Untitled Sermon (11)

Christ Fellowship

January 16, 2022

2 timothy 2:1-4

Going for more

Open: I want to unpack over the next few weeks a concept that very few Christ followers understand. I want to help set you up this year for success in your life where God’s grace is overwhelming you. If you are going to achieve mastery in the area that god has assigned for you you and I will need much grace and then that grace moves us to help someone else move into grace. That is one key way we get more grace is by helping someone else move into grace. Here is the challenge; we are radically tempted to only look out for our own interests and not the interests of others….

2 timothy 2:1-4 - 2 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men,[a] who will be able to teach others also. 3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

· Notice We are to stay strengthened by his grace alone. My concentration in life; priority this year is to be in the place or space for grace.

Strengthened here is a command. Meaning its not optional for the Christian. We are to be strengthened by Gods Grace for a particular task or purpose. Could you share a time where you have been strengthened by Gods grace for a particular task in life?

What are some areas or people in your life where you could use Gods grace the strength that comes from Gods Grace? Can we take a moment and pray right now for those willing to share.

· Then we take what we heard and we invest it into someone else. When we do this, it makes us more courageous because we are constantly reinforcing to someone else what matters and what is inconsequential. What is temporal and what is eternal. When I help someone else move forward God moves me forward.

So how do we move forward in grace and help someone else as well?

1. We must surround ourselves with sacrificial people. – “Many witnesses”: – I learn in the context of seeing others learn and apply the word of god. I’m not silowed away because when I am I miss out on seeing and experiencing the grace of god in my life and others.

· A witness is someone that can testify also of what god is actively doing through their life versus someone that can tell you what god use to do, or someone that is religious that can tell you what they know without any real sacrificial faith. So in order for me to help someone else I need to surround myself with a certain kind of person.

Acts 1:8 – But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

the people we need to surround ourselves with our people with power, because they live to please only christ and are controlled by christ and christ has called them into the type of lifestyle where they need power to accomplish what God has called them into.

· The word witness means martyr – one who bears witness by his death.

There is a high stake in the testimony of a believer. Our words and choices produce headwinds where we have to persevere without applause, where there is pushback from others that builds in us a consistency. Where we live life with purpose that rubs others the wrong way.

2 Corinthians 4:16 - So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

It shows us that there is a cost to the witness and testimony of Christ to others. This is the choice for people that have been claimed by Christ and nothing else can claim us. so we don’t get discouraged because every loss here is an inner strength and increased power and stronger realization of Christ in us and what matters; where you have convictions that mean something and you have a life that produces in you and others staying power. When someone is being renewed each day, what they say has weight and worth. What they do is watched because even people that disagree know that there is something behind and inside that person that can be so easily bought. They have substance to their life. There is a depth to their life.

App: you start by getting around other people that are imperfect but are claimed by christ and you’re a witness or testimony to each other of what Christ is calling you to do. We are witnesses personally where we testify of the presence and power of christ in our life and decisions. It is also the testimony of the group of witnesses where we all testify together. They are a crowd of witnesses that we are called to be around.

Here at Christ Fellowship we talk whos your 5 most wanted to share the gospel with. Please take a moment and put there first name on post it note would you mind passing to another member of the commuity group who would commit to pray for your top 5 throughout the week!

This is the power and grace that is available to every person that chooses to be around sacrificial people; they have substance and weight to the people they watch and admire and emulate and they become those kind of people as well; it is in this context that we pass on to others this level of commitment.

App: I cant be on my own as a follower of christ. I cant jump from church to church. i need to be around a group of witnesses who are under the grace of god in order to be a disciple of christ that is transformed in order to help someone else. We are an imperfect group of people and therefore we are under grace. “people might say, well those people at cf are a bunch of sinners; there not that perfect. You figured that out all on your own? Aren’t you clever! Of course we are; that is why we are under his grace and have nothing to brag on other then christ grace through our imperfections.” We celebrate his grace as he does his work through us in every day areas of serving others. This grace given to the body of witneses ; his church is powerful and reminds us, it keeps us accountable to the purpose for which we have been created. There are no small tasks or decisions or serve team opportunities. That is why from time to time we have parties to celebrate people that are on serve teams because you are giving your life to the purpose of god and people will live for better or worse based on what you do. there is nothing small about pulling weeds or cleaning up in the café or rocking a baby. Btw, we are having another baby boom! Congrats to everyone!

2. We must Entrust what we have learned into people that are moving forward in some area already.

We have been called to make deposits into people that simply do what they have been asked to do. they are trustworthy. They don’t have to be anything else, but faithful.

You ask God to tell you who is around you that is faithful. Then you meet with them and share with them what they need to know to take the next step in their faithfulness to God.

Ex: we are stewarding the people he has already placed around us. God wants something done in human history and when he does these things he does it through you and the people he has placed close to you. our church together where you invest in someone else is the

solution to the problems in the community and neighborhood. This is called spiritual parenting.

There are three needs of every child that are true for every person that needs to grow spirtually:

· They need to learn to feed themselves – we feed a baby and then eventually they feed themselves and then eventually they learn how to feed others. Spiritually we help others to learn to study the bible for themselves because gods word is what feeds us.

· They need to learn to speak – when we adopted Titus, he couldn’t speak or even grunt. Now you can’t stop him from speaking. then we teach others to speak and share about what christ is doing in their life to others.

· They need to learn to walk – you help them take a step by supporting them when they take their first step. They are practicing walking with much help. Then eventually they gather strength from repetition and they take a step on their own. Then they take steps when you are not even with them. this is how we help someone else grow spiritually in walking or obedience. We support them as they take their first steps, then at some point they take steps on their own.

· Q: how would this work? start off telling someone what jesus is doing in your life and ask them if they would like to make the next move in their spiritual journey.

o Invite them into joining you at a dinner Community group this week.

o Invite them to simply Read the bible together for 15 min before work and then ask questions and then pray for each other. help them feed themselves by reading the bible together and asking what is god invigin us to do because of it. We invite them to serve with us.

o Invite them to serve with you on your serve team

o invite them this Sunday to sit next to you at church.

o Let me encourage you to Stop editing god. don’t tell him how to use you, you will assign yourself to mediocrity. Get around sacrificial people and then sacrifice to help somone else move forward.

o Invite them into Scripture memory: 1 peter 1:24-25 - 24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

o