What do you do?

Over the past several weeks, we have talked about what it means to radically follow Jesus.  We have looked at some of the more difficult messages of Jesus.  We have considered giving our all to Him…our everything…and putting nothing before Him.  I pray that you have made that decision to radically follow Him…no matter what.  I pray that you are dedicated to serving Him because you love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

So, we say yes to following the Lord…God has called, we answer…we are ready to live life for Him.  That may have been years ago or a week ago.  We finally give everything to Him.  We have finally made that decision to let go.  Then, everything seems to fall apart…one piece at a time.  Or it all seems to crumble all at one time.  What happens when you follow the Lord and things don't go well?  What happens when you feel as though you have been beat down?  What do you do when you mess up?  What happens when you are not even sure you can keep moving forward?  What do your world isn't working out the way you thought it would?

For me, that lesson is learned from looking at the life of David.  David was chosen and anointed as a young man.  He was blessed by God.  Saul, the King, chose David to be his armor bearer.  David could play the harp while Saul was in distress in way that would calm him and help him to keep going.  1 Samuel 16:21-23.  It is going well for David.

He even faces Goliath…a giant that no one is willing to fight.  1 Samuel 17:42-47.  He didn't just fight him, he defeated him and showed the people who God was.  He is doing the right thing…surely it would all continue…and then…the "party was over"…1 Samuel 18:7-9. 

David fled, Saul pursued.  David encountered battle after battle just to keep his own life.  Saul wanted him dead.  David just wanted to live.  David's camp was raided…his wives and children taken.  He was blamed.  But, through it all, David knew this is where God had led him.  2 Samuel 5:12.

David had every reason to question where he was in life.  He had every reason to question his calling…quit the fight…wonder why he was called to live such a life.  He could have just given up.  But, for me, the message that David's early life teaches me is found over and over…2 Samuel 5:19.  David inquired of the Lord. 

What does that mean?  It means that David wanted to know which steps to take…so he asked God.  He wanted to know whether the battle was right or now…he asked God.  When he made a mistake, he came to God with it.  In the terrors of his life, he kept asking God what he should do.  And, God answered.  God was leading his life.  Step by step and day by day, God led. 

David wondered why Saul would want his life, but he remained faithful to God…which meant several times not killing Saul when he had the chance.  David remained faithful to God because he kept seeking God in his daily life.  He remained faithful because he didn't do it on his own…he looked to God for answers.  Can you imagine how overwhelming the situation was for David as he went from place to place hiding out because the one he took care of was now trying to kill him?  Yet, he kept coming back to the Lord and seeking Him.

How about you and me?  Do circumstances guide your feelings and attitude?  Does your situation indicate how obedient you are?  OR…do you remain faithful because you are continually seeking His will and His way rather than your own?  Things don't go well…seek God.  Daily seek Him.  Daily listen to Him.  Daily let Him lead and guide you. 

When you seek God daily…you find strength…you find guidance…you find peace…and you can be obedient and faithful to the call.

Go and Make Disciples

Last week, we considered whether or not the Word of God is enough.  Is it really enough to bring us together?  Do we have that desire to know God more, to see what He reveals to us?  Do we really want to grow in Christ?  Do we desire to come together to do that?  Is it really enough?

Today, I want us to think about what are we to do as Christians?  What is it that we are called to do as His church and as His people?  We look at the Word for answers.  Matthew 28:19-20.  The first thing that we read in this scripture is to GO and to MAKE disciples. 

Make disciples…that's an interesting thought isn't it.  What does it mean to make disciples?  We might first think it means to get people to come to church.  Surely if we can get someone to church, we can make a disciple of them, right?  Isn't that what you pay the preacher for?  Isn't that what we are doing when we have church? 

That could easily be a general consensus of the church.  But, that isn't what it means to make disciples.  As a church, bringing someone to worship isn't the definition of making disciples.  Making disciples isn't something that the pastor does for the church.  Jesus didn't say, sit in church and wait for others to come.  He also didn't say for us to bring people to church and let's see what happens.

He told His disciples to go and to make disciples.  He is telling you and me as disciples to go and to make disciples.  That is done in our ordinary everyday lives.  We make disciples through relationships.  The church is not our mode of evangelism…our way of telling people about Jesus…our communication with the world.  The church is the place where believers come to worship the Almighty God.  We come together to know more about Him and to worship Him.  But, we go and make disciples.  The people we see in church often are people we see on a regular basis in church.  We are comfortable.  These are our "church peeps". 

But, what about the people you see at the grocery store?  What about the people you see at the bank and at the doctor's office.  These are people we see through our jobs and in our lives.  These are people we see when we are doing what we do on a daily basis…not what we do on Sundays.  In making disciples, we may bring them to church.  Worship is obviously really important in the life of a follower.  But, inviting someone to church isn't the mode of making disciples.

Making disciples is living the life.  It is talking with others.  It is finding out what is going on with them.  It is being a friend.  It is showing love when others don't.  It is being there when they are down.  And it is showing them God.  We show them the love of God in the way we treat them.  We show them love by taking time out of the hustle and bustle of our lives.  We don't cut people off because they don't talk or act like we do.  We show love by being there.  We live the example by buying a few extra groceries in a week for the food pantry or FLOK.  We live the example by showing people we are real, with real problems…but that we serve a real Savior.  We show them where our hope comes from.

Life isn't easy for anyone.  It may seem that some have it easier than others.  But, no one has it easy.  We all struggle.  We all have things that bring us down.  We all have burdens we are carrying around that no one may not ever see.  But, if we are continually seeking out people like us…Christians…we miss the opportunity to make disciples. 

Romans 10:11-17…Powerful words!  These words remind us that there is a progression.  People call on the Lord when they believe.  People believe when they hear.  People hear when someone preaches.  Someone preaches when they are called.  You may think that doesn't mean you.  You know you aren't called to be a preacher.  That may be true unless you consider that preaching is really just proclaiming.  Can you proclaim that Jesus is Savior?  Can you proclaim what He has done for you?  Can you proclaim what God is doing in your life?  If so, you are called to do what is outlined here. 

Also, do you think this is referring to a Sunday morning service?  How about people hear when someone is willing to live the life and to proclaim the truth.  God calls.  He has commanded us to go and make disciples.  He has given us the mission to go.  He is calling…are you answering? 

Make disciples…You and Me…Make disciples.  We do that through relationships…we do that through our everyday lives…we do that through mentoring and loving…we do that through encouragement.  But most importantly, we do it through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Following the Lord…filled with the Holy Spirit…always with the Lord…making disciples…

Is the Word enough?

Today, you can put away your Bibles.  We won't need them in worship today.  Instead, we are going to just spend time worshiping.  We are going to talk about how much we have been blessed.  We are going to come up with ways that we can be a better church and better people.  Sounds like a plan?

It shouldn't.  It shouldn't because if we are going to be obedient people and an obedient church…and if we are going to truly worship…the Word of God has to be an integral part.  So, what is the Bible really good for?  We have had an emphasis since Memorial Day on reading the Bible every day.  But, what is it really good for?  Why do you have the Bible?  Why do you read it?  What are you looking for?  The answers to these questions say a lot about us.

For many, the Bible is a history book…and it does have a lot of history in it.  I have been reading in 1 Samuel recently and there is some powerful history of God's people.  For some, it is a road map.  It is a way for us to make the right decisions…a guidebook for life.  For some, it is a love letter…God's letter to us.  But, in all of these things, the focus of the Bible is me.  It is my love letter…my guidebook for my life…my road map…the focus is ME.  Now, it is true that the Bible does provide us with a way to live our lives…and it does show us the love of God, I want you to think of the Bible in a completely radical way…

Let's think about the Bible as God's revelation.  He is revealing something to us that we don't know and we won't know unless He reveals it.  It isn't something we get on our own.  It isn't dependent on us.  It is dependent on God.  In this revelation, God is revealing who He is to us.  How we approach Scripture says a lot about our priorities.  David Platt in Radical writes…"If you want to know what you really treasure, take a hard look at the way you read the Bible.  If you read the Bible with the intent of getting good advice, making choices, or finding your way in the world, then chances are you're worshiping at the altar of self.  If you read the Bible as it was meant to be read – so that you can know, understand, and obey God – you're beginning to see the true focus of Scripture:  God."

Let's read in this Word about the Word…2 Timothy 3:16-17 and Hebrews 4:12-13.

The Word is there to train and correct and teach in the ways of God.  It isn't about us…the Word is about God.  It is about who He is and how He is calling us to an obedient heart and life.  The Word of God cuts to the heart…it reveals our true motives…it opens us up to the truth.  If the Word isn't correcting us and revealing where we are missing the mark and showing us how He wants to go, then we may be missing it when we are reading the Word. 

How important really is the Word?  Is it really so important or is it something you could live without?  Is it something you could worship without?  Is the Word of God really enough for us?  Is it enough for us to come to worship OR do we come for some other reasons (or not come for other reasons)? 

Are we really here to learn more about Him?  Are we really here to read His Word and to know Him better and obey Him?  What if we take away the comforts of the church…the cushions…the decorations…the A/C…would you still come?  What if we didn't have the building and had to meet under an oak tree?  What if your life was on the line if you came together to hear and study the Word?  Does it really mean that much to you?  Does hearing and learning more about God really mean that much to you?  Do we have a thirst for the Word and a thirst to worship?  In other words, is the Word of God enough for us to come together? 

If we want to follow Jesus, that answer has to be YES.  But, that isn't often our focus because we are thinking about us.  We aren't really thinking about God and worshiping Him…much of the time, we are thinking about what we want.  We are thinking about how there could be different music or hymns, how the preacher could really stop any time, thinking about how the service is going to run long because of communion, thinking about what is going to happen after church.  We don't give God our 100% when we are here and we likely wouldn't come without the modern conveniences.  We could easily go somewhere else that has them.  And if we don't, we can just stay home.  Those are scary thoughts because it reveals how much we really want to follow Jesus rather than self.

Our decision, though, isn't that we are going to start loving the Word of God today.  Our decision is rather that we are committing ourselves to following Jesus Christ.  Our decision is that we will love the Lord our God with all of our heart and soul and strength.  Our decision is that God is enough and we will worship Him no matter what.  When we make that decision, the Word of God comes alive for us because the Holy Spirit ignites that.  We look at 1 Samuel and we see the heart of Hannah…we see the heart of David…we see the fall of Saul…and the fall of Eli's sons…and we take a long hard look at how we are being obedient and if our heart is loyal to God. 

Do you want to know more about God…do you want to know how to be obedient…do you want to know how to follow?  Spend time in the Word and spend time in worship with the Word.  God reveals Himself through the Word, through His Spirit, and throughout our lives…but we miss it if we miss the Word.  Yes, the Word of God is just that important!