Into Focus

Good morning and welcome to Living Faith Church. I am so excited to be able to worship Jesus Christ with you on this amazing Sunday. If we have never met before, my name is Aaron. My wife Stella and I are honored to be able to serve on the Pastoral team at LFC. Today we are in week two of this series The Gospel In Every Home.

As I said last week, this is a vision series. Living Faith Church is a church on mission. If you have been a part of Living Faith Church for a while you may have heard us use the statement “Win A City”. What do we mean when we say win a city? A city won for Jesus, is a city where the Gospel is not just in an auditorium, but it is in the homes. Luke 10 Jesus sent His 12 disciples forth to do mission work. Right above this this, in Matthew 9:37 is where we find the famous passage “The harvest is great but the workers are few”. But in Matthew 10 Jesus gave these disciples these clear instructions.

“5 “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ “ 6 “If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Luke 10:5–6 - (NASB95)

What is a “man of peace”? This is a person who has agreed, received, or partnered with the gospel message. Jesus goes on to say in verse 7 “stay in that house”. In other words, when you take the Gospel into a home, and they parter with that message, make this a hub for ministry. What is Jesus doing? He is starting a small group ministry in that city. Now, we will come back next week and talk more about how Groups are at the heart of LFC’s vision. But today I want us to take what we learned last week to the next step. Let’s review last weeks passage.

“15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. “ Mark 16:15 - (NASB95)

Now, as I shared with you last week, this is a miracle passage! Because this was not Jesus meeting with fired up, faith filled believers. This is not Jesus and his 12 coming back from a youth conference weekend, or summer camp. Verse 14 tells us that this is Jesus showing up in a room full of 11 disciples who moments earlier didn’t even believe He was alive. Verses 8-13 showcase multiple examples where eye witnesses try and prove the reality of Christs resurrection, but everyone refuses to believe. Yet in verse 20, these former doubters are suddenly converted to the greatest evangelists the world has ever known. So the question is this. What Changed?

Change Begins With Seeing Jesus

Last week I told you all that you had a blind spot. Now, I hope that each of you were able to draw some useful conversation out of this. But the truth is, knowing that you have a blind spot is not enough to change. I am gong to go out on a limb and assume that most of you in this room already knew that you had a blind spot, even though you may have not called it that. Knowing of your blind spot is not enough. You have to deal with your blind spot. I am going to title todays message Into Focus.

DMV - Need Glasses

Not long before Jesus death Jesus had commissioned His disciples to serve the mission of God.

“1 Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. “ Matthew 10:1 - (NASB95)

So Jesus had given these disciples authority, they have performed miracles, see people transition from doubt to belief. Yet in John 21:3 we read that these same disciples, who have seen the Messiah, known the Messiah personally, have been given authority, and have a history of miracles, signs and wonders, have completely lost direction.

“3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing. “

John 21:3 - (NASB95)

Often times when our future vision can’t make sense of current events, we fall back on past habits. Here, in John 21 Peter and his colleagues struggle to make sense of the seemingly misaligned elements of Christs call to evangelize, and His death. Because these elements don’t align; I can’t put vision to action. Because I don’t know what He is doing; I can’t do what He said to do. My vision is blurred.

I would like to suggest to you today, that these disciples are not the only ones battling this blurred vision. I think that many Christians, many people struggle with blurred vision.

The mind God gave you is designed by God to live “in order”. In other words, when what is outside is miss-matched with what is inside, you become uncomfortable.

In 2014 I attended a night of worship - Pursuit- skinny jeans- didn’t worship

So these disciples can’t reconcile the Jesus issue. He told us His authority is with us, we did miracles, and we are supposed to keep the work alive, but He is dead. In other words, what is in us is inconsistent with the vision in front of us. They struggle to understand, and since the pieces don’t fit together, the mission gets put back on the shelf for another day.

And this explains why so many of us fail to accomplish. Because your mind won’t work out of order. The outside and the inside have to match. What you expect from yourself has to match what you know about yourself.

Why don’t you start that business you’ve always wanted to? Because you can’t see yourself doing it!

Why don’t you have a better relationship with that one kid? Because it’s been broken for so long you can’t see it any other way.

New Spirit - Old Mind

So, how do we fix this? We make the inside agree with the outside! The book of Matthew chapter 28 shares with us some similar language from Mark 16. Look at how Matthew recalls Jesus last words.

“20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” “ Matthew 28:20 - (NASB95)

Jesus had to give these men and women a new vision of themselves. “I am with you”. Until now, their thought was “He had been with us”. Past tense. Nothing in you works on past tense, or future tense. I used to be loved; does not sound exciting. Someday I will be loved, does not motivate me. I am loved- are the words that move my soul. So Jesus comes to these disciples that are called, who have been given authority, but are stuck in cognitive dissonance and He says; Wake Up- I am with you always. And now their mind woke up, John 14:26 resonated and became life to them .

“26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. “

John 14:26 - (NASB95)

For the first time WHO they were matched with WHAT they were called to do. My friend this is what Paul talked about in Romans and Ephesians.

“2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. “ Romans 12:2 - (NASB95)

“23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, “ Ephesians 4:23 - (NASB95)

Conformity is more concerned with your relationship to standards whereas transform is concerned with the standards by which you relate.

If I can’t relate to what God has called me to be because who I see myself as being is inconsistent with who He has made me to be- Then I am conformed to the this world. Because my mind will always battle for normal- and normal is defined by what I call myself, my internal image.

But if I agree with God, the Christ is with me always, and that the Holy Spirit dwells in me, that He who is in me is greater than he who is in the world. And now my friend, I am Transformed. I am Metamorpho - or “Changed Completely”.

Let me ask you today, are you conformed or are you transformed? - Expound This Thought.

My prayer is that after last weeks message, you had a conversation with someone, that blind spots began to be revealed. But blind spots revealed, with no path to change bring no effect. We as a church are going to bring a thought into the light, this will be next week. But right now, lets’ look at three simple ways for you to bring the blind spots into focus.

A New Mind

A new mind will think like Jesus

A new mind with talk like Jesus

“12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. “ Hebrews 4:12 - (NASB95)

Live Present Tense

Break up with Past and Future Tense.

am the Bread of Life (John 6:35)

I am the Light of the World (John 8:12)

I am the Door (John 10:9)

I am the Good Shepherd (John 10:11,14)

I am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)

I am the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6)

I am the Vine (John 15:1,5)

Live In Community

“20 “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” “ Matthew 18:20 - (NASB95)