongs to us is really not ours. You can’t take it with you. That is what stewardship is all about. Last week we learned about the first Treasure Principle Key, that “God owns everything, I’m his money manager.”

If you are a Lord of the Rings fan, you understand that the whole point of the third part is the return of the king. The city of Gondor has no king, but a steward to manage it until the king’s return. There is a tragic end for Denethor, the steward of Gondor, when he refuses to give up his power and submit to the rightful King. We are stewards of all that we possess, and nothing physical will be taken into eternity.

V – Volunteers are essential to winning (1 Chronicles 12:38 NIV)

“All these were fighting men who volunteered to serve in the ranks. They came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel.” Volunteers are essential to any successful venture. The church is a volunteer organization and the ministry that happens here is done not because of staff but because of the faithful people who have embrace the mission and vision of this congregation. In this passage, these fighting men volunteered to serve in the ranks, on the ground, where the fighting was hard, and their mission was to make David King. Noticed they were not half-hearted but were determined. Are we fully resolved to the mission of making Jesus King over all the land?

What positions will we take? Where is the battle raging the most? Let me suggest that nowhere is the battle more necessary than working with our children and youth. We often say these areas are important because we are raising the next generation of the church, but they ARE the church, now. What better way to invest in eternity than to volunteer to work with our preschoolers, children and teenagers?

There is something I noticed in the church constitution, Article V. Membership, Section 3 – Duties of Members… Every member is expected to be faithful in all duties essential to the Christian life, and also to attend the services of this church, give regularly to its support and causes, and share in its organized work.

Take out your Connection Card right now and look at the back. Mark the box about investing in our children and circle your age preference. You may be serving in many areas of the church, but not everyone is that determined. Please don’t say that you’ve been there and done that. We all must have the attitude that if we don’t do it, it won’t get done. Every week when we come to church, we must look for a place to serve before we find a place to sit. If you physically can’t do the task, can you help recruit other volunteers? Can you talk on the phone to encourage people, follow up with guests, serve on a committee, or make reminder phone calls to others who are scheduled to serve? It’s time for all of God’s people to stand up and volunteer to serve in the ranks, because Jesus needs to be the king over all the land.

E – Evil vs. Eternal, rather than temporal (1 Timothy 6:10, 17, 19)

Paul mentions that the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil. Money is not inherently bad; Dave Ramsey says that money is amoral. It can be used for good purposes and can be spent of bad choices. It’s the love of money that causes us to change our behavior. It makes us put finances and possessions on a higher level of priority than relationships. Rather than loving people and using things, we start to love things and use people.

Randy Alcorn in this book The Treasure Principle, says that “Money Leads, Hearts Follow.” This is exactly what Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, where your treasure is, there will be your heart also (Matthew 6:21). We tend to get that backwards. We believe that where our heart is, we will support that passion. Have you ever wanted a heart for missions? Then put your money into missions and your heart will follow. So, the second Treasure Principle Key is that “my heart always goes where I put my money.”

If you want to invest in eternity, take a look at where you have stored your treasure. Are you thinking on a short-term temporary level or do you see your giving as investing in God’s kingdom?

S – Sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2) and Salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2)

Paul tells us that we are to be holy and living sacrifices, transformed by the renewing of our minds. Sometimes we just need to get rid of our stinkin’ thinkin’ and start thinking in a new way, God’s way. Giving and serving is a sacrifice, but the rewards in eternity far outweigh any temporary inconvenience. We sacrifice ourselves because we love God and love others. Salvation of people is God’s main desire, and Paul tells the Corinthians that today is the acceptable time, today is the day of salvation. So how about you? Where are you on the journey of faith? Searching? Starting? Drawing nearer? Investing yourself into God kingdom? Walking day by day, living a life of faith? None of us has arrived because we continue on this journey of becoming more like Jesus until the day we see him face to face.

T – Treasure – a solid foundation (1 Timothy 6:19)

Storing up treasure in heaven is the good foundation for the future. Paul tells us that one day we will take hold of that which is “true life.” This life is only a vapor and we don’t know when our time is up, so we must spend this life in preparation for eternity. What treasure is he talking about? According to 6:18, it could be about money and generous giving, or about being rich in good works (which leads to the next point)…

I – Involvement and Instruction (1 Timothy 6:18)

I’m not sure we can be rich in good works without first getting informed and involved. We should never be comfortable with what we know about the Bible but always strive to go toward higher levels of commitment to Christ and his church. This is all about the body of Christ being a community of faith. We grow and serve together in order to bring about the kingdom of God. We have weekly Bible studies and small groups to help people get to know Christ and grow in their spiritual development. We are not meant to just believe the right stuff about Jesus, but to be involved in his mission here on earth. How are you involved? What changes need to take place to get connected to the mission of God?

N – Needs within the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:25-27, 31)

We are all part of a spiritual body, made up of different parts. They all work together in order to make a complete whole. Christians were never intended to live life as individual believers. We are what is called the church. We don’t go to a church, we ARE the church. Just as a body has many members, the church has many members who fulfill the needs of others. If the body is healthy, we work together to accomplish the mission of God.

G – Growth in Godliness and Generosity (1 Timothy 6:6, 18)

Notice what Paul says is great gain. Is it money or finances? Nope. Godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment. Are you committed to growing in godliness? It is a lifelong process where God cuts away all the parts that don’t resemble his Son. We are investing in eternity when we are actively growing in godliness.

Notice also in 1 Timothy 6:18, that Paul challenges us to be generous. The true nature of God is that he is a giver. He gave us his Son to bring us to salvation; he gave us everlasting life as a free gift; he gives hope and purpose and meaning in this life. We are never more like God than when we are giving. Yes, that’s money. Jesus actually spoke a lot about actual earthly treasures, but it is also giving of ourselves to the Lord and then to others by the will of God (2 Corinthians 8:5).

After his death, Borden’s Bible was found and given to his parents. In it they found in one place the words “No Reserve” and a date placing the note shortly after he renounced his fortune in favor of missions. At a later point, he had written “No Retreat,” dated shortly after his father told him that he would never let him work in the company ever again. Then shortly before he died, when in Egypt, he added the phrase “No Regrets.”

God may not call you to the international mission field, but it is an insult to our faith if we don’t ask the question, “What do you want from me?” or “What do you want me to do?” There are many needs in this congregation and many pathways to serving in this place. The first step is to embrace the mission, then we can submit to the father’s direction, get out of the boat and onto the water where Jesus is calling out your name.

On Borden’s tombstone:

A Man in Christ
He arose and forsook all and followed Him
Kindly affectioned with brotherly love
Fervent in spirit serving the Lord
Rejoicing in hope
Patient in tribulation
Instant in prayer
Communicating to the necessity of saints
In honour preferring others

Apart from faith in Christ there is no explanation for such a life.

What will people say about you? Are there changes you need to make in your life to invest more in eternity?

The Superhero Within You

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Couple of weeks ago Skip talked about transformation, metamorphosis, and mentioned the Incredible Hulk. It got me thinking about the awesome power that God has placed inside of every believer. So, I’ll just come right out and ask you point blank…if you could have any superpower, what would it be?

You know you’ve thought about it, because science has proven that everybody has thought about it. I think. And this just might reveal what is really going on in that head of yours! The superpower you choose will probably be an extension of your deepest fears or feelings of insecurity. But then again, mind reading is not my superpower, so what answers come to your mind?

For me? I’ve gone through a whole series of potential choices, starting with the less impressive, to the “whoa, that would be so cool!” Sort of like the X-men world. You know, like, a guy who can actually fly a paper airplane at will, to a girl who might shred the known universe because she’s having a bad hair day.

You’ve see the X-men movies? Cyclops has laser beam vision. Storm could bring on about any sort of weather. Jean Gray could move things with her mind. Rouge could take the life out of you with just a touch. Wolverine had these three metal blades that came out of his hands and could heal his wounds… Magneto could use the power of magnets and steel to bring about the downfall of the known world. That’s right; there are a few X-men that could use their power for evil rather than good.

Anyway, for me, I started with something very simple – Perhaps it was only the power of cheese, but I thought through the usual choices like flying, freezing time, invisibility, flying through frozen time while invisible, but finally ended up with the best choice for me:

My superpower would be the ability to get more superpowers. I thought this was a unique gift until I noticed that the TV program Heroes had a guy who could do just that… and he turned out to be the villain. I think it’s sort of like Aladdin wishing for more wishes in the Genie scenario, only this time it’s allowed. That way I’d never run out of choices!

But we all know, this conversation is sort of like Nacho Libre’s habit of wearing stretchy pants in his room – it’s for fun. In the real world we don’t have superpowers…or do we?

According to the Bible, you don’t have a superpower – but you do have a supernatural ability. It’s not what you think – you won’t be able to see through walls or shoot spider webs from your palms, but you will be able to do things that are beyond your natural abilities that effect things beyond this natural world.

Sound interesting? It should, because it’s one of the coolest parts of being a Christian. When you trusted Christ as your personal Savior, God sent His Holy Spirit to live inside you – and when He ‘moved in’, He brought a unique ability that’s custom designed to be used in great and powerful ways.

Here’s the way the Bible describes what I’m talking about:

God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen. (I Peter 4:10-11)

Wow! That’s a lot of amazing information in a short time – so let’s take a closer look.

  1. First, notice that God has given each of us a spiritual gift – not just pastors and ‘super-spiritual’ saints. Every Christian on the planet is sitting on a powder keg of spiritual power just waiting to blow apart the gates of hell.
  2. Second, Peter tells us that when we use our spiritual gifts or abilities, God’s power flows through us to do amazing things. Peter wants you and every Christian to discover that we all have a supernatural ability that can literally change the world for an eternity. When Spirit filled Christians use their Spirit given gifts to the glory of God, lives are changed, souls are saved, and the world is a better place because of your willingness.

We’ve just gone through an evaluation process involving our mission and vision here at King’s Grant. The only way for God to move through this congregation is for all of His children to use the gift He’s given to them, to serve and reach out to others.

We are called to be the stewards of the lives God has given to us. The Bible has a lot to say about stewardship. We are to be good stewards of everything the Owner has given us. If we are truly His hands and feet, then the task of “Bringing all the peoples of the earth to saving faith in Jesus Christ” is to be taken literally, and personally. That is what the Great Commission is all about. God has called many to be obedient goers (missionaries), but He calls all of us to be faithful witnesses, servants and stewards.

Luke records a marvelous story about stewardship, although that’s not what this story is known for. I believe every person here will focus upon one person in this story, a person in whom you can identify. The story is the Good Samaritan, and the story begins with an ordinary guy.

I. The Certain Man – What’s mine is mine, if I can keep it.

Most people might fit into this category, especially in America, as compared to the rest of the world.

  1. People’s possessions – their stuff, upgrades
  2. People’s plans – life goals and dreams, your future, career plans, college (missionary, ministry)
  3. People’s possibilities – their giftedness, talents

II. The Corrupt Men – What’s yours is mine, if I can take it.

Many of us know people with this attitude, maybe not criminals and muggers personally, but with other things like selfish ambition and jealousy. Many people don’t want to work for their own successes, but would rather take things from others, to build themselves up, and their careers.

  1. How often are people out to get something from you?
  2. Your time or money, (people want to use your time and money, rather than their own).
  3. Your homework, information on a test (cheating, stealing, plagiarism)
  4. Your support, commitment, or endorsement…
  5. A lot of things can easily keep you from doing the important things of life.

There is a story that I read many years ago, a short booklet called, “The Tyranny of the Urgent.”

There are a lot of urgent things (perhaps even worthwhile things) that come into our lives each and every day, and then the important things can sometimes get put to the side. Think of all the important things in your live that if you do not do them, they literally will not get done:

  1. Supporting my family and raising my children
  2. Sustaining my quiet time with God.
  3. Setting up my Sunday school lesson
  4. Securing my financial future.

Now think about your giftedness and the work to be done here. Could it be that if you don’t join God in what He is doing, it will not get done? We are the hands and feet of God in this world. God has given us the ministry of reconciliation. If we don’t do it, who will? Is our service to God something that is urgent or is it something that is important?

III. The Clergy Men – What’s yours is yours, and you can keep it.

Many people don’t like getting involved in the lives of other people. At the very least, we feel that we can throw some money at the problem, but not get personally involved. The trick is learning how to discern between the “robbers” and the “religious men.” Perhaps it is not an easy task in these days of scandal. People say, “I just don’t have time to get involved, so I don’t, and expect someone else to do it.”

  1. Perhaps I won’t go work in that downtown mission, with those kinds of people.
  2. Perhaps I won’t befriend that girl in my class because she’s just not cool like me and my friends.
  3. Perhaps I won’t stand up for or help the boy that is bullied by the rest of the guys on my team.
  4. Perhaps I won’t invite my classmate or co-worker to my church because they might think I’m some Bible toting Jesus freak.

But there are some people who want to do more, to get personally involved. They schedule their time for the important things, and can’t wait to see how God can use them for the work of His kingdom.

IV. The Committed Man – What’s mine is yours, if you’ll have it.

Christians all over this city and county desire God’s name to be lifted up, lives touched, families changed forever, men praying openly without fear and leading their families toward commit to Christ and obedience to His Word.

You are here at church. You are the faithful who come to church to learn how to be a better minister of the gospel, to learn something new. I remember hearing Rick Warren of the Saddleback Community Church tell about a time when he was at this conference several years ago, with the pastors of the top 25 largest churches in America. The pastors were all together, and he was invited to speak about the miracle growth at Saddleback. As he spoke, he saw W.A. Criswell, the then pastor of First Dallas, taking notes. It really spoke to him that someone as influential as Criswell would was still interested in learning something new and taking notes! He said it was a humbling experience.

So, it will be an insult to your faith and the God we serve if after hearing a message like this, that we do not ask ourselves the question, “What can I do?”

Look for the superhero deep within you. Find your superhero ability and use it for the service of others. What does your Spidey sense tell you? What can you do for the kingdom of God? Sort of beats shooting spider webs – ya think?

Speaking of Spidey – God is challenging us to be good stewards of the gift he has given to us. At the end of the first Spider-Man movie that should be one of the first things you think about each day: ” Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ ”

By the time Peter Parker is in the second movie, something changed. He is more interested in a relationship with MJ, and he knows being Spider-Man will forever put her in danger. He figures that if he was no longer Spider-Man, he could follow his personal dream. Let’s look at this brief video that is a perfect picture of God calling us to be good stewards of what He has given to us.

The great part is that discovering and using the superhero inside you, it’s not difficult.

  1. Start with reading what the Bible says about spiritual gifts and praying.
  2. Ask Him to give you a passion for your gift and to open doors where you can use it.
  3. Also, ask your Christian friends, family, pastor, youth leader, etc. what they think your spiritual gift is and how they see you using it.

Your spiritual gifts represent great power – and you have a great responsibility to find out what they are and use them. God is sitting with you right now, with his hand extended, “Take my hand Peter” and those haunting words of Peter Parker fill our thought, and we say to the God of the universe, “No, I’m Spider-Man no more.” How can we casually walk away, and break our Father’s heart and dash His plans for our lives?

So I’ll come right out and ask you point blank again…you definitely have a spiritual gift, so how are you going to use it? The Bible says… “Many gifts, One Spirit.”