The Chosen

11/2/2017

Last Sunday’s Grand Opening Service was powerful! And the Harvest Fest was a blast! It was great meeting several families from the community and simply showing them they are welcome and loved by God.
Pastor Juan wrapped up Missio Dei - The Mission Series.
What’s God’s mission about?
1- The mission of God is about commitment. Without commitment, we will not be focused on the mission.
2- Commitment is fueled by our compassion for others. At core of this mission, compassion resides.
3- God’s Mission is about being concerned. Who are you concerned about?
4- The mission of God is about being commissioned.
The moment you become a follower of Christ, you are appointed, and given a directive to go and make disciples. This is the reason why the last step in our discipleship process is to GO. (Gather, Grow, Give, and GO)
This takes obedience. Today, the word obedience seems to be a 4-letter word in our degenerated culture.
Your commitment to God is as good as your obedience to His commission.
The moment you became a follower of Jesus, you were commission and chosen to be a representation of what God has been in your life.
“Obedience is an act of faith; disobedience is the result of unbelief.” -Edwin Louis Cole
The moment you decide that you are going to be obedient to God, is the moment you have decided to enhance your faith.
A faith that moves mountains, requires focused obedience.
Many times, we tell God to move this mountain in our life, but when God says, “Ok, then trust me with this thing you don’t want to let go,” we take several steps backward.
God is more concerned about your growth than he is about your grumble.
He uses your obstacles (Mountains) to create obedience that leads to faith.
"“You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you."John 15:16
You are chosen! That alone should make you feel awesome! God has chosen you!
However, obedience is attached to God choosing you. You were chosen for a purpose… To bear fruit!

Missio Dei is God’s self-revelation as the One who loves the world and is actively involved in and with the world, it embraces both church and world, and the church is privileged to be called to participate in God’s mission.
God is saying I have chosen you to carry out this mission! Me?! Yes you?!

God is known to equip and use unlikely people. The mission dei is not a popularity contest, it’s an obedience challenge.
Take Moses for example! There’s a lesson that we can learn from the life of Moses.

The one whom God chose to lead His people out of slavery in Egypt into freedom in the land of promise.  Moses. The one who had a stuttering problem became the person that God used to be the spokesperson and the leader of a whole nation!
In biblical history, God chose many who might seem unlikely candidates, not only to their contemporaries but to us today and to themselves as well. “Why me, Lord?” But “God calls and equips ordinary people to fulfill his plans for them.” (An Unlikely Leader, 2011)
History shows us that not all who have become great people of influence started off looking like they would attain such status.
• Albert Einstein was four years old before he could speak and seven before he could read.
• Ludwig Van Beethoven music teacher once said of him, “As a composer, he is hopeless”.
God’s invitation, God’s call,  God’s commission came unexpectedly to Moses.  He, himself, knew hundreds of reasons why God should not choose him.  In fact, his essential message to God in reply was, “Here I am, please send Aaron.” In his mind,there was too much past failure to overcome. What is a past failure that keep you from your future success?

The difference between ordinary people who did extra ordinary things, is that they obeyed an extra ordinary God!
What is God calling you to do that is causing you to stretch your comfort zone?

Join us again Sunday for word, worship and fellowship! Bring a friend!