Sermon Cloud

This week Carol and I are leaving for sub-Sahara Africa. I'll be meeting with a gathering of South Africa Vineyard pastors, speaking in 3 or 4 Vineyard churches on Sundays, ministering at an Easter camp in which an entire church our size is tenting together, circling up and cooking together by home groups. One of the delightful things we'll be doing is that we'll be using money from our VN international missions fund to purchase a truck for a Vineyard church that is evangelizing and training church planters in the bush up in Malawi and Mozambique. We're buying a truck-us, a generous church in Grand Rapids, Michigan answering the prayers of men and women who are doing the stuff and fervently praying for God to provide a truck. We're going to be God's answer to their prayer. When the annual international missions offering comes around this May, let's do i

2. From South Africa, I will be traveling to Malawi and Mozambique, camping in the bush, filtering polluted drinking water, not showering for a week, eating food cooked over a wood fire, to train pastor and church planters who will eagerly walk for days to be part of a training retreat. African pastors are looking for help. Africa suffers from the same spiritual problem as America. They say that Christianity in America is 3000 miles wide, but only a half an inch deep. A lot of us have raised their hands in a meeting like this and have said that we believe in Jesus, but not a lot of us express attitudes, spend our money, or walk out our sexuality in ways that are much different than their non-Christian neighbors. If we're not living like the world right now, it might just be that we haven't gotten the chance.

3. It's a real problem in Africa. The church lacks depth; Pastors are eager for deeper training. We've seen this problem played out in Kenya most recently. During the 20th century, more American missionaries went to Kenya than to any other African nation. Kenya is now considered a Christian nation-a nation of Christians. And yet, the government is corrupt, the cities are filled with violence, and in the aftermath of a compromised election, a Christian nation is hacking itself to death with machetes-just like the rest of Africa.

4. For much of the 19th and 20th Centuries, the process for becoming a Christian was reduced to an individual decision that men and women make when they are some kind of deep trouble in order to find some kind of relief and forgiveness. Several generations of Christians have invited Jesus into their lives as a extra-strength pain reliever. Keep a little Jesus in your medicine cabinet! When you come home after a hard day, feeling overwhelmed with guilt and confusion-drowning in a world of hurt-take a little Jesus before supper, and you'll feel better. And, when you feel better, you can go back to doing life your way. Jesus just wants you to be happy again.

5. If that's a misrepresentation of the Gospel, how does a man or woman become a genuine Christian? By deciding to trust and follow Jesus. It's a journey. Yes, a decision is the starting place, but that first decision is followed up by daily decisions, morning by morning, to trust and follow Jesus, to invite him into the struggles and secrets of our lives, to make him the center of our lives, and join him in his cause. Jesus isn't looking for fans, the way I might be a fan of extra-strength Excedrin and you might be a fan of extra-strength Tylenol. Jesus came calling and challenging men and women like us to trust him and follow him into the future, to serve him and join him in his cause.

ILLUS: I bought this little plaque about ten years ago and it's been hanging in our bedroom ever since. READ. There have been times in our marriage when life has been very difficult. I'm married today and glad for it, not because I made a decision to speak some marriage vows 33 years ago, but because I renew my choice morning by morning. I didn't leave my marriage vows back in 1975; I've been carrying them with me, day by day, choosing again and again to love and respect my wife to the best of my ability. I remade my decision this morning. I do the same thing with my faith. I made my first decision as a young child. I made a couple more decisions as an volitile teenager. I made my first adult decision at 21 years of age. And I've been deciding day by day, ever since, to trust and follow Jesus. Every Sunday morning when I come to the front to receive the Lord's Supper, I'm revisiting the cross, and remake my decision to trust and follow Jesus. Like marriage, Christianity is a journey of daily decisions.

TRANS: Let's review a bit of this Sunday teaching series on Jesus-brand spirituality.

I. CHRISTIANITY IS A JOURNEY OF FAITH.

A. My church is here to stand with me and to support me I travel along.

You see our VN mission statement on our business cards and on our Sunday programs. It's living Jesus' life together. That's the goal of all our pastors do. We're investing our lives to help all of you get to the place where you're speaking Jesus' words to your co-workers, friends, and children, and your doing Jesus' works-healing the sick, setting people free, and caring for the poor here, at home, at school, and at work. We're doing our best to host and lead meetings and programs that fit into one or more of the four categories represented by these icons-captivated, connected, equipped, and commissioned because they reflect Jesus' life and represent his values.

But, Jesus has called us to follow him, not just to attend church meetings. Going to church on Sunday and being good the rest of the week isn't the destination Jesus is leading us toward. We're just here to support you in your journey of daily decisions. The author to the Hebrews challenged tired, wimpy Christians: Keep your eyes focused on Jesus! Your pastors aren't making this up; no one can carry you into the future. Jesus marked out the journey for us all (Hebrews 12:1)

B. My progress depends on my choices.

1. Exploring Jesus-brand spirituality. Not just going to church to get some peace of mind, but reading the gospels, exploring Jesus' teachings and life, considering the possibility that he really rose from the dead the first Easter, and that he's really smart and wonderful and that there is no better north star in all the universe that you could decide to point your life toward.

2. Deciding to trust and follow Jesus-like he's really smart, like he knows what is best for us, like he understands what sort of lifestyle will lead to our greatest happiness, like he has the power to forgive us, set us free, heal us, and grant us eternal life. When men and women like us who make the decision to trust Jesus, they can't help but stop what they're doing and follow him into the future. That's the nature of trust.

3. Inviting Jesus into my struggles, sins, and secrets. At this point, it's time to stop covering up, pretending, living two different lives, keeping conversation superficial, and lying to the people we say we love. It's time to start asking for specific prayer for specific struggles-at home, at work, and in my private life. It's time to make a detailed plan for moving ahead. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, hoping to get different results, right? It's time to ask for help. At this point, most of us benefit from asking another Christian to be our growth partner-a coach. Last Sunday I asked for a show of hands, and about a quarter of us communicated that we feel stuck in our journey and probably use the help of a coach. And, about a quarter of us communicated that we'd be willing to coach another Christian if only we were asked.

TRANS: This morning we're moving beyond spiritual adolescence to talk about taking a big step toward maturity.

II. MY NEXT STEP IS MAKING JESUS THE CENTER OF MY LIFE.

This is a brand new decision: I'm not just deciding to trust and follow Jesus into the future. I'm deciding to follow him everywhere in every part of my life into the future he has planned for me. He's not just going to be my co-pilot, my helper, my pain-reliever, my counselor, or my worship inspiration. He's going to be my master, and I am going to be his servant. I'm going to make him the reason I do or don't go to college . . . get married . . . take a certain job . . . move to a certain city . . . go in debt or not . . . stay married or get divorced . . . have children and raise a family . . . go to church and give generously, or not . . . join a home group or serve on a ministry team . . . give to the poor and choose a particular presidential candidate. I'm going to put Jesus' instructions and example ahead of my feelings and my preferences and my fears. That's how much I've grown to trust him.

This is a big step of growth on your spiritual journey! Some Christians never make it this far. They get stuck at the point at which they need get real and invite Jesus into their struggles, sins, and secrets. From then on they just circle around again and again-going to church, skipping church . . . talking like a Christian but living like the world.

Peter described this step in I Peter 3:15, "But in your hearts [that deep, inner place where you make your most important, personal decisions about love and sex and marriage and school and career and faith and money] revere Christ as Lord". Make Jesus the first person you consult when you make life-decisions. Make Jesus' teaching and example your reference point for why you do or don't lie to customers or supervisors, why you cover up or ask for help, why you invest in church or drift away, why you stay married or why you get divorced. Make Jesus your master; revere him as Lord. And when people ask you for the reason you've made a certain decision, the reason you turned down a promotion, the reason you didn't divorce your husband, the reason for the trajectory of your career, the reason for the love, or faith, or hope you carry around. Your reason is going to be Jesus. You really trust Jesus that much.

If you think you might be ready to make this decision today, let me ask you a few questions. You'll be glad you took this step, but you do need to count the cost.

A. Can you stand up to your culture?

Not many of your friends or family members-even your church going-friends or family members-are going to understand this or even support it. We live in a culture in which the majority of the people we know and work with and even love and worship with believe that their individual happiness is the only reasonable reason for doing anything worth doing. We live in a narcissistic culture, and deciding to make Jesus the center of our lives is counter cultural. ILLUS: Washington Post (3/2/08)-"ME". Your decision to make Jesus the center of your life is going to be tested by your friends and family members. They're going to tell you that you're becoming a right wing, fundamentalist, fanatic. A little Jesus is good for everyone; but making Jesus your reason is unreasonable!

B. Are you clear about your reasons? Here are my reasons.

1. He's the Creator and Sustainer-it's a no brainer. He created this world, and he created me in love and wisdom. As hard as life is for everyone, he is watching over me, sustaining me, giving my life purpose. He's the Creator and owner of all that is; everything I have is a gift from him. The sun rose this morning and the seasons are changing because of his faithfulness. My heart is beating and my lungs are drawing breath because of his creative wisdom and power. He created me in his own image and has promised me a future and a destiny with him. How could I not revere my Creator as my Lord? I'd be arrogant or just plan heard hearted not to worship and serve him.

2. He's the only Savior-Redeemer in the universe of religions. There are other prophets and teachers and gods and goddesses orbiting around in the religious universe. But none that love me personally and laid down their lives for me . . . who died for me as a substitute to pay for my sin. Jesus did this for me, not because of anything I've done that's been especially good, but simply out of grace. He's forgiven me and provided for my freedom from every struggle, sin, and secret. Any no matter how much I still struggle and screw up, no matter what I'm going through he has promised to bring good out of tragedy, if only I'll forgive as he forgives and continue trusting and following him. There's no one else like Jesus in the universe of religions.

3. I want to be someone's hero. As I look back on my life and the men who have inspired me, included me, believed in me, and have substantially helped me move ahead in my faith journey- all of them have been growing, Jesus-centered Christians. None of them were waffling church goers, stuck in spiritual adolescence. Some of my friends are stuck there, but George Washington and John Adams weren't; neither were Abraham Lincoln or Robert E. Lee. C.S. Lewis, Pope John Paul, and Mother Theresa didn't sit down and quit in the middle of their journeys. Billy Graham says he is still stretching and growing. Ed Unger and Dick Crooks we're guides on my journey-leading me along in their footsteps. Frank Roberts and Stanley Toussaint and John Wimber were all Jesus-centered men. And so was my grandfather-my Papa. They were my heroes, and I want to end my life as somebody's hero. I doubt that any of us will get to be someone's inspiration by sitting down and quitting along the way.

C. Do you have daily disciplines that support your decision? If we're going to make Jesus the center of our lives, HOW are we going to walk that out?

1. If we decide to go back to school, to graduate college, to become a journeyman, to lose weight, to get fit, to invest in a better marriage, we need to support our decision with fairly rigorous, personal disciplines. No one just gets healthy or gets rich or gets to a different place in life by raising their hands and saying "I want things to be different!" You've got to get up earlier, make time to study and exercise, attend classes and meetings, study when others are out cruising around. Of course, you will slip up and fail, so you have to re-decide and discipline yourself to get up again and keeping go for your goals again. You have to say no to a lot of good stuff in order to keep pursuing the best. Without daily disciplines that support your decision, your decision won't stick-in any category of life.

2. Some prayer and Bible study in the morning . . . taking the Lord's Supper week in and week out . . . worshipping your heart out when the band begins to play . . . refusing to cover up and lie about personal struggles . . . drawing close to Jesus by serving with him in some kind of ministry . . . hanging out with other Jesus-followers in a home group . . . asking for specific prayer for personal issues . . . signing up for classes and finishing the classes I start . . . bringing a Bible to church and taking notes as long as I'm listening to the pastor-like it's a growth discipline . . . approaching breakdowns and disappointments by first asking "What's my part?" (that's a growth discipline!) . . . reading one book on Bible doctrine once a year, along with all the other mysteries and romances.

TRANS: Inviting Jesus to be the center of your life is a great and strategic decision. You won't regret it. But you do need to count the cost. Can you stand up to your culture? Are you clear about your reasons? Do you have daily disciplines that support your decisions? We can help you. You won't be alone on your journey. So, let's get personal.

III. HAVE YOU DECIDED? MAYBE YOU DECIDED A LONG TIME AGO . . . ARE YOU STILL DECIDING?

Wherever you're at this morning, there is a decision you can make that will carry you further along in your faith journey. For some of you, it's time to decide to take Jesus out of the medicine cabinet or out of the jewelry case or out of the nativity display your grandma gave you, and to make him the center of your life. "In your hearts revere Christ as Lord".

Insights and Questions for Home Group Discussion

Remember, the manuscripts of our pastor's Sunday talks are available for you to read, on our VN website. Pick and choose from the material below to lead your home group in a Bible-based discussion.

1. In every journey in life, our steps are sequential. In other words, I can't take a second step until I've taken the first step; I can't take the fourth step until I've taken a third step. In his talk this Sunday, Pastor Ray was describing the fourth step in our faith journey-making Jesus the center of my life.

Insight: Once we take a step in our faith journey, we take that step with us into the future. For instance, even at step four or five, we're still exploring Jesus-brand spirituality, learning more and more about Jesus. Even at step five or six, we're still deciding to trust and follow Jesus and continually inviting him into our struggles and secrets. BUT, WE CAN'T SKIP STEPS IN THE JOURNEY. NO ONE CAN MEANINGFULLY STEP INTO MATURITY BY MAKING JESUS THE CENTER OF HIS OR HER LIFE, IF HE OR SHE IS STILL STUCK IN ADOLESCENCE, REFUSING TO INVITE JESUS INTO PERSONAL STRUGGLES AND SECRETS.

Leaders: do you know where your home group members are at in their faith journeys? Have you asked them? If not, you go first-be honest and tell them where you're at! Then ask them: Using the categories our pastors have described, where to you think you're at right now in your faith journey? What have you heard God saying to you through our pastors' teaching over the past several weeks?

2. Review this week's key Bible verse-I Peter 3:15. "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have". The Apostle Peter's first letter is full of challenges for us to grow up and to grow strong in our faith (and to stay in sync with one another as we travel along). Even the preceding verses in chapter 3 (vv. 8-14) challenge us to keep growing even if people pressure us or persecute us for our decisions. Peter wants us to make the decision to grow in our faith, and to keep making the decision to grow, for the right reason. It's not about earning God's favor or forgiveness. It's not about looking good at church or avoiding rejection. It's not about earning God's blessing or getting rich. We make the decision to take the next step and the next and the next in our spiritual journey . . . because we so deeply trust and respect Jesus-his teaching and his example. We revere him as Lord. We serve him as our Master. We obey him as our King.

3. Is there anything about Jesus' teaching or example (that you know from the Gospels) that, at this point in your life, you're not sure you can trust?

Leaders: when one person in your group expresses a doubt (about trusting Jesus with money, sex, relationships, honesty, forgiving those who have hurt us, sharing generously with the poor, focusing on heavenly reward, and so on), ask the rest of the group if anyone else has shared that doubt at one time in their life and, if so, how they've learned to trust and follow Jesus in this same area.

4. Have you ever faced a situation in your life in which someone dear to you has challenged you or even mocked you for making a Jesus-centered decision? Let's be honest, sometimes even husbands and wives and good friends mock each other if one believes the other is getting tooooo passionate about Jesus, his church, or his mission! Tell us about an experience in which your Jesus-centered decision was challenged. What did you learn from that experience?

5. Pastor Ray asked us to count the cost of a decision to make Jesus the center of our lives. (a) standing up against our narcissistic culture, (b) getting clear about our reasons for this big decision- (Ray's reasons) Jesus is the Creator-Sustainer of world and our lives; Jesus is the only Savior-Redeemer in the universe of religions, and Ray wants to be someone's heroes, and all his heroes were Jesus-centered men. (c) developing some personal disciplines that support our decision. The challenge to count the cost, comes from Jesus himself (Luke 14:25-33). What part of the cost of making Jesus the center of your life seems most daunting to you? How can we pray for you right now.