1) Series: Come and Follow me      #5: The God of the Disciple

 

Pray!

 

Quick QuizÉ

1.The main  priority of a Christ follower is (follow Christ / all other priorities surrendered)

2. The Costs of following Christ are

  -relationship with him must be most important relationship

  -carrying your cross=die to self=saying no/doing away with anything that hinders following

  -surrendering everything to GodÕs control/for the building of his Kingdom

3. The Marks of a Christ-follower areÉ

  -Love (unconditional/sacrificial/merciful) (Denise?)

  -Bearing Fruit – must remain connected to Jesus so he can bear his fruit in youÉ

         -love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control

 

According to Jesus, this is what it means to follow himÉ

  -anyone tell you different theyÕre trying to sell you something (IÕm kidding)

  -having said that, donÕt let anyone water it down & refuse to live a watered down Xianity

  -following Jesus is about more than being religious and doing religious things

  -following Jesus is about more than just getting fire insurance for the afterlife

  -following Jesus is about more than just saying a prayer and being ok with God

     -with maybe one exception? / sincere/honest cry for GodÕs help at end of life

 

Please donÕt miss thisÉ.

  -knowing who Jesus is now and what he calls you to be

  -and still living your life however you want, hoping to make things right at the end later on

    -makes the odds of you being able to be honest & sincere with God later on, really low

    -why? more you know the truth and you donÕt obey the truth – more heart is hardened

 

Like I said before, if youÕre a X follower, these things must be crystal clear to you!

  -you canÕt be fuzzy on them

  -if you say you are a Christ-follower your main priority must be Jesus & his Kingdom

  -you must embrace wholeheartedly the cost of following him

  -and the marks of a follower must be becoming more and more visible in your life

  -following Jesus is about following Jesus one decision at a time, one day at a time

  -if thatÕs not you, stop, and ask Jesus, what needs to happen so I become that person?

 

Application Question: Is it in line with what the Bible teaches? Does that kind of Christ-follower describe me? If it doesnÕt describe me, what needs to happen in my life so I come to be that person?

 

Okay, that was the introductionÉ

Today weÕre talking about the God of the Christ-Follower!

  -who is he, what is he like, what does he want

  -Apostle Paul loved to travel from town to town and tell people about that (Acts 17:16-34)

  -so PaulÕs in Athens waiting for Silas & Timothy two young men heÕs mentoring

  -through a course of events heÕs invited to talk to all the philosophers in a city council

 

And hereÕs what he has to say about God!

THIS GOD IS THE CREATOR

  -he made the world and everything in it (heÕs not just one of the gods, He is the God!)

 

And this would apply more to their time than ours, butÉ

  -if you walked around town youÕd see man-made images and idols of all kinds of gods

  -you could go into temples and worship these Gods made of stone or wood

  -so Paul says, (read v.24b,25)

 

v. 24b, 25 Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesnÕt live in man-made temples, 25 and human hands canÕt serve his needs—for he has no needs.

 

In other words, Paul is sayingÉ

Because this God is The God – heÕs unlike all these other gods people worship

  -his temple is Heaven  and earth (heÕs everywhere) – doesnÕt live in man-made temples

  -heÕs not waiting for people to come to a building to worship him and meet his needs

  -because he has no needs, none, not one need that we can meet (come to that in second

 

Paul continues to make his case for how this is the one real, true God (saysÉ)    

  -this God is the one who gives life and breath to EVERY SINGLE LIVING THING

  -and he is the one who wants to, can and is able to meet their/your every need

 

And again, just to clarify who God really is, Paul explains furtherÉ

  -from one man this God created all nations throughout the earth

  -he decided beforehand when they should rise and fall and determined their boundaries

 

In other words no accidents with GodÉ

  -weÕre having a fifth kid, some would say heÕs an accident because he wasnÕt planned

  -but this child was in GodÕs mind and in his plans since the beginning of creation

  -whatever circumstances you find yourself in, not a surprise to God, heÕs not scrambling

  -he is wondering if youÕll recognize that he can handle them IF you will turn them over

 

In all of history, no kingdom has risen up that took God by surprise

  -GodÕs been there throughout all of history

  -and every person and every kingdom is playing a part in his history and his purpose

 

Which is the second thing Paul saysÉ

This God, the only/true/creator God – HE HAS ALWAYS HAD A PURPOSE (v.27,28)

 27 ŌHis purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and exist.

 

All of history, all kingdoms that have come and gone, always just one purpose

  -to cause people to seek after God, to feel their way toward him and to find him

  -because he is close – he is not and has never been far from us

 

 

 

 

ŌIn him we live and breathe and existĶ – in other wordsÉ

  -if we stop for just long enough and seek after the truth

  -itÕs right here to be found, in most simple of things, IÕm alive, I breathe, I exist

 

Maybe it doesnÕt matter to you, bang weÕre all here, one day weÕll die and thatÕs itÉ

  -but  GodÕs left his finger prints all over creation, in the simple things of our lives

  -and whether we all come to the same conclusion or not

  -somewhere along the line every human being asks the question – why? Here/purpose?

  -does this world, these galaxies, bodies in all their perfection and complexity (accident?)

  -and God would say, pay attention, itÕs all there so youÕll realize ŌIÕm here, close by!Ķ

 

And as a tangent I would add, from what weÕve looked at so farÉ

  -we can determine that this God is a good God

  -how? A couple of things

         -he has no needs that he needs us to meet

         -so heÕs not looking for followers to stroke his ego

         -his whole focus is in doing something to bring out the best he created in us

  -heÕs created this perfect world with all itÕs beauty/color/blessings as a gift for us

  -he gives us everything that we truly need (life and breath and so much more

  -he desires that we find him and enter into relationship with him

  -because he has plans that are good for us

  -donÕt know about you, but to me that says heÕs a good God

 

Application: What in nature, or in people, or maybe some other thing in your life, speaks most clearly to you about the presence of a God in our history?  How have you thought about that God until now?  What stops you, if anything, from seeing his as a good God?

 

Then Paul changes gears, he says, until now (now as in 2000 years ago), until Jesus, GodÕs overlooked and ignored the fact that people didnÕt see him for who he really wasÉ(read v .30)

 

Overlooked, means he didnÕt charge us with what we deserved, death/separation

 

BUT, now he commands everyone/everywhere to what?

Repent of their sins & turn to him!

  -God commands (this isnÕt I think you should, it would be really nice if you could, please)

  -God commands, God says if you want in on this goodness hereÕs the way in!!!

         -hereÕs what IÕm looking for in those that will enter into relationship with me

         -I want everyone, everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to me

 

To repentÉ

  -to repent isnÕt to say, eh I shouldnÕt have done that, God IÕm really sorry. (Ok with God)      -a little while later you do the same thing, oops I got to repent, sorry God (ok w/God)

  -and a little while later, and a little while later, and a little while laterÉ.

 

To repent means to? (turn around, to turn away from – do an about face)

 

To repent means to? (turn around, to turn away from – do an about face)

  -you were living a certain way, you stop living that way, you begin to live another way

  -what other way, JesusÕ way of living – and heÕs already told us what that means

  -and it brings us full circle to where we started 4 weeks agoÉ

 

ItÕs coming to that place where you commitÉ.

     -to making following Jesus your first priority (all other priorities)

     -where you count the cost and follow – die/say no to things that would hinder following

     -where your life displays the marks of being a follower in love and in fruit

 

And Paul ends by making this clear by saying – itÕs about Jesus (read v.31)

v31 For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.Ķ

 

So, for all of us who struggle with injustice in this worldÉ

  -for everyone who asks the question where was God when

  -why does God allow

  -why does he just stand by when

 

God says to us, IÕm still being patient, IÕm waiting for a few more to find me, and find their true purpose in meÉ

  -but donÕt mistake that with inactivity

  -donÕt think IÕm not watching

  -donÕt think that my heart is not broken by the state of things

  -donÕt think I miss even one of the injustices that you see

  -I see it all, it breaks my heart, and one day, one day soon – I WILL MAKE IT ALL RIGHT!

 

The day has been set! Actually, the day was set since the beginningÉ

  -on that day God will judge the world with justice in and through Jesus Christ

  -on that day all the wrongs of all of history will be made right in Jesus Christ

 

So who is this God that invites us to follow him?

  -HeÕs the creator

  -who created everthing, and gives us life and breath and meets our needs

 

What does that say about him? Not only is he a powerful God, not only that he is in control.   But also that he is a good God.

 

What are his plans / his purposes?

  -that people would seek after him and find him and enter into a relationship with him

  -that they would know him and experience all the good that they were created for

  -and heÕs made all that possible in and through Jesus Christ

         -the forgiveness of our sins / our ability to repent from our sin and turn to him

         -the ability to live our lives the way we were created to live them

                  -and what way is that? And weÕll look at this closely next week

                  -God is looking for a people who would follow him so closely, know him so well

                  -that theyÕre realize their greatest purpose is not just to make it to heaven

                  -their greatest role is in becoming visual examples of who God is to others

                  -so they would seek God, and find him and experience his blessings as well.