What Now? What Next? - Christ Not Causes, Part 2

It's not too far-fetched to say were living in one of the most disruptive using times. Evil is everywhere we hear stories day after day corruption, difficulty paying and injustice.

What I want you to know is there. So that there is a model for us in the 21st century Jesus gave us in the first century stay with that. Thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge with shipping chips or vital feature for this international discipleship ministry for this program to fix up where he left off last what know what next, with his call for unity among all too often we as Christians what personal beliefs provide us to lay aside those secondary issues before he continues.

Let me encourage you to use chips message notes while you listen to include his brief outline and all the supporting Scripture references to download these message notes just go to the broadcasts tab LivingontheEdge.org abolitionist Bill in stewardship of his message.

Christ, not because I would say that it's very important to think we are living in a day. That's much more like the first century. In the last century.

In the last century.

A good portion of it. There was a in America at least a collective worldview and culture that actually support your faith, being an honest person telling the truth.

Having a marriage and staying married basic morality.

I member my dad selling a car and shook a guy's handiwork paperwork different lawyers and and so to be a Christian was to be esteemed now or in a day where if you're interviewed for a job on the court and you are a female who says I because of her faith says, I believe the life of the unborn is very very important then to Sen. say we could never have a judge like that because she's dangerous how you get to BJ dangerous because you just care about an unborn child will then what's our model.

I'm gonna suggest our model and our mandate is Jesus himself. Here's the good news if you're taking notes. I let this one blank. I think there's hope. Luke chapter 40 member member Jesus is starting his ministry.

He's been tempted. He goes back to Nazareth where he had been brought up and was as his custom, he stood up in the synagogue on the Sabbath day and they gave him a scroll, and he unrolled the scroll, the book of Isaiah.

In the spirit of the Lord he says is upon me, because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He sent me to proclaim release to the captives to recover the site of the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the favor the favorable year of the good news of Yahweh, the Lord, and he closed the book and give it back to the attendant and he sat down in the eyes of all the synagogue were fixed on him and he began to say to them today. This has been fulfilled in your hearing what I want you to know is the world's looking for a Messiah memo he came.

We have one keys our hope, we need to just follow him and proclaim him, but but he gets better than that.

There's help is not just is not a member's mandate and we often talk about going all the world literally is as you go. This wasn't for some little group of people have to go on a trip. This is participle as you go to work as you go around the block as you go to get your coffee as you go to pick up your dry cleaning as you go to wherever you go, make followers of Jesus, authentic, fully devoted Romans 12 as we read followers of Jesus FO not just of nations out there.

The word is F Noster every people group and what he supposed to do want you to baptize them in the name of the father and son and the Holy Spirit.

And in that day that primarily was help them move their identity from their darkness into light in this moment of baptism is when they say I'm a brand-new person in my alignment and my family is the church.

The supernatural community will then teach what he wants to teach them teach him.

It's not about coming to the service and listening to someone and singing three or four songs and trying to be a nice person. Teach them to obey everything I taught you will. Where is that it's this and what I love is here's here's the help before he gave that in verse 19 he says all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. We got all the power we need.

And then when he finished, he said, and I am with you always, even to the end of the age is presence, but his presence isn't manifested to everyone. This presence is manifested to people that are about making disciples. It's making disciples in the disrupted world. So the question then braces will how do you introduce Christ to our disruptive world and is a little acronym that the Lord gave me as I was processing this that will walk through. But if you look at Jesus life he proclaim Christ, not causes.

There were lots of causes the cause of women, infanticide, slavery, and in it was those people who follow Jesus with all their heart that address those biggest causes, but they focused on him first and foremost, they were a healing community. They were hostile and angry over what Rome was doing. They focused on relationships, not real estate.

There were even cathedrals built their places to go to for 300 years, the net homes and catacombs. They just love each other. The eight meals. They did, innovation, new wine and the wineskins they were indignant. There were people that focused on substance not success.

I don't think they were counting all the numbers I think it was Yahweh keys the Lord our God to teach people the great truth working to be men and women who know God's word to share God's word to teach our children.

Fathers that when we rise up and we go to bed. When we walked by the way, to impart and model what it means to be a follower, the substance of authentic followers and finally they were people who weren't waiting for the next technology they had their technology the Roman roads. The aqueduct sandlot to technology is interesting when someone said, Lord, we you tell us what's the work of God. I mean, how we really can do this. John six. This is the work of God, that you believe on him when he is sent. There's a lot of things we can do but without faith without trusting him.

It's impossible to please God. The blessing of being in countries and places where the gospel is not well received and it's very hostile is people have to trust God, the challenge of being Americans who are wealthy and affluent like all of us who live in nice places like this, we have to choose to trust God in his heart, even among fellow Christians to really trust God really trust him with everything your swimming upstream.

So what's next. That's let's get started very very practically is our rapport time up.

I believe what's next is there is a question to ask. There is a decision to make and there's a path to follow him to take on the front and it is can be a process. But here's the question to ask. It's the question that Jesus asked to one of his favorite favorite churches if you know the history of the church and how it came to be in Ephesus. It grew and it had such impact and now Jesus, about 3035 years later the apostle John's going to go back to that church.

He says I know the things that you do see your hard work and your patient endurance so they were active they were doing good stuff they didn't give up, but I have this complaint against you. You do not love me or each other as you did at first. But Lord you know we would get services gone a lot impact given money Kenya you've lost your first love.

I become a compartment become a part of your life become an appendage of the kind, maybe even a important part of your life, but not your life, he says, look upon us back away and, look at your life and all the stuff and get perspective.

See how far you fallen turn back the word literally is repent and turn back to me and do the works that you did at first.

Clean clean clean back and just try and remember. Remember what it is like when you first tasted grace member when you are obnoxious because you were telling everybody about Jesus and you know it wasn't like I got a autoshow to read the Bible. It is like oh man this is so exciting and you are memorizing passages and will gobbling up and you are just like this like crazy person that needed low maturity. We got a lot of dry maturity. Jesus said I want to ask a question not as your doctrine right now. Are you faithful to church not are you a bit more moral than most people. If you lost your first love compassion for me. If you do not repent outcome and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches lampstand is a picture to his presence. You do understand there's lots of churches that Jesus doesn't show up at their all across the world and they're all across America not been a lot of them. I mean you just to start the teaching is realized is like BBs off of the tank.

There's no openness, no sense of God's spirit. There's no presence there is no power other religious do some good things so let me ask you about you. You lost your first love. That's the question to ask. Then there's a decision to make. We read about it. The apostle Paul. After the clearest presentation of 11 chapters of what the gospel is and what it means says. And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God literally the word is offered to tents in the verb that means at a certain day on a certain time its punctilio is not just some general thoughts on a certain day on a certain time. Have you ever said this is the salvation that's chapters 3 and four Romans.

This is Lordship. This is the question, am I all in. Give your bodies to God as a living sacrifice.

Why is it to earn his favor is because if the transaction is it to get his blessing what to say. Look at your notes, the passage because of all that is done for you to his mercy half let it be a living and holy sacrifice is not something you do one day although it happens is a lot like marriage you do it on a specific day and then you live it out every day. This is truly the way to worship him she ever wanted to pause and ask a really big question how I came to Christ. Actually, if there is a God and if he actually exists what you want from me on growth as a believer I was just around enough hypocritical critical Christians and watch just enough of the really bad Christian TV. Best I could tell of all they want is your money into use. You and then I met a group of real believers and I've never open the Bible in the first passage I open to was Romans 12 and the question I'd ask if there's a God, what you really want from me. I realize it's not my money. Not what I can do for him. He wants he wants all every ounce of you want your heart. You want your dreams you want your family want your future. You want your money is not to take something away he wants you to take it and entrusted to him in light of all that is done for you because surrender is the channel through which God's biggest and best blessings flow for you to experience the life that God wants to do in you and then through you means that you need to get the controls over here and you become the copilot and finally there's a path to follow and after that moment of surrender. He says don't copy the behavior in the customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think, literally, grammatically stop allowing the current world system. Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life, to mold you and the vernacular to stop letting sex and salary and status be the goals in your life that shape what you do and why you do it. Stop letting pleasure and position and power to be the things that forget what your mouth says or what you say in your mind. It's what your behavior is saying and instead it's not about trying harder. It's about renewing your mind is putting a pause on the news a pause on Netflix a pause on the phone maybe doing a three day media fast from everything and going back to some of those key passages and renewing your mind into saying God I need a fresh wind from you because the spirit of God takes the word of God and makes alive in your heart and noticed the promise and the desire then you learn God's will for you that which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Three questions I think we have about lost my first love my all in and is the world conforming me or am I transforming the world around me, and I realize it's a strong challenge and I would just say when Jesus gave this challenge hear his heart. They were living in the same world. The same problems the same issues as us and that's the agenda because we get it in the New Testament. But Jesus is saying to you what he saying to you on this day,, come unto me right now all of you that are labored and heavy laden that are stressed out there overwhelm or confuse the don't know what to make of it. Don't know about the future and have deep and overwhelming to come to me and I will give you rest rest for your skull but let me take over and then he goes on to say. Take my yoke upon you, let's let's do this together but my yoke is light. Let's let's hook up and let's do life together and here's what I want you to know this isn't me pounding you. It's not going to take the best things away from you because I am gentle this is Jesus describing himself.

I'm humble.

I have your eye put your needs ahead of my own member.

I went to the cross and checked give you rest. So my encouragement is for you to take this very, very seriously, and even this just a baby step Lord I'm gonna look at my life. Don't make some knee-jerk emotional response to anything, look at your life, where's my first love. And if you're not sure get out your financial statement and get out your calendar. It'll tell you exactly where your first love is and maybe maybe to great step just be a Lord I'm sorry kulaks you cannot count on you, Lord spends much time playing the silly games and impressing people and saying things and worrying about bad and anxious about bad and consumed with how much I've lost and blah blah blah. And then for some of you it may be today, but where he would say to you if you play Texas hold 'em sorry had a gambling addiction. Before I came to Christ. I think in gambling terms, he would say to you and me.

I want to give you the best and greatest life ever. I want you to take the stack of chips of family the stack of chips is business.

The stop of marriage. The stack of your future. All your money all your dreams. I want you pushing to the middle of the table and then I want you to say to the holy God of the universe you deal.

I trust you, he that spared not his own son, how will he not with him freely give me all things. Oh God, you're a son and a shield. No good thing when you withhold from those who walk up rightly fearful of course it is the God of the world's crumbling all that I am in all that I have. I want to be humorous because the very last line and this will be a journey for some that will be a moment in time for others. God must work deeply tennis before he will work significantly through us Lord.

We love you we do it very poorly because were so grateful that you love us and you doing so nothing to help us now on this journey to be Christians that look like Christians today I want to cause was a very tender moment when I taught this message and I could see on the faces of people.

When I asked that question. Have you lost your first love could it be that we've gotten so distracted and pulled in so many different ways and become so anxious and at times, so fearful that we've lost sight of Jesus, the hope of the world that the power that raised him from the dead dwells in us that he's given us a mission and he's given us the power to do it. Can I ask you where are you at in your first love for the Lord Jesus, I'm sure that the great majority of you listening to my voice right now are saying you know, I can still remember when I was on fire for God or where I just got up in the morning. I couldn't wait to open my Bible or I had the sense this just compulsion within 10 to share the love of Christ with others, and over time it happens to all of us, you start to drift and family issues change in lives change and what I want you to know is the greatest thing that you can do for you. For those you love for your family and for the Lord Jesus is to pause and come back to the very beginning and say Lord right now on this day I can't control the world but I can control my response to it in my response to you and what I know for sure it is your will that offer my body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to you. The Lord I say to you right now I'm all in. Yes, I'm afraid that I'm all yours.

I'll do whatever you want, I'll say whatever you want me to say, I'll not say things that I want to say Lord my life, my money, my family, my dreams, my future, I want to recommit that to you right now. Would you pray that in your heart of hearts would you shift your focus off the things you cannot change and in a world that feels absolutely out of control and get your focus on the one that has it in control and know that he wants to work in you and me deeply. And then he's going to work through us mightily right now. Tell the Lord Jesus, I'm all in. I'm all yours rekindle your first love.

Make the first thing you do each and every day is to open his word get into the Psalms get into the book of John and just asked the Lord to tenderize your heart again to enjoy him and to love him, and then each and every day.

One little prompting Lord what you want me to do act on that and see if the Lord doesn't work in a powerful way in your life. That's a great word shipped FedEx the message you've been listening to Christ, not causes, is from ships new series. What know what Matt asked when the world gets turned upside down it becomes really obvious how much people need Jesus. The anger, the hostility, the division it's devastating. So the question is how do we tell people about the piece only Jesus offers word we start in this brand-new teaching from ship challenges us to authentically live out our faith by identifying six biblical mindsets we have to adopt when you invest time in this series, you'll learn what it means to be a genuine Christian world. It's crumbling all around us to listen to this entire series. What now what next, making disciples in a disrupted world that shipping remap is a great way to get plugged in. Which of today's the first day of our year and match.

We've been pulled away by the ways God has used this ministry in the last 12 months and were looking forward to what's ahead in 2022. Know it feels like we've all been through the ringer and the fact is, there's a lot of chaos still going on, but you seem pretty optimistic.

Why is that absolutely Dave don't get me wrong, the chaos, the difficulty did things that you've described. I don't dismiss those in any way, but there is something that always happens a momentous moment is when people in the world and institutions are open to change a Jesus came at a momentous moment.

It was a time when the Roman empire and culture and philosophies and religions were bankrupt and were in that time we've never seen people more responsive to the gospel. We've never seen people cry out for God's word and be hungry, like they do today.

I we've introduced some new things like the daily discipleship for some teaching to pastors around the world that the response has been beyond anything we could've ever thought or imagined. And so what were doing is were responding, and God does great things in the midst of hard things and so what were asking this month is for people to help us of the opportunities are beyond anything we've ever seen, but it requires finances staff resources as God is open these doors all across America and around the world.

So let me just ask you if you been benefiting from the teaching of Living on the Edge. If you have a heart for people that are in need here in America and around the world. This is a great time to give every dollar you give up to December 31 at midnight will be doubled dollar for dollar. I like the words sees this divine moment. That's what we want to do and I'm asking for your help to do it. What a great challenge. Well, if you want to help us pursue our mission to teach God's word knows a great time for you to become a financial partner because right now next to a small group of friends of the ministry. Every gift we received between now and December 31 will be doubled. Euro 40 becomes 8400 becomes 800 to make a donation. Just give us a call at 8883336003 that's AAA 333-6003, or if you prefer to give online.

Our web addresses LivingontheEdge.org app listeners just Donate. Thank you for praying and doing whatever the Lord leads you to do as we close, I will remind you of a great way to stay engaged and connected to chip and Living on the Edge that shipping remap.

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Not only that, but it couldn't be easier to call or email us directly from VF will be with us again next time. When she continues a series what now what next November. Thanks for listening to this edition