A quiet life unto the Lord

Friends, would you stand as we read scripture this morning. Today we are reading from Micah 6:8

Micah 6:8 (CSB)

Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.

Please pray with me pray

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Go ahead and have a seat.

Today is such an interesting day - so good and so ordinary. I mean think about it. The Seed Church has now, for all intense and purposes, been meeting for three years. Thats a big deal, and reason to celebrate and share stories, and eat REALLY good Chili.

But at the same time - it’s just another day. Another week. In a lot of ways, it can be rather ordinary.

And the miraculous part of life - is that often times days are both.

We walk and most of the day and days are just routine, quiet, ordinary - and yet interspersed through the days are these miraculous moments and visions of utter glory. Moments of joy, moments of love, “Hey God” moments. Moments of prayer. Moments of ecstasy even.

And yet we then mow the lawn, or wash the dishes, or pay the bill, or go to work.

Life is both miraculous and supernatural and extraordinary, and just incredibly humble, mundane, ordinary, and quiet. Though both are perhaps beautiful.

We generally take the first Sunday of each month to step out of our regular study and to talk about our church’s vision. Perhaps you know it by now, but let’s break it down.

The mission of the believer, and the Church universal is to Love God, Love our Neighbors, and make disciples.

And we that playing out in our church if we are successful, then we will

partnering with God to raise the spiritual temperature of south eastern South Dakota

And while that’s a big goal - and undoubtedly it is, we see that broken down by being

fully focused on God and his word, fully formed by the Spirit in community, fully engaged with christ on mission

And those largely form our rhythms. On Sunday mornings we gather to focus on God and to study his word. This reorients us and refocuses us towards him.

Then we promote community groups and spiritual formation. So that the holy spirit can sanctify us over time. You can still sign up for a community group on the back table!

And we want to be fully engage with Christ on mission. We do some outreach events, or service events - but largely this is for us as we live out our lives day in and day out with Jesus.

And it’s that last one I want us to zero in on today. Being

Fully Engaged with Christ on Mission

What does a life in which we are communing with God intimately look like? What does it mean to be fully engaged with Christ on Mission? How would our lives look?

Not to use a Sunday School answer here - but I think the answer is like JEsus.

I think we ought to look to Scripture and how it describes him, and we should read his teachings and the Scriptures, and honestly we can learn quite a bit about what it means to live well and faithfully with God.

And this is perhaps where a lot of us can get hung up. For we read about the life of Jesus - where he’s kicking demons butts left and right, and working miracles, and preaching, and just think that’s out of our league. And even when we turn to the disciples, often times we feel like we don’t measure up. I mean the miracles, the visions. Sometimes when we read scripture and see how extraordinary their lives seem, it can feel dissonant with our own experience.

And sometimes we error then in two directions. Sometimes we read Scripture in which those supernatural moments seem so common, we then go in the hyper-charismatic direction, and chase revival all the time, and at its worst - force our way into a supernatural experience. We want ecstatic experiences all the time.

We try and make our lives look that extraordinary way. We chase the prophetic (though at times that word gets throne around WAAAY to loosely). We declare miracles and declare healing, with little prayer in searching God’s will. It can feel forced, or contrived. And honestly can burn people out when their lives don’t line up with their espoused theology.

Or on the other side - we just stop expecting God to every really be involved, and we turn into moralistic, theraputic, desits. God just wants me to live mostly moral lives, and wants me to feel good, but doesn’t really get involved in my life in any type of special way.

And again - we studied acts for over a year - it can be striking when we read of all that happened to the church. The gospels say a lot about Jesus.

Though, what’s also interesting is what it doesn’t say. I heard Francis Chan talk about this in a sermon a bit ago, and It really stuck with me. But consider what the scriptures say about Jesus and his life. At first glance, quite a bit - right? For sure, it’s enough for us! For God is good and supplies us what we need to follow him according to His grace.

But think about it this way. We believe JEsus really started his ministry around the age of 30. We have so little about his life for the first 30 years.

We got Luke 2. Jesus being born in the manger. We know and love that story. Luke 2 then fast forwards to him as a a boy, perhaps age 12, when his family travel to jerusalem (and mary and joseph lose JEsus. No joke. Read the whole story. Can you imagine being the parents of God in flesh and losing him???? Talk about mom guilt.) But we have that story, then we get this peculiar verse

Luke 2:52 CSB

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people.

Think about that. We get that verse to describe the life of Jesus between 12 and 30. 18 years. 1 verse.

Jesus growing in wisdom in Stature.

Now we know that he lived a perfect life. But what was he like? What did he do?

What was he like at 18? I mean a student of the Torah. Probably a carpenter under Joseph. Went to synagogue on Saturday.

Okay what about 22? A student of the torah. Probably a better carpenter. Went to synagogue on Saturday.

I mean it’s remarkable how little we know. IT’s like, Francis Chan says, Jesus was content in living a good and quiet life.

And even when we get into the action, so to speak, if you look at the totality of the gospel accounts of the life of Jesus, one has to assume that a large part of the life of Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, God in flesh, the most important human of all time - were rather normal or ordinary.

I mean yes he was a teacher, or rabbi. But he still slept, ate, visited with friends. perhaps sat around the fire at night laughing with his disciples. And he was committed to the Scriptures, he practiced solitude and prayer. he visited the synagogue every weekend.

And then in the midst of the ordinary, miraculous things would happen. healings, deliverance, miracles.

And ultimately the culminated in the passion story with his death, resurrection and ascension.

Same goes with the book of acts. 29 chapters. We read through it and it just seems like crazy supernatural stuff happens every day to the early church.

Okay - Acts likely takes place over 30 years. And we get 29 chapters. We get days out of 30 years of life and history.

Most of the lives of the early church were… ordinary. and in the midst of the ordinary God would break through in supernatural ways.

from Peter and John going into the temple in Acts 3:1. Let me read this a bit for you.

Acts 3:1 CSB

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple for the time of prayer at three in the afternoon.

Acts 3:2 CSB

A man who was lame from birth was being carried there. He was placed each day at the temple gate called Beautiful, so that he could beg from those entering the temple.

Acts 3:3 CSB

When he saw Peter and John about to enter the temple, he asked for money.

Acts 3:4–7 (CSB)

Peter, along with John, looked straight at him and said, “Look at us.” So he turned to them, expecting to get something from them.

But Peter said, “I don’t have silver or gold, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”

Then, taking him by the right hand he raised him up, and at once his feet and ankles became strong.

Crazy cool story. But Notice verse 1 again

Acts 3:1 CSB

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple for the time of prayer at three in the afternoon.

They were just headed to the temple for afternoon prayer. they were just doing their normal life.

Another example with PEter. In acts 10, look at this Acts 10:9-10

Acts 10:9–10 CSB

The next day, as they were traveling and nearing the city, Peter went up to pray on the roof about noon. He became hungry and wanted to eat, but while they were preparing something, he fell into a trance.

Okay so they get near the city of Joppa, and peter goes up to pray around noon. This was a regular fixed hour prayer practice for jewish men. He’s just doing devos. And It’s convenient cause the guy is starving. So while they make some sandwiches, he goes up and prayer.

How relatable.

But in that regular, humble practice - he gets this incredible vision. Acts 10:11-13

Acts 10:11–13 CSB

He saw heaven opened and an object that resembled a large sheet coming down, being lowered by its four corners to the earth. In it were all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, and the birds of the sky. A voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.”

This will lead to his traveling to cornelius and the welcoming of the gentiles into the family of God through Jesus Chirst.

It’s spectacular.

but friends don’t miss this - Peter wasn’t expecting that. He didn’t have an agenda. He was just content to live a faithful life, and to commune with God. And God, who is ALWAYS at work, uses the faithful to work out the supernatural.

God uses the faithful to work out the supernatural

But most of the time. Most of the lives of the greatest saints that have ever lived - were just so normal. So ordinary. And so humble.

And so beautiful.

Why do I say all this in regards on Church vision sunday -

Well friends - because sometimes we see the words: “Fully Engaged with Christ on Mission” and we just don’t know what it means. It feels so distant from our daily lives - we feel so ordinary, so humble, so NOT supernatural. And therefore unless we have a specific mission event, it can feel like we can’t enter into mission or outreach.

Or we feel like unless something truly miraculous, then no one wants to hear our story, or we don’t have anything to contribute.

My friend - that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Our mission, our vision, does not neccesate on us somehow forcing supernatural things to happen. Not at all.

We partner with God, we are saved by grace through faith. We are saved. That’s the miracle. we proclaim - but it’s the Spirit who calls and saves, not us.

Let’s look at the Scripture we read to begin. That’s where we see our requirement. Well known passage in Micah. Micah 6:8

Micah 6:8 (CSB)

Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.

what is good? What is required?

Acts justly. Do what’s right. When you see injustice, speak.

Love faithfulness. So follow Christ, be accountable. Stick with God.

And walk humbly with your God.

And I believe we can turst that, as we are faithful in our lives - God will come through time and time again, as we partner with him to raise the spiritual temperature of south eastern South Dakota.

Okay - let’s get to our questions so we can move on to testimonies and eat some chili.

So What?

Our world highlights the exceptions as the norm for the many. We think if we don’t have a million bucks by 30 we’re never gonna make it.

We think if we don’t own the right home we’re never gonna feel at peace.

We think if we don’t get the best grades, or into the best school or follow the perfect life things will fall apart.

Our lives and news feeds become highly curated to show these picturesque moments in a vain attempt to try and convince the world and ourselves that we are something special.

Instead, friend, hear me. God, the infinite God of the universe, saw fit to sned Jesus to live a perfect life, and die on a cross, and to resurrect and then ascend For you. Out of his love and for his glory. But he wanted you.

Not because you were worthy of it. But because he determined you are worth it.

When we get to the end of our lives, and we stand before God - he won’t look at us at say: “Well done good and Fruitful servant. Look at all you accomplished. Look at all the moeny. And your instagram is just *muah* chefs kiss. welcome home.”

No. No. Well done my good and faithful servant. You walked with me. You talked with me. You followed me. You are mine and I am Your God.

When we say fully engaged with Christ on mission, the call ins’t really to do MORE for God. But to see our whole lives, as WITH god.

Like Peter and John - yes let’s have regular routines like church where we go to pray, but let’s have our eyes open and our hearts tuned to see where God WILL use us to perhaps heal a lame man. Or give us a vision to lead to the repentance of many.

But we need to desperately cultivate, as Tish Warren calls it a profound and beautiful Liturgy of the Ordinary.

For God is omnipresent. Meaning God is everywhere. Amen? And when we are saved, God is with us. And we have access to him now because of the merit of Jesus Christ at all time. Right?

Okay - so that means our whole lives are worship. And then even the most mundane task can be the most profound worship.

Colossians 3:23 (CSB)

Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people.

Going to work? go with God. Work hard. See him. PRay as you go. Engage with Christ as worship.

Washing dishes - crank up that worship music - dance and clean with the Lord.

Tucking in the kids - God is there. What would he have you pray over your babies?

Going on a walk? Jesus is with you - how would that change your day as you walk?

As we consider our birthday as a church, and God willing, the years and decades of life we still have until he comes again - we got to be clear.

Our success of engagement with Christ on mission cannot be measured by how hyped up or cool we do things.

If our church grows by hundreds, praise God. IF it remains here for decades to come. Praise God.

Instead of lights and haze and hype and craze - what if we strived to live quiet lives unto the Lord? And what if we are shaped and formed by the Spirit for years and decades insead of chasing the next fad.

And trust that as we walk with him, he will lead us if we are faithful.

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So as we celebrate now, and we are going move to a time of sharing testimonies, I want to be clear - yes if God did something supernatural in your life - let’s share it. But would God just open our eyes to see that he is always in our lives. And if we live faithful lives, and are quietly shaped by God for years and our families are saved, and we pray prayers, and focus on him -

We will see the spiritual temperature of South eastern south dakota raised - if by no other means then by OUR OWN temperatures be raised.

So the call for the future isn’t let’s go crazy - but let’s get faithful. LEt’s draw deep into the well of Christ. LEt’s be responsible for what Jesus has called us to in the here and now instead of wondering if the grass would be greener just over the next hill.

Let’s stop comparing ourselves to others, and just marvel at the incredible love of God. Jesus Christ loves YOU. Offers YOU salvation and life eternal and to the full TODAY. And therefore our lives, even in the mundane, can have eternal implications and we live and breath and work and play.

And would we be faithful to be fully focus on God and his word, fully formed by the spirit in community, and fully engaged with Christ on mission - even as we live quiet and humble lives with God.

Let me pray, then we will move to a time of testimonies.