Faithfulness brings clear Vision
Have you ever considered how far faithfulness could take you?
We show up at our jobs each day, not always seeing what our faithfulness is creating for our futures, but yet we intrinsically, (on the inside), know that it is building a stability, or a platform, for our futures.
We go to church each week, sometimes not realizing the character, power, and stability, not to mention testimony that our faithful actions are producing – not only in our lives, but also in our families, our neighborhoods, communities, and in lives throughout the World.
Have you ever considered that faithfulness to your local church
can touch lives throughout the World?
It does; and as you take in this message today, my prayer and hope is
that you will understand why. In fact, I pray that your understanding of
faithfulness will profoundly change today!
Faithfulness is a spiritual is a spiritual law that when activated, produces tangible evidence
in our lives.
With every person who has accomplished something great in the world, or in the
Church, you will find that person was faithful to something.
Their mark of greatness began with, and continued through a lifestyle of faithfulness.
William Bradford, one of the most influential founders of America, left an incredible legacy of
Christian ethics and political leadership that began with a seemingly small act of faithful church
attendance. His life exemplifies Luke 16:10 (KJV), “He that is faithful in that which is least,
is faithful also in much.”
Orphaned at a young age, William Bradford attended the Puritan church, having to walk 8 miles
to attend every service, and endured beatings each time. He became a powerful influence in
the church and in the political field due to his faithfulness. He chose to leave the harshness of
the continual persecution of the Church of England, and relocated to the America’s.
By his own choosing, he left his son in Europe, lost his wife during the trip on the Mayflower,
and was weighted with much of the administrative and organizational work involved in the
voyage on the Mayflower, all to ensure the freedom of religious worship that he so longed for.
Bradford went on to assist in drafting the Mayflower Compact, which is the first civic law of
what would become the United States of America.
It is an understatement to say that William Bradford’s life influenced scores of people. His
political and administrative skills were the foundation on which the U.S. was built. His
courageous sacrifice in the pursuit of religious freedom is the backbone of freedoms that
many nations enjoy today. His perseverance and vision still inspires many to reach their
dreams and their visions.
My point in telling you all this? The characteristics of William Bradford were developed
during his early years, when the only control he had over his life was a steadfast faithfulness to
his church.
Contemporary English Version Pro 29:17,18 If you correct your children, they will bring you peace and happiness. Without guidance from God law and order disappear, but God blesses everyone who obeys his Law.
1965 Bible in Basic English Pro 29:17 Give your son training, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your soul. Pro 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people are uncontrolled; but he who keeps the law will be happy.
English Standard Version Pro 29:17 Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart. Pro 29:18 Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.
Good News Bible Pro 29:17 Discipline your children and you can always be proud of them. They will never give you reason to be ashamed. Pro 29:18 A nation without God's guidance is a nation without order. Happy are those who keep God's law!
Faithfulness and Vision – How do these blend?
Easily. Without being fully committed (faithful) to what you know is your destiny (vision), you will NEVER, EVER accomplish ANY THING OF VALUE.
Your adventure will be a long, painful, waste of energy, talent, and ability, not to mention a great waste of time for those, if any who follow.
Read through Number 32:1-13 – then share – Moses was given the ‘vision’ of the house, to get his people out of the bondage they were in and take them to ‘the land of promise’. He encountered challenge after challenge during that 40 year span of time. It would have taken only a short time to accomplish the journey, had there not been so many dis-envisioned people along the way.
How this fits in to us is….We must remember Proverbs 29:17 and 18 that speak of the direction of the house, and the discipline or the instruction of the children (this can be children of all ages), and the promise that accomplishment of the ultimate goal, or the dreams and visions of this church will be realized, and we will be truly able to “Get the Culture back to the Cross, by getting the Cross of Jesus back into our Culture!”
CHECK THIS OUT! - Helen Keller when asked how it felt to be blind said, "I'd rather be blind and have a vision than to be able to see and not have a vision."
Michael B. Regele, author of “Death of the Church” – is quoted, “The church’s inward focus is a grave illness.”
Plugging it in:
FACT: There is a Great Chasm, (a gulf, a separation, a great distance), between our Culture, and the realness of what the church should be.
It is NOT the Culture’s fault that the chasm is there. It is the church’s fault. The problem has come about from the thinking and actions on the same line as Michael B. Regele’s quote from above: “The Church’s inward focus is a grave illness.”
This is where we come in: From the beginning of the dream to begin a new ministry, some 10 plus years ago, to the active Vision for Cross Culture Community Church today, March 14, 2010 I have held the following to be true.
The ONLY reason that I stand before you today, the only reason that I will EVER stand before a group of people is due to the fact that The Lord pressed into me the gravity, the importance, the passion to develop a Body of people into the understanding and the truth that there is a divine need to turn inside out, and truly focus on the harvest of the lost as well as developing those within!
• To turn away from the foundations you say? NO
• To forget what got us to where we are? NO
So, what’s the problem? We need to assess what it is that we are doing.
I don’t want to be just another ‘church’ down the street, that is focused on itself, and not on and in the community that it resides. Do you?
To bridge this Great Chasm, to bring our Culture to the Cross, we have to take the initiative to build “A New Bridge” into the Culture: Listen to the following ‘Bridge building’ story.
In 1851 many of the most accomplished engineers in the country thought James Roebling was out of his mind. That year Roebling began to work on the unthinkable: the bridging of the Niagara River Gorge.
Disaster was nearly universally predicted. There was, of course, the sheer mathematics of the thing; 825 feet across, and –more terrifyingly – 200 feet down. Straight down. As in a plummet you couldn’t even dream in our worst nightmare.
But the numbers paled in comparison to the sheer power and raging terror of the place. Roebling’s proposed site was just upstream from the great Niagara Falls, where up to 37.4 million gallons of water per minute fell into the Niagara Gorge. From there the rushing water had cut a deep abyss with a series of savage rapids before ending in a tremendous whirlpool held in a massive rock basin. A no-man’s land.
Across such a chasm, Roebling believed a train could cross.
History was not a powerful ally. Although greater spans had already been bridged – including Roebling’s own bridge across the Ohio River—the Niagara River posed fierce difficulties: No girders or bridge supports, provided that they could even be constructed, would ever survive the raging current. The only possible solution, to Roebling, was a suspension bridge.
And that was what had people worried. At the time, suspension bridges were about as well regarded in the engineering profession as the Edsel would be in the early automotive industry—disasters in the making. They shook in the wind, and after a few years they twisted and crumbled into the waters they were designed to span. In England and France suspension bridges had collapsed under the mere weight of crossing humans, killing hundreds. In America a number of small suspension bridges – mostly for the movement of livestock—had collapsed, including one over the Licking River in Covington, Kentucky.
When Roebling first proposed a suspension bridge across the great Niagara Gorge, it came as no great surprise that most people were putting their money on the Gorge, not the bridge.
The Chasm was simply too great, too terrible.
Is the Chasm that separates the church and our culture too great – is it too terrible to cross?
NO!
We the church, MUST build this bridge to our culture to reach, to connect with, to rescue the lost!
• Let us worship now, for we are gathered to worship and to prepare to BRIDGE the GAP!
• Let us receive the Word today, as we prepare the Building of the Bridge!
• Let us praise our God, For he is the equipper, the enabler, the chief architect and the contractor that will teach us to span the great chasm that exists between the Culture and the Cross!
• Then, let us cross the bridge and reap the harvest of souls in our city!
ON Friday, March 16, 1855, the first train crossed over. Put together especially for this purpose, it was far heavier than most trains—the engine weighed twenty-eight tons, and it pushed twenty double-loaded cars. A few days later, a passenger train, packed to capacity and beyond, also made the journey, this time from Canada to the United States.
Roebling harbored a quiet but deep satisfaction. He reveled in the opening of such great commerce, but even better, the separation that had long existed between two strong countries had been spanned. He was pleased with the harmony, economy, grace, and soundness of its structure. But most of all, he revisited its elemental purpose. “No one,” he wrote to his family, “is afraid to cross.”
The impossible became possible. A keeper of his faith, Roebling was NOW BELIEVED.
Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12).
As we turn to face the Great Chasm, can we believe Christ?
What kind of impact do you believe today’s church is having on our culture?
How does the community around you “know” your church? Do they feel a positive connection with it?
What tangible influence is your church having on the community?
Plugging it all in - Our faithfulness to the ministry of the Gospel will help build this bridge to our Culture, into our communities, leading others to the Cross of Jesus!
IN our worship, we express our devotion and our thankfulness, and we acknowledge the sovereignty of God Almighty, as well as open ourselves to receive of His Word as it should be applied to our lives. When we faithfully worship, we help develop the purpose(s) God has for us!
Christ is speaking to the woman at the well, not about physical water, but addresses her Spiritual thirst:
Joh 4:19 The woman said, "Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.
Joh 4:20 My ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say Jerusalem is the only place to worship."
Joh 4:21 Jesus said to her: Believe me, the time is coming when you won't worship the Father either on this mountain or in Jerusalem.
Joh 4:22 You Samaritans don't really know the one you worship. But we Jews do know the God we worship, and by using us, God will save the world.
Joh 4:23 But a time is coming, and it is already here! Even now the true worshipers are being led by the Spirit to worship the Father according to the truth. These are the ones the Father is seeking to worship him.
Joh 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship God must be led by the Spirit to worship him according to the truth.
Joh 4:25 The woman said, "I know that the Messiah will come. He is the one we call Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
Joh 4:26 "I am that one," Jesus told her, "and I am speaking to you now."
Humanity is constantly seeking something to worship. As I have expressed before, all humanity will worship something.
• All people will worship something.
• At all times, we are worshipping something, or someone.
• What is it that you, and those around you are worshipping?
o Our jobs
The Fruit of our labor?
• Our finances
• Our STUFF?
o Our families
o Or, our Creator?
In our training, we express our desire to become more like Christ in disciplining ourselves to be teachers and followers of His Wise instructions. Faithfulness here will bring us to a clear ‘vision’ or understanding of His Divine Purpose for us individually, and corporately!
Proverbs 1:7 Respect and obey the LORD! This is the beginning of knowledge. Only a fool rejects wisdom and good advice.
Proverbs 1:8 My child, obey the teachings of your parents,
Proverbs 1:9 and wear their teachings as you would a lovely hat or a pretty necklace.
Proverbs 24:5 Wisdom brings strength, and knowledge gives power.
Daniel 2:20 "Our God, your name will be praised forever and forever. You are all-powerful, and you know
everything. Daniel 2:21 You control human events-- you give rulers their power and take it away, and you
are the source of wisdom and knowledge. Daniel 2:22 "You explain deep mysteries, because even the
dark is light to you.
And, when we use what we learn in our training, we live out these truths:
KJV James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and
upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
CEV Jeremiah 29:11 I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD. They are plans for peace
and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope.
When we are faithful in these things, and we begin to apply them in our lives, both in and out of the church, we can trust that the Bridge is being built over the Chasm of separation between our Culture and the Cross!
We can make, not a difference, but THE DIFFERENCE in people’s lives. We are to make THE impression on them that will change them forever!
We need to impress the power of this song on their lives:
I know that I can make it: I know that I can stand: NO MATTER WHAT MAY COME MY WAY, MY LIFE IS IN YOUR HANDS!
Imagine what would happen….better yet, imagine what will happen, when the Culture GETS THAT TRUTH!
I know that we can make it, I know that we can stand!
NO matter what may come our way, Our lives are in your hands!
OH MY GOD! C4’s destiny is to impress this INTO OUR CULTURE, but we cannot do it until we embrace the reality of this for ourselves! OUR LIVES ARE IN GOD’S HANDS!
Hebrews 10:25 Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord's coming is getting closer.
Let’s not become as those who have forgotten the importance of the church!
Remember when you had first begun as a Christian???
Hebrews 10:32 Don't forget all the hard times you went through when you first received the light. (AND BEFORE YOU RECEIVED THE LIGHT – ADDITION BY SJN)
Hebrews 10:33 Sometimes you were abused and mistreated in public, and at other times you shared in the sufferings of others.
Hebrews 10:34 You were kind to people in jail. And you gladly let your possessions be taken away, because you knew you had something better, something that would last forever.
Hebrews 10:35 Keep on being brave! It will bring you great rewards.
Hebrews 10:36 Learn to be patient, so that you will please God and be given what he has promised.
Hebrews 10:37 As the Scriptures say, "God is coming soon! It won't be very long.
And, also know that as we reach out to those who don’t have a safe haven, reach out to those who are searching for a place to become, that we will have the support of the Lord:
Isaiah 40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator
of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
Isaiah 40:29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
Isaiah 40:30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
Isa 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as
eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
I know that we can make it, I know that we can stand!
NO matter what may come our way, Our lives are in your hands!
It may look like an insurmountable obstacle, knowing your friends, and knowing your family, and your workplace, but you’ve got to know, you’ve got to embrace that YOUR LIFE IS DIRECTED, your life is ORDERED, your life is DESTINED and PURPOSED to change lives! YOU ARE IN HIS HANDS!
Be strong and confident that you can do it, you can make it, and you can bring others with you!
Your Faithfulness to God will propel you to clear vision in what specific ministry He has prepared for you!
