Sermon Central
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A House With A View Series
Contributed by Rick Stacy on Jul 27, 2006 (message contributor)
Summary: 1 of several messages during the summer of 2006. This message focuses on the mission and vision of the church toward the community and evangelism
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God’s Favorite House
A House with a View
July 23, 2006
For five years my office had no window
None of our offices had a window. We were located in the basement. There was no view. I didn’t know when it was sunny and nice. I didn’t know when it was rainy and cold. I didn’t know when the wind moved the leaves or when the heat was unbearable. I had no knowledge. There was no revelation.
When this happens you really begin to lose touch with the reality of the world around you. There is no connection with any other life except for that which is in your own little tiny comfortable and safe world.
This is not a good place to be.
Last month, we moved our offices. I have a window that looks over a landscape of trees. So far I’ve seen a rabbit, a squirrel, a chipmunk, and lots of birds. I expect to see a deer in the woods behind the office at some point in the coming days. The world around me has been revealed.
A House with a View
Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.
Proverbs 29:18
King James translates this passage as “Where there is no vision the people perish” The word that KJV translates as vision is better understood as knowledge or revelation. The word translated perish is better understood as without restraint – actually the word literally is naked.
What the writer is saying is that “where there is no revelation or understanding of God and his ways there is no restraint or purpose in the lives of his people.
The view we have of our world is a crucial element in how we live and what we do – individually and as a church.
What is our view of the world? Do we even have a view or are we sitting comfortably in a closed room devoid of any outside revelation of the world around us. Are we isolated from what is happening in our community and separated from the people surrounding us?
Meridian Christian Church, since that first Sunday in the outer six theaters at the Meridian Mall, has been and still is a church with a view… a worldview that is God colored.
The important question this morning is “How do we keep that view clear? How do we make sure that our understanding of God’s revelation is not blurry and how do we make sure that it doesn’t fade into the background noise and clutter of our everyday life?
We must match up God’s view with our view of His world!
We can begin best by seeing the world through the eyes of our Lord Jesus.
A Good View of the World
35 You have a saying, ‘Four more months till harvest.’ But I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields ready for harvest now.
John 4:35
A Good View of the World
36 Already, the one who harvests is being paid and is gathering crops for eternal life. So the one who plants and the one who harvests celebrate at the same time.
A Good View of the World
37 Here the saying is true, ‘One person plants, and another harvests.’ 38 I sent you to harvest a crop that you did not work on. Others did the work, and you get to finish up their work.”
John 4:34-38
Yoggi Berra, “You can see a lot if you look”
Helen Keller was asked once “What would be worse than being born blind?” to which she replied “Having sight without a vision.”
How is your view of the world? The vision I am talking about goes beyond the natural sight of our physical eyes. It goes to the heart of the matter – not what we see but what is present to be seen.
When Jesus spoke to his disciples he was not talking about the grain in the fields that surrounded them. He had just finished speaking with the woman at the well while the disciples had gone to town for some food. He had been energized and rejuvenated by his conversation with this spiritually hungry woman. She had gone back to town and was telling everyone about what she had learned about Jesus and God.
So what was Jesus saying? He was saying don’t look with the physical world that surrounds you – instead look at the world and see the spiritual hunger that surrounds us – it is all around us.
He doesn’t stop there. Jesus continues with some solid teaching about us and the world we live in.
Don’t worry about the future; Trust God for the present
35 You have a saying, ‘Four more months till harvest.’ But I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields ready for harvest now.
