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Living Hope SDA Church

Chris Holland

Here, There and Beyond

Thank you for that song that reminds us of that journey.

It is important to keep in mind at every point in the day that that is the journey which we are on.

No matter what happens, no matter what goes on, we are on the journey to Canaan.

Lord, we don't need more political commentary.

We just want your pure, unadulterated Word.

And so our prayer is very simple, that You would speak to us through Your Word today.

This morning, the sermon will be a bit different than a quote-unquote normal sermon.

I'm going to share a few items that are on my heart, but then we will go through a time of corporate and personal prayer in the context of our three-week series of here, there, and beyond.

I want to spend some time talking about the here.

And how we might be prepared by God to do what He wants us to do.

I'm concerned for each of us, and I am concerned for the church.

I am afraid that the devil through a variety of means and circumstances has tempted and deceived many of us into living a life of ordinary activity that can be summed up in the phrase living a life that lacks intentionality.

We have been made busy by the things that we simply have to do.

And as a result, God's mission and purpose for our life has been squeezed out by busyness and distraction.

This has affected the church because the leadership of the church is composed of busy, distracted people who have led the church to a place of busyness and distraction.

And when we are busy and distracted, both in life and in the church, it leads us to a place where we resort to human tactics and methodologies to resolve it.

And instead of godly, holy, intentional mission and purpose, We exist in a politically driven, backbiting spirit that has 1 goal.

How can I make my star shine a bit brighter?

Or we become so discouraged by seeing that happen all around us that we withdraw and simply exist.

I want us to take a moment to go back in time to a group of leaders who were distracted and see if we might learn a lesson for today.

If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to open them to Luke the 40, excuse me, Luke the ninth chapter, verses 46 to 48.

The Bible says these words in Luke chapter 9 verses 46 to 48.

Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.

And Jesus perceiving the thought of their heart took a little child and set him by him and said to them, whoever receives this little child in my name, receives me, and whoever receives me receives Him who sent me.

For he who is least among you will be great." Very early on in the mission of Jesus and His discipling of the 12, He knew that eventually 11 of them would be the leaders of His church.

But very early on in that mission, there became this distraction.

And while we may not struggle with that particular issue in our own life, I want us to look at the principle.

Distraction from mission led to selfishness and self-centeredness.

When we as individuals are not focused on the mission that God has given us, we become inwardly focused, selfish.

And with Jesus' disciples, that problem persisted to the very end.

It was manifest on the journey to Jerusalem where Jesus would give his life in the ultimate sacrifice for humanity.

In Luke 22 and verse 24, Luke 22 and verse 24, the Bible says this, "'Now there was also a dispute among them "'as to which of them would be considered the greatest.' "'Fuel was added to that fire, "'as recorded in the Gospel of Mark, when the mother of the sons of thunder made a specific request in this regard.

In Mark 10, verses 35 to 37, the Bible says this, then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him saying, teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.

And he said to them, what do you want me to do for you?

Then he said to them, then, excuse me, and this is prior to the mother getting involved.

They said to him, grant us that we may sit 1 on your right hand and the other on the left in your glory.

Matthew 20 records when their mother got involved and said, then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to him with her sons kneeling down asking something from him And he said to her, what do you wish?

And she said to him, grant that these 2 sons of mine may sit 1 on your right hand and the other on your left in your kingdom.

You see, without a clear focus on mission and what the true mission of Jesus really was, and what the climactic events that they were about to experience were all about, it led to 1 thing.

It led to their selfish desire to be the highest in the kingdom.

And without that clear focus on mission, and with that focus on self, It all led to the events of the Garden of Gethsemane where Matthew chapter 25 and verse 56 summarize where selfishness leads.

The Bible simply says, then all the disciples, how many of the disciples?

All of the disciples forsook Him and fled.

Distracted from mission and purpose, they abandoned their perceived mission and purpose of 3 and a half years.

And while it may seem like it was just a moment in which they did this.

It was those little things that built to that moment where they forsook Him and fled.

And it is a warning to each and every 1 of us.

If we're not clear on why we're here and what God has called us to do, and we don't follow through on what he calls us to do, we are all in great danger that we may eventually forsake him and flee.

Now we of course know that Jesus restored 11 of those 12, yet they were still distracted.

Because just prior to the ascension of Jesus, after He had died, after He had been raised from the dead, and after He had spent 40 days with them, their question, burning on their mind was, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?

That's the same kingdom they desired greatness in.

It is the same kingdom that they desired to sit at the right hand and the left.

What was Jesus' solution to this persistent problem.

In Acts chapter 1 verses 7 and 8, Jesus said these words.

It is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has put in his own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." When you combine this with the words recorded by Luke in Luke chapter 24, Jesus said these words, You are witnesses of these things.

Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high." We often emphasize the go of the Great Commission, but we frequently do not emphasize the wait.

Because before we can go we must wait upon the Spirit of God to transform our selfish hearts into outwardly focused hearts in which the other is more important than the self.

He had a group of 11 disciples who were to lead His church who still were focused on the selfish.

Are you going to take the kingdom now so 1 of us can sit on the right and the left hand?

And I am afraid, my dear brothers and sisters, here in the church, and when I speak of the church, yes, I speak of living hope, but I also speak of the church worldwide where there is a great vying for sitting on the right hand and the left hand and not a lot of focus of coming to the servant, coming as the servant of the table.

Acts chapter 1 records in verses 12 to 14 what they did.

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath-stayed journey.

And when they entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying.

Peter, James, John, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.

These all continued with 1 accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary, excuse me, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers.

They are obedient to the command of Christ to go and wait.

But something happened in that upper room as they prayed.

They were transformed from self-centered, self-seeking, achievement-driven individuals to having 1 focus.

How might the will of God be done in their lives?

They were so focused that after the election of the 12th of the apostles, 11 of those Apostles gave their life serving Jesus Christ through martyrdom.

The twelfth, they tried to kill him, but God would not allow them to kill him.

But the lesson, my dear friends, is before we die for Jesus, we must live for him.

The book Acts of the Apostles, pages 35 to 37, I would encourage you to read it on your own, uses these kinds of words to describe what happened in that upper room through prayer.

They humbled their hearts in true repentance and confessed their unbelief.

They called to remembrance the words that Christ had spoken to them before his death.

They understood more fully the meaning of the words of Jesus.

They reproached themselves for their misapprehension of the Savior.

They felt that no toil would be too hard, no sacrifice too great, if only they could bear witness to their lives to the loveliness of Christ's character.

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Here, There and Beyond

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