Back To Basics

Matthew 25:31–33 NKJV

31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.

Pray

Confession of Faith

I am not moved by what I see or by what I feel. I am moved by what I believe. I believe the WORD of God! The victory is mine! I have it now! I can see it through the eyes of my faith!

Introduction

It’s 2023 - God has blessed us to see another year! This is a year of potential, a year of excitement, and just like any other year it will have it’s ups and downs!

But we are the church! We are the ones who are called out! We are the ones who have the mission to make disciples! We are the ones who have been commissioned to build the kingdom of God!

We are the one chosen to be a peculiar people

You and I are the ones God has personally chosen to represent him in this earth realm

We are the ones chosen to win lost souls to Jesus Christ!

Matthew 28:18–20 NLT

18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach 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.”

We have been charged to create new disciples of Jesus Christ!

So Pastor is that the most important thing for us today?

To answer that, I would have to say yes!

The most important thing that you and I can do is become the best disciple of Jesus Christ and to teach others how to live the life of a disciple of Jesus!

Matthew 25:31–34 NCV

31 “The Son of Man will come again in his great glory, with all his angels. He will be King and sit on his great throne. 32 All the nations of the world will be gathered before him, and he will separate them into two groups as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 The Son of Man will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 “Then the King will say to the people on his right, ‘Come, my Father has given you his blessing. Receive the kingdom God has prepared for you since the world was made.

Our mission and the mission of United Christian Fellowship is to create as many people who will be on the right side of Jesus Christ the King upon his return!

So there is an urgency today, We cannot put off this charge to live a life of a disciple and we cannot put of the charge to create more disciples!

Discipleship is a lifelong commitment to a lifestyle that reflects Jesus Christ in our lives.

That has to be the goal of each of us!

If you have ever been on a sports team or followed sports, you probably heard the coach say, “We’re going to go back to the basics!”

It’s time to go back to basics

Now, If I were to have a one on one meeting with each of you in the next week and ask you some questions

I would ask

Do you want to make a difference?

Do you want to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ?

When you come down to the end of your life and you stand before God, what will you have to show God the difference you made while you were here on earth?

The Barna Group is a research and resource company that has study the church and culture!

Here is what they find

“Most Christian churches try to have a positive impact upon society and individuals.

The big question is whether what they are doing is working.

If the conclusion is that their efforts are not producing the desired outcomes, then the big challenge is whether they are willing to change their strategies to maximize their potential.”

You see one of the problems with many churches today is they have not been willing to change.

But here are the two biggest challenges we have - I believe! Allowing the Holy Spirit to live, indwell and fill our lives!

Allowing the Holy Spirit to be the life blood of the church!

Last year - we spent the entire year talking about transformation

But I begin to wonder - whether the preaching and teaching made people feel guilty for not succeeding in transforming, but not showing them how to do it!

I realize there are more people struggling now, then ever before!

There are more people challenging and wondering whether or not the church is effective!

There are more people moving away from the church, then moving towards the church!

There are more messages, and teachings driving people to get their blessings, and challenge the narrative of the Church, and to reveal the dark secrets of the church, and to not trust the church, and to shy away from people, and to look for the flaws in people!

So , I ask the question,

“Is what we are doing effective?”

Is it producing the desired outcomes?

Today, Are you willing as a member of United Christian Fellowship, willing to change

Are we willing to go to back to basics and start over if necessary to follow the instructions given by Jesus Christ to each of us?

Hear is what I believe, our only hope of restoration and life changing effect in this world is for the Church to fulfill it’s calling from God.

If we as a church want to have a great impact on lost souls - what do we have to do to get there?

Here is the Mission Statement of United Christian Fellowship

Matthew 25:35–36 NCV

35 I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you invited me into your house. 36 I was without clothes, and you gave me something to wear. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

Come as you are, or we will meet you right where you are.

WE LOVE YOU AND WANT YOU TO FEEL GOD'S LOVE.

So my prayer and goal is that the Holy Spirit will guide each of us to learn LEARNING ABOUT OUR CHURCH

To learn and operate on WHAT CHURCH SHOULD BE ABOUT

To achieve Matthew 25:35-36

Matthew 25:35–36 NKJV

35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

We must go back to Matthew 28:19-20

Matthew 28:19–20 NKJV

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

We must make this our life’s purpose!

If you ever played sports - you know every team wants the win! The W

Our Win is when we make disciples!

It’s a start when we get them to church,

it’s monumental when the lost accept Jesus Christ

But it’s life changing when the become disciples of Jesus Christ!

Can you say today that your life’s purpose is to make disciples of Jesus Christ?

So we must go back to basics! We need the W- everyday we need a win for the kingdom of God!

So I have urgency today, because as I read further into the scripture in Matthew 25 here is what you find

Matthew 25:32–46 NCV

32 All the nations of the world will be gathered before him, and he will separate them into two groups as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 The Son of Man will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 “Then the King will say to the people on his right, ‘Come, my Father has given you his blessing. Receive the kingdom God has prepared for you since the world was made. 35 I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you invited me into your house. 36 I was without clothes, and you gave me something to wear. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ 37 “Then the good people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you alone and away from home and invite you into our house? When did we see you without clothes and give you something to wear? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and care for you?’ 40 “Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, anything you did for even the least of my people here, you also did for me.’ 41 “Then the King will say to those on his left, ‘Go away from me. You will be punished. Go into the fire that burns forever that was prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. 43 I was alone and away from home, and you did not invite me into your house. I was without clothes, and you gave me nothing to wear. I was sick and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ 44 “Then those people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or alone and away from home or without clothes or sick or in prison? When did we see these things and not help you?’ 45 “Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, anything you refused to do for even the least of my people here, you refused to do for me.’ 46 “These people will go off to be punished forever, but the good people will go to live forever.”

This year we go back to basics!

The basics to get the tools to live as a disciple and to make other disciples of Jesus Christ

Basic Number 1

Matthew 22:37–38 NKJV

37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment.

Matthew 22:37–38 AMP

37 And He replied to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect). 38 This is the great (most important, principal) and first commandment.

This is our charge! United Christian Fellowship can only meet it’s mission of God’s word meets your world

when we commit to daily Loving the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, in with every bit of our mind

Then we can implement the second command

Matthew 22:39 NKJV

39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

Because then we can operate in

Romans 13:10 NKJV

10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

1 Timothy 1:5 NLT

5 The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.

Here is the call to action!

Because if we keep doing the same thing the same way - we will keep getting the same results

Go back to basics! Put the focus back on Jesus! Everyday, pray, everyday, read the word, everyday walk in discipleship!

Daily commit to To love God with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind not just in word, but in your life work as well, then daily commit to love your yourself and then to love each other!

God Bless you is my prayer