Sermon Archive
Back to the Future

“Back to the Future” (1-4-09)

 
I want us to go back to the future. I want you to remember back to why we exist as a church & remind you where we are going in the future. We exist to help people become faithful followers of Jesus. Help what kind of people? All kinds of people: old people & young people, rich people & poor people, educated people & not so educated people, male people & female people, white collar people & blue collar people, all kinds of people. We exist to help people become faithful followers of Jesus.
 
Our inspiration comes from a passage in Luke called the great commandment. Jesus said the most important commandment is this: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart & with all your soul & with all your strength & with all your mind’; &, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 10:27 (NIV)    Our ultimate purpose is to Love God & love people, by becoming faithful followers of Jesus.   
 
How do we do that? Some of the key ingredients for doing that are found in Col. 1:28-29. Lets read it out loud together: “We proclaim Him, admonishing & teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me.” I want to draw a few principles from that passage.
 
1st In the future, we will continue to PROCLAIM Jesus, so people can CONNECT with Him.    “Weproclaim Him, admonishing & teaching everyone…” Col 1:28 We will continue to proclaim Jesus. We are not here to proclaim a church or denomination. We are not here to proclaim a specific social or political agenda. We are here to proclaim Jesus.
 
What does that mean? Partly it means we will seek to share the love of Christ with those OUTSIDE the building not only those already INSIDE the building. Many churches go through predictable stages. Many churches stop caring for people outside the building after nine years. They begin to think that church is all about those INSIDE the building. But Jesus taught & demonstrated that it’s also about those OUTSIDE the building.
 
So we will continue to seek ways to share the love of Jesus with those who are OUTSIDE this building: through ministries like the baby bin, TNT, Women in Faith, Women’s brunch, Angel of Hope, Kids & teen connection. 
 
Here’s the reality. When we die we are going to one of two places. We are either going to go be with Jesus & live with him forever or we are going to be apart from him forever. 
 
The good news is that most of the people INSIDE the building are going to live with Jesus forever. But some of the people OUTSIDE the building are going to be apart from Jesus forever.
 
So when we make decisions about what we like or don’t like remember, “It’s not about us!” We will continue to proclaim Jesus to those who know him & those who don’t know Him.   
 
Kim S. faith story…
 
2nd - In the future, we will continue to ENCOURAGE personal GROWTH.    …admonishing & teaching everyone … so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. Col 1:28c   It’s God’s will that we continue to grow & mature in your journey to become faithful followers of Jesus.
 
A number of years ago I went back to a high school reunion. It was interesting. I remember thinking, who are all these old people. It looked like an epidemic of bulges, baldness & bifocals, & that was just the women. We had grown older, but had we matured?
 
What does Christian maturity look like? One of the main issues is this: there is a shift in thinking from “its all about me” to “I’m living out the purposes of Jesus.”
 
How do we grow?   (Notice: Spiritual Growth Evaluation)
1− We grow through the OBSTACLES that we face on the way. 3 Questions to ask:
 
1.    Why is this happening? “When I tried to figure it out, all I got was a splitting
headache … Until I entered the sanctuary of God. Then I saw the whole picture.” Ps 73:16-17 (TMSG)
 
         2. What can I learn from it?“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems & trials,
      for we know that they are good for us—they help us “learn” to be patient. And patience
     develops strength of character in us & helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally
     our hope & faith are strong & steady.Rom 5:3-4 (TLB)
 
 3. How should I respond? Pray for help & remember:  “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have obstacles…No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.” Rom 8:35-37
 
 
2 − We grow when we COMMIT ourselves to the things that
CAUSE growth.    Things like reading your Bible on a regular basis, praying on a regular basis, reading good Christian books, getting into a group, like a Transformation Group, a Sunday School class group, a Wed. night group, a Bible study group in your home. If you do these things you will grow. Is it easy to grow? No!   But if you don’t grow you will never reach the potential God has for you. Encourage Personal growth!
 
3rd - In the future, we will continue to DEVELOPE our God given gifts to SERVE in the Church, the Community, & the world.
 
Paul said, “-To this end I labor,.. what “end”? v28 “That we may present everyone perfect in Christ..” Here’s the goal, “to be faithful followers of Jesus.” And here’s what I’m going to do, says Paul, “I’m going to labor with all MY energy. No that’s not what he says. He says, “I’mstruggling with all His (God’s) energy,” until I’m able to present everyone perfect in Christ,” Is “perfection in Christ” possible? Sure it is look at me! If you believe that, I’ve got some old Enron stock I would like to sell you. “Perfect” simple means “completed.” Am I completed? No, but I’m training hard so I can continue to grow toward the goal. We want to see everyone in this church become a “faithful follower of Jesus”. We want to see everyone in our community become a “faithful follower of Jesus”. We want to see everyone in the world become a “faithful follower of Jesus”. 
 
In I Peter we read these words: “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.”1 Pet 4:10 (NLT)
Together we are to serve one another, in this church, in our community, & in our world. Together we can make a difference! Together we can help change peoples lives. I want to join me in renewing your commitment to help change lives, so my prayer is God use me, use us! Our ultimate goal is to one day stand before God & hear Him says, “‘Well done, my good & faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ Matt 25:21 (NLT)
 
As we begin a new year I want to challenge you to keep your focus: “We proclaim him, counseling everyone & teaching everyone, so that we can bring everyone before God perfectly mature in Christ. To this end I labor, striving with his great power that is so mightily is at work in me.” Col 1:28-29