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Message for May 3, 2015
John 15:1-8
U-I-O Our Relationship With God Part 1
Rob Miller, Pastor
This week I was in a meeting with Jackie, our church treasurer and an insurance representative we’ll call Wayne - because that’s his name. We were meeting with Wayne because our current insurance company will no longer provide coverage for us as a church here in Louisiana. We are looking for a new insurance company and Wayne is helping us in that process.
He informed us that we would probably have trouble finding a company that would provide the same coverage for the price we were paying. He said we could probably expect to pay twice that amount. Jackie and I just looked at each other.
We spent the better part of an hour answering various questions as Wayne filled out the application. About ½ hour into our meeting, his cell phone made a funny tone. He said, “Excuse me. That’s my Jesus tone going off.” Jackie and I looked at each other again. He said that tone is a reminder for him to stop what he was doing and pray.
He set his phone to ring with a special tone twice a dayas a prayer reminder. So Jackie said something like, “Well go ahead and pray.” Wayne said he usually prays the Lords’ Prayer. So that’s what we did. We stopped our meeting, held hands, and prayed the Lord’s Prayer together. It changed the tone of our meeting. It changed the tone of my whole day.
Wayne said thathe will often be in a meeting somewhere and his phone will go offand people --who know him and what the tone means -- will say to him,“That’s your Jesus tone - time to pray.”
What an awesome way to stay connect to God throughout the day. We probably all need a reminderlike that – a Jesus tone – reminding us to pray throughout the day.
Today we begin a new worship series called --U-I-O the DNA of Discipleship. I am thankful to Mike Breen and his 3DM team for this simple yet challengingmodel because it calls for a certain discipline on our part. Discipleship calls for discipline. (Show Book)
U-I-O stands forUp-In-Out and the three key relationships that every disciple needs to nurture on a regular basis.
- Our relationship with God (up)
- Our relationship with other believers (in)
- Our relationship with the world (out)
This three-fold image takes the shape of a triangle (see handout).
If our mission is to make disciples who make disciples – which we agree,is the mission of every church – then the question is - How do we make disciples who make disciples? The answer is – Weimitate what Jesus did.
Jesus spent significant time with God…
Jesus spent significant time with his disciples…
Jesus spent significant time with people in the world…
We are to imitate what he did. We are to be his disciples and make more disciples. Wedo that by spending significant time with God in worship. Spending significant time with other disciples in small groups. Andspending significant time blessing people out in the world. This is what disciples of Jesus do. They live Up, In, and Out.
Mike Breen and his team call these the rhythms of discipleship. He points out that people need a safe place to grow in the faith within these three realms –with God,each other, andthe world. We begin with our relationship with God - part 1.
This relationship is captured in a story told by David Platt in his book “Radical” (page 33).
I remember sitting outside a Buddhist temple in Indonesia. Men and women filled the elaborate, colorful temple grounds, where they daily preformed their religious rituals. Meanwhile, I was engaged in a conversation with a Buddhist leader and Muslim leader in this particular community. They were discussing how all religions are fundamentally the same and only superficially different. “We may have our different views about small issues,” one of them said, “but when it comes down to the essential issues, each of our religions is the same.
I listened for a while, and then they asked me what I thought. I said, “It sounds as though you both picture God (or whatever you call a god) at the top of a mountain. It seems as if you believe that we are all at the bottom of a mountain, and I may take one route up the mountain, you may take another, and in the end we will all end up in the same place.”
They smiled as I spoke, happily they replied, “Exactly! You understand!”
Then I leaned in and said, “Now let me ask you a question. What would you think if I told you that the God at the top of the mountain actually came down to where we are? What would you think if I told you that God doesn’t wait for people to find their way to him, but instead he comes to us?”
They thought for a moment and then responded, “That would be great.”
I replied, “Let me introduce you to Jesus.”
That’s the gospel. That’s what makes Christianity different from all other religions. Our relationship with God is personal and public because God came down to us and continues to come down to us. God wants to be with us to help us live life to the fullest – in a special way. We worship a radical God as David Platt reminds us who’s giving knows no ending and whose grace truly is amazing.
Know this -- When it comes to our relationship with God it’s not a project, it’s a process. It’s not just trusting God when we need to; it’s walking with God every day.
It’s realizing that wherever we go God is there.
It’s realizing that yes we are forgiven and yes we are loved and yes we will never be more forgiven or more loved by God right now.
It’s realizing that we are in the process of becoming more like Jesus every day. This process won’t be complete until we meet Jesus face to face some day.
In the meantime God is with us through the Holy Spirit to help us face the challenges and issues of living life in this hurting and hostile world with faith, hope, and love. We have everything we need to face the things that life throws our way. We have faith, hope, and love, gifts from God above.
And yet, if you are like me, sometimes I get stuck in a rut. I learned a long time ago that -- a rut is simply a grave open at both ends. I don’t like being in a rut. Do you?
Maybe you -- like me -- get tired of circling the same issue and nothing changes. I prayed about it. I get tired of circling the same issue over and over and over, again and again and again. Same addiction… same problem… same issue… there it is.
A lot of people just give up. They lose hope. They lose faith. They lose love. Because they don’t realize it’s a process. God doesn’t want you or me to give up. God will never ever give up on us.
Realizing discipleship is a process and we don’t give up. One day we look back and realize that God has brought us through those challenging times. God is with us. As we face issues, deal with those challenges, take action when needed. God is there to help us grow in faiththe most. God provides.
I was talking with one of the dad’s at Simon’s baseball game this past week. We’ll call him Fred. Not his real name. Fred told me that lately he’s been having trouble sleeping. I asked him what he was worried about. He looked at me hesitantly, as if I knew something he did. Fred then said, “Money. I’m worried about money.”
Actually, he was worried about losing his job. He works for a company that provides support for the oil industry.
I asked, “Has your company laid off anyone yet?”
“NO,” he said.
“Is there any talk of laying-off anyone?”
“NO,” he said.
“Okay… then let me ask you this…Has God provided for you in the past?”
“Yes!”
“Okay then, God can be trusted. Godwill provide for your future.”
“You’re right. I needed that reminder.” He said.
Fred went on to tell me that his faith has been up and down lately.
“Me too,” I said.
“What!?!?”
“Yeah!” I said. “I have goods day and bad days when it comes to living the faith. Sometimes I’m up and sometimes I’m down.”
He said he wished his faith was more even - like a straight line- more even-keel.
“Why?” I asked. “On an EKG a flat line is not good. You want ups and downs. They help us grow in the faith.”
He looked at me and smiled. Then said, “I never thought of it that way before. I’m not so worried now…”
I said something like Worry is the bridge we build for the future over troubled waters that may never come.
When it comes to our relationship with God, know this. God can be trusted. God provides. God grace is truly amazing.
I asked Fredthese two questions (handout): What will you stop doing? And what will you start doing? Fred said something like,“I am going to stop worrying about that future bridge and start counting my blessings.”
This simple yet challenging exercise demonstrates the need for pruning in our lives, pruningunleashes healthy growth. As Jesus said in our gospel reading for today. Branches need to be pruned – cut-away in order to produce more fruit. When it comes to your relationship with God what needs to be pruned so you can stay connected to Jesus?
What do you need to stop doing and what do you need to start doing?
Back to Wayne our insurance representative. He stopped throughout the day to pray. Might I suggest we consider doing the same thing this week. Set a Jesus tone on your phone if you need to…
At 10:10 every day stop what you are doing and read Romans 10:10 (handout)
For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. And then pray the Lord’s Prayer…
At 2:10 every day stop what you are doing and read Ephesians 2:10
For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. And then pray the Lord’s Prayer.
Word of warning – doing this simple yet challenging exercise will change you and change the people around you.
During our meeting withWayne the insurance representative after we prayed,I thoughtit’s too bad we have to have insurance. We spend all this money to protect us from things in the future that may or may not happen. I know we need to have it. And I know insurance tends to rule the world these days.
But as a representative of Jesus,I hope you will join me in looking forward to that day when we will live not by the rules of insurance but by the roll of assurance. The assurance we have in Christ Jesus. The assurance that nothing can separate us from the love of God. A love made available through the cross of Christ. Amen.