I have kind of been on vacation during the Christmas season. One Sunday we had a Christmas Cantata, one we had a testimony service in which the congregation shares their stories and those form the message, and I forget my third excuse! Anyway, here is the latest sermon. I haven't forgotten you. I am also open to any constructive criticism or correction. I love your comments and encouragement too. I can be reached through the comment box on the home page of this website. Happy New Year!
Pastor Greg
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How many of you remember that we started out last year calling it the year of the healthy church? We preached all year mostly covering the major purposes of the church. It took most of the year to get through the first four. Let’s take a moment to review them.
The purpose of the church is to worship God. We were created for his pleasure. He delights in his children and we delight in praising Him. That’s worship, just proclaiming the greatness and glory of our God and rejoicing in his goodness and love. Just as children love their parents and they love their parents’ love, so parents love their children and their children’s love. It is the same between God and his children. He likes it that way. You look at John 3:16 and you know that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
A lot of people have that faith. They believe in God and they believe the gospel and it is enough for them that they are saved. But a faith than changes the world is a two way faith, a faith that loves God back because he loved us first. A lot of people say, “I love God.” That’s what they might tell people who ask them about their faith, but I wonder how many people talk to God about that lobe and actually worship him personally. Do you just talk about God saying, “I love God.” Or do you talk with God realizing a personal relationship with him and saying things like, “I love YOU God.” That worship. And doing that together is one of the major purposes of the church. Let’s do it now. “We love you God.” Say it with me, “WE LOVE YOU GOD!”
The purpose of the church is Ministry. We were created to serve God. God served us first, through offering his life on the cross so that we could be forgiven. What can you do to say thank you? Or how can you ever repay God? You can never repay him fully and he doesn’t really want payment for His gift, but he does appreciate your gratitude expressed in Christian ministry. The Bible says, “Offer yourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” Your Christian ministry is an acted out worship, especially when you are caring for the other believers in your local community and whatever you do to support the local congregation. If you really love God you can’t be all talk and no action. You worship God with your listening and with your praises. You serve God with your ministry, but that is worship too!
A Third purpose of the church is Evangelism. Our worship is moving outward now. If you really love God and you tell him so in worship and you act it out in ministry, that’s going to spill over in to the life you live where you work and play outside the walls of this building and if it really is the love of God pouring out of a full heart of joy then people are going to notice and you are going to get opportunities to tell them how wonderful God is. And if you think God likes it when you tell Him how much you love him, just think how much he loves it when you are bragging on him to people that don’t know yet so they get a chance to find out how to be forgiven and saved by our wonderful, loving God who died for them too. That’s evangelism!
A fourth purpose of the church is fellowship. It’s important to remember that as we worship god and minister before him and evangelize, as we fulfill those purposes, well the church is just naturally going to grow and then we get to welcome all those new believers who will be joining us. We’ll be called upon to enjoy the fourth purpose of the church. That is, we will be in fellowship with all who call on the name of Jesus. We encourage one another and build each other up in fellowship. If you really love God you also love His other children! That’s Fellowship.
Now we’re ready to look at the fifth purpose of the church, Discipleship. You were created to become more like Jesus, to take on his character. You might think discipleship is about certain Christian behaviors. Praying, reading the Bible, going to church, but those things are only tools God uses to form his character in you as you respond to his words and to his voice. The real key to discipleship is following Jesus, going where he goes, doing what he does, thinking like he thinks. Discipleship is a matter of living with Jesus, staying as close to him as you can to learn who he is and how he acts so you can imitate him.
Why would you want to do that? Well, first of all, He’s God. He knows everything you need to know and provides everything you need for life. Second of all you owe him. He saved your life by dying on the cross for you! Third of all you love him, how could you not love a person who would die so that you could live. And fourth of all Jesus is the way and the truth and the life. If you love God and want to worship him, worship him the way Jesus does. If you love God and want to serve him serve him the way Jesus does. Do evangelism and fellowship the way Jesus does too and you will truly fulfill your purpose for living in every way.
How do you follow Jesus? Listen for His voice. Answer when he calls and do what he tells you
to do. For example, let’s look at
Matthew 4:18-22 where
Jesus called his first disciples. “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of
Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They
were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow
me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.
Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of
Zebedee and his brother John. They were
in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them,
and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
It’s simple, when Jesus calls, you respond immediately
leaving everything else behind means making Jesus the most important part of
your life. He becomes the center. Your life revolves around finding out what
Jesus wants you to do and doing it with all your heart. That’s discipleship.
Is Jesus really calling you today? How can you hear his voice? Today He speaks through the Scripture. So if you are reading your Bible expecting to hear from God through those words already provided in the holy Book you will hear Jesus calling you and asking you to love a certain way, a good and holy way that brings blessing, not necessarily prosperity, but rich spiritual blessings. As you obey the commands in this Holy Book they will shape your character in to the character of Jesus. The first command is to believe the gospel and receive the Holy Spirit so that you come alive in Christ and are able to hear his voice and respond to his call.
If you are a born again Christian you are one of the sheep that know His voice. Then when he calls you, you will follow. That’s discipleship. There are many voices in this world, but Jesus’ disciples are able to discern his voice as the true voice. It’s just like real shepherds gathered in the large sheep pens at night to protect their flocks. Those men worked together to build one large sheep pen because it was more efficient than dotting the landscape with a bunch of little individual sheep pens.
They could fit a whole bunch of different flocks into one pen and keep them all safe from harm at night. And in the morning when it was time to go back out to pasture they didn’t have to worry about losing some sheep to another flock or accidentally stealing someone else’s sheep because there is a really simple, natural thing about sheep, each one recognize the voice of its own master and won’t follow anyone else. So in the morning each shepherd could step outside of the pen and call to his sheep and all his sheep would come to him and only his sheep and no one else’s. The people Jesus was talking to knew this about sheep and so it made perfect sense to them when they heard Jesus say, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.” Jesus’ sheep know his voice and follow him when he calls. They are the true disciples.
“I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” In these words Jesus was hinting about the opening up of the gospel to gentiles and all nations. He was giving his first disciples the first indication that their ministry would extend beyond the borders of Israel and include others besides the Jews. It’s a good thing he did too because without that opening, we would have no hope. We're Gentiles, but we can be God’s sheep too, even though we are not Jews, because Jesus has other sheep besides the flock he started with.
The best thing about being one of God’s sheep is how safe we are. He protects us with His very life. You couldn’t ask for a better shepherd! Who wouldn’t want to follow him? Who wouldn’t want to respond to his voice?
You know what I finally realized as I was working on this message? I don’t have to try to convince you to read the Bible. If you’re one of God’s sheep you love the Bible. It’s where you hear God’s voice. I’ll tell you what, if you can read, and you’re not reading the Bible, you've got to ask yourself whether you’re even saved. Because Jesus’ voice is in the Bible and His sheep know it. They love it! They fulfill the worship purpose!
If you’re one of His sheep, I don’t have to try to convince you to be a good disciple, you are already following the sound of his voice and you are eager to hear anything He might say through me or through the Bible or through one of your brothers and sisters in the Lord. If you are not eager to serve the Lord and learn as much as you can about him at every opportunity, you have to wonder whether or not you’re even saved. Because only the unsaved grumble and complain about Christian service and how much time it takes to do a ministry and what a big sacrifice it is to give. Jesus’ sheep hear the voice of Jesus and it fills them with joy! You fulfill the ministry purpose.
If you’re one of his sheep, you automatically love spending time with the other sheep of the flock, you recognize each other as family and you love one another. You fulfill the fellowship purpose! Nobody has to tell you that gossip and back biting are wrong. Nobody has to tell you how important it is to be in fellowship with other believers. If you are afraid to be around the other sheep, or if you just don’t feel like it because you think you do OK by yourself thank you very much, you’ve got to wonder whether or not you’re even saved. If you’re not interested in the flock, you probably haven’t heard the voice of Jesus calling you into his fold.
If you can hear the voice of Jesus, you don’t mind being called a sinner and you don’t mind letting God and the church examine you and you even examine your own heart to see if there is any sin left in you that could be rooted out by the spirit of repentance. It doesn’t bother you because as one of Jesus’ sheep, you know how good it is to follow him and be cleansed of sin through the forgiveness offered in his blood. You know that following him means dying to self but that’s OK because you’re just dying to follow Jesus into Heaven! But if you’re still hiding your sin you have to wonder whether or not you’re even saved, you don’t know you’re saved because if you’re afraid to face your own sin, you don’t know if you’re forgiven. If you're afraid to come to God with your sin, you don't actually trust him to forgiuve you. But those who have really heard the voice of Jesus and are following him find the power in forgiveness to cast aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily besets!
When Jesus came walking on the water the disciples were terrified. It had definitely never been done before. Peter said, “If it is you Lord, bid me to come to you.” That tells me Peter knew that he would respond to the voice of his Shepherd. And the rest of the disciples stayed in the boat saying, “We’ve never done it that way before. It’s impossible to walk on water.” But Peter decided to follow the voice of the Lord. And even though he had never in his life ever thought he could ever walk on water, in that moment, it came to him that if Jesus asked him to do it, he could do it. And then Peter did something that had definitely never been done before. He did the impossible. He broke with tradition. He violated logic and reason, and he walked on water. He actually stepped out of a boat onto the crashing waves and he didn’t sink. But not because it was his own crazy idea; Peter was just responding to Jesus’ voice to follow the Good Shepherd.
You know what the disciples who stayed behind were saying to themselves? At first they said, "He’s crazy! Nobody can walk on water! That fool’s going to drown! Don’t do it, Peter! Hey wait, he's doing it! Look at Peter standing there and walking toward that frightening ghost that says it’s Jesus. That better really be Jesus or he’s in trouble. Yep, he’s in trouble! Look he’s going down! He is gonna drown! Throw him a line he‘s shouting for help! No wait, the ghost must have jumped because all of a sudden he’s right next to Peter grabbing his hand. This is the end for Peter! No wait! Peter’s coming up out of the water. Their walking together. The ghost,… no it must be Jesus, He has his arm around Peter and Peter’s just looking up at Jesus as they come back here. Well what do you know, I guess if you follow Jesus you can do the impossible. Boy, that Peter, he really had faith. I wish I’d thought of that."
I want to take a lesson from Peter. I am ready to be a more faithful follower of Jesus. I’m following Jesus! I am not worried about money. I’m following Jesus! I am not stuck in traditions. I’m following Jesus! I don’t care what people say, I’m following Jesus! I am not afraid of anything. I’m following Jesus! I love you Jesus! I love you Jesus! Where are we going today? What are we going to do next? Whatever you say, Lord, I am your servant. I am your disciple. I will follow you, Jesus. I love you!
What about you? Are you responding to his call?
