What America Needs
Extending your Arms
July 01, 2011
INTRODUCTION
In this last week I did a little survey on line of all for signs of all the things that America needs. It seemed like America needed a lot.
America needs fatima
America needs revival
America needs fewer taxes
America needs more jobs
America needs Good jobs
America needs universal health care
America needs books not bombs
(Some I didn't understand)
America needs lame comedy
America needs a hockey mom
America needs Indians
America needs a cowboy
America needs you (but I guess not me)
America needs a clean environment
America needs better schools
America needs school choice
America needs prayer in schools
America needs the Ten Commandments
America needs leaders not politicians
America needs the church to really be the church
America needs a balanced budget
America needs less debt.
According to the summer programming schedule on TV, I guess the only thing America doesn't need right now is talent.
So into this morass of ideological pontifications I had decided to dare to do share message on what America really needs. I'm excited about
Because if you've been in church a long time than this will either be one of two things for you today. For some I have no doubt that it will be an encouragement, a reminder that how they have chosen to live their lives matters and is making a difference. But I am sure for some who have been in church for a while that this thought will be a wakeup call; a reminder of what their allegiance to Jesus the Forgiver was meant to produce in their lives.
If you haven't been in church for a long time I also think that you will be encouraged. You see I believe this message gives a clear picture of what our lives are intended by God to be like and that portrait is compelling and worth pursuing.
& WHAT AMERICA (AND BY EXTENSION THE WORLD) NEEDS MOST IS FOR THE CHURCH TO TRULY BE THE CHURCH.
1 Peter 2:11-12
The Message (MSG)
11-12Friends, this world is not your home, so don't make yourselves cozy in it. Don't indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they'll be won over to God's side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.
For the church to be the church we must learn to live like pilgrims.
Friends, this world is not your home,
Pilgrim -- a traveler: one who travel through foreign lands
Passing through, On Journey, Enroute.
When I'm traveling I want to get there. It is the end goal.
We don't settle down in route.
Imagine being in route Tempe Arizona, and in you got as far as Newton Iowa on I 80. Imagine stopping at the days in outside of town and just staying there. Not for a weekend, not for a festival, imagine just settling in and never leaving. You go once a week to a AAA and get new maps and new coupons to use between Newton and Tempe, but you never use them. You start going to a local travel agencies programs on how to make the most out of you move your journey. There great, you never miss one, after all you're a traveler. You are in route. But I wonder what the housekeeping at the Days inn thinks.
After all you've been living there for days, weeks, months, and your life doesn't look much different that hers. She sees you at the store, at the park, in restaurants, around town. You don't look like a person living to get to tempe Arizona.
Peter reminds the church that this world is not our home, don't get too settled into it.
so don't make yourselves cozy in it.
Appl: To live a s pilgrim is make decisions that matter for the journey we say we are on.
For the church to be the church we must remember that life is not just about us.
We are incredibly fortunate. All of us. We live in a prosperous land where we get to celebrate freedoms like the right to gather, the right to worship, the right to disagree with each other.
Today nearly 3 billion people will eek out an existence on less than $2. In America the Median the middle of the road individual will "get by" on 20x that amount. Not a few of us of us are a part of the two income prosperous Americans that get by on $55 or more per day. It's not wrong to be so fortunate, but Peter warns us not to indulge our ego at the expense of our soul.
Outside of the United States 11% of all children born will die before age 10. In the States .8%
In this country where we have been so fortunate, we have made our prayers about our comfort, our health, our ease, our wealth.
Appl: And America needs the Church that knows how to pray than it's own indulged ego.
For the church to be the church we must learn to live in a way that draws others to God.
Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they'll be won over to God's side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.
12 Live such good lives among the pagans (people that doubt he is or reject his significance) that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. NIV
Jesus defined it this way
Salt and Light
Matthew 5:13-16
13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14 "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
The exemplary life is one lived in such a way that what we do leads to God getting glory.
Salt and light wil always be reflections of his glory and love.
Matthew 22:36-40
36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Appl: Selfless acts of love done for God and others is what America truly needs
CONCLUSION:
So what does America really need? The church living as it was called, pilgrims living for his glory, extending their arms of love.
Do you see you self living as a pilgrim? Is it reflected in the decisions that govern your life?
What's all about for you, his glory or you, your needs your wants, your desires.
If your neighbor never reads a Bible is your life a compelling enough witness to draw him to Christ.
It's what the world needs, the living vibrant church marked by his love.
Jars of Clay, recent released an old chorus, arranged with new life. It's words remain a confirming call for each of us.
They know we are Christians by our Love. Jars of clay
Over the next weeks we are going to explore what it means to live as the vibrant church, extending its arms of love. None of us has got this all figured out yet. No perfect examples. But together we can become a more vibrant church living the call together. Join us for the journey.
