Sermon Notes 1-31-2021

So, where do we go from here??

Is this your family?

 

Is your Church your Family??

 

So, what is family??

Today we live in a world where family is disconnected, dysfunctional, broken, divorced, absent, and even abusive. We live in a world where when you say family to some it brings a rush of horrible memories, hurt, anger, and sadly for some no memories at all! 

 

Jesus tells us who our family is!

Mark 3:32–35 (ESV)

³²And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” 

³³And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”

³⁴And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!

³⁵For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

·       

 

So, when we say that the church is a family this is what we are talking about??? 

·      I want you to look to your left and right because for you this is family!! 

 

Does it feel like family??? Or does it feel like a business???

 

When it feels like a business 

·      Are you trying to get as much as you can for as little as you can?

·      You don’t pick up your trash when you leave?

·      You leave the counters in the coffee bar a mess or the bathroom

·      Do you just get your coffee, flop your butt in a chair, and leave when you’re done?

·      Do you complain about things in the church?

o   Are you the one that knows every fault in the church?

o   Are you the person that sees every mistake that everyone makes?

If I just described you then this is not your family, it’s a business! 

 

When it feels like family

·      You're giving way more than you're getting (in time, talent, and money)

·      You stick around after church and pick up the trash that everyone else leaves behind

·      You straighten up when you're done

·      You are walking around talking to new faces and making them feel welcome

·      You don’t, complain you do!

o   If it's broke, you fix it

o   If someone is struggling, 

§  you pray for them and with them 

§  you do anything you can and try and help

You do all this because this is your family

·      Yes, they're annoying

·      Yes, they get on your last nerve

·      Yes, they hurt you sometimes

o   But in your family, you always come back, you always try, and you always invest

 

 

HOW do I make this church feel like family? 

 

1. Serve

1 Corinthians 12:12 (ESV)

¹²For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 

Are you waited on or served??

·      You want to be in the family you have to stop being served and start serving others

·      That’s what your savior did!

·      He said I come to serve not to be served

·      He washed feet, feed the homeless, calmed the storm, healed the broken, comforted many, and transformed His family. 

·      What are you doing for yours??

·      I am not talking about doing things that make you look good, I’m talking about things that help others

 

Jesus tells us Why serve??

Luke 22:27 (ESV)

²⁷For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

·      What better way to get to know your family than to serve next to them

·      Get plugged in!

o   Find a team and get on it

o   Look for an upcoming project and show up

o   Stop hiding behind the it’s too big, or I don’t know anyone

o   Talk to the team leader, talk to the lay pastor

o   It amazes me to see people and their attitudes when they are truly serving in the church vs folks who don’t

o   Their lives are better, their marriages are stronger, and they have folks to turn to

 

Loving people isn’t easy!!!!

Being involved with people is 

·      time consuming, 

·      messy,

·      and complicated. 

 

These are the very reasons why community is such a big part of God’s plan to transform us into the image of Christ. Living in community pushes us to die to ourselves. There will be times when loving others and allowing others to serve and love us will feel like death, but this is the pathway to real life in Christ. The more we understand our own hearts, the more we see that it takes a work of God’s grace to transform self-absorbed individuals into a community of love. Being in redemptive relationships shows us our need for change and helps bring it about!

 

2. We Give! That’s right I’m talking about money, Benjamin’s, cheddar, greenbacks!

Acts 2:45 (ESV)

⁴⁵And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 

 

So why Give??

·       Obedience

·       It all belongs to God anyway

·       What better way to figure that out than to give it to Him first?

 

What does Jesus say about it???

·      First fruit

o   The first check you make out

o   The first penny you spend goes to Him through His church

·      Cheerfully 

o   Give with a glad heart

o   Give gladly knowing God is in control and will use it for His good

o   I use to take $75 bibles to jail

·      Sacrificially

o   You give something up

o   For a single mom $5 is a lot

o   For some 10% is nothing

o   You need to give something 

·      Regularly 

o   Not when the church finally does something right in your eyes

o   Not when you have extra

o   But on a regular basis (weekly, monthly, whatever it looks like to you)

 

Ultimately it’s used to reach the lost, from coffee to lights, to sound, to arena events, to bibles for the kids. It's all used to reach the lost!

 

So my question to you is what is one soul worth???? 

·      If your family, you give to help the family meet its goal! To meet its needs. 

 

How much have you given?

·      To help the church continue to do what God has called us all to do???

·      I can’t answer that question, only you can. 

 

 

Tithing changes you the quickest

·      The 6 years before I started attending TCC in those 6 years I made approx. 1.35 million dollars

·      I had no money to show for it

·      I was up to my ears in debt

·      Bankrupt

·      Broke

·      No car

·      No house

·      Nothing

 

We started tithing, on my $22,000.00 dollars a year

·      Things started to change

·      Needs started to be met

·      And we have never looked back!

 

NOW

·      I now have more money in the bank than I have ever had

·      I am debt free

·      I don’t worry about money

·      I always have what I need

·      And I always put God's needs ahead of my own

·      And I make less than I have ever made in my life

 

God won’t provide you with everything you want, but He will cover your needs when you’re obedient to Him!

 

 

So, you don’t think family is important! Think again!

God wants you, no, He needs you to be a part of His big old messed up family! For you to learn and grow, to love and laugh you need to be a part of the family. We will never be perfect, we will disappoint you and hurt you, but just like my family growing up we will always be there for you! So, jump on into the old Station Wagon, and let’s take her for a spin!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sermon Notes 1-11-2021

So where do we go from here??

we have one Common Mission 

 

So, the big question is where do we go from here in 2021??

 

 

 

Acts 2:42–47 (ESV)

⁴²And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 

⁴³And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 

⁴⁴And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 

⁴⁵And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 

⁴⁶And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 

⁴⁷praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. 

 

 

So, what did the first church formed after Jesus ascended do that was so special, so awe-inspiring that lead to the making of so many disciples?  

 

1. They learned together

2. They had one common mission

3. They hung out and spent time together

4. They gave for the common mission

 

It's hard to believe that it is that simple, but it was. And simple does not mean easy!

·      It takes commitment

· It takes your time

·      And it takes a purpose!

 

We don’t want to be Lukewarm! 

Revelation 3:14–16 (NLT)

¹⁴“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the message from the one who is the Amen—the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s new creation:

¹⁵“I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other!

¹⁶But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!

 

·      I see too many churches just getting by

o   And some aren’t even doing that

o   They say 1 in 5 churches will close their doors by the end of 2021

o   That the connection churches thought they had with their congregations wasn’t there

·      I see churches never walking out their doors

·      I see too many churches not opening their doors

o   They are hiding behind a virus

·      I see too many churches just going through the motions

·      And we will not sit back and become LUKEWARM!

·      We have got to be a church on mission 

·      We have got to be a church about our Father's mission

 

So This Week, we talk about One Common Mission!

 

Jesus gave us commands to carry out His mission

·      Some commands were for us to stay close to Him

·      And others were for us to carry out His mission (reaching others)

 

The commands He gave us for reaching others (the Mission)

Let Your Light Shine

Be Salty

Keep Your Word

Go the Second Mile

Love Your Enemies

Judge Not

Do unto Others

Love the Lord

Feed My Sheep

Take My Yoke

Deny Yourself

Go to your Offenders

Be a Servant

Fear Not

 

The ones I want to concentrate on today!

Jesus gave us commands to be the light and salt to a dark and tasteless world. To go out and carry out His mission to reconcile the world back to God the Father through Him. And it was these very simple straight forward commands that the 1^st church followed to reach the world. 

 

1. Keep My Commandments

John 14:15 (ESV)

¹⁵“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 

·      He knew the world would interfere in our lives

·      That sin would separate us from Him and His Father

·      And that the only way we would be able to carry out His mission was to follow His commands

·      That’s why the first church learned together and spent time together, and had one common mission

·      Jesus’s commands are for us to turn from sin and lean into Him!

 

2. Forgive Others

Matthew 18:21–22 (NLT)

²¹Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” 

²²“No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!

·      Jesus knew that without forgiveness we could never carry out His mission

·      That people both in the body and out would offend us and we need the skill of forgiveness

·      This is a key part of staying on mission 

·      To learn to forgive often and regularly

  

3. Love Your Neighbor

Mark 12:31 (NLT)

³¹The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

·      The world needs more love

·      More compassion

·      More hope

·      God put unbelievers in your path for a reason

·      And that is to show a lost and dying world the importance of people 

·      That they have worth, value

·      That we know they will fail often

·      But that we will love them through it

 

4. Love Each Other

John 13:34–35 (NLT)

³⁴So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.

³⁵Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

·      This is how a world peering in, will know we are different

·      This is us living out all that Jesus taught us 

·      In community, together

·      Loving each other 

·      Taking care of each other

·      Doing life together

·      Holding each other accountable in love

o   Not judging each other

·      The world needs to see Jesus in ACTION, through His people!

·      And frankly this is where we fail so miserably! 

 

5. The church, God's people on Mission!

Matthew 28:18–20 (NLT)

¹⁸Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

¹⁹Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

²⁰Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

·      This is the church on mission

·      Not giving a check to a nameless faceless missionary

·      We are all missionaries!

·      In our communities

·      In the lives that God places in our path

·      Making a difference where we live!

 

 

How were they living out that Mission?

·      And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 

·      And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 

·      And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 

·      And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.

·      And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 

·      praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. 

 

What the church has done terribly wrong!

·      After the 10 commandments were written we immediately started adding to it

·      Man started adding to God's perfect plan

·      Then Jesus came to simplify it again 

·      And what did we do, start to complicate it again

·      With rules and systems to make it so hard for the world to find Jesus

·      If you read Acts 2:42-47 there are no rules just a body of believers (disciples) on mission

·      with one common goal, to reach a lost world with the love and compassion of our savior to show the world a better way

·      the world needs to see the church and its people as a light 

·      and we have turned it in too a place of Judgement, Ridicule, and hypocrisy!   

 

What can we do to be on Mission!

·      Reach a lost world!

o   The methods have changed DRASTICALLY

o   The mission has not

·      If every decision we make in this church revolves around the mission of reaching lost souls

·      If we in our daily lives become kingdom-minded, we will make an impact! 

·      If every day you ask yourself how am I living? How am I making a difference, how am I impacting the kingdom?

·      We can change the world we live in!