Good morning everyone, it is so good to be here this morning. We are starting the new year off right, with the baptism of a young man as well as communion and another layer of commitment that I will explain later. For now, dismiss kids, and welcome online attenders.

This morning, I want to tell you about a young author named C.S.Lewis. Most everyone knows of Lewis from “The Chronicles of Narnia”. Lewis wrote that, and BBC made a movie series about that, and then Hollywood made some movies about this and they were very well recieved because Lewis was a very talented author. Lewis has an interesting story to be honest. I read a bit about him this week, and I was a bit fascinated. See, Lewis was born in 1898 in Ireland. However, he didn’t stay there. Lewis moved all over and was involved in academia at every level. See, Lewis’ father was an attorney and his mother was one of very few women to be educated and recieved a degree from the Royal University of Ireland. Education was highly valued in the Lewis household. The entire Lewis family were avid readers. This high value produced something amazing in Lewis though. You see, Lewis was reading by age three…you know when most of us are just starting to get potty trained Lewis was reading. By age 5, Lewis had started writing short stories about a a fantasy land populated by “dressed animals,” influenced by the stories of Beatrix Potter. In 1985 these stories were put together and put into a book called Boxen: The Imaginary World of the Young C.S. Lewis. In other word, the stories that Lewis started to write at 5 have now been published. Why did that happen? Because the Lewis family placed a high value on reading and education, and that value permeated everything that family did. Lewis was a prodigy, clearly not everyone can do that, but Lewis did. You see, God had given Lewis a great gift, that gift was then shaped by the values of his family, and Lewis was able to accomplish what God had so clearly called him to do.

That is what we are talking about starting today. See, 6 months ago there was a question that was asked at our quarterly business meeting. That question was one of identity, the name of the church. Now, the person asking that question did not anticipate what God would be doing through this question. This question has become the catalyst for us to better understand who we are as a church, and what God has called us to do. Of course we can easily say that God has called us to preach the Gospel and worship him. That is true…but God has also called us to more than that. God has placed us in this place, for a purpose. God has brought you to this church, for a purpose. Now, we need to do the hard work of discerning what that purpose is. We need to do the hard work of understanding who we are as a church. We need to do the hard work of understanding what gifts, abilities, and passions God has brought together in this place to accomplish his work in this region. I’ll be honest, I have some ideas of what God is calling us to do…however, as a church, we need to fully understand and appreciate what God is calling us to, together…and in order for that to happen, we need to see that we have been

Shaped by Values

What do I mean by the phrase, “shaped by values”? What I mean is that God has shaped each and every one of us by a certain set of values. Of course Scripture has a high value, but maybe you feel more passionately about feeding the hungry, or God has broken your heart for first responders. Maybe there are some here that have a strong undeniable passion to help men become men of God, or for women to know you can study Scriptures in a real and meaningful way. Maybe you have a heart for kids, or teens, or maybe God has called you to serve seniors. See, every single person in this room has been called by God for particular good works. Do you know what God has called you to?

It is my belief that God has brought all of us together under one roof to make a massive impact on this community first, and in this region more broadly. However, in order for us to do that effectively, we need to understand the collective values that God has placed on our hearts. Then, just like CS Lewis who was raised in a home that placed a high value on reading and education, we will be raised as a church to accomplish what God has so uniquely placed us in Leaf River to accomplish. Make sense?

Now, let’s take some time to look at God’s Word and understand how God is shaping us and our values this morning.

Ephesians 2:4–10 (ESV)

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Now, we aren’t looking at all of these verses, but we needed to see a more full context of what we are really looking at today. Vs 6 picks up from 1:20 where we saw that Christ was raised up, and we were raised up with him. Actually we saw a picture of that this morning when we had a time of baptism. What we see here is a beautiful picture of God’s grace giving us the gift of life and purpose.

Starting in vs.6 we see three purpose clauses. We see God’s purpose for raising us up includes, on his part, showing us the depths of his grace(v. 7)* and then, on our part, not boasting of our own works (v. 9) but doing the good works prepared by God (v. 10). This reality should introduce a sense of both anticipation and of responsibility in the believer. Now, I want us to focus in on that last verse this morning.

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

This tells us that God has created each individual for good works…and…if God created each individual for good works, then Christ created each individual body of beleivers for good works. To put more clearly, God has created LRBC for good works.

So, in order for us to understand better, I am going to break this down a bit to impact not only us corporately, but you individually. First of all, I want you to know the importance of…

Exploring Personal Values:

Meaning you know what your personal values are in order to begin to understand what good works God has prepared for you. Here is what is really cool…God already knows what he is calling you to do, you just have to pay attention. Look at this passage in Jer.

Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

See, God already knows what he has called you to do. Now it’s up to you to understand how God has wired you and how that wiring impacts everything you do or say. You see, the thing that God has prepared for you to do, is already burning within you. You might be nervous about it, you might not understand it, you might not agree with it…but God has already prepared those works for you.

Let me give you an example, and this is just funny. Beth and I had decided that God had so clearly called us to work in Youth Ministry for a very long time. When we lived in South Bend we saw a need to get a new car. The car we choose was a minivan (even though we only had 2 very young kids). That was because we saw that we could have our whole family as well as at least 3 teens, or that we could fit 6-7 teens along with 1 driver for whatever events we might participate in. When we moved to Lafayette back in 2006, we needed to get a house and furnish that house. The house we choose had a nice in-ground pool. That was because we would be able to host pool parties with teens. Then there came a time where we needed a new couch. We specifically choose a large sectional so that we could fit more people on that couch and bring more people for either a teen activity or an adult Bible study. We actually sat up and down measuring how many people would actually fit on the couches and simply choose the couch that would fit the most people on it. We did that because God gave us each a heart for teens and for what teens were facing in this world. This was at that time, the good works that God had called us to do. We knew that, and that fact drove every decision we made.

What about you? Do you know what God has called you to do? Are you doing that thing? Let me encourage you with a practical help to understand your values.

First, list 5-10 values that are the most important to you. Then, answer the following questions:

Why is this value important to me?

How does this value align with Scripture?

How do I live out this value currently?

Then through prayer and Scripture reading, take these 5-10 values and choose the 3-5 that are clearly the driving force behind who you are and who God has created you to be. Then begin to live your life in accordance with your values.

That’s not where we stop though is it? This is where we start, but next we need to understand and begin…

Exploring Church Values:

See, the church exist not because of one of us, but because God has brought many of us together to form a local body of believers. All of our personal values are built into our corporate values, so it’s important to understand your personal values so that we can understand our corporate values. For instance, I will tell you one of our corporate values is that we value the integrity of Scripture. We believe that the Scripture was written by men who were carried by the Holy Spirit and led to write the things that guide us as a church today. In other words, We place a high value on Scripture. Unfortunately that is something that is more and more lacking in today’s modern church. For instance, I am a part of a group of pastors and just this week there was a discussion about the damage that Biblical truths have had on young people and we need to be cautious about what we share from Scripture. Isn’t that insane? We need to be careful about sharing Scripture…no, that is all wrong. If anything we need to be care about not sharing Scripture because that is an action that will result in severe action from God. I am heartbroken as I talk to people who are in various levels of ministry simply because its a job. I have met so many pastors that have actually said that God does not call people to ministry, but that people simply choose a career. That is sad to me because those are people who do not place a high value on Scripture. Unfortunately they will pay a high price for that one day. You see, these men and women have allowed the anti-Christ culture to shape them instead of allow the Scripture to shape them. We are warned about that in

Romans 12:2 (ESV)

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Thats exactly what we are talking about when we look to explore your values, but it also speaks to how we need to discover the church’s values as well. Scripture should be the thing that defines our values…not culture around us.

So, how will we explore the church’s values? Well, that is something that will take a few months, and maybe as much as the whole year depending on how God works. That will consist of surveys that we will ask you to fill out. Potentially some small group conversations to be able to hear all the voices of LRBC. We will look at the history of LRBC to be able to understand what God has brought us through so that we will be able to see what God has been preparing us for. We will spend time in the Word as a body of beleivers, and we will spend a significant amount of time in prayer. That really is all part of…

God’s Shaping Process:

See God is going to do some amazing things in 2024 I believe. He has already been doing amazing things in the life of LRBC since 1984 when this church was first formed. You could look at every year and just like a child that is shaped and grows year after year, as a church we have been growing and God has been shaping us through all of those years.

Actually, if you will look at the pictures up here on the table you will see a story about how God is the potter that shapes us and then God uses us to shape others. I love that imagery so much. God has been shaping many of you for years, and some of you are just now beginning to see God’s shaping hands in your life. Check out this passage in Isaiah that reflects that truth to us.

Isaiah 64:8 (ESV)

But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.

Do you see that. The prophet Isaiah is acknowledging God’s shaping work in our own lives. If God is shaping us individually, then God is shaping us corporately as well, and that is just exciting. I mean when you realize that even the hardships, for instance when there was a fire that burned down the building. God used that to shape us as a body of believers. When church attendance peaked up around 200 God was using that, and when church attendance dropped down to 25 that was all a part of God shaping us as a body. We have seen times of financial plenty, and we have seen times of financial hardship over the years and through all of these things, God has been shaping us as a body and preparing us for the next set of works that he is calling us to do.

Listen, this morning there are 2 groups of people here. First we have a group of people who have not yet made a commitment to Christ. Maybe you are just starting to search or maybe you have been thinking about this for a while. I want to encourage you to make a commitment to Christ as we start this new year. Many of you know what you need to do, but you have been hanging on out of fear. It’s time to simply admit that you have sinned against God. It’s time to believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, as a payment for your sin. Then finally make a commitment to Jesus as Lord of your life. If that is you, or if your curious, then please connect with me before the day is over so we can talk about that commitment and what that means for you.

There is another group though…Christian, church member, Im talking to you specifically right now. If you have not made a decision to follow Christ, then this part isn’t for you…

This morning we will be moving into a time of reflection and communion. I want to ask you to make a commitment to seek out how God has shaped you. What are your values, and how can those values be used to build up the church? Ultimately I want to close with a passage in James this morning. Many of you here this morning are here this morning, but you won’t be here at the next outreach or opportunity to serve the body. Many of you are here today because that is what you do on Sunday mornings, but you won’t read the Bible through the week to grow as a believer. I want you to listen to this passage and I want to challenge you this morning.

James 1:22 (ESV)

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Don’t deceive yourself this morning. Don’t leave here pretending that you’re good just because you came to church or wrote a check. Make a commitment to seek how God has shaped you for his purposes…and not his purposes according to your schedule or agenda.

Let’s Pray (pray that God will use this series to open our hearts to the good works he is calling us to do)