Winning Away From Home
PREPERATION FOR TAKE-OFF
This morning we are continuing the GOD @ Work sermon series, but just before we dive into this morning’s topic let us quickly review of the key ideas covered so far
It is good to refresh our memories – I have a bad memory– I know this to be true because my wife keeps telling I don’t listen to her and she is forever having to repeat herself. I call it nagging –just kidding! SLEEP - REPEAT
· Display Adam and Eve - image
· God@Work – His co-workers in what HE is doing
· Work as service – As an act of Worship, we have a calling not just a career!
· Display and Talk to the Happy Friday screen
· All work is valued, unpaid work is as important to God as paid work
This week’s subject is ‘Winning Away from Home’ and we are going to look at our understanding of Church, what it is and how it can help us in our daily life
LET US PRAY: Lord, as we approach the subject of work, enable us to see the purpose you have for your people. Enable us to receive your word that we may declare your praise among our friends, relatives and work colleges. Amen.
TAKE-OFF
MY JOB TRAINED AS AN ANALYST - Ask questions to gain understanding. If you ask different types of people the same question you get different answers.
· Church what is it? - The people of God / Stone building
· Church where is it? - Anywhere we happen to be / just off Manchester Rd.
Ask a theologian and he’ll get really deep and tell you that Church exists in two ways (Life in 2 parts?)
· The Church gathered
· The Churched scattered
Ask a Joe Bloggs
· The visible Church
· The invisible Church (nobody knows what they do or where they go they just vanish!) – The irrelevant Church!
Football Illustration - Playing at home / playing away
Why do teams struggle when playing away. Why is that?
· The individuals don’t change
· The rules of the game don’t change
· The ground has changed!! – It’s hostile
Church Context: When we are in Church we expect God’s presence - we are on home ground!
When we pass the through the doors something happens – many of us experience/ some choose God’s absence – ground has changed, It’s an hostile world out there!
But why is this?
God doesn’t change (Character)
God is love – he wants out highest good – also that of our neighbour etc.)
“Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and tomorrow “
“Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you… never will I fail you” (Heb 13v5 NIV)
Why - Come into his presence – why? He never left!
· We don’t change (Identity)
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”
(John 12:1 NIV)
Christian – you are a child of the living God. We have been adopted in to his family – We are royalty
Prince or a Princess
!!!! THE JOURNEY
AWAY: The primary purpose of the Church is worship. In the Church gathered scenario you will be familiar with the idea of worship
After the sermon the Music group will lead us in worship. But there is also the idea of worship in Church scattered – in our daily lives – in our workplace, whatever that might be
“So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him”. (Rom 12:1 The Message)
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Col 3:23-24 NIV)
Whatever you do - Window cleaner or Brain surgeon your work is an act of worship.
Examples of people who won away from home: Nehemiah, Daniel, Joseph, Midwives in Exodus
If we GRASP (take hold) and BELIEVE that work is worship we will win away from home and the church (us) will stop being irrelevant.
BALANCE
AT HOME: But Church gathered is actually more than just Worship as we would normally understand worship…
OUR PART: “What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church” (1 Co 14:26 NIV)
LEADERS: “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up…” (Eph 4:11-12)
Works of Service = Daily life
Pastors/ Teachers - preparing God’s people for works of service
· This is not just about making Missionaries / Vicars etc.
· The majority of us are not going to change the world, but we can change where we live and work!
To win on hostile ground we need to have a new mind set about Sunday
Sunday is the Lord’s day – a day of rest etc. Hmmm well actually Saturday is the last day a day of rest. Sunday is the first day of the week (celebration of the resurrection – new start)
Sunday is the day that Christians gather together – yes to worship - but also to prepare for Monday – to be encouraged, to be strengthened, to be built up – ready to become once again ambassadors for Christ in a hostile world. That we might be (1 Peter 2:9) a royal Priesthood… to be like Christ in a hostile world
The Blood
Comes into the Heart and lungs to be infused with Oxygen and then sent out to energise the limbs for work!
In the same way Church, our gathering, house groups, interest groups, whenever we gather should be times encouragement of strengthening
!!!! LANDING
An exercise - Breathe – in, breathe - out
Ask the infirm / elderly to watch!
Those on the left breathe in and hold
Those on the right breathe out and hold
I’m roughly in the middle so I’ll breathe normally…
You have a problem don’t you can’t just breathe in – you can’t just breathe out - to live life you need to breathe in and out
It’s normal to breath – Stop breathing in and out and you’ll soon turn purple and start to look abnormal – if you breathe abnormally you’ll die!
If the church only ever gathers together…if the church only ever scatters? It dies.
The normal Christian life is one of avoiding extremes it requires balance.
We need to be and to do – but if you never breathe in you’ll never breathe out - you have to be before you can do.
What is our calling given our key scripture?
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-12)
Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”
How will we win at home and away?
By being the Church God gifted us to be – at home and away!
PUASE FOR REFLECTION
LEAD INTO THE NEXT SONG - Take my life, and let it be
CLOSE IN PRAYER