The 9

Good morning!

We are continuing in our membership series we are calling THIS IS US.

This series is really exciting as we share with one another who we are.

In the next few weeks you will hear more testimonies of how God has brought Life where there was death, light where there was darkness, and joy and beauty when there seemed to be no hope.

You will also learn what we believe, value, and desire to become.

Now two weeks ago we talked about our Mission and Mission. And honestly I cannot hear that mission and vision enough.

We desire to bring Life, Joy and Beauty to our community and one another.

We do this by helping people become followers of Jesus who,

Love God with all they are, love their neighbors as themselves and joyfully serve the hurting and broken.

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Today I am going to talk to you about what we call our 9 goals.

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How many of you have ever set a goal and accomplished it? Small or big.

How many of you have set a goal in your life but failed to reach it?

I had a goal of running a 5K (a little over 3 miles) in 15 minutes.

Callie and I had just started to really get into running.

Think about this my goal was to run each mile in under 5 minutes.

Little did I know that is Olympic running time.

Well I tried, man did I try. i tried so hard I made myself sick over and over again.

And then the impossible happened. Nope I did not reach that time.

My wife started beating me.

It was then that I threw my running shoes in the closet and started lifting weights.

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Did you know that God has a goal for you?

Romans 8:29 NLT

For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

Romans 12:2 NLT

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

God’s goal for you is to transform you into the image of His Son, Jesus.

And here is the good news.

It is God’s goal so, you know he will finish it.

Hebrews 12:2 NLT

We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

God’s goal is to transform our character and nature into the image of Jesus.

And he is the one who initiates and perfects our faith.

Great news right?

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But there is a Catch

God is not into lazy kids.

He has a role for you in this transformation.

Philippians 2:12–15 NLT

Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.

Phil 2:12

and

2 Peter 3:17–18 NLT

You already know these things, dear friends. So be on guard; then you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.

God’s goal for us is to transform our character and nature into the image of Jesus.

And part of that is your willingness to participate with him.

That brings up a really big question.

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How can we participate with God in being transformed into the image of Jesus?

The reality is, many of us have no idea how to grow in the Lord.

We may even feel aimless in this pursuit.

I would even imagine that some here may not have even thought about this before.

Now I know some of you are going to say hey, pastor we just need to follow the Holy Spirit. I could not agree more. Of course, when someone says to me we just need to follow the Holy Spirit it reminds me of a story you are all familiar with.

(Story of the man who the Holy Spirit tried to rescue from the flood. Holy SPirit why did you not speak to me and tell me to leave?)

Here is the point:

The Holy SPirit does not just speak through emotions and goosebumps.

Most times, the Holy Spirit speaks through simple, sound and practicle advice.

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It has been said that farming is 95% depending on God and 5% hard work.

Spiritual growth is the same.

1 Corinthians 3:6–7 NLT

I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.

But imagine if farmers were lazy and chose not to do the 5% hard work of plowing, planting, fertilizing, watering, weeding and harvesting.

You and I would not be eating very much.

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The 9 Goals

With this in mind I want to give you 9 goals we are asking all who desire to be a covenant member to commit to.

1. To Be Powerful in Prayer

2. To Live Responsive in Worship

3. To Live Spirit Empowered

4. To Be Biblically Fluent

5. To Live Actively Serving

6. To Live Bold in Faith

7. Giving Selflessly

8. Reproducing

9. Living Like Christ

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Did you notice that 9th goal is God’s ultimate goal for us.

If we will work towards the first 8 the 9th goal will happen.

These 9 goals will shape everything we as a church do.

These 9 goals will measure our success or lack of success.

These 9 goals will be implemented in our children’s church, with the aim of molding our children into powerful girls and boys in Christ.

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I recognize that we will not be perfect in these over night.

But I also recognize that as we individually and corporately move towards each goal we will become and experience Life, Joy and Beauty.

As we each commit to doing our 5% in becoming like Jesus, we will see healings, successes, deliverances, miracles, and we will be full of Joy.

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Let me finish today by giving you 4 keys to be successful in reaching our 9.

Our Goals must be measurable.

If we can not measure our goals we will never know if we have reached them.

You want to be powerful in prayer but, you really do not enjoy praying.

Create a measurable goal. I will talk to God 1 time a day and then set and just listen for 5 minutes. And I will do this for 30 days.

Before that 30 days is up you will be shocked at how long you want to spend with God and how often he speaks to you.

Goals must be measurable or we will never know if we have reached them.

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Our Goals Must Be Attainable.

If you set a goal to run a 5K in 15 minutes not only will you fail but you will want to stop running.

If your goal is to become Biblically literate - Stop reading what other people say about the Bible and just read the Bible.

But, do not make the goal of reading the entire Bible in a month.

Start by reading a chapter a day.

You can do that and if you continue to read daily all of a sudden the Holy Spirit will begin to speak to you through His word.

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Our Goals must be relevant to God’s desire for us.

Our Goals must be relevant to God’s desire for us.

If God’s main goal for us is to become like Jesus in character and nature then, our goals must be measurable, attainable and relevant to His main goal for us.

If you want grow towards being a Christian who reproduces then, having a goal of watching 90 hours of Christian TV is not going to help.

Instead set a goal to spend 1 hour a week with an unbelieving friend where you pray with them, love on them, and talk to them about your faith and your testimony.

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Goal setting must be targeted

If you do not set time frames for yourself you will never reach the goal.

One day I want to be able to give 10% of my income to help the church.

One day will never come.

This month, I will give 1% and every 3 months I will increase this by 1% until I reach the goal of 10%. Now that is a targeted goal.

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God’s goal for you each is that you will be transformed into the image of Jesus.

He has promised to do most of the work.

He is the initiator and perfecter of our faith.

But he has called you to participate with him in your own transformation.

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We are asking all covenant members to agree to pursue these goals. To participate with God in your transformation.

And NCF promises to partner with you.

We will do everything in our power to help you succeed in these 9 goals.

Our life groups will be measured by these goals.

Sunday sermons will always be aimed at these goals.

We will be handing out a self evaluation tool so you can measure your own progress.

I have even set up hours for 1 on 1 mentoring. If you would like me to help you in any of these areas I will meet with you for 1 hour every week on Thursdays.

From 11-7 pm.

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We care so much about God’s goal for you that we desire to all we can to help you become all God has called you to be.

As your pastor I can honestly say that my greatest desire is to grow in each of these 9 goals and to help you grow in them as well.

We as NCF are determined to help one another accomplish these 9 goals