Practicing the Way: To Change the World
Practicing the Way • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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What do I believe God wants us to know? We change the world by praying and being salt and light, kings and queens in the kingdom
Why? We want the world to be more like God’s kingdom of goodness
What do I believe God wants us to do? Pray and be salt and light, kings and queens
Why? It brings the kingdom of God to this world
ME/WE
One of the desires we have is we want to change here
We want to change the world
We look at here and here is not what it should be and it is becoming less and less like it should be. Less and less like the kingdom of God
We see this from both political candidates…Make America Great Again....Turn the Page
We want more love less hate, flourishing, less violence, peace, joy, fruit of the Spirit
How do we change here?
4 ways we often want to change the world that 3 of them are good but they are not the ultimate way we change the world…we don’t put all of our eggs in this basket
There are 4 ways in recent history that we have tried to change the world. Three of these are good things but they cannot be the main thing. Yes we need to do it but these 4 things cannot be secondary to the main thing.
There 4 more Spiritual Practices that CHANGE THE WORLD…ONE PRACTICE WE HAVE ALREADY COVERED AND WE WILL COVER AGAIN TODAY. MY HOPE IS COVER ANOTHER PRACTICE AND HOPEFULLY TWO MORE NEXT WEEK
WHAT ARE THE 4 THINGS WE TRY TO DO TO CHANGE THE WORLD THAT DO NOT FULLY WORK
SOCIAL JUSTICE:
Should we do good? Yes
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Some people have thought we can just change the world by doing good. If we just do good.
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
This is good. We should do this.
But what is the problem???? We have GOOD NEWS…and for news to be spread it takes WORDS
People need not just see the DEEDS of but HEAR THE GOOD NEWS about Jesus
What does it matter if the church does a lot good but doesn’t share the good news and many people end up in hell because we didn’t preach the Gospel
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
There is a false statement that says “Preach the Gospel if necessary uses words” GOSPEL means GOOD NEWS
2. EVENTS and REVIVAL EVENTS
Events are good. People get saved transformed, but events only last for a moment.
Some of us have had a life-changing moment at an event…I was called into ministry at an event.
EVENTS are momentary but not lasting
3. Cool church
If we just have cool and trendy churches…performance driven churches
Relevant churches then we will change the world
BUT the call of the church is not be cool or trendy BUT to REAL and a family
We are not CHANGING THE WORLD BUT FITTING IN WIHT THE WORLD…THE WORLD WANTS TO BE COOL…we are called to be a REAL FAMILY
4. POLITICS
If we just elect the right person
If we just put the right person in charge
What’s the problem with this mindset?
JESUS ISN’T RUNNING FOR OFFICE…HE ALREADY IN OFFICE
NOR WAS GOD’S ORGINALLY PLAN FOR US TO HAVE A KING, BUT WE ARE TO BE KINGS RULING UNDER THEE KING…ADAM AND EVE
BUT WE SEE THIS ALL CHANGED IN 1 SAM 8
When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.
Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”
HUMAN KINGS ARE NOT THE WAY IT WAS SUPPOSE TO BE…SO WE ARE GOING TO HAVE PROBLEMS
No political king is going to govern perfectly
Does these mean we shouldn’t vote?
No the Christian voice needs to be heard
estimated 33 million Christians are not intending to vote…that is our voice missing from society.
Not just for president, but for judges, governers, senators
How should we vote?
vote for the policies that most align with kingdom of God
Vote for life and not death
Vote for a biblical understanding of sex and gender
Vote for justice
Neither one of the presendential canidates are a good example of what a Christian should be
They wouldn’t be any leadership in a biblical Christian church.
If these 4 ways are not the way…What pastor Pete is one of the ways maybe 2 of ways…one of the Spiritual Practices
Prayer (let’s not down play the power of prayer)
Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Pray for God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.
what does that mean?
Pray for Justice to flow like a river
Pray for people to come to know Jesus…Spiritual eyes open
Peace, shalom
Fruit of the Spirit
Truth to reign
Pray for our kings
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Pray for our kings… let's do that now...
Prayer if powerful
Pray
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
Prayer if powerful
We see this with Ester
In the book of Esther, we see how the power of prayer unified a nation at a critical moment. As Esther faced the dire threat to her people, she called for a fast among the Jews. This collective act of prayer ignited hope and courage, ultimately leading to the miraculous deliverance of the nation. Their prayers turned despair into triumph, reminding us that when we come together to pray, we can change the course of history, just as they did.
D.L. Moody burdened for the city of Chicago
The story of D.L. Moody serves as a reminder that prayer is both powerful and transformative. He wept over the city of Chicago not just in sadness, but with a hope that ignited change. His emotional prayers reflected a deep concern for the lost, challenging us to pray similarly for our communities. It’s a call for us to carry the burdens of those around us, trusting that God hears every tear and prayer we offer.
Moody's tears were not just of sorrow but of hope, reflecting the profound power that sincere prayer can have in transforming lives and cities.
Also every great revival started with prayer. We see this with Jeremiah Lapheir
Three weeks later the stock market crashed and the panic of 1857 caused people to commit suicide, they were losing hope, but others knew we must pray!
“One day as I was walking along the streets, the idea was suggested to my mind that an hour of prayer, from twelve to one o’clock, would be beneficial to businessmen, who usually, in great numbers, take that hour for rest and refreshment… the idea was to have singing, prayer, exhortation, relation of religious experience, as the case might be; that none should be required to stay the whole hour; that all should come and go as their engagements should allow or require, or their inclinations dictate.”
On September 23, 1857, at Noon, the first prayer meeting was called on the third floor of the North Dutch Reformed Church. The meeting was announced in a flyer which said that its purpose was to “give merchants, mechanics, clerks, strangers and businessmen generally an opportunity to stop and call on God amid the perplexities incident to their respective avocations.” For the first half hour, from 12 Noon to 12:30 PM, Jeremiah Lanphier sat alone in prayer, wondering if he had heard God. Then one came and knelt down. Then another, and by 1 PM there were six that had come to pray. The next week there were 20 and the next week 40 and within six months 10,000 people were praying every noonday Monday-Friday.
Then spontaneous and simultaneous prayer meetings sprung up everywhere, unorganized and not coordinated by anyone but God
In Louisville, several thousand came to prayer each morning. Two thousand assembled daily in Cleveland, and St. Louis reported that their churches were filled for months at a time. Tents were set up for prayer, and the newly formed YMCA held revival meetings throughout the country. Secular newspapers reported 50,000 people became Christians in New York City, 10,000 in Boston, many more across the country, one paper reported that in New England in some towns there could not be found one adult that did not profess Christ, a group 25 women prayed for their 25 non-Christian husbands and all of their husbands became believers!
Out of this prayer meeting came the ministries of Dwight Moody and other missionaries as well as movements to end slavery and bring justice to the oppressed.
But it didn’t end here, for revival prayer meetings were noted to be occurring in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, Europe, South Africa, India, Australia and the Pacific.
My friends never underestimate what prayer can do!
Let us pray
