The Kingdom of God: To Live is Christ

But I want to take a minute and talk about our mission. Our mission. If you go to our website, you know our Sunday School class has a website, www.ChristSeekers.org. If you go to that website, you will see on the website our mission, our methods, and our hope. And I want us at the end of this year, and as we prepare to launch in the next year, to think about our mission, our methods, and our hope.

Our mission, or why we are here as a Sunday school class, is to live for Christ. To live for Christ. have a name that we selected two or three years ago, Christ Seekers. Our theme verse is Philippians 121, to live is Christ but to die is gain. And we took from that our mission is to live for Christ. In other words, every day, in every way, in every aspect of our lives, we are to ask the question first, how can I do this activity in such a way that it honors Christ? Living my life is not first about living for me, it is first about living for Christ. That's our mission, folks, to live for Christ, not just as individuals, but as a Sunday school class, as a community of faith, we are here to live for Christ. I'm going to press us on this this coming year. We're here here for Christ. So for Christ's sake, in 2004, we're going to ask ourselves, can we be more of what he wants us to be? Can we serve him more intentionally and in a more focused way? I think we can. I think we can. But our mission is to live for Christ. Do you hear me? Our mission is to live for Christ. Well, how do we do that? Our methods in this class are threefold. Our first method of living for Christ is to begin by studying. The number one priority when we gather on Sunday morning is to study God's word. And until the Lord takes me home, and as long as I have life and breath to stand up in front of you, that will be the priority, the number one priority. That's not all we do as a community of faith here in Sunday school, but when we gather on Sunday morning, That is the number one thing we do.

All other things come second behind studying God's Word. Warren Wiersbe said that pastors, and I think it is also true of teachers, teachers are to afflict the comfortable and to comfort the afflicted. I know sometimes you may feel like I'm afflicting you.

but I don't want us to be comfortable in a sense. I want us to not come and just spectate. I want us to have a sense of being afflicted by the teacher, meaning I want us to be all he wants us to be. And I don't want us to just coast or be lazy or drift through life. I want us to be focused on living for Christ.

morning to get our marching orders from our commander-in-chief the rightful king came about 2 000 years ago the rightful king is coming again and in the meantime we gather on sunday morning to get our marching orders from the commander-in-chief and every sunday when we gather to study god's word it's like the commander-in-chief the lord jesus christ is saying all right troops here's the mission. Here's what you do. And once we hear that, we move out to serve him. If you abide in my word, Christ told those following him, you are truly my disciples. So we're going to make sure we're abiding in his word. The first thing we're going to do is we're going to study. That's our number one priority. Secondly, we're going to pray. We're going to pray. There was a time when I thought if I could just teach people the word effectively, then everything would follow.

But I have found that we don't have the strength in and of ourselves to accomplish all God calls us to do in his word. So folks, we've got to pray. And one of the first things we pray for is, Lord, through your spirit, to do what you called us to do. Through your spirit, guide us, help us to understand better how you want us to serve you. So we're going to pray that he will help us to live for him each day and to implement those marching orders he gives us as a class.

And thirdly, we obey. It is not enough to know what God wants us to do. It's not enough to pray that he would strengthen us to do it We've got to do it. We've got to do it. St. Francis de Salas said this, the test of a preacher, and I'm going to insert the word teacher, the test of a teacher is that his congregation goes away saying not, what a lovely sermon.

instead they go away saying i will do something

and the purpose of showing up on sunday morning is not to hear a lovely sermon or a lovely lesson it is to hear what the commander-in-chief wants us to do but down deep in our soul to walk away from this place saying, I will do something for Christ. We have not been called to a spectator sport in church, but I submit to you that is largely what church has become in this country. If you show up and listen, you're a good church member. I don't think Jesus is going to ask us, how many times did you show up and listen? He's going to ask, what did you do for me?

what did you do for me obedience is tremendously important in the scriptures because it is first the proof of our faith and it is secondly the expression of our love for Christ Dietrich Bonhoeffer said those who believe obey those who obey believe are you a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ is in the pudding if you are the follower of the lord jesus christ then you will obey you will listen to what his commands are and you will implement them in your lives in your life if you are living in obedience to christ that's the surest test that you are a believer in the lord jesus christ jesus was one who said words can come very easily in fact he said not everyone who says to me lord lord will enter the kingdom of heaven he knew people could

who's going to enter the kingdom of heaven? Who's going to enter the kingdom of heaven? Those who do the will of the Father. It's not that you're saved by your works, but your works are proof that you're saved.

Faith without works is dead.

It's also the expression of love. if you love me if you love me if you love me Christ said you will keep my commandments

my job is to afflict us so that we're keeping his commandments

for the Christian our obedience is both our duty and our delight

yes we are supposed to serve him because he's commanded us to serve him But there is nothing that gives deeper delight than serving our Lord if we are fully committed to Him.

Obedience requires that we be obedient as individuals. Each of us individually should be seeking to live for Christ. But obedience also requires obedience as a community. Most of the commands in Scripture are commands to the community of faith.

community are to be carrying out these commands. When Christ said go and make disciples of all nations, he was speaking to a community of believers. And so often in this country we individualized Americans, we think well if I've got to do this, I've got to do this. We need to start thinking more about we need to do this. We need to accomplish this. If we're going to be obedient as a community, I'm going to submit we need three things. We need first organization, an effective organization, not an organization that perpetuates programs, systems that don't work. We need to be effective as an organization and as a Sunday school class.

We secondly need focus. We need to not be distracted. We need to find individually where we need to focus our energies and attention in serving Christ and then we need to organize the community around those different focuses. Foci I guess would be more correct wouldn't it? You see what I'm saying? We ask you so often as a community of believers to do so many things and we ask you individually to take on three or four or five six different hats. We need I think to are, your gifts are, and we need to say to you, do it in community with other believers who have those gifts and those like interests.

And then we need perseverance. I don't think Jesus is interested in flashes in the pan. I don't think he's interested in big dreams that never get fulfilled. I think he's interested in the day in, day out, steady, constant, continuous obedience to what he's called us to do.

But it's in that steady perseverance that over a long period of time we can look back and say, Wow, it seemed like I was taking just little baby steps each day. But you know what? a lot of little baby steps each day over the course of a year five years, ten years or a lifetime can get you a long way

well I've said a lot but I want to talk last about our hope and then we're going to talk about how we're going to be more organized as a Sunday school class it is our hope as a Sunday school class and as a church that in whatever we do Christ will be glorified and many will be

him. So what is our mission? To live for Christ. How do we do that? We study, we pray, and we obey. And what is our hope? That Christ will be glorified and many will be drawn to him. You know that study, Pray, Obey, I stole that from Pastor Cho in North Korea. He didn't study he said pray and obey when he do y'all know who pastor cho is pastor the largest church i think in the world i think it still is it was at one time and pastor cho was once asked what is the secret of your success and he said we pray and we obey

I've added to that we study we pray but then we obey