This Is Us - Values

Steven White

THIS IS US • Sermon • Submitted 7 years ago

James 1:5–8

Character

0 ratings

· 6 views

This message covers the values we hold at NCF.

Notes

Transcript

Handout

Sermon Tone Analysis

Emotion

Language

Social

View more →

Good moring,

Welcome to New Covenant Fellowship.

For those who do not know me I am Steven White, the lead pastor around here.

Today we continue in our Covenant Membership series we are calling.

THIS IS US.

If you do not mind let’s jump right into it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

James 1:5–8 NLT

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

James 1:5-8

Here is my question to you today. What are your Values?

Imagine going on a cruise around the world. But the thing is, your cruise ship does not have a rudder and therefore, cannot steer. You are given a brochure as you step on the cruise liner detailing every stop on your journey. You have a destination, a purpose, a direction. But there is a big problem – you have no rudder.

A day after pulling out of the docks, the Captain comes over the intercom system. “Excuse me folks but, I wanted to show you our first destination. If you will look North about 500 miles you will see Iceland. Now, we were going to stop there but sense we have no rudder we were unable to turn the boat in the correct direction.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maybe your life has felt like that at times. You have a destination, a purpose, a direction and yet you seem to never get there. Maybe you pass by your destination but never get close enough to land.

I have this same issue. I have goals, a destination, a direction, a purpose but, like the cruise ship I at times find myself passing by too far to even lay my eyes on the destination.

Think of your goals in life as Tropical destinations. You are the boat and life is the great ocean. But if your boat has no rudder, how will you land at your goals?

Often, we find ourselves landing on deserted goals, goals we never had. Because the rudderless boat goes with the wind and the waves.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maybe your goal is to be bold in faith. Yet, when the Holy Spirit tells you to pray for the salvation of a person you love, you put it off and then as the ship of life gets tossed by the circumstances of the day, you pass by that great opportunity and never realize it.

Maybe your goal is to start everyday off with the Word of God. Yet you find yourself up late at night and then, you wake late. Rushing off to work or some other matter of importance, you pass by that goal. I will get to it later and later never comes.

Maybe your goal is to reproduce your faith in the lives of others. Day after day you drive by your neighbors. The Holy Spirit continues to whisper in your heart; “Stop and talk”, “go knock on the door”. And day by day you drive on by, walk on by, rushing off to something else.

Maybe you are like me and you know what you want but your boat just does not seem to have the ability to turn and allow you to land at these destinations.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your rudderless. I have been rudderless ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The church is no different. We can have goals, a destination, a purpose, a tropical island to land and explore. Yet if we as a church do not have a rudder steering this ship, we may by chance hit an island or two but we will never with true propose fulfill our goals for the Kingdom of God.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today I want to equip us with a Rudder.

I want to give us all and this church the ability to steer away from the trouble, the wasted time, the meaningless and help us steer to our goals, purpose and those Tropical Islands.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Last week I spoke to you about our 9 goals.

(Pick them up at the connection table in the back).

Today I want to give you a rudder to steer to them.

But you have other goals in life as well, I believe this message will help you steer in those directions too.

We as a church have goals – We want to reach the next generations with the Good news of Jesus, we want to see lives changed, we want to see young men and women, boys and girls, fall in love with Jesus, set free from a living hell and healed. We want to see Osage transformed by the love of God, divisions healed, reconciliation, prosperity, hope, Life, Joy and Beauty.

We want to see our Sunday service full of the young worshipping God, side by side with those of you who have been here for years.

We want to see our Life Groups covering every neighborhood in Osage. We want to see 50 or more little ones running around, reminding us of the Life found in God.

Yet with out a rudder we will never with purpose reach those goals, those destinations.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, what is that Rudder?

Values!

And what are Values?

Def: Values are the ideas and beliefs spoken or unspoken that are the most important to you, and therefore; direct unconsciously your daily attitudes, actions, concerns, and decisions.

In other words – What you value the most will unconsciously determine your actions to any given situation.

Values are priorities that tell you how to spend your time, right here, right now. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are 2 reason values are important.

1. Time is our most limited resource; time does not renew itself. You can repair your bodies, fix broken relationships, but you cannot undo Yesterday.

Values help us determine what our priorities should be at any given time so, we can have the greatest impact and live a life that matches our goals, mission and ethics.

2. The second reason values are important is, that they steer us.

We humans seem to be fairly inconsistent. One day we workout, the next day we eat for two and never leave the couch. One day we devote ourselves to the task at hand, the next day we are distracted and never begin to work towards the tasks. This is obviously not a productive way to live life. Values, help us steer towards our goals and steer away from distractions. Values act as a rudder to our ship.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let me give you an example of Values.

If the person on the left used their values to direct their lives, what can tell about them?

If the person on the right used their values to steer their lives what can we tell about them?

Example Value List:

· Peace

· Love

· Intimacy

· Security

· Comfort

· Happiness

· Fun

· Health

· Learning

· Adventure

· Wealth

· Success

· Wealth

· Adventure

· Learning

· Health

· Fun

· Happiness

· Comfort

· Security

· Intimacy

· Love

· Peace

Many people never reach their goals because their lives are being steered by a value system that does not match their goals.

Most people are directed by what the Bible calls the Cosmos or the Values that lead to death.

If you have a goal of selflessly giving to expand the reach of the Kingdom in Osage, yet you are unknowing driven by the values of this world, what will happen?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Hebrews were slaves in Egypt. They were treated horribly and wanted freedom. God gave them that freedom when Moses led them out of Egypt. Yet look what happened when they feared Moses may have died or left them.

Exodus 32:1–6 NLT

When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.” So Aaron said, “Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.” All the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!” Aaron saw how excited the people were, so he built an altar in front of the calf. Then he announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the Lord!” The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.

Exodus 32:1–6 NLT

They returned to the value system they were enslaved by.

The goal was freedom, yet the value system they turned to was slavery.

Moses continually had to fight with the Hebrew people because they continually reacted to Challenges by returning to a value system that enslaved them.

We are all steered by values but, we often have no clue what those Values are.

That leaves us in a very dangerous and unproductive place. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let’s look at the Values of Jesus.

To get a clear picture of the values of Jesus let’s first look at His Mission or Goal.

The Mission of Jesus: To reconcile all creation back to God the Father.

According to Jesus

John 6:38–40 NLT

For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”

Jesus mission was to do the will of God. The will of God was to save all who believed.

John 10:10 NLT

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

The mission of Jesus was to bring Abundant Life.

Luke 4:18 NLT

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free,

Bring Good News to the poor. Captives will be released. The blind will see. The oppressed will be set free. The Lord’s favor has come.

Jesus’ mission was to do the will of the Father, which was to save, bring abundant life, set people free from oppression and captivity, open eyes, and to declare the God’s favor and love. In other words – Salvation

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

According to Paul Jesus’ Mission Looked Like This.

Colossians 1:15–22 NLT

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

The mission of Jesus was to reconcile all creation to the Father.

The mission of Jesus was to set us free and make us children of God.

Galatians 4:4–5 NLT

But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.

The Mission of Jesus was to make you and I children of God.

1 Corinthians 15:21–22 NLT

So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.

Jesus mission was to reverse the curse of death.

We can summarize all this by saying, Jesus in obedience to God was sent to give us new and eternal life, by reconciling us back to God as children of the creator.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now we can clearly see the values that directed him to complete His mission.

Intimacy with God as Father.

Love of humanity as family.

These two values were the lynch pin all his other values rested.

Matthew 22:36–40 NLT

“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Other values followed from the first two.

Obedience to the will of the Father.

Family and Community.

Life, Joy and Beauty.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

These values directed Jesus in accomplishing his mission.

These values gave him the fortitude to wait until Lazarus had died before he went to comfort Mary and Martha.

These values gave him the bedrock to stand on when he took on Satan in the wilderness.

These values led him to the cross to honor and obey his father and to save his family, you and I.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What are your goals?

What is your mission in life?

Do your values steer and guide you to complete those goals, that mission?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I want to give you a challenge this week.

Write down your goals (the 9 or some other goal)

And then write down your Values.

Do they match your goals?

If not, then I want you to pray and then write down the most important values you hold in the very core of yourself.

Now ask, am I allowing these values to steer my life, or am I allowing the values of this world to steer my life?

Am I a ship with a godly rudder or am I a ship with no rudder?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We as a Church have a mission God has given us.

And we also have a set of values that will lead us and direct us towards that mission.

We are asking all those who desire to be Covenant Members to, agree with these values, and to understand that these values are the rudder of NCF.

We believe they are God given and represent the direction God has led us to go.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our Mission –

We desire to bring Life, Joy and Beauty to our community and to one another. We do this by leading people to become fully devoted followers of Jesus who; love God with

Our Values to direct us to our mission.

All of life is worship (Love God with all we are)

Every Persona Matters (fairness) (Love your neighbor as yourself)

Authentic Community

Love in Action

Taking the Next Steps (Spiritual Growth)

Reproduction

Passing on a Legacy of Life, Joy and Beauty (Legacy)

Sending Out

De-cluttering

If we as a church will allow these values to be our rudder we believe we will grow into a church that is bringing life, joy and beauty to our community and one another.

We believe we will begin to reproduce followers of Jesus who, love God with all they are, love their neighbors as themselves, and joyfully serve the hurting and broken.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I want to leave today by asking you 2 simple questions.

Do you know what your values are?

And do they steer you to the Mission God has given you?

Related Media

Related Sermons