The Lordship of Christ

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Intro

…[reintroduce our theme for the year again]...we want to focus this year on taking our faith away from the keyboard, away from the socially accepted ways in which we package our appearance - away from hashtags and feigning praise - and into the desert of the real. The difficult and important moments of our lives.

We want our lives to be a mirror for Christ - the one we claim to follow - the hashtag, if you will, that people lookup. We want our lives to be so clearly following our God that His light and love start trending in our world, not our ways, or our mannerisms, or our posts.

So this year, we choose to follow.

But if you follow, that means that something, or someone, is out there in front. Something is giving you orders, right? And honestly, part of the reason we need to focus on follow Christ is that all too often, we forget about Him! We reserve Him for Sunday morning, and maybe important decisions. And then once we get through that Sunday, once we move beyond that difficult decision, Jesus gets put back in the tool chest, and we go on doing what we were going to do without Him anyway!

When that happens. When our lives are lived out like that. We bow to the Lordship of self. To the lordship of comfort. To the lordship of convenience. And Jesus becomes just a crutch that we rely on when it benefits us.

Proverbs 16:9 ESV

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

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But that isn’t at all how we are to live. And we know it! But we are so enraptured by self, that we forget that God is ultimately in control of our lives! Or at least, He is supposed to be!

[aman’sheartplanshispathgodguidessteps] But that isn’t at all how we are to live. And we know it! But we are so enraptured by self, that we forget that God is ultimately in control of our lives! Or at least, He is supposed to be!

Sure our desires might plan our lives, or even our days and moments! But we aren’t called to follow those feelings! No, everything we do must flow through God - at the very least, everything we do must be done in light of the fact that we are following God!

So today, I want us to ask ourselves, who is lord of my life? Is it God, or is it me? Is it ambition? Is it heritage? Is it hate? What motivates me? Who or what have I given true Lordship of my life.

Luke 3:15–17 ESV

As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Luke 3:15–17 ESV

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But you don’t want....

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Luke 3:10–11 ESV

And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”

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This week our text opens, well, it is set up by at the very least. with the same question that I emphasized from our text last week. What shall we do?

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This week our text opens, well, it is set up by at the very least. with the same question that I emphasized from our text last week. What shall we do?

It’s an important question for us, one that we can all understand, because it is one that we have asked more times than we can count! But it is more than a question, it is a feeling that guides us. That feeling that compels us to say, “Lord I believe in you! What can I do to have you in my life? What can I do to get what I want, or be what I want to be?”

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Like we spoke about last week, Jesus says sell it all. And this week, John says, essentially, the same thing. Give it away. Your stuff. Your money. Your life.

I can hear in this text, and in John’s life and ministry, this call to forget not only the stuff - but to forget what we have done. Forget what we have, forget what we have accomplished - forget all those things that hold us back and make us want to keep things like they have always been - and instead look to what God will do next.

And all week, even up until this very morning, my mind kept circling around this idea or what’s next. This idea that we must follow God to wherever He might lead - even if in the middle of what we are doing we think we are right on track!

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[baptizingpic] After all, that is the whole idea behind his ministry and message. Repent! Turn away from what you have done, and turn toward what God has for you next. And don’t just repent - don't’ just say things have changed - BEAR FRUIT in keeping with repentance. I can hear him, in his pastor like voice, baptizing person after person!

Do you repent of your sins, and turn away from all that was and toward all that will be? To which they answer, like us, I do. He would baptize them, and then lead them off, and then yell - Next!

Who’s next? Who is the next person to step up and be changed by God? Who is the next one to lay down all that stuff that muddies the waters, all that stuff that rules over us. All that stuff that demands our allegiance and convinces us that to live life we must give full authority to it and not God.

What is Lord of your life?

Stuff that changes daily, by the way. There is always the next great thing. The next technology. The next twitter or facebook. The next relationship or job. The next school. The next hobby. It turns out, the only constant this world offers is change.

Luke 3:15 ESV

As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ,

VI. [verse 15] But there they would be, lined up. Waiting for their moment to be next to find new life in God; to find out what is next.

But there they would be, lined up. Waiting for their moment to be next to find new life in God; to find out what is next.

But understand, they were there in that line with more expectations than that! They were there to see if John was the next thing. The next prophet? Perhaps some thought that. The next religious leader? Surely most thought that. But for some, he was more than that - they thought he was the next part of God’s plan?

Are you the messiah? Are you what’s next? And what’s funny to me about his response, and his life, is that of course he wasn’t the Messiah - but he was what was next! He was what had to happen to get to the Messiah! But even so, church, understand that there in the middle of him following God’s will, he has the presence of mind to remind us all - every believer everywhere - that even when we are doing EXACTLY what God wants us to be doing, we must have our eyes on what’s next! On WHO is coming next!

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[puzzlepieces] How often we forget that? How often we forget that everything we do, and everything we are, is another piece in God’s puzzle. And each piece helps us to find the next piece. And not only that, each piece helps us to see the bigger picture, and helps us to see what is coming next.

Even there, in our lives. The puzzle is being worked out. Our moments, born from our mistakes and shortcomings, lead us all to want something else - to yearn for what is next - and inevitably, they lead us to those same waters. They lead us to John - or those who came next - to answer those same questions! Do you repent? Do you want to stop worrying about what has come before, and start wondering what comes next?

ask questions here.....

In those moments, we become another piece of that puzzle. Another life intended to paint God’s picture of a world meant to live for Him - not just another brick in the wall that separates us from Him.

But even so, we must realize - just like John did - that the key to moving forward to what is next is giving complete control to God.

[picofJesusbaptized]

[peopleincharge] But that is the hard part, isn’t it? I mean it is so easy to be in charge! I can do what I want, and think what I want! I can bend the rules, and I can make new requirements. Man, it is good to be in charge. It’s good to be the king.

And that is the way we live out our faith, and our lives, right? We are in charge. I am lord of my life. I tell myself when to go, or where to go. I make the rules!

But God requires more. He requires us to repent of all those thoughts, and all those things that lead us to paths away from Him! No if we want to follow Jesus, than we need to turn away from all that other stuff, and let Him be Lord of our life!

Lord of our thoughts. Lord of our relationships. Lord of our homes. Lord of our jobs. Lord of our money. Lord of our time. Lord of everything that we so neatly pack into our lives - our plans, our dreams, our aspirations for ourselves or our children. EVERYTHING! Everything we think we must have next, it must all flow through the God we claim as Lord of our lives!

[luke3:16] After all, that is the example of John here. Just think about this for a minute. Here is John, a man called by God to live simply, and to dedicate his entire life to leading other to repentance. A man so sold out to following God, that he did all of that not only at the risk of his own life - which was lost because of this ministry - but done so knowing full well that it was nothing more than a tool to get God’s people closer to Christ!

This wasn’t the installation of some rich tradition for him. This wasn’t a grand new building, or anything like that! This was an act that wasn’t meant ever to point to him, but to point to what was next! IN OTHER WORDS, JOHN’S JOB - HIS CALLING AND MINISTRY - WAS SIMPLY TO PREPARE OTHERS FOR WHAT WAS NEXT IN THEIR LIVES! AND WHAT WAS NEXT, FOR THEM AS FOR US, IS THAT JESUS IS LORD OF ALL! LORD OF OUR DAYS! LORD OF EVERY DECISION WE MAKE AND EVERY ACTION WE TAKE! FROM THE RISING OF THE SUN TO THE SETTING OF THE SAME, LET THE LORD OF ALL BE PRAISED IN US AND ALL WE DO! CHURCH, EVERY THOUGHT AND EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE FOR THE BELIEVER MUST BE UNDERTAKEN WITH THE ATTITUDE THAT NO MATTER WHAT WE MIGHT WANT IN ANY SITUATION - JESUS IS LORD OF ALL! AND IF LORD OF ALL, THEN CHURCH, WE MUST GET IN LINE BEHIND HIM AND GO WHERE HE GOES! EVEN IF WE ARE SURE WE ARE WHERE WE NEED TO BE!

Luke 3:20–21 NIV

Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison. When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened

IX. [vs 20-21] Church, understand, that when we get in line with Jesus, we find Him right there! Waiting in line. Waiting to be next. Waiting for that Spirit to descend on Him and waiting for His Father’s voice to cry out to us all! “This is my Son!” Listen to Him! Do as he does. Think as He thinks. Make Him Lord of all that you do.

Jesus is Lord of my house, my family, my job, my wallet.

Church, understand, that when we get in line with Jesus, we find Him right there! Waiting in line. Waiting to be next. Waiting for that Spirit to descend on Him and waiting for His Father’s voice to cry out to us all! “This is my Son!” Listen to Him! Do as he does. Think as He thinks. Make Him Lord of all that you do.

Church, if we can do nothing else this year, we must give our lives to Him fully. And when we give that life to Him, we will then be able to ask Him daily, What’s next, Jesus? Where do you want me? What do you want me to have? How can I live my life for you today, and not for myself? You see, it is not about our plans. It’s not about our wants. Nothing like that. Sure we will have plans. We will have desires. And we will no doubt act on them. But ultimately, they must all flow through the Christ we claim as Lord. Just as we view all scripture through the lens of Jesus, we must view our lives - our decisions, our jobs, our relationships; everything - we view it all through His eyes and for His purposes.

And then, church, whether we were on the right track or not before that day, we turn from where we were headed, and run headlong into the arms of our Savior.

Everything changes when He is Lord. And to be sure, that everything includes us. Our wants. Our needs. Our actions. It all becomes a response to the salvation we lay hold of. So get in line behind Christ, church. See what’s next. Follow Him wherever He leads. Don’t hesitate to change course when he calls, because church, there is no better view in this life, than the view behind the God that calls us all to follow Him! That is what’s next for us all.

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[Invitation]

THROUGHOUT his ministry, Jesus laboured under one great disadvantage. The centre of his message was the kingdom of God (); but he meant one thing by the kingdom, and those who listened to him meant another.

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