Mission - Fulfilled

#1MORE4JC

WHERE DO WE PUT BABY DEDICATION?

ARUNA - VIDEO

Mother’s Day - If you are here with mom today or you are here today and you are Mom, Happy Mother’s Day. We thought introducing you to the Aruna Project on mother’s day was very appropriate when we consider the fact that all of these women for whom the Aruna Project is trying to reach are someone’s daughter, or deserve the opportunity to be a mother in the truest since. We also thought it would be a good day to introduce this idea to you as just a glimpse into how Cap City church desires to be a missional church. As today’s sermon will have a focus on mission. If you weren’t with us last week, this month is Vision month here at Cap City. So each week we will be rolling out a different segment of our vision frame so that you can more clearly understand who we are and are trying to be.

Last week we focused on vision. This week we will focus on mission. These two ideas are certainly tied together. We see vision as the driving force for what we want to accomplish here at Cap City, with mission informing our vision statement with a different level of understanding that will ultimately be directed by our values, and carried out with a particular strategy.

To orient us to where we are today let’s remind you of what we presented as our stated vision.

Capital City Church exists to be a prayer centered ministry that equips every individual to fulfill their purpose. We believe purpose comes only from God and must be accomplished with others. One more for Jesus is our focus, because we know that the next act of obedience is the most important one.

And remember we said, at a very concise and memorable level, we can tell people that here at Cap City we are about One More for Jesus. Now for the first time ever on cap city youtube or facebook here’s our mission statement…

Mission Statement: Every person created in the image of God was designed with a purpose. This purpose will always involve other people. Therefore, we believe that we fulfill our purpose by helping others fulfil theirs. This will always be a unique manifestation of what God has called each person to do.

Need this to fit on your screensaver… Our purpose is fulfilled in helping others fulfill theirs

Do you think you have a purpose? What do you think your purpose is? How do you know if it is really purposeful or has value?

Find quote and re-work sheep eating popcorn, drinking slushie, playing video games…

"My folks want me to be more, you know, independent, I guess. They even hooked me up with this life coach dude. I guess he's gonna help me find my purpose in life. Thought I had one, but turns out, it wasn't the right one or something, I don't know."

I think I have purpose…

Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going?

Transition: Our mission that we are tying to the pursuit of purpose and enabling others find theirs is big subject so for today we are going to focus on two basic thoughts that are true of every purpose you could believe to be real. The first thought is…

For One Another - Find you way with me to Matthew 25 verse 34. We find Jesus teaching about judgment day and is very clear that there will be two groups in which we can be separated into. He calls them sheep and goats. Sorry if you are biased to goats today, I know I kind of am. But in this story you wanna be a sheep. The sheep are going to heaven, the goats well they aren’t. In this next 7 verses Jesus talks about the characteristics of His sheep, those who are blessed by the Father, those who have done what they are supposed to do… let’s take a look…

Matthew 25:34-40 Matthew 25:34–37 ““Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?” Matthew 25:38–40 “And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me.’”

PUT BACK UP FOR ONE ANOTHER SLIDE

Now go to work on for one another.

Anyone in here this morning BY SHOW OF HANDS, ever felt abandoned?

Yeah, you raised that kid and did everything you could to provide for them, they get that drivers license and zoom they’re gone.

Maybe mom or dad didn’t stick around.

It’s hard when a pastor leaves. Every time I’ve left a church, the most difficult thing was knowing we were leaving people behind, btw Allison and I aren’t going anywhere, you’re stuck with us.

Maybe you’ve invested greatly in a friend. And then they’ve just said goodbye. Maybe they didn’t even really say goodbye huh?

I remember when I was younger helping out with my dad’s church, and we still did stuff like surprise first time guests by showing up at their door without even texting them firsts. I know everyone in here that’s younger than me, just said stranger danger don’t you dare. But it was ok back then. Robert called the church one Sunday morning and I happened to be in the office and answered it and he knew what time we started but wanted to know how early he should show up. Can you imagine the audacity of someone wanting to get to church on time? I talked to him, told him I’d wait for him in the foyer to make him feel more comfortable. He filled out a visitors card, and guess what I did the next night? You better believe it I went and knocked on Robert’s door. He answered and was completely stunned. He asked why I was there I gave him a little spiel, and he thought it was incredible that I was doing this and asked how often I did it, so of course I lied and said i do it every week, which wasn’t a complete lie because starting that week I did. He asked if he could join me when I did it? I was so impressed with my discipling skills, I was ready to write a book. For the next few weeks Robert and I surprised different people. He told people about how i visited him and how he wanted to do it with me and they were impressed too. All the while I couldn’t keep up with all the emails Robert was sending me asking questions about his scripture reading. And let me tell you they challenged me, Robert was going to school to be a Lawyer. About a month later I baptized Robert and then he helped me baptize his daughter. Then a couple weeks after that he quit attending, a conversation or two lead to a polite separation between he and I as he became too busy, and a few months later I found out that he got divorced.

I remember telling me dad it hurt worse than a break-up. I believed in Robert. I knew God had a calling on his life. And other things just became more important… So do you know what I did? I gave up on people and I gave up on ministry. No, that’s not what I really did, but you know the feeling right?

A guy broke your heart so you can’t date again or you are going to write off marriage.

You shared the gospel with someone and they rejected it, so why share the gospel with the next person? In the Old Testament God reminded the prophet Samuel they haven’t rejected us but they have rejected God.

A manager once asked a consultant what if you train people up and they leave? To which the consultant replied what if you don’t train them and they stay?

I’ve noticed frequently that people who struggle with people abandoning them were often more concerned about how they benefited from the relationship rather than how they were benefiting the other.

Because we are talking about mission and purpose somewhat interchangeably this morning, how bouts we quote the opening line of purpose driven life. I’ve used it before and I’ll use it again. I’ll never forget the shock and awe that resonated through the church in America when they opened up a book because they were hoping to find more, hoping to experience significance and they opened to chapter 1 and the first sentence they would read would be…. It’s not about you.

I met a new pastor friend this week and when I asked him what he did for fun. He paused for a moment and then started listing various things he does with his kids, his church staff, and people in his church. What really impressed me, and I don’t think he was at all trying to impress me in this way, is that I recognized that fun for him seemed to be attached to what he could do for other people. I’m not even sure he recognized that is what he was communicating but as I was in the midst of preparing for this sermon that’s exactly what I heard.

I’m highly concerned with the number of books being written today about the need to avoid toxic relationships or people that drain our energy, I know it’s important to strike a balance about how we manage the relationship. But Jesus’ defaulted to putting himself on the line to give others the benefit of the doubt. He was secure enough in who He was to not be offended by those who sought to bring offense.

To bring some precision to this point about purpose being for one another, I can assure you that they number one opponent to you discovering and living out your purpose is YOU. We fail to live out our purpose because we won’t compromise our preferences. We fail to live out our purpose when we are preserving our resources. We fail to live out our purpose when we protect our feelings, desires, and comforts because other people aren’t as developed or as mature as we are. Let me assure you today that you are not growing in Holiness, Leadership, or Spiritual Knowledge, if you are not growing in MERCY. REPEAT

JESUS… DIED… FOR YOU! REPEAT

If you are here today and you believe that other people are not worthy of your attention, audience, or affection for any reason, let me remind you that the gifts of receiving mercy, grace, and forgiveness from God are all dependent on how you distribute mercy, grace, and forgiveness to others.

If you keep trying to develop and determine purpose with yourself as the central focus, you will continually be frustrated.

Purpose is for one another, but it’s also meant to be accomplished WITH one another.

Let’s find our way to the book of Ecclesiastes, about the middle of the Bible in the Old Testament, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes…

Jonathan I love helping other people. But having to work WITH other people slows me down. People have their own opinions. They don’t see things the way I do. Let’s look at Ecclesiastes 4:9

With One Another - Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor; for if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up! Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.”

Three strands is not quickly torn apart - Just as I read that this week, I immediately thought, “You me and God can do anything!” REPEAT

We are not meant to do life alone. Hebrews 10:24–25 says let’s consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds, not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”

We emphasized the idea of one another last week, and we could use one anothering as a verb. We can’t one another without one another. Why do we resist this?

It’s a passage thats quoted frequently as a reminder to not skip church when we say don’t forsake assembling together, but it’s not just about Sundays, but through week, in our ministries, in our labor of love, in our leisure time, and hobbies!

Jesus said…. If two of you agree together and ask something in My name Ny Father will do it.

Jesus said…If two or more gather in my name I am with them.

Jesus sent…The disciples out two by two

Anytime you are doing something good, take someone with you.

It takes a little extra work, it takes a few extra minutes but it’s the primary way to raise up others.

We show others what to do. We do it together. We watch them do it. Then they are able to do it on their own and they can start the same process with someone else.

There is an extreme leadership deficiency throughout the church in America because we have far too many pastors, and leaders in general, who are retiring, that spent more time protecting their position rather than raising up their replacement. There is no success without succession.

So what makes us avoid doing life together?

Let’s start at the top with the challenge spiritually. If Jesus’ plan for us is to be together, the enemy’s plan for your life is isolation. The increase of sin that has taken place because of cell phones is directly related to the fact that inside our 6 inch screens we have a perceived feeling of being able to do whatever we want without anyone knowing. Show me a person that has an unhealthy attachment to their screens and I’ll show you a person that is resisting authentic relationship, and accountability with others. We are doing, saying, texting, and searching things on our phones that we would have never in a million years done in front of others.

Doing life together is a challenge today because the culture is marketing us in the direction of autonomous survival mode. During our staff meeting this week we discussed and recognized that most of us will continue to make it tomorrow if you we just get the food, video game, or entertainment fix we need at the end of the day to distract us from reality. We can survive in isolation but it is only it doing things together that we thrive. I wonder if that’s why we named our small groups thrive groups here at cap city.

Doing life together is a challenge today because we care more about impressing people than impacting people. You might have heard that phrase last week and you will probably keep hearing it. You can impress people from a distance, but to impact them you have to get up close and personal. Not only does this take intentionality, but many of us don’t like to work with others because it would mean we have to share the credit. Or even worse, get this, someone else might get the credit. One of the closest lines I’ve heard to date about investing in others is where Christian leadership expert said my fruit… grows on other peoples trees.

God’s been exposing a lot of limitations and shortcomings in my life recently, and it’s made me ask the question. I wonder how I could achieve the difficult things that I want to accomplish and who could help me do it.

Please don’t raise your hand but anyone in here ever feel like their spouse slows them down? Anyone in here know they need their spouse to slow them down? I thank God that He gave me a wife that slows me down, and I mean that in the most positive way possible. What happens when we combine what only I can do with what only you can do? Two are better than one. But beyond that two acting as one can be unstoppable.

RESPONSE:

We are going to wrap today without a typical response of a call to the altar but instead a call to reflect and redirect.

Where are you operating in a way that reflects past hurt in relationships that is robbing people of the blessing of your friendship and investment in their life? Jesus hasn’t given up on us, we can’t give up on others.

Where are you doing life alone that you need to include others?

Are you trying to impress over impact? It doesn’t matter who gets the credit, because God gets the glory.

Where has your purpose/mission been more about you than others? Where does it’s not about me need to come to life for you?

When we overemphasize a belief in ourselves and our own ability, we UNDER-emphasize a belief in God’s ability and others impact on the mission.

I want my fruit to grow on other peoples trees. Where can this be part of you? Who can you invest in? and When is it going to start?

I’m going to invite Daniel and Audran to the stage today, and I can’t think of anything more appropriate of being on mission then investing in our children. Also, no cooler way to celebrate mother’s day than to dedicate a brand new baby. We are going to dedicate Emma Glory this morning on her one week anniversary of joining us here on earth. She is a fresh one.

BABY DEDICATION

PSALM 127

Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. 2 It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.

3 Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. 4 Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior’s hands. 5 How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them! He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates.

Specifics on Child and Family

Emma Glory Sawadogo

DOB is 5/4/25

Parents Daniel and Audran, 3rd kid

Grandparents/Family

Section 703 from the manual (dedication only)

703

When the parents or guardians have presented themselves with the child (or children) the minister shall say:

“Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these’” (Matthew 19:13–14).

In presenting this child for dedication you signify not only your faith in the Christian faith but also your desire that he (she) may early know and follow the will of God, may live and die a Christian, and come unto everlasting blessedness.

In order to attain this holy end, it will be your duty, as parents (guardians), to teach him (her) early the fear of the Lord, to watch over his (her) education, that he (she) be not led astray; to direct his (her) youthful mind to the Holy Scriptures, and his (her) feet to the sanctuary; to restrain him (her) from evil associates and habits; and, as much as in you lies, to bring him (her) up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Will you endeavor to do so by the help of God? If so, answer, “I will.”

Pastor: I now ask you, the congregation; will you commit yourself as the Body of Christ to support and encourage these parents as they endeavor to fulfill their responsibilities to this child and to assist by nurturing his (her) growth toward spiritual maturity? If so, answer, “We will.”

Response: We will.

Pastor: Our loving Heavenly Father, we do here and now dedicate in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Then the minister may offer the following prayer, or may use an extemporary prayer.

Heavenly Father, we humbly pray that You will take this child into Your loving care. Abundantly enrich him (her) with Your heavenly grace; bring him (her) safely through the perils of childhood; deliver him (her) from the temptations of youth; lead him (her) to a personal knowledge of Christ as Savior; help him (her) to grow in wisdom, and in stature, and in favor with God and all people, and to persevere therein to the end. Uphold the parents with loving care, that with wise counsel and holy example they may faithfully discharge their responsibilities both to this child and to You. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Flowers and Gift

POST RESPONSE:

CUT STREAM CUT STREAM CUT STREAM

to do list: ARUNA, CORRUPT FILE Membership confirm next 2 weeks, Foundations June 11, Sign-ups May 18, Elections, mothers day treat, other basic directives truncate from response section.

Mission Statement: Every person created in the image of God was designed with a purpose. This purpose will always involve other people. Therefore, we believe that we fulfill our purpose by helping others fulfil theirs. This will always be a unique manifestation of what God has called each person to do.

Happy Mother’s day mom, enjoy the day!