WHAT GOD HAS TAUGHT US
Lessons to Remember from Building a Great Life - Part 7
Gerry White

Today I want us to focus just a minute on what did we learn from Building For Life. What are the lessons? Building For Life was not about building buildings. I'm far more interested in building disciples than building buildings.

My goal was to:

  • stretch you spiritually
  • deepen your faith
  • extend your love
  • enlarge your sphere of service
  • build commitment
  • teach you greater levels of sacrifice
  • talk about being Christlike is being a service oriented servant.

You grew in character. It was about building character.

This church obviously will never be the same after this event. You will never be the same after this event. The real miracle was the miracle that happened in the hearts. The issue is what happened in the hearts of people.

What have we learned? As I have read through several testimonies you wrote last week and turned back in, I have seen three recurring themes. Some lessons we've learned about God, some lessons we've learned about ourselves, some lessons we've learned about our church.

The Bible says this:

Remember what you've learned about the Lord through your experiences with Him.

Deuteronomy 11:2

And

Be careful to never forget what you have seen God doing for you. May His miracles have a deep and permanent effect upon your lives. Tell your children and your grandchildren.

Deuteronomy 4:9

God tells us not to forget the things we've learned from experience.

Here's the problem. We all have good forgeters. This is what happened with the Israelites in the wilderness.

They spent forty years in the wilderness in a trip that should have taken only a couple of weeks. They kept forgetting what God had done for them.

God would do a miracle and they'd forget it and then complain...
God would do a miracle and they'd forget it and then act like He had never done anything for them.

God says we are to remember the things we've learned from our experiences.

  • You can go to Bible studies every night of the week and never learn something.
  • You can talk about faith but it's another thing to stretch your faith.
  • You can study about sacrifice in all the small groups and Bible studies but until you sacrifice you haven't learned it.
  • You can talk about giving and generosity and purpose and faith and character but until you act on those things, they're just theory in your life.

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?

I. WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT GOD?

1. God uses whatever I give him.

Notice the Bible says "Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish. He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before the people..."

  1. First the disciples procrastinated. They put off dealing with the problem; they delayed it. Notice: "By this time it was late in the day."
  2. We pass the buck. We blame other people. We say, "It's not my fault. It's all their fault." Notice what the disciples said, "Send the people away." In other words - out of sight, out of mind.
    They're basically saying, "Jesus, we didn't ask these people to come see You. So it's not our responsibility to feed them. They're hungry. Tell them to get lost! Tell them to go into the countryside, find a store, get themselves some food, some dinner. We didn't ask them to come."
  3. We worry about our problems. If you prayed about your problems as much as you worried about them, you'd have an awfully lot less to worry about. We tend to fret and stew and we get anxious and stressed out.
    Notice what the disciples did: They said, Imagine the expense! "It would take eight months of a man's wages!" They did a little cost analysis. Their anxiety goes into overdrive and I can imagine Peter and some of the other guys saying, "Jesus!

2. Building a life of Faith.

What does it take to please God? What would you say?

Some people think that the way you please God is through ritual,
Some people think the way you please God is through rules and regulations,
Some people think that the way you please God is through religion,

  • The Bible says God isn't interested in ritual or rules or regulations or religion. He's interested in a relationship with you. He wants you to learn to trust Him.
  • The Bible says that it is impossible to please God unless you have one thing.

Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

Hebrews 11:6

Build your lives on the foundation of your holy faith.

Jude 1:20

The foundation of a great life is faith.

Faith is believing God is doing something right now, even though I don't see it, that He's working behind the scenes, that the answer is already on its way, that He's moving the pieces into place even as we speak.

3. Building a life of Service.

Whoever wants to become great must be a servant of others.

Matthew 20:26

The Bible says those go together. We all know that great teachers serve their students. We know that great salespeople serve their customers. We know that the key to being a great leader is to serve your followers. The key to being great at anything - a great manager serves the workers or the employees.

God says the way to Up is Down. "What two words best define the Christian life?" Summarize all of Christianity in two words, I would pick the words "give" and "serve". That's what Jesus did.

Jesus said, "For even I didn't come to be served but to serve others and to give my life as a ransom for many." That summarizes the Christian life. Unless I learn how to serve others and unless I learn how to give my life away, I will never be like Jesus Christ.

God says the top priority in your life after loving God and getting to know Him should be serving other people.

It is God who saved us and chose us for His holy work.

2 Timothy 1:9

4. Building a life of Purpose.

IF I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE PURPOSE OF LIFE...

  • Life seems useless.
  • Life seems tiresome.
  • Life seems unfulfilling.
  • Life seems insignificant.
  • Life seems uncontrollable.

Long ago, even before he made the world, God chose us to be his very own through what Christ would do for us... His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us.

Ephesians 1:4-5 (LB)

Here's what God says: God made you to be a part of His family. If you want to know why you're here, God made you to be a part of His family. He made you to have a relationship with you. He made you to love you and to be loved back by Him.

This is his purpose: that when the time is ripe he will gather us all together... to be with him in Christ forever.

Ephesians 1:10 (LB)

5. Building a life of Commitment - The price of Commitment.

In fact, my commitments have three profound affects on my life.

The things I commit myself to... my commitments

1. Show my values. They show what I really think is important. What I really value, what I really love. There is no such thing as love without commitment.

  • The uncommitted life really means nothing is important to me. That's what it means. If you don't make any commitments in life, you're basically saying, "The only thing that's important to me, is me."
  • The uncommitted life in its essence is pure selfishness. It's saying, "I don't consider any one, or any thing, or any cause in life worthy of commitment. I am only committed to me." That's called selfishness.

2. Shape my life. I become whatever I'm committed to. Your life is the sum total of your commitments.

  • If I believe that making money, being well liked and being popular, having a good time is the most important thing in life, then my life will be shaped by that.

3. Determine my destiny.

If you want to be My follower you must love Me more than your own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters - yes, more than your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be My disciple.

Luke 14:26 (NLT)

6. Building a life of Sacrifice - Remembering the Sacrifice of Jesus.

WHY DOES GOD WANT ME TO BE GENEROUS?

  1. GIVING MAKES ME MORE LIKE GOD.
  2. GIVING DRAWS ME CLOSER TO GOD.
  3. GIVING BREAKS THE GRIP OF MATERIALISM.
  4. GIVING STRENGTHENS MY FAITH.
  5. GIVING IS A TEST OF MY MATURITY.
  6. GIVING IS AN INVESTMENT FOR ETERNITY.
  7. GIVING BLESSES ME IN RETURN.
  8. GIVING MAKES ME HAPPY.

Remember the generosity of Jesus Christ...

2 Corinthians 8:9 (Ph)

We aren't saved by knowing the commandments of God because we can't and don't keep them. But God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent His own Son in a human body like ours... and destroyed sin's control over us by giving Himself as a sacrifice for our sins.

Romans 8:3 (LB)

So brothers and sisters, since God has shown us great mercy ... offer your lives as a living sacrifice to Him...

Romans 12:1 (NCV)

7. God is in control.

We've seen God do it over and over, show that He's in control. God has demonstrated it in so many ways - in miracles, in circumstances, in coincidences that happened during the last six and seven weeks, in answered prayers, in lives changed.

The Bible says this, "You are the God of miracles and wonders. You still demonstrate Your awesome power." Why does God still do miracles? To show He's in charge, that He's in control.

"In this way each generation has been able to set its hope anew on God and not forget His glorious miracles." You don't have to base your faith only on the miracles that are in this Bible. God still does them today.

He's done them in my life, your life. I've read stories and stories of what's happened in people's lives as they've seriously considered, "Am I going to be a casual Christian or am I really going to be a committed Christian?" over the last six weeks. When you feel hopeless and when you feel defeated, remember that God is in control.

8. God is working in you for your good.

Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love.

Ephesians 1:4 (Msg)

II. WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT OURSELVES?

1. WE GROW BY MAKING AND KEEPING COMMITMENTS.

I have watched you be stretched and challenged to a deeper level of faith and sacrifice and purpose. As your pastor, I am so proud of you. I've seen the struggle. For many of you this was a very uncomfortable time. Of course it is! Does anybody really like to work out? Do you like to have your muscles ache and be painful as they're stretched? That's no fun. But it's the way you grow.

I've seen you be stretched and I've seen your faith grow incrementally.

Commitment is the foundation of character. It's the starting point for spiritual maturity. It's the mark of maturity. Every time you make a commitment and you keep it, you grow spiritually.

The Bible says this in 2 Chronicles, The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. God is looking for people to use. God is looking for people to bless. The condition is we are not afraid to be fully committed to Him.

Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action is dead.

James 2:17

  • Faith is not something you say.
  • Faith is not something you believe.
  • Faith is not something you think.
  • Faith is not something you feel.
  • Faith is not something you discuss.

Faith is something you do. While many other people, other groups, other ministries discuss faith, at this church we do it. We practice it. We put it into action. Because faith without action is dead.

  • It doesn't count.
  • It's not real faith.
  • It doesn't work.
  • It's worthless.

2. If you never develop a relationship of love with God through Christ, you’ve missed the whole point of life.

Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love.

Ephesians 1:4 (Msg)

III. WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED ABOUT OUR CHURCH FAMILY.

1. THIS IS A HIGHLY COMMITTED FAMILY.

They gave as much as they could and even more than they could. Of their own free will they pleaded for the privilege of having a part in helping God's people. They gave more than we could have hoped for.

2 Corinthians 8:3

That's the attitude we've seen over and over again.

Gene said, "That God will help facilitate programs and teachings that will cause many to accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord. And that he will bring about even greater spiritual and numerical growth."

Kathie said, "That God will increase the size of both LBC and LCA; our youth department, and more people to volunteer."

Paul and Anne said, "they would like to see more money go toward missionaries."

David said, "He is asking God to move each member to pray for God to draw five people, family, and friends, to Himself for their salvation, use their gifts faithful, tithe, and keep on growing."

Debbie said, "That each member would make deeper commitments to Christ in their time."

Goldie and Chuck said, "That God would move more people to go out on visitation and move people to give financially to pay off our mortgage."

John said, "That God would bring another 100 people to the Lighthouse."

Mike said, "That God would energize our church and community through worship events."

2 Corinthians 8:7 says "You people are leaders in so many ways. You have so much faith, so many good preachers, so much learning, so much enthusiasm, so much love for us. Now I want you to be leaders also in the spirit of cheerful giving." That's a true description of Lighthouse and the word will get out.

2. THIS A LOVING AND UNIFIED FAMILY.

The Bible says in Matthew 18 "If two of you on earth agree about anything and ask for it, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven." Obviously God found more than two people agreeing in this church.

Genesis 11:6 says this "The Lord said, 'If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.'" Unity is an irresistible force. And when a church is loving, like you are, and unified, like you are, nothing can stop us. It is unstoppable. The devil might slow us down, but we are unstoppable.

We don't hide it in any way that it is the vision of this church that we intend to impact the entire valley for Jesus Christ. And that's because we're unified. Together we can make that impact. If you haven't joined us, take class 101 and be a member. Your heart is here, your money's here; you might as well be a member.