The Mission of The River-Part 4; TELL THE STORY!

Our Mission is simple:
· Come as you are- No perfect People Allowed. We’re a church for those who have given up on the traditional church but not on God and we are a judgment free zone!
· Love Jesus – That’s why we’re here, it’s what God created us for – to have a relationship with Him by falling in love with His Son Jesus.
· Serve Others - using the gifts and abilities God has given us to serve Him by serving others.
· Today I am wrapping up this series by talking about the fourth part of our Mission – Tell the Story.
God has given every believer the responsibility of telling the story of God’s love for us and what He has done to prove His love for us and provide us with the opportunity to have a relationship with Him.

In fact Paul instructed Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:5 (NIV) “do the work of an evangelist” even though he was not an evangelist.

In fact look at what Jesus told His followers…
Luke 14:23 (LB) ‘Go into the country… and urge anyone you find to come, so that my house will be full.”
Jesus says that’s our job! Bring people to church and to Him!

Institute for American Church Growth put out these statistics about how people first come to church:
= 2% Special needs
= 3% Walked-in
= 6% Pastor
= 1% Home visitation
= 5% Sunday school
= 5% Evangelistic crusade
= 3% Programs
= 79% Friend/relative invited them to come
Jesus says that one of our main jobs as Christians is to go out and tell everyone we meet to come to church and then tell them the Good News about who He is. We are His ad campaign.

Madison Ave discovered this years ago. They discovered that the greatest advertising strategy around is word of mouth.

Jesus Advertising campaign was simple:
Go tell people about Me and bring them into My house.

What did He do to bring them in?
= Did He take out ads in the Jerusalem Times?
= Buy radio time on the popular radio stations?
= Send out postcards via camel express? No.

It was all word of mouth.
Think of TV commercials. Most commercials don’t ask or even tell you to buy their product.
Most Advertising, with the exception of infomercials, is based on word of mouth advertising.

They work tediously to portray an intimate setting where you are privileged to be a fly on the wall to watch a private conversation and hear all the great things a particular product does by "someone just like you."

= Commercials show people talking directly to me telling me of all the good things that their product could do for me.
= Or, you see people having the times of their lives, doing things that could only be enjoyed by people who used a particular product.

Every commercial is less than subtle in telling you about their product without ever yelling at you or condemning you for not using their product. They simply make very strong insinuations that your quality of life would improve if you used their product. And it is all done with the illusion of using someone we know, admire, want to be like, or relate to; personally talking to us.

But Jesus didn't have a Madison Avenue public relations team promoting him. Everything He did was passed on by word of mouth. And His message of love spread like wildfire!

People whose lives were radically changed by Christ told everybody they came into contact with what had happened. Even people, who didn't experience significant life change, saw life change in others and they told others what they had seen!

John and Peter were ordered by the rulers of their time to stop talking about Jesus; but look at what they said…
Acts 4:20 (NIV) “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

It's like that really old Faberge' ad, I told two friends and they told two friends, and they told two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on...

That’s how the good news about Jesus Christ spread around the world; word of mouth, one by one, people would tell their friends, neighbors, relatives, and coworkers about Christ.

We have a word for that strategy of word of mouth advertising when it comes to Jesus, we call it evangelism.

That’s how Jesus grew the first church, word of mouth evangelism. Eyewitness accounts, and one on one testimonies.

Now for some reason the word evangelism strikes fear in most people’s hearts. Now before I tell you three ways to talk to your friends about Jesus let’s talk about some...
I. MISCONCEPTIONS OF EVANGELISM.

A. YOU MUST BE AN OBNOXIOUS BIBLE THUMPER.

For many people the term evangelism brings up all sorts of unpleasant images:
· Hellfire and brimstone Bible Thumpers,
· pushy salesman types,
· slick, insincere celebrities,
· money grubbing televangelists,
· bizarre, cult like figures,
· hustlers, con men,
· Jim and Tammy Faye, Jimmy Swaggart, and so on.

Most of us find the hard sell approach impersonal, overbearing, and obnoxious. We tend to mistrust the sincerity of the person talking about Jesus. We feel like we are being sold something; and that doesn’t feel sincere!

If we think this is the only way to talk about Jesus, we will probably want to stay as far away from this role as possible. We fear that people will think we’re religious fanatics.

But you don't have to be a bible thumper, just be yourself.

B. YOU MUST KNOW THE WHOLE BIBLE.

That's like saying before you ever play the game of baseball you have to know all the rules and how to play every position before you even try.

Many of us are afraid that someone will ask us a question that we don’t know the answer to and we’ll look stupid. Or that there is some secret formula that we discover only after we have learned the entire bible and if done right everybody we talk to will beg us to tell them about Jesus.

We think that we must have an answer for every question.

You know what? God doesn't give us all the answers! We're just not supposed to know everything; if we did we would be God!

If you don't have the answer to a question someone asks you, don't panic! Just tell them that if there’s an answer you will get it for them.

Then study the question, or call me or someone else who can answer the question or at least the ability to find the answer if, there is one.

C. YOU MUST BE PERFECT.

You can never lose your temper. You can never do anything wrong.

Let's face it - we’re going blow it; we’re not perfect.

So don't ignore your mistakes, admit them and correct them. Don't hide them, but don't publicize them either.

When you blow it, recognize that it is not an unforgivable sin, work to correct it, ask for forgiveness, and move on.

That’s the beauty of God’s grace. God forgives us and forgets what we did. Our slate is clean before a gracious God. Remember Jesus died for our sins to forgive us.

In contrast to those misconceptions….

D.L. Moody said, “If this world is going to be reached, I am convinced that it must be done by men and women of average talent. After all, there are comparatively few people in the world who have great talents.”

It takes average people, just like you and me to spread the Good News that Jesus died to forgive us from our sins. It’s our job to go out into our communities, tell people about Jesus and bring them into His church. It takes average people like you and me; there are no superstars in the Christian Community.
Remember Jesus ad campaign? Go tell people about Me.

Look at these two commands of Jesus:
THE GREAT COMMANDMENT:
Matthew 22:36-39 (NIV) "LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR as yourself."

THE GREAT COMMISSION:
Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV) "GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."

Jesus says, be committed to love God and love our neighbors and then be committed to make disciples, devoted followers of Christ.

If that’s the command of Jesus; then how do we do that? How do we love God and our neighbors enough to tell them about Jesus? Let's look at …
II. THREE KEYS TO TALKING TO YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT JESUS.

A. LIVE WITH A GREAT COMMITMENT

The greatest impact the average Christian will ever make will be through their life and actions.

Many of us have heard about the Sermon on the Mount. It’s where Jesus taught a large crowd of his followers.

A significant part of that message is Jesus explaining to his followers the true nature of their calling. They would be His light to the world.
Matthew 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

In other words Jesus said let your life be an advertisement for me! Let them see me through you.

Don't hide your Christianity. Make sure you are doing good things, and then when those good things are noticed tell them it's Jesus who is shining through you.

Doing good deeds is a way of loving people into the family of God.
1 John 4:7-8 (LB) "Dear friends, let us practice loving each other, for love comes from God and those who are loving and kind show that they are the children of God, and that they are getting to know him better. But if a person isn't loving and kind, it shows that he doesn't know God - for God is love."

Let me ask you a question: If your neighbors had to depend on you to find out about Jesus, how much would they know?

You live a great commitment by loving people enough to let the light of Jesus shine through you by living in a way that people say, I want what you have.

Your Christianity should be contagious. That’s what we should be - contagious Christians.

A Christian who maintains an ongoing personal contact with a non-believer is far more effective than the polished appeal of an evangelist, because they are able to show their whole life as a witness. Our friends will almost always more easily relate to us than someone they do not know, and the trust that is built up through a relationship helps create open doors for talking to them about Jesus.

So if you want to talk to your friends about Jesus; love them by living a life worthy of imitation and let the light of Jesus shine through you!

Here’s a warning: everything you do is a reflection on Jesus. So
· If you’re loving to your neighbors it’s a good reflection
· If you’re the crab of the neighborhood, it’s a bad reflection
· If you’re happy despite the circumstances, it’s good
· If you’re the complainer…
Think of it like this, if you’re contagious, what will people catch from you?

Once we have a great commitment to live contagiously for Christ, then we need to explain why we live differently…
B. LIVE THE GREAT COMMISSION

We need to be prepared to talk to people about Jesus.

2 Timothy 4:1-2 (LB) "...I solemnly urge you before God and Christ Jesus, ...to preach the Word of God urgently at all times, whenever you get the chance, in season and out..."

There are many different ways to talk about Jesus.

1. The first thing you have to do is tell YOUR story.
So you have to learn how to tell your story. It’s pretty simple really; just take a few minutes and write it out.

Here is a simple three point outline to write out your story. Just write one or two paragraphs on…
What was your life like before you became a Christian?
How did you become a Christian?
How has your life changed since becoming a Christian?
Simply take about one minute for each point and skip all the gory details. Sometimes people get hung up on talking about how bad they were… in detail. It will derail your story.

If you like I can email you a simple worksheet to help you tell your story. Just ask for it on your connection card, and make sure I have your email address.

Once you have told your story you need to be able to tell a person how to become a Christian.

2. There are all sorts of tracts that are published that allow you to simply read it to another person. They’re designed to take you all the way through to a prayer of commitment. They are simple and easy.

3. But my favorite way to talk to people about Jesus is called the Roman Road.

I have memorized several verses in Romans that present the gospel completely. I can use these verses and make a short simple presentation or a longer more complete presentation.

They are
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 10:9-10 "That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."
That’s the Roman Road. It’s a simple way to tell the Good news of Jesus Christ. You don't need a Bible handy, you don't need to carry a tract, if you memorize it; it's always there.

David was hiding from King Saul in the desert and he said
Psalm 119:11 "I have hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you." He didn't have a scroll tucked away in his tunic; he had memorized scripture to carry it with him all the time.

1. So we live a great commitment through a lifestyle of love recognizing that we are not perfect, but striving to do all that we can to bring glory to God. Remember, People take your example far more seriously than your advice.

2. And we live the great commission as we back up our lives with words, a verbal presentation.
1 Peter 3:15-16 (LB)"Quietly trust yourself to Christ your Lord, and if anybody asks you why you believe as you do, be ready to tell him, and do it in a gentle and respectful way."

C. Live Strategically

Acts 20:24 (ICB) “The most important thing is that I complete my mission. I want to finish the work that the Lord Jesus gave me—to tell people the Good News about God’s grace.”

In other words, develop a plan to tell the story and talk about Jesus with your friends...

· I’ve been talking to people about Jesus ever since I moved here. In fact the very first people I talked to were the movers who unloaded our furniture from the moving truck. Today one of them plays a key part in our church.
· I go to the gym 5 days a week and I have developed relationships with several people there. Two families have come to our church as a result of my building a relationship and talking to them about Jesus and our church.
· One guy I have met with several times and talked to him about Jesus. He has not come yet, but He will!
· I have talked to every neighbor on our block and invited them to our church.
· Cathy and I have built a casual friendship with a checker at a grocery store and we have invited her to come and check us out.
I have a plan; and that’s to talk to everyone I can about Jesus and The River. I am intentional and deliberate everywhere I go.

The point is you need to live strategically. You need to deliberately look for opportunities to invite your friends to church and talk to them about Jesus.

You say, Pastor Dave of course you talk to everyone about Jesus and the church; you’re the pastor and it’s easy when people know you’re a pastor!

Not true! I don’t tell people I’m a pastor. When they hear I’m a pastor they think I’m a hired professional!

Who do you think do you think people trust more - the hired professional or the satisfied customer? The satisfied customer!

Your friends trust you. They see changes in your life, they see a difference in your life; and they want to know why? What makes you different?

The apostle Paul said,
1 Corinthians 9:19-22 (Msg) “I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life”

Paul lived intentionally! And he related to everyone without condoning their actions or taking on their way of living. He worked to see things from their point of view just so he could talk to them about Jesus.

That’s what it means to live strategically!

One caution... the people your talking to about Jesus must not get the impression that they are your save the world project!
= You invite them as you have earned the right through your relationship.
= You love them with your actions with no strings attached.
= Even though we hope and pray for them to develop a desire to know Jesus, we love them consistently whether they accept the invitation or not.

So live strategically with a great commitment to the great commandment and you will have the great joy of introducing your friends to Jesus!

Maybe today when I talked about the Roman Road, Christianity made sense to you for the first time. Then take the first step, invite Jesus Christ into your life.

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Serve Others- Using What God has Given Me

Three weeks ago I began a series teaching on our Mission at The River. Our Mission is simple:
· Come as you are- we are a judgment free zone!
· Love Jesus – This is our ultimate purpose for being here, it’s what God created us for – to love Jesus
· And today part 3; Serve Others - using what God gave you. That’s what God wants us to do. He wants us to use the talents, abilities, and spiritual gifts He gave us to serve others.

Check this out: Several years ago, a fire destroyed a building that contained tons of ice. Although the building contained enough material to extinguish the fire, the water was not in usable form. The building was literally full of frozen assets.

I think that describes most of us. We have all kinds of potential locked up inside of us, yet it remains frozen, unused, and wasted.

For those of us who are Christians, We have even more potential because God has given each one of us an extra helping of abilities, skills, and talents called Spiritual gifts. And God wants us to use those abilities and gifts to serve others.

Let me review three things that God gives to us the moment we fall in love with Jesus and accept Him as our Lord and Savior…
I. GOD GIVES ME THREE GIFTS WHEN I accept CHRIST
God does more than forgive me of my sin, He also gives me…

1. Eternal life. When I open my life to Jesus Christ, instantly I'm given eternal life.
Romans 6:23 (NLT) "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
I never have to worry about my future; I know I'm going to heaven. It's solid and I’m secure.

2. The Holy Spirit. The moment I gave my life to Jesus Christ, God gave His Spirit to me to live inside me.

Romans 5:5 (LB) “…God has given us His Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.”

And He'll never leave you and you'll never be alone. God is with you for the rest of eternity.

3. A special ability to use for His purpose.

Romans 12:6 (LB) "God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well."
(NASB) “Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly."

When you become a Christ follower, God gives you a brand new purpose for living, and along with that new life purpose He gives you a special gift or gifts to fulfill that purpose and he expects you to use those gifts, they’re what we call spiritual gifts. The Bible has a lot to say about spiritual gifts.

Every Christian gets at least one spiritual gift. That's different from a natural ability. Everybody has natural abilities. But only believers have spiritual gifts.
· When you were born physically, God gave you physical gifts like hearing, taste, touch, sight, smell Maybe He gave you athletic abilities, the ability to write, do math, think outside the box. Those are natural abilities and everyone gets some.
· But when you become a Christ follower God gives you some spiritual abilities or spiritual gifts to serve Him. Every believer has at least one. They are given to you at the moment of salvation.
Now God chooses which gifts you're going to get; you don't get to choose. They're given by grace; you don't earn the gift, it's God's free gift to you.

There are several lists of spiritual gifts in the Bible.
Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12-14; and Ephesians 4:7-16; 1 Peter 4:9-11

I don't think these lists are exhaustive. I think they're simply examples. When you include the special gifts mentioned in the Old Testament I think the list is much larger than the list of gifts that’s actually mentioned in these passages. I think they're just examples for us in Scripture.

Here’s my point: any time you're serving God and you're doing it well and you're having fun doing it, you're demonstrating giftedness; you’re using the gifts God has given you.

II. THE IMPORTANCE OF MY SPIRITUAL GIFTS

Why is it important to know my spiritual gift? Because, if I'm a Christian, God gave me at least one, probably several, and if He gave them to me He expects me to use them.

As a believer, there are 3 very important reasons, to discover, develop and use your spiritual gifts. So let’s look at them.

I need to know what my spiritual gifts are because…
1. MY GIFTS DETERMINE HOW GOD WANTS ME TO SERVE OTHERS.

I Corinthians 12:4-6 "There are different kinds of gifts but the same spirit. There are different kinds of service but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working but the same God works in all of them."

Your spiritual gifts determine how God wants you to serve Him.
Once you understand what your spiritual gift is, it answers a lot of questions. For example:
· "What is God's will for my life?"
· "What does He want me to do now that I'm a Christian?"
· "What should my ministry be?"
· "How should I spend my time?"
· "Where should I focus my life?"
Each of these questions are answered when you understand your particular spiritual gift.

Every Christian is called to serve the cause of Christ, but your spiritual gift shows how you, individually, are to serve Him.
· If you're gifted in leading then God wants you to be a leader.
· If you’re gifted in teaching then you need to be a teacher.
· If you're gifted in music then you ought to sing or play music
· If you're gifted in talking to non-Christians about Jesus you ought to be an evangelist.
However you're gifted determines how to use your life for God.

Notice the word different in 1 Cor. 12:4-6 it’s used 3 times.
· It says there are different kinds of spiritual gifts
· There are different kinds of service
· There are different kinds of working
Every gift in your life is unique, meaning God doesn’t want you to copy other people's spiritual gifts.

There is always a temptation to copy other Christian's gifts, because their gifts seem cooler or more important than yours.

But God doesn't want you to copy anybody else; He knows what gift is best for you. That's why He is the one who determines what gift you will get.

Spiritual Gifts explain why Christians who believe the same things see things differently.

Have you noticed that even though we believe the same, Christians disagree about a lot? Why?
It's because of giftedness. We see things differently. We tend to emphasize what we're gifted in.

Check this out… If seven spiritual gifts were represented in a family and somebody dropped their desert on the floor here's how each person would respond according to their giftedness:
· Mercy – Put your arm around and empathize
· Preaching - That's what happens when you're not careful!
· Administration - Jim, would you get the mop? Sue pick it up.
· Serving - Let me help you clean it up!
· Teaching - The reason it fell is because you weren’t carrying it right and it was too heavy on one side. They are practical.
· Giving – Can I buy you a new desert?
· Exhortation – There is a deeper reason you dropped your desert, the bible says….

Truth is we're all different. That’s how Christians become divided; they tend to over focus on certain gifts.
· Some people think the most important gift is teaching so they go to a strong teaching church.
· Another says the most important gift is evangelism. So they go to a very evangelistic church.
· For another it's miracles so they go to a miracle church.
But they’re all equally important. The key is to not expect your gift to show in others and don't project your gift onto others.

All the gifts are important and they’re all necessary. What you need to know is that your gift shows God's plan for your life.

I need to know what my spiritual gifts are because…
2. MY GIFTS SHOW ME THAT I’M IMPORTANT.

1 Corinthians 12:27 "All of you form the one body of Christ and each one is a separate and necessary part of it."

You're needed. You're important. There are no little people or little jobs; truth is all the gifts are needed.
You’re just as important in the body of Christ as I am or anyone else. Every gift is needed.
· My gift is the power God gives me to bless others.
· God gives you a spiritual gift to bless other Christians too.
· If I don't use my gift, you get cheated.
· If you don't use your gift, I get cheated
The fact is if we don’t use our gifts everybody gets cheated.

God designed you to make a unique contribution. You're not gifted by accident; without you the picture isn't complete.

It's like a jigsaw puzzle with one part missing. Every Christ follower is needed in the body of Christ.

I need to know what my spiritual gifts are because…
3. MY GIFTS ARE THE KEY TO MY FULFILLMENT IN LIFE.

Everyone has the desire to be used in some way. And every one has the desire to accomplish something, to feel significant, to feel like your life makes a difference.

When you use the spiritual gift that God has given you - you're not only productive, but you’re doing what God has gifted you to do, and when you do what God designed you to do - you enjoy doing it.

John 15:8 & 11 (PH) "This is how my Father is glorified --in your becoming fruitful (productive) and being my disciples… I've told you this so that you can share my joy and that your happiness may be complete."

· Real joy does not come from making a lot of money.
· Real joy does not come from having a lot of pleasure.
· Real joy does not come from things.
Real joy comes from knowing my life is productive, that it counts, that it matters that I'm not just taking up space.

You find real joy and happiness by being what God meant you to be, by taking the gifts and abilities He's given you and using them. You feel a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment.

The Bible says that spiritual gifts are given to help other people.
God gives me one to bless you.
God gives you one to bless me.
And there is enormous personal satisfaction that comes from being used by God.

Nothing else to compares to the feeling of serving God. Being used by God is the greatest feeling and thrill you can experience in life.

Some of you can't comprehend that. If you've never experienced what it means to feel used by God you're missing out on real joy, the joy that God wants you to experience.

Nothing compares to knowing that God gave me a gift and I'm using it and God is blessing it.

God wants you to feel that feeling. He wants you to unwrap and use that gift. He wants you to use it so you can experience a satisfaction that compares to nothing else.

III. WHAT DOES GOD WANT ME TO DO WITH MY GIFT?

He wants you to do three things:

1. Discover it.
1 Corinthians 14:1 "Eagerly desire spiritual gifts."
One of the marks that proves you’re a Christian is that you have a desire to know your spiritual gift and to use it serving God.

In fact, if you have no desire to know your spiritual gift, develop it and use it, you ought to question whether you're a Christian or not.

The mark of a genuine Christ follower is they have a desire to know the gifts that God's given them and to use them.

God gave you your gifts - so it only makes sense that He wants you to know what your spiritual gift is.
I Corinthians 12:1 "Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.” God says, I don't want you to be ignorant of gifts. I want you to know them.

So how do I discover my spiritual gifts?
Examination and experimentation. By examining my Christian life and by experimenting with different kinds of service.

1. Examination. First, I discover my spiritual gifts by looking back on my Christian life and saying,
· In the ways I've served God so far, and what have I really enjoyed doing?
· What has God blessed?
· Where have people been impacted?
· Where have I seen results?
If you've never gotten involved in serving in a ministry since you've become a Christian there's no way you're going to know your gift.

2. Experimentation. Secondly, if you don't have anything to look back on you're going to have experiment with different kinds of ministries and service.
So what interests you? Try out some different ministries:
· Greeting
· Small groups
· Hospitality
· Teaching children
· Work with youth
· Start a singles ministry
· Rock babies in the Nursery
· Sing or try to sing on the worship Team
· Play in the band
· Get involved with set up and take down
· Sound tech, computers, lights, etc.
One of them will feel like your niche. If we don’t have a ministry that fits… make one up! Truth is if your gifted in something that we are not doing, then God has put you here to start it! Use your gifts and start a new ministry here at The River.

You need to do what God's gifted you to do. It will be enjoyable and you'll like doing it. When you do that you've found your gift and your ministry!

If you had told me 30 years ago that someday I’d plant a new church in Las Vegas and then another one in Eagle Idaho, I'd have said, "You're nuts!" I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be a church planter. In fact at that time, I never thought I would be a senior pastor. I was a youth pastor and I loved it and I never wanted to be a lead pastor! But I discovered I’m good at it, I’m gifted at it, and now I love it!

Taking spiritual gifts tests can help. There are a bunch of them online. But every test has to be somewhat standardized and we're all unique.

If I'd taken a test, never in a million years would I have discovered I have the gift of Apostle; one who starts a new work or plants a new church.

When I planted my first church in Las Vegas the only way I could have known I was gifted to plant a church was to do it!

So we trusted God, packed our stuff and moved to Las Vegas. I found out I had a special gift for starting churches. Then 12 years later, did it again when we moved here.

The only way you discover your gift is get out there and start doing something. Try it.

2. Develop it

Paul tells Timothy
1 Timothy 4:14 (GN) "Don't neglect the spiritual gift that is in you."

Many of you already know what you're good at. You know how God's gifted you. But if you're not using it for God's glory, then you're neglecting your spiritual gift.

Why? Maybe you think…
· I'm too busy
· I'm not good enough
· What if I fail or embarrass myself?
Satan will do everything he can to keep you from discovering and developing your spiritual gift.

He'll even try to get you involved in all kinds of good things to keep you from the best thing so you don't know the thrill of being used by God.

So follow God’s direction….
2 Timothy 1:6 (JB) "Fan into flame the gift God gave you."

Strengthen your gift, deepen it, increase it, and cultivate it. Don't get discouraged. Don't quit. Get some training, go to conferences, read books, find someone who is good at it to help you.
Just because you're gifted in an area doesn't mean it's easy. You may be gifted in counseling or caring for people who are hurting but that's not easy week after week. You may be gifted in organizing events but that doesn't mean it's easy.

I can tell you from experience it’s not easy starting a new church or teaching every Sunday, but I do it, it’s hard work but I love it!

So don't give up. Keep on doing until it feels good - or until you figure out it’s not your gift, then try something else!

3. Use it.

1 Peter 4:10 "Each one should use whatever spiritual gift he has received to serve others faithfully managing God's grace in its various forms."

God wants you to use the gifts He has given to you -- and the church is the place to discover and develop and use your gift.

Ephesians 4:12 (LB) "Why is it that he gives us these special abilities to do certain things best? It is that God's people will be equipped to do better work for Him, building up the church, the Body of Christ, to a position of strength and maturity."

God's plan is brilliant: Every Christian gets a spiritual gift…
· so that everybody can contribute,
· so that everybody's important,
· so that nobody feels insignificant,
· So that we all function together in harmony.

He says, I'll give every Christian a spiritual gift so that every person can be a partner with God in the most important task in the world, building His kingdom.

So here’s God's plan:
· some people set up,
· some people organize,
· some people make artistic signs, banners, or decorations
· some people do music,
· some people teach,
· some people work with kids,
· some people know how to raise money
Everybody's important. No one is more important than the others. It's all God's plan. It takes everybody.

In Matthew 25 there's a story called the Parable of the Talents. Jesus tells this story to say, "One day you're going to stand before God and He’s going to ask you, `What did you do with what I gave you?'"

When you stand before Jesus one day and He asks, "Why didn’t you discover, develop, and use your gift?" What are you going to say?

Folks this is serious stuff. One day there's going to be a final exam and as your pastor want you to be able to give the right answer.

What we're talking about here is of vital importance.
· God is not going to hold you accountable for gifts He didn't give you.
· But He is going to hold you accountable for the gifts He did give you.

1 Corinthians 4:2 "Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful."

God has made an investment in you and it is a sin to waste what God has given you. So don’t waste it!
God has given you spiritual gifts that are to be discovered, developed and used.

WRAP-UP
We are getting ready for an out pouring of God’s blessing next month. As we have our Grand Opening I believe God has positioned us here in Eagle to further His kingdom in a significant way.

There are so many things that need to be done as we kick off.
· There are new ministries that we need to start
· We need to build up and support all our core ministries, like children, youth, small groups, setup, tech, worship, greeters, and hospitality.
· I would love for us to start a drama team, a food bank, a helping hands ministry where people can find someone in the church who can help them do something they cannot do for themselves, for free!
· We need people who are willing to go door to door and tell people that a new church is starting.

There is much to be done. Jesus Said…
Matthew 9:37-37 “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

I’m asking God to send you out into the harvest field, serving others for His sake.

OUR MISSION AT THE RIVER – Part 2

Love Jesus – The Foundation of Our Faith

Our greatest desire at The River is to help you discover what it means to love Jesus. We will never push religion, God, Jesus or our church on anyone.

We want to celebrate what it means to be a Christ follower!

So we tell people come as you are, check us out, ask questions, take as much time as you need, but our goal is for you to fall in love with Jesus.

But what does that mean? There are so many misconceptions about what love is that if we're going to really understand how to love Jesus we have to start with understanding what real love is.

Love is a word that we use and misuse in many different ways. We say things like:
· I love my wife.
· I love pepperoni pizza. I hope I feel differently about Cathy than I do about pepperoni pizza or at least maybe more passionately
· I love America.
· I love apple pie.
· I love you.
Same word, different meanings.

What does the word mean? That's the key. If I'm going to love Jesus, I've got to understand what this word is all about.

First let’s look at some popular misconceptions that confuse our understanding of love.

1. Love is only a feeling. I get a feeling, a quiver in my liver, an ocean of emotion, or a tingle in my toes. But love is more than a feeling. It affects my feelings powerfully, but it's more than just a feeling.

2. Love is uncontrollable. A lot of people use words like I feel giddy, my head's spinning, or I'm weak in the knees. It sounds a lot more like being sea sick than love struck, but that's the words that we use to describe love.

We've all heard people say, "I fell in love." Like you're walking down the street one day, tripped, and fell in love. When you say that what you're really saying is, “it just happened, I couldn't help it; I had no control over it.”

That's a dangerous misconception. Because if you can fall into love, then you can fall out of love.

You may not realize it, but you can control love, in fact the Bible teaches that love is controllable. It is actually up to you to determine if you fall in or out of love.

In fact Jesus actually commanded us to love one another.
John 15:12 (NIV) “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

If He commanded it, obviously it’s something we can control.
That means I have control over when I love and when I don't love. Who I love and who I don’t love.

God’s love, Agape love is a different kind of love than we’re used to. His love is powerful, complete, and unconditional. He loves us and He wants us to love Him back and to love others.

So if love is more than just a feeling and you have control over it, then what does God say about love?

1. God says, Love is a choice.
Colossians 3:14 (NIV) "And over all these virtues, put on love, which binds them all together." Circle "put on love". Love is something that I choose to do. It’s an action that I take. If it were a feeling, or just an accident, then God couldn't command it. But it’s a choice so He can command it and that leads to the second thing God says about love.

2. Love is a matter of conduct. It's how I act.
1 John 3:18 "Let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and truth." Actions -- that's what love is really all about. It's how I act towards another person. You can talk about love until you're blue in the face, but your actions will always determine what is real.

3. Love is what God has for us unconditionally.
Romans 5:8 (TEV) “God has shown us how much He loves us; It was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us.”

When you understand God’s love, it includes a forgiveness capacity that strains anyone’s imagination.

God doesn’t say, “Clean up your act first and then come to Me.” God says, “Come to Me. Receive My love and I will help you clean up your act.”

When we receive God’s unconditional love He forgives us for everything we have ever done.

Luke 24:47 (LB) “There is forgiveness of sins for all who turn to me.”

It’s like this: Imagine that God gave you the ability to remember everything wrong you’ve ever done– every bad thing, every sin, everything you’ve ever done and you had to write it down in a notebook. Some of you are thinking, “That’s a lot of notebooks!” You’re right. Now God says give Me your notebooks and He drops them into a trash can that says “FORGIVEN”. Then He walks you into a party, a celebration. There’s music going and streamers and people are hollering. And it’s a party for you.

That’s what heaven’s like. And Jesus tells us three stories to explain it. He tells us a story about…
a woman who lost a coin,
a shepherd who lost a sheep,
and father who lost a lost son.

Guess what happens when the coin, the sheep and the son are found? They celebrate! God and all the Angels in heaven party!
· He’s not rejoicing because all the problems of the world have been solved.
· He’s not rejoicing because all human pain and suffering are over.
· He’s not rejoicing because thousands have been converted and are now praising His goodness.
He rejoices because that which was lost has now been found. He rejoices because one of His creations has been found.

If you’re here today and you are just checking things out, today’s your day to be found. It’s your day to respond to God’s love and to receive it. God wants to throw a party in your name, today!

John 1:12 (NLT) “But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave them the right to become children of God.”

That’s what a Christian is - a child of God. If you’ve never received God’s love, what are you waiting for?

All you have to do is say, “God, here I am. I want to be your child. I accept your Son Jesus Christ.” That’s what being a Christian is.

So let me make it simple, here are the ABC’s of loving Jesus.

What do I have to do to love Jesus?
A - ACCEPT GOD'S LOVE FOR ME.

This is what we have been talking about. But think about it like this:
Your deepest need in life is to feel totally and unconditionally loved.
· Not for something you could be or should be,
· But loved just as you are, total acceptance.
That is your deepest inner need.

And only God can love you with as much love as you really need. God loves you every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every month of every year.

There's never been a time in your life when God didn't love you. Nobody else can do that. Only God can love you as deeply as you really need.

So if to be loved is your deepest need, and God loves you as much as you need, why people avoid God? Because they don't know what He's like. They don't know how much He loves them.

It's ironic to me that when you need God's love the most is when you tend to run the other way. Guilt causes us to run from God instead of running to God.

That started way back at the Garden of Eden. Adam, after eating the forbidden fruit says, "I was afraid and I hid myself." And people have been afraid and running from God ever since.

I used to have a big sign in my office that said, "If you feel far from God, guess who moved?" It’s not God, God hasn't moved. He's never stopped loving you. In fact He continues to pursue you.

But some of you say, "But you don't know what I've done! I've blown it too much. God can never love me." Wrong.
Romans 8:39 (NLT) "… indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."

God has never stopped loving you. That doesn't mean He approves of everything you've done, because He doesn’t, but no matter what He's never stopped loving you.

Some say, "I don't feel like I'm a bad person but I just don't think God's interested in me." You're wrong too!

Luke 12:7 (NCV) "God even knows how many hairs you have on your head. Don't be afraid, you are worth much…"

You’re worth much! In fact you ever want to know how much you're worth, just look at the cross!

What’s the starting point? Accept God's love for you.
It's one thing to know about God's love. It's another thing to accept it. You're never going to understand it until you accept it.

That means saying to God, "God I know You love me and I receive Your love. I don't want to just know about You. I want to know You."

The Bible says God created you just so He can love you. He knows everything there is to know about you. He knows everything you’ve ever done and He still loves you and wants you to know Him. He still wants to have a relationship with you.

He loves you unconditionally; don’t you think you should love Him back? That makes Him worth our acceptance of Him.

To love Jesus, first I have to accept God’s love for me, then I...
B - BELIEVE THAT JESUS DIED AND ROSE FOR ME.

Psalm 14:1 (NIV) “The fool says in his heart there is no God.”
Let me be totally candid with you here: You have to have more faith to believe that creation happened by accident than to believe there's a creator. When you have a creation there must be some creator.

It takes more faith to not believe in God than it does to believe in God. If I took a watch all apart and put all the pieces in a bag and shook it up - do you think it could come out as a working watch? No way! Somebody had to put it together. And it's an even bigger leap of faith to think the universe happened like that.

Its one thing to believe about a person but it's another thing to believe in a person.

Romans 10:9 (NIV) “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Some people say, "I believe there's a God." So what?

There’s more to loving Jesus than just head knowledge. It's not just believing about God, it's believing in God. The Bible says even the demons believe that God is real but you're not going to find them in heaven.

I believe Lenin was real but I'm not a Communist. I believe Hitler was real but I'm not a Nazi. I believe in Jesus and I'm a Christian. Why? Because I've committed myself to Him.

The Greek word for believe in means to trust in, cling to, rely on, adhere to, sell out to, commit to.

It's like the chair you're setting on. You say, "I believe this chair will hold me up." It's one thing to say you believe it. It's another to sit down on it. The moment you sit down on it, that's real belief. You relied on the chair to hold you up.

You need Jesus in your life. You need to have a relationship with God, not because you're going to die tomorrow, but because you're going to live tomorrow BUT you’re going to die someday. And only a fool goes through life unprepared for what he knows is going to happen. That's foolish. So be prepared.

So to love Jesus I need to accept His love for me. I need to believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave for me. And finally to Love Jesus I need to take that final step and…
C - COMMIT MY LIFE TO CHRIST.

Romans 10:9 (NIV) “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’… you will be saved.”

That’s what separates Christ followers from religious people. Religious people confess their religion; whatever that is… and Christ followers confess Jesus as their Lord.

You say Jesus; I commit my life to You.

You accept His love for you, you believe in your heart that Jesus died on the cross for you and rose from the grave and then you commit your whole life to Christ.

I lived in Atlanta for several years. I served as a youth pastor at a church and then I went out on my own as a youth evangelist. I began speaking at camps and youth groups and I was even booked on a Christian cruise to the Bahamas. Most of the churches who booked me were Southern Baptist churches. They network, once you do a good job for one, they tell all the other Southern Baptist churches and you’re in. Then one day someone asked me, What are you? I said a Christian. They said no I mean are you a Southern Baptist. I said, no I’m a Christian. Now you have to know that most of my ministries had been at Baptist churches and I was originally ordained at a Baptist church. But the truth is I have always disliked being put into a mold; to me a religious title was never comfortable. And I saw this strong religious attitude that said, I’m a Southern Baptist so I’m saved. But I knew a lot of people who claimed to be So Baptist that didn’t know or love Jesus, they were just religious. Shortly after that, all my speaking opportunities dried up. The word was out, he’s not a Baptist! I hate religion!

1 Peter 3:14-15 (GN) "Don't be afraid of anyone and don't worry, but have reverence for Christ in your heart and honor him as Lord."

· How many of you would say "I try to follow the Ten Commandments."
· How many of you even know all Ten Commandments?
· How many of you have seen the Ten Commandments?
· Do you know what the first commandment is?

Exodus 20:6 "You shall have no other gods before Me."
That's number one on God's big ten! The Bible calls the opposite of that idolatry.

Any time you put anything, any person, any career, any job, any decision, any religion, anything in first place in your life instead of God; that's called idolatry.

It can even be a good thing, but if it's in first place in your life where God ought to be, you've made it god.

Any time you put your house, your job, your bank account, your girlfriend, boyfriend, husband of wife - before God that's called idolatry.

1 Peter 3:14-15 (TEV) “Do not be afraid of anyone, and do not worry. But have reverence for Christ in your hearts, and honor him as Lord."

That's not a word we use a whole lot. We don't have lords and ladies and counts in America. This is a democracy. So what does it mean to honor Christ as Lord?

It means let Christ be the manager of your life. Let Him be the boss. Let Him call the shots. He doesn't want to be resident in your life, He wants to be president in your life. You say “God, You be number one." That's what it means to commit to Christ, to make Him Lord. And that’s what it means to love Jesus.

Maybe you feel like things aren't fitting together very well in your life right now. Maybe you're feeling a sense of incompleteness.

You’re wondering why am I here? What’s my purpose?
Is this all there is to life?
If you've had those feelings, congratulations!

Where do you think those feelings are coming from? God!
God is putting a hunger for Himself in your life. He's saying "I love you and I want you to love Me.

He creates a dissatisfaction in your life that says, "There's got to be more to life than this!" Because there is!

There's a God-shaped vacuum in each of us. Nothing else can fill it. If you don't fill it with God, it will fill with something else.

Nothing else can substitute for God.
· It doesn't matter how much human affirmation you get,
· it doesn't matter how many awards you put on your shelf,
· how many achievements you get,
· how many possessions you stockpile,
Because nothing can substitute for God in your life; God says, I love you and I want you to love Me back.

Maybe you made a commitment to Christ a while back, but you got stuck in religion. It’s time to repent. Know what that means? It means to turn around and go the other way.
In other words, turn from religion and turn to Christ.
Stop being religious and start loving Jesus.

That’s why this is a key value and the second part of the Mission of The River, is to Love Jesus. We want you to fall in love with Jesus. He is the answer to all of life’s problems.

At the River we have discovered the keys to living life to the absolute fullest and it is found in a relationship with God who loves you so much he sent His Son to die on the cross for you.

That’s the foundation of our faith. It’s the foundation for life.