Refocus

SCRIPTURE

Numbers 21:4–9 NKJV

4 Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” 6 So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. 7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

EXEGESIS

God Had Blessed Israel

God had miraculously brought them out of Egypt.

God had provided manna from Heaven.

God had provided water.

Israel Became Discouraged on the Way

They spoke against God and Moses.

They began to complain.

Israel Had Lost Focus

They had taken their eyes off of God.

They had forgotten all that God had done for them.

They took their eyes off their Provider and started to focus on their problems.

As a result, God Send a Plague

He sent fiery serpents.

The people who were bitten by the fiery serpents died.

God Wanted Them to Refocus

The people began to repent.

He told Moses to make a bronze serpent, put it on a pole, and raise it up.

Anyone who had been bitten, when they looked at the bronze serpent, they would be healed and they would live.

Serpents represent evil. Bronze represents the judgment of God. So the bronze serpent represented the sins of the people being judged and forgiven.

Israel Lost Focus Again

2 Kings 18:1–4 NKJV

1 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done. 4 He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan.

God never intended Israel to worship the bronze serpent.

Instead of focusing on the God who provided life and healing, they focused on a worthless piece of bronze.

Israel Lost Focus Again.

Jesus is the Ultimate Fulfillment

John 3:14 KJV 1900

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

John 12:32 KJV 1900

32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

INTRODUCTION

At the beginning of 2022, I laid out a vision for our church. We talked about four things:

Knowing Jesus and Making Jesus Known

Being a Church Where the Presence of God is Present

Inviting People to Come As They Are, but Leave Better Than They Came

Small Church | Big Heart

And as I have been praying and seeking God for the direction for our church for 2024, I keep hearing the Spirit say, “REFOCUS.” It is not reset. Reset means you start all over; start from scratch. But God is saying, it’s not time to reset, it’s time to REFOCUS!

We are living in the last days. At it could very well be that we are the last generation before the rapture of the church. We are certainly part of the End-Times Church. And Jesus gave His church a mission just before He ascended back to Heaven; “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” Our mission today is the same mission. We are to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

We need to REFOCUS! [show slide]

We need to be inward focused and outward focused. We need to be inward focused on Discipleship and Fellowship. Our inward focus is all about Knowing Jesus and Growing in Jesus. We need to be outward focused on Evangelism and Outreach. Our outward focus is all about Serving Jesus and Sharing Jesus.

And it all centers around Worship! Our discipleship, our fellowship, our evangelism, and our outreach should be an extension of our worship! And our worship should focus on the person and work of Jesus Christ!

2023 is coming to a close, and 2024 is right around the corner. But we don’t need to coast for the rest of 2023. We need to finish 2023 strong. And we need to get ready now for what God wants to do in 2024! And in order to be ready, I believe God is calling us to REFOCUS!

If we will lift up Jesus (by Knowing Jesus, Growing in Jesus, Sharing Jesus, and Serving Jesus) He will draw all people to Himself. And if people are drawn to Jesus they will be:

Saved,

Healed,

Delivered,

Empowered,

Victorious.

200 Muslim men in Gaza see vision of Jesus in their dreams and convert to Christianity.

MESSAGE POINTS

Let’s talk about how to REFOCUS on our mission through the ministry of Jesus:

Fellowship

Example: Zacheus

Luke 19:1–10 NKJV

1 Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. 7 But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.” 8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Outreach

Matthew 4:23 NKJV

23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.

Matthew 25:34–40 NKJV

34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 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.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

Discipleship

Matthew 28:18–20 NKJV

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 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.

Follow Him

Evangelism

Luke 4:43 NKJV

43 but He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”

Worship

Luke 4:8 NKJV

8 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

John 4:24 NKJV

24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Luke 22:42 NKJV

42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”

Don’t Focus on the Struggle, Focus on Jesus

Hebrews 12:1–2 NKJV

1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Don’t Focus on the Earthly, Focus on Jesus

Colossians 3:1–4 NKJV

1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Don’t Focus on the Past, Focus on Jesus

Philippians 3:13–14 NKJV

13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Don’t Focus on the Negative, Focus on Jesus

Philippians 4:8 NKJV

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

CLOSING