Life Church Vision and Mission (Part 1)

Pastor Rocklyn Clarke - Sunday January 10, 2010

© 2010 Life Church Ministries, Inc.

http://www.LifeChurchMinistries.org/

*
Notes
V Introduction
V Bible Reading 1/3 - 1/9: Zech 10:1 - Mal 4:6; Gen 1 - 4; Rev 18:1 - 22:21; Mat 1:1 - 3:6; Psalm 146 - 150, 1 - 2; Proverbs 30:33 - 31:31; 1:1 - 9
* OT Timeline:
* OT Contemporary Books:
> Review
V New Material
> Preparation
V Life Church Vision and Mission (Part 1)
> Preparation - Ezekiel 47:1-12; Revelation 22:1-2
> Standing Issues
V Introduction
* Nanny went home to be with the Lord on 12/7/2009.
* Nanny was God's friend.
* Nanny wasn't very successful in transmitting her faith in Christ to her children.
* Eva's grandmother was not very successful in transmitting her faith in Christ to her children.
* Churches often fail to equip saints with "tools for transmission".
V Transition
* Israel often failed to transmit faith in and obedience to God.
* Ezekiel received a vision of judgement including the destruction of the Temple because of Israel's failure to be faithful to God.
* Ezekiel also received a vision of a new temple which would reflect a time when Israel's failures would be done a way with.
* God has a solution for our failures to expand his Kingdom.
* Read the Passages - Ezekiel 47:1-12; Revelation 22:1-2
* Exegetical Idea
God's river of life makes things fruitful.
* Homiletical Idea
Fruit grows where the river flows.
V What does this mean?
V The river originates from God's Sanctuary
* From the south side of the altar.
* The altar points to the sacrifice of Jesus.
* The river grows as it flows.
* The river makes fruitful things even more fruitful (i.e. the trees).
* The river makes dead things alive (i.e. the Dead Sea).
* The river supports swarms of living creatures.
* The river represents the life of God poured out to others.
* The curse is over - Revelation 22:3
* God's rule is settled - Revelation 22:3
* God's presence is "locked in" - Revelation 22:4
* We will walk by the light of God's revelation - Revelation 22:5
* We will reign - Revelation 22:5
V Is it True? Do I believe it?
* Yes - God's sanctuary changes lives.
* Yes - God's sanctuary changed my life.
V Something happens when God's life enters the picture!
* Apollo 1 Fire - velcro is not a fire hazard under normal conditions, but it explodes into flame in a pressurized pure oxygen environment.
V What difference does it make? So What?
V If we meet the conditions God can use us to:
* Make broken lives whole
* Make weak lives powerful
* Make barren lives fruitful - Psalm 1
* Mold individual lives into communities
* Make dying communities thrive
* Make the impossible possible
V The Conditions:
V Establish and acknowledge the sanctuary
* Celebration
* Cell Groups
* Identify and stay beside the river
V Be available to others
* Meet the needs of others
* Reign in love
V Establish and Acknowledge the Sanctuary
* You must be a follower of Jesus.
* You must draw your purpose, direction, and strength from Jesus
V Grow Beside the River
* Phase 1 (the 1st 1000 cubits): Water reaches ankle depth
* Phase 2 (the 2nd 1000 cubits): Water reaches knee depth
* Phase 3 (the 3rd 1000 cubits): Water reaches waist depth
* Phase 4 (the 4th 1000 cubits): Water becomes too deep for wading
V Go Fishing
* This element is not reflected in Revelation 22:1-2
* Where the river flows everything will live - Ezek 47:9
V Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself
V The Life Church Vision
* Based on these passages: Ezekiel 47:1-12; Revelation 22:1-2
* The standard against which we check ourselves.
* Sanctuary Check
> River Check
> Sea Check
> Life Check
V Determine the Sermon's Purpose (what listeners should do):
V Understand the Life Church Vision
* Understand its connection to Ezekiel 47:1-12.
* Understand its connection to Revelation 22:1-6.
V Align with the Life Church Vision
* Purposeful lives are aligned lives
V Reign in love.
* Take responsibility for representing the Kingdom to your world.
* Be a blessing and a source of life to others.
V Our Vision: Why We Exist
* Vision Statement
Our vision is to build a network of churches, ministries, and businesses through which God’s river of life can transform people, their communities, and the systems in which they participate.
In short: purposeful lives making a powerful difference!
* Vision Explained
God’s river of life is the “river of the water of life” referred to in the first two verses of chapter 22 of Revelation — the last book of the Bible:
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:1-2)
It’s a picture of God entering the lives of those who are willing to receive him. By letting him in we can live the way he wants us to live — the way we would choose to live if we knew what he knows about us and about the world we live in.
* Vision Narrative
God wants to live inside of you! Then, from the inside he wants to transform your life into something beyond your wildest dreams. While he’s doing that, he wants your life to be a springboard that allows him to reach many others as well.
We want to support this process. If you think of God’s life as a never-ending river, we want to bring that river to you. It begins when you hear the life-changing message of what God has done and is doing through Jesus Christ. You may or may not remember when you first embraced the message but after you do, you notice your life changing. The changes may seem small at first, but the longer you stay in the river, the bigger they get.
You notice a new love for God in your heart that you never experienced before. You find yourself connected to others who are having the same experience. Some of them never expected to have anything to do with God but now they and you know him intimately.
You also notice a new love for others — even your enemies — that you never experienced before. God’s life on the inside is making you a better person, a better mother, father, sister, or brother. You’re becoming a better student, a better employee, a better businessperson, a better leader.
Others notice the changes in your life as well. Your family relationships and friendships are transformed into healthy nurturing life-giving bonds. You realize that you yourself have become a branch of the river and through you God’s life is reaching and transforming others. Because of you and the other changed people in the river with you, your community experiences new life and vitality. You begin to imagine a day when you’ll read your local newspaper and find that all of the bad news comes from somewhere else.
The new life within you is unstoppable. It gives you a hunger to see your city, your nation, and even the whole world renewed. Together with your new brothers and sisters in Christ you give birth to new cultural expressions. Your collective talents and gifts are woven together to create new music, new dramatic performances, renewed culture.
All this and more is what we see as we bring God’s river of life to a thirsty world. In order to achieve this vision we have made a commitment to remove any possible obstacle. That’s why we’re transforming the way church is done! Come on in and join us — the water’s fine!
V Understand the Life Church Vision
* Understand its connection to Ezekiel 47:1-12.
* Understand its connection to Revelation 22:1-6.
V Align with the Life Church Vision
* Purposeful lives are aligned lives
* We are seated with Christ - Ephesians 2:1-10
* We are reigning in this life - Romans 5:12-17
V Reign in love.
* Take responsibility for representing the Kingdom to your world.
* Be a blessing and a source of life to others.
* If we endure we will reign - 2Timothy 2:11-13
V Conclusion
* We reign on the earth - Revelation 5:1-10
V Altar Call / Welcome Cards / Communion
* Welcome Cards - refer to script
* Benediction - Numbers 6:24-26
“‘“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’
* Men's Prayer
V Discussion Questions / Topics (based on the indicated scriptures)
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
V Scripture Reference - Ezekiel 47:1-12
* The river flowed from the temple - where people gather to worship God. What role does the gathering of believers for worship play in your life?
* The river flowed from a point in the temple south of the altar - symbolic of Jesus' sacrifice for us. In what ways are you dependent on Jesus? In what ways are you independent from Jesus?
* The trees growing by the river produced edible fruit every month and had leaves for healing. What kind of tree are you?
V Scripture Reference - Revelation 22:1-2
* How have you been available and life-giving to others recently? How can you be more available and life-giving this coming week?
V Scripture Reference - Romans 5:12-17; Ephesians 2:1-10
* In what ways will you reign in life through Jesus Christ this week?
* How does sitting with Christ in heavenly places affect your daily life?
* Did you behave like God's agent this pst week, or did you behave more like a vicim of circumstances? How will you behave this coming week?
V Witnessing Activities
V Work as a team to develop some questions you can ask the unchurched people you know. The questions should meet the following criteria:
* They should be natural (i.e. you can ask them without feeling awkward).
* They should relate in someway to the person's life situation.
* They should be open-ended (i.e. not be simple "yes" or "no" questions.
* They should help to deepen your relationship.
* Use the questions during this coming week and report back on the results.
V Scriptures For 01/10/2010 Life Church Sermon
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
Ezekiel 47:1-12
The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was flowing from the south side.
As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in — a river that no one could cross. He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?”
Then he led me back to the bank of the river. When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Sea. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds — like the fish of the Great Sea. But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”
Revelation 22:1-6
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”
Ephesians 2:1-10
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Romans 5:12-17
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned — for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Revelation 5:1-10
Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”