Title: Life in a Box
Text: Acts 1:8 and Romans 12:1
Theme: New Life in Christ
Key thought: Life as we know it would change if we truly believed that Christ is the answer for our world.
I have here a box.
My question is this: are you living life in a box?
Or are you living life outside of a box?
Before you answer: let me state that I am not referring to your style of dress or music and whether or not it is mainstream.
I am referring to the way you see God and His purpose in your life.
Life as we know it would change if we truly lived the belief that Christ is the answer for our world.
“Lessons from Coca-Cola”
Before dying of lung cancer several years ago, Roberto C. Goizueta was chairman and chief executive officer of the Coca-Cola® Company. The total value of Coca-Cola® stock rose from $4 billion to $145 billion under his leadership.
Mr. Goizueta’s leadership transformed the company from a conglomerate with many interests to one that concentrates solely on selling soft drinks. He put distribution ahead of advertising gimmicks. Placing Coke® “within an arm’s reach of desire,” meant making sure the vending machine at the gas station was a Coke® machine.
Mr. Goizueta radically restructured Coke’s® global bottling system. He challenged employees to search for global expansion opportunities. Coke’s® executives talked about capturing stomach share and said the most undeveloped market was the human body. Their 1995 annual report noted that consumers drink 64 ounces of fluids every day and Coca-Cola® products account for less than 2 ounces.
“This is a very simple business,” Goizueta told a reporter in 1991. “Each day we must make Coca-Cola® more acceptable, more available, more affordable to more people in more situations than the day before. Success largely depends on our ability to make Coca-Cola® impossible for the consumer to refuse.”
Goizeta’s successor, Douglas Ivester, began working for Coke® in 1979. When he took charge of their North American operations in 1994, he decided to prove that there is no such thing as a saturated market. He took a trip to nearby Rome, Georgia, where the average resident drinks at least 3 Coke’s® a day, the highest per capita consumption in the world. Mr. Ivester noted that even in the belly of Coke® territory, many places didn’t sell Coke®. The point was simple: “If you could boost Coke® consumption here, you could do it anywhere.”
Though widely seen as shy and soft spoken, Mr. Ivester showed a fierce competitive streak in his first major speech to the soft-drink industry. He proclaimed: “I stand here before you not pretending to be some grand statesman, but as I really am to most of you - your competitor - I want your customers. I want your space on the shelves. I want your space of the consumer’s stomach. And I want every single bit of beverage growth potential that exists out there.”
Now that is PASSION!!!
There are several things we can learn from Coke.
What is the difference is between the vision of the Coca Cola Co. and the church?
The Coca-Cola® story is important because of its essential mission: to put a Coke® in the hands of every person on earth.
The church’s essential mission is to put the Gospel of Christ into the hearts and minds of every person on earth.
How are we doing?
Great in some places, Not so great in others. There is room for improvement in all of us.
Some 70% of the world still does not know Christ as their personal Lord and Savior!
1) The first thing we can learn from Coke is to set a big goal: for everyone we personally know to have a chance to meet Christ
Wow! Too big a goal?
Our friend from Coke stated once: “If you take risks, you may fail. But if you don’t take risks, you will surely fail. The greatest risk of all is to do nothing.” ~ Robert Goizueta
Too big a goal? Jesus doesn’t think so: Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Our mission statement straight from Christ Himself.
Hear me close, I am not suggesting that it is your job to win the whole community or your whole workplace for Jesus.
I’m saying, make a difference in those you know – impact those you already have influence with and see what happens.
This of course is not just with words, but with actions, attitudes, decisions, everything we do, someone is watching us.
Get outside the box of small thinking and limited understanding of God and set a big goal, don’t settle for less than the complete work of God in your life and in the lives of those around you – it is His will
2) The Second thing we can learn is, Coke got rid of all their unnecessary interests and focused on their one main objective.
They were into shrimp farms, industrial boilers, and even movie production; none of these things has anything to do with their objective of putting a Coke into every person’s hand on earth.
What are you focused on?
Sports?
Music?
CSI or ER?
Who is dating whom and why?
Celebrity Gossip?
Work?
What you in-laws said this week?
Or are you focused on the things of God and seeing His purposes fulfilled?
I am not at all suggesting we be weird or freaks going around with our heads in the clouds on some spiritual trip.
I’m talking about being focused on the greatness of God and all He has for us in our inner stuff and in the everyday stuff of life.
About getting beyond a limited thinking of success and realizing that significance is more important.
Success says to get ahead at any cost and measure yourself by what is obtained.
Significance is about impact and making a difference for the positive in someone else that is lasting.
It is about living up to the design of the Creator and being who He intends for us to be
It is time that we began to focus in on what it is we have been purposed by God to do and get rid of anything that hinders or distracts us from what is real.
For instance, God has called me to be a pastor.
As such, it would be wrong for me to pursue a career as a lawyer.
Not that being a lawyer is evil (though some may argue that), but for me it is wrong, because it would hinder me in achieving my objectives and goals as a pastor.
Of course, there are some pursuits and interests that are pure evil. Most are obvious: drugs, alcohol, pornography, etc. Some are less obvious: gambling, occults, etc.
God has called each one of us to a specific purpose and given us each the talents and abilities needed to live that out.
He has also called us all to see that those we have contact with hear about Him and His love and they have an opportunity to respond.
Anything that hinders either of these should be cut out of our lives.
For some this will require changing the way you think a little or a lot.
Just as the Coke executives began thinking and talking different so should we when we truly commit ourselves to fulfilling God’s purposes for our lives.
God even addressed this in Romans chapter 12: “[1] Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God --this is your spiritual act of worship. [2] Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is --his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
3) The third thing I want us to look at is something Mr. Goizueta said about their strategy.
”This is a very simple business,” Goizueta told a reporter in 1991. “Each day we must make Coca-Cola® more acceptable, more available, more affordable to more people in more situations than the day before. Success largely depends on our ability to make Coca-Cola® impossible for the consumer to refuse.”
That is how the gospel should be.
No one should be able to refuse it because of the way it is presented to them.
Guess how that is? You & I.
We are the way the world sees Christ and His Gospel.
Scary?
Then change what needs to be changed.
Just as Coke is not satisfied with yesterday’s successes, neither should we be satisfied with what happened in and through our lives spiritually in the past.
Each day is a new chance, a new opportunity to grow closer to God, to learn more, to grow stronger.
Each day is also a new opportunity to find even better ways, more creative ways, to present those in our circle with God’s love for them.
We must make today better than yesterday!
The Speed-the-Light theme for 2006 is “One Life, One Chance”
The logo is simple – the dash represents the one life we have each been given, the end points are beginning and end
Time happens once and it happens fast – we all have only one shot at life. We might get second chances at situations, but only one life, one chance overall.
The last lesson from Coke is - Passion.
Again, from what I read a moment ago: Though widely seen as shy and soft spoken, Mr. Ivester showed a fierce competitive streak in his first major speech to the soft-drink industry. He proclaimed: “I stand here before you not pretending to be some grand statesman, but as I really am to most of you - your competitor - I want your customers. I want your space on the shelves. I want your space of the consumer’s stomach. And I want every single bit of beverage growth potential that exists out there.”
What changes do you suppose would happen in the lives of people in our communities if we had this kind of unbridled passion for taking Christ to those we see everyday?
I would venture to answer that if we had Mr. Ivester’s passion for Coke in our lives as passion for souls, in short time, our communities would be different.
Bars would start to close down because of lack of business,
The jails wouldn’t be as busy,
Schools would no longer teach evolution or hand out condoms,
Carenet pregnancy center wouldn’t be overwhelmed with girls needing help,
Crime would drop.
You think I’m crazy? Let me ask… How big is God?
We cannot ever dream too big when it comes to the things of God!
God is bigger than our wildest dreams and has even more in store for us than we can imagine!
He does not fit into the comfortable and small little box that we can so easily find ourselves living in.
If we have the passion and live the life that proclaims we must make God impossible for people to refuse – change will happen!
Miracles will take place!
“Our Sunday morning routines certainly haven’t left the world standing in awe of our God.” Andy Stanley
Meaning, we can’t rely on the fact that the doors of the church are open to cause people to experience the reality of God.
We must go and take God to them in new and creative ways, with passion and zeal and live outside the box.
“If you take risks, you may fail. But if you don’t take risks, you will surely fail. The greatest risk of all is to do nothing.”
~ Robert Goizueta
Life as we know it would change if we truly lived the belief that Christ is the answer for our world.
Altar -
Salvation
Need to get rid of things in life that are a hindrance.
Want God’s passion and fire to ignite your heart
