"Pressing On Toward The Goal"
Sermon Transcript for January 11, 2004Written By Rev. Mike Beck
Presented By Rev. Dan Sinkhorn
These are Reverend Mike’s words and I would pray that you just hear Reverend Mike in these words and as his friend and voice today I hope that I can lend a little bit of the passion. I want to begin by thanking all of you for your prayers in relation to my surgery this past Friday. I want to thank Reverend Dan for being my voice this weekend to present the message that I have prepared for you. As you gather for worship, know that I am praying for all of you from my hospital bed in Nashville. At the beginning of this new year, I wanted to take the first two weeks to revisit our mission statement and our core values here at Grace, to reflect on how we are doing on where God is leading us, and to examine the steps we must take and the challenges we must meet to faithfully press on toward the goal that God has for us as individual Christians and collectively as the church.
I want to invite you before the end of the day to re-read these wonderful passages from God’s Word that you just heard in the Book of Philippians. They remind us of the awesome mystery of God humbling Himself to become a man that we have just celebrated in the message of Christmas. To challenge us to take on the attitudes that Jesus displayed here on earth. In one of last year’s sermon series, we were reminded that our attitudes determine the altitude for our living. Paul reminds us that God’s desire to work in and through us to will and to act according to His good purpose. However, we must participate with God in that process of transformation. A very good example is the ALPHA course, which is enrolling right now so you can still be a part of that if you want. The ALPHA table is right outside the doors of the sanctuary. The first of the classes begins this coming Thursday. Please consider that. Many people have had their questions answered by participating in that process and so a transformation began.
In the passage you just heard we ended with these great words found in Verses 13 and 14 of Chapter 3. Let’s read them together now again, this time from the New Living Translation: “I am still not all I should be but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing—forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.”
I want to briefly mention seven things that I think are important for us in 2004 if we are to press on for the goals that God has for us here at Grace.
1. We must continue to be a people of prayer. The foundation and very essence of Jesus’ ministry was prayer. The same thing must be true for us. Now take out your bulletin if you would and look at that insert that’s there. Now if you would like to be a part of one of our prayer chains, which is a ministry that is used weekly here at Grace Church, then we invite you to check that blank right now. And we also need additional persons to share in one of the three weekly intercessory prayer groups that meet on Saturday morning—there’s a group of men there. I had the privilege of praying with them yesterday and I can tell you that we can definitely use some more men to join us in that prayer group. And then there are two on Monday afternoons. Now please don’t be fearful, Mike says, of being a part of one of those groups. No one is going to ask you to pray out loud unless, of course, that’s something you are comfortable doing. And if you are a part of one of those groups, you’ll have a weekly personal connection with your pastors and God can use your participation in our intercessory prayer groups in ways that you will never fully comprehend.
2. We need to be more faithful in terms of consistent participation in worship. I wonder how God feels when our attitude toward worship is, “I’ll be there if there is nothing else on my schedule”. To use an athletic analogy, what kind of team would the coach have if players came to practice only when it was convenient for them?
3. We must continue to work at building relationships within the body of Christ. For that to happen persons must make the intentional decision to become a part of a small group. Friendship Eight groups that will begin again in February have done some really neat things in terms of creating new relationships here at Grace Church. You’ll hear more about that next week. And we’ve heard dozens of comments back from persons who perhaps nervously at first signed up for a study group. Consistently we hear how their life has changed for the better because of that step of faith. Now we’re going to pause for a moment now to give you a chance to put a check mark in one or more of those blanks on your bulletin insert. Please do that now.
4. We must do a better job of assimilating newcomers to our church. We give thanks to God for the steady stream of newcomers who are finding their way to Grace Church, but unless we become more intentional on this important matter of assimilation, persons will be slipping out the back door of the church as quickly as they are coming in the front door. This responsibility is simply too big a job to be left only to the pastors and staff. One of our goals in 2004 is to raise up a group of fifty laypersons that will be trained for this important ministry. Friends, this is not a difficult ministry. And it’s very rewarding! If you become a part of this new ministry team, we simply will be asking you to become friends with two to four newcomers at Grace each year. You’ll be trained to walk along side of them for a period of time to help them get to know others in our church family and to find a small group and place of ministry here at Grace. As Jesus said, “The fields are right on the harvest. Pray for laborers to assist with the harvest.” Is God calling you to share in this important ministry?
5. We must guard against becoming comfortable. Exactly what this means is hard to define. And when the church falls in to this trap you sometimes don’t see the fallout until several years later. But it’s kind of like riding a bike. Now isn’t it funny that Reverend Mike would use that analogy. It’s okay to coast periodically, but if you don’t keep pedaling the bike in a forward direction, you’ll fall off. The same is true for us in church and in our individual walk with the Lord.
6. We must strive in all that we do to be a people of grace. We’ve got a great name for our church and God wants us to live up to that name. The Apostle Paul in Philippians 2 described what a grace-centered life would look like—tender, sympathetic hearts, loving one another, working together with one heart and purpose, interested in the needs of others, exhibiting an attitude of humility, avoiding arguing and complaining. Gracious people guard their tongues. They give others the benefit of the doubt. They resist the temptation to turn faith into a theological litmus test. They forgive others when they have been wronged. Grace is like the smell of fresh baked bread—it irresistibly attracts others to it.
7. We must trust and obey especially in the area of stewardship. The financial challenges before us in 2004 are great. And a church that is striving to move forward will always operate on the edge financially. At times your pastors and other church leaders look at the size of our budget and the new buildings soon to be constructed and we say to God, “How are we going to do that?” And God replies, “Read the book!” And when we read this book, we find stories, teachings, and prophesies that illustrate these five words—faith, trust, sacrifice, obedience, love. The essence of stewardship is wrapped up in these five words. As a whole, Grace Church has taken great strides forward in honoring God through our tithes and offerings in recent years. But what about you and your personal relationship with Christ? Is Jesus becoming the Lord of your life in the area of your treasure? And when your paycheck comes, does God get the first fruits or the leftovers? And for those in this congregation blessed with significant wealth, can God count on you to help make what seems impossible become a reality here at Grace?
I want to close on a personal note. I am honored and privileged to serve as the senior pastor of this great church. I pray that our partnership in the Gospel will continue for several years to come. And I am especially praying that 2004 will be a year of physical, emotional, and spiritual renewal in my own life in ministry. Twelve years of battling the voice problems combined with two capital campaigns and subsequent building programs have taken their toll on me. No doubt I am dealing with some physical weariness and some spiritual burn out. I am hoping that God, in the surgery that took place on Friday, will provide improvement of voice for me to share His gospel. But whatever the outcome I have already learned in recent years that God’s grace is sufficient, that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. I am humbled and thankful for the opportunity that God has provided for this summer’s renewal leave that Grace Church in partnership with the Lilly Foundation has so graciously made possible for me. I feel so blessed. And in response, I simply want to be faithful to that simple verse of scripture that reminds us “to whom much has been given, much is to be expected.” I pray you feel that same way.
In the year 2004 may persons come to know Christ as Savior through His mission outpost here at Grace Church. From within this congregation, may our collective voices ring out ever more strongly the simple but profound words, “Jesus is Lord! Jesus is Lord!” Let us pray, “Oh Lord Jesus our master, we have heard Your word. And we thank you for speaking to us over the miles through our pastor, through his thoughts. Let us take up the challenge he has given to us and give us the strength and discernment to do Your will and to press on toward the goal. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.”
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