INTRO>In 1985, Michael J. Fox, played the part of teenager Marty McFly, and Christopher Lloyd starred as Dr. Emmit Brown, a weird scientist who invented a time machine placed inside a remodeled DeLourian. Produced by Stephen Spielberg, “Back To the Future,” won the oscars for best effects and best sound editing, but its greatest effect was how it affected our culture and way of thinking.
--The premise of the movie is that everything we do affects the future...and that premise is actually true.
<>Just as what you’ve done in the past has affected where you are now, it is imperative this morning that we understand that everything we do in the days and weeks immediately ahead will impact our future.
--And since it is not possible to freeze time and always remain exactly where we are, what is important is that we know how to make good decisions, and engage in the right kind of actions so as to positively impact the future.
--So, today, even as we look back, I want us to focus our attention to the future...BACK TO THE FUTURE.
I invite you to open a Bible and turn to Philippians 3.
........................
--Let me say that with today being our last time together as a church, and in an effort to give you time to express your thanks and best wishes today, I’ve changed my approach dramatically in preparing today’s message.
--It will be a message deliberately different from most I’ve preached at Desert Springs...
--->Shorter (please hold down the applause).
--->Simpler.
<>I want it to be easy to remember...because these truths will be not only true for the immediate future as we all make decisions about a new church, etc., but these are truths I hope you will remember for life.
--It’s a message I’ve prepared with one question in mind: If you could only remember one message I preached, what would it be?
Well, here it is...
.........................
<>FOUR SIMPLE TRUTHS TO REMEMBER AS YOU FACE THE FUTURE...
--Using the acrostic, L-I-F-E, here’s what I believe God’s Word teaches us to remember and practice...
<>LEARN from the past, but you can’t live there.
--Ph.3:13-14 -- ”...one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on...”
---ILL>I visited a man in the hospital once and his family was so sad...they had just discovered their grandpa had entered into dementia. How they knew it was because he was “locked in” to the events of 1965, he kept thinking it was 1965, and it was 2005. He kept holding on to things that happened forty years ago...how sad.
---ILL>The same is true, though, when I see a 45-year old lady dressed as a 16-year old would dress...or a 50-year old man in the middle of a mid-age crisis, driving a flashy two-seater red sports car and wearing a toupee, trying to desperately to recapture his “glory days” as a young man.
->You see, it’s important that we keep moving ahead.
--Yes, things will change, but the only thing that doesn’t change is something dead.
--Yes, change is scary, but it’s also necessary, and change can lead to new opportunities to see God up-close and personal.
->The right idea is seen in the apostle Paul’s life...
---Paul had learned a lot and had accomplished a lot in his past.
----He was a student of Gamaliel, a Pharisee of the Pharisees.
----He was a vigilant pursuer and persecutor of believers.
----He was on the “fast track” to becoming the high priest or the leading rabbi in Israel.
->However, after he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, everything changed for Paul, and he embraced the change.
->In his letter to the Philippians he explains how he had no desire to live in the past...but to press on to the future.
--Ph.3:13-14 -- ”...one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on...”
APP>In other words, don’t be a demented believer, “stuck” in trying to live in the past over and over again.
-->Your past mistakes?...Let them go!
----Don’t keep beating yourself up for your errors in judgment in the past.
-->But also your past successes...Let them go!
----Don’t keep on trying to re-create something that happened in the past.
->Learn from your past, but don’t try to live there.
<>INVOLVE yourself in serving others.
--Ph.2:4 -- ”do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”
--Mk.10:45 -- ”For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
->Our mission as believers will always be the same...even when we’re going through a difficult time.
->God has left us down here on earth for the primary purpose of telling others about Jesus, and ministering to people in need.
---And it is, in fact, when we’re fulfilling our purpose that we experience the joy and peace that comes from our relationship with Jesus.
---I’ve discovered that when I involve myself in serving others, God helps me see my own problems in perspective, and that they’re not nearly as bad as I thought...and I come away all the more confident that He will meet my needs.
---I’ve also discovered that I am the one who receives a blessing when I reach out and try to be a blessing to others.
---ILL>Every time we’ve gone to Nogales on a mission trip, I have come away so thankful for all that God has given me...It helped me see things in perspective as I was surrounded by people who literally had nothing.
---ILL>Every time I’ve ministered to folks at nursing homes, leading worship services there, I’ve come away have been blessed by the folks I went to go and be a blessing to.
-->This year our theme was “OTHERS,” focusing on how we can reach others for Christ, ministering to others.
-->That emphasis should still be ours, each one of us...even when and especially when we face tough times of our own.
-->Our mission hasn’t changed...we’re still His messengers, His followers, His disciples, His “hands” to help others.
<>FOCUS your full attention on Jesus.
--Ph.3:10 -- ”that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”
->Three verses before Paul wrote about the one thing he was going to do: forgetting what lies behind and pressing on to what lies ahead, he tells us what has taken place of his former pursuit for personal recognition and success: his main ambition and his full attention was given to knowing Jesus...knowing Him better and better.
->The same instruction is given to us by the writer of Hebrews...
--Heb.12:1-2 -- ”Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.”
---It’s the picture of a track meet, an enduring race, where the winner will be the one who ran without encumbrances; such as focusing on the past, or focusing only on ourselves, or even focusing on what the other runners are doing.
->Similarly, Paul’s idea of “pressing on” has the same emphasis: giving it our best...reaching for the finishing line...looking at Jesus, fixing our eyes of Jesus...giving every ounce of our being to pleasing Him, worshiping Him, praising Him, obeying Him, and following Him.
---It’s the very heart of what it means to be His disciples, His follower.
---LYR>We sing it around here a lot: “I’m coming back to the heart of worship, ‘cause it’s all about you, Jesus.”
->To win the race of life, we need to have a single focus...our attention, our focus is to be on Jesus alone.
->Our standard of comparison needs to be a single one also...and again, it’s Jesus.
---It’s not whether we’re better or worse than someone else, but how does our life compare with what Jesus called us to do and be?
It’s not whether or not the church we attend engages in a traditional or contemporary style of worship, the question is do they exalt Jesus, and not the worship service itself, or the worship leaders, or the pastor?
->We’re to learn from the past but not live there, involve ourselves in serving others, focus our full attention on Jesus, but then, finally, we are to...
<>EXPECT great things.
--Jn.1:50 -- ”Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.’”
--Jer.29:11 -- “’For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.’”
->One of the truths we’ve emphasized around here is that God is bigger than the hour.
---LYR>One of my favorite songs says, “There is no problem so big God cannot solve it, there is not mountain so tall, He cannot move it. There is no storm so dark He cannot calm it, there is no sorrow so deep He cannot soothe it. If He carried the weight of the world upon His shoulder, I know, my brother, that He will carry you.”
---LYR>Another, a little older, says it this way: “Many things about tomorrow I don’t seem to understand, but I know Who holds tomorrow, and I know He holds my hand.”
->None of the events of the past weeks and the closing of our doors has caught God by surprise...none of this has changed His plan for you and for me.
->It’s the beginning of a new chapter in our lives, but He’s still in control...and He holds the future.
<>It will be a grand future, because God has great things in store for us...He’s promised us great things:
-->He’s promised to meet our needs...so long as we’re seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness.
----Mt.6:33 -- ”But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.”
Ph.4:19 -- ”and my God will supply all your needs from His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
----The “these things” Jesus was talking about was food, clothing, housing.
----Our heavenly Father knows what we need, and He’s promised to provide it.
-->He’s promised to give us wisdom in our decisions...so long as we truly believe, and don’t doubt Him.
----Ja.1:5 -- ”But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
-->He’s promised us a home in heaven...with Him...so long as we’ve accepted Jesus as Lord down here.
----Jn.3:16 -- ”...for whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
----Jn.14:2-3 -- ”In My Father’s house are many dwelling places...for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”
<>Today is a difficult time in many ways, as there will probably never again be a time on earth when all of us will be together in the same place at the same time.
->But, as Christians, we know it’s never “good bye,” just “see ya later,” because we WILL be together again in heaven.
Bringing It Home...
->Today is the beginning of the rest of our lives.
->I want to encourage you and challenge you to have a great life...
--->LEARNING from each adventure in life, but never living in and/or dwelling on the past.
--->INVOLVING yourself in serving others...and in so doing, you’ll be glorifying God and will experience His peace.
--->FOCUSING your full attention on Jesus...on loving Him, serving Him, worshiping Him, obeying Him, pleasing Him. following Him, trusting Him, emulating Him, and allowing Him to mold you, shape you as He desires.
--->EXPECTING great things...because He’s promised not only eternal life, but life abundantly down here too.
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He shine His face upon you and grant you peace. Amen.
