A New Reality
2022 Vision - A New Reality • Sermon • Submitted
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Change and then Change Again
Change and then Change Again
The one constant is change
You can endure change by pondering His permanence.
- Max Lucado
Over this last 10 year we have seen so much change and shifts -
Social Media - our entire lives are online
We learned what binge watching is
People get famous for having a YouTube channel
We do everything online all good but also
We have the highest rates of depression and loneliness
We often hear the cry to go back to normal or the way things were
The way things were - churches were closing and seemed ineffective
There have been some major paradigm shifts in church -
Many never came back
Many have decided Online is where they will meet
The large gathering is not the norm
The fact is things change - our methods and strategies must also
The what (message and who) does not change, but the how does and needs too
“Do not remember the past events; pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.
Something new is coming - a new movement of God perhaps, but a change
With that - there is a transition on how we will look at church and what our focus will be
Over the next few week we will casting the vision on what this year will bring
This morning I want to focus on the shift of focus we are making
Grab your Bibles as we will be jumping around
Let’s Pray
If you have been around us - Family Church has broken down our existence into 3 BE’s
It is why we are here. Most of us have probably heard them before , but I want to focus on what the heart of each of those is:
Family Church exist to help people:
1. Believe in God
Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Great commission - these are our marching orders
For most of us this has been about go make converts
Get someone to pray a prayer - move on
The command is to make disciples - people who are becoming just like Jesus
Not making good church members- true disciples
I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Family Church exist to help people:
2. Belong to His family
Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.
The success of a church was always shown by the number on the rolls
How many people at your church?
Membership was the push
True belonging happen s in community
The most intimate community happens in small groups
You get a sense of it in the big gathering - but it in the small one we will grow and know
It is in the small group where we will do good for each other
I think we grow larger and smaller at the same time
Family Church exist to help people:
3. Live Beyond ourselves
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
We have always looked how to we build our church
What programs will we do that will draw people to our church
What event will we do to grow our church
These are all good - and we need to strategize on how we grow our church
Our focus need not be on our church but His kingdom first
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.
The Kingdom is what last
Yes we challenge to be a part of ministries in the church - but how are those ministries building the kingdom?
A New Reality
A New Reality
Change is here , it is constant but...
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Jesus,is word are constant
We are called to be come more like Him, love Him more, serve Him better, be more effective for Him
But the good news it is not all on us..
The change we have been striving after is not to be produced by any more striving after. It is to be wrought upon us by the molding of hands beyond our own. As the branch ascends, and the bud bursts, and the fruit reddens under the cooperation of influences from the outside air, so man rises to the higher stature under invisible pressures from without.
- Henry Drummond
God is shaping and moving us and our church where He wants
I cannot wait to see where
It starts with all of us saying yes - no matter what , no matter when or how, we say yes
Are you ready?
Let’s pray