HERD Night- Heartwork Week 5 (Conclusion)

Vertical! Today we come to a conclusion of 30 days of Heartwork. My prayer is that you have seen how blessed you are and how much you can do for God’s kingdom if you accept a mindset of “spending yourself” for others. I hope that this lifestyle goes further than just the month we had but i pray that you would never go a day without giving thanks to God for all your blessings and never go a day without asking God to use you for His kingdom.

Therefore, as we step go through this last week, I want to talk to you about your mission. One of our core values is to SERVE ALL. This turn our focus from an inward to an outward perspective.

Main Point: We can give God whatever we have in our hands and he can multiply it for others, for his glory.

You are probably familiar that Jesus called his original twelve disciples in a very peculiar manner. The Scriptures simply tells us that Jesus would go and ask people to follow him. So here are some questions that I would like you to ponder:

What do you think that it means to follow Jesus?

What will following Jesus look like in your everyday life?

Does following Jesus require that I make sacrifices?

These are great questions to be asking and we must understand what Jesus meant when he said, “Follow me.”

Matthew 4:19-20 “19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.”

“Follow me, I have a mission for you.” Jesus does not call us to a life of perfect church attendance but a life of active engagement in the Kingdom.

When Jesus first called the disciples, he was calling them to give up everything they had ever known. When he called, they immediately “left their nets and followed him.” Their nets symbolized their careers, their ambitions, and their lives. Following Jesus is a call to let go. It is a call to die to ourselves and to find a new life in Christ. It is a call to live like Jesus.

We all have a choice on what we will follow and give our lives to.

Will you follow the desires of the world or will you obey God?

Leaving Costa Rica.

Following Jesus is to live with a kingdom mindset.

The disciples walked with Jesus and their lives were changed from fishermen who probably had a pretty “normal”, narrow plan for their lives, to bold evangelists, fishers of men, who were willing to suffer for the Lord.

They let go of self-focused lives and were filled with great passion to fulfill the mission that Jesus had given them.

So often, we minimize the call to follow Jesus to just reading the Bible, praying or going to church. But the real call to follow him means to:

Matthew 5:14-16 “14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

The life, salvation and joy that you have found in Jesus is meant to be shared with others. This message we have has the power to bring healing, restoration, transformation and reconciliation to all. The people of God represent him and the world will praise the Father by seeing the good works of his people.

Now my main point is:

Main Point: We can give God whatever we have in our hands and he can multiply it for others, for his glory.

Let’s read this story together and draw some principles from it.

John 6:1–14 (NIV)

1 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Festival was near. 5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” 8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. 12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. 14 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

In John 6 we learn of a boy who had some bread and some fish. He gave what was in his hands to Jesus and it was miraculously multiplied to feed the people. All he did was:

1. Have simple, ordinary things in his hands.

2. Stay close to Jesus.

Jesus isn’t asking you to change the world. He’s asking you to work with him, to give him what is in your hands and he will multiply it for the good of others and for his glory.

He takes our ordinary things and turns them into miracles! He wants to use your talents, dreams, hopes, your career (all things he gives us anyway) to show his love to you and to others.

When we hear stories and statistics that speak of the devastating effects of war or poverty, or the destruction caused by materialism, it is easy to become discouraged and begin to think the problems are too big for one person to make a difference. This type of thinking often leads to discouragement and causes people to do nothing.

Don’t allow yourself to become paralyzed by the magnitude of the issues. You are not mean to be the savior of the world. You are meant to allow the savior of the world to work through you. Focus on the heart of God and allow him to lead you to the one person/or group of people whose life you can impact for eternity. Focus on the heart of God and may his love for you be your motivation to live for others.

If you focus on God you will see that the needs are great, but the gospel is greater still.

There are people all over the world who need us to care about more than our own comfort.

Following Jesus and obeying his commands is the great mission and purpose in the life of a Christian. There is no greater joy than to finish the race and complete the task that the Lord has given you.

God has called us to follow him in pursuit of the lost, broken and hurting. He commands us to preach good news to the poor and has called us each to different expressions of that mission. God is encouraging us to finish the race and complete the task.

Main Point: We can give God whatever we have in our hands and he can multiply it for others, for his glory.

What is in your hands that you can give to Jesus and watch him multiply for other, for His glory?