“For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, or they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.” 1 Thessalonians 1:4-10
How amazing would it be for us to be described in this way? to be described as a model church for the entire region? a church whose faith in God is known everywhere? A community who has helped lead multitudes to turn from idols to the true and living God. How great would that be?
Don’t you wish Paul would have expanded on the methodologies of the Thessalonian church? Wouldn’t it have been great if 2 Thes. were a manual that told us how to reproduce that particular model? But
Paul doesn’t tell us anything about their structure, their methods, their systems, or their programs, but he does tell us a great deal about the essence of this church.
“We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father, your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Thessalonians 1:2-3
Here Paul gives us an inside look into the hearts of the Thes. believers. They were a church that was ignited and fueled by faith, love, and hope.
I believe we must become convinced that the key to an awakening lies w/in the power of these 3 spiritual essences.
So much so we @ FOCUS* have built our identity around just that:
A Community of Faith, Love, and Hope
For us to create that atmosphere w/in FOCUS* we must
construct them in each of our lives - to be people who live by FAITH, people who known by LOVE, & people who are a voice of HOPE!
How do we do that?
I.TO LIVE BY FAITH
What does it really mean to live by faith?
________ OBEDIENCE ________________
Faith begins w/ God speaking and materializes when we respond. We have primarily related to “faith” as a noun, rather than a verb. The church tends to live by “the faith” more than it lives by faith. The goal for us is to become a doctrinally sound people w/ a growing knowledge of the Bible, rather than to live in this space of “limbo” waiting for or on God.
Sure there is a time and a place to be still b4 the Lord as He speaks guidance into our lives but,
the starting point of living by faith is recognizing that God has revealed so much of His will that we have plenty to live by w/out ever hearing another word. Some things in life, we simply do not need to pray about right?
When God has spoken and commanded His people, praying sometimes becomes a way of resisting or putting off God’s will, rather than a way of responding to it.
A church begins to live by faith when it's people move the things God has clearly said into the non-optional category.
What are some of the non-optional things
God has called us to do? (table talk)
______PRAY, READ, SERVE, WORSHIP,
FELLOWSHIP, EVANGELIZE, ETC..._____
we don’t need to pray about whether we should pray... serve...evangelize.. list goes on and on...
The church, us, you and I are called to be a living expression of faith. When a church lives by faith (walking in obedience to what God has already said), then it’s people prove that God can be trusted - others will see it in your life.
We are to be people who live by FAITH, it’s a verb!
II. To be known by LOVE
"Love others as much as you love yourself." Matthew 22:39
Love is a romantic word. More songs have been written about
love than any other subject or word in the world. Would there
even be a movie industry w/out love? There is an entire genre
called romance novels because people so desperately long for love.
Yet as much as we talk about it & claim to build our lives around it, love is actually a rare commodity. Most of what we call love falls into other categories: from like to lust, “I love your shoes” or
“I love “The Simpsons” - from passion to possession. “I love the Houston Astros” or “I'd love to own that car” - We have been so inundated w/ love imitations that we've become blind to what love is really about.
In the end How does love manifest itself?
In Sacrifice
Jesus told us the way the world would know we are His followers is if we love one another.
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
John 13:34-35
To be known by LOVE.
We see love in sacrifice.
How do the relationships that we are involved in grow?
In Sacrifice.
We turn away from our own selfish wants and desires and we sacrifice what we may want to do, or where to go, or where not to go – WHY?
It is purely done out of love.
Notes from an anonymous journal:
Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a
hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering
from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes, I'll do it if it will save her." As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheek. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?" Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save his sister.
Now that’s Sacrifice. That’s being known by LOVE.
In John 15:13, Jesus gives us the practical expression of love. He says, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Ofcourse, Jesus was speaking of his own death, explaining that his sacrifice would be the ultimate expression for the love of all humanity.
The church erupted out of an act of love. It shouldn't surprise us
that the church only moves toward God when it is fueled by love.
Listen... in a world of imitations, real love draws a crowd. It stands out. It is undeniable. It is defining.
That being the case, What is the practical expression of love? Servanthood
It is impossible to come close to God and not have love overwhelm you. And when we realize that the practical expression of love is servanthood, love begins to change everything about your relationships. In fact,
this is the one amazing things about God: He loves to serve.
In John 13 when Jesus tied a towel around his waist and began washing his disciples feet, this was not an extraordinary act for God but right in line with who He is. Jesus Christ was a servant. He was doing nothing more than expressing the serving heart of God.
“... the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve...” Matt. 20:28
People matter to God, so... People matter to us.
I have made the mistake of passing judgment on others.
Have you?
We tend to make these armchair assessments of who God has use for and who He doesn't.
Jesus made it clear of the value each person has a # of times,
but one that stands out for me was a conversation He had on the cross.
Luke 23:32-43
32 There were also two criminals led out with Jesus to be put to death. 33 When they came to a place called the Skull, the soldiers crucified Jesus and the criminals -- one on his right and the other on his left.....
38 At the top of the cross these words were written: this is the king of the jews. 39 One of the criminals on a cross began to shout insults at Jesus: "Aren't you the Christ? Then save yourself and us." 40 But the other criminal stopped him and said, "You should fear God! You are getting the same punishment he is. 41 We are punished justly, getting what we
deserve for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong." 42 Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." 43 Jesus said to him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
Think about this – while they were hanging on crosses one of them launched into a verbal tirade.
The other thief opened his eyes to what was really happening –
he realized in a short amount of time he was about to face eternity, and he was painfully aware of the kind of life he had lived. So he yells to the other criminal to SHUT UP! Can't you see what's goin on here –
we deserve to die but this man doesn't.
He looked to Christ and said
"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." in essence he was saying, I know this sounds like a silly question, but could somebody like me, who has committed the sins I've committed, who has not exactly been a great guy, I have treated people like garbage at times, could somebody like me, still
matter to anybody?
What did Jesus say? Without hesitation, He assured this man,
“You matter far more than you can even imagine. And because of your faith and you tender spirit, you'll meet up with me a little later today in paradise, where we'll be together for eternity.
Sometimes it tough to comprehend that kind of compassion,
that kind of love. But that's exactly what God wants us to be like –
He said it is that kind of love that will show people you are my followers.
It is that kind of love that marks you as a follower of Christ.
Whenever we are known by love, God's reputation is intact.
When people see our love and sacrifice for others it shows that this is real.
It shows that "Christianity" is legit. What do people think and say when we dont show God's love towards others - when were only concerned about ourselves, when we expect everyone to just fall right in line with us -
They think were hypocritical and phoney's.
When love erupts in the hearts of God's people,
they become the servants of a lost and broken world.
And the world will see
May we be known by LOVE
III. To be a voice of HOPE
Every believer in Christ knows the meaning of Hope. Every Christ follower knows what life was like before their encounter w/ Jesus. We can look at our lives of the past and look at our lives now in Christ and see Amazing Grace, Amazing Love - and our lives now are filled w/ hope, b/c of the gospel, the message and life of Jesus Christ.
We understand that a Christless world is a hopeless world. At the same time we seem to forget that a Christ-filled world is a hope-filled world.
Somehow we’ve lost the mandate given to us by God to stand in a desperate world and offer hope.
What is the Gospel? Good News
We know that, we teach it, but we often do not communicate it as good news. When we speak the gospel of Jesus Christ, we seem to somehow get logjammed around the message of sin, damnation, and hell - no wonder so many people feel that the church has nothing but bad news to tell.
(video - "real christian of genius")
The gospel, as given to us by Jesus, is supposed to be good news. Jesus himself said, I have not come to condemn the world, but to give the world life.” John 3:17; 10:10
(world beats us up)
What would happen if people heard the message of Christ as a message of hope and not a message of judgement?
The message of Christ and the need for repentance are inseparable, but even in that, the Bible is clear in how we are to relate to people.
The Apostle Paul reminds us that it is the loving kindness of God that brings us to repentance - we are to speak the truth in LOVE - it is a message HOPE! The best indication that we are communicating the gospel effectively is that broken,
sinful, and despairing people receive it as a word of good news.
I think it’s important to remember that the people Jesus continually offended were the religious.
Sinners seem to warm up to Him quite easily.(why)
The gospel, in it’s essence, is a message of hope to a world full of despair.
A great story in the life of Jesus is in John 8, where the
religious leaders confronted Him, wanting to condemn an adulterous woman. Look at how Jesus when others tried to force Him into meanness, would not allow it. If there was ever a perfect opportunity to bring down the wrath of God on a sinful woman, it was right then. And yet from that encounter w/ this woman caught in adultery, thrown down before Him, we have some of jesus’ famous words - watch this
“Where are they?” “Who condemns you?” She stood there almost dumbfounded, astonished, maybe almost paralyzed over what just happened, it begins to settle in on her,
“no one”
Jesus revealed the heart of God when He told her He didn’t condemn her. He simply said, “Go and sin no more”
This is an important guide for each of us.
We are God’s voice of HOPE
stats - 200 mill. m,w,c lost in Amer. today
closer to home - 7 out of 10 you know lost
Those who have known nothing but condemnation and shame will find a new beginning in Jesus Christ.
God's Message:
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD,
"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give
you hope and a future. Jer. 29:11
The natural outcome of being connected to God is being optimistic about the future. When this permeates a biblical community, optimism and enthusiasm prevail in the church. The church of Jesus Christ is always looking forward. It
always believes in the promise of tomorrow and is never overwhelmed by the difficulty or even failure of the present.
This should be one of the markers of a New Testament community - We are to be a voice of hope b/c we are a people of hope.
A follower of Jesus Christ has no excuse for pessimism.
God has called us to be a Voice of HOPE
Who do you know that needs to hear that?
who needs a shot of hope injected into their lives?
Faith, Love, and Hope are not just foundations or pillars; they are wellsprings - It is our identity our DNA
The deeper the church digs these wells, the more rich and
resilient they become.
For us to create that atmosphere w/in FOCUS* we must
construct them in each of our lives - to be people who live by FAITH, people who known by LOVE, &
people who are a voice of HOPE!
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