Changing the Climate
Part 8 of 8
USE IT OR LOSE IT
The last 7 sermons I have preached have been based around a scripture from ACTS 1:8
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
When I read this scripture, I saw it as a challenge for myself in the first instance to be a person that changed the climate that I was in. I no longer wanted the people around me to affect my attitude, stance, and commitment to God, but rather, I wanted the power and presence of God in me to change them.
I believe that as Christians that is our right! Jesus promised that we would live and abundant life – and to me that means one of focus and purpose and passion and excitement; He promised that He would send us a Helper and a Comforter; and He promised that we would be endued with power from on high when the Holy Spirit comes upon us SO THAT, we will be witnesses of Him.
Is it too much to ask for these promises to be fulfilled in me NOW…TODAY?
We are coming to the end of another year and I want to ask you a question.
v Are you happy with what you have done for the Lord this year? I’ll rephrase that.
v Have you grown in God this year?
v Or, have you been effective in your walk with the Lord this year?
v Or, are you still struggling with the same issues today as you were this time last year?
v Or, has your walk with the Lord become complacent?
v Or, ??????
No matter how many times I rephrase the question, it will still be the same challenge. My, your, our faith in Christ is supposed to be having an affect on this world. Is it?
Read ROMANS 12:1-2 from the Message translation.
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.
Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Last Sunday morning, Colin Callagher had a heart attack. It wasn’t on his calendar, he had other things planned for the day! None of us knows whether we will be alive this time next week! The tragedy is that we act as if life was certain and death uncertain. But the reality is life is uncertain and death is certain. And the question is what are we going to do with our life today?
I know it’s hard to stay passionate about something for the long term in a society that is built around obsolescence, instant coffee and microwave dinners. But we are called by God to be committed for the long haul; to work through strife and struggles together; to not be conformed to this world system.
The reason I’ve called this message ‘Use it or Lose it’ is because every older person in this room understands what that means! WE MUST USE WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN US!
Have you ever taken notice of what happens in a marathon? When the race starts, there is a burst of energy as those running rush to get ahead of the crowd and out of trouble from the others around them – they don’t want to be tripped up right at the start. Then there is a time when you get into a rhythm and you pace yourself. But guess what happens right at the end of the race!!! Once again, there is another burst of energy. You do not want to cross that finishing line with enough energy left in you to run a lot further!
So are you willing to push yourself to the very limit for the sake of Christ? Are you willing to risk all for Him? Are you willing to trust Him in ALL THINGS?
ARE YOU WILLING TO TAKE A RISK?
One of the things that I have noticed myself doing as I have got older, is to become less willing to take a risk……… just in case I fail. It gets harder to stay young when you get old!
And yet scripture is full of mighty men and women of God who were risk takers. They trusted God!
2 SAMUEL 10:1-12
Context: King David sent an envoy to another king out of concern but this other king thought it was a trap and so humiliated the envoy by cutting off the beards of all the men in the group and then hired some mercenaries to fight against the Israelites.
And so now Joab, the Israelite commander found himself surrounded by the armies of the Arameans and the Ammonites, so he split his army in two and said this:
2 SAMUEL 10:11-12 And he said, "If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come to help you. Be strong, and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and may the LORD do what is good in His sight."
JOAB TRUSTED GOD. He knew that God was in control and that regardless of the result, this was God’s will for him. Joab didn’t know what the outcome of the battle was going to be, except that the result was God’s will.
Queen Esther was another person who took a risk for the purposes of God. The story goes like this:
Context: Here is a woman who was God’s plan to save the Jewish nation, she just didn’t know this at the time!. The king was tricked by one of his advisers, Haman, to send out a decree that meant all of the Jews would be killed. Esther’s uncle, Mordecai, asked her to go before the king and plead for the people. But Esther knew that if she approached the king without being asked, she could be executed. But she also knew that her people were at risk too. And so this was her reply:
ESTHER 4:16 "Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish."
Esther didn’t have some divine revelation from God to do this. She didn’t know what the outcome was going to be but ESTHER TRUSTED GOD. She knew that God was in control and that regardless of the result, this was God’s will for her.
Another example from the OT is found in DANIEL 3.
Context: Nebuchadnezzar was king and he built a golden statue of himself and commanded everyone to bow down to it when the trumpet blows. But Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego couldn’t / wouldn’t do that – they would only bow down to God. And so they get thrown into a furnace.
DANIEL 3:16-18 Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."
Did they know how this would turn out? No! THEY TRUSTED GOD. They knew that God was in control and that regardless of the result, this was God’s will for them.
And in the NT we all know that to be a Christian was very definitely one that involved risk. And even in many parts of this world today, becoming a Christian is no less than signing your own death certificate!
I suppose too that for many of us here today, becoming a Christian was not an easy thing to do. It meant having to admit that the way you were living your life WAS wrong. It meant you had to face up to some of the things that you had attempted to hide not only from other people, but those things that you have tried to hide from yourself! It meant taking a huge risk.
But growth ALWAYS involves an element of risk.
v A little child risks injury when learning to walk.
v A young child risks hurt when learning to ride a bike.
v A young person risks hurt when attempting to make new friends at school.
v A young adult risks hurt when choosing to go to university as they step out of their comfort zone.
v An adult risks hurt when they stand up for what is right instead of going with the crowd.
v A retired adult risks damage when they attempt to ride a bike again!
But an exciting, passionate, fun filled life is one that involves risk.
In October when David Brett preached here he said that it is very easy to give a testimony of what God has done in or through someone else, but if we want our own testimony of what God has done through US we must learn to trust God more.
So what stops us from being risk takers?
Apart from our fear of failure or our doubts, I think the main one is what has been called
The Enchantment Of Security
Do you understand what I mean by this? We can become so secure in our own things and our own abilities, or believing that this is how it’s always been done, that we lose the need to become/stay reliant on God!
PROVERBS 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight (successful).
The world constantly tells us that success is having ‘stuff’ but the Word of God tells us to trust in Him TOTALLY is success.
So when was the last time you said, ‘OK, I’ll give it a go!’ or ‘Bring it on!’
Now I am not telling you to tempt danger just for the sake of it. But if ACTS 1:8 is going to be outworked in your life, then you must be willing to take a risk; to put your complete trust in God.
I know it is not easy
v To stand on a street corner and witness of God’s grace and mercy.
v To knock on a door and talk to a total stranger about Jesus.
v To put your last dollar into the offering.
v To give ‘stuff’ away.
v To lay hands on the sick and pray for them, especially if that person is not a believer.
v To go in the opposite direction everyone else is going.
v To stand up for the underdog at work.
BUT IT IS THE WAY TO SEE GOD MOVE IN YOUR LIFE!
In LUKE 10 you can read how Jesus sent out 70 believers.
LUKE 10:1 Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them two and two ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.
I’m sure you know the story. They came back rejoicing that even the demons were subject to them in Jesus Name.
But remember, that was not the important part of the exercise! Having your name written in heaven is FAR more important.
Will our efforts always be without problems?
No! We would all consider Paul to have been successful and yet he was whipped, stoned, beaten, ship-wrecked………etc
Does God truly supply all of our needs?
Yes He does. The thing I am learning though is that sometimes what I think are needs are actually wants and God doesn’t promise to supply all my wants!!!!!
Can I do all things through Christ?
Yes, I can. NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD! NO WORD OF GOD IS VOID OF POWER!
How can I be so certain? Because I have seen His hand move in the little areas in my life and so I have NO DOUBT that He will be there for the big things too!
YES we can change the climate.
YES we can have a positive affect on the people we work with, socialise with, and live with.
YES we can do some incredible things for God.
We just need to grasp hold of His promises to us and exercise our faith.
EPHESIANS 3:20-21 Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
This morning, I know that there are a number of people who need prayer. I know that many of us are at a crossroads and are not too confident about the next few months ahead. I know that some people here have been asking God for an answer for some time.
Shimal – her word for Mike & Paula?
Opportunity to exercise some of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
