The Infinitely Couragous Church

This is the final message in our infinite Church series (PAUSE) and perhaps the most important and challenging one.

The reason being is (PAUSE) that if we are going to keep our focus on God’s Infinite Mission it is likely that there will be those even within our own tribe that will aggressively oppose that decision.

In February of 2014 CVS announced that it would stop selling any tobacco-related product in all of their over 2800 stores.

They did this even though it wold cost them 2 Billion yes Billion with a B dollars per year in revenue.

There was no pressure to make this change and as such they faced not only the loss of revenue but they also got a lot of criticism from Wal-Street experts and even from many of their own stock holders that were furious that their stock prices may go down.

CVS did this becuase they concluded it was hypocritical for them to sell Tobacco products and still claim that they existed to help people on their path to better health.

In other words it was a matter of corporate integrity and it would take a tremendous amount of courage to take the financial hit and the attacks from within.

Everyone was predicting the end of CVS and the day after the announcement the stock did fall by 1%…but after the changes had been implemented the stock then grew from 66.11 per share to 113.65 double what it had been prior to the announcement.

So instead of backfiring on CVS this Cause Driven decision did two things. 1) It was profitable 2) It put pressure on the competitors…Walgreens, and Rite Aid both found themselves on the defensive and in the end not willing to make Courageous Cause Driven decisions.

CVS could have avoided all the “bad press” but if they had they would not have been working their just Cause......to help people on their path to better health.

I believe the Church in America is at a similar cross roads in this moment in History. The Church has a clear Infinite mandate from God.

Matthew 22:37–39 NLT

37 Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

When you boil down all the Mission Statements, Vision Statements and Value Statements of all the bible believing Churches in the world they all say the same thing in different ways. Love God and Love others.

So The Churches that make the greatest impact for the Kingdom of God are the ones that are unwavering in making all their decisions based on the Just Cause of the Great Commandment and The Great Commission.

When we as Christ followers allow outside finite interests to become more influential than their Infinite Just Cause of loving God and loving their neighbor as their self they are no longer leading courageously.

These outside interest can be things like economic interest, political interest, career pressures, and even at times personal interest that are if honest directly or indirectly opposed to the the infinite mission of God.

In short Any Interest that is about winning right now instead of playing an infinite game that has already been won is not worthy of our allegiance.

Paul knew how hard leading and living From God’s infinite Just cause is…so he gives us some teaching on how we are to approach it in this passage.

Ephesians 6:10–18 NLT

10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

Being Courageous means being prepared for the impediments to being Cause or Movement driven.

Paul starts off by making sure that people acknowledge that there are powers both of the world and supernatural who intentionally oppose God’s will for the world.

When one has been Christian for long enough it is easy to forget that even though a lot of our friends, family and acquaintances have at least a friendly understanding of who Jesus is there are more around us that do not have a positive relationship with Jesus or the Church than we think.

Yes even in the wonderful bubble of Broken Arrow Oklahoma approximately 42% of our neighbors claim to be religiously unaffiliated according to our own denominational research based off of the last census information (Pre Pandemic) it is estimated that this number may have grown.

So there are a good number in BA that are not reached in the name of Jesus Christ. Not all are hostile to the Church but they are not convinced of her relevance to their lives.

If we as Gods people stay aware of this reality and we take head to make sure we are always outfitted with the tools (Armor of God) We can be a connection to God the Church and others.

We can be a place where people can grow in friendship, family, and faith.

Not by trying harder and committing ourselves to deeper walks…Wait? What?! I know, I know I just threw you a curveball.

The answer is not to dig deeper…it is to use what you are already getting. Every week you come to worship, you go to small group, and some of us engage in ministry…in other words we are engaging in all the things that help us to make sure we are “putting on” the full Armor of God.

The question is are we using the tools (Armor) of salvation to bring the Beauty of the Gospel to those who oppose it either intentionally or out of ignorance?

This is a question that we are not really able to answer without the direction of the Holy Spirit…that is why the last part of or passage is so important.

Ephesians 6:18 NLT

18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

Praying in The Spirit is a very difficult but important part of the life of every believer if we are going to be all in to God’s Infinite plan.

In order to pray in the Spirit we must do a couple of things.

Stop believing we can get all we need from God in an hour on Sunday…It is important but we need more from our community than one or two hours on a Sunday morning.

Schedule in Ink personal and Corporate times of prayer....THERE WILL BE PRAYER MEETING THIS TUESDAY NIGHT…APOLOGIZE FOR THE MIX UP.

Embrace uncomfortable awareness of when the way we are living is hindering the Holy Spirit from leading us.

Ask the Holy Spirit to guide us to action not just awareness…Awareness minus Action is Apathy.

Imagine if you can a group of believers that not only put on the tools of salvation (Armor of God) but are seeking ways in which they can use these tools to make room for everyone that needs a safe place to grow to feel like they belong?

Imagine a place where people can find friends that become family that live an active and authentic faith together?

It’s a beautiful thought isn’t it!

As we prepare for communion lets take some time to pray in the Spirit.

Ask Jesus to keep you alert to the needs of those who do not know Jesus around you.

Ask the Lord to use the tools of salvation you are growing in every day.

Silence

Communion

The Communion Supper, instituted by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a sacrament, which proclaims His life, His sufferings, His sacrificial death, and resurrection, and the hope of His coming again. It shows forth the Lord’s death until His return.

The Supper is a means of grace in which Christ is present by the Spirit. It is to be received in reverent appreciation and gratefulness for the work of Christ.

WE are an open communion Church which means you do not have to be member of this local church…nor do you need to even be a Nazarene all are welcome to the table:

Who are truly repentant, forsaking their sins, and believing in Christ for salvation are invited to participate in the death and resurrection of Christ. We come to the table that we may be renewed in life and salvation and be made one by the Spirit.

Come and receive the elements of Jesus broken body and shed blood. Our servers will sanitize their hands before they serve you...

Then return to your seats and we will partake together.

Let us Pray the Lords prayer together in preparation of receiving Holy Communion......

Benediction:

Grant us that, gathered here and directed by your Spirit to confess Christ as Lord and combine our diverse gifts with a singular passion to continue His mission in this world until we join in your eternal praise....

Amen