OWN your faith, Be the Church!

He must increase, I must Decrease

This morning, I want to start with a simply passage of scripture, in John 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.””

This simple verse powerfully communicates about the ongoing development of a believer’s life before God. It speaks to the posture we should have before Him. It speaks to the seriousness in how we should respond to Him. It speaks to the growing commitment that we should have for Him.

Here at Grace Church, our vision is “To Know Christ, and To Make Christ Known.”

It is clear, easy to remember; it is readily embraced as the call of this church. That we want to prioritize walking in relationship with Christ. We want to study His word and see through it so that we can see Him. Know Him. Walk with Him. The purpose of spending time in God’s word isn’t so that you can know more. It is so that you can encounter the character and nature of God. So that you can know Him personally. So that you can open yourself up to receive the work He wants to do in your heart. Restoring you, bringing healing to what is broken, removing the infection of a hard heart.

The infection can be thought of as my sin. And my sin has tainted and stained my life in such a way that it some ways, it has become part of me. Which is why I need the Lord. He must increase in my life and I must decrease.

You might say that believers are called to Nurture and to Reach. We nurture our own souls in how we pursue the Lord, in how we exalt Him, in how we build up others in the body of Christ. Understanding that this Christian faith is communal in nature. Yet, we are called and feel the pull to share the gospel, to bless others with the love of Christ hoping that they will see Him in us. This is the call of every believer, to love and to serve with purpose and desire for others to be set free.

These two ends can feel like opposite sides of a continuum.

As a long time believer, it is very easy to say I am gifted in evangelism, I know how to reach others around me by sharing the gospel and inviting them into a discussion about the Lord.

Others might say, I don’t know about sharing the gospel in word, but I can serve other in love and put God’s love for them on display.

Others still would say, I don’t know how well I lovingly serve the lost, but I know how to invest in other believers. I know how to encourage them in their faith and point them to what is true about who God is and how we should live before Him.

Then others might even say, “I know how to worship, walk along side, pursue God personally. I can spend hours in prayer, but I do not know if I am one who can reach the lost, or disciple other believers. But I can pray for them.”

As members of the body of Christ, we are all pulled in different directions on this continuum. But regardless of what direction you feel pulled, regardless of where you are comfortable or uncomfortable in serving God’s kingdom; you and I are called to both ends. In fact, the call of scripture, for all believers, in all times and in all places, is to Nurture each other in the faith through acts of loving kindness, always pointing each other to God Himself. And every believer is called to take the gospel forward, to share the love of Christ with those around you with the purpose of demonstrating the love of God for them, so that you might be able to help them see their desperate need for God.

Both Nurture and Outreach are an example of worship.

This is an idea we are going to unpack for the next few weeks. More than that, this is the strategy we are adopting as a church, to help clarify and live out our vision. We want to be a people who knows how to live on mission for God, worshiping Him with all that we are, so that His name might be exalted among all people.

So here is the call for this OWN series, the same call we are going to talk about again and again.

Here at Grace Church, as a community of believers, we want to “OWN our Faith, and Be the Church.” We want to live in lock step with what God has placed before us. Laying down distractions, sinful habits, and our excuses for not engaging when God prompts us. We want to get really clear about how we fit into God’s plan for building His kingdom and start building today. Recognizing that anyone who has saving faith in Jesus is equipped with the Holy Spirit to engage in building God’s kingdom.

1. You may have noticed each letter of the word OWN is capitalized. That is because it is an acronym to help us better understand the call of the believer.

You may have guessed it already, but OWN stands for Outreach, Worship, Nurture.

Today, we are considering Worship and why it is placed between Outreach and Nurture.

Lets Pray that the Lord would cultivate in us a posture of reverence and worship for His name and His mission.

In Matthew 22:36–38 Jesus was asked, “What is the greatest commandment, what is the most important thing that anyone do with their life?”

37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment.”

If we are going to talk about worship, we must recognize that you cannot truly worship God unless you love Him. You can say you worship God, you can even say that you love God. But does your life reflect a life that truly loves Him? If someone where to evaluate your life from the outside, no biased against you, no biased for you. But if they were to consider what you have done, what you have said, your attitudes, your responses to other people, your obedience to God’s word, what would they conclude?

Really, this is an idea that should get us thinking. It should evoke questions to rise up in us, questions like, “What does it mean to truly love God? What does it mean to truly worship God with my life?”

This is the question that was asked of Jesus. Jesus said, the most important thing is to love God. But how do we know if we love God?

I mean, can we be honest for a minute? We allow ourselves to believe all kinds of things that are not accurate and true. When you stop and reflect on your life, how often do you realize you should have responded differently? How often do you hear people say something of you, where you get defensive and say, “That is not true!” but 10 minutes later, a few hours later, a few days later, you can’t help but shake that what they said might be true. In fact, you starting to see that it is true, at least in some measure.

This is where scripture is so valuable to the life of the believer. We can go to God’s word and we can treat it as a guide. As a mentor that will tell us all kinds of stories of God’s people. It will tell us of the traumatic events all the way to the most beautiful moments in history. But with every page and every word, it’s aim is to get you to consider God’s character and nature. Because the essence of worship is always based on our response to who God is and what He has done.

I find the Psalms to be a significant help in this discussion. The Psalms are songs that reflect the high’s and low’s of life. Every life experience you will have have can be found in the Psalms. These songs reflect the whole gambit of human attitudes, postures, life experiences. It is a collection of songs that help us process, heal, and celebrate everything we experience.

But one of the Psalms is unlike any other. In fact, it is not a song at all. Rather, it is a tool that sums up and also interprets all of the others. It is this Psalm, that describes the difference of a life that loves God and one that does not.

Psalm 1 ESV

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

This Psalm is one that paints the portrait of two very different paths. The contrast between the paths is incredibly clear.

It is light verse darkness.

Righteousness vs wickedness.

Loving God vs loving self.

This Psalm starts by proclaiming a message of good news to the wicked. We see that it starts by saying blessed is the man - our assumption would be the next line would talk about the righteous. But rather, it is a rebuke of living apart from God.

Psalm 1:1 “1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;”

The Psalm meets us in the place we all started. Far off from God, sinners, scoffers, listening to each others reasoning about how to live life. Trusting that what we know, what we have experienced, what we have learned from others will give us all the information we need for this life.

But the Psalm continues Psalm 1:2–3 “2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”

Here we have the portrait of the person who loves God. Who seeks God’s righteousness and chooses to refrain from former patterns but instead does the work because he loves God. Too often, we know to seek God, we know to pray, we know to share the gospel, we are prompted to do what is right before God and pursue all that He has for us, but we sit on our hands. The Psalmist says, if you actually love God, you will seek God. You will meditate on the law of the Lord because it teaches you about Him. You will follow His lead, enter into His way of life, and respond to His prompting because you know that this is the path that leads to true life.

There are natural and spiritual realities for those who love God. That if you love God and you seek Him with your life, you will be like a well nourished, healthy tree. One that only feeds on healthy food, one that has all the food it needs as it is planted in the soil near the water. Getting the best nutrients and constant hydration.

The person who truly loves God will blossom. Over time they will sow seeds, care for others, proclaim the truth. They will see the Lord at work, first in their own heart. But also, through their life as the Lord uses them to reach others. You see this person will consistently bear fruit for God’s kingdom. And there is a form of prospering that actually means to live in a state of blessedness.

Friends, when we learn to love God and live according to His ways, you will face many challenges, some unbearable. But through it all He will be with you, He will help you, and you will experience a greater depth and richness to life than you could ever have any other way.

I have heard it said, that “Believers in Christ, those who love God will experience the most profound joy in life.”

But we must be careful not to fool ourselves. Because many of us live as sinners.

Psalm 1:4–6 “4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

How often do you try to have it both ways? How often do you let your time with the Lord slip so you can sleep a little longer? How often do you let yourself live in what many would call a grey area?

Be careful! There are many who are deceived, who believe that they have said a prayer to God, they have done all kinds of works for God, who have cast demons out in the name of Jesus! Yet, they have never actually learned to love Him. They have never truly given themselves to Him.

Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God, with all of your heart, all of your soul, and all of your mind.”

Does your life reflect the portrait of the righteous? Does the condition of your soul know the blessedness and richness of God’s presence?

Have you been walking as a “Christian” but not really spent much time with God?

Have you allowed your self to slip for a time, and you need to recommit your ways?

Or maybe, you have never known God? Maybe you have come to realize that you know all kinds of things about the Bible, about Church, about Christians, even about God. But you do not have a relationship with Him?

When we compare the two portraits side by side, it is easy to see the difference. But this difference doesn't happen overnight. There are all kinds of decisions every day that we make. While we may think we have clarity on what is the right decision, we better check it in God’s word. We better meditate on His law. Because we will face all kinds of challenges where we think our response is right, but we are deceived.

Friends, a saving faith in Jesus is one that chooses Him above all else. It is one that recognizes the pull of the path of the wicked, the reasoning of people who live there, that there seems to be great, logical reasons, even for Christians to live in some of these grey areas.

The question we have been trying to get at is “Do you love God?” And perhaps we need to ask it another way, “Are you godly?” If you are anything less than godly, than there is still more work to do in seeking and loving God.

Our desire this morning is to rightly worship God. True worship is rooted in committed love for God. Not only is it rooted in committed love but it is reverent before Him.

Call to Action:

We have chosen an icon and a tag line for each of the three components of OWN. As we consider the scope of biblical worship we see it demonstrated in physical service, an inward posture of joy, lowering self in humble reverence before God, and exalting His name as a community. So the tag line, the call to action in worship is best said by John the baptist: “He must increase, I must decrease” (John 3:30). This statement, this posture, this surrender to the Lord is ever true and should be an ever-deepening reality. The call of the believer is to make Jesus Lord over every part of our life.

But the idea of biblical worship is rooted in our serving God. That we are servants of the king who are to humbly revere Him. We revere Him being obedient to His word, living according to His ways instead of our own. We revere Him by seeking Him out, being intentional to be in His presence. We revere Him when we aim to build His church by reaching the lost and encouraging others in the faith. So the Icon, is a basin of water and a towel. Recognizing that our role is not prideful or a position of power. Our role is to humbly Serve God.

Here at Grace, January is our prayer month. In prayer we commit ourselves to the Lord, righting our hearts before Him as a way of committing the year to the Lord. Friends, I want to ask you to earnestly pray, that we would be a church that would worship God in Spirit and in truth.

That we would be filled with His Holy Spirit and with every expression we would exalt God as the almighty. That our worship would be based in truth. That we are not deceived in our standing before God. That we know we are committed to love Him with all that we are.

Church, lets pray that this would be a place of worship. That we would be a people who long to worship our king. Would you pray that as a church we would put aside distraction, grey areas, and sinful habits. Could we all pray and actively move towards God together, submitting our lives to Him as an act of worship?

The purpose of this OWN strategy is to bring clarity to what it means to be a Christian.

Pray “Lord God in heaven, may this be true of us. May we submit ourselves fully to you. May we stop playing games, may we learn to take you seriously. Lord help us to identify where we have elevated ourselves. Help us to identify where we need to lower ourselves. Lord may we be reverent servants who worship and adore you. Lord, I pray that our love for you would grow, that it would become a fierce love that is committed to giving you everything..... Lord, you are worthy of this!”