Sermon Central
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Is Fulfilling Series
Contributed by Shawn Drake on Dec 7, 2006 (message contributor)
Summary: This is the 3rd sermon in the series "A Growing Church..."
Series: A Growing Church... [#3](Senior Adult Day)
IS FULFILLING
Introduction:
A great problem within the Church of the 21st century is we have become so focused on fulfilling everyone’s wants and wishes that we forgot Who we are to please. What are we supposed to be fulfilling as Christians and as a Church?
If the job of this Church is to fulfill the Great Commission, then we have to be Great Commission type Christians. Psalms 92:12-15 paints a picture of the person who is striving to fulfill the Great Commission.
I.The Picture
The picture given to us is of trees in the courtyard of the Temple. There are 2 specific types of trees mentioned here, the palm tree and the cedar of Lebanon.
1. The date palm is a graceful, tall tree, with green fronds that remain green year-round. It can grow as tall as 90 feet. You can eat the dates and make a drink from its sap. You can use palm fronds to make mats and baskets.
2. The cedar of Lebanon is an evergreen. It can reach a height of 120 feet. Cedars are valuable mainly for their wood.
This picture is given to us to represent several things about those who are righteous.
The righteous:
*Are spiritually alive. A tree is a living thing.
*Are close to God. These trees were brought in and planted close to the Temple which was a representation of where the presence of God was.
*Are in a place of honor. Not just any tree was placed in the courtyard by the Temple.
*Are in a place of protection. The trees in the Temple Courts were protected from exposure to violent winds. It would be protected from those who might want to chop it down for firewood or lumber. The temple courts would be just about the safest place in the world for a tree to be.
II.The Application
A person who is fulfilling the Great Commission:
1.Will grow. When you are about being the Church instead of doing Church, you will grow as a Christian. You will be useful to the growth of others. Instead of people trying to change the Church into what they think it should be, they will allow God to use them to change the Church into what God wants it to be.
A person who is fulfilling the Great Commission:
2.Will bear fruit. Notice it says that they will still bear fruit in old age. They will stay fresh and green. How does an old tree stay fresh and fruitful? It gets plenty of water.
What kind of fruit does that person bear?
A person who is fulfilling the Great Commission:
3.Will proclaim God. Salvation comes from God. Protection comes from God. Direction comes from God. Strength comes from God. Growth comes from God. When will we stop proclaiming our wants and wishes and start proclaiming the Jesus who saves?
Conclusion:
This may be Senior Adult Day, but God wants every one of His children to respond. Are you like the trees of Psalm 92:12 or the trees of Jude 1:12?
"...autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted, twice dead."
