Leaving The Comfort Zone (Vision 2012)

Opening illustration: A spy was captured and sentenced to death by a general in the Persian Army. Before carrying out the sentence the general gave the spy a strange choice. He told him he could have his choice of a firing squad or a big black door. After much deliberation the spy chose the firing squad and within a few moments he was dead. The general turned to his aide and said, “They always prefer the known way to the unknown.” The aide then asked the general, “What’s behind the black door?”

“Freedom!” Replied the general. Behind the black door is a passageway that leads outside, but only a few have been brave enough to see what was behind it!

*Fear is the big, black door that keeps us trapped inside our comfort zones!

In order to be free from what imprisons us, we must be brave enough to open the door!

Introduction: All of us are surrounded by comfort zones; those invisible barriers that make us feel cozy and secure. Comfort zones develop after we have done things a particular way for a period of time. Unfortunately, they can make us feel so comfortable, that we never want to change the way we do things! The only people who like change are babies with dirty diapers! Sometimes it’s easier to keep doing the same things over and over again than to make adjustments in our lives!

Comfort zones aren’t all bad. They make us feel security in our lives, and that’s certainly better than going through life fighting feelings of insecurity. However, security is like money . . . it makes a wonderful servant . . . but a very poor master! Healthy security is found in loving home, warm friendships, an enjoyable career, and good church relations . . . but a different kind of security is found in a prison!

In prison the inmates don’t have to make decisions . . .

Worry about house payments . . .

Insurance payments . . .

Where the next meal is coming from . . .

That’s the reason many prisoners commit crimes when released . . . they want the security they had in the prison. However, that is a real danger for us also . . . WE CAN ALLOW OUR COMFORT ZONES TO BECOME OUR PRISON!

Illustration: When a crab grows, it breaks out of its hard shell and begins the process of forming a new one. Its life span is marked by passing through successive shells. The crab grows when it is in-between shells. It will continue to grow as long as it dares to break out of it shell. When it stops breaking through shells, the crab ceases to grow and eventually dies. THE LAST SHELL BECOMES THE CRAB’S COFFIN!

I wonder this morning . . . which comfort zone we will allow to become our Spiritual coffin?

What to do in order to leave our comfort zone? / How to leave our comfort zone?

1. Evangelism (Fulfilling Christ’s ‘Last Commission’)

Matthew 28: 19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

Notice that Jesus said "in the name" as opposed to "in the names." We insist that because the word "name" is singular and not plural, Jesus is suggesting that only one name, not three, is being spoken of. To teach and observe as we are commanded to, demands us to be learners (to be teachable) first. If Christ promised us that He would be with us and never leave us then why don’t we take Him on and fulfill His last commission to the Body of Christ?

In the 1970s we were less sophisticated but so much more zealous for Jesus. Putting our best to fulfill the last commission. We handed out tracts and witnessed to everyone. Sharing our faith was the priority. Yet most people in churches today have never led anyone to Christ. We are no longer contagious. Spirit-filled believers spend more time chasing “financial breakthroughs” than lost souls. We have rejected sacrifice and compassion and embraced a counterfeit gospel that produces bored, selfish spectators.

Where are our missionaries? Today the third world countries lead in every sphere of life. Even the top three countries which have the maximum global missionaries are from the continent of Asia. The second on the horizon is Africa.

Do we honor "The Great Commission" in our lives? We do if we are...

• Submitting to the authority of Jesus

• Working to make disciples of Jesus

• Striving to make disciples in all the nations of the world