Making First Things First

This morning we will talk about the Core Values of LifePoint Church. This may be one of the most important things that we discuss because it answers the question: Who are we?

Aubrey Malphurs now deceased was the senior professor of leadership and pastoral ministry at Dallas Theological Seminary stated that “core values are important to the ministry because they make clear the reason the church does what it does.” He went as far as to say core values make the church distinct, determine what is important, influences overall behavior, inspires people to action, and shapes its character.

Lyle Schaller, one of the foremost consultant of church consultants stated that, “the most important single element of any corporate congregational, or denominational culture, however, is the values system.”

Values help us make and keep the main thing, the main thing. It is what we are passionate about, what we feel is biblical, right, true, important, and priority. They help us resolve problems and maintain unity.

To hold any kind of values we must realize that people may have different values. That’s okay! That doesn’t mean that everyone else’s values are wrong; they are just different from our’s. To be happy and productive you must be part of a church that holds similar values. I think our values, however, should be set and weighed by scripture.

If you have your Bible with you this morning please turn with me to Acts 6:1-7. This text is a favorite to go to when speaking of deacons. But, in actuality it is the first conflict of the church with its values. It could have been the first division of the church and a huge distraction from the mission of the church. Listen to this passage:

Acts 6:1–7 NKJV

Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.

The Biblical Example

Someone help me. In the first phrase in verse 1, what good thing is taking place?

I love the word. “The church is multiplying.”

Why? They are excited and united under the command of Jesus to take make disciples of all nations. They have zeroed in on this mission. If we look in Acts 2:42-47 they are teaching, preaching, fellowshipping, breaking bread, and baptizing.

However, there’s a problem. What happens?

The Greek speaking Jews complain against the Hebrew speaking Jews because they are being treated a little less important.

I want to say this is a real problem. The Hebrew speaking Jews felt that they were a little more Jewish than the Greek speaking Jews.

The solution was deacons right? They would see to the care of the widows and make sure no one was missed.

Here is the big question however. Why were deacons appointed to this task?

The apostles and the church had to keep its focus on the core values of the church. The commission of Jesus could not be sidelined by an important but secondary issue. The focus of the church had to remain on the command of Jesus. The priority of Jesus must be the priority of the church. Listen to Acts 6:4

Acts 6:4 NKJV

but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

What was the result of this focus?

Acts 6:7 NKJV

Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.

What could have been the greatest distraction became a great increase.

Listen to Aubrey Malphurs again: “While the church is vision focused, it is values driven. Values are like the engine on a ship. Just as the engine drives the ship to its destination, so the values drive the church toward a particular destination or mission.”

What are Core Values?

Constant

Passionate

Biblical

Core Beliefs

Drive

Constant — Our core beliefs are something that doesn’t change easily and we constantly go back to for evaluation.

Passionate — We don’t just believe them intellectually, but we embrace them with our heart and soul. We put our energy behind them.

Biblical — For the church and Christian these values must be Biblical. They call us back to the Word of God. The world or business is not our example.

Core beliefs — These values are convictional. We believe they must be part of our mission.

Drive — they inspire us to a mission. The lead us to the mission of the church. They lead us to a goal.

Our Stated Values

If you look in the Starting Point booklet on page 8-9 you will see our 3 stated values.

God-Centered Worship

To state this in the simplest terms possible we want the audience of our worship to be God.

I was first recognized the conflict of this value in me. I went to a church to fill the pulpit. It was a beautiful, new building. It had comfortable seating like our sanctuary. The people were sweet and friendly. To the side of the platform there was a lone piano, and there was a lone music minister. To be honest with you I can’t remember what they sang because I was not prepared to worship and probably had no business trying to preach. All I could think about was how I was not gonna be able to worship God like that.

I’m gonna tell you as I sat there with my scrutiny, the Spirit of God smote my heart. I felt God speak to me and say Louie, these people are giving me the best that they have, and it is a sweet smelling sacrifice to me, and somehow it is not good enough for you! I realize in that moment that I wasn’t worshipping God, I was worshipping myself! I was committing the worst of idolatry — self-worship. I repented of my selfish ambition and worship has changed for the better for me. I come in trying to join into worship.

Worship is us singing of God’s worthy, but also it is shutting ourselves and the world out and focusing on God through:

Song

Teaching of the Word

Lord’s Supper

Baptism

And giving

The call of worship should be Psalms 115:1

Psalm 115:1 NKJV

Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy, Because of Your truth.

This time should be the one time during the week that we forget about ourselves, our cares, our desires, our wants, and be refreshed by the Shepherd of our Souls — Jesus.

Do we believe in our core that God is worthy of this?

Gospel-Centered Ministry

I think I said this last week but we believe in the power of the Gospel Romans 1:16

Romans 1:16 NKJV

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

I want to tell you something. We have a group of people here that love sharing the Gospel. Every Bible study, event, occasion or opportunity the Gospel is shared. Friday, me and Lannie were talking and I said you know we may need to teach on some other subjects at New Horizon and then share the Gospel within that context rather than evangelize every time. The truth is however I love the evangelistic zeal of our people. They genuinely want to win Elizabethtown to the Lord. Not to be successful or renown, but to be faithful, loving, and restorative.

Our ministry will be centered around the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

When we began at New Horizon we stated that we will be unapologetically Christian and share the Gospel in everything that we do.

This week I had the privilege of being entrusted with the memorial of a co-worker wife. They shared with me all the different features that they would like to see in the service and I gladly worked to help them. As I met with the family I said; “I am glad to help you with this service but I need to ask one favor from you.” They said, “sure whatever you want.” I said, “I am a Christian and my faith is very important to me and I feel an obligation to share it with others. I ask your permission to share the Gospel in a portion of this service. I will be passionate but I won’t be pushy or obtrusive. Will that be okay with you?” They said, “Yes. Absolutely.”

Ministry is all around us, everyday, all the time. Here is what I want you to think about when it come to our responsibility to the Gospel.

We want to share it regularly. Everyday, Every way, Everything.

We want to share the Gospel Precisely. If we do it lets do it adequately. God is Holy, We are fallen and sinful, Jesus is perfect representative of God and man who lived the life we couldn’t, died the death sin required and we deserved, and rose again to conquer sin, death, and hell. And we must acknowledge Him, repent of our sin, and place all of our trust in Him.

We want to share the Gospel Passionately and Fearlessly. We believe completely and share confidently.

The Gospel is enough and sufficient. God doesn’t need our help, He lovingly allows us to join Him on His rescue mission of humanity.

Growth-Centered Discipleship

In short, we want to help one another become more like Jesus. We want to be intentional but we also want to be natural and organic.

This is where the church makes things unnecessarily complicated. God has given us the best plan for discipleship. The Assembly. If you have been wondering the value of meeting together on Sunday rather than watching the show on Facebook, here it is!

You can stuff your head so full of Biblical knowledge that when you blow you nose it flys out of your ears like a confetti canon, but still not be a disciple. A disciple is a changed person. They are being transformed in every sense of the word. Knowledge is a part of the process but not the whole.

When we gather we participate together in singing of God’s worth denying ourselves.

We receive instructions from God’s Word.

We build healthy relationships with other who are on the same journey. I don’t like travelling alone, do you?

We observe how other Christians conquer, overcome, and even fail. We learn from one another.

We receive the encouragement we need when our faith is being tested.

We receive the correction we need when we have the wrong prospective.

We receive the grace we need when we fall down or fail. We pulled back up.

Iron sharpens iron and one person sharpen another. We need that and that is the process of discipleship that rarely takes place outside of fellowship.

Our Response

I tried to imagine what we would be thinking as we heard these values.

One thought was we might think hey I like those values. You know if we’re honest we’ve lived in the land of “like” to long. Like is good but values run deeper. Like is an emotional response that can turn to dislike overnight.

Do these values resonate with us, do we have conviction, can we align our life with them, can we be passionate?

Another thought was I have never been in a church that stated their values. This is different for me.

I believe the old saying that if you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for anything.

Another saying is if you shoot for nothing you’ll hit it every time.

This may be different but can you get behind it for the sake of being intentional about what is important and what God called us to do?

Last, I thought some may say this is what I have been looking for, where do I sign up?

Well, I glad you asked. If you look on the last page of this book you will see a request to join and a membership covenant. Today or anytime you feel led you can tear that page out and bring it forward.