Introduction
Thank you for coming here to grace our Kickoff for this year. We are so honored to have you here. From Natomas Church, Cornerstone, Ignite , CPW, & friends of our members.
Building church or starting a church is the business of our
Lord. Matthew 16:18 says, I will build my church, (He will build it), our job
is to cooperate with Him.
Allow him to use us start, sustain & grow his church.
We did a soft Launch last year, after 1 year practicing,
learning , adjusting, tweaking, we are saying to our community, we are ready
for the Kickoff of the ministry this year. We are thankful for all of you who have come
here to encourage us, pray for us, support us, introduce us to your friends
here in our community if they don’t have a church yet or haven’t found the
wonderful beautiful relationship w/ our God & Savior, the Lord Jesus.
God wants his church planted & built mainly for 5
reasons. God knows that no matter how we live in this world w/o him, our life
will still be empty, lacking meaning, & will go spin out of control soon if
not later.
“Without God life makes no sense” - Russian Novelist, Andrei Bitov
Blaise Pascal said, “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every human being and it cannot be satisfied by any created thing or creature, only by God made known through Jesus Christ.”
Without God, life has no purpose, & without purpose, life has no meaning.
“Without God life makes no sense” - Russian Novelist, Andrei Bitov
Blaise Pascal said, “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every human being and it cannot be satisfied by any created thing or creature, only by God made known through Jesus Christ.”
Without God, life has no purpose, & without purpose, life has no meaning.
God uses the Church to helps us find life’s purpose &
meaning. Our answer to Life’s 5 greatest Questions will help us understand this
& how the church fits into our lives. So I want to share with you the
answer to Life’s 5 greatest questions.
The first question is:
1st What will be the center of my life?
Who are you going to live for? What are you going to build your life around?
A. Career,
your family, a sport or hobby, money, having fun, or many other activities. These
are all good things but they don’t belong at the center of your life. None is
strong enough to hold us together when life starts breaking apart.
B. Marriage is falling apart- hobby won’t help me, Children going astray- our possessions wouldn’t be able to help- maybe even the reason for them to go away, so busy accumulating things…., We get terminally ill ….money can just do so much, we get laid off & bankrupt... friends start to leave us. We need an unshakeable center. What or who should be at the center of our life? God wants to be …that’s why there is the command Love the Lord with all your heart…How do you know when God is at the center of your life? It starts w/ worship. You worship. When we express our love to God, we’re worshipping him…God wants to hear that.
C. Thanking Him, Just adoring Him for who he is…. The church is the vehicle, the instrument in w/c God uses to remind people to worship him
D. When people are absent from the church…who do you think they are worshipping? ..too tired, sleep; NFL, NBA, Baseball; 4 cars to clean, 5 bedroom to fix & a ton of laundry…They worship themselves, their sports, their toys their cars….
E. Inspite of the big churches here surrounding us, majority are still not in church or won’t fit even if all the churches are maxed out of their seating capacity. That’s why God wants the church….So few in this world worship him or truly worship him….
F. Throughout Scripture we’re commanded to celebrate God’s presence by magnifying the Lord & exalting his name. Psalm 34:3 says (NASB) O magnify the Lord w/ me & let us exalt his name together.”
G. When your world falls apart…God will be there with you. You’ll not be alone….
Another important Life’s question is….w/c the church
can help is
2nd What will be the character of my life?
What kind of person will I be?
A Remember we will
take our character for eternity but not our career, possessions, hobby & surely not the character of the sinful flesh. Make a
list of the character qualities you want to develop or work on.
B It is stated in
Gal.5 a contrast of 2 Characters (Own way vs. God’s way) : (Message & NLT)
The Message paraphrase NLT
Version
|
19-21It is obvious what kind of life develops out of
trying to get your own way all the time:
repetitive,
loveless, cheap sex;
a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage;
frenzied and
joyless grabs for happiness;
20 trinket gods; magic-show religion;
paranoid loneliness;
cutthroat competition;
all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants;
a brutal temper;
an impotence to love or be loved;
divided homes and divided lives;
small-minded and lopsided pursuits;
21 the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a
rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions;
ugly parodies of community.
If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit
God's kingdom.
22 But what happens when we live God's way?
He brings gifts
into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—
things like affection for others,
exuberance about life, serenity.
We develop a willingness to stick with things,
a sense of compassion in the heart,
and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things
and people.
We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments,
not needing to force our way in life,
able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.
|
19
sexual immorality,
impurity,
lustful pleasures,
20 idolatry, sorcery,
hostility,
quarreling,
jealousy,
outbursts of anger,
selfish ambition,
dissension,
division,
21 envy,
drunkenness,
wild parties
love,
joy, peace,
patience,
kindness,
goodness,
faithfulness,
23 gentleness,
and self-control.
|
C The
Beatitudes: Mathew 5
3a Blessed are
the poor in spirit … recognizing one’s
deep spiritual poverty before God
4 blessed are those who mourn … of our sin
5 blessed are the meek ...or gentle, not assertively rough to further our agenda
6 blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…pursues purity & justice
7 blessed are the merciful …forgiving bec. Christ has mercy on us
8 blessed are the pure in heart …purified of sin
9 blessed are the peacemaker … showing people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight.
10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right
D And, where can we find this lifestyle? Character? Attitudes. Rare, becoming extinct, We need to be a member of a few good men & women.
E The church will
help us become like him. People become who they worship- what or who in the
center of their life
F The word we
commonly use to refer to this is discipleship. The church exist to edify or
educate God’s people.Discipleship is the process of helping people become more
like Christ in their thoughts, feelings & actions. Starts when born again
& continues throughout the rest of his life. Not only reach people but
teach them…to attain maturity Ephes.4:12b-13.
G When people see
us, they see the Character of Jesus? Do they? We were created to reflect him?
Not our individual self, not the world, surely not Satan but mind you.
H We reflect the
image of God. A Loving, caring, God. Greatest
compliment can say about you: Kamukha mo ang Diyos
The third important question is
3rd what will be the contribution of my life?
How can you make a difference? The church is here to help us leave a lasting legacy in this world.
A The church exists
to minister to people The 2nd greatest
commandment says : Love your neighbor as yourself Each time we are reaching out
in love to others, we are ministering to them. This is what we call is ministry- demonstrating God’s love
to others by meeting their needs
B The church tries
its best to meet All kinds of needs: spiritual, emotional, relational, physical
(CDO). Jesus said even a cup of cold water (Text) given in his name is
considered a ministry & will not go unrewarded.
C What will be your
ministry/role in the Body or Church? & in the community? Do you have
one?
D It is better to
give than to receive. Do we always want to get… sometimes we think of that even
of the church. Ex. What can this church
offer me…without realizing that our
needs are met as we give to others.
E 3rd what will be
the contribution of my life? How can you
make a difference? Suggestion to you is
by being part of the church to serve one another. Ex. In Church:we can support financially,
volunteer. Ex. In our Community: newspaper is asking for…food donations,
sweaters, tutors, coaches; Cagayan De
Oro-give
If we will open ourselves to God …He will use us. Be
pro-active, seek involvement.
Another importance of the church is answering the 4th
question….
4th What will be the community of my life?
A God didn’t meant for man to live alone: The Trinity is an Example: Father, Son & HS. Live in perfect unity & harmony.
B Being in church is being part of a family. The
symbol, the Initiation the Lord used to show that is through Baptism. Baptism means to be immerse. It symbolizes incorporation into the body of
Christ. Or fellowship/ identification w/ the body of Christ.
C It says to the world, this person is now one
of us. When new believers are baptized, we welcome them into the fellowship of
the family.
D We are not alone,
we have each other for support. We are family. How will you demonstrate your
commitment to other believers & connection to the family of God.
Application: Green Communication card
E To w/c church
family will you be joined as a functioning member Christ loved the church (Ephes.
5:25). The more you mature the more you will love the Church & sacrifice
for her like Christ.
The last important question is…
5th What will be the communication of my life?
A We exist to communicate God’s word. That is our Mission in life…mission of FCC
The Commitment to share your testimony & the good news with
others. Go & make disciples This is what we call evangelism.
B The task of
evangelism is so important that Christ actually gave us in the Gospels. Before
a person leaves…or dies, we hang on to his /her last words…as very important or
crucial….
Last Ch of Mk 16:15 “Go into all the world & preach the
good news to all creation” Good news: Christ coming (C’mas), His death on the cross
& resurrection(easter), & his promised return (2nd coming)
Last Ch of Luke 24:47-48 “Repentance & forgiveness of
sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48
You are witnesses of these things… “
2nd to last chapter John 20:21 “As the father has sent me, I
am sending you…” It is more than a responsibility, it is a privilege. What a
privilege! We are invited to be a part of bringing people into God’s family.
C I don’t know of a more significant cause to give
one’s life to. A lot of cause oriented group out there…. Yes we can be involved
w/ so many causes in this world, the 99%, tea Party, Saving an animal, saving
the planet, Rotary Club, Kiwanis, fight against terrorism, human trafficking
etc etc etc. …But are we involved in God’s cause.
If you knew the cure for cancer, I’m sure you’d do
everything you could to get the news out. It would save millions of lives But you & I already know
something better: We’ve been given the Gospel of eternal life to share, w/c is
the greatest news of all!
D As long as there
is one person in the world who does not know Christ, the church has a mandate
to keep growing. Growth is not optional, it is commanded by Jesus. God may give you a special target group of people to focus
on reaching. FCC’s target- people who won’t go to…. A big Caucasian church….
In summary:
A 5 Life’s Greatest
Question suggestion: Read Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life book, this
is the source of this material with my own revision.
1st What will be the center of my life? My Relationship w/ God as shown primarily
through my Worship
2nd What will be the character of my life? The character of Jesus. I want people to see Jesus in me. The church can disciple you into His image.
3rd What will be the contribution of my life? Serving others like Jesus. Wash feet, feed the hungry, heal the sick… He ministered to others.
4th What will be the community of my life? The church is my family & I will be committed to the church, like Christ w/ His bride.
5th What will be the communication of my life? The Commitment to share our testimony & the good news with others.
2nd What will be the character of my life? The character of Jesus. I want people to see Jesus in me. The church can disciple you into His image.
3rd What will be the contribution of my life? Serving others like Jesus. Wash feet, feed the hungry, heal the sick… He ministered to others.
4th What will be the community of my life? The church is my family & I will be committed to the church, like Christ w/ His bride.
5th What will be the communication of my life? The Commitment to share our testimony & the good news with others.
B Example of NT
Christians of living this kind of life
Acts 2:38-47
MISSION
38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins…
40 Then Peter continued preaching…strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”
38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins…
40 Then Peter continued preaching…strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”
MEMBERSHIP
41 Those who believed…were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.
47b... And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.
41 Those who believed…were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.
47b... And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.
MATURITY
42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals, and to prayer.
42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals, and to prayer.
MINISTRY
43 …the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.
44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had.
45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.
43 …the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.
44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had.
45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.
MAGNIFY
46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity
47 all the while praising God...
46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity
47 all the while praising God...
C God’s purposes
for the church are also his purposes for every Christian.
As individual followers of Christ we are to use our lives in
worship, ministry, evangelism, discipleship & fellowship. The task of
bringing people to Christ & into membership in his family, developing them
into mature disciples, empowering & equipping them for personal ministry,
sending them out to fulfill their mission is the greatest purpose on earth…
D Someday each will give an account to God
regarding how seriously we took this responsibility. I have no doubt it is
worth living & dying for.
E My hope &
prayer is that you will also accept the challenge to help us achieve these
things- praying, supporting, encouraging, recommending, bringing people…. We believed God for miracles, & we’ve
expected him to use us-by grace. That is our choice.
There is no greater use of our lives.
