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BREAKTHROUGH of HOPE - December 30, 2012

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Review

·      2012 was a year greater than I had hoped for…

o   We saw some great stuff happen in my family’s life and in the church.

o   We had 3 powerful conferences with fresh revelation.

o   That revelation expanded our hope through the themes of the cross, our new life in Christ, grace and our revival of righteousness.

o   Crescendo has left us hopeful that everything will get bigger & better.

o   We hope all of this has left each of us with significant “breakthroughs” in our lives!

·      During the Breakthrough series…

o   We started with a ratcheting up of our expectation thru this season.

o   This then leads to breakthroughs in faith, generosity, love and joy!

·      Today, we want to talk about a breakthrough of the hope we are already experiencing!

o   How did hope breakthrough IN US with the birth of Christ?

o   And how does hope break THROUGH US every day?

Prayer & Welcome

Set up the clip from Shawshank Redemption

I want to start this morning with a short movie clip. The main character (Andy) gets in trouble for playing music (a Mozart record) over the loud speakers of Shawshank prison. After 2 weeks in solitary confinement, Andy (Tim Robbins’ character) is meeting with his friends for lunch. During their conversation, Andy is trying to explain the emotions of his prison sentence to Red (Morgan Freeman) who has been in prison now since he was a teenager. Needless to say, they view life from 2 very different perspectives…

·      Tim Robbins (Andy): I had Mr. Mozart to keep me company… it was in here (mind) and in here (heart)… that’s the beauty of music, they can’t get that from you… haven’t you ever felt that way about music?!

·      Morgan Freeman (Red): I played a mean harmonica as a younger man… lost interest in it though… didn’t make much sense in here.

·      Andy: Here’s where it makes the most sense? You need it so you don’t forget.

·      Red: Forget?

·      Andy: Forget that there are places in the world that aren’t made out of stone. That there’s something inside that they can’t get to… that they can’t touch… that’s yours.

·      Red: What are you talking about?

·      Andy: Hope.

·      Red: Hope… Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane. It’s got no use on the inside. You’d better get used to that idea.

Set up the dilemma:

·      Hope is a dangerous thing because it’s a scary thing.

·      Personalize it in my life…

o   Never more real than after my first semester at LCCollege.

§  Lonely - Put more excitement in the community than Christ.

§  Excitement of new birth was wearing out and questions came.

§  Had to search to find David’s (Psalmist heart) mindset.

o   It takes a tremendous amount of trust in God to hope in something…

·      Maybe in your life (or your family’s) the hopes you’ve had have been dashed to pieces.

·      Maybe it’s hard to think of something you can hope in that won’t disappoint you… as sometimes jobs, futures, relationships, dreams have in some way fallen short of what we’ve expected.

·      Maybe the world around us, filled with tragedy, has left us bitter towards hope… and in fact we are hopeless.

·      We find ourselves as Morgan Freeman’s (Red) character did…

o   Jaded toward hope.

o   Not understanding it.

o   Telling ourselves that life “is at it is” and there’s no hope for change.

o   Or even worse, lying to ourselves that hope has no place in our present situation… that the only point for hope is in the next life and there’s not hope for today.

·      We find ourselves as Red did:  “used to” our prison.

Today, we want to see hope breakthrough in your hearts. For us to understand…

·      That hope has come to earth.

·      That hope is an important part of who we are.

·      And even more, that hope’s home is in YOU!

Body

I think that most of us want to start out the new year hopeful. For me…

·      I am hopeful that our family will be healthy.

·      I am hopeful that we will be provided for.

·      I am hopeful that we will stop eating ice cream and lose a few pounds.

·      I am hopeful that we will read more books and watch TV less.

·      I am hopeful that God will finally move my hair from my chin to the top of my head.

·      New year’s resolutions are all about hope that life will be different this year.

In the church, I get hopeful for the new year.

·      I hope that our plans & programs will honor God.

·      I hope that our church family will grow closer together.

·      I hope that lives will be changed.

·      I hope that Holy Spirit will show up in everything we do.

But I don’t have to wait for hope!

  …He already came in the person of Jesus Christ.

When Jesus came to earth as an infant man, He changed everything.

·      1 Timothy 1:1 – Jesus Christ is our hope!

·      He became Hope. He became the hope of the world.

·      For 100s of years, the world was watching and waiting for the messiah to come… to change darkness to light… to change bondage into freedom.

·      In the person of Jesus, that embodiment of hope was realized.

·      Hope is a dangerous thing because of Jesus’ breakthrough into humanity… not because of the breakthrough of political freedom, but Jesus’ breakthrough was

o   dangerous to the darkness

o   dangerous to the devil’s schemes

o   dangerous because light always conquers

·      AND now people can have the hope to experience breakthrough in their own lives.

Colossians 1:27 “To them (His people) God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Christ living in us is the “hope of glory.”

·      Christ in us brings us hope.

·      It’s not dependent on us to work something up.

·      It’s born out of intimacy of Jesus with us. It’s born out of an understanding that Jesus doesn’t just live near us, but INSIDE us… empowering us to a new life, a new identity as a righteous son/daughter of God.

·      And is this Hope for glory beyond this life in heaven?

·      Yes, I think it could be that, but I think it’s sooooo much more.

·      It’s about the glory that we get to walk in every day of our lives as we partner with the King of Glory.

We, as a Vineyard, have labeled ourselves a community of hope.

·      Does that mean we are a community that it just riding out our last days until the glory of the Lord returns and we all get to go to heaven?

·      That kind of end times thinking will not endear us to our cities.

·      That kind of thinking would make spearheading a new ministry, starting a multisite, planting a church or sending missionaries pretty pointless.

No, we are to create Hope within each and every community where the Lord sends us on mission… We are to be the hope of that community.

·      So, when I hear that Christ living in us is “the hope of glory,” I begin to ask what does that glory look like in our present day lives.

2 Corinthians 3:7-12 “Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. Since we have such a hope, we are very bold.”

Christ in you is the “hope of glory.”

·      Not the glory of following a set of rules.

·      Not the glory of sacrifice and law.

·      This glory is the reflection of God in us!

·      Glory that comes from ministry by the Spirit of God.

·      Glory that comes from understanding our identity in Christ.

·      Glory that comes through the ministry of righteousness.

·      Glory that comes because the Father has taken up residence in us and wants to partner with us to accomplish his mission of hope in our world!

·      There is a glory that comes when this revelation… this new revelation of grace and righteousness that has been poured out on our church (and around the world right now)… and that should breed hope in every day of our lives.

·      God’s glory lives in you and me… wow!

Bible

So practically, how does this “hope of glory” break through in our lives and make us dangerous to the darkness?

·      How do you and I begin to understand and grasp what God’s hope has done to transform us?

·      What does the hope of glory interaction within us look like?

Hope breaks IN our heart with the Father’s heart.

·      Romans 5:5 “and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

·      God replaces our hearts of stone with a new heart.

·      He dwells within us and helps us to see ourselves as he does.

·      He helps us to see others as he sees them.

·      The Father’s heart is one of hope for reconciliation and change in every human being and that stirs up hopefulness with us.

·      Ethne and Corrie’s story at Family Dollar

Hope breaks IN with power.

·      Romans 15 “so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

·      When the minister of hope (Holy Spirit) interacts with our lives, we have the power to produce His fruit in our lives.

·      If we live our lives full of joy and peace… knowing who’s we are and finding our identity in Him… then the world cannot touch the hope that we have. We have power to lives full and untouched.

·      Holy Spirit empowers us to live a life full of power… full of understanding that we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

·      We have power to extend God’s healing into every persons life… to bring hope with us.

·      Tell the story of the word of knowledge in Target.

Hope breaks IN and protects our minds.

·      So, we need to take captive every thought and make it obedient to Jesus.

·      When Todd White was here he talked about the “gates of hell being right between our eyes.”

·      That our mind is the battlefield of the Kingdom.

·      1 Thessalonians 5:8 “…and for a helmet the hope of salvation.”

·      If we live our lives understanding that we are covered in the unmerited favor of God, then focusing of our hope of glory becomes easier.

·      We protect our mind/thoughts with the hope of a Savior… with knowing that we have been saved and are being saved… with knowing that Christ’s death paved a way for him to live inside us.

·      Hope is our steadfast anchor (Hebrews 6) for our thoughts.

Action

One thing that Red (Morgan Freeman) said that I think is true is this:

·      Hope is a dangerous thing.

·      But not in the way he said it… Red was convinced that holding onto something in “your prison” would always disappoint you.

·      But, we believe that hope is (as Andy said) something inside that the world cannot touch.

·      Our hope is a person… our hope is unwavering… our hope is Jesus Christ!

So, for us, HOPE IS A DANGEROUS THING:

It is because when we understand that Holy Spirit dwells within us and empowers us to the “ministry of righteousness,” we are no longer afraid!

We become dangerous to the darkness… we become dangerous to the orphan spirit… we become dangerous to despair, grief, sickness, and more.

In fact “since we have such a hope, we are very bold!” (2Corinthians 3:12)

After Jesus Christ (our hope) breaks IN, He then breaks THROUGH with boldness.

Boldness…

·      to share the hope that we have

·      to bring that hope to the community around us.

·      to release God’s glory into every situation.

·      to bring healing to those who despair.

·      Because we know we are partnering daily with the King of the universe (who has taken up residence within us) to accomplish his mission in our world.

·      Let me share one last story of bringing hope to the hopeless…

o   This one wasn’t a one-time encounter like Family Dollar or Target

o   Long term relationship: Story of the lady at the coffee shop.

o   She had to lose hope for what I had to make sense to her.

o   Healing her mom.

The hope of the world…

·      Is not in a manger.

·      Is not on a cross.

·      Is not some mysterious thing we can’t capture.

·      Is not so far away just waiting for us in heaven.

·      The hope of the world lives in YOU.

So go into 2013 and… Be the hope of the world!

Prayer & offering

MINISTRY TIME: 

Empowered to ministry.

Hopelessness

·      Job… future, relationships, boss.

·      Family… kids, spouse, other.

·      Finances

·      Adddictions

GRACE FOR ALL CHILDREN - July 1, 2012

ME

What if I told you today that the Holy Spirit has been revealing to the church both locally and worldwide the most fertile demographic to bring the grace of Jesus to? If we could tell you today which group, if you brought them the Kingdom, would respond the most favorably, would you get excited? If we told you today where your evangelism could be most effective, would you be inspired to action?

•          This group comprises 1.2 Billion people worldwide.

•          In Champaign County alone, there are approximately 27,000 people in this group alone.

•          According to the researcher George Barna, the “spiritual identity is set” during this group, so there is a perfect opportunity to both lead them to Jesus (evangelism) and teach them the truth of His gospel of grace (discipleship).

•          This group is so technologically savvy (and at home with technology) that worldwide they are allowing long-held strongholds of belief & tradition to be broken down… what an opportunity to destroy satan’s lies with the truth of the gospel of grace!

•          Finally, 85% of first time converts to the gospel happen during this time.

•          In fact, in my home alone 2 of the 5 of us fit this demographic.

We want to talk with you today about bringing the gospel of grace to the “4-14 Window”... which simply means this: How do we become a church that is focused on bringing the Kingdom to every child between the ages of 4 and 14?

Here at the Vineyard, we believe that all of the kids get to play. In Kingdom Kids and in my family, every week our children are learning to pray for each other, share Jesus with others, and be an extension of God’s Kingdom to a lost and broken world.

Prayer & Welcome

WE

We don’t want this to be guilt-driven experience today. We don’t want you to walk away feeling like you should have done more with your own kids or that you should be doing more now. Rather, we want to show you the incredible opportunity that we have both in our own lives and in our churches.

We’ve been trying to motivate our church to action all year long:

1)to extend God’s Kingdom in every area of your lives.

2)to be intentional and naturally supernatural with every person that you meet.

As a parent of 3, I know that I have windows of time that are best to train my kids in things. The first 6 months are about “sleep training,” the next 6 are about “eating & walking,” then teaching other boundaries, potty training and so on.

I am now given a blueprint of the best years (4-14) to do the spiritual training of my kids. To demonstrate and have them partner in Kingdom ministry with me now, so that they will be free and brave to do it on their own as they grow a little older.

You’d think it strange if I was still changing my kids’ diapers at 10 years old. You’d think, “didn’t someone tell him to stop doing that like 7 years ago and potty train his kids?!”

Well you and I have been given a plan of the best years to be “Funnels of God’s Grace to the Children.”

Matthew 19:14 But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” 15 And he placed his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left.

In the Vineyard, we are Kingdom of God people! I’m excited today to think about the opportunity before us. We have:

•          The amazing message of the gospel (share the gospel message here).

•          A group of 27,000 people in Champaign County that are hungry and are the most likely to give their lives to the gospel.

•          The Holy Spirit within us to empower us to action as we funnel God’s grace to the children of our community.

GOD

Let’s take a few minutes to unpack what Jesus has to say about children and funneling the Kingdom towards them. Then, we will unpack some practical things that you can do individually and that we can do as a church.

Mathew 18

1 About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” 2 Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. 3 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

A)        I think that Jesus understood the 4-14 Window better than anyone ever has. He understood that great fruit for the Kingdom would come through children. But, even beyond that, He seemed to grasp that when we are younger, we are more receptive to what the gospel of grace could do in and through us.

B)        So truth #1 for us from Jesus is this: Before you can funnel the Kingdom to children, you need to become like them!

C)        This is so important for us. We must put aside or past and be born anew in God’s grace so that when we funnel the Kingdom to children, they will receive only who Jesus is in us and not the dead person we used to be.

D)        We need to walk in our identity as kids of the King, so that we can funnel the King to the kids.

5 “And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. 6 But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.

And verse 10 “Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.

A)        The second truth that Jesus seems to be saying is this: I want you to make the most of your opportunities to funnel the Kingdom towards children.

B)        In another passage, the apostles are actually trying to keep parents from bringing their kids to Jesus for Him to teach and bless them. Jesus strongly corrects the disciples and then spends significant time laying hands and blessing the kids.

C)        I think Jesus knew this might have been His one opportunity with those families. He laid aside His busy schedule of teaching and healing to extend the Father’s heart to those kids. In fact, you see Him over and over again going to the aid of children who need healing, who need the Kingdom to show up powerfully in their lives.

D)        Jesus wraps up this teaching with a very familiar parable that we’ve traditionally applied to all evangelism, but Jesus seems to be aiming it right at how we funnel the Kingdom towards children.

12 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? 13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! 14 In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.

A)        Our final truth from Jesus is this: When you have the Father’s heart, you will stop at nothing to funnel the Kingdom to every child.

B)        I don’t know about you, but when I read this parable in light of my own kids, it really motivated me. If one of my 3 kids wandered from the gospel, I would leave my 2 who were solid in a heartbeat to pursue the one who was lost.

C)        I would be on my knees every day in prayer for that child. I would talk to them every day about how much Jesus loves them and will never leave them. I would try and surround them with kids who know the truth of the gospel… and if they returned to faith in Jesus… I’d definitely throw a party!

D)        And there’s no getting around this: every child (all 1.2 billion around the world and all 27,000 in Champaign county) is our heavenly Father’s child. And He is excited to pursue them. He is excited to use us as His Kingdom Funnels to this generation.

YOU

Again, this gets me excited to think that we get to partner with the King to bring His Kingdom to a generation that is ready for the truth of the gospel of grace!

So, when we look at action steps, I think we need to focus on 2 areas: both local church initiatives and international partnerships.

Grace funneled LOCALLY to children

1)        Crescendo initiative – spend significant time talking about how one of our main focuses in the campaign is reaching the next generation.

2)        Kingdom Kids & middle school Revolution – how can you be involved?

3)        Your family – for those who are parents, reminder of the high calling on parents, the incredible opportunity, and how kids today still say mom and dad are their greatest influence. Doing the stuff of the Kingdom in your family is very important. Tell stories of kids praying for us & each other.

4)        Some of you may even decide to expand your influence to children as you invite more kids into your home… through your own kids, through doing a kid-focused small group, or even through foster-care and adoption.

Take a look at this VIDEO TESTIMONY (sorry no link here) by the Campions sharing how they decided to funnel God’s grace towards more children.

Quite a good testimony! Tom and Sherri were able to extend God’s grace & expand their family beyond what they’d even planned for their family. Let me share one more story of adoption:

My friend Jon Wallis and his wife have 5 children of their own. After they were done with their biological family, they began to feel the call to bless other kids with the grace of Jesus. They now have 15 more children they have adopted from several different countries. They truly are living out the call on their lives to funnel God’s grace to kids both locally and all over the world.

WE

Many of us will not adopt 15 more kids into our homes, but we can still partner with Jesus to funnel God’s grace all over the world to kids from many different countries. In fact, you’ll get a chance to begin that process today!

1)        Reminder of the 4-14 window (830,000+ of the 1.2 billion or ¾ are in the 10/40 missions window).

2)        World Vision

a)    Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with kids, families and communities to reach their full potential. Focused on poverty and injustice.

b)   100 million people in nearly 100 countries.

c)    Motivated by faith they serve alongside the poor and oppressed to demonstrate God’s unconditional love.

d)   Provide daily needs and partner with churches and individuals to encourage spiritual transformation.

e)    Global infrastructure enables them to quickly respond to survivors of hurricanes, earthquakes, famines, civil wars and outbreaks of disease.

3)        Compassion International

a)    Compassion International exists as a Christian child advocacy ministry that releases children from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enables them to become responsible, fulfilled Christian adults.

b)   Founded in 1952, Compassion began providing Korean War orphans with food, shelter, education and health care, as well as Christian training.

c)    Today, Compassion helps more than 1.2 million children in 26 countries

4)        Tell people about the opportunity to partner with both of these missions in the commons over the next 2 weekends.

5)        Share our experience with a Compassion child. Maybe share Thad’s story of running for WVision.

We have been given an amazing opportunity as a church and as Kingdom people. Whether you are like me and have 3 little lives to pour into every day OR you have to get intentional & seek out opportunities through the Vineyard and/or one of missions today, the harvest is plentiful!

Let’s get motivated today that the King wants to partner with each and every one of us to tell & demonstrate the Kingdom (Psalm 78:4 – “We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders.”) to the 4-14 Window. We get to be His funnels of grace to this generation.

ADAM: prayer & offering

MINISTRY TIME: 

1)        brokenness from your own childhood

2)        loss of grace for your own kids

3)        realized your giftings and callings today