Power Shifts #3 - Alignment
Notes
Transcript
This is supposedly a true story. It took place off the coast of Newfoundland with the Canadian authorities. The event was chronicled in the following transcript.
Naval Ship: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision.
Canadians: Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.
Naval Ship: This is the Captain of a Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.
Canadians: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course.
Naval Ship: THIS IS AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS, AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES TO THE NORTH, OR COUNTER-MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP.
Canadians: This is a lighthouse. Your call.
Now of course this lighthouse produces a chuckle. And if you were to look up a good definition for alignment you would read this. Parts of something that are in the proper position (or alignment) relative to each other. The keeper of the lighthouse’s purpose was to keep proper alignment of the ships near the lighthouse.
Now, think about your own life for a moment. Many of us choose to ignore instructions to follow the Lord’s directives for proper alignment with Him and his purposes. Even if we answer His call to take the gospel to the world, we choose to do it our way, not in alignment with His way.
Today we are looking at the third power shift in our series and that is
Alignment
Alignment
Let me begin by saying this. It is time for believers to quit looking for a payoff when it comes to proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Let me explain what I mean.
The Great Commission says we are to go to all peoples—not just to the responsive ones. Western culture has taught us to look for immediate returns and results. We want an immediate payoff for our mission’s investment!
A perfect example is what is taking place in South Korea today. Had John Nevius held this attitude, he would never have gone to Korea in 1890. Korea was a hard field. About thirty years before, Roman Catholic missionaries had experienced extreme hostility. But Nevius, a Presbyterian missionary who was in alignment with God’s plan, implemented the beginning of the indigenous church movement that we know today. If it were not for Nevius, we wouldn’t have the Korean revival and church growth we see today. Operation World says that South Korea is over 20% Evangelical, other sources believe one-third.
It is time that the church gets on there knees and cry out to a loving God and get the direction that he wants us to go in. We don’t need to look at a map and say, “well this looks like a great place to start.” We need much prayer, then we need to listen and make sure that we don’t try to push our will but we align our will with God’s will for where he wants us to go. And when we are obedient to his direction that is what is known as a kairos moment.
What is a Kairos Moment?
What is a Kairos Moment?
Scripture uses two different words for time, 1. is chronos and the other 2. is kairos.
Chronos
Chronos
Chronos is where we get our term chronology. Chronos time can often define how we live, always watching the clock, living by self-imposed deadlines, becoming a driven type A personality and always feeling like there is never enough time.
Kairos
Kairos
But there is another kind of time; Kairos. this term can be translated as “a moment of divine opportunity.” In a kairos moment God gives us the opportunity to align with Him in what He’s about to accomplish. Jesus lived and ministered on kairos time, and He commanded His disciples to do the same.
The disciples were to act on the kairos principle of time. After Jesus’ ascension, they went back to the Upper Room where they had celebrated the Last Supper with Him and there they waited. They needed to wait for power. The kind of power that comes with being in alignment with God’s agenda. The door opens and you go through it with God given (alignment) power.
Paul also experienced this kind of moment. If you have your Bibles, go with me to the book of Acts. Go to chapter 16. I want to read you several verses beginning at verse 6.
6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.
7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.
8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.
9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
God had a specific task for Paul and his team, and Paul listened, obeyed, gave up his original plan and realigned his plan to fit God’s plan.
The fact that they depended on the Spirit’s guidance did not mean that they waited for an unmistakable sign at each turn. Trusting that God was putting his desires and thoughts of guidance within them, they moved forward in their plans. When God kept them from going in one direction, they would go in another, trusting the Holy Spirit to either approve or disapprove of their plans. The Spirit honored their faithfulness and proved his desires and purposes by opening or closing doors of opportunity, depending on where he wanted them to go.
It may not always be what we envision. However, as we align ourselves with His strategy and fulfill the role He has assigned to us, we will see that He will use all of us together to bring closure to the Great Commission.
So, how do we stay in alignment with what God wants to do? Let me remind you what God’s will for us is.
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
That is God’s will for us, so, how do we live in those kairos moments?
I have 4 things that we must do in order to live in those kairos moments.
1. We Must have a Good Balance of Structure and Spontaneity.
1. We Must have a Good Balance of Structure and Spontaneity.
We have to move away from only human planning to revealed direction. We cannot do ministry based on nothing more than a good business plan. Just because it worked for the church up the street does not mean that it is the plan God has for us.
We need spiritual revelation to understand God’s plan and timing. It is within that framework that we will experience miraculous results and exponential increase.
Structure by itself will never implement the dynamics of the Spirit, but it certainly can impede it. We can have a great church. It can be put together as effectively as the human body, but if it’s not receiving the messages from the one who is on the throne, Jesus Christ, then the structure is only getting in the way of what God wants to accomplish.
Structure and tradition make great servants, but lousy masters. I’m not saying we should be totally spontaneous, that would be ridiculous, but we should be ready, like the mobile team Paul had, to change our plans when God directs us in a different way.
We need to make a plan, God was a planner, but we need to be ready at a moments notice if God is making a change and the only way that can happen is if we are listening to the Spirit’s guidance.
2. We Must Keep the Vision in Front of Us.
2. We Must Keep the Vision in Front of Us.
2 The Lord answered me: Write down this vision; clearly inscribe it on tablets so one may easily read it.
3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it testifies about the end and will not lie. Though it delays, wait for it, since it will certainly come and not be late.
In business or education or any secular venture, we see the importance of establishing goals and objectives. They guide our activities by helping us in prioritization. The same must be true for us. God’s desire for us is to fulfill the Great Commission to go and make disciples and baptize and teach what God has spoken to us. That is our ultimate vision.
Each church in God’s plan a vision on how they are a part of God’s plan. God has given us the vision that everything we do is about people. People matter to God and because they matter to God they should matter to us.
How do we make people matter to us? Every time you walk in this door whether it is your first time or your 20th time we want to make sure that we provide opportunities for you to seek after God. We do that through worship and the teaching of the word. We want you to find a way to connect with people. Build relationships with people that care about you and your family. Whether that is through drinking coffee with someone before service or making time to hang out with someone outside of church or in doing ministry together. We also want to give you ways that you can in turn reach lives with the gospel. That could be with you giving to a specific missions group or missionary. That could be you handing out groceries to those you need it in our community. Or it could be in you having a one on one conversation with your neighbor and you telling them about what Jesus has done in your life. Everything that we do is to help complete the Great Commission and the only way we can do that is to care about people. Because people matter to God and if they matter to God then they should matter to us.
And the only way that we can work to complete the Great Commission is to keep that vision in front of us.
3. We Must Know Who and What We are Praying For.
3. We Must Know Who and What We are Praying For.
It is so important that we participate in God’s Big Picture. Sure we may not be able to participate in every part of the unreached world, but we can do our part by praying for those who do not know Jesus. And if we are going to pray for them, then we must know who they are and what their need’s are.
One of the ways of knowing a person you are ministering to is by getting to know them. Many people that you are going to try and reach, you must get to know them first. Some of you this is going to take a lot of work. Because you don’t do good around people. God didn’t make you that way, but you can learn who they are and spend time in prayer praying for them.
Many times we make excuses on why we can’t be a soul winner. But the truth is we can make a big leap by praying for that specific person. Have you ever noticed that when you start praying for someone your opinion of them changes. Why is that? It is because you are to see them as God sees them. You begin to see them as a soul that God wants in his kingdom. This world would be a better place if we would pray for people instead of talk bad about them. Look at what Jesus told us to do.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
But if we want to see the Great Commission completed then we have to know who we are praying for and know what their needs are.
4. We Must Maximize the Harvest
4. We Must Maximize the Harvest
I have gotten into gardening lately. There have been some crops that have been successful and others not so successful. One thing I have learned is there are several steps that you have to take in order for a great harvest. Some crops take more work than others, but the end goal is to maximize the harvest so that you can get everything you can out of that specific crop.
Isaiah talks about this in Isaiah chapter 28. Look at what he says.
23 Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say.
24 When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil?
25 When he has leveled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? Does he not plant wheat in its place, barley in its plot, and spelt in its field?
26 His God instructs him and teaches him the right way.
So, here are a few observations that I see in this passage. First, there is a time for preparing the field or soil. This could be a lengthy process. The farmer cuts down trees and removes stumps and digs out rocks. He breaks up the ground, removes obstacles and then levels it out. His goal is to prepare the soil so it will accept the seed and yield the maximum harvest. When the soil is ready, it’s time to quit plowing and start planting.
The same is true for the church today. The process is like a garden. It involves strategic prayer and intercession. It requires sending out people to check on the landscape. And it means that we don’t necessarily expect immediate results. Harvest will come, but only if we persevere in clearing out obstacles and preparing people to accept the Word of our Lord. This is making a proper preparation.
The second thing I see here, different kinds of seeds do better in different kinds of soil. Look at it this way. There are different kinds of methods that work better in different kinds of soil. A strategy that works for one church may not work for another. A strategy that works for one type of person may not work for another. We have to figure out what works and what doesn’t for the harvest that we are going to reap. But the passage doesn’t end there, it also describes the harvest.
27 Caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin; caraway is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a stick.
28 Grain must be ground to make bread; so one does not go on threshing it forever. The wheels of a threshing cart may be rolled over it, but one does not use horses to grind grain.
29 All this also comes from the Lord Almighty, whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent.
God will give us directions on how to reap a spiritual harvest. This passage offers us reassurance that God gives wisdom regarding how the farmer is to proceed. We can also let it reassure us that God gives us the wisdom we need to harvest.
Ecclesiastes reminds us that there is a season for everything.
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
In order for the church to be the best version of who God wants us to be, we must understand something about gardening. Preparing the soil is just as important as taking in the harvest, it may test our patience and our zeal and even our commitment. But we have to know how to plow and plant before we can see the harvest. And if we want the stamina to follow God throughout your life, you must be in proper alignment.