UPward, INward, and OUTward

Spiritual Habits • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

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Theme: Our Mission requires UP, IN, and Out Relationships Purpose: Encourage our Congregation to Foster UP, IN, and OUT Relationships Gospel Connection: Jesus' Life models UP, IN, and OUT Relationships. Mission Connection: Our Mission/Vision can not be accomplished without UP, IN, and OUT Relationships

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-19

12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:

14 Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon,

18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

Introduction:

Luke 6:12–19 LEB

Now it happened that in these days he went away to the mountain to pray, and was spending the whole night in prayer to God. And when day came, he summoned his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he also named apostles: Simon (whom he also named Peter) and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. And he came down with them and stood on a level place, and a large crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all of Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast district of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases, and those who were troubled by unclean spirits were cured. And the whole crowd was seeking to touch him, because power was going out from him and healing them all.

Introduction:

Video of people who don’t get church

Ask the Big Question. Why Participate in South Blendon’s Vision/Mission? What is exciting about participating in South Blendon’s Vision/Mission?

Let’s shift our focus from “Me Church” to “A Church on Mission.” - Everything we do is to “Glorify God” and “Bless Others.”

We want Jesus to be our model for Church (Sometimes Church is not the best model for Church)… So we want to foster three relationships

vs. 12

UP - Our mission is to foster our Relationship with God (Growing in Faith)

Story of Women Afraid, because her husband was possessed by a Demon and acting in a way that was scaring her.

She needed God to speak to her, to comfort her, to encourage her, to guide her.

Scripture Cards - With each one she read the words washed over her, put her on more confident ground. I gave them to her and encouraged her to use them anytime she felt she was in Spiritual Warfare.

What does Fostering the UP Relationship do for us?

Jesus modeled this…This story came right after opposition from Religious Rulers. So it was time to prepare for the future of His mission, Selecting leadership that would carry the Kingdom Mission of Redemption beyond his Death and Resurrection.

But Jesus was not selecting, was not moving, was not preparing for spiritual warfare without going to His Father First. This relationship directs all others.

My Relationship with God began early, but in Jr. High...

From Wanting to Belong to Belonging.

High School - Spending Time with God - Reading the Bible - In Awe of Jesus.

Seminary - No time to spend with Jesus - Seminary professor... if not now, likely never. To daily time with God

- Conflict with Pastor who was causing problems in His church, and Classis - Read.... and God directed our course of action. -

We can foster this the UP Relationship individually and together.

Spiritual Habits Series - Prayer, Reading the Bible, Fasting, Worship, Listening to the Holy Spirit in Community.

We can encourage each other to foster our relationship with God.

Both in lingering in Jesus’ presence, and seeing it as our mission.

So…#1 showing up - Worship, Life Groups, Daily Time with God.

Be Honest with God when you do not want to, and do it anyway expecting God to show up.

Create a Vision List - List how awesome it is when things are clicking the best between you and God. Remind yourself when your rebellious or flesh side causes you to not want to spend time with God.

Share Holy Ghost Stories in worship and at other times - it is encouraging.

Be a part of a Life Group - It is here even more so than worship where you have support in your ups in downs with your relationship, and stories and encouragement happens most.

Invite someone to be an accountability partner - Mike and I

Share with someone just starting out. - Kids, New believers, friends, family

Share how you foster your UP Relationship

Ask them what ways will work best for them and be a resource connector? - Worship, quiet time, in nature, reading, listening, talking, etc...

Do you see the focus shift? Rather than looking at what I get out of these activities, we are asking the question How can I glorify God, and Build Others up in their Relationship with God.

You Can see how important others can be in fostering our UP relationship...

vs. 13-16

IN - Our Mission is to foster relationships In the Church… (Building Disciples)

What does fostering the IN Relationship do for us?

Story of life group that helped clean our house before Ben came home from the Hospital.

Set up meal plan - extension, prayer, empathy, experienced the pain with us when they came to visit us in the hospital. It felt like we were in it together.

Our mission together was to help each other grow in our relationship with Jesus, Care for one another (they did for us in a big way), and to be in mission together.

Jesus’ mission to bring redemption, blessing to the world required IN relationships - His Disciples, and ultimately Leaders that would carry the mission beyond his death, resurrection,

It was these Apostle’s as well that he said he called friends, since they went beyond the Master/Student relationship - They were participants in the mission -

14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you slaves, because the slave does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything that I have heard from my Father I have revealed to you. - John 15:14-15

It was also these Apostle’s who stuck with Jesus in the thick and thin (yes they did scatter at the cross, they are not perfect), but here the definition…Acts 1:21-22

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 1

21 Therefore it is necessary for one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time in which the Lord Jesus went in and went out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day on which he was taken up from us—one of these men must become a witness of his resurrection together with us.”

It was also these Apostle’s who stuck with Jesus in the thick and thin (yes they did scatter at the cross, they are not perfect), but here the definition...

If Jesus developed his support group, shouldn’t we, are we better than Jesus - But he also saw it as his mission. Has it become your mission to enter into mutual-mentoring relationships.

We can as a Church foster the IN Relationships

So…#1 is showing up. Again Showing up is 90% of the mission. But here I would invite you to make Life Groups your mission. It is there you go deeper in the word together, you can be on mission to focusing your unconditional grace with others in the Church, Care, and you are a part of a team on mission together.

Create a Vision List - List how awesome it is when things are clicking the best between you and your Life Group. There will be times where there is conflict, where IN Relationships are difficult. Remind yourself your mission, your vision of being a part of a Life Group. To Glorify God with others, and to be a part of Building Others Up. To learn together, to Care together, and be on Mission together.

And we encourage other’s in their IN relationship.

Invite others to be a part of a Life Group with you or invite others to start a Life Group with you.

Have someone in your life group take our Life Group training and to share what they learned with your life group, pass it on.

Make Life Groups a part of your life mission, as it was apart of Jesus’ life mission to focus his equipping 12 others so that the whole world would receive his redemption.

Biggest Barrier to Growth at South Blendon.

Share survey statements -

I believe that if we make Life Groups our corporate and personal mission we will see growth barriers (spiritual and numeric) be broken. I mean instead of asking, What will I get out of a Life Group, Ask, “How can I Glorify God in a Life Group, and How can be a part of Building others up?

There is one problem that most churches struggle with when they focus on Life Groups....Life groups easily lose an outward focus - Evangelism Entropy.

vs. 17-19

OUT - Our Mission is to “Serve”/Bless Others outside the Church in Christ’s Name. (Serving in Christ’s Name)

Did you know that this year will be a major year of Mission for South Blendon. I mean Global mission in particular.

Youth going to Nicaragua, Phyl going to Guatamala, Cindy and Hannah to Uganda, and we are planning a trip to St. Thomas - Vision of Tanya D.

Now of course this is the easiest

What does Fostering Out Relationships do for us?

How do we Foster the Out Relationships?

I am also talking about a personal and corporate lifestyle of blessing people outside the church and in our community. Sharing the Good News of Jesus, and Being the Good News of Jesus in our world.

How do we encourage other’s in their Out Relationships?

Celebrations:

LOVE I.N.C. Video

Hy-5 Center

Life Skills Mentoring

Volunteers at Love and food Drives

Roadside Clean-up

Sponsoring Children in Uganda

GVSU Snacks - Read Thank You Letter

Barnabas Ministries - Providing Gifts for families - LoriJo Thanked the Congregation last Sunday.

Hand2Hand

VBS

Our Three Big Days

Game Club at Baldwin and Hudsonville H.S.

Road-Side Clean Up

Inspiring

Notice two things - Jesus Did Mission with others - Apostle’s, and his wider circle of Disciples - A Larger Group. Missional Communities

2 or 3 max at this time that focus on tangible blessing in our community.

The Second is tangible blessing - Three things

He shared the Good News of the Kingdom.

He Healed people

He Cast Out Unclean Spirits - Demons somehow tied to Cleanliness laws of the time which meant they excluded the person from the covenant community

These last two were both at that time what excluded people from the community. Jesus removed the barrier - made people clean, helped people belong - This too is our mission.

UP, IN, and OUT Together

They work together like three legged stool. You can not say you love God if you do not love people in the church and outside the church, and you can not love those outside and inside if you do not love God.

Let’s make it our mission this year and forever to foster these three relationships.