Looking Forward

Last preached 6/9/19 so I want to add a few insights to that message and will lean on chapter 5 of Chuck Swindoll’s book Living Above the Level of Mediocrity.

In Swindoll’s chapter on Vision, he identifies 3 qualities in life that separate excellence from mediocrity. After the year we have had, I believe a year of excellence may average out to the Lord’s glory and our good.

This morning’s sermon is going to look at 3 larger sections of text, so please note the references and read them later to verify that what I say comes from the Scriptures. Be prepared that I will provide an unusually high number of references that you will want to note down in your listening guide.

Transition: The first quality contributing to a year of excellence is…

Living by Faith (Matthew 6:31-34)

Faith > Fear

1. The final paragraph of chapter 6 of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount clearly instructs us to replace worry and anxiety with faith and trust.

2. The remedy for anxiety is a new purpose, the pursuit of what is righteous.

The World around us leverages fear

1. We live in a negative, hostile world.

As I reflect upon the nasty political races we just finished, we’ve just seen some of the most rank negativity that I can recall in the last half century.

In our Senate race both candidates accused the other of being untrustworthy and not sharing our core values

In the presidential race one candidate played on fear and campaigned on the theme that “you can’t trust him with your health”. The other party retorted, “you can’t trust them with your wealth”. So in many minds the race came down to which fear is greater? Losing health or losing wealth. Because they implied that Americans are going to relinquish at least one of these.

· What happened to the campaigns built around positive themes like Hope and Greatness?

2. We are drowning in mediocrity and cynicism.

· The American dream of opportunity to generate one’s own wealth has largely been replaced by schemes to acquire the wealth of others.

As “stay at home” advice flows from many leaders, many have found the mindless noise of television to provide the background soundtrack of our lives.

Commercials have left me with a rolodex (kids you can ask your grandparents what a rolodex is) full of phone numbers for attorneys and I feel like my mind is a full pharmacy of medication recommendations for whatever may ail you.

One of the commercials for a late-night talk show involves the host saying “that’s what makes America: the right to protest”.

Ironically, this celebrity wasn’t even born here. He migrated TO America from South Africa and now claims that core to being American is that we whine and complain.

· In an environment where many are satisfied to simply demonstrate or occupy, whatever happened to becoming better or pursuing greatness?

3. Most choose not to live differently.

· Complacency and complaining is no substitute for the courage to face our fears and charge ahead with a purpose.

I was saddened on Christmas morning to learn of what happened in Nashville. However, out of that tragedy came the identities of some heroes—local police officers who rushed in to clear out buildings and mitigate the threat: saving dozens of lives.

It would have been quite different if Nashville had been defunded and forced to reduce the number of officers on patrol Friday morning.

Application

1. I don’t believe politics is the way out of the mediocrity I’ve just described. Both major parties have haggled in fear. The battles between hope and fear have transpired in city halls, county courthouses and capital buildings throughout our country.

2. The remedy is not in patriotism, progressivism, or conservatism.

Transition: The path toward excellence in 2021 will be led by individuals who pursue…

Living by Courage (Numbers 13-14)

Historical Similarities

1. The people were liberated and resourced. When God empowered the Israelite Exodus He permitted them to plunder the Egyptians in order to have the resources to build the Tabernacle and craft their weapons of conquest.

a. We have been liberated

Galatians 5:1 ESV:2016

1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

b. We have been told how to use our liberty

Galatians 5:13 ESV:2016

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

c. We have been resourced

2 Peter 1:3 ESV:2016

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

2. The people stood before new opportunity. To the church in Philadelphia in Revelation the angel said:

Revelation 3:8 ESV:2016

8 “ ‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

3. The people had been guaranteed victory.

Romans 8:37 ESV:2016

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

4. As the Hebrews stood on the border of the Promised Land liberated, resourced, and anticipating victory, we stand on the edge of 2021 in Chase County with opportunities before us to live with faith and courage.

A Clear Mission (Num 13:17-20)

1. Moses clearly told the 12 to do reconnaissance and logistics in order to form a strategy. NOTHING more.

2. The victory was guaranteed so their job was to figure out HOW, not IF to proceed.

3. Mission accomplished (vv.21-27)

One of the most remembered moments of George W. Bush’s presidency happened on board the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003.

Many more dangerous missions would take place as Operation Iraqi Freedom encountered insurgents, but for these sailors completing their 10-month tour, their mission was accomplished, Saddam Hussein had been overthrown & the Ba’ath party no longer occupied the capital.

4. The strategy to conquer Canaan was not assigned to the 12 spies--that circus belonged to someone else and he would have to deal with those monkeys!

Going Along with the Crowd (vv.28-29)

1. Report & Reaction

2. Nevertheless (NASB)/However (ESV & CSB)/But (NIV) there are giants in the land.

3. The period at the end of v.27 would have been a good place for the 10 to stop their report but as their words kept flowing the pit they were digging got deeper.ext

4. 2021 holds opportunity for those who have been liberated, resourced and commissioned IF we don’t meander into the mediocrity of vv.28-29.

a. For some of us, mediocrity begins with however Covid;

b. Some of us may be facing but cancer; and

c. Others are complaining Nevertheless shutdowns.

5. The negativity of vv.28-29 spreads through the people like a pandemic in the first 4 verses of chapter 14.

Going Against the Flow (vv.5-9)

1. If you’ve spent more than a few weeks in Sunday School or preaching services, you likely know the names of the two who had courage to go against the ten.

I have 3 sisters and 1 of them who has 2 sons. Would you like to venture a guess as to their names?

2. Let me read the words of these two and as you listen, see if God puts thoughts into your mind of what 2021 may look like in your family.

Numbers 14:5–9 ESV:2016

5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. 6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.”

3. This is the sound of those who chose to their sails courageously in the midst of a sea of mediocrity.

4. Commenting on these verses, Swindoll writes, “With vision there is no room to be frightened. No reason for intimidation. It’s time to march forward! Let’s be confident and positive!”[i]

5. However/Nevertheless/But the Hebrews chose to take what they thought was the easy way and they ended up going in circles in a desert for 40 years.

6. Your 2021 is too valuable to be wasted in hand-wringing or flailing in the waters of mediocrity or spiraling in a desert of meaninglessness.

Transition: You and I need to make a determination to victoriously…

Living by Vision

Most of us have heard the story of the frog in the pot of water where the temperature slowly increased until he was boiled.

But have you heard about the frog who got dropped in a bucket of cream?

Determined not to drown, he kicked and kicked until that cream churned into butter. Then from the firm surface of the creamy delight he jumped right out of the pail.

· The difference between the 2 frogs is that one succumbed to the circumstance while the other had vision of a better outcome.

· “Vision is the ability to see God’s presence, to perceive God’s power, to focus on God’s plan in spite of the obstacles.”[ii]

· In our concluding moments, I’m going to get real practical. The key to your excellence in 2021 is as simple as A-B-C-D-E.

Attitude

1. When you have vision, it affects your attitude. Your attitude stays positive rather than negative. This isn’t a foolish positivity that denies reality, but one that refuses to panic.

2. With a positive attitude you say, “Lord, this is Your moment. This is where You take charge. You’re in this” and You’ve got this.

3. This is the message of Joshua and Caleb after hearing the other ten.

Belief

1. This is nothing more than having a strong belief in the power of God; having confidence in the community God has placed around you; and, yes, having confidence in God’s grace working its way out of you.

2. This is a message is like a fire in the fireplace, it needs a constant supply of fuel or it will go out.

3. Flex your belief muscles by committing to a reading plan in the Bible, engaging with a community in a Bible Study or Sunday School, and by choosing to put yourself in situations where God’s power is the only thing that will get you through (like the serving opportunities in today’s bulletin).

Capacity

1. This is the ability to allow yourself to be stretched beyond your comfort zone.

2. Much like the car at the circus when the clowns start to get out and they keep coming, and coming, and you’r left wandering how that much human came out of that little car.

I am too cheap to buy name brand plastic bags, so I’m waiting for Equate, Best Choice or Always Save to match this product. I have been impressed by a product that started as garbage bags and now is available as a freezer bag.

The claim is that these bags can expand their capacity to 30% beyond original dimensions.

3. Just like most of us have more brain capacity than we ever use, we also have MUCH more faith capacity when we need it.

This matter of Capacity reminds me of a 100-year old hymn:

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater, He sendeth more strength when the labors increase, To added affliction He addeth His mercy, To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance, When our strength has failed ere the day is half-done, When we reach the end of our hoarded resources, Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

His love has no limit, His grace has no measure, His power no boundary known unto men, For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth and giveth and giveth again

Determination

1. Determination is hanging tough when the going gets rough.

2. It is the courage to realize that we seldom learn when things go well, but that in struggle we are transformed into something finer, stronger, and more precious.

Enthusiasm

1. This is different than excitement or exuberance; the origin of this word is en theos, “God in”

2. It is the ability to see God in a situation.

3. This is like when Nebuchadnezzar threw 3 Hebrews into the furnace.

Daniel 3:25 ESV:2016

25 He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

Conclusion:

What will change your 2021 from mediocre to excellent is your ability to see God in every event in every square on every page of the calendar.

[i] Charles R.Swindoll, Living Above the Level of Mediocrity (Waco, TX: Word,1987), 87.

[ii] Ibid., 88.