Jan 22, 2017 Be Intentional! Pray! Watch God Work!

Sue: My life seems like a random game of pool – like balls bouncing around randomly. This is the amateur view of pool. But a person who is good at pool doesn’t just randomly strike the balls – there is direction and spin and calculations – each shot is very directed. I want to be in the moment and see where God is directing me to people I talk to.

I’ve been reading a TED book – related to TED talks -

“Even chance momentary meetings – all those little connections add up – have a cumulative effect – and fulfill the need we all have to connect” –

Those things do make a difference. This brings me to the night at the library – and God had prepared me a few days before. The Monday before, our small group was reading Ephesians 1 – and I was struck by God’s gracious giving – LAVISHLY – FREELY – EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING – and I felt overwhelmed with God’s goodness pouring out freely on me – The reason? His kind intention. Not because I deserve it – but His grace. That same week I was reading another book – and the author was talking about the poor choices she had made in life. She had hurt everyone she cared about – and eventually she came to see God’s grace and it amazed her that God saw her – the one she had tried so hard to hide. He knew her, and STILL poured out His grace on her. But she struggled when she realized this person in her life who hurt her and betrayed her was also under grace. She had a hard time with that. Then she wrote – Grace isn’t grace unless it is for everyone. This struck me too. Grace is freely given. This brings me to Wednesday night at the library – and these things are stewing in the crockpot of my mind – and I ask to help the next patron – and this girl dressed in black was covered in tattoos. And my first thought – she looks different than I do! And my second thought? She is under grace too! If you’re looking for spiritual wisdom here, I’ve got nothing! What do I say? I said – you have a lot of tattoos! Do you think a lot about what to tattoo next? Oh yes – but I have a couple from early on – that I regret. She said, thanks for asking… I said - Have a nice evening… and when she got to the door – she turned around and said – Thanks for accepting me. I was so touched. God had been pouring into my life and I was able to pour into her. God – that is wonderful! The evening would have been great if it had ended there. But a little later – an older guy came up and said really loudly – it’s nice to see a young woman not covered in tattoos! And then very loudly said – and I used to be friends with this guy next to me, but he had disagreed about whether to open Front street. - and then he said – did you hear what I said? I think everyone heard what he said. But it was such a picture of condemnation to me. Grace and condemnation. And as I thought about it – in this world, there are people who feel it their duty to judge and reject people. But if we are filled with God, we can pour out grace, hope, and forgiveness. If we are aware at the time – every situation can turn into grace and love and healing.

Mike Marette: One announcement –Pizza with the pastors will be February 5.

If you have any stories – like Sue’s – please let me know. As Sue shared – I kept thinking how one part fit with that page – and another part fit with that page (of my sermon).

This is inauguration week.

1 Tim. 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Paul tells us – it is our responsibility – and something God desires – for us to pray for all of those who are in authority. I have often shared this verse after a new president takes office. This says something by what it doesn’t say – it does not say to only do this if your candidate won. It says nothing about what side we are on? If you are on one side – and for the last 8 years – we had one side, and now you have another side. In God’s eyes, this is irrelevant. Everyone is to pray for our leaders – why? To lead tranquil lives in quietness and dignity. This is about us living our faith – that we would be allowed to live our faith – to live godly lives and that nothing would prevent that from happening. Not that we would get OUR way – but that we would get God’s way in our lives. So let’s take a moment to pray…

Lord, thank You for what Sue shared – the encouragement for the opportunities you provide for each of us. We pray for Donald Trump – that You would help him to lead our nation in the way of peace and the way of Jesus. I pray for our nation - I see the division in our country – and I pray for peace – that we might live quiet lives following Jesus with all of our hearts. That we might live godly lives – and the truth that Jesus is Lord, Caesar is not - may ring forth from His followers. Protect our President and Congressmen – and fire fighters and police and all those who exercise authority in this land – that You would grant wisdom and prudence for those to lead in ways that please You.

Luke 10:1 Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.

Jesus is sending them ahead of him – to the places he was about to go. He was on earth with a mission – focused on accomplishing His mission – and He is sending out the disciples – and sending them out on the same mission He is on. There is no difference today. Jesus is still on mission – and He is sending us out on that very same mission. What is important – His mission – not ours – He wants us to join Him on that mission. He wants us to understand that we can be part of that mission.

The first sermon of 2017 I talked about our mission as a church – our resolution (even though I don’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions – we did it anyway!) that God is sending us out – the places we go and the people we see. Our workplaces, and the stores, and the neighborhoods – we are missionaries to those places. We are not necessarily being sent to another land – but all of us are on mission to the places we are going.

The last 3 weeks we have heard stories from 3 people who have been excellent examples of those who share where they are. You might not be as outgoing as Marianne who shared last week (few are!) – or as bold as Kay or as eloquent as Sue – BUT – you are God’s missionary to the places you go. That is true.

It is important – as we prepare to go out every day – that we remember – on that very day to the places you are going – God is on mission.

You might think – God cannot be on mission where I work! But He is! And He is asking you every day to go out on mission with Him- and to join Him in the work He is doing. It might be a simple conversation that becomes part of the huge mission that God is trying to accomplish.

2 And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

When you go out – the harvest is plentiful! Just because surveys say that fewer and fewer people are going to church – that does not mean that there are not a lot of people out there who would respond to Jesus if they understood Him correctly. Many have given up on church and organized religion – but they have not given up on God. There is probably a rise in that – it is not declining. People might not want to be part of organized religion – but I think there is overwhelming evidence of people who are interested in spirituality and God - this is clearly revealed in the stories we have heard over the past 3 weeks.

The problem is not that there is not the right fruit – the problem is there are not enough laborers. Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

Back in the day before there were machines to pick the harvest – well, think of it this way – the strawberries are ripe – and you only have a couple days before they rot – and you have 10 acres of strawberries – you would realize that there are not enough people to pick all these strawberries before they rot and become useless.

Jesus is saying – you need more help! We tend to think that there are those who get paid to do this – that’s their job, to be involved in the spiritual harvest. But Jesus is saying we all need to be involved. The harvest is so plentiful and there aren’t enough employees of the church to pick them. It is just not going to happen.

Jesus gives us two solutions – first – he sends the disciples – not just the twelve, but 72 – there are not enough laborers – guess what? You’ve been enlisted. SO the first answer is – all of us are laborers for the harvest and need to learn to view ourselves that way. And second – pray – ask God for help. This is one of the few times Jesus gives something very specific to pray for. This should be a significant part of our praying. How much do you pray for this? How much of your prayer time is asking God to send laborers – and first to send me? Jesus asked the disciples to pray this and He is asking us. The success of the mission is God’s responsibility – our job is to partner with Him and serve Him. He is fully responsible for your mission field.

Dave Brunelle – at the Rock – has his alarm set for 10:02 – (Luke 10:02) and he prays for laborers for the harvest!

We talk about becoming a church for future generations. We need – in our church situation – we need younger workers for the harvest. If we are going to build a church for future generations – that is a critical need. Make it an important part of your prayer times. Ask God to bring in young families – young singles – young people – to labor with us in the harvest.

Matthew 9:35 Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

Jesus is a missionary with both words and actions. We are to speak and do the deeds of God’s kingdom. Jesus had specific deeds that were for Him – but we all have things that are very specific that relate to real needs of real people in our lives. As we proclaim and perform the gospel – we have to understand – what are the real needs that we could genuinely meet? And then take action to accomplish those things.

36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited (bewildered and helpless) like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38 Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Jesus’ mission comes out of a heart of compassion. He had absolutely no ulterior motive. The only motive to drive His desire to proclaim the kingdom to others was His love and compassion for others. He doesn’t do it so He doesn’t feel guilty- that is not a good motive. He is not out to achieve some goal or to gain some sense of self-worth, or to have a ‘great ministry’ or to check it off a to-do list. He had one motive – love.

“The truth is many Christians have been taught by well-meaning people that they should do nice things in order to have a conversation about Jesus. But Jesus never did this, to have a bait and switch approach where we become friends with people only to share spiritual truths with people. We are called to love people – Period.” – from The Art of Neighboring: Building Genuine Relationships Right Outside your Door - By Jay Pathak, Dave Runyon

Our motive must always be love.

I think it is interesting how Jesus looks at the crowds.

Because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Bewildered and helpless.

How do we look at people? Think of Sue’s example of the girl with the tattoos – How do we look at people? Like Sue did? Or like that man?

I’m going to step out on a limb here – Some people looked at the crowd on Friday – and said, OH! Those people! And others cheered. And then yesterday – exactly the same but the opposite. How would Jesus look at either group? As lost sheep – helpless, downcast, in distress.

Drug addiction. In 2016, more people died of drug overdose than all the soldiers who died in the Vietnam War. It is incredible what is going on. Why are people addicted? Helpless?

When you hear the stories – you realize a lot of these folks have gone through rehab once/twice/three times. A lot of them were normal people until they were prescribed 90 days of Percocet by a doctor.

Helpless. Downcast. When a sheep is like this – it is paralyzed by fear. We need to learn to look at people that way. Paralyzed – like a sheep who gets out on its own – separated from the flock – it finds a bush and hides under it and just freezes and can’t move.

When Jesus looked at people – that is what He saw. That’s why the shepherd picks up the sheep – it loses its ability to walk! Because of this fear.

Another great example – the baby video monitor of the two boys – the dresser fell on the one – and the little guy lifts up the dresser and the kid slides out. We should think about that when we see lost people. They have a dresser on top of them and someone should pick it up so they can get out. We are those people.

John 4: 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.

The harvest time is now. It is not sometime in the future.

2017 – building a culture where each individual us inspired to reach and equip others.

In 2017 – our desire is that every member would have at least one intentional relationship with a non-Christ follower.

Something we are going to do – each of you is getting a bracelet. It says – INTENTIONAL. Think of 2 or 3 people that you have an opportunity to see on a regular basis – maybe someone at work or in your neighborhood – someone you see occasionally – as you think of these people – take your pen – and on the inside – write the first name of those 2-3 people. Do it right now. When you are done with that – flip it back – you have a choice – you can put it on your wrist. Some of you – aren’t going to wear this to work – or it might bother your skin – maybe you can put it on the gear shift of your car. And what I want you to do – let this remind you to pray for those 2-3 people . And watch what God does. That is all. Pray and watch for 30 days. Pray for them and open your eyes to what God is doing.

I think – in order for us to accomplish the mission – prayer needs to become a central part of that work – and not just nebulous prayer – but specific prayer for specific people who don’t know Jesus. Do we really believe that people need Jesus? Of course we do. The key here – is not the little wristband –

The reason it says intentional – is what it says up there. Take that task with you

Lord, thank You. I’m going to ask each of you – pray for those on that band… - help us to put feet to our words. Help us to have enough compassion for the people in our lives that we are able to pray for them daily – that they would come to know and come to experience a relationship with the One who loves them and who gave His life for them. In Jesus’ name, amen.