Joining God's Mission: Embracing Partnership and Purpose

Devotional

Day 1: God's Invitation to Participate in His Work

God is always at work around us, inviting us to join Him in His divine mission. This requires us to be attentive and open to the opportunities He presents, recognizing that our involvement is an expression of His love and desire for relationship. When we engage in acts of service, such as outreach to our community, we are participating in God's work and expressing His love to others. Our involvement is not just about financial contributions but about being present and attentive to where God is moving. By joining God in His mission, we become active participants in His plan to bring love and healing to the world. [25:37]

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10, ESV)

Reflection: What is one specific way you can join in God's work today, whether through service, prayer, or encouragement?

Day 2: Aligning Our Lives with God's Purposes

Just as the planets revolve around the sun, our lives should revolve around God. This means letting go of our need for control and aligning our desires and schedules with His purposes, trusting that He will guide and provide for us. When we center our lives on God, we acknowledge His sovereignty and trust in His plan for our lives. This requires a shift in perspective, where we prioritize God's will over our own desires and schedules. By doing so, we open ourselves to the guidance and provision that God promises to those who seek Him first. [30:06]

"Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act." (Psalm 37:5, ESV)

Reflection: What is one area of your life where you need to let go of control and trust God more fully?

Day 3: Embracing the Power of Partnership with God

God invites us into a partnership, not servitude. He equips us with everything we need to fulfill His purposes, as seen in the story of Jesus sending out the disciples. Our small offerings can accomplish great things when we participate in His work. This partnership is a testament to God's desire for relationship and collaboration with us. By trusting in God's provision and stepping out in faith, we can witness the miraculous ways He uses our efforts to further His kingdom. [39:54]

"And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits." (Mark 6:7, ESV)

Reflection: How can you offer your skills and resources to partner with God in His work today?

Day 4: Surrendering Our Desires to Follow Jesus

To truly follow Jesus, we must deny ourselves and take up our cross daily. This involves surrendering our desires for power, pleasure, possessions, and praise, and instead seeking to align our lives with God's will and purposes. By letting go of these worldly pursuits, we make room for God's transformative work in our lives. This act of surrender is not a one-time decision but a daily commitment to prioritize God's kingdom over our own ambitions. [47:22]

"And he said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'" (Luke 9:23, ESV)

Reflection: What is one desire or ambition you need to surrender to God today, and how can you take a step towards doing so?

Day 5: Sharing Our Stories as a Catalyst for Growth

When we see God working around us, it is our invitation to step in and participate. Sharing our stories of how God is moving in our lives serves as a catalyst for spiritual growth and community encouragement. By testifying to God's faithfulness and activity, we inspire others to seek Him and recognize His presence in their own lives. Our testimonies are powerful tools for building community and fostering spiritual growth, as they remind us of God's ongoing work in the world. [56:06]

"And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death." (Revelation 12:11, ESV)

Reflection: Who can you share your story with today to encourage them in their faith journey?

Sermon Summary

In today's gathering, we explored the profound truth that God is always at work around us, inviting us to join Him in His divine mission. We began by reflecting on the generosity and faithfulness of our church family, which allows us to engage in meaningful outreach, such as our recent visit to Evanport Elementary School. This outreach is a tangible expression of God's love, as we connect with teachers and staff, offering prayer and support for their needs. This act of service is a reminder that our giving is not just about financial contributions but about being present and attentive to where God is moving.

We delved into the ongoing series, "Experiencing God," emphasizing that God is not a distant deity but one who actively pursues a love relationship with us. This relationship is not about servitude but about partnership, where God invites us to join Him in His work. We discussed the importance of centering our lives around God, much like the planets revolve around the sun, rather than expecting God to revolve around our desires and schedules.

Through the story of Jesus sending out the twelve disciples with nothing but faith, we learned that God equips us with everything we need to fulfill His purposes. This narrative challenges us to let go of our need for control and to trust in God's provision and guidance. We also examined the story of the feeding of the 5,000, which illustrates how God can use our small offerings to accomplish great things when we are willing to participate in His work.

The sermon concluded with a call to action: to open our eyes to the opportunities God places before us and to step into them with boldness. We were encouraged to share our stories of how God is working in our lives, as these testimonies serve as catalysts for spiritual growth and community encouragement. As we journey together in this series, may we continually seek to align our lives with God's will, recognizing that His invitation to join Him is a testament to His love and desire for relationship with us.

Key Takeaways

1. God's Constant Activity: God is always working around us, inviting us to join Him in His mission. This requires us to be attentive and open to the opportunities He presents, recognizing that our involvement is an expression of His love and desire for relationship. [25:37]
2. Centering on God: Just as the planets revolve around the sun, our lives should revolve around God. This means letting go of our need for control and aligning our desires and schedules with His purposes, trusting that He will guide and provide for us. [30:06]
3. The Power of Partnership: God invites us into a partnership, not servitude. He equips us with everything we need to fulfill His purposes, as seen in the story of Jesus sending out the disciples. Our small offerings can accomplish great things when we participate in His work. [39:54]
4. Letting Go of Self: To truly follow Jesus, we must deny ourselves and take up our cross daily. This involves surrendering our desires for power, pleasure, possessions, and praise, and instead seeking to align our lives with God's will and purposes. [47:22]
5. Engaging with God's Work: When we see God working around us, it is our invitation to step in and participate. Sharing our stories of how God is moving in our lives serves as a catalyst for spiritual growth and community encouragement. [56:06]
** [56:06]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[02:00] - Generosity and Outreach
[05:30] - Experiencing God Series
[10:00] - God's Pursuit of Relationship
[15:00] - Centering Our Lives on God
[20:00] - Story of the Disciples
[25:00] - Feeding the 5,000
[30:00] - Letting Go of Control
[35:00] - Denying Self and Taking Up the Cross
[40:00] - The Four P's: Power, Pleasure, Possessions, Praise
[45:00] - Engaging with God's Work
[50:00] - Sharing Our Stories
[55:00] - Closing Prayer and Invitation

Sermon Clips

"One of the things your money goes to is always missions. And so I want to share with you about an experience that we had this past Friday. I love that our church is plugged into different organizations around town. And one of the things that we minister to is Evanport Elementary School. And so Angela did a great job of lining up Momo's Donuts on Friday. You share a Momo's Donut and you get a lot of attention, you know. People will listen to what you have to say and what you have to share." [00:23:39] (35 seconds)

"But our presence was there. And we're watching for opportunities right now in our church family to see where is God moving around us? And what is he doing? And so this was one of those opportunities, even if it was just opening a door. But it could be that you know someone's name on this. And so God's giving you an invite, which is part of what we're going to be talking about today, to take another step and to go a little bit deeper." [00:26:16] (29 seconds)

"Wouldn't it be odd if every planet in our system asked the sun to revolve around it? What would it do to our system? What would it do for that kind of an imagery? And yet that's not the way our solar system works. All the planets revolve around the sun. And the sun exists to be the center. And that's really what we're talking about is centering ourselves around God and getting involved in what he is doing." [00:30:35] (33 seconds)

"God pursued him and invited him into a love relationship. And now part of what you're going to be diving into this week is that God invites Moses to join him as he hears the cries of his people and to be involved. And so I'm going to leave that for your own study. I'm going to leave that for your group study. And we're not going to dive into that today, but we're going to be looking at some other scriptures and thinking through this idea of loosening the control, I think, on our own lives." [00:35:01] (33 seconds)

"God wants to engage you constantly in the world around you. That's why we learned in week, one, God is always working around us. And who is he going to draw to you if you're out on mission for him? Those that need to know him. It may be that they don't have a need and God is just incorporating them into your life. Maybe they even meet a need in you without them realizing that they're doing it, but the door has been opened for conversation and to share about Jesus." [00:44:28] (32 seconds)

"Whoever wants to be my disciple has to deny self. We see in the scriptures of verses 23 through 26. Let me read. I'm going to read part of these for you. He said to all of them, if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Now, Jesus had not died on the cross at that point. It didn't have its deeper meaning for them." [00:46:44] (25 seconds)

"The power, the pleasure, the possessions, the praise, those things we've got to learn to give up. There is a way, Proverbs 16 .25 says, there's a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it only leads to death. And if we're trying to just grab all of those other things, then here's what we're going to do. We're going to fail to be tapped into the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit. That's the way we should." [00:51:53] (24 seconds)

"Instead of you seeking power, I'm going to give you power to do things for me that you could never do. That was what he did with the disciples that day when he said, go with nothing. I'm going to give you the power to accomplish things for me that you could never accomplish. I want to give you pleasures that look and feel different than any pleasure that you could seek after. I want to give you the pleasures of reaching people and ministering to needs, and doing amazing things that you could never think of." [00:52:39] (29 seconds)

"When the blind man yelled from the side of the road, heal me, Jesus didn't ignore him and keep walking. Jesus stopped and he healed the man. Why? Because God was working around him. We talked about Matthew the tax collector, but we know of another one, Zacchaeus. He climbed up in a tree and he yelled for God, Jesus, to see him. He wanted to talk to him. He wanted to engage with the person that was causing all of these crowds." [00:57:13] (31 seconds)

"May your prayer this week be, God, may I have your eyes to see where you're working around me and may I have the boldness to step into the opportunity and to do something about it and then will you do me a favor will you start to share your stories I would love to share them why because it's a catalyst it's a way for us to motivate each other and if we're not doing this there's gonna not gonna be any stories okay but I can't walk with you individually every day of this week and you can't walk with me either but what we have to do is trust the Spirit to walk with us and he's gonna engage us and he's going to use us and I hope that you'll share those things." [01:01:57] (44 seconds)

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