-->Sir Francis Drake once expressed this prayer: “Disturb us, Lord, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we have sailed too closely to the shore. Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wilder seas where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land we shall find the stars.
<>There are many things involved in accomplishing God’s mission, but the two most important are:
---a) BELIEVING TOGETHER in the big dreams God places in our hearts.
---------->Placing no limits on what god can do through us.
---b) WORKING TOGETHER to see those dreams become reality.
---------->Placing no barriers between ourselves.
-->In other words, we must be united, working together, “on the same page,” pulling in the same direction.
------When that happens, God is free to work through us, and miraculous things can happen.
------But if we’re NOT united, nothing really good ever takes place.
-----ILL>When our founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin stood and boldly declared to the signers as they disbanded: “Gentlemen, now we must all hang together, or surely we shall all hang separately.”
<>Today we’re focusing our attention on WHAT UNITY REALLY LOOKS LIKE.
---I invite you to open a Bible and turn again to Philippians, chapter two.
-----ILL>In a Peanuts cartoon, Lucy demanded that Linus change t.v. channels, threatening him with her first if he didn’t. Linus asked: “What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?” Lucy: “These five fingers...Individually they’re nothing, but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold.” Linus responded, “What channel do you want?” Then, turning away, he looked at his fingers and says to them, “Why can’t you guys get organized like that?”
<>WHAT UNITY REALLY LOOKS LIKE...WHAT’S INVOLVED IN OUR BEING UNITED TOGETHER FOR HIS GLORY...
1) BEING UNITED IN OUR CONSECRATION.
----Ph.2:15 -- “Be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.
----Heb.12:2 -- “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith...”
--->We need to be united in a God-centered perspective, a single-minded, God-centered focus.
--------To be united, our focus must be on how we can please God...how we can grow in our love for, and our commitment to God.
------Quote -- A. W. Tozer once profoundly observed: “Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other?”
--------->As a musician I really appreciate that analogy. If you’ve ever been to an orchestra concert, you’ve no doubt noticed the Concert Master or Mistress (just a fancy title for the first chair violinist) stand and play a single note, a concert “A”. Then, all the instrumentalists begin playing concert “A”’s on their instruments and sometimes other notes, with the effort being of tuning their own instrument to that one single tone of the Concert Master.
--------->That’s how it works with many things...In the church, we’re to “tune” ourselves to Jesus, the Concert Master of our lives, the “orchestrater” of our lives. And when we do that, we will find ourselves remarkably “in tune” with one another also.
---->You see, the secret to keeping your marriage strong, keeping a husband and wife closer and closer to one another...growing more and more united and strong, being the best couple you can be involves understanding what I call the Pyramid of Pursuit. (Picture of a pyramid with God at the top, man on left lower corner, woman on the right lower corner).
--------When the husband seeks to grow closer to the Lord, to pursue God’s will for his life...and when the wife likewise focuses her attention on the Lord, seeking to grow closer in her relationship with God, pursuing God’s will for her life...THAT is when they come closer together as a couple.
--------If they focus their attention merely on one another, striving to grow closer to one another, they will always be the furthest they could be from one another.
---->The same is true with the church, the bride of Christ.
---------When each one of us is “in tune” with God...we grow closer and closer to being the church He wants us to be...because we’re united with a central focus.
----<>The rest of Tozer’s quote: “They (the one hundred pianos) are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshippers (meeting) together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become “unity” conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.
--->It seems paradoxical, but the first picture of what unity looks like is when we’re NOT so focused on being “in tune” with one another, but that each of us is focused on being “in tune,” consecrated to, concentrating on, centered on, focused on being right with God.
2) BEING UNITED IN OUR CAUSE.
---Ph.2:2 -- “make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.”
---->We must be united in our commitment to fulfilling the purpose(s) God designed us for, and assembled us together to achieve.
---->For us to be successful in accomplishing God’s purpose through us as Desert Springs Community Church, we must be united in our efforts.
---------We must be moving forward ON PURPOSE...moving as result of being united in our purpose.
------ILL>Remember the events in Washington, D.C. on September 12, 2001? Congressmen and women stood together on the steps of the Capitol building. In the days immediately before they had been fighting over issue after issue, throwing political “bombs” at one another. They had heatedly argued over a bill that had been presented only a few days earlier that would call for the removal of “under God” from our Pledge of Allegiance, an attempt to rid the public square of outward mention of God. But when our country was attacked on September 11, and we all began to understand things from a bigger perspective...that, like it or not, we were now at war...Senators and Congressman of both political parties stood UNITED on the steps and sang together, “God, bless America!”
---<>You see THAT’s what unity looks like.
--->It has been said that if you put fifty Southern Baptists in a room, you will have sixty different opinions of stuff.
--------We joke about it, but the truth is that being united is NOT the same thing, nor does it require being unanimous.
--------We might have different ideas on how to accomplish things the best...but we’re in agreement on what our purpose is, and we’re united to work together in accomplishing our mission, being true to our purpose.
------>The best way to understand it is as it was expressed in the early 17th century by Rupert Meldenius, when he summed it up this way: “In fundamentals unity, in non-fundamentals liberty, in all things charity.”
---------In other words, there are some matters that are non-negotiable, and so fundamental there is no “wiggle room.”
------------For example, we must be united in believing that Jesus is the ONLY way to the Father.
------------However, we can hold different views as to whether the world was created in seven 24-hour periods or seven periods of undetermined length. That is not a fundamental. In that case, we want to extend liberty, agreeing to allow different opinions, and then moving forward on the more important purposes and mission God has called us to.
------------We can hold different interpretations of whether there is going to be a rapture of believers, and whether that will happen before the Tribulation, in the middle of the Tribulation, or after it, or if there is even going to be a Tribulation. Those are not matters of such importance that they become divisive among us.
------------But in everything, we are to demonstrate charity. In other words, although we can disagree, we are never to be disagreeable.
----<>So, what IS our purpose? What cause are we called to accomplish as God’s people? As His church?
--------Well, we spent five weeks examining the five-fold purpose of the church recently:
-----------a) We’re to love, adore, and proclaim the majesty of God...that’s called WORSHIP.
-----------b) We’re to take the message of the Gospel to the world...that’s called EVANGELISM.
-----------c) We’re to train believers, guide them to maturity so they can participate in accomplishing the purposes of the church...that’s called DISCIPLESHIP.
-----------d) We’re to show God’s love in helping people in need...that’s called MISSIONS.
-----------e) We’re to encourage other believers, work alongside each other, enjoy life together...that’s called FELLOWSHIP.
----<>We’ve defined our mission, the mission statement of Desert Springs to be: “To help every person know God personally.”
---------You see, in keeping with the Pyramid of Pursuit, as we get to know the Lord more and more, we grow more and more Christlike, so we tell others about Him, we want to mature in our faith, help people in needs, and encourage one another.
----<>How we’re aiming to accomplish our mission is a matter of T.E.L.L.ing people:
--------T-elling others the message of the Bible. --It’s evangelism when we tell those who don’t know Jesus. It’s discipleship when we teach the deeper truths of Scripture and how they apply to maturing us as believers.
--------E-ncouraging one another. That’s fellowship, spending time with one another, supporting one another, keeping one another “focused”.
--------L-iving changed lives, lives focused on pleasing God, rather than being self-focused. That’s the beginning of worship...submitting ourselves to God.
--------L-oving all people. That leads us to help all people when they’re in need (missions)...not just people of our same race, not just “good people,” not just people who live close by and might become part of Desert Springs...but ALL people, helping all over the world.
----<>It means we must invest most of our effort not just on those who are here...but those who are not here.
--------->Without compromising the message, our focus must be how we can reach them, how we can show God’s love to them, how we can minister to them.
-------->This year’s theme has been “Pursuing God’s Pleasure.” Our goal is to live in such a way that we could look at ourselves in the mirror at the end of each day, and know that we have pleased God in what we did, what we said that day.
--------------As a result, we’ve focused our attention on Sermon series of pursuing holiness, pursuing authentic love, pursuing excellence, pursuing victory, pursuing truth, pursuing family, pursuing answers, pursuing purpose, now we’re looking at what’s involved in pursuing unity, and in the weeks ahead we’ll look at pursuing thankfulness, pursuing worship (Christmas, after all, means the Mass or worship of Christ), and finally on pursuing the future.
-------->But next year’s theme will be “borrowed” from the powerful, one-word mission statement of the Salvation Army...In 2008 our theme will simply be... “OTHERS.”
-----------Because if we’re not united in reaching people outside this room, we’ll not reach them.
-----------Yet, we can do it when we’re united in our cause and our purposed...and focused on it together.
3) BEING UNITED IN OUR COMMITMENT.
----->Ph.1:1 -- “Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus...”
----->Ph.1:27-28 -- “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ;...standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents...”
--<>United in doing what it takes (commitment) to fulfill the mission God has given us requires...
--------a) Serving together.
-------------->Ph.1:1 -- “Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus...”
-------------->Understanding who we are: bond servants of Jesus.
-------------------We’re not called to BE served, but to serve.
-------------------We need to be united in our commitment to being servants...to not be looking for what others can do for us, but ways we can serve...how we can go out of our way to serve the Lord...
-------------->How can we serve?
---------------------Helping with the Kids’ Time is serving.
---------------------Helping load and unload the trailer is serving.
---------------------Serving is participating in the upcoming servant evangelism projects.
---------------------Serving is tithing.
---------------------Serving is parking in the far-away spots on the parking lot so guests can park closer.
-------------->But those are the easy ones...
---------------------Serving is going out of our way to help people in need...even if it costs us financially.
---------------------Serving is telling people about Jesus...even being willing to be rejected, because we’re committed.
--------b) Standing together.
-------------->Ph.1:28 -- “...standing firm in one spirit...”
-------------->Understanding what we’re up against: spiritual attacks, spiritual warfare.
---------------------We’re not called to be cowards, and not to be lone rangers, but to be a bold, united Army.
---------------------We’re to stand together, and stand firm against spiritual forces of evil in our world.
---------c) Same-minded with one another.
-------------->Ph.1:28 -- “...with one mind striving together...”
-------------->The phrase translated “with one mind striving together” is the Greek word “sumpsukos”.
---------------------It literally means “same-souled” or “same-spirited” or, as we might say it, “like-minded.”
-------------->In other words, we must understand how we’re to pursue our mission: together, as a united “body” of believers.
---------------------We’re “wired” differently from one another, have different talents, different spiritual gifts, but the gifts have been given to us by the Holy Spirit so that we move forward as a united, same-minded army.
---------------------We’re called not to demand our own way, but to work together with others...being “in sync.”
4) BEING UNITED IN OUR COMPASSION.
----->Ph.2:3-4 -- “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for you own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”
--<>United in our concern for people, and helping meet their needs...in Christ.
------->Why did we send cookies to our troops in Iraq?
------->Why are we putting together shoe boxes full of gifts to send to children overseas?
------->Why will we be going to Nogales and preparing and serving lunch at the Rescue Mission on the day after Thanksgiving day?
------<>Well, the answer is simple really...because people have needs, and we’re God’s hands on earth to help in meeting those needs.
------------Once again, it’s about OTHERS.
------>We talked about it a few weeks ago: Jesus told us that when we provide food and clothing to someone in need, when we visit people in prison or tend to them when they’re sick...even to the “least” of these, we’re actually ministering to Jesus.
------>Jesus wept with those who wept and rejoiced with those who rejoiced.
-----------We’re to do the same.
------>The Good Samaritan stopped and helped the man in need, refusing to pass by, doing nothing, as the priest and Levite had already done.
-----------Jesus summed up this story and lesson by telling us to go and do likewise, ministering to people in need.
------>We’re instructed here in Philippians 2:4 to regard OTHERS as more important than ourselves, and to look out for their interest.
------>That means we should be seeking to bring others to hear the good news of the gospel, which meets their biggest need...the need for salvation and a personal relationship with Jesus.
------------Remember: the mission of Desert Springs Community Church is to help everyone know God personally.
5) BEING UNITED IN OUR COMFORT towards one another.
----->Ph.1:3 -- “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all.”
---<>United in praying for one another, playing together, supporting one another, helping one another as team members.
---------ILL>D. L. Moody once explained: “There are two ways of being united. One is by being frozen together, and the other is by being melted together. What Christians need is to be united in brotherly love, and then they may expect to have power.”
---<>As we go forward together to follow the Lord’s direction, there are TWO KEYS we must keep in mind:
---------a) We must be sure it’s where the LORD is leading us.
-----------------Not just our ideas, our schemes, our programs, our plans.
---------b) We are to go together.
-----------------We’re to support one another, “melt” ourselves together, and appreciate one another as we go.
6) BEING UNITED IN OUR CONFIDENCE.
------>Ph.1:6 -- “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
---<>United in trusting God’s power, which is unlimited, and His presence within us, which is unending.
---<>United in thinking big...dreaming big dreams as God directs us, putting no limits on what God can do through us.
--------->Last week we talked about how God’s LOVE is deeper than we can ever imagine.
--------------Just like the explorer Hanson was unable to measure the depth of the ocean...not having a measuring cord long enough to ever touch bottom...so too God’s love is deeper than we can ever come to the end of.
--------->This week our focus shifts to how God’s POWER is bigger than we can ever imagine.
--------------However big the task we face, God’s power is bigger than that.
--------------Imagine the greatest power you can comprehend....God’s power is bigger than that.
---------->In our weekly radio broadcast, “Can Do,” we present at the very beginning these key truths, based on our confidence in God’s power so that we CAN DO all things through Christ who strengthens us:
---------------<>If God has led us TO it, He’ll lead us THROUGH it.
---------------<>If God is IN it, we CAN DO it.
SO...let’s bring it home...
--<>Unity is a matter of being UNITED...
-------United in our consecration and concentration of growing closer to the Lord.
-------United in our cause...accomplishing through the Lord’s power the purposes He has called us to.
-------United in our commitment...a commitment to be bond servants, placing the needs of OTHERS ahead of our own.
-------United in our compassion...hurting for and reaching out to help people in need.
-------United in our comfort...comforting, supporting, encouraging one another as fellow believers and team members.
-------And united in our confidence...not in our own abilities, but in the unlimited power of God.
--<>All of that means this: We CAN and WILL BE victorious...if we’re united in pursuing His pleasure...and relying on and moving forward in His power.
