Living Obediently: Embracing Community and God's Grace

Devotional

Day 1: Extending Love Beyond Self

Living a life of obedience to God involves extending our care beyond our immediate family to serve others. This lifestyle challenges our self-centered tendencies and calls us to prioritize God's command to love others as ourselves. By doing so, we create a community that reflects God's love and grace, fostering an environment where everyone feels valued and supported. This call to obedience is not just about following rules but about embodying the love of Christ in our daily interactions. It requires us to look beyond our own needs and desires, focusing instead on how we can uplift and serve those around us. [00:22]

"Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." (Philippians 2:4, ESV)

Reflection: Who in your community can you reach out to today to show love and support, even if it requires stepping out of your comfort zone?

Day 2: Sacrificing for Eternal Fulfillment

Serving the Lord often requires sacrificing material desires, but it leads to a more fulfilling life centered on eternal values. When we choose to serve others, we align ourselves with God's purposes and experience His provision and joy. This sacrificial lifestyle challenges us to let go of our attachment to worldly possessions and ambitions, focusing instead on the eternal rewards that come from living a life of service. By prioritizing God's call over our own desires, we become living testimonies of His grace and provision, even in uncertain times. [01:17]

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven." (Matthew 6:19-20, ESV)

Reflection: What material desire or ambition can you sacrifice today to better align with God's eternal purposes?

Day 3: Embracing the Promise of Grace

Ephesians 2:6-7 reveals that God has raised us with Christ to showcase His immeasurable grace. This truth should transform our perspective, reminding us that our salvation is both a present reality and a future promise of God's abundant grace. Understanding this promise encourages us to live with hope and joy, regardless of our current circumstances. It assures us that God's grace is not limited to our past or present but extends into our future, offering us a glimpse of the eternal life we are promised in Christ. [05:08]

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ." (Ephesians 2:4-5, ESV)

Reflection: How can the promise of God's future grace change the way you approach a current challenge or difficulty?

Day 4: Aligning Church Practices with Scripture

Our church gatherings should prioritize love, community, and the proclamation of the gospel. We must align our practices with scriptural commands, focusing on authentic relationships and mission rather than merely attending services. This approach challenges us to rethink what it means to be the church, emphasizing the importance of living out our faith in tangible ways. By prioritizing the commands of Scripture, such as loving one another and sharing the gospel, we create a church environment that truly reflects the heart of God. [37:18]

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another." (Hebrews 10:24-25, ESV)

Reflection: In what ways can you contribute to making your church gatherings more focused on love, community, and the gospel?

Day 5: Courageously Returning to Scripture

We are called to return to Scripture, seeking to understand what it truly teaches about being the church. This journey requires courage and a willingness to let go of preconceived notions, but it promises a deeper alignment with God's will and a more profound experience of His peace and purpose. By immersing ourselves in the Word, we gain clarity on God's vision for His church and our role within it. This process of returning to Scripture is not just about gaining knowledge but about transforming our hearts and minds to better reflect the character of Christ. [52:36]

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." (2 Timothy 3:16, ESV)

Reflection: What preconceived notion about church or faith are you willing to let go of today in order to align more closely with Scripture?

Sermon Summary

In today's message, I explored the profound call to live a life of obedience and community, emphasizing the importance of loving God and others. This lifestyle is not about self-preservation but about extending our family unit to serve and uplift others. Serving the Lord requires sacrifice, often challenging our attachment to material desires. Yet, when we prioritize God's call, our lives become a testament to His grace and provision, even in uncertain times. This commitment to community and service is not just a personal journey but a family endeavor, teaching our children the value of helping others and living out their faith in tangible ways.

Reflecting on Ephesians 2:6-7, I shared the awe-inspiring truth that God has raised us up with Christ to demonstrate the immeasurable riches of His grace. This revelation should transform our perspective, reminding us that our salvation is not just for the present but also for a future where God will reveal His abundant grace. This understanding should embolden us to live with hope and joy, regardless of our current circumstances.

I also addressed the importance of aligning our church practices with biblical teachings. It's crucial to distinguish between cultural traditions and scriptural mandates. Our gatherings should emphasize love, community, and the proclamation of the gospel. We must prioritize the commands of Scripture, such as loving one another, sharing the gospel, and living in dependence on the Holy Spirit. This approach challenges us to rethink what it means to be the church, focusing on authentic relationships and mission rather than merely attending services.

Finally, I encouraged everyone to return to Scripture, seeking to understand what it truly teaches about being the church. This journey requires courage and a willingness to let go of preconceived notions, but it promises a deeper alignment with God's will and a more profound experience of His peace and purpose.

Key Takeaways

1. centered tendencies and calls us to prioritize God's command to love others as ourselves. [00:22]
2. Sacrifice and Service: Serving the Lord often requires sacrificing material desires, but it leads to a more fulfilling life centered on eternal values. When we choose to serve others, we align ourselves with God's purposes and experience His provision and joy.

3. Immeasurable Grace: Ephesians 2:6-7 reveals that God has raised us with Christ to showcase His immeasurable grace. This truth should transform our perspective, reminding us that our salvation is both a present reality and a future promise of God's abundant grace.

4. Biblical Church Practices: Our church gatherings should prioritize love, community, and the proclamation of the gospel. We must align our practices with scriptural commands, focusing on authentic relationships and mission rather than merely attending services.

5. Returning to Scripture: We are called to return to Scripture, seeking to understand what it truly teaches about being the church. This journey requires courage and a willingness to let go of preconceived notions, but it promises a deeper alignment with God's will.

** [00:22]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:22] - The Call to Obedience
[01:17] - Sacrifice in Service
[02:32] - Family and Community
[04:38] - Worship and Reflection
[05:08] - Immeasurable Grace
[07:32] - Announcements and Giving
[10:44] - Project Updates
[15:16] - The Gospel and Judgment
[17:42] - Preaching the Truth
[23:21] - Church Focus and Priorities
[26:26] - Exegesis vs. Eisegesis
[33:48] - Challenging Traditions
[37:18] - Redefining Church Success
[52:36] - Returning to Scripture

Sermon Clips

"Serving the Lord is a huge commitment and it's a huge sacrifice in a sense that you can't have every material or Earthly desire that you want but when an opportunity comes up that God's put in front of you and you have to make a choice about do I go talk to this lady that's crying or do I say oh I really I have to clean my house and I have to oh you know I have to this and I have to that there's there should be no choice we have to get to the point where we're so in love with God that there is no choice to us our heart is just so open to dropping these things that will perish and just running for Christ." [00:77:20]

"When you stand on Christ, your foundation is so much more secure and you have so much more hope to offer the world. I mean, we're financially in a situation that's probably pretty scary to non-believers, but we can still smile, we can still laugh, we still have food and we just go okay God what do you want you know and Community is also giving us a chance to share that hope with our neighbors and say it's okay whatever God wants to do it's okay he'll provide or he'll take away and we have to think that no matter what he's on the throne and he has a better plan." [00:117:96]

"Ephesians 2:6-7 when it says that he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable Riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Did you get that when you when I mean we sat there and meditated on for a couple minutes but did you get that he the reason why he brings us and seats us up there with Christ it says it's so that God did that there was a purpose so that in the coming ages so in the future he might show the immeasurable Riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." [00:303:96]

"One day God's going to show us just how much we have in Jesus like right now I'm already feeling like overwhelmed because God has blessed me so much he says you don't even get it one day I'm going to seat you in this place just to show you the immeasurable the imme you can't measure how much I'm about to give you you can't even measure how much grace I'm about to show you and I'm bringing you up there for this reason is just to show off how much grace I've given you in Christ Jesus." [00:367:28]

"God is very serious about the care for the poor to care for those who are needy we can't we can't miss that and in fact judgment is based upon it yeah you know here he says you know what I'm I'm dividing them based upon this so we can't separate our belief in Jesus from our caring for him I mean whatever we do for the least of these the same as caring for Jesus and I was explaining that's why as a church you can't separate CHF or our care for the poor from what we do on a Sunday morning that is what we do it's such a big part." [00:980:60]

"These are important things and we ought to be concerned about this and we gave them every legal Avenue to show look you can do this legally there's a federal law that says this is protected this can work this way but you have the choice and so part of the rejection of that I believe also is a part of this judgment of God part of it is for the land owners that are angry it's part of from to Think Through you know what the whole reason why I rejected that was I didn't want to look at a warehouse where there was food to be brought in to go to these different parts of the world." [00:1192:96]

"Let's focus on our church let's focus on caring for each other let's focus on the things that are mandated by scripture it was everything that we talked about this last week at the Gospel Conference everything you know Jeff who spoke last week and Dave who spoke last Tuesday and Wednesday their churches and what they're all about is really what we've been focusing on and it's it's amazing how we've all come together and got to know each other but there this whole idea of caring for one another and that it's it's about making the church as biblical as possible that's the goal okay it's not making the church as big as possible." [00:1394:12]

"Exegesis is an attempt to discover the meaning of the text objectively it comes from a Greek word it means to draw out or to lead out the whole idea is you're taking a text of scripture and you're objectively trying to discover what does this really say now Isa Jesus is the idea of importing a subjective meaning into the text here's what I mean you can look at the Bible in two different ways one is you can start with the Bible and that's Exegesis you start with the Bible you start with the text and go man what does that mean what does that mean what does that mean and you try to get the meaning out of it." [00:1473:00]

"Exegetically that's why some sometimes I'll like like right now we've been teaching through the book of Philippians and I'm kind of going into Philippians going okay whatever it says let's just do it now let's find out what it says and I don't really have a desire for Philippians like I wanted to say this or I wanted to I'm just going let's just go verse by verse and whatever it says that's what I'll teach and I'm learning every week with you here's what it seems like it says am I right am I crazy you know isn't this what it says even though I don't like it sometimes even though it's in fit with my lifestyle rather than changing the scriptures I got to change my lifestyle." [00:1586:08]

"These are the commands of scripture and I'm going are we really doing that or do we have one guy up here teaching and we sing some songs together and we call it church I don't think we have the right to do that now some of you are living out what we were talking about this week you're getting together in groups you're getting together in your communities and you're being the church because you're doing these one anothers but my point is we've got to stop calling this church we call call this service we can call it happy time we call whatever you want I just don't feel comfortable calling this church biblically." [00:3080:48]

"I want you to go back to scripture this week and say what is obviously in scripture what does Scripture really teach and what would your life look like if you started with the word of God and rethink this this is what I've been doing for the last couple of years just thinking okay if I just had this book on an island what would I come up with what would I do and I will tell you right now coming from me I hate it a lot of things I hate um maybe that's too strong I just really don't enjoy that every bone in my body fights against doing some of the stuff because I don't feel like doing this a lot of times and yet when I do it I feel a peace I know it's right." [00:3154:72]

"These services are not sacred because I don't see that and yet some of you will want to hold these Services sacred because that's what you raised with and I'm saying go back to this book let's figure this out next week we are have having Services okay Easter just for now this is what we're doing but I'm telling you I don't know where it's going I don't know where my life is going going all I know is I'm finally feeling peace because I'm aligning myself with this book and it's not easy but man it's just right." [00:3394:24]

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