November 13, 2016

As you make your way back to your seats, let me highlight another couple of announcements the keenagers meet this Tuesday evening. It's also the last day on Tuesday by 4 to bring some of the toys for their drive with Appalachian Mission of Hope and they have a special Thanksgiving program plan this evening. So take note of those details in the bulletin regarding the key majors and we'll share a few more announcements later in the service too. But we I read a story once and I may have shared this but it always sticks in my mind when I think about this concept of a gentleman who had a neighbor who had a really fine manicured lawn and his lawn was always kind of messed up in muddy because he was always playing ball on his front lawn with his kids and one day the gentleman said, you know, you're you're really tearing up your your yard by doing that and the guy said, well, I'm not I'm not raising grass raising a family and he had that inside to realize you know, what it don't I don't need to worry about that when I'm doing Bigger than whether my lawn is manicured properly, but I think sometimes we miss the forest for the trees right? Sometimes we can be so focused on something right in front of us that we missed the larger picture of why we're doing that to begin with especially with family or with others or relationships. We can we can slip into that mistake. And so I want to look at scripture and kind of remind yourself of what God is up to the work of God in human history it if you broke it down and in Broad terms here's what's going on God is Desiring and working to restore broken relationships through the gospel. You can see that all through scripture from Genesis to Revelation. Even from the beginning after the relationship was broken God prophesize even then in Genesis. That one. There's going to be this rescue this Savior and It All Leads up in scripture to Christ coming and in the message of Christ coming the gospel itself as the means by which God is referred. Those broken relationships when you look at scripture in Matthew 28, we know the Great Commission that he said here's what I want you to do when it's all said and done already been given to me. I want you to go and I want you to teach the gospel. I want you to share the good news and I want you to teach folks to live by that gospel to obey everything that I've taught you to have their life based on that gospel Romans. 1:16. Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the Gospel Force the power of God unto salvation the gospel at 7th and 2nd Corinthians 5 18 through 20. We're familiar with these verses Paul says and all of this is a gift speaking about the gospel the work of Crisis Ministry his life death and Resurrection. All of this is a gift from God who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us the task of reconciling people to him for God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself no longer counting people's sins against them and he gave us this wonderful. Message of reconciliation. So we are Christ's ambassadors. God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead come back to God. At the heart of what God is doing all throughout human history. That's that's it bigger picture that if we're not careful we can miss sometimes that what God is about is is reconciling us to him and calling us to be about that Ministry of inviting others back to God's not counting their sins against them as Paul says but instead saying come back to God be reconciled to God when we look at the scriptures were reminded of those Court Ruth. Secondly, the second thing that God is doing in history is he he's restoring broken people through restored relationships. So as people hear the gospel and they convert and they give their life to Christ and they gather together like this. That's the church that's the body of Christ and and that Gathering of those who are not perfect but we are in the process of being restored to God. We're learning about the gospel. We're learning how to obey everything that he talked. We're becoming more and more restored in our own lives and the way we live As we study scripture as we started when Jesus said teach them to obey everything that I taught you that's what we do. We're learning. We open the Bible study scriptures were striving to learn how to obey everything that Jesus taught about parenting and finances and marriage and evangelism and our own personal devotional. I all of that this journey to continuing to be more and more restored. He gives us the gift the grace of our relationship being restored. We're fully saved fully reconciled to God we're going to heaven and then in the context of that gracefield relationship we can approach the throne is Hebrews. 4:16 says boldly the Throne of God boldly knowing we're going to receive the grace and the help that we need so that we can get in you to give more and more of our heart and life over to God and have him work and more and more of our heart and locks cuz the day you're saying you don't have everything worked out perfectly. Do you it's the beginning of this walk with God. We're more and more respiration occurs and some God's heart is working history is to restore Open relationships and then to restore broken people through those are stored relationship as we fellowship with one another as we gather around the Bible as we worship as we take communion. God is using the body of Christ. He's using the church to help us become more and more restored to him. That's our journey we get saved and then we continue on that path. We keep getting saved in a sense more more. You know, my pocketbook might be more save today than it was 30 years ago. Do you understand what that means? You you convert you might have one perspective on your finances. You don't get everything worked out perfectly in your head. But as you grow as a disciple as you learn more, there's moments in which you said yourself. I'm not doing this right I should be doing this until suddenly you change the way you give her the way you spend your money for you if you change the way you parent or things about your marriage cuz you learn new things and so a greater portion of you greater understanding we grow in Grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ scripture say, Again, and again in the New Testament, so is you gain more knowledge than you apply that knowledge? You will be more fully until we look at the scriptures Luke. 6:40. Jesus says a disciple when he's fully formed will be like his teacher in Colossians 1 28 and 29. Paul says, this is what I labor towards this is what it's all about. This is what I'm doing that I could come present people complete and mature in Christ and then Ephesians 4 talks about the purpose of the church Christ chose some of us to be Apostles prophets missionaries pastors and teachers and so there's a variety of gifts and strengths throughout the body elsewhere in scripture. He talks about the body having all these different parts and you can't take while one part is better than another, you know, a leg can't say to the arm. I don't need you or the arm can't say the leg. I don't need you all the parts play a part and are needed and are equally valued and that's how the body of Christ works and Paul here in a fusion says, yes. God has gifted the body of Christ with all this. Bridal gift for this purpose. He chose some of us to be Apostles prophets missionaries pastors and teachers so that his people would learn to serve and his body would grow strong. This will continue until we are all United by our faith and by our understanding of the Son of God, then we will be mature just as Christ is and we will be completely like him. So the ultimate goal that God is working on in history is to draw Humanity back to being like Christ to having christ-like character to behave and act like Christ. So when we look in the gospels, and we see the way Jesus treated people we see the things that he said and he did that should be a picture of how we behave as followers of Christ. And our journey is to go back to being who God originally created us to be before send interrupted that and disfigured that and become who God has designed us to be and the gospel reconciles us and our relationship to one another are study around the word of God our worship as we focus on God and not ourselves taking communion serving others both in the church and the community all of those are things that God uses to sharpen us Proverbs. 27:17 says as iron sharpens iron one person sharpens another and so and then there's 58 one another passages. God uses the body of Christ as we encourage one another as we forgive one another as we rebuke one another as we challenge one another as we build one another up the law of Christ. Paul says in a glaciers chapter 6 The Law of Christ. We feel that by one another by bearing one another's burdens. Until God uses the church to keep moving Us in that direction to being shaped in Christ likeness know we talked about these in Broad themes the past few weeks one of the core aspects of what it means to be like Christ. We talked about love itself love has skin in the game is what we talked about the first week. It shows up in person. That Incarnation that being with we talked about John chapter 1 this was God's demonstration of love that he sent his only son to be with us. We're John says the word was with God and was God and now he became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory glory as of the only one and begotten son of Truth and Grace and to love shows up. It comes in person. James talks about this later when he says you see somebody in need you can't just say to them while I wish you well be warm and filled my friend and then go on your way. James says, it can't be that way love does and God demonstrated that when he sent his son. He didn't just say I hope they figure it out. I hope they somehow solve their own send problem. I'll think and I'll buy all those laws in such a way that they make it instead. He knew what we needed and he showed up and provided what we needed. Love & braces Faith over fear with what we talked about a couple of weeks ago. We looked at that in the life of Peter you see throughout the life of Peter X and which he fails? Christ again and again and again heater fails to understand what Jesus is trying to teach him or outright fails when he does something Jesus said wanted to do we talked about all the different passages he whips out his sword and cuts off in here and guard when she says no you can't feed her. Hill's deer, you know that just again and again against even to the climax in John 13 where Jesus says some of your going to fall away and Peter said not me every one of the rest of these guys here, they might fall away, but not me. I will never deny you and Jesus says Peter you're going to deny me three times three times. And that's exactly what happens, but in John 21, we see the passage where Jesus restores Peter. Do you love me? That's the question in it. He doesn't say Peter. Have you figured out how not to fail? Be live you if you work out your own Perfection. Have you have you solved all of your own sin problems? He says do you love me? And Peter says yes, I love you. You said you love me? Yes. Yes. I love you. Do You Love Me Lord, you know everything you know my heart, you know my mind, you know the answer to that question and so you know that I love you I said Jesus says then feed my sheep. Take care of my people and he restores that relationship. Look at the big picture of what that's telling us. Peter wasn't without failure.

I mean too often. I think we let the fear of failure keep us from ever acting. Sometimes we think that I can't fail Jesus won't accept failure. It's too big of a risk to fill the lord of the failed the church that causes too great. And so I will just bury my talent and she's a teacher has won the parable of the person was afraid and they buried their talent but that was the wrong decision Peter shows us and challenges us to step out and realize that love does. And that the question to ask us is do you love me? Not have you got it all worked out. The challenges for us to take action. I love what Paul said a couple of weeks ago our guest missionary who said we study scripture not just for a devotional thought we study it so that we might take action now, that's the big punch line in it. How do we go beyond just saying or I'll be there was a nice sermon. I never heard that about that passage before that was interesting. That was a funny story. I'm going to share that with somebody this week. How do we go beyond that to being changed because of our encounter with God and his word.

And the invitation is to realize that love does that that's one of the poor things that God calls us to last week. We talked about Luke chapter 7 and the sinful woman who comes into the presence of Jesus and the Pharisees and washes his feet again. Again, Frank breaks open the jar of expensive ointment anoints him and Jesus says you understand what's going on here. Don't you those who have received much those who have been forgiven much they give much and love understands that We understand that we've received much. I doubt if there's any of his in here wouldn't who wouldn't honestly say, yes. I've received much the Lord has been gracious to me. He's forgiven me again. And again I visited with Gill and Mary last night and if you know Gill and Mary Gill has been on a journey this past year from the point where the doctors have said, you need to call your your ministers in and start planning for the end to the point where now they say we can't explain it, but you're getting better and one thing they make sure make sure they said to me last night over and over is we give the Lord the credit for this we thank the Lord for this they be the first ones like all of us I think to say we've received much much from the Lord and like that woman who was aware of her sinfulness, but also aware of how much grace God has shown her how much love Christ shown her. That's our invitation to realize how much we've given and then act as a result of that again. Jesus said in Luke 6:40, the student is not above the teacher but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher. That's the journey God has us on that we would become like Christ. We're not like those talents that we get saved and then the journey is just to preserve ourselves, you know, the kind of bury ourselves in the ground and say Lord. I'm going to work really hard to stay out of trouble until you get back. It's tempting tempting to live that way but that's living out of fear. I got this wonderful gift for the Lord, but if I'm not careful, I'm going to screw it up. So I'll just bury myself here. I'll get the Christian Circle. I'll never get outside of that Christian Circle and I'll just wait for the Lord to return but that's not his invitation to us his invitation. Is it get saved and then hold onto your salvation tightly until I get back. His invitation is let me save you let me reconcile you and let me continue to reconcile you. Let me Lead You toward being like me. This is ours that we would be like him and that the saved Christian would look like Christ and Christ took risk. Then he he didn't live this life. That was prophylactically lived where everything was just got to make sure I got to be careful rules all the time. You know, they would say look there's a rule. If you can't do certain things on the Sabbath and he would say that person needs to be healed straighten out your hand if you're healed and it would say you can't do that. We've got a system and we've got rules in this keeps everything intact and you're going to get everything off kilter. But again, and again, he wasn't just trying to be a troublemaker. He was trying to free everyone they was trying to free those very Pharisees for Saints. Wait a minute. You have six days to do healing on the Sabbath. He wasn't trying to push their but it was trying to say you're missing the point. You're Raven grass.

You're changing the world. God has given us reconciliation and the good news of Christ so that we can go right into all the world and share that good news. He's called us to be a light in the world. Sometimes just like Israel in the Old Testament. We can make the mistake of thinking well, we're special and so we just need to pull back and circle the wagons. Jesus pleads for us to let go.

Let go in MN relax and trust him. Trust him. So that we could take a step of faith and live in a way that's different so that we could take a risk and we can break some rules on a stove went out when I thought about the sermon.

I personally was very convicted and and I don't know how to articulate this. So it this is going to be a little aside that's going to somewhat jumbled that I apologize for that. But I thought about the idea of comfort zone the night. They really represent living out of fear because we want to do what's only comfortable and so that's who wants to take that sort of risk and sometimes I think about my life and I think will you don't have that many fears and and and you take risk and there are moments and settings in which I am kind of willing to do stuff that others wouldn't be willing to do but as I reflect on it more and more I also realized I have a lot of comfort zones. I thought about this just the other night then when we went when we were visiting somebody at a funeral home. And I live such a timid lock sometimes and you think what he's always he's a loudmouth in the fall, but you know, maybe he's a hypocrite because Ben was smart enough to say hey, if you go through this door and there you'll be there quicker. We'll get see the family spend some time with him, but I was so locked into the idea that yeah, but there's a line, you know, and here's the and you're supposed to and these people think I'm cutting in front of them. And so I just locked myself into that spot and was just kind of Frozen and I thought about this idea of comfort zone this week. I realized I do that in a lot of areas of my life. I just choose what is traditional what is comfortable? What is a safe zone for me? Can you relate to that? That if you really reflect on it, you kind of really don't get off the beaten path of your life that much and I'm worse than anybody here. So don't feel fussed at by me cuz I'm the biggest hypocrite because I preached that we should get off the beaten path. But when I examined my own life, I realized hey Robbie, you live a pretty safe and predictable comfort zone Laden life. Will you just kind of stay in your routines? And I realize that I'm missing out on what Christ is inviting me to.

That's an important distinction. I didn't feel guilty. I didn't feel like all man. I'm in trouble with the law or he's going to be mad at me. I felt like I've got this one of a friend who sang Hey, I've got tickets to Disneyland, you know in a week at the beach and all these just this big adventure and I'm the one that says that's okay. There's some one of my favorite shows is on Netflix, and I think I'll just I'll just stay in. I mean so many people at Disneyland everything go wrong with travel, you know, I just kind of pulled back and I miss out on the adventure that he's inviting me. And really it comes down. to trust do we trust the Lord?

When he extends his hand in invites us on an adventure that takes us out of our comfort zone when he invites me to give more money than I'm used to giving because like I've got an amount this is safe. I can give this amount and it doesn't affect my month at all. That's how I planned it and planned it that way all of my life. This is the amount that I can give Lord and it's safe. It never calls me not to buy the groceries. I want to buy it never causes me not to go to help family when they ask for help and they were causing me not to replace my car when it's time to replace my car. It doesn't impact my vacation Lord. I've got it all planned out. I'm playing it safe. I think when we play it safe we are missing out. We are robbing our self. It always comes back and I'm personally convinced about is it comes back to realizing the Lord is looking me in the eyes. He's extending his hand and he's inviting me to take a risk to step out of my comfort zone. Maybe it's not about giving maybe it's about relationships. I have maybe it's about talking to people. I normally wouldn't talk with or getting out of my routine in such a way that that I encounter other people and I assist other people maybe it's that invitation. Maybe it's an invitation to restore broken relationship. Maybe I know the Lord is talking to me about somebody that I haven't spoken to in years. And he's looking in the eye and he's extending his hand and he sang you need to offer forgiveness.

I have all kinds of excuses I have I'm I'm wordsmyth baby. I can work it out of my head. I've got lots of articulate reasons why I don't obey the Lord.

anybody relate

but I realize he's looking in the eye. He's extending his hand and it's there's only one question. Do you love me?

Do you trust me? I like holding on to that anger that I have for that person that hurt me a little bit comforting that I like seeing them and being indifferent toward them at the very least. The Lord says do you love me?

Do you like me? Maybe that's the essence out of all the questions you could ask Peter. That's the question. He asked him. Look at this scripture in John dear friends. Let us love one another for love comes from God everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

one of the right direction.

And what did this last week is something about 1st John but this system does not like

yeah, let's read it again Lord telling us something.

Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love. This is how God showed his love of mine us. He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him. This is love not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins dear friends since God so loved us. We also ought to love one another

John unfolds it in a pretty straightforward way tiny. God has loved us Tamara fact if I was forced to describe God I would say God is love and since God has loved us and demonstrated love to us through sending his son. Then we ought to love one another. That's all through the New Testament. That's James when he says when you meet somebody in need, you can't just say to them all I hope you get warm before the day's out. I hope you find a good meal. God bless you be on your way. James has no weekends because that's not love. Is it love is it just this word love does love is this action God demonstrated that he did find love when he sent Christ This Is How We Know What Love Is John says this is how we know what love is forget Hallmark, forget all the romantic comedies that have been shoved into her head over the years This Is How We Know What Love Is God sent his son to die for us. And if God has so loved us we ought to love one another I told there's this Grand invitation where Jesus is saying do you love me? And if we love him again do not miss hear me. This is not designed to be guilty of some sort of burden on your shoulders while you you love Jesus. It's a wonderful invitation that he says if you love me then accept my invitation accept my invitation to love others and to live life not out of fear, but out of Faith accept my invitation to let go of a grudge of a heard that still in your heart just as inviting you to let go of that to say because I've received so much like that woman that cried in Jesus feet and washed his feet with her own tears and dry them with their hair. I've received so much from God, but it is true that I can just open up and let go I can forgive I can let go of that grocery. He's inviting us to live life that are free and bold. So that we can love others and not constantly think we'll have to do that. But that might turn into a big mess and it's going to mess up my day and then and I can't ride that big of a you know when then We just live such prophylactic life. We just covered in fear sometimes in Jesus saying hey let go trust me. Trust me. I think the adventure that Christ invites us on to live a life that trust him is beyond anything we can imagine.

And we just kind of settle. Are kind of safe routines when he invites us to change the world.

Look at this verse and will end on this the worship team can come forward. This is an amazing verse. When I first read it, I thought I don't know that sounds I want to put like lots of Asterix around it and say no there's a qualifier. You can't just look what it says. If we truly love others and live is Christ it in this world. We won't be worried about the day of judgement.

And then amazing verse that scripture just says, you know, what all that sphere all that living life kind of timidly. I hope I get it right I got to make sure I do this right can't take that risk. Cuz what if I fail all that sort of being afraid what are people going to think I mean my goodness I'm afraid to cut line sometimes because I'm worried about what people are going to think we can get so wrapped up. And kind of living by fear instead of saying a lot and not raising grass, Emma. About people and relationships in love. You know, there's a lot of stuff that our days are filled with that would be better off replaced with interruptions.

Honestly, we pack our days of all kinds of things, but maybe we need to get up in the morning and say Lord if you've got work for me to do I'm yours. I love you. This servant this disciple loves you. I love you. I trust you. You can call on me today. You can tap on my shoulder. You can interrupt my whole day. You can you can prick my heart so that I end up calling somebody in the middle of the day and saying look I haven't forgiven you an eight years in and I'm wrong.

I would like to hold on to the idea that you're wrong, but the truth is Jesus has been so good to me. He's giving me so much. How can I be forgiven so much and then turn around and not forgive you.

Could we get up each morning and say Jesus just like Peter I screw up. Sometimes yesterday is full of failures. You told me something and I didn't understand it. You probably had to say to me. Are you still so dull of hearing as Jesus said to Peter we talked about last week and you probably say to me, you know, you're going to fail me and I said no no, no Lord. I'll never fell and then I fell you. But we've got new every morning, right limitation says his mercies are new every morning. We can wake up each morning and say Lord. Thank you for forgiving me for the past. Thank you that your mercies are new every morning. And help me. Love you today.

Help me. Trust you help me see when your hand is extending to me. Help me not live by fear, but live by faith. What what Brave Act of Love Will you attempt this week? You're John Wayne said bravery is not really not being afraid. It's being being being afraid and saddling up anyway. I'm not saying that as a Christian you just ignore the things that cause you to fear. I'm saying that you let trust in Jesus. rise above those things you have those things that intimidate you and you still say none the less. I'll Trust You Jesus? What could you do this week? You may need to call somebody and restore relationship. May need to forgive a debt that somebody owes you. I don't know you made it to talk to a neighbor that you know, the Lord has put your heart of me and times to talk to them and just every time you just just got in on which is going to turn into. 45 minute talk and then I'm not going to get to the task that I was going to do and then it's going to mess up my but guess what you're not raising grass. Those opportunities are your life.

The chances we have to be who Christ is calling us to be to love the way Christ loves. Those are our life. That's the good life. That's the essence. There's so much stuff that we should just say, you know, what doesn't matter if I do that tomorrow or not. Does it what matters is did I say the Lord? I love you. Can I listen to Opportunities when he invites me to love others? What if I don't get certain trust the Lord?

Tristan and I like to have everything in my own. That's the opposite of trusting it so often I'm like I Trust You Lord, but first, let me get all these things in order. So the things don't go the way I want them to go. I've got my back-up plan as opposed to just getting around to the things that I know he wants me to do and trusting him for the rest seek. First the kingdom of God and all these other things shall be added.

And even if there's moments. When nothing goes the way we imagine they would go. Even if there's moments when we can't understand what's happening or why.

We can still fall back on trust in Christ. We can still say this is the moment. I don't understand. This is an outcome. I don't understand but what I do know is that Christ is good and loving and trustworthy. What I do know is that he has my back what I do know is that even in the midst of an answer to prayer that looks like the opposite of what I wanted even in the midst of something that's painful or difficult. I can still none the less trust Christ. That's part of the essence of trust in it. If we insisted that those We Trust always explain everything they do to our satisfaction. Guess what? We're not trusting them. We're trusting our own mind and our own understanding. So as soon as you convince me BJ that what you're going to do is a good thing and I'm satisfied. I can understand it. Then I will follow you that's not trust that's trust in self. If I trust VJ, I don't have to understand everything. I trust him let's go do this. Don't have time to explain. Let's go do this if I trust him, what do I do?

Say yes.

I bought you this morning during this song make this song Not Just A Hymn of invitation. Make it a time of worship. If you if you need to make that decision to place your trust in Christ do that during the song. I'll be in the back. You can come talk to me. If you got a decision or prayer need that we folks in the front and the back for prayer. Do you have a decision to make we want to help you make that decision? We want to answer any questions you have if you've already made that decision then use this time as a chance to reaffirm it. This is a beautiful classic hymn written by somebody who lost. Everything on one level they could say as they lost family and loved ones. They could say none of this makes sense, and I don't understand it. But when they sit down and pain this him, they said none the less. MLS, I can't understand what's happening right now in front of me, but I can understand that God is good that Christ is trustworthy and it can be Well with My Soul.

Let's sing this song as an act of trust to Christ.

Please stand this Wee Sing.