cross connection information

Listen to Sunday’s message by Pastor Phil Olsen

Many times we think life is all about what you can get out of it…I mean what else is there right? God has much more for us than that, He’s created us for much more than that. He wants to move us from mere existence to purposeful existence. And when it comes to living out God’s will for our life, God wants to burn 4 words into our hearts: I CAN DO THAT.

God has given us the right and the ability through Christ to change from living life for what we can get out of it, to investing for what He can do through us. Yet many times we get mixed up and we bring our old way of extracting meaning and value from the people and things around us into our relationship with God and we simply expect Him to bless us in that same pursuit. (read that again) Is that you? Other times we treat our forgiveness as just a second chance and now we really have to get our life together because it’s for God now, but the reason Jesus had to come was because you couldn’t get your life together on your own. Only God can change you, and He will if you let Him.

Both those lifestyles (extracting meaning, and get our act togehter) are far from what God intends for us and prevent us from being able to live on purpose, from being able to live for Him. He wants to infuse us with His Holy Spirit, His life, His righteousness, and His heart. We have to move to a place of surrender to let Him begin that infusing process. Living God’s will is not a change of quantity, or the number of good deeds we do, but rather its a change of quality. It’s and overhaul, it’s a change of our source we live out of and the eyes we see through.

Similar to Oceans 11, God wants us to unite as a church where the impact the team makes is larger than any 1 person could make. He wants to use what He’s given you…as we’ve said over and over that past couple months, “what’s in your hand,” “what do you have in your house” etc… The difference between a dream and reality is working what you got. That simple. YOU CAN DO THAT.

When Jesus called His first deciples in Matthew 4, it wasn’t about their qualification, but it was about their willingness. Notice also that they left their nets immediately and followed Him. We live under the curse of “one day” in our culture. All of our dreams will happen “one day.” Yet nothing ever happens. You can’t control tomorrow, only today. So it starts today and it starts with what you got.

Drop yesterday (regrets), drop tomorrow (one day), drop pessimism (can’t be you), drop perfectionism (trying to get your life together), drop the pursuit of the world (living life for what you can get out of it), and start putting what you got into action.

Listen to \”Invite: Open Up Your Eyes\” by Hunter Wright

The Local Church is the hope of the world. God has called us, the church, to be on mission to change the world. Scripture says that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church, it will stand forever! What else can we pour our time, energies, and finances into that more worthy? Nothing. There is a world in desperate need of the love, hope and grace of God and it has been entrusted to the church to share that with the world. We have been charged to tell the world…to invite them in.

We studied the passage of the Good Samaritan. In this passage we see Jesus challenging a Jewish lawyer on many levels to “DO” the law, not to just know it. Jesus challenges us to more than just knowing about God, but being in a relationship with Him, not just attending church but being actively involved and inviting people to come with you.  The lawyer responds in pride and justifies himself, looking to find a definition of “neighbor” that fits his lifestyle. Many of us do the same thing.  We ask God what the clause is on us loving others, sharing our faith, and on inviting those we rub shoulders with. We excuse ourselves saying that we aren’t “gifted” in that area or that it’s not politically correct to talk about religion, or that faith is private (its personal, but it’s NEVER private, or its not real). However, Jesus stands against all those and tells us we are designed to love everyone around us. There is no coincidence in our relationships. We are perfectly positioned on purpose to be used by God. The problem with our excusing ourselves is we dismiss the Holy Spirit and disqualify ourselves from experiencing God and being used by Him.

Inviting people with us to church is not an option, its a command. Jesus says twice, “do this,” and “go and do.” We are to actively pursue others. This is how we were designed to live. It’s not about Cross Connection, it’s about God’s Kingdom. We are created to love God and love others. When we don’t do BOTH of those we are living outside of our created design! In other words, you won’t be satisfied with life! Jesus tells us here that loving God and loving others are inseparable.  How we respond to those around us and how we walk with God are directly connected. If you’re not concerned about the eternity of those around you, you may want to asses your relationship with God. Many of us think we love God, but we actually just love ourselves and don’t want to go to hell so we accept Christ. That’s not a relationship.

This passage shows a man who was mugged, beaten, and left for dead on the side of the road. The truth is there are people all around us that are half dead. The world/ the enemy, has mugged, beaten, and left them for dead. The question is, do we have the eyes to see them? We need to ask God to open up our eyes. Do we have the heart to help them and invite them. We need to repent, and ask God to help us.

The encouraging news is that it doesn’t depend on us. Jesus is the one who saves, and He is the one who gives us both the desire and the ability to love those around us. However, it does require us. God has limited Himself to working through us, on purpose. He desires for us to be a part of what He is doing! That is incredibly loving of Him, and when we experience what its like to be used by God we’ll never step away from being His hands and feet again. When you experience someone you invite to church having their lives and eternity changed, you’ll never excuse yourself or be deterred again!

We kicked off our series “Meet The Family” this week, utilizing a families of classic TV theme.  Here is the trailer we used for this week.

The truth is its not an innocent time period anymore.  The days of the Cleavers have passed.  The is more problems and more pressure, and the world seems to be falling apart.  So what does that mean for us?  Now more than ever the Chuch of Jesus Christ needs to step up and be what it was created to be.

Its time each of us to truly discover our calling and begin to live it out.  Its a risk to do this.  You have to step out of living the life you know and that will create turmoil and opposition in your life, but if you avoid the risk you avoid the impact. It’s possible to fake it and just go through the motions just like in the video, but if  you go through the motions, you’ll come out just as dirty – nothing will change.  If we get serious, God will get serious and we will see Him move on our behalf.

God is clear in His word that He is no respecter of persons.  In other words, your prayers and your life have just the same opportunity for impact as anyone else! The only difference that lies between you and Billy Graham is the amount of commitment you have to God and His kingdom.  So how do we achieve impact?  How do we see God’s will done in our midst?  Prayer.

How do we pray in a way that moves the heart of God.  We need a change of perspective. Everyone who ever reaches beyond the natural and experiences the supernatural in their life has a change of perspective.  A change from praying for their desires to praying for God’s will.  The perspective shift begins with a realization that His ways and His thoughts are higher than yours and that His plans make your greatest plans look like a pipe dream!  We have to break from our stinkin’ thinkin’ and bow to His plan.  If you want the supernatural you have to drop the natural.

The degree of change of your perspective is the degree of impact your life will make.

Besides a change in perspective we need a faith infusion. Many people believe God can do anything, but few believe He will do anything.  If you don’t have that level of faith and confidence in your prayers, then you ares just going through the motions.  God is interested in you.  God is listening to you…are you asking?

We also need boldness.  Boldness will bring perseverance and and perseverance will bring things that one simple ask won’t.  Why?  Because God wants you to journey with Him in the process. He wants to get ahold of your heart, and He wants to know how bad do you want His will?  Will you join Him in the battle?

The final thing is we need to risk selflessness by praying according to His will.  This means praying according to His character – what is good and what is right.  It also means praying honestly, probing the true desires of your heart for His will.