08.17.2008 God, People, Church, World

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08.17.2008 Grace Summit - God, People, Church, World from Grace Summit on Vimeo

Opening Worship

08.17.2008 - Grace Summit Community Church Worship from Grace Summit on Vimeo

We want our lives to glorify You – not just our words and songs, but our lives. That is Your desire for us – to live lives that please You. Speak to our hearts; Move in our church. Thank You for the past few weeks of hearing of those who have gone to the difficult places in the world – to the challenging and dangerous places of the world. We ask a blessing upon those who are serving You. May Your Spirit move in our hearts and church.

Jim Tressel wrote a new book – it is called “The Winners Manual.” Jim Tressel is a committed Christian and has led many players to Christ. This book – when he first became a head coach at Youngstown, he put together a 70 page notebook for his players. He had been around great coaches and through the years had put together a lot of the things he had learned from them.

Every OSU player now gets a 400 page notebook. It is geared toward organizations and churches. There were a few good sections.

Goals are important, but people are not defined by goals. A win or loss does not make you or me a better human being. We have lost perspective on truth – who we are needs to be separated from what we do. Distinguish between purpose and goals.

Only 1 team will win the Super Bowl – only one will win the BCS. We try to avoid tying success to performance – though their performance is tied to their goals, it does not define who they are.

Our self-image was not crushed after those defeats. We were still successful.

Fulfilling our purpose is part of who we are – but the dreams/goals we have is part of what we do. Goals don’t define who we are.

Our focus needs to be on our purpose.

The Westminster confession: “The chief aim of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

The Mike Marette Confession: “To live in a right relationship with God and accomplish His work on earth.”

That is it – to live in a right relationship with God and to accomplish what He has called us to do. You can live in a right relationship with God – and you can do what He has called you to do.

Jesus said it this way – to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. And to love your neighbor. You can do that. Every Christian can accomplish this. Not every Christian can lead a great ministry. Not every Christian will be a missionary to the most difficult parts of the world. But all of us can learn to love God with all our hearts. It is the great commandment.

I’d like to give us an understanding how to live out our purpose – both personally and as a church.

Basic principles – and why we do things the way we do. What we do here, we do so you and I can live out and discover God’s purpose and calling in our lives.

4 areas –

God Our relationship with God is where it begins. If you don’t get that right, you can get rid of the rest. It begins with a right relationship with God. If there is something wrong in your relationship, you will struggle in understanding what He wants for you. If you are not being receptive to what God is trying to do, there will be confusion and misunderstanding and you will be puzzled about what He is calling you to.

People – Community. Those closest, your family – but goes beyond that.

Church – you discover your purpose first with God and then people and then the church. We have been called to be a part of the church.

World – Missions. These are the arenas in which we live. This is clear.

What we as a church have done – we have four simple structures to help us understand these four areas. I believe these are Biblical.

God – Worship – What happens here on Sunday – worship – our Sunday service. The primary purpose is to focus our attention on God. You are to come here for God. That is the primary reason. Secondarily – One another – fellowship – to connect – but primarily – that we might be with God and praise God and hear from God.

Within 3 minutes – both candidates - - they had obviously read the first page of Warren’s book – it is not about us!

It is about God. It is first about us giving God His rightful place. Our singing is about coming before Him and praising Him. It is not about feeling better. I’m not saying you should feel worse – but You feel better when you focus your attention on God. So we have that.

2 weeks ago we were at a leadership conference. One of the ministries – International Justice Mission. A lawyer who went on some mission trips – and realized - There are at least 27 million in the world who are in slavery. Many young girls as sex slaves. This ministry helps to get people out of these situations. He shared story after story – and how the church can get so petty – we are not concerned about the things that God is concerned about. What is in it for me? Is what we ask too often.

People - Community – fellowship – takes place on Sundays – and that is a way to begin to connect. But if you want to stay connected – and have those relationships in life where you experience care and community, you need to be involved in a group – a small community that ties your family to others. We have many ways to do this – Men’s, Women’s, couples, etc. They are always an encouragement. No one is ever disappointed that they came. We pray for one another. “Thanks for this group and the opportunity to be here” – we need that in life – connections that go beyond – care, support, and accountability – that others know what is really going on to make progress and grow.

Church – Ministries – this is strength in our church. Close to half the church is involved in the worship ministry! J Over half the church is involved in children’s ministries. This is great.

World – Missions – we need to grow in this area. We have been doing it locally with Urban Vision and involvement in the Kent State church plant. We are looking to expand that.

That is basically the simple structure we have set up for you to get involved so you can be fulfilling God’s purpose for your life. It is up to you to figure out how to connect and make these work. Simply coming to church on Sunday won’t do it. (That doesn’t mean don’t come to church on Sunday!). There are many ways to engage and at different levels.

With that as a foundation – I will take people from the Bible – and how these folks discovered and lived out their purpose.

Today, we will start with God. God has given us these lives as examples –as patterns to follow. The way God worked in people’s lives can be the same way He will work in our lives today. Obviously the circumstances and location will be different, and we might not have angels visiting us – but the principles remain.

Genesis 12 – Abraham – a friend of God. He is the only one I know of who is called a friend of God. It is not like trying to solve a Rubik’s cube. I just peel off the stickers. But God’s purpose and will for our lives is not that way – you think you have this area down and the other area is gone…

Where you will live, who you will marry – that is all based on – we figure it out as we have a deeper understanding of God’s sovereignty and our choice – we won’t get into that today. But Abraham had a right relationship with God.

Gen. 12:1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. 2 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." 4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran

God is the Initiator. He comes first and speaks and calls. It starts with a word from God. It is no different for you – God is calling – He wants to speak a word into your life. As he spoke this word into Abraham’s life - …God does this today – He speaks into our lives. Three aspects – A word from God requires a response. Often, we do not hear or understand God’s word – that we are receiving a word, because we are unwilling to respond. It requires action and obedience. For Abraham – what did he do? When God said Go! What did he do? He went. He obeyed. Jesus’ first words to his disciples – “Follow me!” What were His last words? “GO!” His word requires us to act.

A lot of people – we want God’s word to be fantastic – at times that happens. Sometimes, when we get a word from God – most of the times, it is very simple. A lot of times, I might be lying in bed and I realize that I offended my wife. And God’s word comes really clear. Apologize! Then there is that point – you can let it go – and it eats at you! Will you respond? When you learn to respond to those small words (they are not really small) then you are prepared to respond to the extraordinary words from God. When God speaks to you – stop that – do this! It requires obedience.

This response requires a sacrifice. Abraham is to go forth and to leave his father’s house. There is sacrifice. All of his security is to be left. There is a sense – in following God’s word, there will always be sacrifice. It will require some loss. When Rick and Carol shared about going on the mission field and taking their young family away from the rest of the family – there is sacrifice there. When God calls, he tests what is dear to our heart. God is not calling you to leave your spouse – because He says other things about that – nor is He calling a 12 year old to leave his family…

Faith.

Heb. 11 8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going

When you get a word from God – oftentimes, you don’t know the outcome of what obeying will do. That requires faith. We want the specifics about God’s will. That takes an entire life to learn. He went out not knowing where he was going. Go! Leave! It takes faith to step out and go and leave. God may lay something on your heart – a need. At the Summit conference – there was a woman – 25 years old making 250000 per year – and God called her to move to Texas to reach out to prisoners. She started an incredible ministry – lives are being changed. A 25 year old girl. God calls us.

It requires a response.

It comes with a promise.

Gen. 12:1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. 2 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." 4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran

This call comes with a promise. Abraham – I will make your name great. It is a personal blessing. In calling us, God is calling us to His purpose and work because He wants to do great things in and through us. God wants to make all our names great. He wants to bless us! But this is not about fame and power and wealth. It may be insignificant in the world’s perspective – but it is great from God’s perspective. God’s desire is for greatness in His Kingdom.

The second aspect of the promise – it is altruistic. In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Psalm 67 – God blesses us that we might be a blessing to others.

God doesn’t bless for you to hold it; he only blesses that you might give it.

There is always human compromise.

Gen. 12: 4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.

The word was to leave your father’s house – your relatives – When God’s word comes to us – we always look for a way to hold back a tiny bit – Abram took Lot with him. He wanted security by taking Lot with him. Eventually he needed to separate from Lot.

God didn’t stop working – and it is true for us. We will obey – but we may hold on. But God works through that in our lives. Wherever you are in your failure, it is through the failure in life that God works out His purpose.

As you look at the people in the Bible, God works through the failure to lead them to His purpose. Peter – Failure, failure, failure…but then, Jesus sits down – and says in effect – I will take what you think has ruined you and use it to fulfill my purpose. God wants to take those things in our lives – the lessons that we learn – to fulfill His purposes in our lives.

Thank You that You have called us to Yourself. Lord, that You want to give us a word from You today – today, we can hear from You – You still speak. You wish to make us great in Your kingdom – in Your will – not our selfishness, it is not about us. You can take all of our failure – where we have fallen down and through that fulfill Your purpose. In Your name we pray.