Leave a Legacy

Prepare for your final exam - 1Cor 3:10-15

Introduction

Bishop's 60th birthday party

Thompson Family - I want what they have

You can have it if you pay the price

Elijah ----> Elisha

Introducing Elijah - 1Kings 17:1-6

Elijah on Mt. Carmel - 1Kings 18:15-40

Elijah and Elisha - 2Kings 2:1-15

Desire the right legacy

God must be the source of your legacy

Elijah was on God's mission

Only what you do for Christ will last

God must shape the details of your legacy

Pursue God's agenda, not your own

Understand specifically what God has called you to do

Know your purpose

If you aim at nothing in particular you'll hit it every time

Be part of someone else's legacy

Be under authority - Luke 7:1-10

Be faithful with someone else's property - Luke 16:10-12

Find a mentor / coach

Follow the leader

Elisha refused to leave Elijah at:

Gilgal - Josh 4:19 - 5:12

First camp after crossing the Jordan

Circumcision - the covenant renewed, reproach rolled away

First Passover in Canaan

First experience of the produce of the land

Bethel

Originally dedicated to God - Gen 28:10-22; Gen 31:10-13

Subsequently defiled - 1Kings 12:25 - 13:6

Later reclaimed under Josiah

Jericho

Originally destroyed and cursed - Josh 6:20-27

Subsequently rebuilt - 1Kings 16:34

Stay with your leader through all the stages of your relationship

New beginnings

Examining defilements in your "house of God"

Examining "resurrected" issues

Eat the meat and spit out the bones

Eli ----> Samuel

Introducing Eli - 1Sam 1:1-3

Eli's Sons - 1Sam 2:10-25

Prophetic Warning - 1Sam 2:27-36; 1Sam 3:1-18

Samuel comes into his own - 1Sam 3:19-21

Prophetic Fulfillment against Eli - 1Sam 4:10-22

Samuel's Sons - 1Sam 8:1-9

Recognize the negative traits that you need to avoid

Pay attention

Elisha had to see Elijah taken up to heaven

Jordan

They crossed the Jordan out of Canaan

Their final moments were on the "wilderness" side of Jordan

Catching the transition

Everyone probably expected Elijah to die

No one expected chariots and horses of fire and a whirlwind

Elijah had a reputation for "disappearing" - 1Kings 18:1-15

Keep your eye on your leader in the wilderness

See and recognize your leader's "promotion"

His/her promotion is your promotion

Don't waste time longing for the "good old days"

Know what's going on in the ministry to which you belong

Know the power of God

River splitting power

Resurrection Power - Eph 1:15-23

Move beyond discouragement - 1Kings 19:1-21

Sulking, pouting, and pampering are not God's will for us

Elijah went "backwards" to Mt. Horeb (Sinai)

"What are you doing here?"

Discouragement distorts your perception - 1Kings 19:10-14

Go back the way you came - 1Kings 19:15

Handle your next assignment - 1Kings 19:15-21

Make the transition to commitment - 1Kings 19:19-21

Don't miss God's invitation

Say goodbye to your old life

Jesus did this at his baptism

Be faithful - 1Kings 19:19-21; 2Kings 2:1-18; 2Kings 3:11

Faithfulness is a lifestyle

Begin with faithfulness

End with faithfulness

No mystery about the intervening years

Work on your stuff

Examine yourself - 1Cor 11:28-32; 2Cor 13:5

Count the cost - Luke 14:28-33

Conquer your fears

Feed on God's Word - Job 23:12; Jer 15:16; Mat 4:4

Pray

Worship

Prostrate yourself

Personally

With your resources

Excel at giving - 2Cor 8:1-9; 2Cor 9:6-7

Examples - Gen 14:17-20; Gen 28:10-22; Prov 3:9-10

Fellowship

Put others ahead of yourself Philip 2:4-5

Glorify God in your everyday life

At school

On your job

Be a faithful worker

Understand the big picture

Solve problems - don't leave them in someone else's lap

Be a Kingdom strategist

Operate strategically

Beware the tyranny of the urgent

Q1 (Important & Urgent); Q2 (Important & Not Urgent)

Q3 (Unimportant & Urgent); Q4 (Unimportant & Not Urgent)

Operate in Quadrant 2

Put the big rocks in first

Make a plan

Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, 5 year, etc.

Follow the plan

Keep it updated

Put God's Kingdom first - Mat 6:19-34

Organize your life around the Kingdom - not "worldly success"

Resist Satan's efforts to make us preoccupied with ourselves and with our own families only.

Our deliberate efforts at unity and connecting to our brothers and sisters help to release God's power - John 17:20-23

Summary

God exists

Key assumptions:

God wants to be known

If he didn't want be known, how could we know him?

We also assume that we are competent to know God - we forget about the impact of original sin on our ability to know God

Win Converts

Acts 8:1-8 - Philip evangelizes in Samaria

God scatters us when we get too complacent

Those who were scattered preached the Word wherever they went - Use your gifts

Give God credit

Pray for and lay hands on people

Let the gifts of the Spirit flow

God is not into "superstars"

Acts 8:9-13 - Simon the Sorcerer

Acts 8:14-25 - The Apostles to the rescue

Acts 8:26-40 - Philip and the Ethiopian

Will you teach your disciples the full gospel?

1Cor 2:1-5 - Not human persuasion, but divine persuasion!

God Expects Fruit

Fruitfulness is rewarded

Parable of the minas - Luke 19:11-27

Parable of the talents - Mat 25:14-30

Fruitlessness is punished

Cursing the fig tree - Mat 21:18-19

When will the fig tree bear fruit? - Luke 13:6-9

Are you gathering with Jesus? - Mat 12:30

Are you drawing people into God's Kingdom?

Submit to your leaders - Heb 13:17

Recognize the time - Luke 19:41-44

Make disciples - 2Tim 2:2

You have to pull someone in close

They have to be close enough to understand what you have

They have to want what you have

The whole counsel of God - Acts 20:22-27

Be a strategic connector

We must design everything we do so that it advances the great commission - winning and making disciples.

The earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord - Isa 11:9

Connect people to the Kingdom

Use any godly means necessary

Evangelize on your own - occasionally works

confrontation compel someone to follow Christ

Invite to Sunday service - occasionally works

Invite to life group - appropriate for some

Join the workforce!

Invite to a life group activity - appropriate for most

Come to the party!

Invite to lunch with one to two brothers/sisters - great strategy

Will we let God use our relationships or will we selfishly keep them to ourselves?

Not human persuasion, but divine persuasion! - 1Cor 2:1-5

Pray first and expect God to produce results - 1Cor 3:1-15

Be an expert builder

Build quality

Don't be someone who escapes through the flames

Summary

Paul's appeal: 2Cor 10:1-18

Authority for building you up - 2Cor 10:8; 2Cor 13

Boasting in the Lord - 2Cor 10:17; Jer 9:23-25

Circumcised only in the flesh - Jer 9:25-26

A Life Of Power

Incomparably great power towards us who believe - Eph 1:15-22

his power that is at work within us - Eph 3:14-21

Mat 13:24-52

Power Defined

The ability to get things done

Know what you're supposed to do

business idea

Know how you're supposed to do it

business plan

Know who you're supposed to work with

Work faithfully

God's creation and man's stewardship - Gen 1:26-29; Gen 2:4-15

Rely on God's power - Philip 2:12-16; Philip 4:13; 2Pet 1:3-4

A Life Of Power

Prelude - Eph 1:1 - 3:13

Incomparably great power towards us who believe - Eph 1:15-22

Paul is writing as a prisoner

imprisoned in Rome c. 60 A.D.

a seemingly powerless situation

He writes about God's goals and God's power while in prison

Paul understood something that we also need to understand

The prison that held his body did not hold his ministry

He learned a lesson 5 years earlier - 2Cor 12:2-10

God's power is made perfect in weakness

God doesn't view hardships the way we do

God's manifold wisdom is being demonstrated to the universe

manifold (polupoikilos) - like a good movie weaves together plot points

my sufferings for you, which are your glory - Eph 3:13

prisoner of "Christ Jesus" for the sake of you gentiles

Who are you in prison for?

Who are you writing to?

Who are you visiting?

Who are you praying for?

Who have you been unable to escape?

God has established some serious goals for the Church

He redeemed us

He reconciled us to himself

He reconciled us to each other

He has formed us into the Church

This is why Paul is a prisoner for the sake of the gentiles - Eph 3:1

Paul's Prayer - Eph 3:14-21

Kneels before the Father

The Father is the source of our power - vs. 14

If you don't pray you don't have real power.

We spend time on things that we believe will benefit us

Kaplan preparation for SAT and other exams

Lamaze child birth classes

We miss out because we have a secular view of power

like naive people in a system run on bribery

The Father's family is named after him - vs. 15

we are all part of one family

our oneness is an essential part of God's plan for the universe

The Father calls the shots

Are we aligned with God's purposes?

Are we growing in obedience?

for our strengthening

glorious riches - this is just one of many things he could ask for

power comes from God through his Spirit who live within us

for Christ to be "at home" in our hearts - vs. 17

this happens by faith

for us to grasp the enormity of Christ's love - vs. 18

our salvation was a result of Christ's love

we need the ability to comprehend just how far that same love goes

it extends to our brothers and sisters

it extends to our neighbors

it extends to our enemies

it extends to people around the world

for us to know Christ's love

Alan Vincent - "He loves me!"

If you don't know Christ's love you can't operate in his power.

God's power is manifested when Christ's love flows through us

Speaking the truth in love to our brothers and sisters - Eph 4:15

Getting our minds off of ourselves and focusing on others

Forgiving

for us to be filled with all of God's fullness

To God be the glory!

He can do far more than we can ask or imagine

What he can do corresponds to our openness to his power

Glory in the church

We bring God glory by completing our assignments - John 17:4

Glory in Christ Jesus

Forever

Rely on God's power - 2Cor 12:2-10; Philip 2:12-16; Philip 4:13; 2Pet 1:3-4

What We're Supposed to Do - Our Vision

Transform the way church is done

throughout the nation

one life group at a time!

Life Church is a growing community of Christians who:

Know and love God

Know and love each other

Take responsibility for keeping in touch with your life group

Take personal responsibility for the ministry and for your life group

Pray alone and with your prayer partners

Love one another - 1Cor 13; 1Pet 1:22; 1John 4:7 - 5:5

How can you love your brother/sister and not call him/her?

How can you love your brother/sister and not visit him/her?

What you don't do for "the least of these" you don't do for Jesus! - Mat 25:31-46

Has your love run cold? - Luke 24:12

Your brothers and sisters are wrapped presents from God lying under the Christmas tree - open them up!

Fulfill God's mission for our lives

Foundation in Jesus Christ - Mat 16:15-18

We are called to be like the tree of life - Ezek 47:1-12; Rev 22:1-2

We are fruitful - producing souls for Jesus

We heal our communities by offering them genuine community

How We're Supposed To Do It - Our Mission

Develop our relationship with God and one another through:

Meeting together on Sundays for worship and instruction

Meeting weekly in small groups (life groups) for fellowship, support, growth, and evangelism.

Life groups are to the celebration as rooms are to a house

You can't be in my house without being in a room

Basic Christian Community - Acts 2:41-47; Acts 4:31-37

Devoted themselves to:

apostolic teaching

fellowship

all together, everything in common,

selling possessions and goods, giving to meet needs

met every day in the temple courts

breaking of bread

prayer

Praising God

Experienced God's power

awe, wonders, and miraculous signs

favor of the people

daily growth

testified to the resurrection with great power

Living rich and balanced lives together.

Develop mature believers through:

Teaching godly habits.

Transforming godly habits into skills.

Turning skills into ministries.

Develop effective leaders who serve their brothers and sisters in humility.

Leadership - sees the goal clearly and actively helps people reach it.

Effective - succeeds in achieving the goal.

Expand God’s kingdom by winning people in our lives and in our communities to Jesus Christ.

Taking responsibility for the harvest - John 4:34-38

Taking responsibility for expanding your skills

Taking responsibility for working with other believers

Relational Evangelism

Strategic Evangelism

Our Objectives

Our Core Values

God's Word – We study God’s Word (the Holy Bible) and put it into practice

Prayer – We practice daily intimate fellowship with God through prayer

Worship – We practice staying in God’s presence through worship

Fellowship – We make fellowship a habit by meeting together regularly

Discipleship – We are faithful in discipleship

Agreement – We walk in agreement with our pastoral leadership and with one another

Serving – We are faithful in serving God, one another and the lost

A Life Of Power

Pastor Rocklyn E. Clarke - Sunday July 23, 2006