October 29 Unleash the Freedom (Acts 10)
You probably already know how they train elephants, right? Any professional elephant trainers amongst us? Well, let me tell you then. When the elephant is a baby, they let it out of the cage and tie a rope around its neck. And of course the elephant tries to just walk off, but it can’t take but a step or two cause the rope is tied to something immovable. They do this continuously until one day, they tie the rope around the head of the elephant but they don’t tie it to the immovable object. Guess what happens? The elephant feels the rope, its past experience tells them that they can’t move more than a step or two, so they don’t. They’ll stand there all day able to move and walk anywhere they want, but because there’s a rope around their neck, they stay put.
Turn to Acts 10, Page 38 in your Unleashed book (words on backdrop of a pic of the book). I hope you have your book and have been praying through it. Continue to bring it, take notes, review the notes, and listen for the Spirit of God to speak to you.
Because this is a critical time in the life of our church. God has given us a big vision to reach our community and the world for Him.
Unleashed is a two year generosity initiative that will enable us to cooperate with God to make a greater impact for Him and push back the darkness faster and better. We’re asking each of you, whether you’ve come a long while or just got here; whether you come a little or a lot, to sincerely ask God one question: “Lord, what is YOUR role for me in Unleashed?”
What if every person who called Rush Creek home had a life-altering encounter with our amazing God that elevated their surrender and faith and generosity to a new level? It would change each of us, and change our church for generations to come.
So our Primary Goal: 100% Engagement. That’s each of us, that’s all of us going on a prayer journey to be fully engaged in this great opportunity God has given us. I have been sooo encouraged by your FB comments, your emails, your conversations in the commons telling me how glad you are to be a part of a church with a God-sized vision and how excited you are to see what God will do as a result of our generosity.
We want to push back the darkness faster and better. To do that, we need to take our ongoing ministries here to a new level. We call that Unleashing the Power (build). We need to expand our footprint through mergers with existing churches that are struggling to keep the doors open and planting campuses in neighborhoods where new houses are being built. We call that Unleashing the Potential. And we need to increase our investment in missions including sending families out of this church to the hard places in the world to scratch out a toe-hold for the gospel. We call that Unleashing the People.
To do this, everyone’s generosity needs to go to the next level, whatever that is. Some of you are not regular in your giving; you need to schedule it like you do all of your other obligations and investments. Those of you who are already regular but not tithing, your next level is to tithe on the income that you get. Nothing is more biblical; nothing is more satisfying than giving God the first fruits of the abundance He’s given you. And those of you who are tithers, your next level is dying to your need to feel comfortable and secure. Financial security is an empty, unattainable goal. Many, many of you should be giving 15-20-25%. For the sake of the gospel. We can do this. We must do this.
Now this morning we continue our examination of the very 1st church.
They were encountering some problems. We saw last week that they were encountering resistance to the gospel. But there was something more insidious getting in the way of the gospel: and that was their limited perspective. Like the elephant I mentioned at the beginning, they had been tethered to a perspective that kept the gospel from being unhindered and unleashed. Listen, the following statement is as true as anything else I’m going to say this morning: The power of the gospel is often hindered and leashed because of our limited perspective.
Acts 10 has 48 verses in it so I’m not going to read the whole thing. But I do want to summarize the story and then make some important points for us to consider.
Scene 1: A man by the name of Cornelius was a commander over 100 Roman soldiers; that gave him the rank called centurion. He was posted at Caesarea by the Sea, a place when you go to Israel you visit. He was not Jewish, but he was seeking after God. And he had a vision where God told him to send somebody to Joppa about 50 miles away.
Scene 2: Opens up with Peter in Joppa on a roof. Let’s read vv.9-16 (on screen)
Scene 3: They guys that Cornelius sent show up at the house where Peter was and take him to Cornelius. Cornelius has assembled some other God-seekers. Look at vv.28-29 (on screen) Let me fill in some background here. The Jews had mistakenly come to believe that non-Jews were almost subhuman; that no self-respecting Jew would have anything to do with a Gentile; not talk with them and certainly not eat with them. I’ve run into this when in Israel: some very devout Jews, the ones you see with the hats and coats (Pic) don’t want to ride in the elevator with a Gentile, and if they get stuck with one on the elevator, you can speak to them, but they won’t respond.
So Peter is in this very unusual uncomfortable situation. He asks Cornelius how it was that he sent those guys to Joppa to fetch him. Cornelius tells Peter about the vision he had and so Peter responds in vv.34-41. (on screen) So Cornelius and his friends confess Jesus as their savior and are baptized.
Great story, right? That’s how the gospel came to us as Gentiles. Peter and his friends were freed up from a way of thinking that limited them and limited the gospel. So this morning I want to encourage us to experience an unleashing of freedom in our lives that will make a difference in us and through us. After all, Jesus said, “If the Son has set you free, you are free indeed.” Jesus
Experiencing freedom in Jesus means: (build)
Gaining a proper perspective
Peter and his friends had a limited perspective, right? They thought Jesus was just for them; that the gospel was just for them and they just couldn’t see it any other way. Would anyone here this morning say that you think that Jesus is just for you? Just for us? And yet, by our very actions or inactions, we limit the gospel because of our limited perspective.
How so? Week 1 we talked about how God called this small band of believers to go to the 4 corners of the earth with the gospel. They owned that mission. Do you? Do you feel any responsibility at all to go to the 4 corners of the earth? If not, then you believe Jesus is just for you. Have you gone on a short-term mission trip? If not, then you believe Jesus is just for you. Have you put your yes on the altar to move to one of the campuses we’re going to merge with or plant to help breathe life into it? Or better, have you put your yes on the altar to move your family to Portland or Seattle or even China or Spain to take the gospel there? If not, you really do believe that Jesus is just for you. Last week we talked about being bold for Jesus where we live, work and play. Are you inviting people to church? Are you engaging people in gospel conversations? Then you factually actually believe that Jesus is just for you.
What hinders us? (build) Fear if the unknown; fear we won’t have what it takes; fear we won’t have enough. Indifference We just don’t really care that billions of people are going to spend eternity in hell separated from God. We really don’t care that the person in the desk next to us is going thru hell here and will live in hell in the life to come. Pride We believe in our core that we deserve heaven and others do not. If we did believe that the person next to us or the kid in El Salvador or Portland deserved to hear the gospel, we’d act differently; we’d give differently.
So how do we gain a proper perspective? Every healthy motivation and action is rooted in the Bible. I dare you to study the life and teachings of Jesus. Begin with Luke 15. If you can escape that chapter without a deeper perspective of the gospel, without hearing the heart of the Father, without seeing the commitment of Jesus to reach the world, then I don’t think you’re really a saved person. So read the gospels to get a proper perspective.
Acquiring a surrendered attitude
We’ve touched on this a little bit. Peter had to surrender his prejudices, right?
Peter needed an attitude adjustment.
What is your attitude toward Unleashed? At its core, Unleashed is a concerted effort to get the Body of Christ here at RC to align our attitudes and actions with the word, the will, and the way of God. That requires honesty…and that requires humility.
You know, I used to sit out there where you are. And when my pastor talked about generosity, how I received it depended on my attitude about money. If I was in a season of feeling like my money was my money, or that I deserved to have nice things and fun experiences, or that I didn’t have enough to be generous with God, then when he’d talk, I’d get upset—at HIM! Crazy, right? He was just preaching the Bible. But when my attitude was right and aligned with Scripture, then I loved listening to him preach on generosity. Take this to the bank: your attitude toward Unleashed reveals what you believe about money. If you have an unbiblical attitude and practice with money, then you are frustrated right now. If you walked up to me and said you had a problem with Unleashed, I’d say to you, you have a problem with money. On the other hand, mature believers love talking about generosity because they know God’s generosity with them and they love talking about being generous with Him.
Our attitudes can limit us and bind us or they can allow us to experience freedom in one of the most difficult areas in our lives as 21st century American believers.
Taking a step of faith
Peter acted on faith and Cornelius and His gang heard the good news. Cornelius and his gang believed the gospel and were saved. The kingdom of God advances through faith.
Nothing is more difficult to trust God with than our finances; our comforts; our pleasures. But Jesus is calling each of us to get out of the boat and trust Him that He will not just take care of us; that He’ll do above and beyond all that we ask or think.
This applies also to every area of life. Stepping away from an addiction. Staying in a marriage. Overcoming depression and anxiety. We are to live by faith, not by sight, right?
As we prepare for Commitment Sunday November 12th, my prayer is that you are praying; that you are listening to these messages and reading the word of God to get a proper perspective, that you will adjust your attitude to comply with Scripture, and whatever you commit to that Sunday, that it is a huge step of faith.
