Your Part in a Broken World
This is a message I spoke at Slipper Rock CRU. I hope it challenges you and inspires you to do something great:
Notes:
The Reality of the Time We’re Living In
#1 – We Live In A Fallen World Where Evil Is Not Just A Mere Concept But Rather A Harsh Reality
i.e. Billy Ghraham Speaking at TED – Evil, Suffering, and Death – > Jesus solved all of them
#2 – This World Needs Jesus More Than Ever Before.
People have asked me after seeing this tragedy take place, “why doesn’t God just wipe out all evil and suffering in this world?” And my response has been, “He’s going to! One day He’s going to return and change it all. There will be no more suffering, no more tragic school shootings, no more sex slave trade and human trafficking, no more political corruption…one day!”
BUT…until that time comes it is up to those of us who know Christ to do whatever it takes to get the message of the Gospel out to this world…because while the government can change laws only JESUS can change a heart. ONLY JESUS can bring about the change that this world desperately needs and longs for!!
#3 – People Are Still Interested In The Local Church–And The Church Has More Work To Do Than Ever Before.
When this tragedy took place people did not flock to the local chapter of skeptics and atheists but rather local churches!!! And while many of them came confused, hurt and with questions…they STILL came to the church!!
The church has been commanded by God to take the message of the GOSPEL to a world that is desperate, hurting and confused when it comes to events such as these. And during times like this the church should not back down but should rise up and be the hands and feet of Jesus.
I believe in Jesus and His church more than ever before…and believe that the churches calling has NEVER been more obvious and important!
So the Question is, What Can We Do?
What burdens God? The lost, the poor, the oppressed, the broken, the addicted, the needy, His Children!
What burdens me? Human trafficking? The lost? The rich? The poor? College students?
What makes me pound the table and cry? What are you willing to fight for?
What makes me sing? What do you love to do?
God’s Will is Whatever!
Jonah 1:1 Get up and go to the City of Ninevah. Announce my judgement, but Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord.
Jonah 3:1 – Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time “Get up and go to the great city of Ninevah, and deliver the message I gave you. This time, Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command.
Jonah 4:10-11 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity (N)Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left.
God’s will is Whatever He tells you to do right now!
Too often, we get our eyes off of what is important to God. We get our eyes on our needs and our desires. God promised He’ll take care of all of that. He wants you to focus on what burdens Him! People!!!!
Jesus didn’t do what He wanted to do. Jesus did and said everything He saw the Father do!
God’s will isn’t always sexy. It’s not always having the mic. It’s not always being up front. So many of us want to be used by God. Sometimes, He starts using us and all of a sudden we say, “I feel used! They’re using me!” You asked for it!
Recently, we had a family situation come up, God spoke to our hearts, this is your ministry right now. Minister to your family. That’s it guys! That’s what it’s all about.
Ministry is WHO you are WHERE you are! Ask God what he’s doing and what you can do to be a part of it! Wake up everyday and say, “God use me today. Send me to people. Whatever you want to do, do it through me!”
Yes, God has a specific plan for your life. He will tell you what to do, but you have to act! God can’t steer a parked car! God will say, “Go do this! Go do that! Talk to this person! Buy this person lunch! Call this person. Encourage this person. Start this company. Plant a church. Serve in this ministry”
Walk in the light you have! The bible says if you know you should do something, and you don’t, it’s sin!
Bring Heaven to Earth Everywhere You Go
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. -Matthew 6:10
Right now, the Kingdom is here in part. One day it will be in here full, until them, we are the Kingdom of God on the earth.
The more you become like Christ, the more you show the world what Heaven will look like in the future.
In whatever God calls you to do, He calls you to show the world what the future will look like when the Kingdom is here in full. What will it look like to be a Godly student? Intern? Banker? Engineer? If you are a sinner saved by grace, how should that influence your civic life?
Warning: Doing Something will Cost You Something
We see this imbalance and think that’s not right, that’s not fair, but all too often that’s all we do. Because for us to do any more, it is actually going to cost us something. And if that’s where it ends, perhaps it’s fair to say that:
When we ignore the prostituted child, we actually lend our hand to their abuse.
When we ignore the widow and the orphan in their distress that we actually add to their pain.
When we ignore the slave that remains captive, it’s us that is entrapping them.
When we ignore the refugee, then it’s us who is displacing them.
That when we choose not to help the poor and the needy, we actually rob them.
Perhaps the only fair thing to say is that when we forsake the lives of others, we actually forsake our own.
Jonathan Edwards:
Now, dear Christians, some of you pray night and day to be branches of the true Vine; you pray to be made all over in the image of Christ. If so, you must be like him in giving . . . “Though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor” . . . Objection 1. “My money is my own.” Answer: Christ might have said, “My blood is my own, my life is my own” . . . then where should we have been? Objection 2. “The poor are undeserving.” Answer: Christ might have said, “They are wicked rebels . . . shall I lay down my life for these? I will give to the good angels.” But no, he left the ninety-nine, and came after the lost. He gave his blood for the undeserving. Objection 3. “The poor may abuse it.” Answer: Christ might have said the same; yea, with far greater truth. Christ knew that thousands would trample his blood under their feet; that most would despise it; that many would make it an excuse for sinning more; yet he gave his own blood. Oh, my dear Christians! If you would be like Christ, give much, give often, give freely, to the vile and poor, the thankless and the undeserving. Christ is glorious and happy and so will you be. It is not your money I want, but your happiness. Remember his own word, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”91
For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! -Romans 5:10
My Challenge to you is to DO SUMPIN! I want to know what you’re going to do! I want to know the answers to these questions!
Two books: Generous Justice by Tim Keller and When Helping Hurts
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