abide #3
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Northside Church
Abide #3
2/13/22
Jamey Mills
Northside… what’s happening!! My name is Jamey I am one of the pastors here at the Church… always feels good to be with you all.
We are in our 3rd week of a new series we are calling Abide…
This idea of abiding… remaining… staying… being planted in… drawing life from Jesus… foundational to what the Bible teaches…
Week 1: We talked about how part of what it means to abide is coming to this place where we learn to hear and respond to the voice of God in our lives… and we talked about how the best way to do that is to spend time in the Word regularly… daily… His Word and truth begin to resonate in us… and it informs the way we respond to it.
Last week we talked about how part of abiding is closeness with Jesus… about how having Him be that #1 thing in our lives that changes the way we see and do every other thing… God desires authentic relationship and closeness with you… James 4 says… Submit to Him, resist evil, cleanse your heart and purify your hands, don't ignore sin in your life, deal with areas of divided loyalty… and be humble...
ILL… One of the stupid things I used to do to impress girls… about as fast as my 72 F100 (PICTURE) would go… so like 70… out of the old highways around Redmond… and then without warning… turn off the headlights. Only for a few seconds…
They didn’t seem to think it was as romantic as I did… many a date went down in flames that way…
The truth is, I’ve never been a fan of the dark… not afraid… I want to be really clear about that… I actually think it's fairly common…
It’s easy to lose your way…
You can’t see what's really there… or not there.
Things that might trip you up… hurt you
Things that might be waiting for you
Even missing the things that might be great for you because you don’t see them…
Chaos tends to reign in the dark…
The dark… conceals things… we can hide in the dark… there is this false sense of security and freedom in being unseen and unknown…
How many people do we read about… who don’t think anyone knows about what's going on… and then they do…
The Bible is absolutely full of illustrations about light and darkness; where light illustrates God’s power and truth and presence.
What does darkness usually represent in scripture?
Darkness really represents those places where His truth and presence are absent… or ignored. There is a reason that darkness is often used to describe the lost, malicious, and devastating impact of sin and evil on us and in the world around us…
Eph 5:11-13
1 Peter 2:9
1 Jn 1:5-7
Jn 8:12
Jn 3:19-21
Light on the other hand represents God’s truth… His presence… righteousness… and almost this transparency or openess and even humility before the Lord.
This is how Jesus said it…
In
“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.
… Jesus was teaching and said this… YOU… as a Christian… as a believer in Jesus… are the light of the world. Like a city on a hill, the light within you cannot be hidden. No one… lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket… instead they put it on a stand where it gives light to everyone. In that same way, let your life… your faith… the good that you do shine out for all to see so that everyone will see the reality of who Jesus is and praise God.
Seattle (picture) … as you round the corner… When does the light of the city shine the brightest… in the dark. Right… LIGHT is a powerful things.
Over the last couple of years we have talked about the importance of the Church…
Knowing how God feels about the Church would likely challenge the way most of us view it…
He calls His Church…
His chosen people
His temple… dwelling
His Bride…
His family…
And even His body…
So here is a question… Why do you think the Church matters so much?
What do you think God is getting at when he illustrates His people, His Church, You and I as… His body?
OR… what would happen if His people through apathy, divided loyalty or sin… allowed the light that is Christ in us… to become dim?
As I read about it this week, I was struck by the number of authors who wonder if the Church has somehow misplaced or even lost its calling… seemingly becoming detached from such a big part of not just what it means to follow Him… but on what Jesus says… is the product of His presence in our lives.
Our series is largely based on Jn 15… Jesus is talking about what it means to ABIDE… in a sense… what an authentic relationship with Him looks like… and in that, we realize that an authentic relationship with Jesus… changes things.
NT Wright says it like this…. “It generates a lifestyle quite different from the way the world lives and thinks.’
Jesus uses the illustration of a branch (you and I) whose life, health, and even fruitfulness is dependent on its connection to the vine (Jesus)…
Literally… its only shot at life… at health… and at producing anything of value (which is what it was created to do) comes from drawing that life, health and what it needs for that sort of fruit from the vine itself…
It was… you are… created to be fruitful.
Jn 15 uses this progression… bearing fruit, bearing much fruit, bearing lasting fruit.
We are all producing something… and I think two more great questions are these… What is your life drawing from… (what are you listening too, what is influencing you)
And… What is your life producing?
There is a fruit that God develops within us as we draw closer and closer to Him and give Him leadership in our life. These truly wonderful, powerful, life giving and beautiful things…
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
(NLT)
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Who would want those… Who would want those in their kids? Who would want those in their spouse? No sane person would argue…
And there is no end… you never “arrive”... there is no exhausting what it is that God has for you there… you’re never “done” growing and becoming more and more like Christ.
Like christ… and there is not doubt that Christ lived His live on mission… on purpose… and there are several statements that helps see that… to seek and save the lost… for the sick or those who are far from Him..
And more and more I want to know what it means to live my life on mission…
We, as Christians are called to be fruitful in our everyday lives; to live out the presence and priorities of Jesus in our everyday coming and going.
But for many of us… if we are honest we find ourselves a little detached from that… and I have spent a good part of the week wondering why that is.
And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
(NLT)
18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us (entrusted us) this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
That’s always been one of my favorite passages… WE are.. His representatives… reconciling people back to God… it says that God Himself is making that appeal through you… to come back to Him.
And in that process… we cannot afford to be silent. We can’t afford dim. We can’t afford to let the body of Christ atrophy… we cannot sit this one out.
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
(NLT)
18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
This passage is called the Great Commission… both its title and the fact that it was one of the very last things Jesus said to His disciples, causes me to sort of sit up and listen in that much closer.
This commissioning of His disciples… where we not only see a huge part of God’s heart for humanity… but also the role God has for you and I to play within it.
NT Wright says this… that every person that steps into a relationship with Jesus, steps into the great commissioning that Jesus Himself gave His disciples… sharing in the responsibility of calling men, women, youth and kids into this life giving, eternity changing, purpose giving… redeemed life that is centered on and empowered by the one who promised He’d always be there.
And in my reading, there were a few reasons I saw that we might struggle.
It’s daunting.
We feel like God is talking to someone else. We don’t take it personally.
Pastors: I just teach and equip
The people: It's the pastors job
No… it's the believers that are commissioned, it's all of us.
We feel disqualified.
If you are, I am. For sure… we need to live out the light of Jesus in our everyday life… BUT… never forget, we are simply broken people, telling other broken people where hope, life and freedom are found.
We may need to adjust our understanding of it.
And no matter which one of these or any other reasons we might struggle with… (God’s not anxious about the struggle)
it’s important for us to firmly plant in our hearts that this is a big part of what it means to follow Him.
It’s part of the product of abiding in Him.
Jesus says that we are His body… His hands and feet…
He says that we are the light of the world… shining His truth into the dark of the world around us…
Nt wright mentions (207) that this movement from captivity and darkness in the world only moves forward insofar as the commissioned Body of Christ is taking it forward.
And Jesus teaches us what it means to live the commissioned life…
Go and make disciples of all nations.
One of the signs that we truly believe in the goodness of God… in the hope of heaven… that real fullness and freedom are found in Him… is when the gospel is in action in and through our everyday lives…
The greatest truth the world has ever known was never intended to stop with you… or with me…
Rest assured that you won’t do it perfectly… keep in mind that Jesus often rebuked His disciples… and yet… He still used them in powerful ways. Jesus gathered every day, messed up and broken people to change the world.
In 25 AD it started with a tiny group in Galilee
In 50 AD there were riots in Rome because of Him.
In 65 AD His followers were facing massive persecution by the most powerful man alive.
And in 70 AD that same man did his best to wipe it from the face of the earth.
In 2022 AD… His church still stands… still faces the growing opposition of the darkness around it… and………………. How will that story go?
And Maybe… we need to reframe what it looks like. There are times that God may call you to a specific place… to do a specific thing… be faithful.
But… I think the overall call to be light… to be the body… doing the work of Jesus starts right where you are.
I’ve been reading the book Saturate by Jeff Vanderselt…
Where he talks about how his parents church hired a new pastor and were doing this intensive look at becoming Chriatians who actually invest in this… and his dad called him about all the cool new things they were learning… but ultimately it puzzled him…
Jeff said… dad, you’ve always done that. He said that for as long as he could remember, “They’d arranged their lives and even their home in such a way that welcomed people… and invited them in”. They were intentional…
They were normal people… learning to see all of life as the context for Jesus’ ministry to happen…
Soccer games, volleyball games, neighborhoods, family gatherings, workspaces, dinner invites…
Jesus says Go… get involved… in the everyday things of life. You don’t have to offer anything you don’t have… you don’t have to be anyone you’re not…
But he calls us to use what it is he’s given us… including His gifting in us… to point people to the only one who can do anything about their everything… inviting them through our lives to come and see that He is good.
And we don’t do that by ramming Jesud down their throat…
By being harsh or judgemental…
Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.
tells us to always be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have… but to it gently… and respectfully.
And as far as I know the only way… the only way to do that is exactly what you see in the life of Jesus… making room… taking time… caring for… sharing with… listening to… praying for… people and creating room for real conversations that might lead to real freedom.
Go… make disciples… point them to Jesus
He also says…
Baptize them…
Helping them come to this place of choosing Jesus…
Baptism is an outward symbol of a powerful inward commitment to follow Jesus for all the days of your life.
That's good for you… to declare publicly.
It's good for the church/encouraging
In a sense it also represents you joining the body… the family of Christ.
And there are a lot of people that say a lot of things about baptism. Francis Chan is probably my favorite. Someone asked… do you need to be baptized to be saved… and he said… Why do you ask? Are you looking to get away with something? Jesus told us to do it scripture… isn’t that enough.
Baptism is something that Jesus did… it’s something that He tells us to do ourselves… and its something that He tells us to do as a part of the great commission…
Almost every example of baptism we see in scripture… happens at the beginning… as people are just stepping into their relationship with Jesus… meaning… not waiting until they had it all together… It's about relationship… not having it all together.
Teaching them to obey
Just like following Jesus has brought hope, and fullness and freedom… and a lifestyle that is very different than the world around us… that same change is something God uses His body… you… to help bring about in others.
Teaching them what it means to dig into the word… and to do more than simply look at it… teaching them how to act on it and implement those things into their lives.
The best way to teach others to take His Word seriously, to actually implement it and live it out is what?
It is and always has been… to be doing those things AUTHENTICALLY yourself.
Taking everyday… ordinary things… and learning what it means to be intentional… and patient and gentle…
Allowing life to do what life does… trusting that in time… God will open the door for you to give a reason for the hope that you have… BE ready… it almost always happens in crisis or in the least expected moments…
How many of you would say that this how you came to know Jesus? Someone taking the time and making room to have meaningful conversations that lead to real faith?
It is daunting… it does seem bigger than you are…(it is).
But I think there are two things to remember that help.
The very next line is this… Jesus says… BE sure of this… KNOW this… that I am with you always… to the very end.
Our job is simply be faithful… Jesus uses you, but be sure He is the one at work changing hearts and lives in the process. You don’t… I don’t have what it takes to do the work that only He can do.
Conc…
I have a friend years ago… its was nice.
I was at his place for dinner and during the dinner someone came to the door and He was gone for a while…
Eventually I pulled him aside and said man what was that… and he told me that was my neighbor… they just took her husband to the ER and she wanted to come tell me and ask me to pray…
And as I dug into that and asked questions… This dude been having people over… neighbors… sometimes block parties… where people began to ask Him who he was and what he was about… Jesus was shared… seeds were planted… doorbells were rang… lives where changed…
He just had to bring the beef. The rest was real life… and real people and the work that only God can do.
Are you currently… living out the commissioning of jesus to be His body… and shine His light into a world that desperately needs it?
I’d challenge you… today… to sit down and think about… talk about… how you or your family can engage in the very thing Jesus commissioned you to do.