Church

Looking Out With Love

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In the message series called “Building Tomorrow Together,” we’re going to be talking about tomorrow for our church family. What is God’s vision for our church? What does He want us to do? Those are very important questions. To answer those questions, we need to realize that tomorrow will be different than today.

As you read the Bible, you begin to understand that God wants your tomorrow to be different than today. God wants you to grow to become more like Jesus than you are right now. In the same way, God’s vision for our church tomorrow is different than where we are today. Remember the church is not a building, the church is a family of believers.

Luke 9:23 (NIV) Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

How do we get to God’s vision for our tomorrow? We get there by sacrificing ourselves and following Jesus. Think about how a child learns and grows. A child learns and grows by watching their parents and following their example. In that way, a child goes from being a child today to ultimately adulthood tomorrow. In the same way, a church family matures as it follows Jesus.

In the book of Revelation we see that a church has spiritual significance. Jesus told John …

Revelation 1:20 (NIV) The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

The Lord Jesus is in charge of every true Bible-believing church. He is the one that allows each church to let their light shine in a dark world. Some churches, Jesus praised and others he warned that unless they repented, He would remove their lampstand. So, at Life Church, we want to be a church that follows Jesus. We want to be a church that looks to a better tomorrow. We want to be a church that lets it’s light shine. In order for that to happen, we’ve got to keep on following Jesus, even though it means change, even though it means sacrifice, even though it means denying ourselves and taking up our cross.

Listen to my September 27, 2009 message “Looking Out With Love” (message notes).

How To Be Blessed Financially

Bible, Church, Message / By /

God gave us His Word in order to teach us how to live a successful life with His help. Success in God’s eyes is discovering God’s will and then doing it, nothing more and nothing less. God wants you to be a success in life, that’s what He created you for. Yet many people don’t believe that God has good plans for their lives.

3 John 1:2 (NASB95) Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.

This prayer of the apostle John reflects God’s will for our lives in the form of a promise. The success of your life, according to this verse, is dependent on the prosperity of your soul. In other words, your spiritual relationship with with God is the foundation of a blessed life. If your soul is prospering, then it is God’s will that you prosper in all other respects, including your health and your finances.

Proverbs 10:22 (NIV) The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.

God wants to bless His children in their finances so that they have the resources to carry out His plan for their lives. God does not bless people financially so that they can spend their money in luxurious living, but so that they can bless others. We are blessed so that we can be a blessing.

In order to be blessed financially by the Lord, you must follow the financial principles that God has given us in His Word. Jesus set out the most important principle, the principle of giving.

Luke 6:38 (NIV) Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

When you give to God, God will give back to you, in greater measure than you have given. The more you give to God, the more you will receive. I have seen the truth of this principle evidenced in my own life and the lives of many people in the church. Those that are faithful in giving tithes and offerings are blessed financially, even in the midst of this recession. Those that are afraid and don’t give to God have grave problems in their finances. Each person has a choice to make. Am I going to believe God’s Word and be a generous giver or not? God blesses those who trust Him with their finances.

Listen to my message “How To Be Blessed Financially” (message notes).

Giving That Feels Good

Bible, Church, Message / By /

God has given to us a gift, the Word of God, which is the Bible. The Bible is not simply words written down by men, the Bible is the very Word of God. The Bible is God’s revelation of who He is and how people can know God. God’s Word is God’s manual for living a blessed life, both now and in eternity. God wants you to take Him at His Word.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV) All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

So, God’s Word is meant to equip you to live the life God created you to live. If you don’t make use of God’s Word to guide your life, you’ll miss out on God’s blessings for your life. Our challenge is to take God at His Word. What that means is each of us must believe that what God’s Word says is really true and we can put our trust in it. When you believe that what God has said in His Word is true, then you can live your life trusting in that Word.

This series will not be about God’s Word in general, but about one part of God’s Word. However, the part of God’s Word that we’re going to be talking about is huge. Over 2350 verses in the Bible talk about this topic, which is the topic of money. If you handle your money God’s way, you’ll be blessed in your finances. If you handle your money your way, you will have untold problems in your finances.

God’s Word teaches us that our money really isn’t ours, it’s God’s. And God’s Word has some directions in it about handling His money. One of the most important aspects of handling your money God’s way is the aspect of giving. God wants giving to feel good for every believer. I just recently finished reading a book called “How To Be Happy Giving Your Money Away.” That title captures how God wants you to feel about giving.

For a lot of people giving their money away doesn’t seem to feel good, in fact they resist it and give as little as possible. But what does God’s Word, say about giving? What did Jesus say about giving?

Acts 20:35b (NIV) Remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’

Being blessed makes me feel good. So if I take God at his Word, I’m going to be a giver. I’m going to believe that as I give to God and His Word, I’m going to be blessed in every way.

My parents taught me to be a blessed giver. From around the age of 4, I have given at least 10% of all my income to the church, the Bible calls it a tithe. When my wife Carol was saved as child, she began tithing as well. Over the years, we’ve always had more than enough. Our needs have been met and we’ve had enough to continue being happy giving our money away. God’s promises work whether we’re in a recession or not. We want you and your family to be blessed as well.

Listen to my August 30, 2009 message “Giving That Feels Good” (message notes).

Love That Challenges

Church, Message / By /

Being part of a great church is essential for a believer to be blessed by God. Why is it important to be part of a church family? When you are part of a church family, God’s blessing increases in your life. When you are part of a church family, you build relationships that will encourage you. When you are part of a church family, you will receive biblical teaching that will help you grow spiritually. And I could go on and on.

Just any church won’t do. As a believer, you really don’t have a phone book full of churches to choose from. God calls every believer to a particular church family. When you’re in the church family God has called you to, you’re not free to just up and leave because you’ve had a tiff with somebody else. God has planted you in that church family so that you can grow and be blessed.

In the Old Testament, Nehemiah led the people of Israel, which are a type of the church, to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. As those people had a wall to build, so every church, including Life Church, has tasks from God to accomplish. To accomplish those tasks, God has brought specific people into our church family to resource and complete those tasks or ministries. My ministry, as pastor is to equip you to fulfill your ministry and so bring great blessing into your life. Here’s my calling from God to perform.

2 Timothy 4:2 (NIV) Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction.

Notice that there are three things my preaching should do: correct, rebuke and encourage. Now everybody likes to be encouraged. But what happens when I have to correct or rebuke? Those aspects of preaching are very important, because if you respond to them, your life will change for the better. All too often, people get upset or even drop out of church if they hear something they don’t like.

2 Timothy 4:3 (NIV) For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

If you only hear what you want to hear in a church, guess what? It’s not a great church and you won’t be blessed. People want God to change their circumstances, but not their lives. God doesn’t work that way. We all need to be corrected, rebuked and encouraged in order to receive everything God has for us.

By the end of the book of Nehemiah, the people of Israel had basically fallen away from their close relationship with God. Nehemiah had gone back to Babylon and the people had grown lax in their serving the Lord. When he returned, Nehemiah was appalled with the people and challenged them in three areas that have application to all of us today.

Listen to my August 23, 2009 message “Love That Challenges” based on Nehemiah 13 (message notes).

Why Am I Here?

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Why are you and I here on this planet? Different people have different answers to that question. Some would say that we’re here because some type of living organism evolved from the primordial ooze billions of years ago. In essence, they would say, that we are here by random chance. If we’re here by random chance, than there’s really little purpose in our lives. We might as well just do as we please and enjoy ourselves as much as possible.

The Bible has a different answer to the question of why we are here. The Bible tells us that every person is here on this earth because they were created by God. When God created you, He created you with a purpose in mind. Oftentimes, the Bible refers to God as a potter who creates a clay pot, which refers to us. God shaped and molded you to be a vessel that would honor Him by serving Him.

2 Timothy 2:21 (NASB95) Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.

God wants you to be useful to Him. God wants you to be prepared to do good work for Him. The Bible calls the work that we do for God in the church family, ministry or service. Jesus taught us in

Matthew 10:8b (NIV) Freely you have received, freely give.

Integrity is giving what you have received from God back to Him in service.

Listen to my August 9, 2009 message “Service and Integrity” based on Nehemiah 12 (message notes).

Building Tomorrow Together

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An infant lives for the moment, seeking to satisfy his physical needs. An adult should live for tomorrow, basing his life and actions on what would have the greatest impact for good for his children. A believer should live for eternity, charting his life on a course to influence the eternal destinies of people yet to be born. What are you living for?

Philippians 3:14 (NIV) I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Churches can also either live for the moment or live for eternity. A church is not a building, but a group of people committed to God and one another. The church family at Life Church is committed to living for eternity, making our lives count for a prize greater than anyone of us can imagine.

Our vision is to expand the influence of our church for God to an increasing number of people. Although God has blessed us in the past few years of our existence in temporary locations, we believe that it is now time for us to have a permanent location from which to minister.

This Sunday, August 2, we officially launch our Building Tomorrow Together stewardship campaign. The first goal of this campaign is to help each person in the church family grow in commitment to and understanding of stewardship. Stewardship means that God owns everything I have. I am simply a manager of what God has entrusted to my care for a season. Stewardship means that I follow God’s direction with regard to my time, talents and treasure.

1 Chronicles 29:11 (NIV) Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.

The second goal of the campaign is to raise sufficient financial resources to allow us to move into a permanent church location. When God imparts a vision, He always provides the resources necessary to fulfill the vision. When people give to fulfill God’s vision, He imparts tremendous blessing into their lives. We must remember that everything we have comes from God in the first place.

1 Chronicles 29:14 (NIV)  But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.

I am excited about everything that God is going to do through our Building Tomorrow Together campaign over the next three years. We will have many more activities and information coming out as the campaign progresses. We were very encouraged at the high percentage of people who volunteered to pray and help with the stewardship campaign last Sunday. God’s vision for your life and our church will only be accomplished as we build tomorrow together.

Download the Building Tomorrow Together Campaign Overview Brochure. Listen to the August 2, 2009 message “Building Tomorrow Together” based on 1 Chronicles 29 by Terry Collier.

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