Week 5 – Taking Practical Steps
Sermon Outline
Introduction
Illustration
My wife, my children and I are in the car going for a drive. My children are continuously asking, "are we there yet?”. Often it goes something like… Toilet stops, food stops, toilet stops, leg stretch stops, swapping seats stops, toilet swaps…
Zach is often disinterested from the start, preferring to keep to himself by reading something, listening to music, or even going to sleep.
Noah will be observing things – taking notice of what's happening both in the car and outside the car. He'll often be considerate of others needs in the car willing to prioritise others over himself.
Jonah will be very chatty wanting to know what's going on, where we're going, why we're going, who we think will be there, what we're taking with us – all the details that give him an understanding of what's happening.
Sometimes there'll be a disagreement or three – about where they think we're going and where we're actually going, about what is the right way to colour in a book, play eye spy.
Sometimes there'll be such a harmony amongst them it almost seems heavenly.
Can anyone relate?
We as a congregation over the past five weeks have been on a journey.
Some of you have been reluctant passengers.
Some of you have fallen asleep.
Some of you have preferred to ignore the journey, and read your own thing.
Some of you have stepped out and served the body of Christ in new and exciting ways, allowing others to gain a keener understanding of what it is to see the kingdom come.
Some have had your eyes widened, realising what God is doing amongst his people.
Some of you have been asking lots of questions, trying to determine how your new understanding interfaces with what you previously understood about God, his church and the growth of his people.
CYW Campaign – Practically Finished?
Are we there yet? Yes and No.
Yes this is the conclusion of the Campaign. We've wrestled with, to some, new concepts. We've reminded ourselves of some concepts that perhaps have been on the backburner of our lives.
No, we've only just begun. The idea that we suddenly stop growing, stop
Time to get even more intentional and practical. It doesn't really matter how much we know unless it permeates in the way we live our lives. Life in all its fullness – that's the very purpose behind Jesus hitting the pavement on earth.
A person I know, who is full of great ideas and concepts, is able to articulate them pretty well, but none of them are prevalent in his life. The fruit of our life will be key. People will know us by our genuine fruit – not facade fruit, not cosmetic fruit, not fruit that is mere form over substance, but fruit that flows from within. Like Jesus said, it is not the outside that causes people to be unclean, but that which emanates from the heart.
James 1:23-25
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.
Working Together
1 Corinthians 3:9,11
For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. … No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
"fellow workers” – denoting a togetherness, an inner agreement, fellowship, harmony of experience, partnership with God
"field” – cultivated land, farm
"building” – looking at building a home, often look at the facade rather than the integrity of the structure. Our relationship with God provides us with a capacity to have integrity in our personal lives. But necessarily corporate lives as well.
Working together – necessary function of being Christ followers is that we work together.
Romans 14:19
Let us make every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual edification.
Illustration
When my children get into the pool, they have to do it together. Only one boy cannot be the "pool envoy”. It requires them to get into the pool at the same time. They say something like "I'll go if you go”.
I had a similar experience when I was leading a Youth Group a few years back. A lot of the young people were saying something like "If Mark goes to the activity, I will go. But if he doesn't, then I probably won't.” If the key influencers were attending the activity, most of the Youth Group would be there.
We do that sometimes as we live our life within the community of faith. I'll do something about relational restoration if he does. Or when she makes the first move I'll respond.
However, God calls us to "make every effort” – this is a fairly onerous level. We are all encouraged to participate in speaking life into the lives of others in our church. We all have a capacity to encourage, affirm, challenge, equip and support each other.
It's similar to the way of the geese. When they are flying together, they "honk”. They are cheering each other on. They are encouraging them to continue; to persist. They are saying, "hey you're doing a great job. Together we can make this flight.”
Practical Steps – Corporately
Articulate the practical steps that are being undertaken by the church, in a corporate context, in response to the NCD results.
Practical Steps – Individually
Corporate necessarily is the sum total of all the components.
Illustration
The way of the beavers. North American Indians believe that the beavers know that they (the beavers) all have a role to play in building the dam, and they can rely on each other to make a difference to the whole family of beavers.
Only when we all understand and respond to that which is in our realm can we, as the church, make a difference in the lives of people outside the kingdom. But it requires a sober assessment of where we are at and where we want to go to.
Hands up if you agree that God calls all of us to be more like Jesus?
Hands up if you are already, in all ways, like Jesus?
Hands up if there are areas in your life that don't quite reflect the thoughts, the words and the actions of Jesus.
So keep your hand up if you need to grow.
GROW acrostic….
Goals
More like Jesus
Reality
Felt a little sick? Felt a little off colour? (pics of man with painting p 50 CYWwNCD)
Low in green, blue or red
By identifying your personal maximum factor of one Quality Characteristic (QC), and your personal minimum factor in another QC, you can identify the area(s) in the life of the church where you can show (your personal maximum factor) and where you can grow (your personal minimum factor).
Options
Examples of the sorts of things you could do:
Make a commitment, over the next week, to seriously consider what you will do.
Walk across the room and start a conversation with someone.
Identify in what Christmas Ministry Opportunity you would like to serve. Challenge others in your relational network about their desire to re-present the gift of life – Jesus - this Christmas.
Ask a member of the Leadership Team how you can serve in our community of faith in 2007.
Pray, praising God for the gift of Jesus and petitioning God for the opportunity to share your faith.
Find someone who is underdeveloped in the area in which you are well developed – whether it is the colour compass position or personal minimum factor – and ask them how you could walk along side them to help them grow in this area.
Find someone who is well developed in the area in which you are underdeveloped – whether it is the colour compass position or personal minimum factor – and ask them to walk along side you to help you grow in this area.
Be open to the possibility that someone may approach you to help them develop in an area of their life in which you are well developed.
Invite someone over for a meal or coffee.
Encourage someone in their faith walk by phone, fax, sms, email, pigeon, smoke signals, semaphore.
What Now?
Philippians 3:13,14
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me.
Response
Illustration
Mark was always concerned about his nephew, Paul. Paul seemed to be spending less time with his father. There would always be something more important.
Mark's wife would always be encouraging him to speak to Paul about his relationship with his Dad.
Mark would always offer excuses like "I don't feel it's my place, or he seems to be changing, or now's not a good time, or I don't want to damage our relationship, or I wouldn't know what to say or where to start”. Essentially he was saying "I'll do it later”.
Eventually the relationship between Paul and his Dad deteriorated to such an extent that they weren't even speaking.
Often, we want to put off speaking into someone's life. We want to find a "better” time. We don't want to take the next step. Well, people's relationship with their Heavenly Father could be compromised eternally if we don't take the next step. There is something that we can do. Are you ready to take the next practical step to see the kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven? Are you prepared to respond to what you sense God is calling you?
(At our church, we asked congregants to write on a "footprint” what their next step would be. We then committed their decision to God in prayer.)
Colour Your World
What is your world? Let's start colouring in your world – your geographic world, your relational world, your workday world. Let's thank God for choosing you to be who you are: an essential part of his plan to reveal his love to millions of people.