Submission
Vision Sunday • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 2 viewsNotes
Transcript
What it means to Submit. What are different things we are to submit to. What should it look like.
Intro
Humanity would often like to take a glimpse into the future to see what is in store for them, maybe get a glimpse into future lotto numbers so as to amass a fortune so they would not have to worry about money anymore, as if money would solve all of the worlds problems. A while ago there was an app that was all the rage that was called oldify I think. It came out that apparently the Russians where using it to steal information from people, but I didn't care I was curious. It too a picture of you and aged it so you could see what you where going to look like when You where older. I was one of those that wanted a glimpse into the future of what I might look like and the picture surprised me. It made me look like my grandpa I have been told.
Recently we just went through together what the plans are in the future of the church, to get a glimpse into what we could become in the future if we continue to follow the will of God in our lives. . The goal of which is to help each other grow. One of the things that spurs us on to do what we are doing is the direction God is calling us to go. This is something that we went through a while ago with a lot of prayer and discussion, something we also went through as a church as well. Where we are going and why we are doing it. This is something that is exciting to think about, the possibility of what it is we could become if we continue to follow the will of the Lord in all of the things that we do.
As Christians we can look into the future, we get a glimpse of what the end of the story where we read that the pursuit of money is useless, the pursuit of worldly gain is useless but what is of use to us following God and His will for our lives. For that is the only thing that is going ot matter in the end.
So with this in mind, we look to what we are doing here on this earth as a body of Christ, why are we here - our purpose, what are we doing - our mission and what will it look like if we accomplish this here on earth. I want to look into what we believe we could become if we follow what God has called us here to do. This is something that we can get excited about, that should bring us joy and peace, it is something that we should strive to do.
I have gone through aspects of this already but seeing as we are going into a new ministry year I thought that it would be a good reminder.
Why are we here - Our purpose
Why are we here - Our purpose
I want to start with a little bit of a reminder of why we feel God has called us here and What We feel God has called us to do. and rest assured, this does come out of the word of God. Our Purpose:
At Cornerstone, we exist to glorify God as we love each other and make disciples.This and the core values which guide us basically come out of the commands that Jesus has passed down to us, so these things should be no great news to you now.
first and foremost we start with the idea that we are glorify God in all things, the gospel is not about you or me but about God. so many passages there are about Glorifying the Lord God in all that we do. We will stick tou one today given to us by Jesus.
Matthew 5:16 (CSB)
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
You see, our goal in the sharing of the gospel is so that all people, ourselves included will glorify God in all that they do. This is the beginning of why we are here, our purpose we see begins with Glorifying the Lord God in all we do.
Loving one another though it is an easy enough concept is a little more broad of a topic. We look to the example of Jesus and How he loved us.
“Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.
Throughout the bible we see this, that we are to love each other. This is another part of why we are here, but again this is a broad subject.
When Jesus loved us, He loved us enough to not leave us where we were at but call us to more. call us to be more, call us to Him. This love is sometimes seen in when He disciplines us to bring us back to Himself. But the point is that Love sometimes is hard work. To love someone isn't just going along with what they are doing, when they are doing wrong. To love someone means that we will not be okay with them living a life away from God but at the same time loving them also means being willing to show grace and forgiveness and build relationships with others.
There is so much to this, as we love each other ti works into the next aspect of why we are all here, discipleship.
Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Love and discipleship go hand in hand.
We love others, we love fellow followers of Jesus for the sake of discipleship. We are told we love others because Jesus first loved us and made us one of His own. Our job, our goal in loving others is not just for the sake of Love, the world teaches the same thing. We do that because what Jesus taught us is so important, so vital, so life changing that we need to tell others, we need to make disciples. If we do not do it for the point of making disciples then what are we doing here? This must be our goal, why we do what we do.
What are we doing - Our Mission
What are we doing - Our Mission
Next we move to our Mission. “What are we supposed to be doing?” “What does God want us to accomplish while we are here on Earth?” The mission of the church is practical and focuses on people. help us decide what we should do, but they also help us determine what we should not do. We can’t do everything. But is this a biblical thing? Of course it is, we are told in the Bible what we are to be doing this statement just uses what we value as a church, our people we are working in and puts it into a statement that helps guide what we are to be doing.
Our Mission:
…to worship God together while sharing God’s love as His disciples in our community
This echoes what we just went through, the great commission. We used what we see as core values to guide us in this. One of the things we went through while we did this is what we value as a church. and based on this we feel what we are supposed to be doing starts with worshiping together.
This brings with it many facets that go alongside our purpose. When you get into what this means there is so much to it that it would take time to go through it. Because of who God is and what He has done for us and for the world. We have been going through this in the Psalms. What we are here for begins with worshiping the Lord God as the body of Christ.
Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous ones; praise from the upright is beautiful. Praise the Lord with the lyre; make music to him with a ten-stringed harp. Sing a new song to him; play skillfully on the strings, with a joyful shout.
For the word of the Lord is right, and all his work is trustworthy. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the Lord’s unfailing love.
The next two parts of what we are doing here run together as well, taken from the great commission and the teachings of Jesus.
Again the idea of sharing the love of Jesus, which we are called to do by the way, is more then just being nice to people. It runs along with the idea that we are to be teaching them what it means to follow Jesus.
I was thinking of this the other day and what it means. I figured it comes down to three things that are involved in the act of discipleship, what it would look like to actually do this.
Worship Together, Equip Each Other, Send Them Out
What we are here to be doing as we worship together is to help equip each other. Worshiping together and loving one another is helping each other grow. That is why we strive to have adult ministries here, so we can help each other grow in a more intimate setting. But it does take sacrifice on our part.
so we equip each other to grow closer to Jesus and then the next step of what we are here for is to go out and repeat the process with those that do not know Jesus. This is the scary part.
What we could become - God’s vision
What we could become - God’s vision
Lastly, we have the vision of the church. Vision describes what “SUCCESS” in the mission looks like. If we are successful in the mission of our church, then the vision describes what our church will look like.
Our Vision:
…to see God’s heavenly will being done through love, service, discipleship, and submission.
This is what I wanted to focus on today, but I had to go through How we got here. Again something to remember is that this is not a man made idea that we have been going through. It is all taken from the bible put into a form that is easy to remember. These are all things we are to be doing anyways. Looking to the future is something we should be excited about. It starts with seeing the heavenly will of God being done through us.
This is something that everyone struggles with trying to figure out. But as children of God, the closer we get to God, the closer we align ourselves with Him the easier it is to discern His will.
Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Essentially this is what it means to follow God’s will. To deny ourselves, take up the cross of Jesus and follow what He taught us to do.
Love serve and discipleship we have gone through already, the beginnings of what they look like. But the idea of what it would look like to be successful in this is exciting to think about. To be a people that loved as Jesus loved, strived to follow the will of God, served with all the gifts they have been given.
We try to do this but we fail sometimes. But if we where successful in what God has called us here to do, this is what we would start to see, a people that would seek to do this together.
The hard part is the one word at the end. God has called us here to Submit as well. But who are we to submit to?
We are to be a people that thinks of others before themselves. This is a type of submission. We are to submit to God above all else. We are to submit to the elders of the church the very role of elder or overseer is an office of authority.
An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
Obey your leaders and submit to them, since they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.
This is not to blindly follow, there are rules about holding them to account, and how they will be held to a higher account when they go to see Jesus as well.
But the point is that God has given them a role of authority in the church and we are to trust them to lead as they Seek God. We don't like to do it though sometimes as humans because it goes against the way the world teaches.
Can we also become a people of submission to God, to one another as we serve one another, to the leaders God has placed over us that we have entrusted to lead and guide the church? To see a people willing to do this and follow these things, imagine what we can accomplish together if we allow ourselves to become a people like this
So What?
I love going over this and the reason why I wanted to do it again is as a reminder. We are starting off our ministry year again when everything starts up and we sometimes wonder if what we are doing is really making a difference. The this guide us, the great commission, what God has called us here to do. This is meant to get us excited about what we could possibly become if we all followed God’s purpose and Mission for our church. There are a few things that I want you to remember out of this.
Think strategically
Think strategically
We know what God has called us to do. We are here to Glorify the Lord God as we worship together. We are supposed to make disciples in all that we do so that means that we will be equipping each other to follow the Lord God and then going out and teaching others what it means to follow Jesus.
But our time is limited, our days are limited. To think strategically is saying to be wise, I can only do so much in the time given so how can I do the best with what I have been given for the Glory of the Lord.
doing the best we can with what we have been given
Look ahead with anticipation
Look ahead with anticipation
Look what we could become if we are successful in what God has called us to do. Think with Joy. But know it is not going to be easy for it means that we are going to be going against what the world thinks, what our natural tendencies are. But look with anticipation on what it could mean to follow God’s will, What He will do through us.
Let us work together for the Glory of the Lord this year as well follow His will in anticipation of what it will look like when we strive to do all we can to do what God has called us to do.