Larger Than Life: More to Life

Not too long ago my daughter was in a musical production of Alice in Wonderland.

Now Alice in Wonderland is one of the craziest stories ever written.

As many have presumed he was on a trip when he wrote it.

Literally he was in a boat in Oxford rowing with his friends daughters.

there're a handful very engaging conversations in the book.

One that stands out for me not he one between the Cheshire Cat and Alice.

“Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here? The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to. Alice: I don't much care where. The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn't much matter which way you go. Alice: ...So long as I get somewhere. The Cheshire Cat: Oh, you're sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.”

Often from that exchange we get a paraphrase

“If you do not now where you are going, any road will get you there”.

What I want to do this morning is paint a picture for you. A picture of what a church can be.

And rather than a slap on the wrist it is an invitation.

To a church that is more than just a gathering place.

A church that impacts its community, where the gospel has a real effect on our lives and our families.

Now every week, I hit you with our Mission; our reason for existence.

MISSION: Helping seekers and believers become devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

What is the first word?

Helping!!!!!

I cannot make you a fully devoted follower of Jesus.

I cannot read your bible for you, pray in your place, pursue Jesus for you.

I can do my best to pain a picture of Jesus as a better king than you are, the greatest investment of your life, I can point out lives in your midst that have been changed by the forgiveness and purpose that ONLY Jesus can give. That you cannot find in our cultures narrative of sex and money, but it is on you to respond to the Spirit of God.

Man what a relief for me!!

But the reason our mission is to help seekers and believer become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ is because we believe that true life, living fully as a human being can only be found in Jesus.

WHY: True life is only found in Jesus

In , Jesus has been giving some difficult teaching to his disciples; so difficult, that many are packing up and moving on.

in vs 60 they

They had a certain idea of what Jesus ought to be and what he ought to require of them and as they were seeing that he was calling them to something different; a deeper commitment; a complete sacrifice of themselves and acceptance of him as their end all and be all.

And it says in that many respond to Jesus by saying “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”

And in it says this...

John 6:66–69 ESV

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

Where else are we going to go??

What we ned you got!

What we are searching for you provide.

Imagine what a church would look like that gets that.

Imagine if that was the motivating narrative of our lives.

What would that look like?

How would it effect our attendance on Sunday mornings.

How would it affect the amount we serve?

How would it affect where and when our money was spent?

How would it affect how we engage with our culture; even if it means we will stick out.

Would we see HIS Glory and HIS mission as greater and more important than ANY OTHER PURSUIT WE CAN COME UP WITH OR CONVINCE OURSELVES OF??

This is a hard teaching?

“many of his disciples turned aback and no longer walked with him”

“Will you leave me as well?”

HOW CAN WE!!????

To Whom shall we go?

Oh to be a church where we say and live out a proclamation that Jesus has all we need; where it over takes us over.

Do we trust him enough?

Are we willing to give it all up for something better than what we can create?

And you might say…yeah but what does that look like?

Our values of a

It sounds good. There is more to life than the daily grind, and I’m invited to be a part of it. Something bigger than myself, how do I play a part, how do become a part of what God is doing?

Our values here at CAChurch are simple we want to see people experience and express Grace.

Values:

Grace

If ou

That starts with understanding that you are loved by God and that his greatest expression of his love is n the cross, where Jesus took on the penalty of our sin before a Holy God; so that before God we are clean; we can repent and have our sins forgiven and be seen by God as clean and untainted by sin.

But from there we become people who show grace- kindness to each other.

Gifts

We don’t simply experience grace and sit on it. We respond by offering ourselves to His Mission- we serve God and each other with our gifts. So that when people look at our lives they see something in us that is more than just a self-serving faith.

Growth

we do not want to live stagnant lives. We want to desire a move closer to Jesus; as individuals and as a church; if we don’t -by definition we are not the church.

So we want to be known as a people of grace, gifts and growth.

How do we hit on all these things, how do we live out grace, our gifts, growth at CAChurch: The Port

This is our strategy---and I’ll tell you i like it because here are some handles to grab onto.

The leadership of CAChurch has come up with 5 Go’s that we would like to call all active CAChurch attendees to.

they are all goes. because as we have said before---the church is now and always has been a movement, and movements move.

So how do we get from where we are to where we want to be?

How to get from here to there?

In

In

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 21:19–21 ESV

And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.

-21

He says Go, make disciples, baptize, teach and observe; all understanding that the presence of Jesus is with us in this.

Matthew 18:19

With that in mind I want to invite you into the life of the church with 5 Go- 5 calls to action.

OUR STRATEGY

Go.....

Go.....

to church

get into a Life Group

deeper in your faith

grab a friend

on mission

Go to church

Weekend ministries - We believe that the most effective discipleship takes place during a weekend service. Therefore, we gather joyfully and expectantly as we worship Jesus.

Go get in a small group

Small Groups - We believe that community is vital to spiritual vitality. Therefore, we want to gather in groups of 10-15 people who can love, serve, grow and be on mission together.

Go deeper in your faith

Spiritual Formation - We believe Christ has called us to a deeper knowledge and life with Him. Therefore, we strive to provide opportunities for every member of the family to grow up in Christ (service, leadership development, classes, serving).

Go grab a friend

Evangelism - We believe that the mission of God is for everyone. Therefore, so we are bold in asking those in our sphere of influence to take steps towards Jesus.

Go on mission

Local and Global Mission - We believe that it’s our job to demonstrate and show the love of God to our church, community, city and world by giving generously of our time, resources and finances. Therefore, we serve and love our city, nation and world.

The desire to take part in these things can only come from one thing:

A HOLY DISCONTENT!!

WE NEED TO LIVE IN HOLY DISCONTENT

where we are unwilling settle for a comfortable church when we could be a part of the amazing adventure God has invited the church to be a part of

PAUSE

Two things that make a puzzle very difficult too finish well.

Sometimes when our family has gone away we will break open the puzzle. Not plenty of people hate puzzles. That is fine.

Having no picture to go with If all the pieces aren't there

Two things that make a puzzle very difficult too finish well.

1)Having no picture to go with

Have you ever tried to finish a puzzle with 1000- or 3000 pieces without the picture?

It is close to impossible

a few years go our family tried to do a puzzle of this image.

That is what the Great Commission is giving us.

A description of the church as it ought to be, and if it isn’t we will be met with frustration, no compass and no direction other than what we create ourselves.

2) If all the pieces aren't there

It was always our sons default move to hide the last piece of a puzzle so we would always be frustrated an unable to finish and get the entire picture unless he placed it

building a healthy church when there is no interest in playing a part in the mission that God calls us to will be met with frustration.

When attending is a week option on Sunday mornings, when doing Life together is dismissed as unimportant, when we expect our Sundays top be our sole time of feeding and being unwilling to deeper in our relationship with Jesus (relying just on weekly feedings), we have no interest in influencinG those around us, no interest in the lives of the lost whether closer by or far away.

a lack of Holy discontent with ourselves, our church, our world will make for a very bland faith and a very bland church.

I want to invite you to to something more.

A church where we are actively pursuing Jesus in a way that is more than cerebral, more than words,

where our private lives, our public lives ,our decisions for what we do with our time and our family’s time is taken over by the Gospel.

Where our lives are together aiming toward him, in response to the cross where he gave his life for us, we would give our lives for him and his mission; it is better than any other picture you can try to piece together.

Otherwise we will wander, like Alice......not caring where we go; not caring where and without the Gospel of Jesus impacting us and without us impacting our community.

It is a difficult invitation. Maybe some will leave, saying “this is a difficult teaching”-

But I point you to Jesus…Who offers us something Larger Than Life ; to pursue and exist together for His Glory and for His Mission

That is what we are going to explore through the next two month in this series.

It will challenge us. It has already challenged me.

All the while reminded that we do so, because we have nowhere else to go, “Jesus has the words of eternal life”

And true life; life as it was meant to be lived only happens as our devotion grows us closer to Him.

Are you with me!!??

Let’s pray