My life’s a mess, can I still follow Jesus?

So the series we have been talking about is the one of: ‘ My life is a mess, can I still follow Jesus?’

Well……………….nah you can’t!!!!

Of course you can!! Let just say this, Jesus died on the cross! For those of you who might be a little desensitised to the Jesus story, allow me to refresh your memory. Let me start at the beginning the God who created heaven and earth and you and me by the way sent is only son to earth. According to me if he just walked the earth and died a natural death that would have been enough for me. Why do I say that? Well because a divine God that walks earth is humbling enough don’t you reckon?

That was not enough however because God being God wanted to do it perfect! So Jesus was born through a virgin who almost lost her husband because she was pregnant and they haven’t even slept together, very natural for Joseph to think:’ I am out of here,I cannot deal with obvious lies! Pack your bags or I will pack them for you.’ I am happy to

I am happy to tell you that their marriage survived!! Pheww!!

Then very shortly:

• Born in a stable

• Exiled to Egypt

• Rode on a donkey

• Did not live a wealthy lifestyle

• Was persecuted everywhere he went, especially when he was older

• The list goes on and on as to how much he humbled himself for our sake.

• Ultimately his crucifixion

Can you imaging Donald Trump dying the way Jesus did or maybe mr Turnbull? Can you imagine the uproar that would cause and the fear it would bring into the world, these are normal men. The creator of the universe had to die the way he did because he loves you and me. If you where the only person on earth he would have done exactly the same thing. You see gives the ‘personal touch’ a different meaning.

So now that we have it fresh in our memories again, the total extremity and commitment of what Jesus did for us, right!?? Would it not be a slap in the face not to except that love by at least believing that he did it for you and me and everybody on this earth. He did that unconditionally without expecting anything in return. You see it is impossible for Jesus to give this gift, let alone any gift, with any terms and conditions. T and C’s ore our thing, we invented T and C’s because most times we expect something back.

I get that most of you here know Jesus and you might be thinking:’ Why are you telling us something we already know?’ The question that was raised was: ‘ My life is a mess, can I still follow Jesus?”

Duh???!! So if you know of somebody or that person might be sitting here right now. That believes that there sins are to big to be forgiven please share with them.

Jesus died for our sin that was the main reason. Yes it was to make us righteous, yes it was out of love, yes there are many reason surrounding the main key issue and that is that he died to take away our sin. Step into the forgiveness of sin. We ask for forgiveness with a sincere heart the Bible says the following:

1. “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

Psalm103:12NIV

How far is the east from the west? Well if you start walking east on earth you might have to swim a couple of times too but east unfortunately or fortunately is not a destination. You will just continue to go east until you decide to stop which inevitably could be never. So He totally removes sin out of our lives, look, from His end it is done it is just the way sin effects us. It entraps us and he does not want that so he takes it away from us when we ask him to do so. We have to step into what he has already done, its done it is finished!!

1. “Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.””

Luke7:48

When He forgives us he and takes it away from us he also forgets about it. You come up to Jesus after you asked for forgiveness for lying yesterday. That is all good it is done , if you however forgot that you asked or want to make sure He heard you and mention it again today he says:’ What lying , you mean you lied again?’. You say:’Nah remember yesterday when I lied?’ He say:’ Nah can’t remember, sorry.”

Ok so that is the one part of it what to say to someone who thinks that they are to messed up to be saved. Or if that is you, you now have reason to believe other wise.

Lets look at people who where very bad and who Jesus forgave and/or used mightily.

1. Peter John 21:15-17

One of Jesus’s disciples denied that he even knew Jesus 3 times and the third time got angry and cursed and said I do not know him. He then glanced into Jesus’s eyes and acknowledged silently that he made a massive mistake and went outside and wept uncontrollably. Not only did peter know who Jesus really was he was also a friend of Jesus can you imagine the guilt he felt and carried. He was messed up!!

After Andrew told Simon(who was Peter by the way) that they have found the Messiah. Upon seeing him Jesus renamed him Peter which meant-The rock all-most like Dwayne Johnson you know from the WWE??

He felt more like sand after his denial he ran away and knew he needed forgiveness for he was a sinner. He new he had failed in the face of adversity after spending so much time with Jesus he could not stand up for him.

So after the crucifixion Peter is to impatient to wait for Jesus to comeback and goes out fishing wanting to get back to his old life and kept busy to make him forget of what he has done. So he fishes all night catches nothing returns the next morning to shore where unbeknown to him Jesus from the shore asks if they had caught anything? He gave them advise to chuck the net on the other side and then they caught so many fish that the net could not hold all the fish. So he realised it was Jesus got out the boat as fast as he could but he could not speak to Jesus. He was unable to speak to the King who he had denied .

Jesus reaches out to him first and asked him 3 times:’Do you love me?’ on which he replies:’ Yes I do.” And the third he said:’ Lord you know everything, You know that I love you.”

Jesus treads tenderly and touches his wounded, hurt, afraid child. Who has just been through the worst 2 weeks of his life. Peter made the biggest blunder of his life. Now he faces the man he had denied, offended and rejected.

He could not speak, Jesus had to come to him. Same as us, we try to hide from Jesus and the ones we offend. If we come He will forgive us.

Peter went on the be a missionary in Europe and Asia. He wrote 1st and 2nd Peter. He founded the church in Rome.

He was on fire for Jesus after he made his biggest blunder, not before!!!

1. Paul Acts 7:54-60

Saul as he was formerly know was a bad boy if you want to put it this way. He lived and grew up in Jerusalem and was a scholar of Hebrew Scriptures and studies the law in depth.

It was quite possible that Saul was present at the trail of Stephen where it resulted in the first Christian martyr. Mark tells us that Stephen’s executioners laid their garments at the feet of Saul. He was in full approval of the murderous actions of Stephen’s persecutors.

He also as a living convicted christians and threw them in jail male and female. He was just ruthless and a ver hard man.

On his way to Damascus he was confronted by the very one he was persecuting when God appeared to him and he fell off his horse and was struck by blindness. Acts 9: 3-9 And after Ananias received a vision from God to go and pray for Saul he did and Saul could see again after three days. Saul was baptised and became Paul.

He became probably the fearsest missionary the world has and probably will see. He was an anointed man of God with no fear. He became one of the most important figures of the Apostolic age. He wrote 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament. 13 divided by 66 times a 100 equals 20 percent of the Bible. Pretty significant if you ask me, but nobody is asking.

Here was a man who sinned heavily but got forgiven and charged his destiny with everything he had!

How do we apply this to our lives today??

1. Overcome your guilt:

Peter after his ordeal was afraid to go to Jesus and ask for forgiveness because his guilt kept him from doing so. He was lucky because Jesus was there with him and came to him in the physical. Jesus came to us when he died on the cross. If we want to get rid of our guilt we have to come to the cross and lay it down. It is the only way. If you lay it down you have to leave it there and through faith walk away. If you keep it it is called guilt if you release it it is called forgiveness.

1. Do not be blind:

Paul was struck by blindness physically because he was spiritually blind to his sin. It was God’s way to let him realise what he was doing was wrong. You can ask for forgiveness if you know you are doing something wrong, right? If you will fully deny that you do anything wrong you do not need or ask for forgiveness. None of us are without sin and that is ok because Jesus took the sin. We cannot be blind to our sinful nature.

1. Step into your forgiveness:

Both of these men stepped into their forgiveness in a massive way if you looked at what they had done after their biggest bloopers in their lives. God had done the hard yards already all we need to do is step into our forgiveness by after asking accepting that we are forgiven and carry on to do God’s work with all our might. What great examples we a have in these two men who made a booboo but corrected it and went on the be very influential in their lives.

1. Forgive yourself:

Some of us are to hard on ourselves. We are so used to pain that we can’t go pain free. If God forgives you after your repentance who are you to say that you are not good enough or ‘I will never be good enough’ or ‘I will never kick this habit or this behaviour’. Those ideas and thoughts are from the enemy and not from God. It is an internal thing that is your responsibility.

Allow me to summarise. God walks earth and dies on the cross for alllllll messed up people!

There are two types of messed up people who are fully qualified to follow Jesus:

1. The ones that do not know God at all. Pretty obvious they need Jesus. We as christians need to love on them and find a way to make them understand that God really and truly loves them individually. They are fully qualified to follow Jesus. Prostitutes, gays and lesbians, child molesters, people who are cruel to animals……………..Dee hang-on mate you are going too far, am I really? They have to repent and accept Jesus but they are qualified.

1. The second category of people are the ones who follow Jesus already but sometimes make mistakes. That is us, are we qualified? Yes we are, thank God. We live righteous lives and we are always happy and we never talk about somebody behind their back or look down at somebody who is not a christian. We also never critique or judge or bend the truth and all of that stuff that the sinners do. Yeah right so as qualified people we disqualify ourselves on a daily basis don’t we?

Preach The Word and Do What It Says | 2 Timothy 4:1-8; James 1:19-27

I have consulted with many churches during my 30-years of ministry and sadly most churches fail to reach their full potential because their memories are bigger than their dreams. They spend more energy recalling and celebrating the past than on contemplating the future. The late John R.W. Stott, an English theologian, wrote, “Vision begins with a holy discontent with the way things are.” Often discouragement may set in, even bitterness. And the lighthouse God called into existence only emits a weak light. But with a vision, the future begins to grow and become clear and larger than the past and present. Discouragement and complacency are replaced with hope.

The Apostle Paul was given a vision from heaven. It happened on the road to Damascus when Jesus appeared to him. Jesus gave Paul that day this vision: “…You are to tell the world what you have seen and what I will show you in the future… Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God”(Acts 26:16-18 NLT).

Paul’s vision was to tell the world the good news of Jesus Christ, which included all those who weren’t Jews – the Gentiles.

The Pharisees and the chief Priests had bigger memories than their dreams. God is a about new things: “Behold, I will do a new thing”(Isaiah 43:19 KJV). Reedy Creek Baptist Church has a pretty good past, but may our vision be bigger than our memories. God is doing a new thing!

In order to fulfill God’s vision good practical strategies are needed. Paul could not fulfill God’s vision alone. Churches had to be planted, leadership appointed, the laity trained, equipped and sent. And throughout the various missionaries journeys we see Paul hard doing this work. Towards the end of his life Paul was passing on the baton to see the vision continued. He had established a mentoring relationship with Timothy who was a young person.

The second letter of Paul to Timothy contains some intimate words. He was moving on and so Paul wanted to share some final thoughts that are needed for this vision to carry on for generations to come.

Paul starts this section with “I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus…”(2 Timothy 4:1 NLT). Other translations have verse 1 this way: “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus… I give you this charge”(2 Timothy 4:1 NIV).

In those days, as it should be today, an oath sworn by a deity or deities was considered especially binding and dangerous to break. Paul wanted to say some things that are extremely important.

1. Preach The Word

First, Paul say preach the word: “Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching”(2 Timothy 4:2 NLT). He went on to explain why “good teaching” is important: “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4 NLT)

For generations people have rejected the sound and wholesome teaching from God’s Word. People have become so blatant in declaring their disbelief in the Bible – believing it to be myths and lies – at best just some good stories. In the West we have become so blaze’ in our attitudes to the Bible. We pick and choose. I like this part of the Bible but that other part I choose for it not to be relevant to me. With this attitude our understanding of God and the Gospel message becomes fuzzy.

Paul charges Timothy to keep preaching the word of God! Just a few verses earlier Paul declares why: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip His people to do every good work”(2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT).

Robbie, you have been called to be a pastor for this season at this church. One of your roles is to be a preacher. Together with Andrew and myself, we will share this awesome privilege. We are charged to teach the Word of God. But this charge is also for our Life Group leaders – you to are to preach the Word of God; for you Elders in the church, preach the Word of God; for you parents and grandparents, preach the Word of God; for you Principals of school, preach the Word of God. The writer of Hebrews says, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires”(Hebrews 4:12 NLT).

The Word of God builds disciples of Jesus to understand who God is and what He has done, who we are in Christ, our mandate, and our destiny.

Life can be fuzzy and out of focus, but God’s Word encourages and guides us! For many on the Gold Coast the Bible isn’t seen as God’s Word and so their values and beliefs are fuzzy. Our government leaders are continually lobbied to change laws of what we would consider as sacred. If we the church don’t stand up and remain faithful for the Word of God, then our society will grow in its secular practices and laws.

Currently, we are going through the Book of James. And in chapter 1, James tells the scattered Christians, “don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves”(James 1:22 NLT). For we preachers, we must practice what we preach – or we are just fooling ourselves. For we followers of Jesus, we must not only read and listen to what God is saying, but we must do what He tells us to do.

For the mighty Joshua whom God used to conquer lands was told by God: “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do” (Joshua 1:6-8 NLT).

The Bible is the Word of God that is alive and powerful, it guides our feet, and it prepares and equips us to do every good work. Paul says “Preach it”.

2. Tell Others The Good News

Second Paul charges us to evangelize the lost. He says in verse 5: “…Work at telling others the Good News…”(2 Timothy 4:5 NLT). The Bible makes it very clear that there are only two roads in life. Jesus says, “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. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it”(Matthew 7:13-14 NLT).

Many people on the Coast and across the world are facing hell. Matthew 28 says that we are to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing hem in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”(Matthew 28:19 NLT); Acts 1:8 says, “you will be My witnesses, telling people about Me everywhere…” (Acts 1:8 NLT). Romans 10:15 says,“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”(Romans 10:15 NIV).

This good news is all about who we can become in Christ. A born-again believer is forgiven; is a child of God; does not have the spirit of fear and timidity but of power, love and self-discipline; has been blessed with every spiritual blessing. No wonder that the Angel of the Lord called this as “good news of great joy”.

Notice in verse 5 of our reading the words “work at…”. Evangelism isn’t easy. You can’t just pray about it! You can’t just put on a good event. Evangelism is hard. Donald McGavran, a former missionary and legion in the field of evangelism has written: “Church growth takes work. Converts are not picked up as we stroll casually down the beach. Faith has to be white hot before it will ignite faith in others. The future will not automatically happen, by merely wishing hard. Growth requires decision - now. Growth imposes risks - now. Growth requires action - now. Growth demands allocation of resources - now. Then God gives the increase” (Churches Grow, p87).

I commend the church for adopting this new role of Missional Pastor. This was not only a required decision now for our church, but we have allocated resources to employ Robbie fulltime. Missional means the adoption of the thinking, behaviours, and practices of a missionary in order to engage others with the gospel message. As Alan Hirsch has written, “a proper understanding of missional begins with recovering a missionary understanding of God”. And so, you as our Missional Pastor will help others to know this missionary understanding of God, His calling for the church to be on mission in our communities and equip the body for this task.

Robbie – you, me, Andrew, the Leadership Team, and together with the members must pray, discuss, dream and strategize and then vote on decisions of how this church will reach the lost. Growth requires action now and then God gives the increase.

3. Carry Out God’s Ministry

Third, Paul charges Timothy to “fully carry out the ministry God has given you”(2 Timothy 4:5 NLT).

God has given the church the ministry of love. Jesus gave us the great commandment: “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself”(Matthew 22:37-39 NLT).

And so, we have this ministry of love. Loving the poor, the lost and needy. The vulnerable in our community and around the world need the love of God. They need people to speak up for them; they need people to defend them; they need people to get in the dirt and lift them out from it; they need people to speak hope into their lives. The Christian church is charged to do this. This is our mandate. This is what we are called to do. James 1:27 says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world”(James 1:27 NIV).

As Paul was moving on he gave some final and important words to Timothy to continue God’s vision. He charged him to Preach The Gospel, Evangelise the Lost, and Carry Out God’s Ministry of love.

We are called to be faithful. Paul was able to say near the end of his life: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful”(2 Timothy 4:7 NLT).

Over the past couple of weeks, Israel Folau has been subjected by much mainstream and social media in this country. Israel Folau plays Rugby for the NSW Waratahs. Before that he played League and AFL for the Suns.

Folau was raised a Mormon. But when Folau left the Mormon faith in 2009, he said that it left a huge void in his life. The temptations of being a rising star from the age of 17 left him feeling like he “was losing control of who I was and what I wanted to be. It was all ego and no humility.”

Folau wrote that when he left the NRL for the AFL he went from the top to the bottom. At the bottom, he found Jesus. He said, “I started attending a new church where I experienced God’s love for the first time in my life. God had to break me down in order to build me up again into the person He wanted me to be. It all suddenly made sense.

For Israel though, listening to the word of God isn’t enough. He feels that he has to do what it says. And for him, preaching the Word of God is a requirement. So, two weeks ago, when someone asked him about gay people he felt compelled to answer biblically saying that gay people were headed to “HELL... Unless they repent of their sins and turn to God”. He also said that he has sinned many times in his life and that he takes responsibility for those sins and ask for forgiveness through repentance daily. But the media didn’t report that.

Of course, he was slammed for standing up for his beliefs. It meant high level meetings with Rugby Australia, but he will not back down from his belief.

Folau has said, “I read the Bible every day. It gives me a sense of peace I have not been able to find in any other area of my life. It gives me direction. It answers my questions. I believe the Bible is the truth and sometimes the truth can be difficult to hear”.

According to Folau, he would walk away from his contract immediately if asked. He said this, “God can see from beginning to end. I can’t. This is not about money or bargaining power or contracts. It’s about what I believe in and never compromising that, because my faith is far more important to me than my career and always will be. I would sooner lose everything – friends, family, possessions, my football career, the lot – and still stand with Jesus, than have all of those things and not stand beside Him.”

May we also have the faith and courage to preach the Word of God and remain faithful even if means ridicule.

For Reedy Creek Baptist, a new season has dawned. We have some wonderful God given memories, but may our dreams be bigger.

Jesus won a decisive battle on the cross. The good news is that we have been forgiven and can become a child of the living God. Robbie, you have been called, like the Apostle Paul to “…to tell the [Gold Coast] world what you have seen and what [He] will show you in the future… [God is] sending you to the [Coast] to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God”(Acts 26:16-18 NLT). You are charged to fulfill God’s vision. May you and we the church rise up and transform people’s lives by preaching the gospel, evangelizing the lost and carrying out God’s ministry of love.

15 Apr 2018 AM