Life Archives | Page 10 of 17 • Spirit & Truth | Life Church St Louis

Three Steps To Reaching Out

Life, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / January 15, 2007

Have you ever wondered what the most important thing in life is? Some people think the most important thing in life is being a nice person. Others think the most important thing is to raise your family well. Still others think that having fun is the most important thing. And I’m sure there are many other ideas about the most important thing in life.

How can we determine what the most important thing in life is? The most important thing is whatever has the greatest positive consequences if you have it and the most negative consequences if you don’t. There is only one right answer to the question. The most important thing in life is having a relationship with God.

Having a relationship with God is the only way that you’ll fulfill the purpose that God created you for. NIV Acts 17:27 God did this [creation] so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. You were created to seek and find God, that’s your most important purpose. Whether you find God in this life affects your eternal destiny. There is no greater loss than spending eternity without God in hell. There is no greater gain than spending eternity with God in heaven.

If the most important thing in life is finding God, than for those of us who have found Him, we must help others find Him. NIV Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise. Those who are righteous, those who have found God are to be a tree of life to those around them who are still seeking. The wisest thing that you can do with your life is to win souls, that is, to help people discover a relationship with their creator.

Currently, we’re in a message series entitled “Just Walk Across The Room.” In this series, we’re talking about how to help others find a relationship with Jesus. Last week, we saw how Jesus left His comfort zone in heaven to bring us to Himself. We too, must be willing to leave our comfort zones to reach out to others who are far from God. Reaching out doesn’t have to complicated, it can be as simple as just walking across the room to speak to someone.

Today, I’m going to speak about “Three Steps To Reaching Out.” We’re going to look at three practical ways that each of us can reach out. However, before we get to these steps, let’s think about why Jesus reached out to us. The reason that Jesus reached out to you was that He saw potential in you. The Bible says that Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners. Yet, He looked beyond our sin and saw what we could be as forgiven children of God.

When Jesus called his first disciples, they were just fishermen, but He saw greater potential in them. NIV Matthew 4:19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” Jesus saw these simple fishermen with the potential to become fishers of men. Jesus saw that these fishermen had the potential to affect people’s eternal destinies by helping them find a relationship with God. This morning, Jesus sees the potential in you to become a fisher of men. This is not just for a select few, but every believer is to become a fisher of men.

When you become a fisher of men, you see the potential in every person, to become a child of God. No one is so far from God, no one is so deep in sin, that the power and love of God cannot reach them. With God nothing is impossible. So, this morning as I talk about three steps to reaching out, don’t be saying in your mind, “I could never do that.” Be saying, with God I can be a fisher of men, with God I can see lives changed forever.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my January 14, 2007 message entitled Three Steps To Reaching Out

The Greatest Gift You Can Give

Life, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / January 8, 2007

Happy New Year everyone. It’s the first Sunday of 2007, a great year to be alive in, a great Sunday to be at Life Church. Today, I’m beginning a brand new message series that can change your life. And not just your life, but the lives of people around you that you love and care about. I’m not just talking about superficial change, but a change that will last into eternity.

What I’m going to begin talking about today is outreach or sharing your faith with someone else. Some of you may already be tensing up and thinking. What are we getting into here? Are they going to send us all out going door to door, pushing my beliefs on someone else? No, that’s not what I’m going to talk about, that type of outreach doesn’t work very well anymore. How many here today became a believer by someone knocking on your door and telling you about God? My guess is probably around zero.

Think for a minute about how you became a believer? No, not the first time you heard about God, but when you committed your life to following Jesus Christ. Now, my educated guess is that for the vast majority of you, your decision was influenced by another person. Perhaps a friend or a family member who told you about Jesus or gave you a book or invited you to church. When you didn’t have a relationship with God, someone, as it were, walked across the room to where you were and introduced you to Him.

That’s what this four-week series is named “Just Walk Across The Room.” As easily as someone went out of their way to tell you about God, you can do the same for someone else. As a believer, your obligation to God is not to break the chain, to not be a dead-end link. Every believer is to pass their faith on to others, some to a few, others to many. Paul writes to Timothy, his child in the faith. NIV 2 Timothy 2:2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. Do you see the chain here? Timothy was to tell others about the things he had learned about God and they in turn would teach yet others. The chain would not be broken.

Today my message is entitled “The Greatest Gift You Can Give.” The person who influenced you to give your life to Jesus gave you the greatest gift they could give. Nothing else in life compares to it. Jesus said in NIV Mark 8:36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? To forfeit your soul is to spend this life and eternity without God. To gain your soul is to enter into a relationship with God called eternal life that will last forever. To introduce someone to God, you just need to walk across the room and begin the process of giving that greatest gift. In this series, we’re going to unpack what that means.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my January 7, 2007 message entitled The Greatest Gift You Can Give

Reaching Out In 2007

Church, Life, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / January 2, 2007

Well, it’s the last day of 2006. Another year has come and gone. Life is a journey and the years, months and days are the stepping stones of that journey. Your life’s journey is not meant to be random meanderings, God intends for you to go somewhere in your life. His purpose is for you to accomplish things that will last for eternity. You will only accomplish God’s purpose for your life in the context of a church family that has a vision, a church family that is going somewhere with God.

Let’s talk about where Life Church is going as a church. The year of 2006 was an important year for us as a church. Our theme for the year was focused on the purpose-driven life. We looked at God’s five purposes for our lives, purposes that give us direction in keeping in step with God’s will. I believe that during 2006 our church family grew stronger in many ways, as we continued to grow numerically.

So what’s ahead in 2007? My message today is entitled “Reaching Out in 2007.” I believe the theme that God has for Life Church in 2007 is “Reaching Out.” What does it mean to Reach Out? To reach out means to stretch beyond the comfortable circle of our church family to those who are outside. God has blessed us as believers, but the blessing of God comes with an obligation. Here is God’s promise to Abraham, our father in the faith. NIV Genesis 12:2 … I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. God blessed Abraham for a purpose, so that He would be a blessing to others. God has blessed you as well. Why? So that you would be a blessing.

Who does God want us to reach out to? God desires us to reach out to those who are lost. Many people are lost from a relationship with God. They wouldn’t think of themselves as lost, yet they don’t have a living faith in Jesus Christ. So, what’s in it for you? The Bible says, NIV Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. Your most precious possession is your faith in Jesus Christ. As you give it away to those who are lost, you will receive from God all that you need. Wouldn’t it be great if all your relatives and friends were believers, living for God, active and growing in the church family at Life Church?

Today, we’re going to look at a passage from Luke 15 where Jesus teaches on the importance of reaching out to the lost. The story begins in NIV Luke 15:1-3 Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable: The important point here is that Jesus told the following story about a lost sheep because He was being criticized for being around lost people. Those who reach out to the lost will always be criticized by others, but Jesus told this story to encourage us to continue to reach out. So, what does Jesus want to teach us today about reaching out to the lost?

To hear more about this topic, listen to my December 31, 2006 message entitled Reaching Out In 2007

Grow Into A Woman Of Faith

Life, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / December 12, 2006

Christmas in coming closer everyday, it’s only fifteen days away now. Christmas is a wonderful season of the year and a busy season. Each of us needs to be careful, that in the midst of gift buying, decorating and cookie baking, we give some thought to the true meaning of Christmas. Do your part to keep Christ in Christmas.

Use the word Christmas, don’t follow the crowd and use Happy Holidays and Seasons Greetings. If your work has dropped Christmas, give them a little flack. Why is it that suddenly everyone has become so careful to not offend anyone except Christians? I’m offended when people or businesses refuse to use the Christmas. Speak up, send an email, write a letter, make a phone call. Make a difference.

Christmas is about Jesus coming to this earth to teach us about faith, hope and love. NIV 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. Faith, hope and love are qualities that you can develop in this life with God’s help Faith, hope and love and going to last forever. Christmas is about looking beyond the hustle and bustle of daily life, looking beyond work and play, family and fun. Christmas is about God breaking into the lives of ordinary people.

Christmas is about God sending His Son Jesus to become one of us. Because of Christmas 2000 years ago, the world has never been the same. That’s why we celebrate Christmas. Do you believe in the miracle of Christmas? NLT Hebrews 11:6 It is impossible to please God without faith. Faith is essential to please God, faith is essential to know God. Not just any kind of faith, but faith in God and what He has said.

Today, my message is entitled “Grow Into A Woman Of Faith.” We are going to be looking at the life of Mary, a woman of faith. Mary was chosen by God to bring Jesus into the world. Why did God choose Mary? What it just random chance? Did God see qualities in Mary that pleased Him? What can you and I learn from Mary’s experience? How can you as a woman learn from Mary’s example?

Today, we’re going to look at a passage of the Bible in Luke 1 which begins NIV Luke 1:26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. What happened next was supernatural. An angel appeared to Mary and spoke God’s Word to her. We’re going to look at God’s Word and Mary’s response to learn some lessons for our own lives. God is still speaking today, do you believe it?

To hear more about this topic, listen to my December 10, 2006 message entitled Grow Into A Woman Of Faith

Become A Man Of Courage

Life, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / December 5, 2006

Courage is in short supply these days. Here’s my definition of courage, “Doing the right thing in the face of opposition.” Why do I think that courage is in short supply? I see a lot of people just going along with the flow and doing the wrong thing. It takes courage to go against the flow and do the right things in life. The opposite of courage is simply going with the flow, doing what everybody around you is doing. The opposite of courage is cowardice, being so afraid of what other people think that you simply take a poll and follow the majority.

Today I am going to talk about the topic “Become A Man Of Courage.” Of course, this also applies to women, but today I’m going to focus on the men. Next Sunday, I’ll have a message for the women. NIV 1 Corinthians 16:13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Men, God is commanding you to be a man of courage, to be strong. God isn’t interested in any wimps following Him, in fact, the Bible tells us that there will be no cowardly people in heaven (Revelation 21:8 if you want to look it up).

There is a relationship between being courageous and strong. The phrase “Be strong and courageous” occurs ten times in the Bible. Men of courage don’t just sit around watching television, men of courage are following their commander, Jesus Christ. Men of courage are making things happen for the Kingdom of God. So, how can you become a man of courage?

Today, I am beginning a new series of messages called “Lessons From The Nativity Story.” In this series, we are going to look at how God used some ordinary people to transform the history of the world. Today, we’re going to focus on the person of Joseph, the husband of Mary, the earthly father of Jesus Christ. God chose a strong and courageous man to be the earthly father of His Son and I believe we can learn a lot from Joseph that will help each of us become men of courage.

From studying the history of the time we learn that Mary was probably in her teens when she was betrothed to Joseph. Joseph on the other hand was probably well established in his trade and in his thirties or older. The betrothal usually occurred a year before the finalization of the marriage and of course there was to be no intimacy before that time was over. Our story begins in NIV Matthew 1:18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.

Joseph had found a nice girl to marry, the families were agreeable and they were engaged, but before the marriage happened, Mary was found to be pregnant. Now the Bible tells us that this was through the Holy Spirit and an angel had told Mary, but Joseph didn’t know what was going on. Talk about some adversity, his fiancee was pregnant and Joseph knew that he didn’t have anything to do with it. How should he respond? How would you respond?

To hear more about this topic, listen to my December 3, 2006 message entitled Become A Man Of Courage

Life’s Greatest Questions

Life, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / November 27, 2006

Today, I’m going to be talking about “Life’s Greatest Questions.” Your life and your eternal destiny are determined by the decisions that you make in life. As you and I go through life, we are faced with an ongoing series of choices or questions.

Life is kind of like the game shows where the contestant is offered the choice of door number one, number two or number three. The contestant’s choice will make the difference between going home with something of great value or something of no worth. The difference between the game shows choices and our choices in life is that in the game show, the contestant has no idea which choice to make. In life, our choices should be much easier, because we have a guide which tells us which choice to make. The guide that we have to tell us what choice to make is the Bible. So, when we’re faced with a choice between three different doors, we take a look at the Bible and it shows us which choice to make.

In life there are five fundamental questions that everyone must answer, whether they recognize the questions or not. These five questions are interrelated and your answer to each one influences your answers to the other ones. The five questions relate to the five biblical purposes that God has for your life. NIV Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails. You can choose all kinds of plans for your life, but unless you choose the Lord’s purpose, your life will not succeed.

Not only are these five questions and purposes important for your life, they are also important as you reach out to others who are not yet believers. Most people around you are not believers, they are going through life trying to fulfill their own purposes. The answers they give to the five questions we are going to talk about today, are based on what they perceive will bring them enjoyment in life. When you begin to understand these questions, you can use them to cause people to think more deeply about this life and eternity.

The whole year of 2006, I have been preaching on God’s five biblical purposes for your life, based on concepts from the book “The Purpose Driven Life.” If you have never read the book, I encourage you to read it, as it will give you a sound biblical basis for understanding and carrying out those purposes in your own life. All of my messages from this year are available in audio form on our website, if you’d like to listen to them. So, let’s take a look at Life’s Greatest Questions

To hear more about this topic, listen to my November 26, 2006 message entitled Life’s Greatest Questions