Don't Lose Heart
Notes
Transcript
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
WELCOME
WELCOME
Release the Kids
Update on CPK Vision and Needs
Instructions for Kids
Teacher will have a flag pole...
Last Week Jennie share the vision and upcoming 3 phases
(1) Create an Environment
Transition - ensure safety of the kids
Classrooms - a fun, engaging, and safe environment for the kids
(2) Create a Team
Remaining Needs
Jennie said we needed 8 people willing to serve once per month
Now: we have some people praying about it and currently need three (3) more people willing to serve as a co-lead once per month
Jennie also mentioned the need for 10 substitutes - people willing to step in when needed no more than 4x per year.
Now - we currently need 5 more people willing to serve as subs.
(3) Create a Community
Moving Forward
Today: we are launching the environment
Team Update:
Invitation to share for ‘Be The Church’
Pray - Dependence on God
Care - Demonstrate the Gospel
Share - Declare the Gospel
Testimonies
TRANSITION
TRANSITION
OPEN BIBLES TO
T
FEELING FAINT OF HEART
Do you ever feel like your heart is discouraged, overwhelmed, weak? Sometimes we say faint of heart or losing heart
We read or watch the news
Coronavirus
Virus the is spreading gloablly
Fatality rate - coming closer to home and it is hard for some to not give in to the fear.
Devastating tornado in TN
Locusts in East Africa
Election Year and Politics
Read the latest studies on the church
Less than 5% of churches in the US have a reproducible disciple-making culture
Church attendance has dropped 5% since 2017
In 2017 Orlando was considered the 9th most unchurched city and the 6th most de-churched city in the US.
We can hear all this information and become overwhelmed, discouraged, and begin to lose heart.
In our longing for something we may strive for solutions that cause more harm
Today’s passage begins with a simple yet profound statement, “Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.”
Today’s passage is intended to fortify a weakening heart
Inject courage where there is fear
Build a foundation of Confidence beneath our crumbling uncertainty.
What is this hope being offered to our faint hearts this morning…?
Let’s Pray and then read the passage
Stand with me
PRAY & READ
PRAY & READ
DON’T LOSE HEART
DON’T LOSE HEART
HAVING...
HAVING...
As Christians, you already have what you need to infuse courage to your fainting heart/sprit
Notice the therefore, having...
It’s as though the Apostle Paul is reminding the Corinthians and us, “do you know the true value of what you possess?”
ILLUSTRATION
It’s like the man who brought an old pocket watch onto the Antique Roadshow (PBS Show) in 2004 and it was appraised for $250,000. But in 2016 it was appraised and sold for 1.5 million.
Something you carry in your pocket and then you come to understand it’s true value.
Having this ministry of Mercy...
We have it our pocket
But do realize to ability to help us not lose heart?
MINISTRY OF MERCY
MINISTRY OF MERCY
What is this Ministry by the Mercy of God?
The good news of Jesus
We are sinner and deserve death and separation from God
BUT Jesus lived a perfect life, took the death we deserved, and rose again 3 days latter so that by grace, through faith, we might become sons and daughters of God
We are called “Ministers of this New Covenant (3:4)”
It is called the Ministry of the Spirit (3:8)
Ministry of Righteousness (3:9)
3:18 says, “we are beholding the glory of the Lord, [and we] are being transformed...”
3:4 told us that we now have a confidence through Jesus
Not that we have the power and ability in our ourselves but our sufficiency comes from God.
Because we have this Ministry by the Mercy of God
This is the same word where we get the “Deacon” but in this case it is referring to the general sense of serving others in the Gospel.
Because you are a recipient of Mercy, you are also and minister of mercy (gospel) to others.
BUT WHAT HAPPENS IF WE ATTEMPT TO BE MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL WITHOUT APPLYING THE HOPE OF THE GOSPEL TO OUR HEARTS?
This is an important Question - REPEAT
THE VEILED GOSPEL
THE VEILED GOSPEL
DISGRACEFUL, UNDERHANDED WAYS
DISGRACEFUL, UNDERHANDED WAYS
Money - ministering for a paycheck?
In Paul’s day there were philosophers and it was common to have supporters
In our day - when ministry becomes a profession rather than a calling - then we must examine our heart and motive.
Or when a pastor seeks to raise 65 million dollars for a private jet.
Human-Approval, building a platform. Attention. Building a name or a brand then it is disgracefull
We are emptying the gospel of its grace and mercy when we use it to fill our own egos
Power - “Underhanded” like an undercurrent in the ocean. It looks like the waves are coming toward you but in reality you are slowly being pulled out to sea.
In the same - a minister who looks like they are serving others while using their position to control others for their own pleasure is mishandling the gospel of Jesus.
PRACTICE CUNNING OR TAMPERING WITH GOD’S WORD
PRACTICE CUNNING OR TAMPERING WITH GOD’S WORD
“Tamper” - a word used for wine merchants who added water to their product to make it go further.
In Chad, fuel trucks coming into the country would syphon off some of the fuel and then add an expanding detergent so nobody would know.
In the same way, when people begin to lose heart, they may begin to tamper with God’s word to make it more palatable its hearers. The truth is veiled through cunning words meant to deceive and trick people into a belief.
They hear that church attendance is declining and like one church we visited after moving to the area - they said they weren’t going to say the name Jesus, so kids should invite their friends.
The exclusive claims of Jesus are off-putting to many
When Jesus says, “No one can come to the Father except through me...” () - Some people turn their backs is disgust while others fall on their needs in repentance.
Paul is saying that he will not lose heart
With courage:
Some people veil the Gospel with their words or their actions, but...
Paul will not veil the gospel in his proclamation
VEILED BY SATAN
VEILED BY SATAN
But there is a veil
(4:3-4) “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.”
The God of this World
Satan is covering the eyes of unbelievers
It’s as though people are blinded-folded and cannot see - nor have the ever truly seen, yet they believe they have sight. A world filled with the blind leading the blind.
Blinded from What?
Light of the Gospel
Glory of Christ
Who is the image of God
THE ILLUMINATED GOSPEL
THE ILLUMINATED GOSPEL
OPEN STATEMENT
OPEN STATEMENT
Open statement of the truth
Paul uses words such as - light and darkness - veiled and sight
I want you to picture this scene with me...
It’s a little after 5 am, there is no moon and the stars are hidden behind a canopy of clouds. You walk out of a cabin and into the woods
This is where I go every year the week of Thanksgiving. I’m making my way with my Dad from my uncle’s cabin to our ground blind during deer hunting season. The trees hovering all around make the darkness thick through the rolling mountains.
It would be nearly impossible to find our way through the darkness if it weren’t for two secret wepons:
A flashlight
And Bright Eyes - Tacks with a reflector
It looks like a runway
We walk the path in the daylight so that we can find our way through the darkness of night.
Daytime walk -
Proclamation of the Gospel
Brighteye #1 - God created the heavens and the earth,
Brighteye #2 - Mankind rebelled against God and rejected his ways. This rejection causes separation and death. God gave us his standard in his perfect law to show our fallenness and inability to save ourselves. We are completely lost and unable to work or find our way back to God.
Brighteye #3 - Jesus is the Son of God. He perfectly obeyed. In love, Jesus surrendered his life to point of death, even death on the cross - taken upon himself the wrath of God that our sins deserved. He did that he might save some - by grace, through faith, in Christ alone.
Brighteye #4 - Those whom God saves, he will also resurrect when there physical bodies die so that they may be with him forever in heaven. He will faithfully bring us home.
This is the open statement of the gospel of Jesus.
This is the gospel we proclaim.
But - in the darkness of the world - we have no light of our own
Standing in the woods at night these truths are hidden from our eyes as people wonder through the woods in the dark.
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
So imagine:
Standing in the woods on a moonless night - darkness all around until the sudden beam of light shoots through the woods and not only can you see but you clearly see the path marked before you.
God is the only one who can shine the light of the gospel into our hearts.
We are called to openly openly proclaim - putting bright eyes into the trees
God is the one shines the light of understanding into our hearts.
LIGHT INTO THE DARKNESS
LIGHT INTO THE DARKNESS
At Night
This is the gospel we proclaim.
But - in the darkness of the world - we have no light of our own
Standing in the woods at night these truths are hidden from our eyes as people wonder through the woods in the dark.
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
So imagine:
“A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.”
Standing in the woods on a moonless night - darkness all around until the sudden beam of light shoots through the woods and not only can you see but you clearly see the path marked before you.
God is the only one who can shine the light of the gospel into our hearts.
We are called to openly openly proclaim - putting bright eyes into the trees
God is the one shines the light of understanding into our hearts.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
PRAY - BEHOLD
PRAY - BEHOLD
Because God is the only one who can shine a light of understanding and faith then we must pray
God made a way (ministry of the mercy of God)
God gives us faith and understanding
Gratitude
No pretending, no self-promotion - just humble gratitude
Dependence
Who are you praying for
2-3 people
PROCLAIM
PROCLAIM
Open statement of truth - for others
Yes - we need to proclaim the gospel
Like putting those brighteyes in the trees - we know people can’t see them or understand them - UNTIL God gives them the light of understanding - but then - I want the woods lit up like a runway.
Open statement of truth - for us
In a culture of fear
Death is not the end
God is in control
Nothing can happen outside the sovereign authority of Jesus
That doesn’t mean we are stupid and put God to the test thinking we are invisible
It does mean we don’t need to live in fear - be that from a virus or anyone else.
In a culture of defeat
When reports say the church is in decline or 45% of Orlando is dechurched
When some may want to make us believe that the church is headed for defeat....
“IT IS WRITTEN: ‘AS SURELY AS I LIVE.’ SAYS THE LORD, ‘EVERY KNEE WILL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL CONFESS TO GOD” ()
SO THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH AND UNDER THE EARTH, AND EVERY TONGUE CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER.” ()
Just like there are seasons
A season to till the soil
A Season to plant
A season to harvest
Don’t allow the current season to become the only reality we will. We see the full picture
The gospel of Jesus Christ is not defeated
Christ was victorious over the grave, he is seated at the right hand of Father.
Jesus is preparing to return in victory.
It is better to bow our knee in faith
Than to bend our knee in defeat
TESTIMONY
TESTIMONY
Invitation to share for ‘Be The Church’
Pray - Dependence on God
Care - Demonstrate the Gospel
Share - Declare the Gospel
Testimonies