Gimme Faith: WOW, Feb. 20

2 Corinthians 5:11-15.


1. Brief Summary of what's going on…Ministry of Reconciliation (settling the differences between us and God).
2. We live in a world that is WAY different from the way God intended it to be. It is our job as ambassadors of Christ to create a place that is like Heaven.
3. Explain how, specifically, this verse pertains to this idea of reconciliation. What exactly does this have to do with our faiths?
4. We have to switch our focus from a "Give me" faith to a "Give you" faith. It is only then that we see the glimpse of the kingdom of Heaven, and only then will we truly receive that gift.
5. Talk about the way that Paul preached…he preached because he was concerned about eternity, not because it was fun, it felt good, people expected Him to, he was good at it. But because He was truly passionate about bringing Heaven to Earth, and he focused every single thing he did on doing so.
6. Mission trips…why do you think they are so awesome? Why do you think that it is so easy to see God on mission trips?
7. Read Matthew 7:13-14
8. What does Jesus mean by the narrow way? We spend a ton of time talking about finding this path, but maybe it's not really about the "finding" part. The thing that is to be found is GOD. We are just distracted.
9. Use staring contest example. There is only one way to win.
10. Close with Claiborne quote. Send-off: We have to stop being conventional about our faiths. We have to be desperate for God, compelled by love for Him, out of our minds for Him, DIE for Him, willing to crawl through windows for Him, just so we can get a glimpse of what it is that He has given us and show the world what that means.

2 Corinthians 5:11-15
11Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

"Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience." So we just heard that God is going to judge our lives by what we did during them. Did we do exactly what he asked us to do? We know how scary that is. We have a glimpse of what we think a hell would look or feel like, and we fear that more than anything in the world. So, in order to avoid this place and try to save our friends from this place, we try to convince them to follow Jesus too. God knows that these ministers are sincere, but they want other people to know that as well. He knows what their intentions are, but is it obvious to other people? Where are we missing the boat?

"We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart." Every single thing that Paul and his companions did was for the glory of God. They didn't waste any time doing crap that didn't glorify God to satisfy others. Paul preached because he was concerned about eternity. He did not preach so that others would tell him that he is smart or wise or holy. He was completely controlled by Christ's love for him, to the point where some people thought he was crazy.

"If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you." We have to remove ourselves from what the world expects from us, including what you expect from yourself. We have to be so in love and desperate for God that we are called out of our minds."

"For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died." We are so passionately in love with God, and we are so moved by how much he loves us that we are irresistibly forced to live our lives for him. He died for us. We should lay down our lives for him. What does that mean? That means living without an agenda. Living with our whole hearts looking towards him. I don't think we really get that. Or at least I don't think I do. We have to DIE. Do we even know what that means? Where do you need to die in your life? What is not glorifying God? Seriously. Even the little things. God tends to pick those who were faithful in the little things to do great things.

"And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." Our entire lives are focused around ourselves. We are a selfish generation. We seek to satisfy ourselves as quickly and as easily as possible. We want to take the path of least resistance. To be popular. To be successful. To be loved. To be accepted. To be appreciated. We even come to church wanting to receive. We come here thinking about what we will walk away with, rather than what we will bring. What is wrong with us? Christ watched the people that he loved drive nails into his wrist, and he still proclaimed the love and glory of God. Just think about the focus of our Sundays…what do we do that glorifies God on Sundays? If that should be the most holy day of all, what happens to the rest of our week? Why do you think that mission trips are so awesome? Why do you think that you see God the most on mission trips? You approach mission trips with the attitude of "How am I going to serve God and be somebody's Jesus?" What would happen if we approached every day like that? Would we see God everywhere? YES!!!!! Because God would be IN us. Not with us, not in front of us, not hanging out with us, but we would LITERALLY become God. We would be a part of his kingdom. The best day of the mission trip is the last day, because you get to hand over the keys to someone's home. You are GIVING SOMEONE A TASTE OF THE KINGDOM!!! So why don't we do that more often? It doesn't have to be a house. It could be a minute of your time, or one kind word. Or even a simple smile. But we don't do it enough.

"You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. 14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it."-Matthew 7:13-14

It's how we come to church normally, with the "What's in it for me?" attitude. We are constantly thinking about what is best for us. We pray for God to tell us what to do, where to go next, what to do with our lives. Instead, we should just be praying for God to give us the strength, power, and love to not care about knowing and just DO. We are constantly worried about messing up. What will people think of me? What will happen if I make the wrong decision? What will this do to me? If we are focused on what God wants us to do, there is no messing up. Just say Yes, Lord. We have missed the point. Christ died for us, yes. But he died so that we may live for eternity and have a part of the kingdom of God. He died so that we may experience the kingdom of heaven, and all we do is destroy it and worry about how we are feeling and if we are looking good and if we're doing the right thing. Not only that, but we neglect some of Jesus' most important teachings because we are too busy worried about what's in it for us. If we really want to start living for God, we have to start approaching each day as an opportunity to serve Him. We have to change our focus from "What can this day give me?" to "What can I give to God today?"

When you come to WOW, to Sunday School, to church, to school, go home, how are you glorifying God? Are you doing everything you possibly can to answer him, "Yes, Lord."? Are you desperately searching for the windows to get to Him? Or are you just satisfied with using the doors?

"The doors of normalcy and conformity are dead. The time has come to give up on the doors and find a window to climb through. It's a little more dangerous and may get you into some trouble, but it is a heck of a lot more fun. And the people who have changed the world have always been the risk-takers who climb through windows while the rest of the world just walks in and out of doors." Shane Claiborne, The Irresistible Revolution: Life as an Ordinary Radical