INTRODUCTION:
Mission Statement:
The Redeeming River Church is a family of believers committed to preaching the cross with conviction, reaching the lost with compassion, and equipping the saints with the Word!
Three results of not understanding the Mission.
1. Plateaued Growth - growth seems to reach a certain level and then drop back down
2. Internal Conflict - constant infighting caused by an ignorance of what should be happening
3. Low Moral - leaders become discouraged when structure or bureaucracy stymies their vision for growth
Definitions
1. Reaching - to make an effort to get to
2. The Lost – those who have not come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ
3. With Compassion - driven by a desire to help those who are suffering or who are headed toward suffering
I. REACHING OUT CAN MAKE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE
A. MY ARMS ARE TOO SHORT
1. Have you ever tried to reach something across the table and you just couldn’t reach it.
2. You have to say, “Could you please pass the jelly”
3. There are times when things that we know we need to reach are out of the range of our hands
4. There are times when God tells us to reach people that are out of the range of our abilities
5. That’s exactly why He chooses you to do it
6. 1 Corinthians 1:24-27
24But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
25Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
27But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
7. If you feel like you aren’t capable of reaching the mark...WATCH OUT!
8. You may be the next missionary to South America
B. MEET MY FRIEND SOMEONE ELSE
1. Illustration: OBITUARY OF THE HARDEST WORKER IN THE CHURCH
We are all saddened to learn this week of the death of one of our church’s most valuable members, Someone Else. Someone’s passing created a vacancy that will be difficult to be. Else has been with us for many years, and for every one of those years, Someone did far more than a normal person’s share of the work. Whenever leadership was mentioned, this wonderful person was looked to for inspiration as well as results: Someone Else can work with that group." Whenever there was a job to do, a class to teach, or a meeting to attend, one name was on everyone’s list- Someone Else. "Let Someone Else do it" was a common refrain heard throughout the church. It was common knowledge that Someone Else was among the largest givers in the church. Whenever there was a financial need, everyone just assumed Someone Else would make up the difference. Someone Else was a wonderful person, sometimes appearing superhuman; but a person can only do so much. Were the truth known, everybody expected too much of Someone Else. Now Someone Else is gone! We wonder what we are going to do. Someone Else left a wonderful example to follow, but who is going to follow it? Who is going to do the things Someone Else did? Remember-we can’t depend on Someone Else anymore!
2. Sometimes it is easy to let someone else do it
3. You have to do it unto the Lord...Someone else wont cut it!
C. SOMETIMES THE COOKIES ARE FOR OUR LITTLE BROTHER
1. I can’t help think of my kids
2. We have 3 children
3. One short, one shorter, and one the shortest
4. I get tickled when I watch my smallest son, the mini me as many of you describe him
5. We keep the cookies on top of the fridge
6. He use to jump up and down and whine and cry for someone to get the cookies down for him
7. My other two children just love dropping what they are doing to get him the cookies
8. It doesn’t seem rewarding for them to get someone else the cookies
9. When we help others it is not for our gain...but for the kingdom of God’s sake
10. How many of you know that you will get plenty of cookies when you get to heaven?
11. I like chocolate chip with a big glass of milk
12. 1 Corinthians 2:9
9But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
II. GOD’S GIFTS ARE WORTH REACHING FOR
A. REACH FOR THE STARS
1. Many self help courses aim to get you into positive thinking
2. They tell you that you can do anything you put your mind to
3. They say, “Reach for the stars, if you can imagine it you can accomplish it”
4. Did you know that We can reach out
5. We can do all things
6. But we don’t reach for the stars, we reach for the star creator!
7. Illustration: We Need To Give It To Master
Only the Master can turn your life around
Only the Master can sober the alcoholic
Only the Master can clean up the drug addict
Only the Master can soften the heart of a hardened criminal
Only the Master can give a sound mind to the mental patient
Only the Master can break through a stony heart
Only the Master break the yoke of bondage
Only the Master can bring strength to the weary
Only the Master can give sight to the blind
Only the Master can save your child
Only the Master can save your husband
Only the Heart of the one who died on the cross can give you the compassion you need
B. THERE ARE MANY LOST PEOPLE
1. Are You A Church Goer?
Matthew 7:21
21Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
2. Do You Have An Earthly Birthday?
John 3:6-7
6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
3. Illustration: The culture has changed the meaning of the phrase “born again”
Born-Again Doesn’t Mean What It Used To: According to University of California-Santa Barbara researcher and author Wade Clark Roof, 1/3 of American’s 77 million baby boomers identify themselves as born-again, but only 55% of those have any link to a conservative Protestant church. 50% say that religions other than Christianity are “equally good and true,” and 33% of born-again boomers believe in reincarnation and astrology. Nearly 50% support abortion. Roof says in his book Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion, “today’s born-again Christians are united by emotions and experiences, not by shared doctrines or moral beliefs.”
4. Matthew 9:37 – Jesus said
37Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
C. THERE ARE A LOT OF THINGS THAT WE CAN DO
1. We can speak in tongues
2. We can prophecy
3. We can understand all mysteries
4. We can have all knowledge
5. We can have mountain moving faith
6. We can give everything we own away
7. We can be a martyer
8. How many of you know that you have to buy gas for your car
9. You can buy nice shiny rims and blackwall tires
10. You can polish the car and buff it
11. But without an engine it doesn’t do you a bit of good
12. Why? The purpose of the vehicle is to get you from where you are to where your destination is
13. The heart of God is the engine that gets you from where you are to where you are destined to go
14. It was the heart of God that crucified His only begotten son
III. IT’S HOW WE REACH THAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE
A. WHAT ARE THE DESIRES OF YOUR HEART
1. Romans 10:1
1Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
2. Paul breathed the kingdom of God
3. Paul had a heart that cried out for the unsaved to be saved
4. His stuff died on the Damascus road
5. His life had become none of him and all of God
6. That’s why God did miracles through him
7. That’s why God used him in unprecidented ways
B. LESSONS ON HOW NOT TO REACH
1. Phillipians 2:3-4
3Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
4Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
2. When you reach you can’t think about what you are missing out on
3. When you reach you can’t dwell on what you have given up
4. When you reach you can’t rely on the rollercoaster emotions that you feel
5. When you reach you can’t look at your inabilities
6. When you reach you have to look through the thorny crown of a beaten King
7. When you reach you have to see through the eyes of the one who hung on a tree
8. When you reach you have to rely on the same power that defeated death, hell, and the grave
9. When you reach you have to remember the words of our soon coming savior when he said to Peter...
10. John 21:15b-17
15... Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
16He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
17He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
C. YOU HAVE TO HAVE SUPERNATURAL COMPASSION
1. This compassion is not something you can muster up
2. This compassion is not something you can mimick
3. This compassion is not something that is natural
4. Compassion where you love your brother more than yourself in not natural
5. Praise God...that is why it is supernatural
6. Supernatural love can breed the kind of hope needed to pray the prayer of faith for the sick
7. Supernatural love carries on its wings the power and glory of the cross
8. John 15:13
13Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
CONCLUSION:
1. You can have this love but you have to ask for it
2. The compassionate heartbeat of God can be seen in His Word
3. Allow him to endue you with power this morning
4. Ask Him for a supernatural heart beat!
