Sermon Notes - 09/16/12 - Part 2

Part 2 - 09/16/12



Colossians 1:27

     To them [saints] God has chosen to make known among the   
     Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ
     Christ in you, the hope of glory.

An expert at Antique Roadshow  might ask, "Do you know the story of how this came into your family?"

Jesus Christ left glory and came to Israel - God's chosen people.
Most did not receive Him, but some did.

Jesus took the form of a human being, touched dirt, bled and died. Then He ascended back to His glory in heaven.

Paul knows the gospel beyond a shadow of doubt. He came out of Judaism with its rich, rich heritage as God's people. Jesus went right past them to the Gentiles - people Jews called "dogs."

CHRIST IN YOU - not in Jews only. Your birth certificate is meaningless, he says to his fellow Jews. It will not cut it with God!



Finish the title of this movie: The Invasion of the_____________!
(Body Snatchers)

Remember the movie? Sci-fi-came out in 1956 and remade in 1978. Aliens came to earth  to take over people's lives. A man walks into his home - his wife recognizes him, but after a few minutes she knows it is not really him -- he moves and acts like a robot - no emotion. A doctor discovers the plot and sees truckloads of "pods" coming into town.

Some people think "Christ is you" is like that.

"No, thank you," they say. "I'm not going to be a robot for anyone. Every day die to self? I'm not perfect, but I'm not going to do that!"

Most young preachers reach for more and bigger churches. Later
they begin to learn the truth.

Wherever you are, God has placed you with other people - in whom Christ lives. Don't look over their heads to someone else.

God is in me - He is still working.

You should consider: Christ is in you, loving you, loving your personality. Not your sinful expression of life, but YOU and your
real personality.

After He saves you He transforms the root of sin in you and becomes a partner with you in your "makeover."

He takes us as we are, but He makes us into something new.

Do you recognize Christ in others?

When I first began my journey with Christ I lost a couple of friends. I walked in intensity and alienated them.

Now I am learning to walk in freedom and love.


III. Do you know what it would be worth today?

You will have to decide for yourself.


In 2009, when in Raleigh, North Carolina, a woman brought in a piece of jade her father had given her years before. What was it worth today? 1.07 million dollars. It was the first million dollar appraisal in the show's history.


How do you appraise your salvation? You are a multi-faceted diamond. God is shaping and tuning that diamond.




Discipleship occurs when people are impressed with the attractiveness of Christ and confronted with the deficiency of lesser gods.


When you talk to others who have not begun their journey with Christ, remember they are idolaters. No doubt about it. Help them see how deficient their god(s) is (are.)



We don't make Christ attractive. We don't make Him awesome. We don't make Him better than the world. He already is.




I hope someone today has been attracted to Christ. It's time to begin the journey of following Jesus only, not all religions.

This sermon is not meant to take you from level 1 to level 10. If you get from level 1 to level 2 you will begin to realize there is something more ahead to journey toward.

The Baptist church is full of folks who claim to know Christ. Maybe in their 50's and 60's, who had at one time an encounter with God, but did not continue the journey, and have missed out on the mlti-faceted richness of the glory of the mystery nof Christ in us. 

These are just notes - this was a "rich, rich" message - hear it all at our website - fbc-bc.org.

Sermon Notes - 09/16/12 - Part 1

This is Week 2 in Bro Mike's 3-week series on Discipleship -- the Mission of the Church.


Main Text, Colossians 1:24-29, this week concentrating on verses 26-28:

(26) the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.

(27) To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

(28) Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.


Introduction: The Church is responsible for taking a person from where he starts his journey in Christ on to maturity. We want to take every member and help them grow.

Do You Appreciate Your Salvation?

Appreciate --

• to grasp the nature, worth, quality, or significance of;
• to judge with heightened perception or understanding;
• to be fully aware of

Sometimes we need to stop and have our salvation appraised --
Bro Mike's illustration was the popular Antique Roadshow.

You can take items to knowledgeable, expert antique dealers.
An item might even come from your attic, tucked away, without any value or use. An expert will look at it and, describes it in great detail, and then asks, "Do you want to know what it is worth?"

It is usually good news for them, and fun for us to watch.



I. Did you know that the gospel of your salvation was once hidden from even God's choicest servants?

     Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of
     the grace that was come to you, searched intently and with
     the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances
     to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he
     predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would
     follow.... 1 Peter 1:10-11


Your salvation: when you die you will be delivered from death with sin to life with forgiveness. That is salvation.
 

To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven--things which angels desire to look into. 1 Peter 1:12
 

Angels, looking over the balcony of heaven, saying, "Hey, that is
a rich, rich gospel down there."   It is not accessible to them.

"Wow, tell us more about that - what we see from a distance!" they
might be saying.

Angels wonder about it and marvel.

Prophets - it was revealed to them, but it was not for them. All the prophets -- Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah -- all of them worked diligently and faithfully for others (like us)  to be blessed.

That means they had a kingdom mentality.

Do you have a kingdom mentality? Can you serve God when
someone asks you to do something that will bless someone else?
Maybe sometimes we have a slight hesitation if we are not to be the recipients of the blessing.

The prophets searched carefully for something they could not put their hands on.


II. Do you know the mystery behind the gospel being hidden? (v. 26-27) Christ in you! 


Perhaps on Antiques Roadshow a person might be told their item was made in Paris in 1814. So how did it end up in my attic? they might wonder. How did it come into their possession?

What had been hidden for centuries, was, as Paul said in verse 26,  now revealed to his saints.

The term saint can be a huge issue for some of our brothers and sisters in Christ in other traditions. We are saints...saints with a little "s".

If I am not a saint the day I die, God will say, "I never knew you!"

The Greek word for saint means  "separated unto God."

Over 100 times in the New Testament the term is used to mean that if you know Jesus as your Savior, the Holy Spirit has come into your life and separated you unto God.

Look at the word now: Bro Mike tells us he highlights words and phrases in his Bible, often in blue, but the word now here should be highlighted in red!

Now....could you tell another human being that at one time you were in one position and now you have moved to another position....or..."once I didn't understand that, but now I do" ....or "once I knew I was lost, but now..."

This week's assignment is to think about that...how are you different now?

It was hidden to Isaiah, but you get to have it!


This was really a powerful message -- I have listened to it  on line, parts of it twice, to help put these notes together. There is much more....

I will finish notes in Part 2. If you want the whole thing right now, go to fbc-bc.org and hear it!

Sermon Notes for Sept 9, 2012 - Part 2

Sermon Notes for Sept 9, 2012 (Con't)
 

Main Text: Colossians 1:24-29

 

     Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.

 

     I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness--

 

    -- the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints,

 

     To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

 

     We proclaim him, admonishing and telling everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.

 

     To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
 

 

Because of the importance of these verses in relation to our topic: The Congregation's Path Toward Becoming a Faithful Church, Bro. Mike says he will spend 3 weeks in this passage.

 

 

MAIN OUTLINE:

 

• Faithfulness in Christ
• The Mystery of the Gospel
• The Work of the Gospel

Faithfulness in Christ

We all want to be part of a faithful church. Paul demonstrated
his faithfulness and it caused him great suffering.

Suffering in Paul's Life Came:

1. With Professing Christ in His Life
2. With Identifying with the Church
3. With Seeing his Ministry as Serving Others

1. Paul gave up Israel, status, protection of the law, special aspects of being one of the top people in Israel. He exchanged all of this
for a life of suffering.

Read his resume in 11 Corinthians 11:23-27. He worked hard, was often imprisoned, flogged, exposed to death many times, beaten with rods, stoned, shipwrecked, lost at sea, in danger everywhere he went, experienced cold, hunger, and lack of sleep for the sake of the gospel.

And in Colossians 1:24 he says, "Now I rejoice in my suffering for you and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in His afflictions for His body, which is the church." Bro Mike noted particularly the last four words...which is the church....all Paul's suffering was for the church.

Paul says he was rejoicing in his suffering. He was enjoying them!
Was Paul (1) mentally ill? (2) suffering from low self esteem?

No, he has a high view of Christ. Paul says, "Count me  in as a Christian." Did he ever feel he was perhaps following the wrong path? No! He kept saying "Count me in!"

2. Identifying with the church can get us into trouble these days. People will begin telling us about how the church hurt them, let them down, destroyed their faith. Likely telling the truth. Paul had a deep concern for all the churches. In 11 Corinthians one of the causes of suffering he added to his list was "Besides everything else, I face daily concern for all the churches" (11 Corinthians 11:28

The church is being thrown overboard today in America. 'We don't need the church. We can go somewhere at sunrise and worship alone or with a few friends. The church is irrelevant...out of fashion..out of touch'. We must be prepared to face this opposition.

3. Bro Mike said he was humbled when he considered Paul's ministry. He said after he was ordained (in January of 1978) he feels the first years were all about himself. God must have done a special work in Paul - from the start it was all about others.

[Note: that must have been a Bro Mike I never knew.]

Conclusion:

FOR THE PROFESSING BELIEVER:

Is there any level or degree of difficulty in your life that is expressly due to your association with Christ, His church, and your devotion to others?

FOR THOSE THINKING ABOUT FOLLOWING CHRIST:

You are going to be influenced by someone or something. You are going to be following some path. And when you choose a path, you will have to make a choice about Jesus.

 

The Bible says that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. You can begin the journey today.

                                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

P.S. I am beginning to see why Bro Mike said that the thing to concentrate on in Bible study is to become an expert in the life of Paul.

For full sermon, go to our church website: fbc-bc.org. I heartily recommend it! He has some great illustrations I didn't include here.

Sermon Notes - Sept 9, 2012

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

 --- Robert Frost




A classic ring to this poem. You have to make a choice. Ultimately you take a risk.There might be disappointment.

It's refreshing when your pastor chooses to open his heart
and allow you to look in and share his thoughts.

Sunday Bro Mike gave us a significant look at some of his vision and desire for our church. He shared that some of his ideas have changed through his years of ministry.

Sometimes it is important - and necessary - for leaders to be able to say, "I don't know." It is a dangerous thing to follow someone who never says, "I don't know."

"I believe in revival," he said. "This church needs a revival. America needs a revival. But the real mission of the church is the path toward discipleship."

This was a "big" sermon. Expansive in content. As individuals have to make choices, so does the church. I am having trouble putting all the ideas in a readable format. I think I will divide it into 2 parts.

I was reminded that Bro Mike has a high opinion of his congregation. He feels free to take on "big" issues. That's a compliment to both.


PART 1

A Congregation's Path to Being a Faithful Church -

Discipleship

Jesus' last words to His disciples:

Matthew 28:19-20

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the ages.

Is Jesus with us? If we do what He says, He is. He did not ask us just to teach, but also teach people to obey.

The aim of discipleship is not just more knowledge of what He teaches, but obedience to what He teaches.


Jesus did not merely ask us to teach everything He commanded.

He asked us to teach people to obey everything He commanded.

The end result of discipleship is not merely the knowledge of all Jesus commanded...but obedience to all Jesus commanded.



Bro Mike went on to ask: If the Staff asked for people to volunteer to disciple those who have never been discipled...

1. Would you volunteer?

2. Would you consider yourself qualified?


Question 2 is a super private question you need to answer in your heart.  It is between you and God. What would be your answer?

How long have you been in the church? How long does it take to become qualified to disciple another?

[Note: If one of us were to ask him (Bro Mike) what they needed to know most he would reply, "To be an expert on the life of Paul." As he gave his message I could see what he meant.]


Colossians 1:24-29

Bro Mike will be preaching on these verses for 3 weeks because of their significance in the relation to our topic: The Congregation's Path Toward Becoming a Faithful church.


(Notes continued in Part 2)

You can hear full sermon on our website: fbc-bc.org

Believe in Coincidences?

Coincidence?



For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land--a land with streams and pools of water, with springs overflowing in the valleys and hills, a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees...a land where bread will not be scarce for you and you will lack nothing..."
               Deuteronomy 8:6-9


According to an Israeli leader we were talking with last week, 1948, the year the modern nation of Israel declared its statehood and the year of the greatest tide of immigration to Israel....was also the year of their highest rainfall on record --



Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.....Psalm 122:6