The Practice of Staying Hungry.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Go ahead and have a seat. Welcome to Village Church. If this is your first time, my name’s Steve. [0:04] I’m one of the pastors here at Village and I am always thankful and grateful to see each and every [0:09] one of you. If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them to 2nd Peter. We’re going to be in 2nd [0:13] Peter chapter 1 this morning, kind of going through part of the Apostle Peter’s introduction [0:21] to the dispersed church at that time. But over the last few weeks, what we’ve been doing is, [0:27] we’ve kind of been laying some groundwork to prepare us to be a church that is passionate

[0:33] about church planting. The fact that when you are in a church, that this is not the ends of [0:41] God’s path, but rather this is the means through which God desires to reach the world with his [0:48] gospel. And that throughout the history of the church, the way in which God has reached the world, [0:53] the way in which disciples have been made is through the process of starting new churches [1:00] all over the world. At one time, there was one church, then that church planted and planted [1:06] and planted, and then we got here. And so we are to continue that tradition. The tragedy

[1:13] is that when we view our lives as the ends of discipleship, and so we spend our lives consuming, [1:21] we spend our lives complaining if there seems to be forward movement because no one’s focusing [1:28] on me, and we want to receive, receive, receive, and eventually what happens to you is you become [1:35] a gluttonous follower rather than a faithful follower. Gluttony isn’t just about food, [1:45] it’s also about the power of God. And so often when we aren’t experiencing the power, [1:53] we blame things that aren’t focusing on our needs enough. But what has happened to you

[1:58] is you’ve programmed your life to only receive and you haven’t lived the life in which God calls us [2:04] to give. See, we receive the power of God in order that we may give it to others. And that is why [2:12] disciples make other disciples. And if you do not have a plan to ever make another disciple, [2:20] I want you to understand you cannot hope to ever be a fully devoted follower of Jesus. [2:27] And so in that, churches plant churches. And then the process for being a healthy church [2:34] is to be a church that desires to multiply into the life of another church. So the way in which

[2:40] God has designed us for discipleship to multiply, God has also designed his church to multiply as [2:46] well. So a church without a vision for church planting cannot hope to be a healthy church. [2:53] It’s impossible. Just like you cannot hope to be a healthy disciple if you don’t plan to make other [2:59] disciples. You must have a hope of becoming more like Jesus to be a disciple. That’s just kind of [3:10] often lost in that process is that we try to do it without a vision of spreading the gospel of [3:17] Jesus to other people. And that is not the way of Christ. See, you cannot hope to follow Christ

[3:24] and not have his passion about spreading the good news of who he is. The design that God has given [3:32] us for loving others is one in which we sacrifice in order that more people may know of who Jesus [3:40] is because that is the pathway that Jesus himself set forward for us. And so in this series, [3:46] we’ve been laying out a vision and a plan for creating environments and rhythms in our lives [3:54] to follow Jesus into that path of mission, into that path of starting new churches that will start [4:02] churches. And so in envisioning this mission, in forming this plan, we cannot neglect the need

[4:11] for endurance. What is missing in many people’s plans for discipleship is what many have called [4:19] stick-to-itiveness. And that you don’t have a plan to endure. You have a plan to be excited. [4:29] You have a plan for everything to go exactly the way that you feel comfortable with it going. [4:35] You have a plan for everything working out exactly as you envision it and exactly according to your [4:44] personality, according to your needs, according to your wants, according to the design that makes [4:48] you feel the feels about Jesus. But what I want to talk to you about this morning

[4:56] is really endurance. And I’ve called it the practice of staying hungry because that is how [5:06] you endure. The problem that many of you have with your relationship with Jesus is that you’ve lost [5:13] your hunger for him. You’ve lost what often many people through the years have called, you’ve lost [5:19] your first love. But really the key is that you decided or circumstances led you to decide [5:27] at some point in your life that you had had enough of Jesus. And you wouldn’t say it that way. [5:38] But what practically has happened in your life, and it doesn’t matter what age you are,

[5:42] you’ve ceased to seek change in your life. You’ve ceased to grow in knowledge or to seek more [5:53] knowledge about God in your life. You’ve ceased to look for where sacrifice can take place in [6:01] your life so that you can empty yourself of you and fill it with more of Jesus. You aren’t hungry [6:11] for God. And I want to talk about today how you can stay hungry or for what I think is probably [6:20] many of you, how you can recover that hunger that God wants you to maintain for your entire life. [6:33] Have you ever had a meal, a physical meal, that was so good that your only regret

[6:41] was that you got full? I know some of you are really healthy and you would say, [6:46] no. 1500 calories a day. Eat a burger at some time. But I have, obviously.

[7:00] Some of you have been with me during some of those meals and you’ve been amazed. But you get, [7:07] and it’s always at a buffet. And you get that last plate and you get about halfway through it and it [7:16] just comes in your mind, this is so good. But I don’t think I can eat any more. It’s almost [7:23] like a tear comes down your eye. Because you want to. You want to. But you’re full and you regret it. [7:31] And you say, I wish I could get more. But see, the key with your spiritual life is an understanding [7:38] that God has not designed you to come to his discipleship buffet and reach a level of fullness

[7:47] to where you say, I just can’t take any more of the Holy Spirit’s power in my life. I’m full. [7:54] I can’t take any more of this Christ-likeness that’s happening to me. I’m full. [8:01] You see, the life of a disciple of Christ is that when you get more of God’s life in you, [8:07] when you get more of being like Christ, when you get more of the Spirit’s power in your life,

[8:15] you only want more. And for some of you, the tragedy of your life is that you do not want more.

[8:26] And I want to warn you this morning that if that is you, then that does not say good things [8:33] about your walk with Christ. Jesus himself said in Luke 21, he said that you will gain life by [8:40] your endurance. In other words, staying hungry over the long haul of your life. And what Jesus [8:47] means by that is that if you are not enduring with faithfulness, with growth, with sacrifice, [8:55] with hunger for more of what God wants to put into your life, then you may not be in Christ at all. [9:04] And I do not want that to be the case with any of you.

[9:08] And I think the apostle Peter gives us some great strategy for this in 1 Peter, excuse me, 2 Peter, [9:17] chapter 1. This is one of my favorite sections of scripture about the issue of life change. [9:26] Because Peter lays out the pathway in specificity to how you can continue to grow in your faith. [9:34] He starts off with the gospel. He said, God’s, in verse 3, God’s divine power has granted us [9:40] all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to [9:47] his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises.

[9:57] So that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature. [10:02] Note that he says may become partakers of the divine nature. He’s talking about growth. [10:09] Having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire, [10:13] for this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith. In other words, [10:18] your faith needs to grow. Supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, [10:24] knowledge with self-control, self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness.

[10:29] And godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love. For if these [10:37] qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful [10:45] in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted [10:53] that he is blind. Having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins, [10:59] therefore, in other words, because this is true, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm [11:06] your calling and election. For if you practice these qualities, you will never fall. And if you

[11:16] won’t, you will. You see, when you read the scriptures, the opposite of what it says is [11:25] also true. And so if by practicing these qualities, you will never fall. If you do not practice [11:34] these qualities, you will. Number one, this morning, you need to stay hungry for a big faith. [11:41] You need to stay hungry for a big faith. Some of you have been followers of Jesus or have [11:49] professed that you are a follower of Jesus for many years. Yet your faith is no bigger than the [11:55] day you came to faith in Christ. And quite frankly, by the way that you live your life and the

[12:00] decisions that you are making, your faith was probably bigger the day that you came to faith [12:05] in Christ than the way you are walking right now. And what I mean to say by that is if that is true, [12:11] that does not say good things about your plight, because that is not the way of Christ. If you note [12:16] something about this passage, you note that he begins with what we have been given in Christ. [12:23] And then he goes on an upward trajectory of how your life is meant to grow in Christ. And he [12:30] continues to add and add and add. That’s why this text is often called the stepladder of faith,

[12:37] because he’s saying that your faith is going to grow as you add these attributes that do belong [12:45] to God, as you add them into your life. And he starts by showing us that we need to have a big [12:54] faith and a big gospel. Note the language that he uses about the gospel of Jesus Christ in this [13:00] He begins by talking about divine power. He’s saying that there is a power that was at work [13:09] in the gospel that has granted to you if you believe in him everything in life and godliness. [13:18] These gifts are yours. Exercise them in your life. Now, 2 Peter is a very short book.

[13:26] It’s not long at all. And in these few chapters, he’s writing to the church what a life looks like [13:34] that is pleasing to God. He’s saying that if you don’t have these things, then you cannot hope to [13:41] please God, because these are the very things that define who God is. You see, many times [13:50] the desire to please God is where we first run into problems.

[13:55] Because we are more interested in pleasing ourselves than we are in pleasing God.

[14:04] So long as you want to please yourself, you cannot hope to grow a big faith, [14:12] because your faith will never grow bigger than you. If you want a big faith, you have to be [14:18] worried about pleasing God. And if you’re worried about pleasing yourself, you’re going to run into [14:22] a problem for two reasons. The first is that you were created to obey God. That’s the design of [14:29] your life. And so you cannot hope to recover what was lost in sin if you do not hope to please [14:38] God through obedience. Because in the gospel, that’s what we’re recovering. The second thing

[14:44] is that you were designed by God to have the most potential for joy in seeking to please Him. [14:51] Do you want to know why some of you are so unhappy? I mean, because I talk to some of you, [14:58] and I never hear a good word come out of your mouth. You’re just negative. The world’s fallen [15:04] apart all around you. Nothing good has ever happened to you. At least that’s the way it [15:10] feels when people talk to you, because all that you have is a negative thing to say.

[15:17] The reason for that is because your life’s no bigger than you. [15:21] And let me tell you something, you’re a terrible God. The reason that your life has no joy in it [15:27] is because you are seeking to find all of your joy in what comes natural to you. [15:33] What comes natural to us is sin. You see, when you seek to put your vision above God’s vision, [15:40] you miss out on the joy that you were designed to have by God. But what’s funny about it is, [15:45] what’s really crazy about it is, is that in your pursuit of joy, you lose all the joy.

[15:52] You were meant to pursue joy in God. And the language that Peter uses here is so big. He [15:59] draws you in with this descriptive language to help you appreciate just what you have received [16:05] through faith in Jesus. That God has granted us this divine power, and we have power to grow [16:10] in knowledge, he says. We have power to grow in our calling, he says. We have power to grow in [16:16] glory. We have power to grow in excellence. This is a big gospel that prompts a big change in [16:24] perspective about who you are and the trajectory that you should be on in your life.

[16:32] Are you passionate about a knowledge of God?

[16:36] You know, I say this, but it cracks me up every year, college football season, NFL season comes [16:42] around, because all those guys that tell me that they are not readers are giving me every stat [16:49] from every player from 17 different teams. Why? Fantasy football.

[16:57] It’s not that you’re not a reader, it’s that you don’t care about God. [17:01] So stop lying to me, and certainly stop lying to yourself.

[17:07] You care more about 20 year olds in tight pants throwing balls around, [17:13] than you care about the God who saves. Tell yourself the truth and stop lying.

[17:21] I can only use sports because I don’t know what women want.

[17:28] I don’t know why you don’t read. I’m just not an expert, but just replace football with something [17:34] else. And I’ll offend you too, somehow. You see, this big gospel demands change. [17:45] You have to change what you are affectionate about so that God can have your affections, [17:51] but you need to build that faith. Note what happens in verse four. Verse four drills down [17:57] into the faith that gives us all of this. He says, we live by faith in very great promises. [18:04] It is in this faith that God has and will deliver on promises that we become partakers

[18:13] of the divine nature. You see, he’s telling you that there is a process by which these promises [18:20] that you trust in build a lifestyle in which you are becoming more like God. So you have the power, [18:30] but you must become a partaker of what the power will do. It is one thing to have power. It is [18:39] another thing to wield that power. And the problem that many of you are facing in your life is that [18:45] all of the power and the potential that the gospel has put into your life is still theory. [18:51] You haven’t wielded any of it. When you wield the power of the divine nature,

[18:59] you will become a partaker of his divine attributes. You see, redemption leads to [19:07] restoration. Redemption leads to restoration. The problem that many people have with their [19:14] Christian life is that you have enough faith to be redeemed. And I talk about this all the time, [19:18] even with current events, is that we have enough faith to believe that God can save a person. [19:24] But the question that 2 Peter is posing to you is, do you have enough faith to believe God can [19:29] change a person? Do you believe that God can take a thief who not only will stop stealing,

[19:38] but will turn his self-centered thieving into selfless giving and generosity? You see, [19:45] that’s the power of the gospel. Do you believe that God can take a sexual deviant and make him [19:52] an agamously faithful to a spouse of the opposite sex? See, I believe the gospel has that much [19:58] power. I believe there’s that much potential in redemption. You see, Jesus is where we bring them [20:04] and then Jesus is who gives them life and power to believe the promises of God to the extent where [20:10] he can restore even the base affections that we define ourselves by in our lives. So whatever sin

[20:18] it is that you struggle with, even if it is simply the sin of apathy,

[20:25] do you have enough faith to believe that God not only wants to redeem you from that sin, [20:31] but he wants you to recover from that sin and he wants to restore you to a life of wholeness in [20:38] which in this world you can experience real repentance to bring God true glory because [20:45] you’re growing in excellence according to his design. See, I believe that the gospel is that [20:53] powerful because your faith is not supposed to be static. Your faith is to be a dynamic power [21:01] in your life. You do not come to faith and then stay in the same status. That is not the gospel

[21:09] of Jesus Christ. Instead, you have the power to build the life of faith that should always be [21:16] growing, always be attaining more and more of the life of God. Do you want to turn away from sin? [21:24] Well, the answer to that is that if it’s yes, you need to build a bigger faith in God. How? He tells [21:31] us. He says grow in your knowledge of God. Grow in your knowledge of God’s promises. Grow in your [21:38] knowledge of God’s actions. Grow in your knowledge of God’s character. Grow in your knowledge of [21:43] God’s history. The follower of Jesus should always be growing in faith through bigger and bigger

[21:50] ways. Note the beginning of verse five. Supplement your faith. Some of the most important words that [22:03] you can read because you treat faith like Yoda treats the force. You believe that faith is this [22:14] object outside of you. It’s some type of substance that just floats around and empowers you when you [22:21] need it. And when you don’t need it, it’s nothing that you need to pay attention to. And when you [22:27] get the sniffles and you’ve got a big meeting the next day, you have big faith. Oh God, heal me.

[22:34] And then after the meeting is over, coast. No, he’s telling you that your faith is something [22:42] that desperately needs to be exercised in your life and needs to be added to by a lifestyle [22:49] of building it more and more. When faith is just something that you leave in the closet like an [22:55] umbrella until a rainy day, you should not expect to meet that rainy day where you need faith with [23:01] a strong enough to face hard times. Faith must be exercised when you don’t necessarily need it [23:11] so that when you do need it, you have strong faith. But faith isn’t just for the hard times.

[23:21] So when everything is going your way, that is when you have the most potential to grow. [23:26] I don’t think we believe that. We believe and we have all these stories about hard times and God [23:32] took us through the hard time and man, he really grew me through this bad thing and that bad thing. [23:38] And those stories are true. They’re absolutely true. Hard times can build your faith, [23:46] but good times can build your faith even bigger because those are the moments where those [23:54] impediments that keep you from accomplishing big things for God are not there. Imagine if you could

[24:02] harness the power of your faith in God to believe that he actually wants you personally to tell [24:10] people about Jesus and they will come to faith in Jesus, to invite people to church where they [24:14] will encounter a life changing and life giving community. Faith is the foundation upon which [24:20] every aspect of the Christian life is built, but it must be built. It is moving. It is dynamic. [24:28] It must grow and you must supplement it over and over to build it in your life so that you can [24:36] continue to get what number two is so that you will stay hungry for a vision for more.

[24:45] You know, God wants you to do that. He wants you to see him work in your life so that you will want him to do even more in your life.

[24:57] You see, the context of second Peter one is the effect of the gospel in your life. If you believe [25:03] in Jesus, this is what is going to happen in your life. There isn’t another way. God saves you by [25:10] his own power and then he works through you in your actions to build your faith in him. [25:17] Where are your actions? What are you investing the most time into in your life?

[25:25] That’s the greatest return that you will ever have.

[25:30] That’s it. What you invest the most time in your life into, that is the best you will ever get out [25:37] of it. So when I see some people investing their time in some things, I just wonder, [25:42] have you really thought 10 years out? Have you really thought about what the outcome of this? [25:49] I mean, Jesus warns us. He says, don’t lay your treasures where moth and rust corrupt, [25:55] but instead invest into eternity where you know the payoff will be great. Your motive must be to [26:03] build your faith in God. And as you grow in your use of God’s power to accomplish his purposes,

[26:09] your faith in him will grow right alongside of it. And verse three, Peter writes that we are called [26:15] to his glory and his excellence. So his glory and his excellence is this thing in which you [26:23] will be like a shaky baby at first. I remember when all three of my kids started walking, [26:29] I thought maybe they had a problem because they could only make it two or three steps and then [26:36] bam, some of the greatest injuries are learning to walk. But then after a while, what do you see? [26:45] I don’t even remember, but I’ve got three kids that can not only walk, but they can even run

[26:51] sometimes. Now, sometimes when they run, they haven’t figured the brakes out yet. That’s the [26:59] most amazing thing to watch a four year old do is not know how to stop. You ever seen that? [27:06] It’s a tragedy to my wife, but to me, it’s like those funny YouTube videos [27:11] where you just know that they’re going to face plant and you should warn them. But then you think [27:18] there’s a payoff of a laugh coming. I don’t know that I want to miss that. Let’s just see how this [27:24] plays out. Let’s see how running down that hill at top speed finishes out.

[27:32] I guess I’m not alone in that, but as you grow, you become a person who can walk at a higher [27:43] quality than you started. Well, so it is with the way of Christ. You will grow in excellence. [27:50] Verses five through seven reflect that glory and that excellence. Virtue in your translation [27:59] is goodness. You will add to your faith, goodness, and you will add to your goodness, knowledge. [28:08] Knowledge of what? Knowledge of God, knowledge of his character, of his work, of his action, [28:14] of his gospel. Then that knowledge will grow and that knowledge of God’s mission will expand

[28:20] and you will then have more control to direct yourself in the right trajectory and endure [28:28] in godliness because your character is expanding to understand God’s endurance. [28:35] You see, you keep staying hungry for God’s love for others. The thing that I see over and over [28:43] is people who are initially excited about God and then it slows down.

[28:52] That commitment that was so sure at first.

[29:00] Well, it’s not working out the way that I thought it would. So I’m just, you know, I’m slowing down. [29:06] You know, I’ll be in service once or twice a month. I’ll come to group once a month. [29:14] You know, at discipleship group I’m a little bit busy.

[29:19] And so you start pulling back, but here’s the key. It’s because you came into it with a false motive. [29:26] What’s the motive in this text? Motive in this text is becoming more like God. [29:32] The motive in this text is that you will become more like Jesus. [29:36] The motive that many of you have is like all of those terrible Christian movies that I’ve seen. [29:43] I just saw one, somebody told me about one recently where like the plot of it basically looks like [29:49] Jesus is great, but marrying a race car driver is that bonus you really needed.

[29:56] And see, they all fall so short because they treat Jesus like if you come to him, [30:03] you will get the spouse that you ever dreamed of. Well, what do you do when Jesus is trying to make [30:07] you like him, but your husband keeps leaving his underpants on the floor?

[30:14] You need to understand you didn’t get into it so that he would pick up his dirty laundry. [30:18] You got into it because God is so great.

[30:23] And that is the only thing that will endure you through the hard times. You want that initial [30:29] moment of excitement to be enough, but you lose vision for what God could do through you because [30:39] it’s too hard or because you were just frankly too sidetracked by the things of this life. [30:48] So you stop showing up. You don’t live God’s mission. You don’t create margin to live out [30:54] this faith. And instead of owning your faith, what I see, see, I never see somebody come to me [31:00] and say, you know what? Jesus just disappointed me. And so I’m not following him anymore.

[31:04] What happens more often than not is that you blame someone else for not doing enough to help [31:10] you grow that someone else will not stand before God with you. Did you know that?

[31:18] Did you know that? The reason is really because if you aren’t growing in God, [31:24] you will have the opposite of what the text calls brotherly affection and love. [31:30] You will only be capable of self-affection and doubt. That is all that you will be capable of. [31:37] But the truth is, is what he’s saying is you need more of God’s love. Note that it culminates in [31:44] not love by your definition, love by God’s definition, because love by your definition. [31:49] And I think you need to note this out in the text, the way it spells out.

[31:53] Your love stops at brotherly affection, usually. But there’s a huge defining element here where he [32:00] says you need to add to your brotherly affection, love. In other words, brotherly affection or your [32:07] love for the guy sitting next to you or your desire for that person to see life change [32:12] is not sufficient. You need what is love to be added to your brotherly affection. [32:19] Note what is said in 1 Thessalonians 3. The apostle Paul writes, he says,

[32:43] You see, the trajectory that he’s talking about here is that love is something that is defined [32:50] by getting God. And he’s saying that the love that we have for you has an agenda and a purpose [32:58] that it will take us to God, that it will give us holiness, that it will give us a righteousness [33:06] that makes us blameless. You see, that is what needs to define. That is what needs to filter. [33:12] That is what needs to be the lens of your brotherly affection, because your brotherly [33:17] affection can become selfish affection very quickly if it is not guided by the truth of the

[33:24] gospel. Some Christians love other people initially, then get disappointed either by [33:33] false expectations or because someone hurt you. See, you need to protect your life from that.

[33:43] You need to build a faith that can endure disappointment with people. If you’ve never [33:49] been disappointed with people, you must have never met many of them. If you’ve never been hurt by [33:56] people, you’ve never been discipled towards people, because people will disappoint you. [34:03] People will discourage you. People will hurt you. People will lash out against you. [34:07] People will do all sorts of things that fall short. You’ll get discouraged and you’ll get hurt. [34:14] How do you guard your life from being sidetracked by that? By supplementing your brotherly affection

[34:21] with love. That’s how. Not love by your design, love by God’s design. And so what you need to [34:29] do is understand that if you aren’t increasing in love, God’s love, gospel love, then you aren’t [34:36] getting these other qualities either, even if you think you are. You are the worst person to tell [34:43] you how you’re doing and growing in Jesus, because you will lie to you. There’s this inner lawyer, [34:54] a defense attorney in our year 24-7. You first talk to him when you look in the mirror that morning [35:01] and you say, that’s not that bad. Probably is, especially if you’re getting older. But the key

[35:09] is that you need people in your life to tell you the truth. That’s the importance of brotherly [35:14] affection. So you need to understand that even if you think you are doing okay, if you are not [35:22] expanding on all of these attributes and have an upward trajectory of faith in Jesus Christ, [35:28] then it’s not going the way that God has designed it for go. And so number three, [35:32] you need to stay hungry to be used by God. You need to stay hungry to be used by God. [35:37] Vision must become action. No, in verses eight through 10, he talks about this hunger for God

[35:45] leading to being used by God. He says that these attributes will prevent you from being [35:52] unfruitful and ineffective. And so you need to have a concern in your life, [35:59] not a worry, not an anxiety, a concern. And that concern is the one that you should take inventory [36:05] all the time. Am I being fruitful for the gospel and am I being effective for the gospel? Because [36:13] Peter is saying that all of these things stand as a testament to keeping you from being unfruitful [36:20] and keeping you from being ineffective to the life that God would have you to grow. And he calls it

[36:27] the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And what he’s saying there is, is if you’ve been given the [36:33] knowledge of Christ, there’s a way to know about Jesus, but never be fruitful for Jesus. [36:39] There’s a way to know about Jesus, but be ineffective for the things of Jesus. And he’s [36:45] saying that you need to wield your knowledge towards fruit and wield your knowledge towards [36:51] effectiveness. He’s directly connecting these ideas that this faith builds a vision that leads [36:59] to action God wants to use you to accomplish his will. Note what he says in verse nine.

[37:05] He says, whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind. And he uses [37:14] the literal language of optics here. And he uses the literal Greek word for nearsightedness. [37:22] He’s saying that you are so nearsighted. In other words, you cannot see past yourself. [37:28] You cannot see what is in the distance to see the vision that God wants to have for you. [37:35] And when you cannot see the vision that God has for you, you cannot hope to put into practice the [37:41] action that God has for you. But there’s another side of nearsightedness as well. And it’s selfishness.

[37:49] He’s saying you are so nearsighted that you are blind, blind to love. That you can’t see past [37:57] your own needs to ever be concerned with the needs of other people. You see the life of a follower [38:05] of Jesus has an upward trajectory of growing to be like God through mind and body. You will catch [38:13] God’s vision and you will do God’s purposes. And God points all of this towards his body. [38:22] Are you more worried about yourself or are you more worried about God? Are you more worried [38:28] about yourself or are you more worried about the people surrounding you? You see those are good

[38:35] definers for how you are doing spiritually. You can truly take temperature of yourself because [38:43] God points all of this towards his mission. You see this is about teaching people how to follow [38:50] Jesus. God wants to grow your faith so that you can have a vision for how you will be used in the [38:57] lives of other people. And when you are used in the lives of other people, look at the New Testament. [39:02] What is the trajectory of every disciple of Christ in the New Testament? It is to build the [39:09] church of Jesus Christ into the lives of more and more people. Do you ever wonder why you aren’t

[39:18] ordering your life so that you can become a leader in the church? Why is it something that you don’t [39:25] aspire to? That’s the thing that always amazes me about spiritual growth. When I was at a very [39:33] young age, I was taught a few things. I was taught Jesus is God. I was taught the Bible is true. [39:43] And I was taught that the church is his body. And so I figured out at a very early age, by the way, [39:49] those are the three mainstays of the New Testament. And I figured at a very young age, [39:56] I said, well, if I’m going to grow when following Jesus, then the only way is to grow in those three

[40:02] things. To worship God more, to know him more through his word, and to build his body through [40:11] my actions. And so when I see people asking how to grow, but avoiding commitment to growing and [40:19] leading the church of Jesus Christ, then here’s the key. You’re missing it. You’re missing it. [40:27] Why are you working so hard at other things, yet so little at building this life for the good of [40:38] others and the glory of God through the body of Christ? You have to ask why all of your attention [40:47] is outside of his body, and so little of it is inside of his body. Look at verse 10. It sums it up.

[40:58] He tells us, therefore, or because all of this is true,

[41:03] be diligent to confirm your calling and election. Be diligent. If you are not interested in the same [41:11] things that God has revealed that he is interested in, then how can you be sure you’ve been called by [41:17] God? How? He wants you to make your calling sure. He says, make sure you’ve been called by God. [41:27] He is specifically saying, pause for a minute [41:34] and be honest with yourself. Where do you see the calling of God in your life?

[41:41] He says, where do you see the redemption of God taking root? And if you don’t see those things, [41:47] why are you so sure? Where are you on this? Is your faith growing? Is your vision for what God [41:57] can do through you expanding? I am more excited about what God can do through me than I’ve ever [42:05] been in my life, not because there is anything special about me, but because I believe in the [42:11] upward trajectory of growing in my faith in God. And as I grow older, my faith needs to grow bigger [42:19] and my vision needs to expand larger to believe that God simply wants to build his body bigger

[42:25] through my participation in it. Where’s your vision? What does God want to do through you? [42:36] Can you point to how God is using you to build his church?

[42:43] He tells us the end. He says, if you practice these qualities, you will never fall. [42:52] There are two things at play in that part. First, it’s an encouragement. It’s a promise.

[43:04] It’s this simple. If you follow Jesus, you’ll never fall. If you follow Jesus, [43:13] you get God. If you follow Jesus, you will inherit the promises of God. You will be conformed to the [43:22] image of Christ. But secondly, there’s a warning. Correct the course.

[43:34] Some of you are not following him and you need to change your trajectory. [43:39] God has an amazing mission for you to live, but you need to change for it to happen. For all of us, [43:46] we need to follow Jesus and love each other and build his church. Now, over the past two years, [43:55] God has called us as a church. The elders are all in agreement. The leaders are in agreement that [44:03] God has called us to plan a church. And so if you’re in here and you’re going to be part of the [44:08] church plan, I actually want you to come forward right now. I want you to come and I want you to

[44:14] stand up at the front with me. Well, down here. It’s hard to get up here. The air is very thin. [44:21] I want you to come down. Don’t run, but you could move faster.

[44:34] And here’s what I want you to understand about what’s going on right here.

[44:40] Is that this is a team of people. We don’t do anything alone here at Village. We do everything [44:46] by team. We do everything together because our brotherly affection has to be guided by the love [44:53] of God. And here’s what I want you to understand about these people is that we gave them an idea [45:00] that we wanted to plan a church and we said we need some help because we can’t do it alone. [45:04] And we want to see God’s vision for us expand. And these people said either I live in Chester. Can [45:10] you help us reach people in Chester? Or they said, you know what? I just want to help you for a few

[45:15] months so that we can replicate, so that we can multiply. And I’m just going to go, even though [45:20] it’s further away, so that I can train people how to do things. And here’s what I want from you in [45:26] this. Next Sunday, we’re going to have our first weekly worship service in Chester. I have never [45:34] been excited and more excited in my life. I’m more excited about this than I was nine years ago [45:42] when I was one week away at this point, Labor Day weekend, to start public services of Village [45:48] Church as a whole. The reason is, is because we are multiplying. God is reproducing us in Chester.

[45:59] Now these people aren’t leaving. They’re still going to stay in the same houses, I assume.

[46:05] And so they’ll still be around for you to love on them. But I’m going to ask that this week, [46:10] and I want you to always pray for them, but specifically this week, I want you to pray that [46:16] Holy Spirit would empower these people for the mission at hand. Because discouragement always [46:23] comes whenever you choose to obey God. And I want you to pray they would stay encouraged. I want you [46:31] to pray that they would stay emboldened to invite people. That they would stay passionate about [46:38] growing in faith in Jesus Christ. Because we are commissioning them right now to take the gospel

[46:45] of Jesus Christ to a growing area just south of our immediate community. Now Pastor Clint and KJ, [46:55] who’s our church planting apprentice, they’re going to lead it out. If you’re worried about [46:59] those people, don’t be worried about those people. They’ve got great disciple makers leading them. [47:04] Wonderful guys that are going to lead that campus. And I’ll be preaching a lot of times. [47:08] That’s about all I’m good for.

[47:12] But God is going to do a work through these people. And here’s what I want you to note. [47:18] He wants to do that same work through you right here. God’s not done here. God has so much more [47:25] he wants to do here. We are the foundation of what is going to become, I believe, a church planting [47:32] movement all over central Virginia and beyond. And I want you to get excited about that because [47:40] you are an integral factor in doing this. Can you pray with me right now? Father, [47:50] Lord, I believe that you want to reach people with your great gospel, with your divine power

[48:01] that grants to us all things to your glory and to your excellence. [48:10] Lord, we’ve got people young, we’ve got people older, we’ve got kids, we’ve got moms and dads. [48:18] I’m sending my kids. And I pray right now that this week that you would use your word [48:27] to give each person up here a reminder of growing in faith, a reminder of your power. [48:39] Lord, in John 14 and in John 16, you told us that the Holy Spirit would remind us of everything [48:45] that you’ve taught. I believe that for everybody up here. Lord, we send them even a short distance.

[48:52] And I pray that you would do a work in Chester that builds our faith as long as it gives faith [49:00] to other people. And Lord, I pray also for Midlothian. Help us to be faithful senders. [49:10] Help us to not get discouraged, but to use this as a vision giver so that we would look into our [49:18] lives and say, Lord, more of you, less of me every single day. God bless these people. [49:29] In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen. Thank you guys. Now, as the band comes up,

[49:37] I want you guys to stand with me right now. And I want to commission you, those of you that are [49:44] Midlothian, I want you to understand that God wants to build our church. God wants you [49:53] to stay hungry for what he could do. I think there are people in here that you’re a follower [50:00] of Jesus, but you’ve lost your hunger. You’re a follower of Jesus, but I believe that you’ve [50:07] never thought through that God wants to do an amazing work through your life for his mission. [50:14] You can’t say that after today because I’m just straight up telling you that

[50:19] God wants to do more through you. God wants to build more faith into you. God wants to see more [50:26] obedience out of you. God wants to see more sacrifice from you. God wants to do amazing [50:34] missional activity through every single one of you. And it is up to you to have a vision for [50:42] 2 Peter 1 to do it. As you worship him right now through song, give your life to him in worship.