New Day Christian Church - Weston, WI

Go Forth! Part Four, Open the Door

THIS WEEK: Go Forth! Part Four, Backyard Missions Launch (Revelation 3:14-21)

Church so often is thought of as a building or as a Sunday morning event, as in, “I’m going to church.” God’s plan for the Church is so much bigger! Thank God that He invites us to be part of His ongoing mission to bring beauty, redemption, hope and love to the world. While Backyard Missions is a week-long service initiative, we believe God will use it to change our hearts forever.

KEY VERSE: Revelation 3:20 (NLT)  “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.

BIG IDEA: We each need to humbly and honestly say to Jesus: “I’m not GOOD. You are GOD. COME ON IN.”

Go Forth Part 3: This Makes Jesus Worth Following

People from all over heard about the message and the miracles of Jesus.  Times have changed a lot since then, right?  Maybe not so much.  Let's consider what it would look like if peopl experienced the message of the Gospel and themiracles of God in our modern context.

Matthew 4:23-25

²³ Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. ²⁴ News about him spread as far as Syria, and people soon began bringing to him all who were sick. And whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed—he healed them all.²⁵ Large crowds followed him wherever he went—people from Galilee, the Ten Towns, Jerusalem, from all over Judea, and from east of the Jordan River.

 

Go Forth! Part Two, Gone Fishing

Go Forth! Part Two, Gone Fishing (Matthew 4:12-22)

God has prepared us to go forth into our community with good news and with love. We’ll see how Jesus did this as we continue in Levi’s Gospel (the book of Matthew), and we’ll hear from a Wisconsin couple who followed the call of Jesus to reach people in Liberia, Africa. Mark and Peggy from Teamwork Africa make their first trip back to New Day after moving their family to Liberia last year.

KEY VERSES: Matthew 4:19-20 (NLT) 19  Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 20  And they left their nets at once and followed him.

Go Forth! Part One, Too Good Not To Share

As we come to the point in the Book of Matthew (Levi's Gospel) when Jesus started His public ministry, we are going to follow Him out into our own community - to Love people enough to start a conversation, to Listen to them more than we talk, to Discern their openness, and to Respond as the Holy Spirit Leads.

KEY VERSE: "These were his instructions to them: "The harvest is great, but the workers are few.  So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields." - Luke 10:2

Levi’s Gospel: Your Life in Context

Temptation is not a sin. What we do in response to temptation is what either makes us stronger or derails us from a healthy path. Jesus was tempted to operate outside of God’s mission for His life, a temptation we face every day in a thousand ways. He resisted temptation by recognizing how His life fit into the bigger picture. We must follow the example Jesus set.

Matthew 4:3-4 (NLT) 3  During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4  But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

BIG IDEA: When you take a TEXT out of CONTEXT (the bigger picture), you are left with a CON. The same thing happens when you see your LIFE outside the context of God’s STORY.

Reflect on Your Life within God’s Plan

• What is the PURPOSE for which God created people (including you!) in His image?
• What is God’s CALL--His “marching orders”--for your life?
• What GIFTS has He given you to accomplish your purpose and call?

Try putting your answers above together into a personal Statement of Call: “My purpose is… God has called me to… God has gifted me to…” Let your statement come into clearer focus over time as you listen to God through Scripture and prayer.

Levi's Gospel: Great Joy

When Jesus was baptized, God proclaimed that Jesus brought Him great joy.  What about us?  What would it take for God to say the same of us?  The truth will give you more to celebrate this Father's Day.

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NLT) 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

Connecting Jesus and John’s Ministry

The Trinity is Seen

Fulfilling Old Testament Prophecy

Expanding what Baptism Means

Be Holy

Disciples are continuously maturing. We learn to think and act more like Christ. But if none of us can be perfect, what did the Apostle Peter mean when he told early disciples, “you must be holy in everything you do”?

I Peter 1:13-16

Live For The MOMENT You Will SEE Jesus FACE To FACE!

  “Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but He has not yet shown us what we shall be like when Christ appears. But we do know we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as He is pure.”  I John 3:2-3

 Understand How We GROW in CHRIST LIKENESS.

  “If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it is not looking for Him and doesn’t recognize Him. But you know Him, because He lives WITH you now and will be IN you later on.”    John 14:15-17

Understand the CALL of God to HOLINESS!

  “For God saved us and CALLED us to live a HOLY LIFE. He did not do this because we deserved it, but because that was His plan before the beginning of time---to show us His grace through Jesus Christ.”      II Timothy 1:9

Levi’s Gospel: Real vs. Religious

Some people say, “I am spiritual, but I’m not religious.” Maybe that’s because we expect “religious” people to be judgmental hypocrites. Or maybe it’s because “spiritual” is very vague, so it can mean whatever we want. At New Day, our goal is not squishy spirituality or rigid religiosity; our mission is to make disciples. Disciples are real people who really follow Jesus. Levi, a disciple of Jesus, recorded some events that show us just how important it is to God that we get real.

Matthew 3:8 (NASB)  Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;

Matthew 3:8-9 (NLT) 8  Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. 9  Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.  

BIG IDEA: Religion without real repentance is not at all impressive to God.

Questions for Consideration and Discussion

What are some of the ways we tend to use religious busyness to feel safe from God?

Why do you think confessing your sinfulness is an important part of repentance?

What are some ways real repentance shows in your attitude and your actions?

Levi’s Gospel: Some Trust in Chariots

Joseph and Mary were put in a position of danger when the military that was supposed to protect them was instead directed to hunt them. Even as humans and human institutions are unreliable, God is at work. His purposes will not be undone. God invites us to trust Him through times of fear, danger and uncertainty.  

Psalm 20:7 (NIV)  Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

Matthew 2:13 (NLT)  After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

Levi's Gospel: Pocket Change

While people in the first century didn’t agree on what the Messiah would be like, they agreed that He would bring change. Some of the important changes Jesus makes are in our own hearts. Levi (a disreputable tax collector who became a disciple) challenges us to consider whether or not we are open to to the renovations He wants to make in us.

Matthew 2:11 (NLT)  They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.