with or without vision: in others

Vision

Proverbs 29:18 KJV 1900

Where there is no vision, the people perish: But he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Proverbs

recapp

Proverbs 28:19 KJV 1900

He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread: But he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough.

If we don’t see the potential we will not live it out in our lives

Starts with our view of God

It is costly to follow Him

but He is worth it

Last week-

looked at how God views us

that we are valued by God

because of this we know that we can trust Him b/c He has the power to take care of us AND He cares for us

Today:

how we look at the lives of those around us

Intro

This is about our calling to make Jesus famous throughout the world

leading others into a relationship with Jesus

RELEVANT: most people claim to be a Christian but don’t spend time in a real relationship with God Importance of our own relationship in this situation with faith the blind can’t lead the blindsomeone with a head knowledge can’t teach a relationshipsomeone who has religion won’t lead others to a relationshipTHE RELATIONSHIP IS THE KEY When you meet someone new who acts interested in God but seems like a real bad persondo we show them what a relationship with Jesus looks like OR do we remind them what it means to be an outcast? Jesus was friends of sinnersThankfully b/c we wouldn’t be saved otherwiselet us follow in that example w/o our pre-concieved ideas about their ability to be friends with Jesus So many people feel like they are a lost cause and they will only learn that God doesn’t see them that way if WE SHOW THEM something that helps me comes from a song:let us be know by what we are for rather than what we are againstwe like to tell of the dark shadows in the corner when we could just shine our light (Jesus Christ) in to those areas and bring life One of my favorite Scriptures that sounds tough but leads us to love and peace If we look at this in light of sharing our faith with others

​ ESVThen Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

If anyone would come after me...gracious invitation we are drawn to shock & awe statements (especially when they don’t flatten our toes) “If your going to follow Jesus than your gonna have to...” No it was filled with grace and love from the inside out“If anyone would come after me...”“I’m leading the way by example:not asking to do something that I wouldn’t do reminds me of other places

​ ESVOn the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

we find thirsty people and offer them drinkbut this drink is not manufactured or created by usthe streams of living water only flow from us when we have drank in excesswe must drink more of this life through Jesus Christ in order to have Jesus oozing from our lives Smokie Norful said is like this:we all have different gifts, talents, personalities, and experiences; but we all have the same purpose: to represent our Savior & King in a lost and broken world. Some are skilled at preaching or leading worship, but everyone can initiate a conversation about God’s kindness, offer a cup of cool water to a thirsty soul, give a piece of bread to a famished person, and invest a little time into someone who feels hopeless and abandoned.

​ ESVThe mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

let us speak words of life In our main text after Jesus’ gracious invitation:

​ ESVThen Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

This paints a picture of God’s KingdomLord’s prayer: thy kindom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven This is what it looks likeit’s often refered to as the upside-down kingdombecause it is opposite of the way that our world does things

​ ESVThere is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

When we look at God’s way of doing things for the good of others above selfit seems opposite of natural but our natural leads to death and Jesus’ way leads to life 4 things for us to check within our selves to see if we are living this upside-down kingdom out BECAUSE if we do then we will be showing others what the love of Christ is like and as a result we will be fullfilling our purpose Pronoun testwhen we depend upon our own strengthlive for our own gloryTHEN our conversations will be covered with “I, me, mine” end of if all that we talk about is our interests, thoughts, things that we have doneit shows that we have a selfish heart that needs to be adressed 2. Do others matter/ do we care about others?do you listen to others?offer to help serve where you can? Notice those who are hurting hurting people do reckless things to self and othersno need to wait for someone to act out to notice that they are hurting and to show them that you care Do we love the people that God loves, in the way that He loves them: joyfully, hopefully, sacrificiallyjoyful: because faith is not a prison holding us back but fresh air giving us true lifehopeful: because Jesus can change their lives no matter where they are in life sacrificial: because Jesus’ example that we follow was filled with sacrifice for the good of otherscame from heaven to earthtaught us while being maulked abused and killed so that we could have life do we love the people that God loves? Do we love them the way that He does? It’s hard because we are not humble by the way of this world

​ ESVDo nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

He didn’t say don’t ever look out for your own interests because He knew that we would have to take care of our personal business but that our interests wouldn’t be number one sometimes we are not able to help others because we have not put in the effort to help ourselves If I buy a car that I can’t afford because I think that it’ll up my cool statusI will be strapped for money and work more both will limit me from loving others because I lost two valuable resources: time & moneyMy mood may be good for a minute in the excitement of the new purchase but when the new wears off and the payment remainsstress, tired.... that’s why it’s important to seek God’s direction in our lives so that we make wise choices that lead us to our purpose 3. How do you respond to difficulties?If we are self focusedwe will whine and complain about anything that blocks our immediate gratificationself focused keeps our eyes off of the ones that we are supposed to care about When we have a short fusewe don’t have patience for problemsespecially for problem people When we have God’s perspective adn valuesrealize every setback is an opportunity to grow,to experience God’s love and power more deeply, AND to show others that God can be trusted even in the hardest times 4. How do we respond to offenses?God wants us to forgive those who hurt usthis is an overflow of the forgiveness that we recieved through Jesus Christ I can be angry when I try to help someone and they take advantage of meangry because they feel entitled In response I am acting in the same manor because I felt that things should go my way and that the things that God gave me were mine when they weren’t they were just Him in the first place How do you line up?Pronoun TestDo others matter/ do you care about others?How do you respond to difficulties?How do you respond to offenses? When our lives are overflowing with living water we will reach this lost and broken worldBUTeach of these things that we talked about today is like a hole in a bucket...the water is draining out and your never fullnever fully satisfiedNever full means that your not overflowing others are missing God’s message because your not sharing it with them