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Performance: Spirit Filled Living

Sunday, May 28th, 2006

This entry is part 6 of 7 in the series The Coach in Your Corner

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Over the past few weeks we have looked at various aspects of the work in our lives of the Holy Spirit, our personal coach. First we considered “recruitment”- how the Holy Spirit chooses us to be on his team. Then we looked at “gifting” and how we can reach our full potential with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Thirdly we thought about how the Holy Spirit calls each one of us, and the following week we considered how he guides us and we need to listen to his signals. Last Sunday we contemplated the Baptism of the Holy Spirit – what it means to be baptized by him and what difference the baptism makes, or should make in our lives.

Today we are going to take some time and think for a while about “Performance: Spirit-Filled Living”. We?ve been recruited, given spiritual gifts, baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Now, what does this really mean to us? Does it make a difference in us? Should it make a difference? If your answer is “yes” to these questions, then the next question I want to ask you is, OK – so how will this happen? How will this difference come about?

When we read passages such as the ones from Ephesians and Colossians which we have already looked at this morning we can clearly see that consistent, Christ-like performance is the goal of the Christian life.

Paul is very dogmatic in his stance concerning this – “I insist” he says, that you don?t continue living the way you did before you met Christ. In Romans 6:1 Paul asks the question, “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” Then he answers quickly by saying, “By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”

Over and over again throughout Paul?s epistles we see the admonishment to be like Christ repeated. In Romans 6:11 we read – “Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Romans 8:29 tells us – “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

In Galatians 4:19 Paul says, “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.” Paul wants so badly to see these new Christians becoming more like Christ that he likens his longing to the pains of childbirth – that?s how important it is to him.

This is the main point in the epistles. Paul taught believers how to become “conformed to the likeness of Christ.”

We know that we were created in the image of God, however, since the Fall of Man, we no longer possess that likeness to Him in our everyday lives, that image has been distorted by sin. So in order for us to be conformed to the image of Christ, something obviously has to change.

Now change is hard isn?t it? We don?t usually like change, nor do we usually change easily or very quickly. Change takes effort – sometimes it?s just plain hard work!

Paul describes how this change has to take shape in Ephesians 4:22-24. “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Do you remember the story I told you a few weeks ago about the little girl saying to her mummy, the pastor says that God is bigger than us, and that God is in us. If that?s true, wouldn?t he show through?

Well, it is true! People ought to be able to see Jesus in us, showing through. Our behaviour, the way we live our lives should show something refreshingly different to a lost world.

The way we live our lives is an ever present opportunity to give glory to Jesus, knowing that what people see in us is a result of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives.

During the days of the fledgling church the people outside of the faith noticed a difference in the believers, so much so that they gave them a nickname and it wasn?t supposed to be a very complimentary one – they sneered at them and called them “Little Christs”.

Antioch was where they first called the people of the Way “Christians”. Now the word Christian comes from the Greek word christianos, meaning “belonging to Christ” (like a slave), or “of Christ?s family” (like a sibling), or “little Christ?s”, as though believers were mimics trying to outdo themselves in their imitation of Christ.

According to Rev. David Courey who developed this series of messages called “The Coach In Your Corner”, when we place these separate meanings in this particular order, there appears to be a progression in our relationship to Christ – slave, sibling, mimic.

He suggests that the progression starts with a legal relationship between slave and master whereby we have a responsibility to be alert to our Master?s wishes. Next we progress from slave to sibling, implying a family relationship and then from sibling to Little Christs, people who mimic Jesus.

Whether there is a progression here or not is relatively unimportant. The fact is that we became slaves to Christ and family members when we accepted him as Lord of our lives, and I hope we became mimics of our Saviour too.

Certainly the people of the day were familiar with slavery. Occasionally where there was not an heir to the family estates a slave who was totally trusted and loved by the family he served would be legally adopted and become a member of that family. Some slaves were so trusted that they were empowered to act legally in business in the name of their masters.

We can draw a parallel to the Christian prayer life in this. We as believers are empowered to act legally in the name of our master, the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 16:23b & 24 we read these words of Jesus, “I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”

We were together with some of our son?s family the other day and we got talking about family resemblances. My son?s oldest girl, Jessica was telling us that at the high school nobody realized that she and Brenda were sisters because they don?t look at all alike. Jessica thought maybe that was just alright! A typical teenage sister?s reaction!

Often the opposite is true though isn?t it. Often we resemble closely other members of our family. Usually to be a member of a family means that we carry certain family traits and people will recognize us as belonging to that certain family because of this.

Sometimes it can be a good thing to be recognized in this way, sometimes maybe not so good. But, as members of God?s family, as siblings of our Lord Jesus, wouldn?t it be just great if people could see a family resemblance in us?

David Courey suggests that maybe the most profound meaning of the word “Christian” is “being an imitator of Christ.” Originally “little Christs” was a term of mockery. The people taunted the believers with the name. They were objects of ridicule.

Eventually though the Christians adopted the name themselves as a title of honour rather than shame and derision. They realized that “Little Christs” was exactly what they wanted to be. They wanted to copy Jesus and become more like him.

Tertullian, one of the early church fathers who wrote in the late second and early third centuries quoted an unbeliever who exclaimed, “Behold how these Christians love one another!” Another unbeliever noted, “They seem to love one another before they even know each other!”

As these early Christians practiced becoming “Little Christs” and actively living out the love of Christ, they were beginning to look more and more like Jesus to the unsaved.

These early believers were even willing to risk their lives for the sake of the cause of the gospel. Paul praises Epaphroditus in his letter to the Philippians. He says that in bringing much needed help to the Philippian church Epaphroditus “Almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me.”

This man was willing to travel a long distance to be with Paul in a time when travel was a very risky business. He was willing to risk encountering exposure to communicable diseases by visiting Paul in the prison. Prisons in those days weren?t quite what they are nowadays! They were dank, filthy, disease ridden, rat-infested holes. This man risked a lot to help Paul.

The Greek word for “risk” is paraboleusthai. It is a gambler?s term that meant to stake everything on the throw of the dice.

People who want to be like Jesus are willing to take risks for him. In the days of the early church there was a group called “the parabolani”. This was a group of Christian people who took risks by visiting prisoners and the sick and looking after them when nobody else would.

During the plague in Carthage in 252AD, the towns people fled in terror, leaving the sick and dying to perish.

Cyprian, a Christian leader and pastor in the area gathered the congregations together to bury the dead and nurse the sick back to health. By this courageous act of mercy – because these people were willing to take a risk – many lives were saved.

We need risk-takers in the church today. I wonder however how many there are who would risk anything, everything for the cause of Christ as those early Christians did?

Throughout the history of the church there have been those who would do just that. People like the British politician William Wilberforce, America?s revivalist Charles G. Finney, and abolitionists like Theodore Weld and Harriet Beecher Stowe each one of whom risked their reputations to oppose slavery.

We can?t all emulate such people as these, however we can all become more like Jesus. What would it take for ordinary people like you and I to become more like Jesus. What would it take?

It takes the Holy Spirit at work in us to change us from ordinary to extraordinary and this happens only when we allow him freedom to have his will and his way in us. As we allow this to take place we will become more and more like Jesus and our lives will become fruitful for him.

In John 15:8 we read these words of Jesus, “This is to my Father?s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

It is our Lord?s desire that we bear fruit to bring glory to the Father and because this is what he desires of us, he tells us how this can happen – by remaining closely attached to him.

Paul says in Romans 7:4, “So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.”

In Galatians 5:22-26 Paul describes this fruit, calling it the fruit of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law”.

Then he goes on to explain just how we can develop this kind of fruit in our lives. He says, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”

When we look at the fruit of the Spirit, can you think of anything which summarizes the qualities of Christ more than this? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. This is what we need to be developing in our lives in order that we might become more like Jesus.

I love what D. L. Moody said about the fruit of the Spirit – “Love is the first thing – the first in that precious cluster of fruit…Joy is love exulting; peace is love in repose; long suffering is love on trial; gentleness is love in society; goodness is love in action; faith is love on the battlefield; meekness is love at school; and temperance is love in training.”

How then can we assimilate these characteristics into our own lives? How do we assimilate the nature and personality of Jesus, the love of Jesus, so that His character is formed in us?

David Courey suggests that it is a natural process of the Spirit – that Christianity isn?t a philosophy of life to work out, a methodology to be followed, or a technique to be perfected. It?s organic, it?s natural, it?s God at work in us and it?s an ongoing process.

We call it sanctification – the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit working in us, perfecting us, molding and making us through the ups and downs of life, to be more like Christ.

As I was preparing this message and really thinking about what this means something showed through very clearly to me. Now, you may not consider this to be a very profound statement, but it really impacted me.

Our desire should be to become more like Jesus, and so very often we think that we have to work at making this happen in our lives- however, as hard as we try, we find we can?t do it.

The only way this will happen is when we stand back and allow the Holy Spirit to do that work in us. Jesus said that he is the Vine and the only way we can bear fruit is if we stay attached to the Vine – drawing upon his strength rather than our own.

You see, we become nothing but dead branches unless we stay connected to the taproot of His life-giving Spirit. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. Our lives will be fruitless.

It will cost us something though. The process will be fatal to our old lives. Jesus said that the dead branches have to be pruned away. In the same way the dead things of our former lives have to be pruned away also.

Paul said to the Galatians, “those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.” It?s not a totally effortless process on our part to become more like Jesus, we have to take a part in the process too.

Our sinful natures with which we were born are strong and want to maintain the upper hand. It is so strong that Paul says we have to execute it, crucify it.

In the passage in Ephesians which we read Paul says we are to put off our old self, be made new, put on our new self.

Runners sap the strength out of the vine and have to be pruned out. Anyone who has grown tomatoes knows that you have to pinch out the “suckers” as they develop because these suckers take all the plant?s energy for themselves, leaving less energy for the production of fruit.

In the same way, the selfish, sinful nature, if allowed to grow and flourish as it pleases will take away from the growth of fruit in our lives. It must be pruned away.

Michelangelo was commissioned to create 40 sculptures for the tomb of Pope Julius II. In 1508 the pope cancelled his commission, and Michelangelo left several pieces for the tomb unfinished, including four famous figures called The Prisoners.

The works capture their title as human forms struggling to be freed from their stone prison.

Michelangelo could see the potential in each block of marble before he even began working on it. He could already see what it would become under his carving and shaping.

Similarly, the Holy Spirit is a sculptor. Just as each piece of marble was unique for Michelangelo, so also each one of us is unique. The Holy Spirit chips away over the span of our lives at the rough edges, gradually uncovering what He could always see lying beneath the surface.

Just like pruning, sculpting can be a painful process. Only as we go through this process can God?s masterpiece be revealed. That?s why the process of assimilating Christ?s character, or becoming more like Jesus, is a continuous process.

Becoming more like Jesus, living a Spirit-filled life can be seen then as a natural process, one that is fatal to our old lives and a continuous process.

In order to become more like Jesus we have to learn to live by the Spirit. Paul says in Galatians 5:25, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

Now that?s easy to say, but just how do we do this? We do it by putting to death the old life, crucifying it. We no longer live by rules and regulations, rather our lives are ruled by a relationship with the Holy Spirit!

If we try to live by rules and regulations we will fail. We will break those rules, just as God?s Chosen People did when they tried to live under the law.

However, if we live by the Spirit we will produce fruit. In other words, the presence of the Holy Spirit will be seen in our actions. God, who is bigger than us and who lives in us, will show through!

In order to keep in step with something we have to be moving. In order to keep in step with the Spirit, we have to be moving. Keeping in step implies walking – we are moving ahead, going somewhere. To walk we have to depend on our legs to take us where we want to go. To keep in step with the Spirit we have to depend on Him to take us where He wants us to go.

The Spirit-filled life is a life which is totally dependent on the Holy Spirit to move us along. We keep in step with him through reading and studying the Bible, through spending time talking to God in prayer and through obeying Him by acting upon what we are learning as we live in this way.

I?m sure most of you are familiar with the extreme make-over shows which have become so popular on the television in recent months. There is one I believe where they do extreme make-overs on people?s homes, and even more mind-boggling, one where they actually do extreme make-overs on people?s bodies.

These people submit to weight loss and exercise regimes. They have their hair styles changed, their clothing styles and even sometimes undergo plastic surgery all in an effort to look better. Professionals come in and help them make the changes which they perceive to be necessary to be the person they want to be.

If we are to live a Spirit-filled life we too must undergo a radical make-over. You see, we can change our ways to do what we?re supposed to do – and that would be good, OR we can change our lives to be what we?re supposed to be.

Do you see the difference? It?s not just a face lift, it?s a radical make-over! You see, God?s word tells us that he doesn?t look on the outside, he looks at the heart! It?s who we are that counts, especially when we think nobody?s looking, not how we look or what we can do.

We can get all dressed up in our best clothes and come to church Sunday by Sunday and carry a big Bible, we can do all these things but if we?re not being all God wants us to be, we?re just going through the motions and not being changed at all – not allowing the Holy Spirit to conform us to be like Jesus.

OR, we can walk in step with the Spirit, allow him to change our lives and truly become all that God wants us to be.

A few weeks ago in one of his messages Pastor Darren said that we cannot separate the secular and the Holy in our lives because God is always with us.

We know that we have the Holy Spirit within us but I think that sometimes we tend to forget. Living the Spirit-filled life is walking in step with the Spirit.

Think about it! Every moment of every day – the Holy Spirit is walking step by step with us and we are walking with him. We can?t see Him but we know he?s there.

Now, picture this for a moment. What if you could see him? Imagine that you can. As you go out of this place today he?s there, right beside you.

As you go to work tomorrow, he?s right there beside you. As you deal with difficult children, or get angry with your spouse – guess what? He?s right there beside you.

Do you think that if you could actually see the Holy Spirit right there beside you, that you would live differently? Do you think you might be more careful about your thoughts, your words, your actions?

It?s our choice. It?s up to us. We can change or we can carry on the way we always have done. But we need to remember, the Holy Spirit is there with us, every step of the way. And we need to remember that God?s Word tells us that we are not to grieve the Holy Spirit, or quench the Holy Spirit.

Those people who undergo the radical makeovers have professionals who advise them, guide them and help them every step of the way. We too have a professional who will do the same, and even better for us.

The Holy Spirit is our professional who will advise and guide and help us every step of

the way. When we allow Him to, He will come and make the changes that need to be made in our lives to make us more like Jesus.

He is our scout and our guide who calls us and empowers us and gives us gifts to help us in our walk with him and he is the one who points us to Jesus.

Tony Campolo loves to tell the story about a derelict named Joe. Joe was miraculously converted in a downtown mission. Before his conversion Joe was known as a hopeless, dirty, drunken man with a reputation for being nasty. When he came to Christ, everything changed for Joe.

He became the most caring person at the mission. Whatever was needed, however disgusting the job, Joe was there to help. He had the compassion for taking care of guys who were too ?out of it? to take care of themselves. He knew how to love broken people, and give them some dignity.

One night the mission held a meeting where the gospel was shared. When the invitation was given for unbelievers to come to Christ, one guy among the drooped heads of the ragtag congregation came forward. He dropped to his knees and began calling out to the Lord, ?Oh God, make me like Joe. Make me like Joe!?

The preacher leaned over and asked him, ?Wouldn?t it be better if you prayed, “God, make me like Jesus??” After thinking about it for a moment, the guy looked up with a curious expression on his face and said, “Is he like Joe?”

As we live out the Spirit-filled life at home, at work, at school, in our neighbourhoods – our lives will become a living testimony to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and people who aren?t even sure who Jesus is will see something of Him in us.

As you leave here this morning, I challenge you to live each moment as though you can see the Holy Spirit walking side by side with you – and live accordingly. You see, it?s not enough just to put off the bad, we have to put on the good.

It?s a deliberate choice. It?s your choice! You can choose to walk in step with the Holy Spirit or not. You decide!

Tags: Acts, attitude, fruit, gifts, potential, produce, shape, spiritual, spirit_filled, The Coach in Your Corner
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Empowerment: Is it In You?

Sunday, May 21st, 2006

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This entry is part 5 of 7 in the series The Coach in Your Corner

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Read at beginning of message:

(Acts 2:1-12)

INTRODUCTION

In sports a lot is made of the mental attitude of the athlete. Teams psych themselves up. Coaches give stirring half-time soliloquies, but power is never simply a matter of talk or hype. Power is proven in the game.

Back in 1965 the University of Florida Gators were talking a good game, but they lacked the stamina to prove it on the field. By half-time their football team was usually depleted. They sat in the locker room exhausted and went out for the second half listless. Researchers at the University of Florida began to study the problem and discovered that the Gators? devastating defeats were due to ongoing dehydration in the Florida humidity. Dr. Robert Cade and Dr. Dana Shires came up with a specially prepared beverage that ensured the team retained a proper balance of electrolytes and water while they played. They gave their elixir the catchy name of Gatorade.

Thanks to Gatorade, the Gators went 7-4 that year and 9-2 the next, winning the Orange Bowl in 1967. They did it by outplaying and outlasting their opponents late in the game, because they had staying power when others didn?t.

It?s that kind of staying power Christians need to win in life, too. Oh, we can talk a good game, and we?re pretty long on hype sometimes. Power isn?t, however, a matter of words but demonstrated effectiveness. As the folks at Gatorade love to ask, “Is it in you?”

Pentecostals have existed for the last 100 years because they rediscovered the source of effective staying power for Christian service. Jesus called it the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The key to confidence for early Pentecostals was that they knew and experienced firsthand the infilling power of the Holy Spirit. Is it in you?

You can know you?ve got the power: it IS in you.

How can we know? How can we be confident that the power of the Holy Spirit is with us? The early Pentecostals knew they discovered an essential truth when they saw a curious pattern outlined in the Bible. The book of Acts describes what happened when believers were baptized in the Holy Spirit. It tells us something fascinating: They spontaneously spoke out in languages they had never learned. Let?s look at the first time it happened in Acts 2.

Acts 2:4 (NIV)

4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

This miraculous gift gave the 120 believers who were gathered in the upper room a dynamic prayer language that provided evidence (and confidence) that they had indeed received the fullness of the Holy Spirit. They knew, however, something that we often forget today. The real proof of power is in the game. The expression of power is what happens on the field. This raises the proverbial question at a deeper level. Is it really in you? Sometimes we believe our own hype. We need to avoid the appearance of power in favour of the demonstration of power instead.

Is it in you? Avoiding the APPEARANCE of power

In our media-saturated world, it?s easy to get a “made-for-TV” image of what life ought to be like.

Hollywood has a way of creating perceptions of how things ought to be. If we determine reality according to the way Hollywood defines it, we could end up very confused. Have you ever noticed how in the movies??

? It?s always possible to park directly outside the building you?re visiting.

? Cars that crash will almost always burst into flames. ? Imagine rear-ending someone in bumper-to-bumper traffic, and then running out of the car screaming and looking for cover. It?s absurd, isn?t it?

? It doesn?t matter if you?re heavily outnumbered in a fight involving martial arts; your enemies will patiently wait to attack you one by one by dancing around in a threatening manner until you?ve knocked out their predecessors.

It?s kind of funny when we think about it. Life isn?t like Hollywood portrays it, but too often we?re content to accept caricatures for reality. Sometimes we let caricatures define our expectations of what reality should be, and then we get frustrated when life doesn?t tally up.

This is true in church life, too. Made-for-TV-church images abound about what the Kingdom ought to be like, how church ought to be and how the miracle-working power of God ought to operate. Sometimes these ideas may create anticipations and expectations that our day-to-day faith life simply doesn?t measure up to, and we?re tempted to throw in the towel.

Pentecostals tend to romanticize the following verses until real life let-downs cause us to give up.

Acts 1:5-8 (NIV)

5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” ? 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

This is a classic Pentecostal passage. Jesus predicts, 50 days after His resurrection, that there?s a day coming when power will be outpoured; a day when the church will be born with power? power available to every believer so that the entire earth will be filled with the knowledge of God. The promise of Pentecost is something that happened to the church on a given day. It?s a promise God makes to the church across space and time, a promise He makes to you and me.

Acts 2:39 (NIV)

39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off–for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

The danger is that we can get an unrealistic image in our minds about what the promise of Pentecost should look like. Everybody will agree, however, that no matter what kind of Pentecost we imagine, it?s the Pentecost experience in the book of Acts that we need. Pentecost means power if nothing else!

Pentecost means POWER!

Pentecost means power, but just what kind of power? We may each have our own idea of what power looks like. There?s a distinction between two types of spiritual power (or two paradigms of Pentecost) ? peak-moment empowerment and every-moment empowerment. It?s the difference between power in the exceptional moment and the staying power that Christianity requires.

PEAK-moment empowerment vs. EVERY-moment empowerment

Our spirituality sometimes is built on the peak-moment empowerment rather than the every-moment empowerment that Scripture teaches. When we think of power and Pentecost, we tend to think of it in terms of three facets of spiritual power?witness, service and miracles. These are peak-moment experiences.

For instance, when we think of Pentecostal, Holy Ghost-filled evangelism, we often have images of the sweaty, shouting evangelist, flailing his Bible around. He has lightening in his eyes, and thunderbolts in his pointed finger. We tend to think of it as the power to proclaim, rather than the power to attract.

i. Witness: power to PROCLAIM vs. power to ATTRACT.

There were plenty of mountain peak moments of proclamation in the book of Acts. Consider Peter who proclaimed the gospel on the Day of Pentecost itself, and saw 3,000 people added to the church in just one day. In order to be successful Christians, we need more than peak-moment empowerment (such as was demonstrated on the Day of Pentecost). We need to remember that it?s the every-moment empowerment that made the early church an incredibly attractive force.

The church in the book of Acts was highly attractive, and as a result thousands of people in Jerusalem alone were daily added to the church. Luke summarized this attractive force (every-moment empowerment) like this:

Acts 5:13 (NIV)

? they were highly regarded by the people.

There are churches of varying sizes in our community. Some are large churches, some are smaller. Sometimes we can feel good about filling our buildings on a Sunday morning. Yet if we think about the early church, we realize how they outstripped all our efforts with their incredible power to attract. In spite of oppression, persecution, and even martyrdom, the early church was held in high regard by the masses, attracting more than 10,000 converts (out of an estimated 100,000 living in Jerusalem at that time).

If we listen to the world around us, it?s not hard to pick up its undercurrent when it comes to the gospel. It goes like this: Jesus ?yes,? church ?no.? When Gandhi was a young man practicing law in South Africa, he became interested in Christianity. Deciding to attend a church there, Gandhi was put out at the door by a white elder and told that his kind was not welcome. Later he said, “I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.”

It was the early church?s power of attraction to people of all kinds, and their ability to be like the Christ they worshipped that caused them to grow. So the question persists?is it in you? Does that kind of power translate through our church?

There?s another facet to the promise of power. Some of the best devotional writers of the 19th century, people like F.B. Meyer, Andrew Murray or R.A. Torrey, always spoke of Pentecost as power for service. We often see Pentecost power as a power to persevere rather than a power to care.

ii. Service: power to PERSEVERE vs. power to CARE.

Again we tend to romanticize the power to serve. We think of that unique, long-suffering saint who hangs ?tough,? and stays ?true? against huge obstacles, great oppression, rebellion and persecution. We think about biblical heroes like Stephen who stood preaching to the Sanhedrin while they lifted their hands to kill him. Or what about those recognized Christians who made big sacrifices such as Mark Buntain and Mother Theresa? It?s easy to excuse ourselves from real discipleship by saying, “I couldn?t do that so I guess there?s no Pentecostal power for me.”

Of course, there are moments of extraordinary perseverance, but they happen as an expression of believers who experience the every-moment power, the kind of power that helps us cultivate ongoing, caring relationships with one another.

The members of the early church were people motivated and moved with compassion. Look at Acts 4:34-35.

Acts 4:34-35 (NIV)

34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.

It?s hard to know whether they cared for the people because they experienced such deep community, or they experienced community because there was such significant care. Whichever way it works, the two go together. There?s no meaningful care without community, and no real community without care. That?s why Pentecost is often called the birthday of the church. It was the catalyst of a new kind of society that was transformational.

Greg Paul is the founder of Sanctuary, a ministry in Toronto for street people. He?s written a book called God in the Alley that chronicles some of the lives he?s encountered that have reintroduced him to a Jesus he?d never known before. Sanctuary has truly created a transformational community that honours people where they?re at, and gives them dignity in Christ. It?s not perfect, but it works on a day-to-day, every-moment basis. Sanctuary is about broken people meeting broken people incarnationally, and introducing them to Jesus.

Is it in you? Do you have the courage to incarnate God?s world in your world?credibly, honestly, and with real care?

iii. Miracles: power to PERFORM vs. power to EXPERIENCE.

The other common facet we automatically think of is power for miracles. Often we see it as a power to perform rather than a power to experience the supernatural.

The Bible talks about how the apostles performed miracles, but if we look a little closer, we may notice the emphasis isn?t necessarily on the apostles as individuals, or on their unilateral ability to heal, their power to perform. Instead the scriptural testimony points to the power of the community to experience the miraculous. For instance, there?s an interesting, literal translation found in Acts 5:12 NASB: “At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people.”

Notice the passive verb. Nobody was making these things happen; God was at work! Miracles were taking place. Circle the words ?the people.? That?s where the miracles were happening. What the early church had is a sense of the miraculous in their midst ? every-moment power rather than peak-moment power.

There?s a distinction between the New Testament model for spiritual power and an idea that?s all too common among us today. It?s the “man of God” model which suggests that spiritual power is available to one person in the crowd?the one with the most charisma, the biggest voice, and possibly the biggest ego?while the rest of us stand back and go ?ooooh?aaaah.?

The New Testament model is that every believer is a candidate for spiritual power. God can use anyone of us anytime He wants. This is the anointing power of Pentecost that took a once exclusive power from priests, prophets and kings and turned us all into a kingdom and priests to our God and made us all prophets of the Most High! At Pentecost we all become recipients of a moment-by-moment, existential empowering that makes the church a vital, exciting place.

Acts 2:43 (NIV)

43 Everyone was filled with awe?

What ?filled them with awe?? Our knee-jerk response is miracles, what else? Wouldn?t we be ?in awe? in a world filled with signs and wonders? Take a closer look at the verse. It doesn?t say that ?many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles, and then they were filled with awe.?

Acts 2:43 (NIV)

..and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.

Instead the priority is on the sense of wonder, mystery and awe. It wasn?t the miracles that made the church thrilling, it was the presence of God. In that atmosphere of awe, God deigned to perform signs and wonders.

C.S. Lewis, in his classic Miracles, expresses well the tremor that passes down the human spine at the suspicion that perhaps God might be real, that He might be more than mere projection.

“There comes a moment when the children who have been playing at burglars hush suddenly: was that a real footstep in the hall? There comes a moment when people who have been dabbling in religion (man?s search for God) suddenly draw back. ?Suppose we really found Him? We never meant it to come to that!?” [Lewis, C.S. Miracles. (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 2001) p. 150]

We might come to church on Sundays, thinking, “Ho-hum, here we are. Razzle me, dazzle me, do something to entertain me.” We?re never anticipating that anything will actually happen. Is it possible that we would be ?in awe? if it did?

Pentecost is the true basis for Christian spirituality, the intimate presence of the Holy Spirit, who along with the Father and the Son makes up the Trinity. The Christian response to popular spirituality (with a small s) is Spirituality (with a capital S) ? life charged up with the personal Spirit of God and lived out in the world.

Annie Dillard is a provocative writer. She always pushes the envelope, sometimes too far, but listen to what she says about the attitudes of people in the church.

“Why do people in churches seem like cheerful, brainless tourists on a packaged tour of the Absolute?…Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up batches of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping God may wake some day and take offense, or the waking God may draw us out to where we can never return.”

This is the God who calls us out into His presence. Do we realize that when we come to celebrate God together we?re entering a danger zone? How do we find such awe (or a proper fear of God)? How do we experience such a God? What does it take to move into this dimension of spirituality? Is it in you? Is that sense of the mystery of the divine among us in such abundance that it?s our worship of the Lamb that?s filled with ” ?wows? and ?awesomes??” Or have we lost the wonder of worship?

It?s all about being filled with the Spirit.

“For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit? But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you” (Acts 1:5, 8).

How can we be baptized in the Spirit? How do we experience His fullness so that we walk in wonder and awe? How can we be filled with the power to attract, care and experience God? It can happen for you just like the believers in the book of Acts.

Is it in you? How to be baptized in the Spirit?

i. Ya gotta SEEK it!

Acts 1:14 (NIV)

14 They all joined together constantly in prayer?

They had been told as Jesus ascended into heaven that the Holy Spirit would come. So they set themselves to seeking that encounter with God. Seeking is a matter of prayer. In Acts 1, it meant corporate prayer, gathering as a group and seeking the Lord together. In the Psalms, it often means personal prayer. Whether we?re alone or with others, the truth is that we have to seek the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

ii. Ya gotta WANT it!

Acts 2:1 (NIV)

1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

These believers were serious contenders. The Day of Pentecost was 10 days after the ascension of Christ. Pentecost (or the Holy Spirit) didn?t come immediately. The early believers waited together (praying and worshiping) for 10 days before they received the inundation of spiritual power. That?s not so easy for us microwave-nanosecond-high-speed-hook-up post moderns. These people were intent on meeting with God.

iii. Ya gotta be OPEN to it!

Acts 2:4 (NIV)

4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

When they finally were baptized in the Holy Spirit, the Bible says they “were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues.” The Spirit did the enabling, but they did the speaking. If the Spirit prompts you today, will you be willing to come forward to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of tongues?

If you?re open to it, He?ll do it. And if He does it today, if He fills us everyday, we?ll become the kind of ?powerful? church we read about in the book of Acts. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the doorway to another dimension in your walk with God. It will give you a new boldness in Christ (endue you with power). It allows the Holy Spirit to function even more in your life, to give even more than is needed to walk with God.

Is it in you? Once you receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of tongues, and the proof of everyday, anointing power in your life, people won?t have to ask. They?ll see the working of the Holy Spirit in your life, and they?ll simply know.

Coming next week: Performance ? Spirit-filled living ? the power to overcome obstacles and develop the character of Christ.

Tags: abiding, Acts, catalysts, gifts, God, Pentecost, spiritual, spirit_filled, The Coach in Your Corner
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Guidance: Reading the Signals

Sunday, May 14th, 2006

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This entry is part 4 of 7 in the series The Coach in Your Corner

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Read at beginning of service:

Proverbs 3:1-12 (NIV)

1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, 2 for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. 3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. 8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. 9 Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. 11 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, 12 because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.

INTRODUCTION

Recap messages so far:

Recruitment

The heavenly “coach” (Holy Spirit) has been watching, drafting, and training us

Gifting

There are unique gifts that are deposited into our lives by God that create a great potential for actions that make a difference for eternity in our lives. Your potential is activated by the Holy Spirit. Gifts are demonstrated by stepping up to the plate. Power is liberated by taking a swing.

Calling

The Coach has a position for you in God?s great plan! It?s important that we show up for the game ? develop His gifts, and play where the Coach places us, know your limitations (we need others), and give your best on screen and off!

Once and a while when you watch a team sports game on TV the camera will focus on a coach or players and they?ll appear to be doing some weird gestures, movements, or seem to be fidgeting. I don?t? know if you ever notice it but sometimes what interests me is not necessarily what?s going on in the game but what?s going on behind the scenes to influence what happens in the game. On TV you only catch glimpses but live you can see more of it. Take baseball for example ? there?s poking at various body parts, sometimes tugging earlobes ? or tapping nostrils, adjusting belt buckles and caps and generally scratching themselves in places you would have though their mothers had taught them not to.

If you?re like me, your natural sense of curiosity is aroused until you discover that this fidgeting is actually an elaborate means of signaling players strategic information for the game. This is how coaches communicate their plans during play.

In the “game of life” a lot of what happens in the game is influenced by what happens in the benches. The difference between the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat is summed up in this: As the play develops, are we able to respond not only to what we see, but also to what the Coach sees as He surveys the whole field? Sometimes our narrow understanding of game strategy and our restricted vantage point limits our ability to make the right calls. That?s why we need a Coach. If we?re going to fulfill the key role that God has called us to in life?s game, we?ll need to be able to read the signals as they come from the Holy Spirit.

The Bible instructs us,

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Guidance from God is essential to making an eternal difference in the day-to-day challenges of life. It?s easy to forget in the chaos of our work-a-day world that we?re not simply here to do a job. You?re not just a mother, student, carpenter, plumber or teacher; you?re a disciple of Jesus Christ. We?re people on a mission. We have divine assignments to fulfill.

Mission means MOTION: Paul, a case study

The world is a busy place, and sometimes it feels like life has accelerated so much it?s hard to get a handle on what our role is and how to carry it out. It?s nice to know right from wrong, and to be4 able to quote Bible verses, but in the midst of the chaos we need God?s guidance on the run.

When the quarterback comes out of the huddle in football, he may size up the opposition and decide to change the play by calling out a series of colours and numbers before the ball is snapped. These are called audibles. Everybody hears them, but only the offense knows what they mean. Responding to the Holy Spirit?s guidance is similar. Have we developed the ability to decipher the Holy Spirit?s ?audibles? in the middle of the game? Are we sensitive to His mid-course corrections?

Our case study today is the life and ministry of the apostle Paul. He was a man in motion, crisscrossing the Greek world to communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul was a man on a mission. He lived in a precarious world where one wrong move might earn him a beating, land him in prison, or end his life. In the midst of Paul?s turbulent world, getting guidance from God was crucial.

Romans 8:14 (NIV)

? those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

The mark of our adoption as children of God, Paul says, is that we receive guidance from His Spirit. His argument is simple. Every child God adopts into His family receives the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit speaks to us only what the Father is speaking. If we?re children of God, then we?re led by God.

We may be asking the following questions: How do we experience the leading of the Holy Spirit? How do we read His signals? How do we understand His audibles? There are two kinds of guidance we need in life ? direction on the big picture (e.g., What does God want us to do with our lives anyway?) and direction on specifics (e.g., What should we do about this?).

Big picture guidance: the DIRECTION of my life

We?ve read about how Paul and Barnabas were spending time with leaders of the church in Antioch, fasting and praying. As they were worshiping God, the Spirit called Paul and Barnabas to preach the gospel where it hadn?t been preached before.

Acts 13:4 (NIV)

4 The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.

How did Paul and Barnabas know where to go? How were they ?sent on their way by the Holy Spirit?? It?s interesting to note that earlier the Spirit simply said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (v.2). They were sent by the Holy Spirit, but without clear direction and specific instructions about what to do or where to go.

We can have general ideas about what God wants us to do. We know we?re to “do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (Galatians 6:10). We also know we?re supposed to “bless those who curse [us], pray for those who mistreat [us]“ (Luke 6:28). We might have a general idea, but how do we know what God actually wants us to do from day to day? How do we know the specifics about what, where, when and how?

There are some clues to discerning God?s direction in this story about the apostle Paul that will help us read the signals. The first one is simple; we need to discern God?s will in communion (or relationship with Him).

? Discern God?s will in COMMUNION (Acts 13:2-3, 9:11)

Spirituality 101: God wants a relationship with us. Is that a news flash? God wants to live in intimacy with us so that we can know His heart and mind. He wants to direct our paths and guide us where He wants us to go. Intimacy and guidance are a life project. The Bible says that long before Paul ever met Barnabas, or thought about Antioch, God was already giving him a sense of direction.

After Paul was converted on the road to Damascus, “he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank” (Acts 9:9). Paul was fasting and during that time, God sent Ananias to help him. A similar thing happens in Antioch. While the church leaders were praying and fasting, help came from the Holy Spirit. It was a result of their intimate communion with God.

When we get to know somebody well, we know what he/she likes and dislikes. It?s the same way in marriage. We come to know our spouses intimately. We know what he/she is thinking, and what pleases him/her. As we get close to God, we get to know what He wants, too. It?s an inescapable result of intimacy. As we learn to decipher the audibles in communion, it?s also important to learn to determine God?s will in community.

? Determine God?s will in COMMUNITY (Acts 13:1)

Often people think they?ve discerned what God wants, but it?s amazing how easily we can be deceived. Left alone, we can make mistakes.

“Can’t act. Can’t sing. Slightly bald. Can dance a little.”

That was one producer?s comments on a screen test by Fred Astaire.

“Forget it. No civil war picture ever made a nickel.”

That?s what Irving Thalberg told Louis B. Mayer about Margaret Mitchell?s Gone with the Wind.

“Guitar groups are on their way out.”

This is what Decca Records A&R chief Dick Rowe told a group of young fellows known as The Beatles.

If we can make mistakes about temporal things, how much more potential is there to make mistakes about spiritual matters? We need to learn to respect the Christian community where God has placed us, and to believe that guidance isn?t just a personal matter.

Acts 13:1-2 (NIV)

1 In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers? While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said?

Acts 13 tells us that all the leaders were praying together. They were seeking God as a corporate body, and then received the will of God through the Holy Spirit. They did it in community.

Learn to be thankful for the community that surrounds you. We?re all different. In leadership, we need visionary people, people with ideas. However, it?s imperative to also have partners in ministry who ask the right questions, discern which ideas (or visions) are from God, and then formulate and implement a plan to fulfill the God-given vision. We determine God?s will best in community. Reading the signals doesn?t happen in isolation. Since guidance is a life process, we also need to discover the will of God for our lives in continuity.

? Discover the will of God in CONTINUITY (Acts 9:6, 15-16)

Paul didn?t become a teacher, missionary or apostle ?out of the clear blue.? From his very first encounter with the risen Jesus, He was working out the details of Paul?s life, and giving him signals about the eventual goal of his calling. When Jesus met Paul on the road to Damascus, He said,

Acts 9:6 (NIV)

6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

The Lord then sent Ananias to Paul, saying,

Acts 9:15-16 (NIV)

15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

More than 12 years later, the church leaders in Antioch were praying, and it?s here that Paul may have begun to piece together everything God had been saying. If we chart how God works in our lives over the long run, we?ll also discover the perfect plan of God in action like pieces of a puzzle coming together.

As the leaders in Antioch were praying, they heard from the Holy Spirit, and began to have a sense of the plans (and ministries) God had given to Paul and Barnabas. It wasn?t a surprise to Paul because he recognized the pattern God had been working in him over a lifetime. We also need to realize that God is alive in our lives, and working out a master plan for us. Watch for the continuity of God?s work in your life.

? Don?t be surprised by OBSTACLES.

Acts 13:6 (NIV)

6 They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus,

When Paul and Barnabas came to the town at Paphos on the far end of the island, Paul faced demonic opposition to the gospel in the form of a sorcerer named Elymas (or Bar-Jesus). Paul overcame the demonic with a supernatural demonstration of power, but the whole Cyprus experience had John Mark reevaluating. When they got on a ship for the coast of Turkey, Mark was having doubts.

Acts 13:13 (NIV)

13 From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.

Perhaps, John Mark anticipated that life should be a lot easier than this, if we?re following the Coach. God doesn?t, however, promise us hassle-free success. We can face problems, deal with obstacles and still be in the will of God. In fact, if we study the life and ministry of Jesus and the apostles, we?ll discover they faced opposition, persecution, rejection and even death for the sake of the gospel. Jesus said,

John 15:18-20 (NIV)

18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

When we face difficult situations and circumstances, we need specific guidance from God; the ability to read the Coach?s signals right in the midst of play. This question might arise, as it must have for John Mark: When we?re doing what we believe is the will of God, and then we begin to face confusing circumstances, how do we determine what?s next, where to go, what to do, and how to do it?

Signals in play: Guidance on the DETAILS

? Guidance usually comes between HERE and THERE.

What does this mean? Sometimes in our Christian walk, we can face an impasse. We find ourselves uncertain of what to do next. But somewhere between ?here? and ?there,? as we make our way through that tunnel of darkness, we can expect God to intervene and help us through to a place where things seem clear again.

Let?s follow Paul on his second missionary trip where he was preaching about Jesus in southern Turkey.

Acts 16:6-7 (NIV)

6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.

Paul was kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the gospel in Asia. Again, when he tried to enter Bithynia, the ?Spirit of Jesus? wouldn?t allow him to. They were preaching the Word of God, and having good success. We don?t know exactly what happened, but somehow they ran into a roadblock. Could it have been some threat of persecution? Was it a strong premonition or weak constitution? Whatever it was, Paul clearly saw it as the work of the Holy Spirit.

One of the great classics of holiness literature in the last century was Hannah Whitall Smith?s The Christian?s Secret of a Happy Life. In it Smith says, “If a leading is from the Holy Spirit, the way will always open for it.” Do you ever find yourself hammering the door down because you?re so sure what you think is right? Smith says it?s never a sign of divine leading when a Christian insists on opening his own way and riding roughshod over all opposing things.

Paul and his companions tried to go south, but God stopped them. Then they tried to turn north, and they couldn?t get anywhere. So what did they do? Look at Acts 16.

Acts 16:8-9 (NIV)

8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

When our global positioning system (GPS) has completely crashed, here?s the amazing thing: God can speak to us along the way.

? God can speak ALONG THE WAY.

There are a variety of ways God speaks to us. Let?s consider a few. First God speaks by precept. That?s why it pays to read the Bible. It?s so much easier to find our way in life, when we?ve got the map in our hearts. The Bible is God?s map for life.

Another way God speaks is by principle. If precepts map out the roads, then principles direct us where there are no roads. Principles are general guidelines from God?s Word that require personal application.

God also speaks through promptings. If “we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:17). At other times, God guides through providence. Sometimes we?re at the right place at the right moment with the right person, and we can see we?re in a situation that is divinely set up.

? Precepts

? Principles

? Promptings

? Providence

? Power Encounter

Occasionally God speaks through a power-encounter. That?s what happened to Paul. He was confused by circumstances, and wondering what to do next. Then God sent him a night vision. There was no way he could have produced that himself. It was God giving him a signal in the middle of the game.

Acts 16:10 (NIV)

10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Paul and his companions concluded God was calling them to Macedonia. They decided together to respond to the vision, leaving at once, ready with the gospel.

? Guidance must be INTERPRETED.

On many different occasions, Paul had to interpret the leading of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 20, Paul explains his predicament,

Acts 20:22-23 (NIV)

22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.

When Paul left for Jerusalem, he was warned about what was about to happen, and his fellow believers pleaded with him not to go. But Paul was adamant, saying, “I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:13).

At the end of the day, we all have to answer to God for ourselves. It?s great to have a community surround us, and wonderful to have confirmation from others that we?re moving in the right direction, but no one else can know what God is saying to us personally.

? No one else can know what God is SAYING TO YOU.

Are we open to the Coach?s signals? Are we positioning ourselves to hear the Quarterback?s audibles in the game of life? Just imagine what could happen if we?re open to God?s leadings? What would we do? How much more successful would we be?

Bob Hudson was discharged from the army in 1956. He became a Christian, was married, bought part of the family farm, and began pursuing his dream of building Indiana’s greatest hog operation.

“Since I had an accounting degree,” Bob says, “I took a job with a local industry and was soon made assistant controller. Meanwhile the hog project was thriving, but the Lord’s conviction was on me to submit my vocation to him.

“Like Gideon, I told God, ?You’ll need to give me a sign. I have these 80 sows. If none of them has babies, I’ll believe you have other work for me.?”

In a few weeks, the veterinarian confirmed the obvious: all Bob?s boars were sterile. That?s when Bob heard about a job opening for an accountant with a missionary group. He applied for the position, and worked there for 25 years. “A couple of years before I retired as treasurer, a Honduras missionary asked if I’d help them start a hog operation,” Bob said. “My first reaction? ?Lord, you must be kidding!? But we moved to Honduras in 1999. And today we have the operation of our dreams with four beautiful buildings and a great vocational training program for 25 young men.”

God?s will for us is better than our plans for ourselves. If we?re willing to seek guidance from God, if we?re willing to risk a little on reading His signals and hearing His audibles, we?ll discover that God has great plans for us.

Tags: call, called, calling, guidance, Holy-Spirit, signals, The Coach in Your Corner
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Position: Playing Where it Counts

Sunday, May 7th, 2006

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This entry is part 3 of 7 in the series The Coach in Your Corner

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Read at beginning of service:

1 Corinthians 12:12-18 (NIV)

12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free–and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.

INTRODUCTION

You think you’ve got problems at work. How about trading places with Ken Ruettgers? Ken worked for 12 years in a profession that required military discipline and made huge physical demands. Once a week during the busiest months in Ruettgers’ work schedule, more than 60,000 people showed up to critique his performance. His job was to protect the man acclaimed to be the most valuable person in the entire industry. When Ruettgers failed, not only did he face 60,000 immediate critics yelling at him, but hundreds of thousands of others second-guessed his work from the comfort of their living rooms. When the job was done well?which was most of the time?few people noticed. It’s the man he protected who got all the glory.

For 12 seasons from 1985-1996, Ruettgers earned his living as an offensive lineman for the Green Bay Packers. Protecting quarterback Brett Favre’s blind side and opening holes for running backs was a gruelling job, but one that had to be done.

That?s the problem with playing your position. We?re not all quarterbacks in football, pitchers in baseball, or centres in basketball. Coaches in every sport say that the toughest thing to teach team members is to play their position. The temptation is always to seize opportunities rather than to stay true to your position on the team.

Do you remember what was read from the Bible this morning??

“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body?whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free?and we were all given the one Spirit to drink?Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13; 27).

The Holy Spirit?s work as Coach is to place you where you will best optimize the team objective. It?s the Spirit who recruits and gifts you. It?s the Spirit who has placed you in the body, wherever you?ve come from, Jew or Greek, slave or free, for a specific purpose and to play a specific position in the divine plan.

If you assume that all we?re talking about here is who will teach the junior high students, or who?ll be an usher, you?re making a profound mistake and missing a powerful point. God has a game plan for accomplishing His greater vision and purposes through His body, the Church. Wherever we happen to find ourselves, we?re never a lone ranger, or playing a solo sport. We always operate as part of something bigger. We?re on team Jesus, part of the body of Christ, the Church. Remember that?

The Coach has a POSITION for you.

Rick Warren?s book, The Purpose Driven Life, has enjoyed unprecedented success as a best-seller, especially for a book whose opening paragraph is one blunt line, “It?s not about you.” Warren goes on to say, “If you want to know why you were placed on this planet you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.”

Leonard Bernstein was the first American-born conductor/composer to earn international acclaim. He conducted the New York Philharmonic, and composed West Side Story and Candide. In an informal discussion following one of his televised concerts, Bernstein was asked, “What is the most difficult instrument to play?”

Bernstein gave a classic reply, “Second fiddle. I can get plenty of first violins, but to find somebody who plays second violin with as much enthusiasm or second French horn, or second flute, now that?s the problem. And if no one plays second, we have no harmony.”

This morning we?re going to look at a guy in the Bible whose life was transformative and inspiring. He was best known as ?second fiddle? to the apostle Paul. His name was Barnabas. He was a man with an essential calling. Barnabas played a strategic position in the long-term plan of God, even if he wasn?t playing front and centre all the time.

For our lives to have purpose and meaning, for us to achieve the goal for which we were born, we must awaken to our divine calling. There?s nothing more rewarding than finding your place in God?s great strategy and then playing your position well. Remember that the coach has a position for you, but that doesn?t really mean much if you aren?t?

SHOWING UP for the game

Woody Allen said, “Eighty per cent of life is just showing up.” It?s so true isn?t it? We miss so many opportunities to learn, grow and shine just because we?re not there. It?s when we show up that we can begin to make a difference.

We discover Barnabas in the early days of the church when he was called Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus. In those days the believers lived in a close-knit community, and shared everything they owned with one another.

Acts 4:34-37 (NIV)

34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. 36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.

The church was more than 5,000 (perhaps up to 10,000) people strong at this point. Most likely Joseph was one believer in a crowd of thousands who saw a need and decided to fill it. He ?showed up for the game,? and before long the apostles got to know him as more than a nameless face in the multitude. They gave him a nickname. They called him Barnabas, meaning son of encouragement. It stuck. You never find him called Joseph again in the New Testament.

Have you ever felt lost in the crowd? Have you ever wondered if you can make a meaningful contribution? Just find a need and fill it, like Barnabas. He did what he could do. It doesn?t have to be heroic. Show up for the game, learn to play your part by doing what you can do, and eventually people will get to know you just like the apostles got to know Barnabas. First you?ve got to show up, then you need to learn to take your position and develop your gifts.

DEVELOPING your gifts

We all have natural gifts that need to be developed and strengthened by practice or use. Barnabas understood how important it was to develop his gift.

One day a man named Saul appeared in Jerusalem. People knew he was responsible for the persecution and imprisonment of many Christians. They didn?t want to hear about his conversion, nor his powerful defence of the gospel that he once rejected. Saul was on ?the outs? with the church.

Barnabas hated what he was seeing. He had a gift of encouragement. If nobody else was going to give Saul a chance, Barnabas would risk it. He learned about Saul?s transformation, and it didn?t take him long to size up Saul?s passion for Christ. Saul was one of the emerging Christian leaders of his day.

This was a crucial point in the development of Barnabas? ministry gifts. At the risk of his own reputation, Barnabas put himself ?on the line? to introduce Paul to the twelve.

Acts 9:27 (NIV)

27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.

What would?ve become of the apostle Paul if Barnabas hadn?t stretched himself in developing his gifts? The history of the church proves that Barnabas? ministry of encouragement made a difference. It?s also important to remember that as our gifts develop, we have to learn to play where the Coach places us.

Playing where the Coach PLACES you

Following the stoning of Stephen in the book of Acts, a great persecution of the church began. Believers scattered, telling others about Jesus everywhere they went. Some Greek-speaking Jews from Cyprus went as far as Antioch in Syria preaching Christ to both Jews and non-Jews. This created a fuss back in Jerusalem and started the first major controversy the church faced: can non-Jews be right with God simply by trusting in Jesus? work on the cross?

With a tense situation escalating both in Antioch and Jerusalem, the apostles had to decide who to send to the church in Antioch to deal with the problems.

Acts 11:22-24 (NIV)

22 News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. 24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

Barnabas was just starting his ministry in Jerusalem when the word comes. “Pack your bags, we?re sending you to Antioch.” What if Barnabas didn?t want to go? After all, things were picking up and he was at the centre of all the excitement in Jerusalem.

If we?re going to learn how to play our position, we?ve got to play where the Coach places us. We don?t always have the privilege of going where we want to go and doing what we feel like doing. If the team matters, if the Coach matters, we?ve got to do it His way.

A.C. Green is another sports superstar. He has played in more consecutive basketball games than anyone in the history of the NBA. Green played 1,192 games over the course of his 16-year career that included three championship teams with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Thinking back over his career, Green recalls, “Men often talk about their ?glory years? in high school. At Benson High School, in Portland, Oregon, I was a sports-minded, egotistical maniac. I was the tallest guy on the team and could have broken scoring records, but Coach Gray wouldn’t let me?I was voted the Oregonian’s 1981 ?All-Metro Area Player of the Year,? and joined Dean Derrah on the all-metro team.

“Coach Gray wouldn’t allow me to be a hotshot scorer because he was more interested in the final stat?number one. He knew the only way we could reach that championship level was for us to become team players?Coach Gray made me pass the ball and play unselfishly. Regardless of individual stats, we, the team, reached the top. We went all the way!”

We don?t get to do it our way. We?ve got to play the way the Coach wants us to, but that?s how we reach our destiny. That?s how we discover our calling in life.

Three possible factors in your calling:

? Natural AFFINITY (Acts 11:20-22)

? Specific GIFTING (Acts 11:23) (Romans 12:6-8, Ephesians 4:11)

? Empowered USEFULNESS (Acts 11:24)

Let?s examine Barnabas? experience in Antioch for three possible factors in discovering our calling. First there?s natural affinity. What are the chances if you?re 5?3″ that you?re going to play NBA basketball? In Barnabas? case, his background as a Greek-speaking Jew from Cyprus aided him in his mission assignment. The guys who started the church in Antioch were also Greek-speaking Jews from Cyprus. Barnabas had a lifetime of experience growing up in a Gentile, non-Jewish world. He was the ideal person for the job.

He also had the specific gifting necessary for the job. Look at Acts 11:23. What did he do? He “encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.” The son of encouragement did just what you?d expect him to do. What more could a developing group of believers need in a tense situation? Barnabas had just the right gift at the right time.

The other factor in realizing our calling, and playing our position is empowered usefulness. “He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord” (Acts 11:24). Empowered usefulness doesn?t always mean success in quantifiable terms. Sometimes we?re placed where simple faithfulness in spite of challenges is the measure of our usefulness to God?s purpose. Calling always needs empowerment, and the fullness of the Spirit to be useful.

Understanding these factors in your calling gives greater insight into knowing where the coach is placing you to play. But you also must

Know your LIMITATIONS: we NEED others

We can?t do it on our own. There are no superstars. Barnabas understood this concept. He realized he needed help, and asked Saul to come to Antioch.

Acts 11:25-26 (NIV)

25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

Barnabas had known Saul for nearly 10 years and recognized Saul?s gifting and ministry of teaching. So he asked Saul to help in teaching and making disciples of the new believers in Antioch. The Bible notes that the synergy of their ministries together made a vibrant church where many people were being taught ? so effectively in fact that the believers in Antioch were called ?Christians.?

Once Paul arrived, Barnabas began to fade into the background (at least as far as the New Testament is concerned). The real star in the book of Acts becomes the missionary Paul, the writer of Scripture, planter of churches, and apostle to the Gentiles.

Here?s the measure of Barnabas? greatness. He knew how to play ?second fiddle.? He knew how to let someone else shine. He never seemed to feel that it was at his expense. Let me show you what I mean.

Basketball fans may remember when David Robinson was signed by the San Antonio Spurs, becoming the greatest scorer in their history. Clearly, he was their most valuable player, scorer and rebounder, but a few years ago, the Spurs drafted a number-one pick out of Wake Forest named Tim Duncan. Immediately there were rumours about who was going to be the star: Robinson or Duncan?

Duncan joined the Spurs in 1997-98, and was named ?Rookie of the Year.? Robinson said right from the beginning, “This kid is the heir apparent. This kid is our future. I?m glad he?s on our team, and I?ll tell you what I?m going to do. I?m going to pass this kid the ball because he?s a player. You watch him!” Tim Duncan became the ?Most Valuable Player? in the league. Both David Robinson and Tim Duncan became three-time world champions in the NBA. Why? Because David Robinson knew how to play second fiddle, he knew how to pass the ball and make another player look great. He knew how to play his position.

We need to know how to do that too. We need to know how to step out of the limelight and let someone else score. We do it by giving our best on screen and off.

Give your best? ON SCREEN and OFF

Let?s face it. Some of us really know how to act when the camera is on us. When people are watching we can appear great, but get us behind closed doors and it?s another story.

Some of the leaders of the Antioch church were praying, and looking for direction from the Coach. They wanted to know where the game was going.

Acts 13:2 (NIV)

2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Look at the word ?called.? God?s Spirit has a voice. All believers are urged to walk worthy of the holy calling we?ve received. Barnabas and Saul heard the call of the Holy Spirit, and responded. The church laid hands on them and sent them off on the first missionary journey. They brought John Mark with them, Barnabas? cousin. John Mark soon deserted them after a power encounter with a demon-possessed sorcerer named Elymas. Read Acts 13:8-13. Barnabas faded more and more into the background as Saul?s (now known as Paul) apostolic gift became more and more obvious.

The first journey was a success, and Paul and Barnabas began to plan their next trip. Barnabas suggested that they take John Mark with them, and Paul became angry.

Acts 15:39 (NIV)

39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus,

Nearly 12 years later, Paul wrote to the Colossians and said, “Mark, the cousin of Barnabas concerning whom you have received instructions ? if he comes to you, welcome him” (Colossians 4:10b). He also wrote to Timothy, “Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in the ministry” (2 Timothy 4:11). Soon afterwards, a gospel was written by a young writer named Mark.

Barnabas was happy to invest his life in a young ?Paul-reject? named John Mark. The Church today would be all the poorer if Barnabas hadn?t taken the time to help Mark develop his gifts and mature in his ministry.

We may never see the full impact of playing our position. We may never know what difference it can make in the eternal scheme of things. We may feel like a little cog in a big machine, and that it doesn?t matter what role we play, but we need to believe that what we do has eternal ramifications. We may never know until eternity what difference we make.

One evening a couple were out watching their grandson Scott play basketball. Scott played center. He was tall and handled the ball well. That night, they observed that every time Scott got the ball, he looked around for someone to pass to instead of shooting.

Later Grandpa asked, “Scott, why don’t you shoot when you have a good shot?”

Scott thought for a moment and replied, “When you throw the ball out to one of the other guys and he makes two points, then you run down the court giving high fives?that’s the real thrill. That’s the name of the game!”

It doesn?t matter who gets the basket. What matters is that we play our position and the team scores. For eternity, we?ll be running down the court of heaven giving high fives because Jesus won the game and He let us be part of it.

It doesn?t hurt to get a little practice right now. When the church scores, we can all celebrate. Let?s stand to our feet right now, and give a round of high fives because we?re on the winning team.

Coming next week: Guidance ? Reading His Signals ? How to understand God?s leading.

Tags: Acts, call, called, calling, Leadership, ministry, position, purpose, spiritual, The Coach in Your Corner
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Archive for May, 2006

Performance: Spirit Filled Living

Empowerment: Is it In You?

Guidance: Reading the Signals

Position: Playing Where it Counts

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