Painting a Masterpiece

  Heavenly culture is a heaven based culture, which means it should be centered in a presence culture, God’s presence... Many churches are centered around a sermon culture. Sermons are important, they get us into the Word. But if they do not lead us into the presence, then we are not building a heavenly culture • Israel camped around the presence, the Angels worship and live around the presence... • What happens in the presence? So, what should we preach about? • When Truth moves from concept to conviction it changes behavior... Countenance (Facial expression) Therefore, I want to talk about our faith. What does our faith look like and what does it express? Let's read these FAITH scriptures! 2 Corinthians 5:7 NSFLB For we walk by faith, not by sight. James 2:26 NLT Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works. Hebrews 11:1 NLT Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Why do we live by faith and not by sight? (2 Corinthians 5:7) Like Anna May said last week, faith is trust! Everyone needs trust in their life. Whether it is trusting your Heavenly Father, trusting in yourself, or trusting in those around you. WE ALL NEED THIS TRUST CALLED FAITH! And our faith rooted in love will be expressed in our works, which are puzzle pieces in completing our DESTINY! 2 Corinthians 5:9–10 NLT So, whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. We want to PLEASE Jesus, because His love for us compels (Controls) us! It compels us to stop living for the old self, in its selfish ambitions, and live to express the love of Christ to the world. We cannot do this by what we see in the now, but only with the eyes of Jesus who sees the finished puzzle of destiny! When God called Gideon “a mighty man of valor” he was hiding. (Judges 6:11) But God wasn’t speaking to his circumstances; He was speaking to the destiny that was inside him! Why is Faith apart from works dead? (James 2:26) Without being a servant, we will never know how to be children of God, or a friend of Jesus. John 5:19 NLT So, Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. The Apostles related their identity in the same way... Romans 1:1 The Message I, Paul, am a devoted slave of Jesus Christ on assignment, authorized as an apostle to proclaim God’s words and acts. I write this letter to all the believers in Rome, God’s friends. Jesus let go of everything heavenly to serve a world in the natural. He calls us to let go of everything worldly to serve a as heavenly child. John 13:3–5 NLT Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So, he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him. Because Jesus knew who He was in the heavenliest, He was able to serve the worldly. Jesus no longer calls us servants but friends, because friends know the business of the Father in heaven. But how can we know the difference of servant and friend if we have never served before? John 15:9–14 NLT “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. We will enjoy the daily call of God on our lives to love others the way Jesus has loved us, because our faith is in Him, expressed through great works! Why is faith in things hoped for? (Hebrews 11:1) Look at what it says in Hebrews 11:2 NSFLB For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. When we read the faith chapter (Hebrews 11), you get excited! I know I do! I want those miracles of faith to happen again! And that is exactly what Testimony means, TO DO IT AGAIN! Almost every-time I share the story of forgiving my biological mother, I find myself praying for someone to have the same courage to forgive their mother or father. I have even received messages of gratitude for that testimony and prayer, because now their relationship with their parents has been restored! You see my destiny is being completed by puzzle pieces of testimonies. And this puzzle when completed will make a masterpiece, a masterpiece painted by the Creator of the universe! Ephesians 2:10 NLT For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Our Destiny will be fulfilled when we learn to enjoy the marriage of FAITH & WORKS! Then like Jesus said to Pilate, "For this purpose I was born". (John 18:37) Our Destiny is to do the works of the Father. We will complete this masterpiece by living by faith and not by sight, by living out our faith through heavenly works, and finally having faith in things hope for... our everyday testimony of what Jesus is doing in our lives. "For this purpose, I was born"! John 18:37