“You are Better Than You Think”
May 6, 2007
Jesus was walking the dusty streets of Israel when John the Baptist happened to see Him. Turning to the two men who were his disciples John said, “Look! There is the Lamb of God.” The men, one of them being Andrew, stopped what they were doing and began to follow Jesus. Jesus’, seeing He had a tail, said, “What do you guys want?” They said, probably a little flustered, “Uh, where do you live?”
Jesus said, “Come and see.” So they followed Him home. I don’t know what they talked about but somehow it convinced them that Jesus was the Messiah. Andrew got his brother Peter and told him that they had found the Messiah, and brought him to Jesus. I think this was the first recorded event that some Baptists converted to Nazarene – but certainly not the last!(just kidding!) Anyway, when Jesus met with Peter He changed his name from Simon to Peter. He told him that he was a ROCK and he would build his church on him.
WOW! Don’t you think that would blow a new member away? Jesus had plans for this man – faults and all! The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee and wanted a walking buddy so He found Philip and invited him along.
Isn’t that neat! Jesus found Philip and invited him to go with him. Do you know He does the same thing with you? He hunts you down, wherever you are, and invites you to join Him. Anyway, Philip went with Jesus. After his walk with Jesus he decided he needed to share this blessing with his brother Nate (otherwise know as Nathanael) so he found him and told he that he had found the Messiah. Nate wasn’t too quick to swallow this - so, knowing his bible, he asked, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” What that meant was that the Messiah was not suppose to be from Nazareth – everyone knew the Scripture said He was to be born in Bethlehem.
Philip, being a smart brother, said, “Well, come check it out for yourself.” So he did. When he was approaching Jesus, Jesus looked at him and said, “Here comes an honest man. He is a true son of Israel.”
Nate was blown away. “How do you know me?” He asked. Jesus had pegged him exactly right. Then Jesus said, “I saw you when you were sitting under the fig tree before Philip found you.”
Nate was convinced. No one knew he was under that tree – but God. He believed Jesus WAS the Messiah.
There are a couple of things I want to point out to you from this incident in the life of Jesus. You can read it for yourself later today in John, chapter one. But first notice how Jesus’ team was built. John the Baptist said something to Andrew and another man. Andrew told Peter and brought him to Jesus. Then Philip told Nathanael and brought Nate to Jesus.
That’s how the kingdom is to be built – one person at a time. You pass on the blessing to someone else. It just happens. You don’t need to go to a seminar. You don’t need to go to college. You don’t need to call in a church growth expert or even an evangelist IF the church is healthy and if Jesus is there. Growth will just happen - if we are excited about Jesus enough to share Him with others.
That’s just a little side thought. What I really wanted you to notice is how Jesus knew Andrew and Peter and Philip and Nate. He KNEW them! He saw them in the past and He saw them in the future. Isn’t that cool! He saw Nate under the fig tree. He knew he was honest and true. He saw what was going to become of Peter – that he would become a solid rock of a man. He would be someone the church could be built on – a pillar in the church.
Jesus didn’t tell him he would die a martyr’s death or that he would deny he even knew Jesus – three times! He didn’t point out his failures and faults and immaturity. He knew them – but Jesus only shared what was encouraging and helpful. I like that. We need to follow Jesus’ example here. Build up. Edify. Encourage. Be constructive. Lift up people. They need that a lot more than anything else.
I want you to know that Jesus knows YOU! He knows where you have been and where you are going. He knows what you did and what you didn’t do. He knows your faults and failures. That thing that is so embarrassing that you would die if anyone found out- Jesus knows about it. But He forgives you and loves you. He will help you to overcome it and put it behind you.
He also knows you are better than you realize. He knows your potential. He sees you when you have been trained and educated and gone through the trials and temptations and have passed the test. He sees you standing strong and unmovable. One day you will reach the peak of discipleship. You will be faithful and knowledgeable and effective. You will be Christlike. You will achieve the summit of discipleship.
But you are not there yet, are you? And that’s why I am here. That’s why this church is here. Jesus wants to use me and this church to bring you to Christlikeness. The Purpose statement of the Church of the Nazarene is “To make Christlike disciples of the nations.” All around the world, in every nation, the Church of the Nazarene is striving to make Christlike disciples. Here in Mount Shasta our Purpose statement is to “Bring Christ to the Community”. Last week I shared that acrostic C H R I S T with you.
C – Church purpose is:
H – Help others come to Christ
R – Rejoice in worship
I – Inspire and encourage in fellowship
S – Serve and equip to minister
T – Teach Christlikeness
So it is our purpose to accomplish Jesus’ purpose of bringing you to Christlikeness. Now, neither God nor I, nor anyone else can do that without your willing cooperation. You have to want God’s will. You have to be willing to be changed into Jesus’ image. But if you are willing, here’s our plan; here’s how we want to accomplish that. It’s a four step process. It’s kind of like climbing Mount Shasta. I remember when I climbed the mountain a few years ago. The climb wasn’t straight up. There were stages to the climb. You would think you were almost to the top and reach what you thought was the peak – and it was only one peak of the journey. After reaching that, we would rest, then continue on to what appeared to be the peak ahead of us. It wouldn’t be. To reach the summit we had to take one step at a time, one peak at a time, one level at a time – pushing ever upward and onward.
The goal God has for you would blow you away if He shared it all with you right now. He just wants you to move forward one step at a time. So the first peak we have to climb is the fellowship peak. This peak is the key for reaching the unchurched for Jesus and helping them bond with the church. Just going to church is not God’s will for you. He doesn’t want you to be a ‘spectator’ he wants you to be a ‘player’. But you need to know the rules. You need to know how to play. You need to know how to score.
Peak one is split into four major parts. We first talk about what it means to be a Christian and making sure you are a Christian. We talk about the symbols of salvation. Then we go over our statements. Our purpose statement of why we exist. Our vision statement of what we intend to do. Our faith statement is what we believe. Our values statement is what we practice.
Then we go over our strategy. We talk about our history and who we are trying to mister to and our plan of how to help you grow spiritually. After that we talk about our structure. How our church is organized and our affiliation and what it means to be a member.
If you are interested in attending a Peak one class, fill out a card with your name and vitals on it and that you are interested in it. I will contact you about it later.
Peak two is the discipleship peak. This class helps to lead people through the process of spiritual growth. You can be a Christian for years and still be immature spiritually. Time does not necessarily bring maturity – although maturity does take time. In this class you will find out how to become more mature. It doesn’t happen automatically. It has to happen on purpose. Paul rebuked some Christians for not growing fast enough. He said,
“You have been Christians a long time now, and you ought to be teaching others, but instead you have dropped back to the place where you need someone to teach you all over again the very first principles in God’s Word. You are like babies who can drink only milk, not old enough for solid food. And when a person is still living on milk it shows he isn’t very far along in the Christian life, and doesn’t know much about the difference between right and wrong. He is still a baby Christian! You will never be able to eat solid spiritual food and understand the deeper things of God’s Word until you become better Christians and learn right from wrong by practicing doing right.”
Heb 5:12-14 (Living)
Do you understand that God wants you to grow up spiritually? Part of our job is to help you do that. That’s the discipleship peak. Peak two.
Peak three is the ministry peak. In that class we teach people how to serve in the Kingdom by helping them discover their spiritual gifts. The bible says,
“There are different kinds of service to God, but it is the same Lord we are serving. There are many ways in which God works in our lives, but it is the same God who does the work in and through all of us who are his. The Holy Spirit displays God’s power through each of us as a means of helping the entire church.” 1 Cor 12:5-7 (Living)
Do you know what your gifts are? You need to - because each one of us needs to be involved in helping the entire church. You need to know how God can use you to be a blessing in the church. God wants you to, somehow and in someway, be a blessing to the rest of the body. Peak three will help you in this area.
The last peak, Peak four, is the Evangelism peak. In this class you will find out what your life mission is and how to become a person who helps others get on the path to discipleship. As you were brought to Christ by someone – you will learn how to bring others to Christ, too. You will learn how to accomplish the purpose that God has for your life.
In the next few weeks I will be talking more about this at the Wednesday Fellowship and Study time. We will discover together how God wants us to make all of this happen. But this morning I want you to know that God has great plans for you. He said,
“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jer 29:11 (Living)
Just like Jesus knew Pete and Nate’s past and present – He knows yours as well. And “you are better than you think”. Where ever you are right now – whether you are just beginning your journey with Jesus or even if you have known Him for many years now, God has plans for you. Good plans. Fun plans. Fulfilling plans. You were made for a purpose and the only way to be happy is when you live according to that purpose. And God’s plan is to bring you to the summit of discipleship. God’s plan is to mold you into his image. God’s plan is to bring you into Christlikeness. Are you ready and willing for that to happen? If so – tell Jesus and prepare yourself to have the time of your life. Pray with me.
Jesus,
I want to be your disciple. I want to follow You. Thank you for inviting me to join You. Thank you for loving me and seeing the potential in me. Forgive me for fighting against you and going my own way. I give you permission to work in my life. I pray you would make me into your image. Please don’t stop until I am what you want me to be.
I pray in Jesus’ name,
