Work Together for the Sake of Christ

Check out a cool video at this link. It shows a church singing together in a local grocery store, taking Jesus to the people!

Cool Flash Dance Video

Work together to proclaim the Good News.

1   After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome); and he came to them. 3 So, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked; for by occupation they were tentmakers. 4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.

Aquila and Priscilla were a married couple who Paul says were his “fellow-workers in Christ.” In his greetings to the church in Rome Paul says they risked their very lives for him and for all the churches.

These were solid people, committed to the cause of Christ and Paul committed to working together with them to further the gospel.

Teamwork is a big deal these days in business, government, clubs, sports, and church. We all know that we can get more done together than we can apart. We need friends and helpers along the journey of life, especially when we’re doing the work of Christ.

Don’t attempt a solo act.

Paul found friends with whom he had something in common, a tent making trade, and they bonded in ministry. So he stayed with them and they reasoned in the synagogue on every Sabbath persuading both Jews and Greeks. Working together they were more effective than going it alone.

Illustrate

This week the final 8 basketball teams advanced in the NCAA tournament. Any one of those teams can be national champion. They all talent, experience, and coaching to win. What will make the difference?

Teamwork.

The  team who best utilizes all their talent and works together will be champions.

The Bible says that a chord of three strands is not easily broken.

When we join our lives together in the common mission of Christ, then we will support and help one another to see the mission of Christ go forward.

So how?

In our homes, we need to be united on the cause of Christ.

So often today we can feel pulled in a million different directions because there are so many things to do, so many activities in which we can be involved.

It’s very easy to become disjointed and forget that even in our homes we have a common bond in Christ.

Our children need us to be there for them and we need them there for us, but when we are one in our love for Jesus we will be together like never before.

In the work place or at school try to find other Christians to build support. Ask them to support you in prayer and don’t be afraid to support them in prayer. Sometimes we need an encouraging word from another believer and if you have that relationship there it can mean all the difference in the outcome of your day and in your ability to minister to others.

In church we need to come together on the one who brings us together, and that is Jesus Christ.

This church will never unify around me, or any other pastor, or any one of its members.

A church will only be unified around the person of Jesus Christ.

When He is first, and we seek Him and His will above all things, then we will be working towards the same vision and values.

Christ doesn’t want us all doing the same thing, but He wants us all moving with the same purpose, and that is to go and lift up His name in the world, sharing His love with all people.

We have children’s ministries, youth ministries, adult ministries, and seniors ministries and that is great, but every ministry in this church has a mission outside of this church!

The children reached out to the fire dept and Hospice House.

The youth prayer walked in the mobile home parks.

Our church passed out free clothing to people in the community.

We send food to Selma Elementary school each week.

We’re sending a mission team to WVa. in July.

We’re building a ramp for a members mom and dad in April as part of Operation Inasmuch “Ramp Up!”

If basketball teams measure success in points scored and games won, then how do we measure success?

Success in the gospel is measured by one measure. It’s not $$, it’s not programs, it’s not comfort, it’s not even an increase in our attendance numbers.

It faithfully taking the gospel to the world and seeing people won to Christ. It’s people, people!

God has called us to love people and the most loving thing we can do is work together so that “many will be persuaded.”

Wherever You Are, There Jesus Is

ACTS 17
22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:

                                         TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.

Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:

When Paul engaged the Athenians he looked around and saw the idol to the “Unknown God.”

This was his hook.

The Athenians wanted to know everything, and here they admitted that there was a god they did not know.

Paul says, I know Him!

Let me tell you about Him. They listened to this because Paul met them right where they were.

I remember when Patricia and I started going to church after we first got married. I had not been to church in a decade, but something happened in me as a new husband that made me want to hear from God again. There was a church and people to meet me right where I was.

Five years later after Anne was born, I had a deep need for strength and guidance to be a good father. There again was the church to help me be the man I didn’t know how to be.

When we moved to SC and I was working really long hours I was struggling with how to pursue my relationship with God and also do a good job at work. A group of guys came alongside me and we would meet every Friday for breakfast early before work and study a book on discipleship.

Wherever I was in my life, there were always people in my church who met me right there and showed me how to walk with God.

So What?

The people you meet, every one, are all at a point of need too.

It may be a marriage, or a birth, or a new job, or an illness, or a death in their family, or just about anything, but there is some need there that only God and His people can meet for them.

People are hungry to have their questions answered.

Just like the Athenians they’re always looking for something new to solve their problems.

Just look at the proliferation of self-help books and Dr. Phil type talk shows. Everyone is searching, and God has given us the answers to life’s most deepest questions.

The Bible teaches us that God has planted the knowledge of Himself in every heart, and in every life there comes points when we want to know God.

“19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse”, Romans 1

Here Paul is telling us that even those who have never heard of Christ still have the knowledge of God implanted in them. So much more so the Christian believer.

What may be known of God is manifest “IN” them, for God has shown it to them.

Since when? Since the creation of the world. That’s from the very of time, from the very first person on down the line, God has planted an awareness of Himself in every person.

Consider it this way...

It’s like the artist who signs His paintings or an author who signs his writings. Sometimes there will be a secret symbol that represents that artist.

This is the symbol for Albrecht Durer. If you see this on his artwork you know it's his. He's done some things you would recognize even if you don't recognize his name.

In a similar way God has written Himself on our lives. He has signed our hearts as His workmanship, His artwork.

We just need someone to come along and tells us that the signature we see there belongs to Christ.

So what does that mean for us?

It means we must share Christ wherever we happen to be, but to do that we must meet the people where they are.

I’m not talking mere geography here,

but in the questioning and desiring that people have in their lives.

There is a God shaped hole in every heart that only God can fill.

So what should we do?

Put simply, we must love people.

We must truly love people before they’re going to open up and allow us to share the love of Christ with them.

… but how?

We need to listen to the people around us and understand them.

People are saying one thing, but often meaning another. Listen to what they’re really saying.

"How are you? Oh I’m fine…." But really they’re not and they need you to talk to.

Build relationships and become genuinely interested in their lives.

People can smell a rat, and if they sense we are only interested in them to get another dollar in an offering plate or another person in a pew then they are going to run the other way as fast as they can.

But if they know we are truly interested in them as a person and that we have a true relationship with Jesus Christ, then we might be able to share Christ with them.

Be genuine and genuinely care.

Folks we need to realize that the world around us has changed.

I’m very sorry to tell you that, but it has. The good news God has brought the world to our doorstep.

Listen, don’t hate those people for being different.

Don’t despise them for not being like us or for not coming to our church.

They don’t know who we are or what is going on in here.

They really don’t.

We must meet them where they are and show them the love of God in a real and tangible way.

Find the common ground of loss, pain, struggle, longing, hopelessness, and introduce them to Jesus.

Will you do that?

Will you proclaim Christ wherever you are?

Will you proclaim Christ wherever they are?

Will you?

Proclaim Christ Wherever People Are

There was a time when we could just build a church building on a corner and people would come in to hear the message of Christ.

Everyone knew we were here

 and they knew why we were here

and they knew what we did here

      and many wanted to come here.

Sadly, those days are gone.

There will be more cars pass by this church building during the worship hour than there are people sitting in this church right now.

That’s a conservative guess.

I read this past week that the church is a rather unique organization.

Ed Stetzer wrote, “The church is one of the few organizations that does NOT exist for the benefit of its members. It exists for the mission of God.”

What is the mission of God? Why did God send His only begotten Son to die on a cross?

We all know the answer… it’s to save sinners.

To be on Christ's missions means then that we must be more concerned with those people driving by in their cars than we are about ourselves.

I can promise you that those people are perfectly content to let us meet in this building, wear any kind of clothes we want to wear, listen to any kind of music we want to listen to, say anything in a sermon or prayer we want to say, and believe anything in the world we want to believe as long as we leave them alone.

Why? Because as long as we’re in here and they are out there, it doesn’t make one bit of difference to them.

But if the mission of Christ is going to make a difference, what must we do?

We must engage those people right where they are.

Background:

Last week from Acts 17 we talked about the fact that when Paul arrived in Athens, Greece to await his companions, he was provoked in his spirit by the idolatry he saw all around him.

I tried to convince you that our world is not so much different, that we too live in a culture filled with objects of worship and adoration, idols if you will.

Paul, being jealous for God’s glory could not help but speak and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Everywhere he went he did that.

In the places of worship, where Jews and Gentles came to seek God, Paul met them there with Christ.

In the market place, where the people came to purchase things for their everyday needs, Paul met them there with Christ.

In the places of discussion, where ideas were exchanged and decisions made, the academy and the government buildings of our day, Paul met them there with Christ.

Wherever he was, Paul preached Jesus, crucified and resurrected.

But there is another aspect of Paul’s witness that is very important to realize.

The missionary apostle met the people not only where he was, but he also met them where they were.

But how do we do that?

We must connect with people at their point of longing and interest. 

Interested, I'll have more to post in a day or so.

Proclaim Christ Wherever You Are

"Why People Don't God to Church"

Proclaim Christ wherever you are from Acts 17.

¹⁶ Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. ¹⁷ Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. ¹⁸ Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this babbler want to say?”

Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.

¹⁹ And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? ²⁰ For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.” ²¹ For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.

Explain

v.16 – the Bible says that Paul’s spirit was provoked within him. He wasn’t so much upset or angry as that he literally became jealous for God. Perhaps in the same way a husband would be if another man were hitting on his wife.

You see this world was given over to worshiping idols, none of which deserved the rightful worship God deserves.

Instead of being frustrated and throwing up his hands in despair, Paul engages the people right where he is.

v.17 says “he reasoned in the synagogue.” That is he went into the places of worship, the churches so to speak, to again present the gospel to the Jews and Gentile worshipers as was often his custom.

Then he went into the market place where the people gathered in crowds to buy and sell. Everyone must do that, and Paul wanted to be where the most people would could hear him.

Then some philosophers heard him and invited him to the Aeropagus, the place where people exchanged ideas and continually sought knowledge. 

It was so very similar to our own culture for the Bible says they “spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.”

But the point is, wherever Paul went, whether in the place of worship, the marketplace, or the academy/government, he shared Christ.

I was reminded of the time when I was in the barracks at Camp LeJeuene in 1985 and these guys invited me to a Bible study, and I actually went. I think there must have been a pretty girl involved.

I will never forget that. We went into a barracks room and these Marines sat around and worshiped God, talking about Jesus. They shared the gospel where they were with me, a person who at that time was a lost as a goose in a snow storm.

Now, 99.9% of the Marines I knew could have cared less about the things of God, but these guys cared and still worshiped the Lord and sharing the gospel.

If some hardcore Marines can talk about Jesus to a stranger in the middle of a Marine barracks, the we also ought to be able to talk about Jesus in our homes, or churches, or businesses, or wherever.

Homes? Yes! Who will tell your children of Jesus if not you?

Churches? Yes, churches. Have you ever thought about how little people who come to church actually talk about Jesus. They may do a lot of listening, but not very much engaging.

What about other places of worship? Synagogues, Mosques, JW Temples, Masonic Lodges? Yes.The Lord has brought the world’s religions to our doorstep. I am not afraid to engage any religion with the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our faith can stand on its own.Our faith is reasonable. What's unreasonable is to go on in a life of sin and believe there are no eternal consequences.

Should we take Christ into the market place?

Absolutely. I have stood on a shop floor and prayed with a lady who just found out her mother died. I have shared Christ with my supervisor after working for him for nearly 4 years to build a relationship of trust. When I left that company I gave him a Bible. He had not accepted Christ but he accepted that Bible as a gift. Perhaps one day he will need it and read it. I hope so.

Should we engage the academy, the philosophers and thinkers of our day? YES!

I remember the guy who stood on the side walk at NC State when I was a student there and preached the gospel as people walked by. Some stopped to listen and he talked to them. At the time I thought he was a nut and a kook. I swore I would never do anything like that!

Fifteen years later I ate those words, for I did the same thing on the campus of UNLV as a seminary student and you would be amazed at the people who will stop and talk to you about the Lord. Not all agree, but they're hungry to know.

So what?

The devil only wants one thing from us because there is only one way he can win this battle, and that is if we simply shut up and be silent.

That is his new tactic, which is to silence the Christians.

We’ve been embarrassed and ridiculed and accused and basically told to sit down and shut up.

No one can argue against the truth and reality of the love of God in Jesus, so those who want it to go away simply deny and ignore.

But dear Christian, don’t sit around waiting. Get involved. Don’t be told by Satan to sit down and shut up when God wants you to stand up and speak.

You don’t sit down and shut up on politics, or economics, or who the best basketball team will be in the Final Four.

Why would you allow people to intimidate you into not speaking up for Jesus Christ?

Join the apostle Paul and let your spirit be provoked .

Be jealous for God and His glory.

When we see so much that is wrong in our culture, in our schools, in our government, in our businesses, in our communities, and in our homes, why would we not be jealous for Christ to be known in all these places.

Stop accepting everything as “Oh well.” Is not God worthy of all our worship?

Certainly He is. Let's take Jesus with us wherever we go, or rather I should say, let's go with Jesus wherever He goes.

Proclaiming Christ in a World of Idols

My prayer is that this weeks message will challenge all of us to be on mission for Christ, to proclaim Jesus from where we now sit to the ends of the earth. Before you go any further, check out this video on the website of the International Mission Board of the SBC:

http://www.imb.org/main/give/videosearchpage.asp?StoryID=5595&LanguageID=1709

Intro

We often speak about the worsening condition of the world around us, but feel like we’re helpless to change it.

But we’re not helpless. Far from it.

We have the most powerful message of change that has ever existed, the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Just because we look around and think our culture, society, and world looks bad, there is no reason to despair.

The challenges we face are no different or worse than what those first century apostles faced as they went forth to engage the world with the good news of the resurrected Lord and Savior Jesus.

Background:

When we come to Acts 17:16 we discover the apostle Paul has been left alone in the great city of Athens.

Athens was a great cultural center, the prize jewel of ancient Greece, and even though conquered by the Romans in Paul's day, the Romans still treasured all things Greek.

With a history now spanning 7,000 years, Athens was the home of a democratic society laying the foundations for Western society.

Athens was a city of learning and intellectual greats, boasting Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle – the world’s greatest philosophers.

Athens was also a city of magnificent architecture, hosting the Acropolis, the Agora, and the Parthenon.

Left alone in this cultural capital of the world, Paul could have toured the city as a sightseer and been awestruck by its many wonders.

But he didn’t. Rather he saw the city not in any of these ways, but as full of idols and in desperate need of Jesus.

Later addressing the Athenians Paul would say, I see you are ‘very religious.’ And so they were.

"Xenophon referred to Athens as ‘one great altar, one great sacrifice’. In consequence, ‘there were more gods in Athens than in all the rest of the country, and the Roman satirist hardly exaggerates when he says that it was easier to find a god there than a man’.” “In the Parthenon stood a huge gold and ivory statue of Athena, [for whom the city was named]‘whose gleaming spear-point was visible forty miles away’. ^[1]

No doubt Paul was impressed by the beauty of it all, but this was not what inspired him. What inspired him was the fact that all this was given not to worship of the one true God through Jesus Christ, but to dead idols.

As I reflected on this passage of Scripture it hit me that our world is not so different today.

Idols are everywhere. Idols not literally made of stone, bronze, or gold, but of made of every imaginable desire.

What kind of idols do we have? We worship…

Athletics                        Houses

Musicians                      Cars, motorcycles

Actors                            Hobbies of every kind

Politics                          Media: (American Idol)

Business                        The church

These are all good things, but when we begin to idolize them that becomes a bad thing.

But what is an idol? What constitutes worship of these things?

Beloved whenever ever we ascribe glory and honor to anything that is not God, we run the risk of idolatry.

You see all glory belongs to God, and things we possess or tasks we do are not to be glorified in the same way we glorify God, yet we do it so easily.

A pastor once said, “Whenever a good thing, becomes a God thing, that’s a bad thing.”

That stuck with me. I may possess a great many things, but I never want to glorify them in my life. They are simply things.

Paul encountered a world where the idolatry was more plain perhaps, but it did not discourage him, rather it inspired him to do something, to do the greatest thing he could do, and that was to engage the people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

How did he do that? Tune in later this week and I'll tell you. Read ahead in Acts 17:16-34 to get started.

---

^[1] Stott, J. R. W. (1994). The message of Acts : The Spirit, the church & the world. The Bible speaks today (277). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press.

My Dreams for You

I have been in revival this week at Pauline Baptist Church near Four Oaks. Please continue to pray for me as I minister to these sweet people.


Instead of giving you the 3rd bond of Christian unity today, I wanted to encourage with a message I wrote some time ago sharing my dreams for you. So here it is.

My Hopes and Dreams for You

Col 1:9-14

We all have hopes and dreams for ourselves.

As a child I wanted to be a fighter pilot and an astronaut. In High School I dreamed of being a national champion wrestler. When I joined the Marines I wanted to be a great hero like Chesty Puller or John Basilone. In college I dreamed of being a motorcycle racer and working as an engineer on a race team. When I got out of college I dreamed of running a factory and being a plant manager.

Now I also have dreams for my children. I want them to have joy in their lives and to realize their potential as adults. I want them to go to college and do well in school. I hope they will find spouses that will love them and be good to them one day. I hope they have children and live in a world that has pace and opportunity.

I also have dreams for my church family.

This pastor thing is way beyond me. I never dreamed of doing anything like this. If not for the constant help of the Lord I would make a royal mess of what so many good people have built at Live Oak. But I do have dreams for you and I have hopes for you.

A while back a passage of Scripture in Colossians hit me so hard that I wrote it down and taped it to the lamp on my desk. It was written by the apostle Paul to the church in Colossae concerning his prayer for them.

I see the two as the same, for my hopes and dreams for you to be realized, I must pray that God will do something wonderful and miraculous in every one of your lives.

 So what are my hopes and dreams for you? They are found in Col. 1:9-14

 9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. (NKJV)

______________________________

1. I Hope that you will be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

“ may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;”

Explain

- Filled, not half full, but completely full.

- Of what? The knowledge of His will. Not my will for you, but God’s will for you.

God wants every one of us to know His will.

In ALL wisdom and spiritual understanding. Again, not partial, but in all things and in all ways.

This is not the wisdom of the world, but the wisdom of God. God will often ask us to do things that do not make sense to the world.

We give when the world takes.

We serve when the world demands to be served.

We suffer when the world wants only comfort.

We willing lay down our lives when the world fights for every last second on this earth.

It makes no sense to the world to do the things we do.

People think we’re crazy to attend church, give away our money, and serve people we don't even know.

Beloved things of the Spirit can only be discerned by the Spirit.

So what?

So what can do I do to help you realize this dream?

I pray God's will be revealed to you. 

I preach the Word of God as clearly as I may so that you may know God as He really is.

I encourage you to live out your faith in God's will and if I am able, will help you to do that.

But that’s not my only hope for you.

_______________________________________________

2.  I Hope that you will walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him.

2. ^10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, 

We expend a great deal of effort to please people.

We want to please our parents.

We want to please our spouse.

We want to please our children.

We want to please our neighbors.

We want to please our boss or co-workers.

We want to please our church.

We want to please our civic organization.

We want to please ourselves.....!

But we should want to please One more than all the rest.

I pray that you may walk worthy, fully pleasing to the Lord.

I was telling some folks recently about my Grandma Bustle. I still have her chair in my house.

It’s tattered and old, I guess you could say a bit ugly if you get right down to it. Most people probably would have thrown it out years ago.

But my Grandma Bustle prayed for me and a great many other people in that chair.

She was 82 when she passed in 1988, and if there was a woman I have known who walked worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, it was my Grandma Bustle. She took us to church, shared her faith, and loved us fully.

So what?

Now I pray that you walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, and here’s how I want to help you do that…

I want to walk beside you.

I don’t have the answers to all your questions but the Lord does, and together we can find out.

I’m not the handiest guy to have around in every situation. Many of you know a great many more things than I, but as your pastor I want to be there for you.

And I want you to be there for me.

I can’t be with everyone every week unless of course you come to church every week, then we can spend several hours together, but in your life I want to walk with you to help you walk with the Lord.

3. I Hope that you will be fruitful in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of God.

3. being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 

Every Christian should bear spiritual fruit.

I reject the notion of the carnal or unproductive Christian, for that is a denial of the power of the Holy Spirit.

A person who claims Christ as Lord, yet who is not fruitful in every good work and who is not increasing in the knowledge of God may not have a real relationship with my God.

Fruitful works and increasing in the knowledge of God, are experiential truths. That means they work out practically in real life.

Bearing fruit is an evidence of the presence of God.

Knowledge of God is evidence of a personal relationship with our Lord. This is NOT simply knowing some things about God and being able to give the right answer on a multiple choice test. This is knowing God personally and intimately.

There have been times when I was not fruitful and not increasing in the knowledge of God, but I will tell you this, those were times when I was far from the Lord.

That is not to say there are not times of trial and struggle when we are close to God. There are.

But those are often times when the spiritual fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control are most evident.

When we are fruitful in trials, then our labors will be most productive for God’s glory.

Not our own glory, or for the glory of our local church, but for the glory of Lord Jesus Christ!

So what?

I want to help you to realize spiritual productiveness.

I pray almost every morning with my family, “God establish the works of our hands that our lives may be fruitful for You.” I want to help you find your ministry, your productiveness.

May I say I am beginning to see that in many of your lives.

But as I said in my previous sermons, God wants 100% participation.

Every person is a minister.

Every minister (that’s you!) has God sized possibilities.

Every minister is empowered by God.

Every minister is consecrated by the church.

Let’s get with it.

But that’s not all…

4. I Hope you will be strengthened according to the power of God…

4. ^{11 }strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;

Explain

<sup>Do you know when God gives us strength? When we need it.... 
When do we need it? When we are in the midst of trial and testing.

That's why the apostle asks for strength to receive patience and longsuffering. How? With joy.
Who ever heard of that? 
Christians!</sup>

I hope and pray that you will be strengthened by God Himself, because if we’re not, we will not be able to complete the tasks He has set before us.

In fact, God has set it up that way. He has made our calling impossible…. Without Him!

But with Him, all things are possible.

Jesus says,

^27 But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” ^[2]

One day last summer I went out to my rose garden and worked for several hours in the heat of the day getting out all the grass, leveling the ground, filling in dirt (4 wheel barrows); putting down weeding mat, and laying brick around it.

I about died in the heat. Now I know God helped me with that and without Him that would not have been possible, but I will grant that someone might argue, I did that in my own strength, and many people could have done it.

True perhaps.

But what about seeing kids, young adults, and seniors come to Christ as Lord and Savior?

That is only possible with God.

What about seeing this church strengthen, grow, and expand our influence for Jesus on the world.

That is only possible with God.

What about seeing marriages saved, families strengthened, young people uniting in oneness with the Lord?

That is only possible with God.

So what?

I want to see you do things with your life that are only possible with God.

I want to see a little tiny faith in a great big and awesome God.

I want to see you get out of the boat of fear, insecurity, comfortableness, apathy, and indifference and get out and walk on water with Jesus…

On mission trips…

Helping a neighbor…

Witnessing….

Starting a Bible study in your work place…

Mentoring the next generation of Christians….

Discipling your children and grand children…

And seeing great things happen with God!

And when you do… I hope and dream that....

5. I Hope that you will give thanks to God.

 ^{12 [}giving] thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 

Explain

If there is a thankful people in the world, it should be us.

Why? Because all God does is grace.

All God does is done freely, with no strings attached.

God gives without condition.

God loves without fail.

God forgives on the merit of Christ’s own sacrifice.

God accepts us as His very own children.

How much better can it get than that?

We should be thankful!

He has made us saints! He has set us apart as His own special people…

Partakers of the inheritance of Christ as saints in the light.

What does that mean?

It means we inherit all that Christ inherits as the only begotten Son of God, because we are the bride of Christ, the church.

What does Christ inherit?

Everything! Every good thing that God has to offer is ours with Christ!

Illustrate

When I married my wife she became partaker of everything I have.

All that is mine is hers. Now that may not be that much. Some of you have much better inheritances to give on this earth…

But guess what? I am an inheritor with Christ! I will receive all the Father has to bestow on His beloved.

No wonder we should be thankful!

So what?

Therefore sing, praise, be generous, give your life in thanksgiving to God.

How can I help you in that?

I want to do everything I can to not stand in your way or cause you any hindrance in your walk with the Lord.

I certainly don’t want to be any cause of grief in your life.

If I am, please let me know in a kind and gentle way and I promise I will do all I can to restore your joy and not be a stumbling block.

Finish

Why do I have these hopes and dreams for you?

Because…

^13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love^{, 14} in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

I could preach a whole day on those two verses, but right now I simply want to invite you to

         be delivered from the power of darkness

         to be conveyed into the kingdom of His beloved Son

         to be redeemed through His blood

         to receive the forgiveness of sins.

Yes, I have hopes and dreams for you, and as your pastor I will do all I can to help you realize the greatness of this prayer.

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^[1]The New King James Version. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Php 4:19-20.

^[2]The New King James Version. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Lk 18:27.