Jet lag after the Japan trip was intense. Having the whole family go through it really threw our home into chaos. Then we were hit with the holidays. Which are great of course but require lots of extra time commitments. So its been a while since I last posted.
Here at least are my sermon notes for part one of "Accelerate - Advancing God's Kingdom in Our Lives." Its the January series for New Day Community Church, Kalamazoo. I introduced it last week, but this message is really the first part of the series. Hope you are blessed by this!
Accelerate – Advancing the Kingdom
of God in OUR Lives
A series about understanding what
WE (individually and as a church) are called to
How to see it happen, and how to
Accelerate, speed up, the things of the Kingdom!!!
Last Week we looked at Christ's Command
Matthew
6:33 NKJV
But
seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these
things shall be added to you.
Jesus
clearly told His followers what their priorities should be based
upon
Hebrews
11:6 NKJV
But without faith it
is
impossible to please Him,
for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that
He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
“Diligently
seek” = to search
out,
that is, (figuratively) investigate,
crave,
demand,
... worship:
- en- (re-) quire, seek after (carefully, diligently).
A
form of the same word that Jesus used.
Not
a passive acceptance
But
a passionate pursuit
Faith
is a gift
Ephesians
2:8-9 NKJV
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of
yourselves; it
is
the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
This
is undisputed. Nothing we could ever do could atone for sin –
our ability to accept forgiveness because of the death of Jesus on
the Cross, having faith and believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and
Savior is a gift.
But
an overemphasis on what God has done can lead to an underemphasis
on what God calls us to do.
Actually
it is a misunderstanding of the result, or outcome of what God's
done
God's
free gift doesn't just bring us out of sin – it brings us INTO
His Kingdom
Colossians
1:13-14 NKJV
(13)
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us
into the kingdom of the Son of His love, (14)
in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins.
And
look at the next verse in Ephesians
2:10 NKJV
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Grace
and faith doesn't exempt us from doing things
It
means that our works are the fruit, the outcome, of what God has
done, the response to being in right relationship
Not
a means to right relationship, or a way of earning God's favor –
but the result of being in God's favor.
It's
KINGDOM living
Heb.
11:6 Defines faith with three key things:
There
are Things we can do to ACCELERATE the Kingdom in OUR lives
First:
Believe that it is possible, even our responsibility to hasten the
day...
2
Peter 3:10-14 NKJV
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which
the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will
melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it
will be burned up. (11)
Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of
persons
ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, (12)
looking
for and hastening
the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be
dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent
heat? (13)
Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and
a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (14)
Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be
diligent
to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;
Peter
asks a question. In the NIV, it reads like this:
2Pet
3:11NIV
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people
ought you to be?
His
answer is:
“Looking
for and hastening” NKJV, literally means living in anticipation
of, and “to speed” or “urge on.” the coming of the day of
the Lord.
“Be
diligent” in verse 14 is a different word than that we read of
earlier in Hebrews.
Here
is literally means, “to
use speed”
to
hasten, make haste, to
exert one’s self, endeavor,
The
Bible challenges us to live expectant of, and in preparation for,
the Lord's return
That
we can actually “SPEED UP” the manifestation of Christ's return
I
believe that this works two ways:
This
refers the the “Now and Not Yet” nature of God's Kingdom
We
can speed up His Kingdom NOW, in our present life
We
can see Christ salvation, His healing power, His freedom from sin
and the curse, His power to transform people, families,
communities, nations – NOW!!
It
also means that we can make quicken His final return – when He
comes to rule and reign and puts an end to all suffering and sin
and pain.
Matthew
6:10 NKJV
Your
kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it
is
in heaven.
Jesus
told us to pray this
This
is not a prayer that confesses passive acceptance
It
is a command for fulfillment – a calling out, intercession for
God's Kingdom to come
When
we pray the next line, “Give us this day our daily bread” we
don't want or expect that to be fulfilled in some figurative sense
– we are asking for food.
Likewise
when we pray for Kingdom Come; Will Be Done – we should expect
to see it, touch it, experience it.
This
applies to each of us as individuals
And
to New Day as a church – and to the church world-wide.
Secondly:
Know the Season
Just
as there are seasons in nature, there are seasons in life, and in
the dealing of God
Know,
be aware of the season
In
your life, in the life of those around you
In
the church, in your community and the world.
Seasons
Natural seasons point toward spiritual seasons in our lives
Matthew
16:3 NKJV and
in the morning, 'It will be
foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.'
Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you
cannot discern
the signs of the times.
God
can change the season
You
can change the season
John
14:12 NKJV "Most
assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I
do he will do also; & greater works
than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
Last
Feb. in the worst winter storm of the year, Kathie and I changed
season... we sat down, waited a few hours, and stepped out into 80
degree weather
We
just had to change our position
Likewise,
you can change your season OFTEN/NOT ALWAYS by making a change in
or to yourself – you don't have to fly to Cancun – but you
have to change
Romans
13:11-14 NKJV
And do
this, knowing the time, that now it
is
high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is
nearer than when we first
believed. (12)
The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast
off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
(13)
Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and
drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. (14)
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the
flesh, to fulfill
its
lusts.
“It
is high time to awake out of sleep”
Romans
13:11 NLT
This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is
running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we
first believed.
Now
is the time...
2
Corinthians 6:2 NKJV
For He says: "IN AN ACCEPTABLE TIME I HAVE HEARD YOU, AND IN
THE DAY OF SALVATION I HAVE HELPED YOU." Behold, now is
the accepted time; behold, now is
the day of salvation.
To
accelerate the Kingdom of God in OUR lives we must:
