"Our State of Mind"
Exodus 2:11, 3:1-7, 10
Sunday, June 17, 2012

Introduction: I have to confess to you that probably the toughest part of the week for me is Monday morning. I come into the office knowing that there are many things to do; people to see and visit, meetings to prepare for and attend, studies to teach. But it is also challenging because I come into my office, turn on my computer, click on a new document, and wonder what I am going to say in my next sermon. Now I always have a title and a scripture to get me started, but it is a big responsibility to have the role of preaching every week. So I take it seriously, and with humility. I want to make sure that I am speaking the words God wants me to say. I want to challenge, and encourage, and lead, and teach. I know that this time we have together each week is a valuable time for changing and transforming our lives for God. This meeting together each week as a church is important!!

I.                   The Function of the Church- (1 Corinthians 12:4-7)

a.      The local church- So I think we need to understand that the local

church, this church we belong to, is greatly important. It is important first, because it is the most leadership intensive enterprise in society. Look at the structure of the church. You have a few paid employees, but you have many volunteers. And in this volunteering, people have an opportunity to lead, and teach, and gain leadership skills. There are very few places in society where you can practice leading even when you haven’t acquired the skills yet for that particular kind of work./  But in the church you can./   Second, there is great sacrifice. When people volunteer, they sacrifice their time. It is said now that time for people is even more valuable than money. So when people give up their time to work in the church, they are making a sacrifice. But it is a sacrifice of love. And because of this leading and sacrificing, the church is still the greatest institution in making a difference in our world. We should never discount the importance of the local church. There is no church too small that it can’t make a difference, not just for God, but for the community in which it resides.

b.      The spiritual gift- In 1 Corinthians 12:4-7, the apostle Paul reminds

us: “⁴There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. ⁷Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” /  There is no better place than the church to seek to know and use our spiritual gifts. And yet there are a couple of challenges in this. The first challenge is the fact that many people don’t try to know what their gifts are, or if they know, they don’t always seek to use them. When we don’t use our gifts, which the Bible tells us is for the common good, we keep much good from happening in and through the church. But the second challenge is that often times the church undermines the expression of people’s gifts. Meaning that we don’t find the ways to help people put their gifts to use. The best way for a church to do this is to start new ministries based on the gifts of its members. This not only gives new opportunities for ministry, it also expands the impact of the church.

c.      Leading and being led- Over the years I have talked a lot about

leadership. I have expressed what for most of us is a new definition of leadership. Let me share that definition again: Leadership is having influence in the life of another. And while it is true that we all can be leaders, it is equally true that there are times when there is one leader, or a small group of leaders, and there are also those who follow. In this situation, being the leader does not make one better than those who follow, but there are times when it is bad to have too many leaders. In fact, most people in a church love to be led. Most people do want to have a strong leader who helps them to hear and know the call, and to move forward in that call. If you have too many people trying to play the role of leader in this scenario, you could have chaos and confusion. So there are times when God calls for those with the gift of leadership to step forward and lead. That is why I appreciate the Nominating Committee, because together we seek to discern who we believe God is calling to help lead this church. It is an endeavor that is taken with seriousness and prayer. It is an endeavor that requires a listening ear and a humble spirit. It is an endeavor that if employed right, sets the church in the right direction.

d.      Hope for the future- But all the more I believe that the church, more

than any other institution, is the hope of the world. Now this is an interesting state-ment considering that church attendance is going down in our society. It is an interesting statement when you see people searching for religious understanding in so many places other than the church. But just because we see this happening, doesn’t mean that the church can’t still play a big impact in our world. In fact, it should challenge us all the more to find ways to connect our church with our community and our world. A while ago we did a Bible Study series on a book called “The Present Future.” It is about the church learning how to transform herself to be relevant in an ever-changing world. It is about the church accepting the challenge to find new ways to reach out with the message of Jesus Christ, because we believe we have such an important message that needs to get out.

Did you know that during times of crises and disaster, the local churches have as big if not a bigger impact in people’s lives than organizations like the Red Cross and others? We have to believe in the local church, and continue to make the commitment to do what we need to do to make a difference and continue to proclaim the hope that is found in God! We have to rise up together and show this message of hope by the way we live our lives (as people who are saved) and by the way we love others.

II.                The Function of A Leader- (Exodus 2:11, 3:1-7, 10, 16-22)

And yet, having said all of that, let me now turn back to the idea of how each

one of us is a leader, and needs to be a leader. A leader helps to cast a vision, build teams to carry out that vision, and by carrying out the vision, bring in needed change. And so we have to believe that each of us is capable at any time of casting a vision from God. We have to believe that each of us can see a part of what God is calling us to do, and how this can fit together with the role of the church.

a.      Cast vision- So it starts with seeing the vision that God has for each

one of us. And there is a vision for each of us. But how do we know what it is? It actually is fairly simple to discover it. You discover it by asking yourself a question: “What stirs me up?” In Exodus 2:11-12, we read, “11 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.” /    

            You see here that Moses saw an Egyptian beating one of his own people. He also noticed that nobody was doing anything about it. It bothered him so much that he acted upon it. Unfortunately, he did not choose a good way of dealing with it, because he killed the Egyptian. But the point is that he was stirred up by the abuse he saw taking place. We see God using this later when Moses encounters God in the burning bush. God knows that seeing the Hebrews suffer disturbs Moses. And so God sends Moses on a mission to free the Hebrews from the Egyptians./     

EX. You may remember the cartoon “Popeye the Sailor Man”? In almost every episode of this cartoon, Popeye’s girlfriend Olive Oil would get picked on. Popeye would try to deal with the situation, but always got turned away. Finally he would get to the point where he would say: “That’s all that I can stands; I can’t stands no more.” Then he would eat his spinach, which would make him strong, and he would take care of the situation.

            In each one of us there is something that causes us to stir. To cast a vision about it we need to understand what that one thing is. We have to let it cause us to say: “That’s all that I can stands; I can’t stands it no more,” and then act upon it. In this way we cast a vision for a ministry to happen! For me, it is seeing how people are so lost without Jesus in their life. This has led me to become a minister, and seek to find ways to care for people in the name of Jesus, and speak often about the love of Jesus!

            When David, in the Old Testament, heard Goliath trash talking his God, he got to that place where he couldn’t stand it anymore, and acted on behalf of God. When Martin Luther King Jr. couldn’t stand the racial oppression anymore, he was led to speak and act against it.

SO WHAT IS THIS AREA THAT YOU CAN’T STANDS NO MORE  (Homelessness, hunger, poverty, abuse, racial injustice)?

b.      Build teams- In Exodus 3:16ff, when God was sending Moses off, He

told Moses to go and assemble the elders of Israel for this task./   This reminds us that once you have a vision, the next step is to build a team through the church, because when we do it together, more can get accomplished than trying to do it by ourselves. And most often this might mean starting a new ministry.

That is why a team is important, because we can work together to get the resources we need to move the vision forward. With more bodies you have more ideas, more energy, more time at work to make the vision happen. You can begin to seek out others who might have this same passion and desire. And there is joy in the activity because you are using your passion and giftedness for the kingdom of God. And like Moses, David, Martin Luther King Jr. and others, God will bless your efforts and bring hope to those who are struggling to have hope; bring love to those who don’t feel loved.

c.      Leading change- This all will lead to change. It could be a small

change, like helping one family get back on their feet.     EX. I remember a situation when I was in Colorado. One of the families in our church was struggling. The mother was sick and couldn’t do much, and the father was going to school while trying to work. He was almost done with his schooling, which would allow him to get a better job and provide better for his family. He came to me one day and told me he couldn’t pay his house payment that month (his payment was only $300.00). So I decided to take this to our men’s ministry, and that morning I raised $350.00 ($300.00 went to the rent and the other $50 went for food). Soon after that he finished school and got a better job!

Or it could be a big change, like changing policy that helps people to get more help. The result shouldn’t be your goal as much as trying to make a difference in this area that God has led you to. And by moving forward on this vision, others will come alongside, and some will even branch off to other ministries they feel passionate about.

III.             The Function of A Committed Life- (2 Chronicles 16:9; Luke 10:1-2; Ex. 4:1-5)

In 2 Chronicles 16:9 we are told: “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout

the entire earth, to strengthen the entire earth…” God is looking for people who will go out in His name to strengthen people for Him. Remember Jesus, with a heavy heart told His disciples in Luke 10:1-2 “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”/  

a.      What’s in your heart- God is looking for people like you and me to do

His work. God is looking for us to be committed to Him. The most powerful prayer we can pray is this: “God, use me.” That’s it:         “God, use me.” Because when you are willing to commit yourself to God in this way, God will use you in powerful and wonderful ways.

So as we get to this point and have seen the function of the church and the function of a leader. Each of us needs to understand our place in all of this. And to fulfill our place, we must make that commitment to God, by saying: “God, use me.” But for God to use us, we have to evaluate ourselves with this question: “What is in my heart?” /  God wants us to have a heart like His. God wants us to see the world the ways He sees it. God wants us to use our resources the way He gave them to us to be used.

            King Solomon was the richest, most famous, most intelligent king there was in all of the Bible. And yet, even with riches and fame and intelligence, he prayed this prayer to God in Psalm 72:1-4, ^“Endow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness. He will judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice. The mountains will bring prosperity to the people, the hills the fruit of righteousness. He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush the oppressor.” / We see here that Solomon’s desire was to serve God by serving those who were afflicted and needy. Solomon was one who committed himself to being used by God. Solomon’s heart was one that sought to see what God saw, and feel what God felt, and act in the ways God would act. Our state of mind must be the same. God, use me.

b.      What is in your hand? We don’t have to have the fame, the riches, the

power, or the intelligence of Solomon to do this. We just have to have a willing heart. Because God can do great things with a willing heart. The beauty of all of this is that God uses what we already have. When Moses was concerned with being taken seriously, God asked Moses this question: “What is in your hand?” Moses answered: “A staff.” Moses had a simple shepherd’s staff with him. God wanted to show Moses that it wasn’t what you had, but the fact that he had God with him. So God went on to tell Moses that the staff would be what God used to do great things through Moses. Now it is important to understand that God doesn’t do miracles to show off, but to make a point. And so everything that God would do through Moses and his staff would be to make the point that God can use whatever we have, to do his works; we just have to be willing and committed.

            So God tells Moses to lay down his staff and God will make it come alive. And when Moses lays down the staff, it becomes a snake. And as the time goes on, God uses Moses’ staff to turn the water into blood, to split the Red Sea, to make water come out of a rock. This simple “STAFF” becomes “the rod of God.”

            God asks us the same question: “What is in your hand?” We may say, “I have a car, but it doesn’t work too well.” Or we may say, “I have a talent for cooking.” Or we may say, “I have a little money, but hardly enough to live on.” And God says to us: “LAY IT DOWN, AND I WILL TAKE IT UP AND DO MIRACLES!!”

EXAMPLE- I have here 10 coins. And let’s say God

asks me to give 1 away. How many do I still have? Nine, right.

Nine coins is still a good amount. The Bible tells us

that we are to give one tenth of what we have away, and that

the 9/10’s that we have left will be enough to care for our needs,

while the 1 we gave away will be multiplied to make miracles

happen as the church ministers to others for God.

            It may be $1 of every ten you have. It may be a tenth of your time to service for God in some way. It may be something else that you possess. But be open to those times when God asks you to use what you have so that He might do a miracle through you.

Conclusion: What is in your heart? Hopefully it is a desire to pray: “God, use me.” And what is in your hand? For each of us it is different. But whatever it is, if we lay it down, God will lift it up and do miracles with it!! Whatever we commit to God, God will use. I pray that Our State of Mind is becoming more and more like God’s each day. The way to become like Christ is to give. Let us seek to give this day, this month, this year. Amen.