Do You See What I See
Do You See What I See?
1/1/2000 & 1/2/2000
-Welcome to the 21st Century!
-We are here today with the lights on…. The same is true about Christianity…after 2000 years we are still here growing more than ever before.
Review:
Before the holidays I did 2 messages about “Getting Ready for the 21st Century”. Specifically we talked about:
*MAKING SOME CRITICAL UPDATES
*RUNNING THE RACE LIKE PAUL SPOKE ABOUT/FOCUSING ON THE PRIZE
*WE ARE PART OF THE WINNING TEAM
WHAT NOAH TOOK WITH HIM INTO THE ARK:
-He was able to be a follower of God in a perverse generation and even prevail.
-I think the same thing about Daniel. He lived in an alien culture and at every conflict he prevailed.
Psalms 23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
NOAH TOOK WITH HIM INTO THE ARK:
1.A strong faith in God
2. His family
3. A testimony of a life that had pleased God (tombstone testimony)
4. A hope of a bright future because of God’s promise
-What do you see for the coming years? What is your perspective of the coming millennium?
-The main thing I see is:
JESUS CHRIST CALLING US TO FOLLOW HIM INTO ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING TIMES IN HISTORY
-How you look at things is very important.
-Its like the stock market: when it crashes some people get very rich and some get very poor.
-The same problem can cause blessing or cursing.
Acts 8
1 ¶ And Saul was there, giving approval to his death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.
3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
4 ¶ Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
-The very same problem that hit the early church caused it to expand.
-Read secular magazine article.
-How does this affect you?
1.I SEE A REQUIREMENT FOR TOTAL COMMITMENT
1 ¶ "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.
3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
-The fence that rested between nominal Christianity and radical Christianity is being destroyed.
-People have tried to be Christians where they write the rules.
-Thank God for wherever you are on your journey to Jesus and with Jesus today. You don’t get in trouble for where you are unless you are planning to stay there.
-In other words-you may still be learning and considering the claims of Jesus and learning to follow Him. Great! You can get away with a lot more than someone who has been a Christian for years and are still toying with the idea of whether to go to church and tithe and work.
-What is going to happen is that the choice will have to be made: TOTAL CHRISTIAN OR TOTAL WORLDLING.
-This is no way to grow a church but it is a great way to grow people!
-Lenny Meyer made a great statement while he was here. He talked about the difference in going from “I’m Sorry” to “I Surrender”.
-People talk about the man upstairs and they whine to God about their sin but they have no plans to be changed.
-In order to thrive in this century-you need to take the plunge. Make some radical decisions like:
1.I’m going to act like a Christian-cut out the questionable stuff.
2.I’m going to get involved in a church-really. Weekly service and cell.
3.When I have the opportunity to tell someone I am a Christian I won’t be ashamed of Him.
ETC.
2. I SEE A REQUIREMENT FOR CREATIVITY
-I was studying recently and I discovered that the Bible includes the use of a person standing before a crowd to proclaim the gospel. But that is only one part of God’s plan to get the message t the world.
-We have the best message in the world. The answer to international problems is resting in your heart.
-The chance of reaching the people God wants us to reach is very small if we don’t become creative.
-John Wesley was a very straight Anglican minister.
-Whitfield had a meeting outside and he was leaving. Wesley took it over.
-He would preach to the miners at 5 in the morning because that’s when they would go to work.
-Back in the 70’s I remember seeing the 700 Club and saying, “what is this?
-Joe heard about hell on the 700 club waiting for Debbie at my parent’s house.
-Telephones, computers, and television will be merging really soon. Cable provides internet speed 50 times faster.
-Darrell has a weekly Bible study on the internet. He communicates with people on several continents.
-Heaven’s gates and hell’s flames is very effective drama. The one the Meyers do is effective as well.
-We used to have radio vignettes.
-Who knows what God is doing with the Rams!
-The best ideas are still out there.
-A pastor was telling me he was getting fits from his denomination because they moved Sunday school to Wednesday nights. They were effective but it was outside of the lines for this guy.
-There is a band in England called “Delirious” that is reaching thousands of youth with worship meetings. (We actually sing a couple of their songs.)
-Embrace your time.
-We were watching the New Year’s Eve celebration and someone said they wondered what Lincoln would say if he saw this. Someone else said they think he would just be thrilled to know he could take a hot shower!
-We are so blessed.
-Let’s be creative.
-We have an opportunity to reach more people in our generation than any previous generation.
EXAMPLE: Story with 2 salesmen in Africa. One said I’m coming home because they don’t wear shoes. The other one said send me everything because the opportunities are great.
-How can I be so optimistic? Because Jesus told us to reach the world-that means we can.
3. I SEE A REQUIREMENT FOR MASSIVE CHANGE
-In order to embrace change you need to distinguish between what can be changed and what can’t.
Philippians 3
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Habakkuk 3
17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.
-Those were the staple crops at the time. Habakkuk was saying that no matter what changed-his hope was in God.
-For instance:
Walt Disney came to St. Louis. The beer industry hassled him because he didn’t want to sell beer. He went to a little town called Orlando.
Wright City didn’t want the traffic out of the city so they widened the road to main street-it was and is a disaster.
ETC.
-Some things don’t change: God/The Bible/The Promises of God for our future
-Some things don’t matter at all.
-The speed of change could really frustrate you if you are going to be sentimental about everything.
Ecclesiastes 7
10 Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions.
-Instead of dragging our feet….let’s be out front “DIRECTING THE CHANGE”.
-I SEE:
A NEED FOR COMMITMENT
A NEED FOR CREATIVITY
A NEED TO EMBRACE CHANGE
Charisma article