Good morning, again! What a glorious day to end this worship series we’ve been in. Folks, serving (our third banner) is so important … and that’s what this series has been all about. And today we conclude this series by talking about one more way we can serve—one more way we can be fully engaged in our life with God. And, once again, this is also the answer to the future of our church…
So, as we’ve been making our way through this series, we’ve been looking at a life that is fully committed to God—fully engaged in the things that matter the most. And the most important engagement of all the ones we’ve talked about is to be fully engaged with God. Go with me to our theme scripture verse right now, from 2 Chronicles 16:9a:
“The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him….”
You see, first and foremost, God wants us to be fully engaged with him. And then he says, He will bless and strengthen us if we do that. But, here’s the truth about life. In life, we don’t get a lot out of things we’re not fully engaged in! If our heart’s not fully committed to it, we don’t get a lot out of it. For instance…
- If I’m not fully engaged in my marriage, odds are my marriage isn’t going to be totally successful…
- If I’m not fully engaged in my career, odds are my career is going to be seen as mediocre…
- If I’m not fully engaged in the goals I’ve set for my life, odds are I’m not going to reach those goals…
- And, guess what? If I’m not fully engaged in my relationship with God, I’m not going to get much out of that either…
Folks, although we may not think about this much, the same can be said for being fully engaged with our city—our community. We might know many good things about our community, but we can live here without being fully engaged. And by that I mean … we can live here and take and take and take from this community, but do we ever give back to the community we live in? We’re talking about actually loving our city—the community we’re a part of…
Jesus lived near a great city that he loved; did you know that? In fact, he died there. He wasn’t born and raised in the city of Jerusalem, but he loved that city! Jesus, you might say, had a passion for the city of Jerusalem. In Luke 13:34 (NLT), Jesus was teaching and he said,
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.”
Then, just a few days before he was to die on the cross, as he was approaching Jerusalem, he sees the city from a distance and Luke tells us (19:41), “But as they came closer to Jerusalem and Jesus saw the city ahead, he began to weep.” Folks, Jesus cared so much for Jerusalem that he literally wept over that city…
Are you engaged in your city? Does your heart ever break because of what’s going on in your city that you know God wouldn’t be pleased with? The poverty? The many people who aren’t connected to God? Today, I want to talk to you about not wasting the opportunity God’s given you to live where you live! Now, some of you are native to this area. And some of you have moved in at some point in time. But, all of you have dreams about your life here, I’m sure. But, the problem with dreams is, sometimes they consume all of our time & energy. And what we fail to realize is this: God has a dream or a vision or a purpose for your life too—right here where you live! Did you know that? And it’s God’s dream for your life… So, let’s begin there today. TO BE FULLY ENGAGED IN MY CITY, I MUST:
SEE that God has a purpose for me. So, what is God’s desire for you to do or to accomplish … right where you live? Namely, 2 things (first two banners up front): 1) to love God with your whole heart … and 2) to love others whom God loves (which means everyone)!
The fact is, however, that we have way too many folks who are just using their city—for what they can get out of it. But what kind of a relationship is that? And I dare say, for those who are just users, life in whatever community you’re in can be absolutely frustrating…
It takes a while to fit in or to get settled when you move to a new community. The summer of 2004, when we moved to Dodgeville, I hadn’t really invested much in the community yet; I hadn’t got to know people well … and some of the idiosyncrasies of the community … like where the speed traps were at. I was coming in the south exit, back into Dodgeville, with my whole family in the car. And I didn’t realize that you had to slow down so quickly coming down that hill by the hospital entrance … and I got pulled over. Now, what a fine ‘how do you do’ that was! Welcome to Dodgeville!
Was that frustrating? Yes … and I could think of several other things that are always a bit frustrating when moving to a new community—things that we hadn’t been used to before. But, we didn’t let that ‘welcome’—or anything else—stop us. Why? Because God had a purpose for us here … and that’s what we were here for … and that’s what we wanted to accomplish … and we wanted to do our best to give back to the city—not just look at what we could take from it…
We needed to keep our eye on the ball, give back to our community when God said to give, and live out God’s purpose for our lives—first and foremost, continuing to love God with all our heart, and then love others (including that police officer) whom God had called us to love! I have to tell you the end of the story: God gave me an incredible opportunity to give back. Several years after we moved here, I had the privilege of doing a ‘ride along’ one 3rd shift with one of our community police officers. What an experience that was … and what a privilege to see what they’re up against day in and day out! But, as I got in the squad car for the ‘ride along’, the first thing the officer did was pull something up on his computer, then he turned it my way so I could see what he was looking at. He’d gone back in the archives to show me … that we’d met earlier. As it turns out, he was the one who pulled me over and gave me a ticket when I’d first moved to Dodgeville. ‘Coincidence? I don’t think so… When it was time for me to work with him, we already had a history, such as it was… Folks, God always has a purpose for our lives, much bigger than our dreams, and God’s ways are certainly not our ways, but much higher than ours. In order to be fully engaged with our city, we must SEE THAT GOD HAS A PURPOSE FOR US … RIGHT WHERE WE LIVE! If I hadn’t of come into this community knowing that God had a purpose for my life here, this may have been a whole different story. We have to begin there… Also, if you want to be fully engaged with your city, you must…
SEE the city as the people. I don’t even have to tell you that … that’s what Jesus did! When Jesus looked at the people of the city, his attitude was this: He came to serve them!
I wonder sometimes if some of us are so consumed with our dreams in this place … that we don’t even see the people we encounter most of the time. Could that be possible?
There’s a verse that’s not in your notes today, but you may want to jot this reference down anyway. In Philippians 2:6-7b (NLT), Paul says this about Jesus:
“Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being….”
Jesus gave up everything … that he might relate to us—that he might know us and realize our needs. Are our eyes on the people of our city? Do we see them? Jesus decided, ‘I will come and I will simply serve anyone and everyone who has a need.’ Then, in 1 John, we’re told that we are to live our lives the same way Jesus lived his…
One of the problems of having our eyes on others, like Jesus, is this … and I have to be honest with you: We tend to be so consumed with ourselves—myself included! We get up in the morning, go to the bathroom and look in the mirror … and it begins. We say to ourselves, “Wow! We’re going to have a lot of work to do today!” And it seems like our natural tendencies are, from that point on, to just be consumed with ourselves. It’s all about … my needs, my needs, and my wants or desires! And it’s all wrapped up in ME … unless we allow God to change our hearts—to have God’s heart…
So, the question before us (if you hadn’t already guessed) is this: Will you allow God to change your heart? You know why I ask that? Because God has planted you here, in this city … or neighboring community, not just to fulfill your dreams, but to know that as you look to fulfill your dream, God has a great purpose for your life right here, too … and it involves the people of this place. Folks, God wants you to impact the lives of the people that are around you for his purposes. The question today is, will you? And if you don’t think you can, let’s see what God’s word has to say about that (Eph. 2:10, NLT): “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” We’ve been created for the very purpose of doing the good things that God has for us to do, serving those who are our neighbors. How can you do that? You are God’s masterpiece! God has created you to help carry out this mission…
Again, some don’t want to engage with their city because they’re only going to be here for a little while, so why bother? If we begin to see the city we live in as the people, instead of just a crowd of nameless faces, we’ll begin to understand the difference between success and significance. And, believe you me, significance will trump success any day of the week … in the big picture of things (God’s picture). Significance, folks, is fulfilling the desires God has for your life! And some of you would say, but I’m too busy trying to take care of everything else and just survive! To which Jesus would say (Matt. 6:31), “So, don’t worry about these things….” The ‘everything else’—what we’ll eat, what we’ll drink, what we’ll wear—dominate the lives of most unbelievers. But, that’s not God’s plan for us who are followers of his. Jesus goes on to say (Matt. 6:33), “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”
Folks, Jesus—because you’re going to trust him—is going to give you everything you need. You don’t have to worry about you, when you put your life in God’s hands (and only you can do that). Your eyes can now move off of YOU … and onto the people of your city! They are God’s purpose for us; God has everything else covered. So, at the end of our lives, may it be as it was for King David, as recorded in Acts 13:36a (NIV): “For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep….” And you’re thinking to yourself, ‘I knew it! I serve God … and it’ll make me tired!” That’s not what it means, folks. He faithfully completed the purposes of God for his life … and then was able to rest in eternity with God from that point on. That’s my prayer for all of us. May it be so… And last but not least, if you want to be fully engaged with your city, you must…
SEE God-given opportunities to act. Here, folks, is where God’s purpose for my life and the people where I live intersect. You see, once we open our eyes to the people of our city, God will then open our eyes to the needs those individuals have…
I want you to listen to this, because this is very important. When you become a follower of Christ, every time you see a need in the life of somebody around you … and that need touches your heart, that is God inviting you to help meet that need—to do something about it. I want you to understand, so I need to repeat this: when you see a need in the life of someone who lives where you live, and that need really hits your heart, that’s God calling you to do something about that need!
You don’t have to wait for a lightning bolt to hit you. You don’t have to wait for God to scribble something to you in stone. When you feel someone else’s need deep in your heart, that’s God’s invitation for you to do something about it!
And folks, God gives us opportunities like this every single day. The question is, will we act? Now I know, sometimes—if we’re honest—we really don’t want to see the opportunities, because we know that if we see them and we acknowledge them … that we have to do something about them. So, we sometimes pretend we don’t even know those needs are there. But I gotta tell you … God knows. And the most important opportunity God gives us—bar none—is the opportunity to help someone we know is a long way from God—who doesn’t have a personal relationship with God through a faith in his Son, Jesus—to come to find God, to draw near to God…
A scripture that I used earlier comes to mind now, too. It’s Paul’s words in Colossians 4:5 and it says:
“Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.”
The problem, folks, is not living among those who are not yet Christians; it’s easy to do that. The real challenge for us is … living wisely among those who are not yet believers … and making the most of every opportunity God give us! In fact, this is the most important assignment God gives us…
Acts 20:24 is our memory verse for today (Next Step #1). Would you follow along with me right now? Here, Paul is recorded as saying this:
“But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.”
Why would Paul say this? Because sharing God’s love with others is the primary task God gives all of us, when we become followers of Jesus. It’s your #1 assignment, because it means so much to God! The people in your life, in your city, who do not yet know God … mean so much to God; God loves them so much. And our primary objective for the rest of our lives is to help them know God…
Folks, in order to be truly engaged with our city (and not just users of the city), we need to know that…
1. God has a purpose for our lives, much bigger than our individual dreams…
2. We need to begin to see our city not just as a crowd of people in a geographical location, but as individuals—people who need God too, and…
3. We need to begin to see the God-given opportunities we have to impact those around us for Christ!
Who doesn’t need love, folks? And there’s nothing else like the love of God… We have it. We know it. And our community is in need… Do you feel the nudge of God today? Get out there and acknowledge the needs he places before us … and let’s do something about those needs … together! How much do you love your city?