Remembering Our Mission
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Introduction - Do You Remember Me?
Introduction - Do You Remember Me?
[Picture]
A lot has happened over the past few weeks:
We’ve said good bye to some good friends… and I am not talking about the soffits
The sanctuary has changed
The youth have had two trips
And that is just the church. If we throw in our personal lives, a few weeks feels like a really long time.
Unintentional Guest Series
All the messages had a similar theme or remembering our mission
The reality of mission drift or Gospel drift
Paul addresses in Galatians
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
Strong words
Paul was focused and passionate on the gospel.
He reminds the church of its priorities.
Let me be clear, this message is to the church. No one else
It is easy to drift from the gospel while still claiming to be about the gospel.
The Actual Gospel:
Areas of Drift:
God created and loves you
We are broken and separated from a Holy God by our own sin
It is impossible for the broken to fix themselves
Yet, God sent His Son (His Perfect Son), Jesus Christ, to make the impossible possible by making a way to be right with God by taking all our sin upon Himself on the cross.
For those who believe and accept this gift, they will be made right with God and be granted eternal life with God in heaven.
The way the gospel was corrupted was a little different back then.
Modern Areas of Drift:
Materialism and Prosperity
Nationalism
Politics
Conservatism
Economic Socialism
Moralistic Therapeutic Deism
A god exists who created and order the world and watches over human life on earth.
God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and most world religions.
The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.
Good people go to heaven when they die.
[Transition] The reason I mention this is because I want to be clear about what we are doing here. We’ve been focused on Renovations and Life Groups. If Paul were here, he would be asking, “What does all that have to do with the gospel?”
God created and loves you
That is the question we should always be asking ourselves.
When we talk about the gospel, our minds don’t typically go to preparations, but rather tend to go to action.
We are broken and separated from God by our own sin
I feel that!
It is impossible for the broken to fix themselves
However, there is a value to preparations
Yet, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to make the impossible possible by making a way to be right with God by taking all our sin upon Himself on the cross.
In order for God to work through us, He must work in us first.
For those who believe and accept this gift, they will be made right with God and be granted eternal life with God in heaven.
[Transition] Let’s go back to Paul
Paul’s story:
Paul was a persecutor of the church:
Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
Acts 9:
Jesus strikes him blind and tells him to seek help from a nearby city.
Now, the disciple in that city doesn’t want to help a known murderer, but God reveals Paul’s purpose.
But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.
But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
Acts 9:
So Paul believes and receives the Holy Spirit.
And it says for some days he was with the disciples in Damascus, where he immediately proclaims Jesus in the local synagogues.
After many days, the Jews plot to hill him, so he flees.
And then the next thing we hear is that he is attempting to join the disciples in Jerusalem.
From this you might think that this whole process took a few weeks, possibly a few months.... right?
However, the book of Galatians adds a detail left out of the account in Acts.
Galatians 1:11-
For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days.
After three years!
Why would he
What was he doing for three years? Why would he wait so long to pursue his calling?
Well, the passage adds this little piece aboutArabia. Although the passage doesn’t directly mention what he was doing there, most scholars agree that Paul went into Arabia to prepare himself for the ministry God called him to.
And I want us to see why that preparation was important.
The passage itself gives us clues...
The passage itself gives us clues...
Only One Voice Matters
Only One Voice Matters
But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
Wanted to make sure he was hearing God, not being influenced by men
He had been taught by the brightest, most respected men AND they were wrong
Man’s voice had led him astray
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Gal 1:
But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
As much as I want to be liked, my job is to listen to God and lead us towards the direction He makes clear to us.
He had been taught by the brightest, most respected men AND they were wrong
Man’s voice had led him astray
As much as I want to be liked, my job is to listen to God and lead us towards the direction He makes clear to us.
As much as I want to be liked, my job is to listen to God and lead us towards the direction He makes clear to us.
We are called to extend loving community to our neighbors who need it with the grace and truth of Jesus Christ
We are called to extend loving community to our neighbors who need it with the grace and truth of Jesus Christ
He used this time to get clarity of his purpose
He used this time to get clarity of his purpose
He thought he knew his purpose; to defend the Jewish faith
That was his self given purpose. God gave him the purpose to preach to the Gentiles
was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;
Pause his passion
Pause his passion
Pause his passion
During his time in Arabia, I believe that Paul also did an internal check-up.
He mentions that he was zealous, but not for God, but for the traditions of his fathers.
And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.
That’s the trouble with zeal or passion. We can think we are doing right, our emotions can drive us to not see truth.
The only way to know if our passions are in the right place is to pause and consider them.
Grow in humility
Grow in humility
Similarly, We see that Paul’s passion and zeal had prideful ambitions behind it. He wanted to make a great name for himself. Yet, after his time in Arabia, he begins his ministry without caring about his own name at all.
Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of me.
Gal 1:21
This is a good reminder to us, that our goal isn’t to make Beach Bible Church great, but to be greatly used to bring glory to God. How that plays out may be subtle, but the difference it makes is huge.
Some important notes
Mistakes don’t disqualify us
Mistakes don’t disqualify us
The fact that Paul had made so many mistakes does not deter his confidence in God’s calling for him.
But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;
God knows we will make mistakes and moves forward anyway
Conclusion
Conclusion
In the end, we see that this seasons of preparation was very a personal experience to prepare Paul for his purpose. It is necessary, for God to work through us, we have to let him work in us.
As we get closer to the end of our housekeeping, I don’t want us to miss the opportunity this season of preparation presents us.
We are people being shaped by the gospel in order to share the gospel.
Are we ready to be people who are shaped by the gospel with our neighbors how need it? Is that our priority; the most important thing to us? Is our zeal for the gospel and God’s purposes for us as a church?
For none of this matters, if we aren’t doing it for the sake of the gospel.
The truth is that what God is doing in us is far more important than what we are doing to the room. Of all the changes we make, the most important are those God is doing in us.
If your heart is ready, I want to encourage you to go ahead and start pursuing and inviting people. We aren’t done with our housekeeping, but we can just
One of my dreams for everyone here is that everyone one of us would be able to see someone newly worshipping God because God used them to reach them.
Let us be a people who welcomes the work of God in us.
Let us not forget that all we do is for the sake of the gospel.