Respond

We (The Leadership team and I) have been working for the past year on articulating the vision of our church.

Our vision at SCF is to “Encounter God’s Transforming Love.”

How do we do that? (Four R’s)

Respond

Restore

Release

Relate

That desribes who we are and what we are about.

As we work to carry out that vision, you are going to hear the four R’s over and over again.

‘How do we do children’s ministry?’ becomes ‘How do we Respond, Restore, Release and Relate as in the context of ministry to children?’

If someone says, “should we start a homeless ministry?”

Does it fit with the four R’s?

Perhaps it could be part of Respond or Restore especially, if the church is in an area that is right in the middle of a homeless crisis?

Or, perhaps Release means that we release you to do homeless ministry and Relate to you as you do it!

Over the next 4-5 weeks we are going to talk about the four R’s in more detail, but we will begin with the first R- Respond.

Repond is represented by the crosses on the logo.

The cross is where God showed His great love for us.

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

The question for us is, “How will you respond?”

A divine encounter is when you recognize who Jesus is.

We respond to God by obedience and expect that God helps us when we do.

This is the purpose of our worship and the substance of our daily walk with God.

A Divine Encounter

A divine encounter is when you see the truth.

Notice, there are three crosses on the logo. There was a criminal on either side of Jesus.

Each one responded differently to Jesus.

These two responses represent the choice that each of us have to make.

Luke 23:39–43 ESV

39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

One responded by joining in the cursing and the taunting. Yes, he wanted Jesus to save him, but he didn’t recognize who Jesus was, nor did he think that Jesus could.

The other responded by recongizing that he was a sinner who deserved death, but Jesus was innocent and did not deserve to die.

What is more, this man said something that he could have only known if God were revealing it to him.

A divine encounter is initiated by God.

When Karie and I were just beginning our long distance relationship, our first argument was over who started it? To be fair, I made the first contact, but who indicated interest first? That was the topic for debate. I was surprised that she was even willing to talk to me. She insisted that I showed the first interest when I contacted her and she was merely reponding to my initiative.

There is something romantic about the guy pursuing and the girl responding. Karie wanted to be sure that the record would reflect that I pursued her first.

Our relationship with God is the same way: God initiates and we respond.

You may think that you are seeking God, but the truth is that God was interested in you before you ever thought about Him.

The Bible tells us that knowing and recognizing God is by the Spirit of God.

In other words, the Holy Spirit was already working in you before you responded to God to help you respond.

Back to our passage: So what did the second criminal say that was so unusual?

He wanted Jesus to remember him (think favorably of him) when He became king.

There was a sign over Jesus head proclaiming Him to be King of the Jews.

But the sign was supposed to be a joke and the mocking was supposed to expose Jesus as a fake and a liar.

When you are nailed to a cross, about to die it’s a fair assumption that you are not going to be king.

But this other thief believed that Jesus somehow might grant him favor. It makes no earthly sense, but makes perfect sense in light of the truth of who Jesus is.

So then how did he know? He just knew?

Matthew 16:15–17 ESV

15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

This man encountered Jesus and the Spirit was working in him to reveal who Jesus really is.

A divine encounter changes everything.

So why am I talking about a divine encounter?

Isn’t it enough that I go to church, read my Bible and pray?

Sometimes people follow God with their head, but it never really gets to their heart.

Am I supposed to feel something or have some amazing experience?

Well it is amazing, and some people relate it to a feeling, but not neccesarily.

The best way to know that you have had an encouter with God is the change that it produces.

It changes your perspective - you are no longer just living for yourself, but you have a much bigger picture.

It changes your ability - it’s not about trying harder. God can do more in you and through you than you could ever do on your own.

It changes your attitude - from trying to defend yourself to living to please God.

It changes your destiny - you now have a purpose and God has a plan for your life and your future.

It changes your life - literally, you become alive spiritually and that changes everything else about the way you live your life.

A Voluntary Response

An encounter with God is a kind of paradox.

A paradox is something that at face value, seems to be self-contradictory, but upon closer examination is found to be true.

Are we encountering God or is He initiating that encounter?

Well He initiates, but it is up to us to respond.

And even in that response God is helping us to respond.

Do we have any part of this? Of course!

God expects us to do our part, to use our own will.

So what is the appropriate response?

The appropriate response to a divine encounter is obedience.

Remember the Hebrew word for obey simply means to listen?

It is implied that when you hear what you are supposed to do, you will of course, do it.

When you know who Jesus is and what He has done for you, you will want to know what you can do in return.

The short answer is that you can live the rest of your life saying, “thank you!”

What does that mean? And how does God want me to live?

The best place to find answers is the Bible.

The Bible is God’s Word - meaning it is one of the primary ways that God speaks to us.

God also speaks through His Holy Spirit, but He won’t say anything differently than what He has already said.

Listening to both the Word and the Spirit is the way to stay balanced in your walk with God.

So basically read your Bible, but also listen for what the Spirit is saying you should do.

Is that it? Are there other ways to respond?

Baptism and communion are symbols which seal our commitment.

By calling them “symbols” we are simply saying that they are not magic, but they are very powerful.

People can be healed, delivered and supernaturally transformed by these acts.

However, it is the work of the Spirit and not the act itself that has the power.

Symbols are in fact, “acting out” something that is happening in the spiritual realm.

By participatinng in the symbolic act we are making a visible declaration of a spiritual reality.

In the Bible, when people come to recognize who Jesus is, the next thing that happens is they are baptized.

Baptizm is a symbol of the transformation that happens when we identify with the death and ressurection of Christ.

There are actually seven different ways that you can interpret what is being acted out (see “Believer’s Baptism” for the full list), but this is the most common one.

Romans 6:3–4 ESV

3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

So to confirm that Jesus had died for my sin and risen to give me new life, I will follow Jesus into the waterey grave and emerge again as a new person in Christ.

It’s a metaphor, but it has powerful significance!

You are saying that the person you once were has died and you are a transformed person!

Sure, you may still have stuggles, but you can point to that occasion and declare what is already true spiritually - you are not the person you once were!

This act of obedience is your public response to what God has already done for you.

God does the transformation and you get to participate by your action.

Baptism usually only happens once, but wouldn’t it be nice to have a regular reminder, a way of reaffirming your participation in what Christ has done for you?

Yes, that is why we celebrate communion.

Let’s take communion now, while we are talking about it.

Communion is a covenant meal.

It celebrates, reaffirms and strengthens the bond that we have with Christ.

Normaly, in Bible times, just sharing a meal together is a way of strengthening the bonds of friendship.

But in this meal we are not just eating with Jesus, we are symbolicly eating Jesus.

I know, that’s gross! But that is why we call it a symbol, not cannibalism.

What we are acting out is taking the very Life and Presence of Jesus internally.

His life becomes our life. His flesh becomes our sustenance. We live because He died.

1 Corinthians 10:16 ESV

16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

When we lay hands on people and pray for them, you can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Why should this bread only be a rememberance? It is the real presence of Jesus Christ. Take it in!

Yes, this cup remind us of Christ’s death, but it is also a symbol of His life. Drink the cup with this prayer, “Jesus fill me with your life!”

So by taking communion, we are not just responding in obedience to God, but we are renewing that response regularly.

Some churches have communion every Sunday, others have it once or twice a year.

We fall somewhere in the middle, about evey five weeks currently.

Worship is not just something we do on Sundays.

So if communion is how we renew our commitment to Christ and we only do that once a month, why go to church every Sunday?

Before the reformation, before people had the BIble in their own language, communion was the centerpiece of worship.

After the reformation, the preaching of the Word became the central aspect of worship.

Today, in Modern Charismatic churches, many people associate worship with the time that we spend in singing.

The fact is, it’s all worship!

Romans 12:1 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

When you are living for Jesus, everything that you do is worship.

Whether you are on your job, raising your family or out in the community - it’s all worship!

We do everything to the glory of God!

So why is that worship? Because it is what we do out of love for God.

Worship is all about expressing love and devotion.

That’s why we sing the songs.

That’s why we listen to sermons.

That’s why we take communion.

And we don’t just do it on Sunday, but Sunday is preparing us for the rest of the week.

We have Christian radio, TV, books and podcasts.

We have a continuous flow of information to help us focus on God.

But sometimes too much information keeps us from meditation.

Meditation is taking what we have heard and mulling over it again and again in our minds.

That’s why songs are especially good because they stick in our heads.

It’s why I give you questions for reflection and put them on your insert.

During the week, take what you have heard here in church and work on getting it from your head to your heart.

Our voluntary response to God’s love is to love Him back.

We already said the God is the one who initiates and He is the one who helps us to respond appropriately.

He could save us all by Himself, but God wants people that love Him and love can only be voluntary.

Your part is to to participate with God.

A Life of Purpose

When you respond to God, your life is not only changed, but it takes on new purpose and meaning.

You may spend the better part of your life trying to discover what that is, but I think you will find that the more you respond to God, the more you will know.

Responding is something you do continually.

Sometimes when I have been witnessing to people, I find that they already made a commitment to Christ, but they are not walking in it.

I have talked to people who have had powerful encounters with God, some even witness miracles, but you would never know to see them today.

I think one reason that happens is because we place so much importance on getting people saved and forget that they have a lot to learn after that.

Or it could be the other extreme, after a person comes to Christ there is so much pressure put on them to become mature that they give up trying because it requires so much effort

If that is you, then I have a solution.

I want you to go back to the moment that you first encountered God and remember, what was your response?

Remember that response and keep responding.

Revelation 2:4–5 ESV

4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

I have had to do this in my marriage; remember what drew us together and renew that commitment.

Sometimes we get into a rut because we stop dating our spouse and take them for granted.

Are you taking God for granted?

Has your love for Jesus grown cold?

Return to your first love! God has never stopped loving you.

Responding to God becomes the goal of your life.

2 Corinthians 5:15 ESV

15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

Galatians 2:20 ESV

20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Maybe you thought that you would add a little Jesus to you life?

Maybe you were promised that if you gave your life to God, He would make it better?

Maybe you thought you would give religion a try?

If you haven’t figured it out by now, you will. - It’s all or nothing!

Our attempts to partially respond to God never yeild the results we are looking for.

If Jesus is Lord, He must be at the center of our lives.

Life doesn’t revolve around me, it’s all about Him!

That may seem like a heavy thing that I’m saying, but I can tell you it’s actually freeing!

I’m alway looking for ways to give God more of my life because in whatever area of my life I give to God, I have joy and peace.

Every time we gather for worship, our worship is not complete until we have responded to what we have heard.

Wheter it is the quesstions for reflection, or a verse from a song, a scripture or a direct word from the Lord, take something with you when you go from here.

The closing song is not just so we can sing again, it is meditation space, it is an opportunity to respond to what we have just heard.

The atar at this church is always open, either during worhip or at the close of the service. Ife you feel that you want to respond physically or publicly by presetning yourself at this altar, feel free to do so.

Every time you see something new about God you respond.

Revelation 4:8–11 ESV

8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” 9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

This is a picture of the throne room of heaven.

Note that this is a scene that doesn’t just play out once; it is happening over and over.

I don’t know how long this has been going on, but it isn’t going to stop.

God is called the One Who was, Who is and Who is to come!

That is not just about Jesus coming again to earth.

That is a decription of God Himself, constantly revealing Himself.

Everytime the elders see something new, they fall down and worship, laying down their crowns.

I think this is the best description I can give of what it means to respond to God.

Every time you think you know God, suddenly you see another facet of His beauty, majesty or some truth that opens up your eyes to so many other gems of God’s glory and His plan.

Everytime you get that perspective it makes you love Him more.

It humbles you and exalts you all at the same time.

So humbling that you lay your crown down at His feet.

So exalting that you even have a crown in the first place.

Its that paradox of God initiating and us responding only to find out that even our ability to respond comes from Him.

Don’t try to figure it out, just go with it.

Deuteronomy 6:5 ESV

5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Measurements for meditation:

How do you respond? ‘Yes’, ‘No’ or ‘I’m growing in this area’?

I have committed my life to Christ having received Him as Savior and Lord.

I have sealed my covenant through baptism as a believer and renew it regularly through communion.

I accept the Bible as my authority and seek to both hear and obey God’s direction for my life.

I participate in worship, not just publicly, but also privately and from my heart.