A Spirit-Filled Passion for a Passion-Filled Mission

February 24, 2013
A Spirit-Filled Passion for a Passion-Filled Mission
Acts 7:54-8:4
Scott Howard

One Truth: God desires for SRWC to have a Spirit-Filled passion that moves Hickory and all the nations for the glory of Christ.

If Acts 1:8 is our mission we should not get comfortable in our customs, traditions and routine.  We will look at four questions to ask ourselves; two this week and two next week.

1.  Will we choose the Mission over maintenance in the Church?

     The church is NOT about settling for a routine, monotonous motion of religious activity.

     The church is about sacrificing every facet of our lives to make the salvation and glory of Christ known in all nations.

     So then, how do we do that?  We should ask ourselves:

• How will I pray?  (to impact my family, friends, coworkers, the nations)
• How will I study?  (study God's Word, sharpen my mind)
• How will I give?  (use my resources for His glory)
• How will I go?  (be obedient to God's leading)
• How will I mobilize?  (make disciples, teach and lead)

2.  Is our worship driven by a God-centered passion or a man-centered production?

     We think worship happens at OUR place on OUR terms for OUR glory.  Do we limit our worship of Almighty God to a certain place, a certain style to make ourselves feel good?  It's not about us.

True worship...

• Sees the glory of God in Christ
• Proclaims the goodness of God in Christ

"'Look', he said, 'I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.'" 
--Acts 7:56
Stephen didn't just see the glory of God, he shouted it out and did not keep it to himself even when he was being persecuted.

Where is our passion?  We serve the eternal God Almighty!  And He has chosen us, adopted us into His kingdom. Isn't that something to be passionate about and something we'd want to share with others? 

Prayer, Outreach, Discipleship

Light is a very important thing. Without it the earth would be uninhabitable. Light is important to God too, because the Bible describes God's presence as light. It's what the ancient Hebrews called the Shechinah: the visible, divine presence. This was the light that shone around the shepherds when the angels came to announce the birth of Christ. This  was the glow on Moses' face when he came for the tabernacle after having communion with the Lord. This same manifestation was present at other times as well; for example, when Christ was transfigured before some of the disciples in Matthew 17;  when the angels announced the resurrection of Christ; and on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2:3. It is the light of God's presence we are commanded to shine in Matthew 5:14-16. Jesus said, "You are the world's light --- a city on a hill, glowing in the night for all to see. Don't hide your light! Let it shine for all; let your good deeds glow for all to see, so that they will praise your heavenly Father."

The believer is to do more than just reflect light, we are to let the living Christ shine forth through our humanity so that an unbelieving world finds the path to God illuminated and made clear. When Paul commended the Corinthian believers for the generosity of their gift to the believers in Jerusalem, he wrote that their good deeds became the visible symbol of the invisible Christ.

As believers, our challenge is to let our light shine in a dark world. This shining light should be as natural as breathing.

The following story gives us a good example of how we can do this. It's the story of a young mother of three, ages 14, 12, and 3. In addition to being a mother she was also a college senior completing her last class in Sociology. Their final assignment was to write an essay on the subject of SMILE. They were to smile at three people and document their reactions. For this young mother, that was not a problem because she constantly smiled at everyone. Soon after her assignment, she, her husband and the 3 year old went to McDonald's, one cold wintry day. While standing behind her were two, poor homeless men. As she looked down at the short gentlemen, she noticed that he was smiling. She noticed his beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God's Light as he searched for acceptance. Both men clutched a few coins in their dirty hands, counting their money to see if they had enough for coffee. This young mother then said, "I really felt it -- the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes. That is when I noticed all the eyes in the restaurant were on me, judging my reaction. I smiled and asked the young lad behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray. I then took the tray to the table where the men were sitting, drinking their coffee and trying to get warm. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes, and said, "Thank you." She patted his hand and said, "This is God just working through me to give you hope." She joined her husband and son at their table. Her husband smiled and said, "That is why God gave you to me, honey. To give me hope." They both talked and realized that it was only by the grace of God that they were able to give.

She wrote her essay and her professor asked her to share it with the class. In her own way, this young mother touched not only the people at McDonald's, she also touched her husband, son, her professor, and the members of her college class.

The world is filled with hurting people who are looking for 'something' that will make a difference in their lives. That something is UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. God has given each of us an abundance of love, mercy, and forgiveness; and He asks us [the believer]  to pass these along to those we come in contact with. Many people will walk in and out of our lives, looking for some light to show them a different way. Jesus said that we are to be as a city set on a hill. What a challenge it is to shine for Christ in such a way that everyone around us can see.

My prayer for this year is that we will send forth the light of the Good News that JESUS SAVES.

God bless you, and I pray we will have a greater sense of God's presence so His light will shine brighter through us.

My Life: A Waste or one that Counts / Message 3

February 10, 2013
My Life: A Waste or one that Counts / Message 3
Philippians 3
Scott Howard

• God wants to raise up men and women in His church whose lives count for His glory on the landscape of human history.

**See the previous two sermons, Message 1 & 2 in earlier posts for more detailed notes regarding the first part of Philippians chapter 3.

Four Characteristics of someone who's life will count for God's glory:

1. They Treasure Christ above everything this world has to offer.

• The only treasure of life that Counts: Christ
• We have found something worth losing everything for

    2.   They Trust in Christ to provide everything that they could ever need.

• His Righteousness covers our sin
• His Power guarantees our resurrection
• His Satisfaction transcends our suffering

Characteristics # 1 & 2 above come from Philippians 3:1-11
Characteristics # 3 & 4 below come from Philippians 3:12-21

    3.   They Persue Christ with obsessive passion --> the word "persue" in the original language of Paul's letter literally means to run or to follow after.  The language of running a race, or running after something is used also in Acts 20:24 and 2 Timothy 4:7

So why follow hard after Christ?  We ask this question because we think if we already have been saved, why persue Him more?  We misunderstand being "found" in Christ isn't just a one time thing--it means that we find Him so fulfilling that we want more of Him until we are made complete in Him.


The Qualities we need to Persue Christ:

• A Holy dissatisfaction with casual or comfortable Christianity
• A Fresh understanding of the degree to which Christ has followed hard after us
• A Single-minded discipline that governs our lives

Since the seeds of sin are born in stagnation, we should be careful not to coast idly through Christianity, but rather discipline our lives to persue Christ daily.

    4.   They look forward to the Prize of His praise
The Two-Fold prize of the life that Counts:

• The Completion of our salvation--> we will experience the fullness of Christ in eternity so we live to manifest His Glory here on Earth
• The Crown of their salvation--> we live for & persue Christ for other's sake, so that they can also come to know salvation through Christ.  We live to multiply His Gospel so that many will enter eternity along with us.  It's much greater than just being delivered from Hell ourselves--to share the Good News to others will further the Kingdom of God.

May we not get distracted and miss the whole point, may we live productive Christian lives; lives that count for His Glory.

One prayer:  God, even if it costs us everything, don't let us waste our lives, and don't let us waste Your church.

Announcements 2-10

                                      

New Members Class – There will be a NEW members class offered beginning on Sunday, February 24^th. This is a four-week class and is open to anyone who is interested in learning more about our church. If you are interested in taking the class, talk to Pastor Scott.

NEW Young Adult Small Group – Beginning March 3^rd @ 10:00 AM. This class is for young adults from high school seniors to the age of 24. If you have any questions, see Pastor Drew.

Thank you! – Our youth went door to door in surrounding neighborhoods and collected 101 lbs. of food for our Open Arms Food Pantry.

From the Pastor's Heart: February

"I, however, FOLLOWED the Lord my God wholeheartedly." ----- Joshua 14:8

"May I follow you? I don't know where I am going." Two sentences that many, if not all of us. have said at one time or another. We are in our cars driving to a destination of which we do not know the way. And so we put our dependence upon someone who knows the way in order to arrive at our desired destination. We become followers!

If you think about it, we have been "followers" all our lives. As a baby, we are encouraged to follow the examples that are mimicked in front of us time and time again; from waving to blowing a kiss to how to eat our vegetables, we are taught to "follow". As small children we are quickly introduced to a game of "Follow The Leader" in which we follow another child to wherever his or her whims want to take us. As teenagers and young adults. society teaches us to "follow" our peers in order to fit in and not become an outcast.

And to a great extent, before we reach adulthood, we "follow" the example of our parents. What they value often becomes what we learn to value. If God, church, and a Christ-like life are of value to our parents and demonstrated through their actions, then we "follow" their lead and value those same things. (Not always the case, but often it is.) If the things of the world are of value to our parents, then we "follow" their lead and "follow" the world.

Even in the age of GPS (means Go Perfectly Straight, right?), we are "followers". We "follow" that voice coming out of that little square box. And we are so obsessed with "following" that voice that we will even do what it says when we know there is a better route to take.

Let's face it folks, we are "followers". And it seems that we slip so easily into the role of being a "follower" when it comes to the things of this world, but when it comes to Christ, things are different. Jesus gave His disciples, you, and I a very simple two word command, "FOLLOW ME". The only problem is that when we "follow" Jesus, He leas us to CALVARY, to a CROSS, to SACRIFICE, to abandon ALL, to a DEATH. But isn't that what Joshua meant when he said, "I, however, FOLLOWED the Lord my God WHOLEHEARTEDLY."

On this Christian journey we are undertaking, we often lose sight of our destination. May we be determined to "follow" our Lord's GPS (God's Perfect Son) no matter what the cost. And when our journey comes to an end, may we be able to say with Joshua, "I however, FOLLOWED the Lord my God wholeheartedly."

My Life: A Waste or one that Counts / Message #2

February 3, 2013
My Life: A Waste or one that Counts / Message #2
Philippians 3:1-14
Scott Howard

Ø  God wants to raise up men and women in His church whose lives COUNT for His glory on the landscape of human history.

Ø  We will look at 4 characteristics of men and women whose lives have counted for the Glory of Christ. 

1.       They TREASURE Christ above everything else this world has to offer.

*(See the previous sermon notes about Treasuring Christ above everything)

·         The only treasure of the life that counts:  Christ

·         We have found something worth losing everything for.

2.       They TRUST in Christ to provide everything that they could ever need. 

 à Philippians 3:8-9,  “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”

When we gain Christ and trust in Him this is what we gain:

·         His righteousness covers our sin—it enables us to overcome sin, to resist messing up, to run from sin.  There is no list of rules we can follow to gain righteousness, just having faith in Christ and accepting His gift of salvation.  (v.9)

·         His power guarantees our resurrection—there is coming a day when you will be forever with Christ in the presence of God.  (v. 10)

·         His satisfaction transcends our suffering—when things are taken from us or when we suffer in this life it drives us to depend more on Christ.  That kind of faith, hope, treasure will transcend our suffering.  (v.10)

 

Ø  God delights in showing His greatness—His faithfulness through men and women who radically trust in Him for everything.

Lord make us a people who radically trust in YOU so that our lives will count for Your Glory!

Announcements 2-3

Men's Prayer Breakfast - Sunday Februray 10th @ 8:30am. All the men of the church are invited to join us for a great time of fellowship, food, and much needed prayer!

Secret Prayer Partner Revealing - The ladies of the church will meet on Sunday, February 10th @ 4:30pm in the church fellowship hall to reveal their Secret Prayer Partners. The ladies will also be drawing for New Secret Prayer Partner for 2013. All ladies are encouraged to attend.

New Members Class - A New Members Class will be offered beginning Sunday, February 24th @ 5:00pm. This is a four week class and is open to anyone who would like to learn more about our church. (Taking the class does not obligate you to join the church.) If you are interested, please see Pastor Scott.

Easter Drama - If you would be willing to help with this year's Easter Drama production, please see Phyllis Howard.

Board Meeting - The Local Board of Administration will meet Tuesday, February 26th @ 7:00pm

Salvation Army Soup Kitchen - Team #2 will be serving on Sunday, February 24th.

Open Arms Food Pantry - In January, the Open Arms Food Pantry served a total of 343.8 pounds of food to 9 families - 28 people all together. We received 181.6 pounds of food from the church.

Grief Share and Divorce Care - If you are interested in helping in our GriefShare and/or DivorceCare ministries, please see Pastor Charles.

Youth Group Laser Tag - Saturday, February 9th. The SRWC Youth will be going to Laser Tag @ Hickory Dickory Dock. We will leave the church at 6:00PM. We plan to be there until 10 pm.

Spa Night -  Friday, February 22nd @ 6:30PM. Arbonne Party Spa Night for girls only. (Mother/ Daughter Event). This is being held to pamper the girls and their mothers. They need not buy anything. However, if they do the proceeds will to to Aubrey's Diabetic Dog Fund. If you have any questions see Andrea Ward.

Young Adult Bible Study - A NEW Young Adult Small Group will begin Sunday AM, March 3rd @ 10:00AM. This class if or young adults from high school seniors to the age of 24. If you are interested or know of someone who would be interested in this small group please share the news about this NEW small group. If you have any questions, see Pastor Drew.

Not A Fan - The dictionary defines a fan as "an enthusiasitc admirer." Fans want to be close enough to Jesus to get all the benefits, but not so close that it requires sacrifice. Fans may be fine with repeating a prayer, attending a church on the weekend, and slapping a Jesus fish on their bumpers. But is that really the extent of the relationship Jesus wants? Jesus was never intersted in having admires. It's not fans He is looking for. Jesus is looking for completely, committed FOLLOWERS!! Join us each Sunday Morning in Pastor Scott's Sunday School Class as we discover what it takes to move from being a Fan to being a true Follower of Jesus Christ.