CONNECTING WITH GOD

Life is complicated.  It’s complex.  It’s difficult and challenging at times.  It can be confusing.  That’s why Albert Einstein’s words about complexity speak so timely to us today.  He said, “Out of the complexity, find simplicity.” 

God has not called us to live lives that are complicated or confused or too busy that we live unfulfilled, defeated, and overly stressed lives.  Colossians 2:6 (Ph) says, Just as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so go on living in him—in simple faith.  In light of living in Christ with a “simple faith”, we have reformed our church’s purpose statement this year around three simple yet profound actions: 

CONNECTING WITH GOD

GROWING SPIRITUALLY

SERVING PEOPLE

This is who we are and what we are to be about.  These three dynamics are at the heart of what a church does.  And it is the church’s responsibility to follow through with them. 

Jesus said,“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40.  The first and greatest thing I can do is to love God.  The second greatest thing I can do is to love others to God.

When we think about “connecting with God” there are two kinds of people we connect with God:  Ourselves, and Others who don’t have God in their lives yet.  Jesus said in Mathew 28:19 “Therefore go and make disciples…”  The way it works here at Clay Community to “connect people with God” is like this:  We invite them to church so they can have the opportunity to experience God.  The Sunday morning worship is the primary “entry point.”

Our theme this year is: “Purpose that is processed produces excellence.”  We can have purpose, but unless we work it, we’ll not excel.  Another way of saying it is that “nothing becomes dynamic until it becomes specific.”  There is “no energy” in it until we specifically do something about it.

Therefore we need a specific activity for “Connecting People with God.”  I’ve asked our church to covenant together to do this:  To work at connecting people with God by bringing them to church.  We know we need to be doing this.  So let’s motivate one another forward on this.  And I don’t mean that we compete.  What I mean is that we “help” one another to do this.

Call it “ONE-2-ONE”.  The objective is that we each bring one person to church to become a regular attender by the end of the year.

It’s each of us reaching out to one other person and bringing them to church such that they become regular attenders, and hopefully in time commit to Christ and join the church.  Here’s the latest statistic from Lifeway in Christianity Today:  The percentage of Americans who never attend worship services is 67%.

What we’ll experience is that some will respond, others will not.  Some will come a Sunday or two and then stop.  You will feel disappointment and frustration sometimes.  Therefore, in your search for ONE, you must invite SEVERAL.  We must develop a “pool” of people.  We need to have several relationships from which we can invite and encourage them to come to church.

Think about it this way:

BUILD A POOL

Build a pool of friends.

GET IN THE POOL

Associate with your friends.  Spend time with them.  Get to know them and let them get to know you.

BRING THEM TO THE LIFE GUARD

Bring them to Christ.  How?  Either bring them to church or share with them Who Jesus really is and the difference He makes in your life.

Visualize what can happen.  If by the end of the year we really did this, we would have a significant increase in our attendance,  And don’t you think there would be a fresh excitement with the new faces and new friends?  ONE-2-ONE.  Let’s do this.

UNVEILED FAITH

The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away.  Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life?  If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! … which remains forever!  Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away.  2 Corinthians 3:7-13 (NLT)

As a believer in Christ, you have a new life, generated and empowered by the Holy Spirit in you.  The old way of living, the old life, lived according to the Law of Moses, which included the Ten Commandments, only led to death for us.  We found ourselves condemned for breaking the Law.  It’s glory has faded. 

Now that we have Christ living in us in the Person of His Spirit, we have a new way to live, a new life.  Look at the advantages of this new life: 

-        It doesn’t fade away. 

-        It’s forever. 

-        The Holy Spirit keeps on giving us “liveliness”.  He keeps giving us a continual flow of energy, encouragement, and refreshment. 

-        The new life has made us right with God. 

-        We are growing more and more righteous in our everyday living, so that our way of life becomes more right with God.

With these advantages Paul says we have great confidence and courage.  We’re not like Moses who veiled his face and God’s glory because he didn’t want the people to see that it was fading from his face.  Instead we have the glory of God in us – the Spirit and the life - and we should therefore live confidently and courageously the new Christ-like life we have. 

Take courage and live confidently in front of others with an unveiled faith, reflecting the glory of Christ.

KEEP GOING

When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gadarenes, two men who were possessed by demons met him. They lived in a cemetery and were so violent that no one could go through that area.  They began screaming at him, “Why are you interfering with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before God’s appointed time?”  There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding in the distance.  So the demons begged, “If you cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs.”  “All right, go!” Jesus commanded them. So the demons came out of the men and entered the pigs, and the whole herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water.  The herdsmen fled to the nearby town, telling everyone what happened to the demon-possessed men. Then the entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone.  Matthew 8:28-34 (NLT)

The town’s people and the herdsmen were more concerned about their own things, such as their pigs, than about the lives of others being changed for the better.  And though the herd of pigs may have been the livelihood of the herdsmen, if they had let Jesus replace the pigs with something better for their provision, they would have had a better life.  Instead they begged Jesus to go away and leave them alone.

Some people are so self-absorbed and concerned about their own interests that they will actually resist the good Jesus would do in their lives.  When you try to help others move toward Jesus, to welcome Him into their lives and discover the change He can make in their lives and the good He would do, they sometimes resist.  And that can be discouraging to you.  But don’t let their resistance stop you from going to others to give them the good news of what Christ can do.  Instead direct your attention toward someone else who may be receptive to the good God wants to do in his or her life.

Sometimes God directs us to those who are willing to hear by directing us away from those who aren’t willing.  The point is that we keep going to people so that God can steer us to the ones who are ready to hear the good news of Christ.

THE GIFT OF MANAGING

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him, even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ. In my insolence, I persecuted his people. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief. Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 1:12-14 (NLT)

Paul gives a very brief testimony of His conversion experience.  He was considered faithful to be put into service for the Lord.  God was wiling to entrust a ministry to him.  Paul had formerly acted wrongly toward God and people because he didn’t believe God.  He didn’t have spiritual sight before his salvation.

God strengthened him to believe, called him to serve Him, and showed him mercy.  Through Christ he experienced the generosity and grace of God.  And God gave him faith to trust God and love with which to love Him. 

According to the Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25:14-30) God expects us to manage well what He has entrusted to us.  Jesus concludes the lesson of the parable by saying in verse 29: “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.”  

God has entrusted a “ministry” to you.  He’s given you natural and spiritual abilities to be used in service for Him.  He gives you the strength to do what He’s given you to do.  You’ve been appointed to serve.  He’s given you grace and He continually give you the grace for each day to serve Him.  He even gives us the faith we need to trust Him and the love we need to love Him.  He is generous beyond all comparison. 

The response on our part to God’s generosity is faith.  Now we must be faithful to Him because He was willing to entrust something of His to our management. 

Use the abilities and opportunities He’s given you for the cause of Christ.  And He will strengthen you and be merciful to you all along the way.

WHEN DOES GOD SHOW UP?

I will sing of your love and justice, LORD. I will praise you with songs. I will be careful to live a blameless life—when will you come to help me? I will lead a life of integrity in my own home. I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar. I hate all who deal crookedly; I will have nothing to do with them. I will reject perverse ideas and stay away from every evil. Psalm 101:1-4 (NLT)

Have you ever asked the question – “Where are you God?” Particularly in difficult times we start looking around for God. We need Him. We need His help. We need His wisdom. We need His love. We need His grace. God gives us some parameters that when followed tell God that we believe in Him. And it’s when we believe in Him that He expresses His power and provision for what we need. So sing to the Lord about His love and justice. Sing songs of praise to Him. Lead a blameless life in public. Lead a life of integrity in private in your own home. Refuse to view anything that is empty, vulgar, obscene, dishonorable, or false. Detach yourself from anyone or anything that goes against God. The New American Standard translation says that anything that would pull me away from loving God “shall not fasten its grip on me.” Reject the perverse and reroute your life away from every sin. When we follow these parameters we are saying to God that we respect Him and revere Him. We’re saying that we really trust Him with our lives. It’s then that He expresses His grace, His power in our lives. Jesus said, “Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed, for they will be filled.” Matthew 5:6 (HCSB)

LIVING LIKE GOD IS YOUR GOD

God wants us to live trusting Him. He wants us to be faithful to Him. He wants us to know what it’s like to have Him fulfill our lives and give us all that we need. He wants to bless us. When you become a believer in Jesus Christ He wants you to live in such a way that honors Him, and that way of living will certainly be different than a lot of the people around you. Not that God wants you to be odd, but instead of adapting to the ways of the world that are all about serving self, He wants us to live with His values that serve Him and honor Him. When we do, God uses us to point others to Him. He gets the attention. He gets the glory. And the people around you are either drawn to Him through you or they may keep their distance.

When the people of Israel entered the land promised to them by God, He wanted them to live trusting Him and serving Him. He wanted them to live pure lives, separate from the ways of the other nations. In so doing God would use them to testify of Himself, and the other nations would have a visual of God’s reality through Israel. They would have the opportunity, after hearing about Israel and the one true God, to turn to Him in belief. So God tells His people: “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, never learn the disgusting practices of those nations. …You must have integrity in dealing with the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 18:9,13 (GW). The people of Israel were set apart to God for His purposes, and they were to live according to His purposes which would in turn invite His blessings on them. This would be a witness to the other nations.

Here are four things we can do to live like God is our God:


1. Grow.
“In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.” Matt. 5:48 (Mes)

2. Purify.
Let's make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within and without. Let's make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God. 2 Cor. 7:1 (Mes)

3. Go forward.
Yet, my brothers, I do not consider myself to have “arrived”, spiritually, nor do I consider myself already perfect. But I keep going on, grasping ever more firmly that purpose for which Christ grasped me. Phil. 3:12 (Ph)

4. Live the new you.
Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin's every beck and call! … Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you've been raised from the dead!—into God's way of doing things. Sin can't tell you how to live. After all, you're not living under that old tyranny any longer. You're living in the freedom of God. Rom. 6:6-7, 13-14 (Mes)

THE BLESSING OF THIRST

“I will pour water upon him who is thirsty”, Isaiah 44:3 (Amp)

God chooses to bless people. He provides for them. He satisfies them. But there is a prerequisite in order to receive His blessings and inner satisfaction. He says He will “pour water on him who is thirsty.” Those who are thirsty for Him and His truth are the ones who are satisfied. He doesn’t satisfy everyone; only those who recognize their own spiritual drought. And they thirst for God.

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Matthew 5:6. We must be thirsty for righteousness before we are satisfied. That means thirsty for what God says are the “right things and the right way of living.” In other words God provides a way for us to live that pleases Him and satisfies us. And we discover that we thirst for that kind of life, and it can only be found in Christ. Jesus said, “Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14. Drink from the “Living Water” and you experience the fullness of life welling up in you.

If you want to know heart-felt complete satisfaction, thirst for the ways and truths of God. He will supply everything you need and fill you with His grace.