Saved for Something More

Intro

We’re back!!! Let’s have some energy people. We are a Pentecostal church and we should be losing our minds!! We are back with people. All the extroverts are losing their minds to be back again. The introverts are kind of happy to be back, but some probably stayed home. The huggers and handshakers are twitching a bit cause they can’t touch anyone but they’ll be ok. But we are back!! The author of Hebrews tells us not to forsake gathering together because there is something powerful and meaningful that happens when God’s people are gathered together. It is good to be back.

Who is blown away by the buildings? Carlyle and Redvers campus both got a facelift over the summer and we got to give credit where credit is due. I could spend a lot of time thanking everyone who came out and gave of their time and talents to pull both campuses together. A lot of hours, blood sweat and tears went into getting everything together. I do want to recognize a couple people who went above and beyond. Kevin Reimer spent a lot of time pulling people together and getting that place tip top. Thank you Kevin. I know he’s not here, but big thanks to Clarence for all the time he spent wrapping up projects and putting the finishing touches on a few things. Last but certainly not least, put your hands together for Kendall-Jo Brown. She basically lived at the church, making the foyer everything that it is. There are no words to express the awe and thanks of what she pulled off in this church. She had a dream, and we let her go to accomplish it, and she knocked it out of the park. So thank you.

Let’s dive in. We are going to keep the same format of asking questions during the message to keep our online audience engaged. Everyone in the buildings, chat amongst your family groups. I encourage to engage beyond the questions. Everyone in house, get excited and let me know when I make a good point. Redvers, I will know when you’re getting excited, I will feel it. Online, give a thumbs up or type Amen, or whatever you want to do. Just like prayer is a two conversation between you and God, preaching is two way. I give you some good stuff and you let me know you like it!

This isn’t the question, but who is getting tired of half news and only some of the facts? Like, it is getting frustrating that you have to fact check everything. Now anything on social media should always be fact checked. There seems to be trend where an article will be posted simply for the headline, even though the actual article has nothing to do with the issue the person thinks they’re posting about. Always fact check everything you see on social media. Please!

But now it is even the news! If you want the full picture of a story, you gotta do the work that the reporter was supposed to do and get ALL the facts, not just the facts that spin a good story or sells the news. Whose got time to do all that? Honestly.

Because what inevitably happens when you don’t do the hard work of checking the facts? You start talking to one of two people. The first person you run into is the person who heard the complete opposite side of the story you heard and then you feel foolish for not getting the whole story. OR you run into the person who has done the research and check the facts and they make you feel silly for taking the position you based on very little actual facts.

Question 1: What was one time you took a stance on an issue without all the facts? What happened?

Just recently I was talking to someone about how hard it is to get things across the border because its closed and if it is non-essential it is almost impossible to get it here. Apparently I was VERY wrong because this individual was significantly more read up on the procedures and proceeded to correct my very wrong assumption. Where did my assumption come from? I talked to a few people who had trouble, and drew the conclusion that was tough to move things. I have been corrected, quite thoroughly I might add. But it was good. I actually learned a lot and really appreciated it.

Now I recognize that my story was something of non-significance. I get it, and I acknowledge that there will people that have taken a stance that they felt really mattered and found out they were missing some key facts. It can be embarrassing, it can be frustrating, and cause us to completely abandon the stance we may have taken. It could also challenge us to do our homework and get read up so that the stance we take will only be stronger.

This is where I want to pick up from last week. We started talking about the message of the church and strength of the message. This message is so powerful and rich that it is one of the biggest reasons to the ‘why’ of church. So we unpacked the first half and talked about how man is sinful by nature and Jesus came to take away the sins of the world. God became man, was tortured, humiliated, and crucified. Jesus died to pay the price of sin so that we wouldn’t have to face the wrath and consequences that our sin required. And that is good news. That is good news that our sin, our mistakes, our addictions, our habits are all paid for and taken away.

But that is only half the message. It is the half that we tend to get caught up on. We talk about how Jesus died to take our sins and stop. The result has been a whole generation of Christians who believe that as long as I pray a prayer, check the box, get the gold star, I’m good! I can live however I want because Jesus has taken away all my sin, and when I mess up or when I start to feel guilty I’ll just ask for forgiveness and I’m good.

This is so dangerous, and it misses an equally big and important part of the message. The story didn’t end with Jesus dying. Jesus came back to life! Jesus conquered death, came back to life, and kick started the church. Jesus death wasn’t the end, it was the beginning of God’s awesome and exciting plan to save the world. Jesus death saved you from the consequences of your sin; Jesus’ resurrection saved you for something more. What is that something more?

Let’s rewind to Genesis. Before the first man and woman violated God’s one and only law that he gave them, what did they want for? What did they need? What did they lack? What was wrong with their life?

NOTHING!

They had everything they could ever want, yet by our standards, they had nothing. They didn’t have a home, they didn’t make any money, they worked for free. They didn’t even have any clothes! What did they have? They had their deep and intimate relationship with God.

What is sin? What happened when they ate of the tree that they weren’t supposed to? This is the definition of sin I gave last week:

“Sin - a wrong relationship with God which may express itself in wrong attitudes or actions towards God himself, other humans, possessions, or the environment.”

a wrong relationship with God. Jesus died to take away everything that caused the separation, and he came back to life to give us the renewed relationship we were meant to have, we were made to have when God created us in the first place.

Look what David said in Psalm 139 about how much God loves us and how intimately he knows us

Psalm 139:1–18 CSB

Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I stand up; you understand my thoughts from far away. You observe my travels and my rest; you are aware of all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you know all about it, Lord. You have encircled me; you have placed your hand on me. This wondrous knowledge is beyond me. It is lofty; I am unable to reach it. Where can I go to escape your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I live at the eastern horizon or settle at the western limits, even there your hand will lead me; your right hand will hold on to me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light around me will be night”— even the darkness is not dark to you. The night shines like the day; darkness and light are alike to you. For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well. My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret, when I was formed in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began. God, how precious your thoughts are to me; how vast their sum is! If I counted them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; when I wake up, I am still with you.

Michelle quoted Matthew 6

Matthew 6:25 CSB

“Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Matthew 10:28 CSB

Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

This is what Paul says about this renewed relationship with Christ

Romans 8:12–17 CSB

So then, brothers and sisters, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh, because if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

A little later in the chapter

Romans 8:38–39 CSB

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

we were meant to get lost in this all consuming, overwhelmingly good relationship with God, that all the concerns of the world would just fade away.

Question 2: What is the best part about a new relationship?

Now I am going to hold off on sharing my answer because I want you to discuss what the best part is.

For me, the best part about a new relationship is telling people about it. Like when Michelle and I got married. We couldn’t wait to tell everyone and share our pictures. We couldn’t wait to celebrate with our friends and family the commitment we made to each other. I was especially excited because let’s be honest, I married up. I married way above my class and I know it.

This is the heart of what we call evangelism. This is the heart of the message. We enter into this overwhelming great and loving relationship with this God of the universe and it is so good that we can’t help to not only talk about it, but to invite everyone to have the relationship.

The closer we draw to God, the more we begin to realize that sin isn’t just about our actions and our thoughts. It’s about our reputation, its about our status on social media. It might be about our job. If you’re in a dating relationship, it might be about the individual you find yourself with. Its not that these things are bad, but there’s a good chance that God has something better in store for us.

We begin to see that God has plan for our lives, and it is a good plan. It is the thing that dreams are made of. We begin to see that God wants to accomplish amazing things in and through our lives. The kind of things that would be impossible without the God that makes all things possible.

This is where Paul says in Philippians:

Philippians 1:21–26 CSB

For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Now if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful work for me; and I don’t know which one I should choose. I am torn between the two. I long to depart and be with Christ—which is far better— but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. Since I am persuaded of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that, because of my coming to you again, your boasting in Christ Jesus may abound.

There is work to be done. Life changing, global impact kind of work. I believe that God is calling OneChurch to be the kind of church that helps us realize what those big audacious plans are. God wants his church to dream bigger dreams; to be the church that lives larger than life. To imagine the impossible because we serve a God that doesn’t know the meaning of the word. We all have a calling on our lives, and it is an adventure worth pursuing and living. It is worth committing our whole lives to discovering and realizing. You want to discover the amazing God has planned for you? It starts by throwing off the sin that so easily entangles and holds us back, stepping into the deep and meaningful relationship with God, and allowing him to speak and lead us into the very things we were meant to live for.

Question 3: What are the dreams and big things God has planned for your life?

Let’s pray!