On Your Mark! Get Set! GO! - Week 3 - Our Purpose

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.  God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.  2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Our mission, as given to us by Jesus in the Great Commission is:  TO MAKE DISCIPLES (2MD).  Someone may approach you and ask the very relevant question, "Why are you supposed to make disciples?"  Or they may say, "For what purpose are you making disciples?"  At Mooresville Church of God we believe that the verses above from 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 give us the answer to those questions:  The purpose, OUR PURPOSE for making disciples is RECONCILIATION.  From the moment that humanity rebelled against God and sin entered the world, God's primary task has been to reconcile humanity and all of His creation back to Him!  To restore, redeem and reconcile all creation back to it's original, perfect relationship to Him!  Our purpose in making disciples is so that every person will be reconciled to God and also reconciled to each other!

This call to be ambassadors of reconciliation presents us with an obvious choice:  We can either choose reconciliation in our own life or not.  We can either be ambassadors of reconciliation in our world, or not.  That choice is scripturally laid before us in Romans 8:5 which says:  "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires."  This quickly brings to mind additional, important questions:

- What does the sinful nature desire?  We'll look at original sin to answer that one (Gen. 3:6-9)
- What does the Spirit desire?  We'll look at the beginning of the Spirit's ministry for that one (Acts 2:41-47)

The Sinful Nature Desires...

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"  Genesis 3:6-9

1.  The Sinful Nature Desires Self Obsession
Adam and Eve wanted what they wanted (knowledge and power) more than they wanted what God wanted (perfect relationship with them).  As a result of their self obesession, reconciliation with God is now necessary for all of us.

2.  The Sinful Nature Desires Isolation
When sin crept into the world the immediate reaction of Adam and Eve was to isolate themselves first from each other (fig leaves to cover themselves) and then from God (hiding from God).  This is always the outcome of sin!  It rips apart, divides and causes division!  Our need for reconciliation with God and each other becomes even more obvious!

3.  The Sinful Nature Desires Hell
God calls out to Adam and Eve, "Where are you?"  When God can't find you...you are eternally lost.  And being eternally lost means being eternally separated from God.  At this point we become desperate for reconciliation with God and with those who are already reconciled to Him!

The Spirit Desires...

 Those who accepted his (Peter's) message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.  They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.  All the believers were together and had everything in common.  Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.  Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,  praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.  Acts 2:41-47

1.  The Spirit Desires Reconciliation with God
After the Holy Spirit was poured out on the early church and they were empowered to do the work of reconciliation, the first thing we see after Peter's first sermon are 3000 people being reconciled to God!  This is always priority number 1 for God and His people!

2.  The Spirit Desires Reconciliation with People
Immediately after these 3000 people are reconciled to God you see this beautiful community begin to form where they worshipped together, ate together, prayed together, learned together, sold their possessions so no one would be in need!  God's presence in their lives led them into life-giving and healing relationships with each other as well!

3. The Spirit Desires Heaven
"Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."  Doesn't that sound like a little glimpse of heaven to you?  The final and eternal act of reconciliation with God and His people is when your time on earth is complete and you are in God's presence...in heaven!  Once you are in heaven then the original plan God had when he put Adam and Eve in the garden can be lived out to perfection!  Perfect relationship, perfect union, perfect world!  That's what reconciliation with God brings!

Our purpose:  RECONCILIATION!  God longs for us to be reconciled to Him, to each other and to become ambassadors of reconciliation in this fallen world!  Will you join us in fulfilling that purpose? 

In His Grip,

Pastor John

On Your Mark! Get Set! GO! - Week 2 - The Mission

"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everthing I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." 

Matthew 28:18-20

Here's a good clarifying question:  If Mooresville Church of God ceased to exist...who would miss us?  In other words, are we making such an impact in the lives of people, in our community, and in the world that if we vanished, people would be impacted deeply by our absence.  This is simply one of many good questions that we MUST ask ourselves if we are to stay focused on the mission that God has called His church to!

So what IS our mission?  What did Jesus command us to do as His body?  In the above verses Jesus could not be any clearer!  Our mission (if we choose to accept it) is:  TO MAKE DISCIPLES!  Can you remember that?  If not, here's an abbreviation:  2MD!  Yes, it really is that succinct!  Our mission is to make disciples through every aspect of life and ministry at our disposal.  Worship?  It's a tool to make disciples!  Fellowship of the believers?  According to Acts 2 as a result of their fellowship "the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved"!  Service to our community?  God told us to let our light shine so that people would see our good deeds and be led to praise Him (Matt. 5:16)!  EVERY aspect of ministry and life is to be used to MAKE DISCIPLES!  Start in Matthew and start working your way through the New Testament:  Everything Jesus taught and modeled for His followers was designed to make disciples!  Preaching, teaching, serving, healing, confronting, debating, loving, singing, enduring persecution...EVERYTHING was for the purpose of drawing people into discipleship with Jesus!

What must happen in each of us as well as in Mooresville Church of God in order for us to accomplish the mission of MAKING DISCIPLES?  We can look back to last week's sermon for the answer to this question.  As Jesus cleansed the temple in Matthew 21:12-15 he does three things.  And Jesus does these three things if He comes into a individual life, into a family, into a business, or even into a church:

1.  He cleans out what shouldn't be there:  Sinful attitudes and behaviors, disunity, divisivness.  All of it!

2.  He changes traditions and habits:  Any tradition or habit that is a barrier to making disciples must go!

3.  He clarifies whose house it is:  It's not my house or your house...It's Jesus' house...He sets the mission!

Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth is given to me...".  In other words, we don't have a say in this!  Jesus said it...we decide if we will follow...and if so, then we carry out the mission!  And after declaring that all authority was His, He said, "Therefore go and MAKE DISCIPLES, baptizing them...teaching them to obey everything I have commanded"!  And then He concludes by telling us to remember and to remind potential disciples that He will be with us throughout the process!  He will never leave us or forsake us!  He is as committed to us as He is asking us to be committed to Him!

Our Mission:  TO MAKE DISCIPLES - 2MD!

Will you join us in this adventure?  Will you get into this race?  Will you run hard for His sake?  Will you strive for the prize?  We have a mission...it's a life and death mission for millions of people...ON YOUR MARK --- GET SET --- GO!

In His Grip,

Pastor John

God's Shining Light Daycare & Preschool

Mooresville Church of God would like to announce the opening of our new daycare and preschool!

God's Shining Light Daycare & Preschool will serve children ages infant thru 12 years. 

Amy Marine is our director and can be contacted at 317-831-1418 for details about registration, hours, programming and pricing.

Congratulations to Amy and her staff for their hard work in getting this great ministry organized and ready to serve our community!

Come to our OPEN HOUSE - MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 6-8 PM!  Hope to see you all there!

On Your Mark! Get Set! GO! - Week 1

Today was Bridge Day at Mooresville Church of God!  Our hope was to begin building a bridge to our community and to people who live near our building.  We want to be able to partner with families, with businesses, with public service providers and be a part of the fabric of our part of Mooresville!

To the people of Mooresville Church of God we say a heart-felt "THANK YOU"!  The hard work, committment and determination shown by you all has been inspiring, motivating and encouraging!  You have truly shown what it means to partner with your pastoral staff to accomplish something great for God's fame, for His sake, and for His church!  This is YOUR victory!  Well done!

To those who visited with us yesterday in our morning worship service or at the Block Party we say a heart-felt "WELCOME"!  We're so glad you spent the day with us!  We want to assist you in being a part of the dynamic work that God is doing through Mooresville Church of God in these days!  You've come at an exciting and important time in the life of our church!  We look forward to connecting with you and serving with you!

Come Home Running

Sunday's message was simply titled, "Come Home Running".  We looked at two important Bible passages:

1.  The parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) and how God's extravagent love for us is portrayed through this powerful story of salvation, reconciliation and grace!  We looked at the son's past, present and future and tried to put ourselves in his place as he is welcomed home by a loving Father!

2.  An unusual moment in the life of Jesus when, with anger and indignation, He cleanses the temple of sinful activities that have been happening there. (Matthew 21:12-15)  We looked at how the things He does in that temple are the same things he does in us (since we are His temple now!) when we invite Him into our lives!  The 3 things Jesus always does when he comes into our lives are:

- He cleans out what shouldn't be there:  Whatever sinful things exist in our life, Jesus' first desire is to clean it out and start the process of making us a "new creation" (2 Cor. 5:17).  Jesus cleansed that temple of moneychangers and businesses that were needed, but had lost sight of their purpose and role in the temple. 

- He changes the habits and traditions:  Even after sin is cleaned from our lives we still have to reorient our habits and acitivites so that sin won't creep back in!  Jesus changed the habits and traditions of that temple by driving out the cheating moneychangers and re-establishing His house as a house of prayer!

- He clarifies whose house it is:  Jesus comes into our lives and reminds us that He bought us at a price (1 Cor. 6:20) and that we belong to Him!  He went into that temple, cleaned it out, re-established healthy habits and traditions and then reminded everyone, "It's MY house"!  And His house is to be a house of prayer, a place where God can reside.

God really blessed us on Sunday, September 13, 2009!  We had 225 people in our worship service, we had approximately 300-400 people at our Block Party.  Most importantly we had 12 people who made re-commitments of some type!  God's presence and activity in our lives and in His church was awesome!

Thank you Lord for Your grace, Your extravagent love, Your provision, Your promises to us!  You've blessed us and we are grateful people today!  May our lives and our service be a pleasing response to Your powerful presence and activity among us!

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, the whole earth is full of his glory!

Humbled by His grace,

Pastor John

THIS SUNDAY - BRIDGE DAY & BLOCK PARTY!!

This Sunday is our big outreach day! Building a bridge to our community and celebrating life together at our Block Party! Thanks so much to everyone who worked so hard on building renovations, Block Party plans, Daycare preparations...ALL OF IT! We're blessed at Mooresville Church of God with a lot of dedicated and capable Christ-followers!

Pray with me that God will honor our efforst as we honor Him with all we've got! Are you excited? Let's see what our God will do!

"Give Us Clean Hands, Give Us Pure Hearts..."

In recent weeks we have been asking God to let us see people, our community and each other through His eyes. We've asked, through prayer, for Him to give us His heart for people who are far from Him. We want to weep over the things that make Him weep and rejoice over the things that make Him rejoice! As we anticipate our outreach effort this Sunday, September 13, 2009 -- Our Bridge Day & Block Party events -- we felt the need to ask God to do some interior work on us, His church. So we asked a few key questions:

What Made Jesus Weep?

1. Lost People - Luke 19:37-44
Jesus wept as he looked out over Jerusalem and contemplated how so many people had not believed that He actually WAS the Messiah and had not accepted His gift of salvation through faith in Him. He was moved to tears that anyone would be eternally separated from God! And He asks us to weep over lost people too!

2. Sick & Dying People - John 11:32-36
Some of Jesus' closest friends were the sisters, Mary & Martha and their brother, Lazarus. When Jesus gets word that Lazarus is sick he and his disciples begin to make their way to his home. But by the time they arrive, Lazarus has died. As Jesus sees Mary, Martha and some of their friends and family weeping and mourning, it moves Him to tears as well. Jesus weeps over people who are physically, spiritually, emotionally and relationally sick or dying. Our infirmity in any of these areas moves our Savior to weep for us! We are also called to let ourselves be moved by the sufferings of others as we follow Jesus' example.

3. The Burden of Doing His Father's Will - Luke 22:39-46
As Jesus knelt in the garden called Gethsemane, He cried out to His Father in heaven, He sweat blood, He was in anguish over seeing God's will done on this earth! His words, "...not my will, but yours be done" must become OUR words each day as we seek to actually BE His church! Doing God's will brought Jesus to tears! It should move us in exactly the same way because we are the living body of Christ!

What Did Jesus Tell Us to Rejoice In?

1. When we are persecuted for His sake - Matthew 5:11-12
Jesus didn't just tell us that we would be persecuted for His sake, He told to REJOICE when it happens! While this may not make sense to the rest of the world, this is kind of the point...that the world would see us joyful in the face of persecution, suffering, trouble and hardship! What a testimony to God's grace, power, provision and promises! As we are able to rejoice in our sufferings we grow in our understanding of what Jesus did for us! His sacrifice on the cross was painful and cruel, but through His own power Jesus rejoiced in doing it because it paved a way to His Father for all of us!

2. That our names are written in heaven - Luke 10:20
No matter what happens to us down here on earth we can rejoice because of the promise of heaven! As we are obedient to the call of Christ, receive salvation, pursue holiness and strive to be like Jesus, God imparts an ability to rejoice no matter that...we lost our job...our marriage is struggling...we're neck deep in debt...no matter what comes! We can rejoice because our names are written in heaven!

3. That what was lost, is now found - Luke 15:3-7; 8-10
In these verses Jesus tells two powerful parables that illustrate the rejoicing that happens for us and in heaven when someone far from God comes to know Him personally! However, the second parable, the parable of the lost coin, challenges believers in some ways too: In order to find the lost coin the woman illuminated the darkness and eliminated the dirt. And when she illuminated what was dark and eliminated the dirt, what was lost...was found! In our efforts to reach people who are far from God, we may have to let God illuminate the dark places of our lives and clean out the dirt and dust that has accumulated there. When we let God do that, then our hearts, our minds, our attitudes and our spirits are prepared to be used by God to reach the world around us!

Lord, give us clean hands! Lord, give us pure hearts! Help us to weep for what makes You weep! Help us to rejoice like You rejoice! Help us see the world, people, ourselves and our churches through Your eyes. We need You! Apart from You we can do NOTHING! Come in power and bring glory to Your Name!

Amen!

In His Grip,

Pastor John