What if the assumptions you have about church right now are completely untrue. What if they are actually what’s keeping you from what God has always wanted for your life. What if church was never about a building or a service but God has a much bigger purpose not only for his church but for you? We’re getting the bottom of these questions in this video!

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MESSAGE NOTES

Ultimately, what we’re asking is what God thinks about people who don’t love him back. Everyone loves the people who love them but what do we do with those who don’t? God’s posture toward them should be our example to follow toward them. 

 

Today, I want you to see that God is focused outside of himself, that Jesus is the ultimate proof of God’s intention to reach outsiders and that he’s called all of us to hold that same posture, as a church and individually.

 

  1. GOD SEARCHES (because he’s outwardly focused)

 

  • WE are the ones who walked away from God, not the other way around
  • God would have been justified to simply wipe us out and start over
  • BUT he came looking for us and even created a path for us to come back

 

[Genesis 22:18]

“And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed…””

 

[Isaiah 49:6]

“He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.””

 

 

[Jeremiah 32:27]

““I am the Lord, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?”

 

[1 Timothy 2:3-4]

“This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.”

 

2. JESUS SAVES (Jesus is proof)

 

[Mark 2:13-17]

“Then Jesus went out to the lakeshore again and taught the crowds that were coming to him. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Levi got up and followed him.  Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.)  But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum? ”  When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

 

 

[Matthew 4:19]

“Jesus called out to them, ‘Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!’”

 

“The closer we get to Jesus, the more focused we are on those farthest from him.”

 

3. CHURCH SENDS (Church is God’s instrument to reach out)

 

[Matthew 28:18-19]

“Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations…

 

[Acts 1:8]

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

 

Rick Warren said that “the way you store up treasure in heaven is by investing in getting more people there!”

 

 

[Acts 13:47]

“For the Lord gave us this command when he said, ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.’ When the Gentiles (outsiders) heard this, they were very glad, and thanked the Lord for his message: and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers.”

 

Three Reasons You Won’t Prioritize this:

  1. You’d rather keep things safe and comfy
  2. You are a little scared of this
  3. Maybe you have bad theology 🙂

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Application Questions

1. What stood out to you from this message and why?

2. What is one thing God is telling you to START doing because of this message?

3. What is one thing God is telling you to STOP doing because of this message?

4. How will this message change how you act at home, work and in the your relationships?