Your Priorities
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INTRODUCTION
Testimonies:
Uriah?
Continuing our Sermon Series on Go Into...
We have discovered we all are Missionaries.
We have to Identify our Mission Field, Pray for our Mission Field, and Go to our Mission Field!
We have also discussed our role as the Salt of the Earth.
This week if you are taking notes: Our Sermon Title is: Your Priorities
Grab your Bibles and turn with me to Luke 19:1
As you are turning there:
I hope you have taken time today to reflect on God’s amazing love towards you.
Too often we don’t sit still long enough to just see how much He cares for us.
Too often we don’t sit still long enough to hear Him comfort us.
Too often we don’t sit still long enough to just communicate with Him.
Let’s do that right now before we get into His Word.
PRAYER:
SERMON
Why did Christ come?
Why did Christ come?
We find the answer to that here in Luke 19:1.
1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Church, why did He come?
TO SEEK AND SAVE THE LOST!
TO SEEK AND SAVE THE LOST!
There were two specific things Christ came to do.
TO SEEK FOR THE LOST
and
To SAVE THE LOST
Here in Luke we see:
Jesus intentionally went looking for Zacchaeus...
This bothered the people… Because Jesus was known for hanging out with the sinners… and not just out in public… But He would go to their homes and have a meal with them!
Time and time again through out the Gospels… We see Christ intentionally seeking out the Lost.
He would travel for days and even across lakes, just to seek out the Lost!
And the reason He was seeking for them… Was to Save them.
Ultimately that was the goal/mission from the beginning.
It is why He chose to die on the Cross for the salvation of all who would believe in Him!
But that mission is not complete… His mission continues today!
His mission has been handed down to the responsibility of the Church.
His mission has been handed down to the responsibility of the Church.
He has given you and I the responsibility to continue to seek and to save the Lost.
He has given you and I the responsibility to continue to seek and to save the Lost.
The success of that Mission depends on us today!
There is only one way to fulfill the mission. We must Go!
There is only one way to fulfill the mission. We must Go!
13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Church in order for us to fulfill the Great Commission… to Go into… there has to be a mental shift.
A Shift In Priorities:
A Shift In Priorities:
THE MISSION MUST COME FIRST!
THE MISSION MUST COME FIRST!
Do you hear me today? Not just with your ears… Do you hear it in here? Does your heart hear what is being said today… THE MISSION MUST COME FIRST!
This morning I want to give you...
3 Priorities to fulfill the Mission.
3 Priorities to fulfill the Mission.
Turn with me to Mark 16:15
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
1) Our Priority Audience
1) Our Priority Audience
Who is your priority audience?
If we truly took a look at your life… who do you surround yourself with?
Sadly, here are some of the Audience we have made a priority of:
We seek out an Audience of those who want to be with us.
We seek out an Audience of fans.
We seek out an Audience of those who can give us something.
We seek out an Audience of Selfishness.
When was the last time you sought out the Lost as an audience?
For us to fulfill the Mission that Christ started in Seeking and Saving the Lost… We have to have a shift in our Priority Audience!
For us to fulfill the Mission that Christ started in Seeking and Saving the Lost… We have to have a shift in our Priority Audience!
Church… I love coming together with you on Sundays… But do you realize that the priority audience has to shift to the Lost!?
Church… I love being with my friends and family… But I need to make sure that a priority towards the Lost has to shift in me.
When was the last time you purposely started a friendship with a Lost person?
When was the last time you invited them into your home or ate in their home?
When was the last time you went out of your way to go and seek out the Lost?
We at Living Hope Church have to shift our Priorities!
We need to be a Church who seeks an audience with the Lost!
But we have another Priority in order to fulfill the mission.
2) Our Priority Message
2) Our Priority Message
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
There are so many messages today.
From Humanitarian to Political to equality.
Even in the Church there are many messages.
There are lots of important things the Church can and should do, but the Priority must remain Evangelism!
There is nothing wrong with these very important messages… There is great value to them and they are necessary!
But there should be one priority message that is above all the rest.
And that priority can not just be in the church… but outside the church!
It should be the main message we all carry.
Do you know what that message is? It’s the good news of the Gospel!
Look at 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
1 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
The most important message that should be on the tip of our tongues… is the good news of what Christ has done for us!
Take a moment and think about how often you have shared about Christ and His salvation…
That amount will tell you whether it truly is a priority to you.
It is so easy to get caught up in other messages and put the most important on hold...
And I believe in these last days… the enemy is doing His best to get us so distracted with “Good causes” that we spend our energy and time fighting for those while missing the whole point!
If the whole world was cured of all racism, inequality, and poverty… people’s fleeting Life would be better off… But sadly… they are still destined to hell!
And, I know that I can get off topic of what the Priority message is as well.
I have a heart for Healthy Marriages and Families. And if I am not careful, I can focus on that message above the most important message of all!
So the answer isn’t to stop fighting for great causes… But the answer is to prioritize it correctly.
If you find yourself struggling with making the Gospel your priority message, then you need to spend time discovering that message again!
Read the scriptures… Ask the questions… Reflect on how the Message has changed your life… Let it sink inside of you and resonate on the main message.
Having the Priority Message will help you fulfill the mission that God has given to you!
CLOSING
As I begin to close
That takes us to the 3rd priority in order to fulfill the mission.
3) Our Priority Motivation
3) Our Priority Motivation
The only way we can focus on the Priority Audience, and share the Priority message… is if we have the priority motivation...
And that is Love...
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
The heart of God is Love.
Love towards His creation… and to each and every person that has in the past and will in the future live on this earth!
Let me tell you a powerful truth...
Love causes action!
It was God’s Love that caused Him to move towards us and bring salvation!
And it is love that will help us to take the Priority Message to the Priority Audience!
If there isn’t action… Then there probably isn’t love!
As followers of Christ… We should strive to have the same heart as Christ!
Question:
How often do you pray for God to increase your love for others?
If you struggle to love certain types of people… Pray for God to help you have His heart! So you can love them!
This morning, that is how we are going to close… Praying for a heart to love!
Then… Work on having your priorities correct.
Priority Motivation: Love
Priority Audience: The Lost
Priority Message: The Hope of Christ!
Will you stand with me?
ALTAR CALL
Salvation Call
Call to Pray for a Heart like God’s