Growing Our Faith Faith To Fulfill The Vision (Part 6)

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1 Mailing Address: PO Box 797 Molalla, OR Phone: Fax: Pastor Dale Satrum Growing Our Faith Faith To Fulfill The Vision (Part 6) Intro: I took a little journey down memory lane this week. I found an old file folder with notes from leadership meetings back in (share) Then, I looked at some old pics. (Show) God was reminding me just how much He has fulfilled in 9 years. He was also reminding to keep living by faith because there is so much left to be fulfilled. For 9 years, our vision has been the same. Foothills exists to reach the 1000 s of unchurched people in our geographic area with the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ and to equip them to experience His presence and demonstrate His power. God didn t give us this vision to just talk about it; He gave us this vision to fulfill it! We need a faith that will fulfill what God has called us to be as a people. What does a fulfilling faith look like? We need our faith to maintain 3 key ingredients. Today we take a giant step forward towards fulfillment! (In 9 years, I want to be amazed again!) I. A Faith That Lifts Jesus Up John 12:32 And if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself. (NASB) Jesus was lifted up on the cross, but we have a responsibility to continue lifting Him up in a community. A. Our faith must elevate Jesus in this community ** When Jesus is elevated in a community, people are drawn to Him. 1. Trusting God for the purchase of this complex is elevating Jesus in the eyes of other people. How so? Because we re saying that our God is big enough to do this and our hope is in Him for it. (He s the reason!) 2. When we trust God for big things; when we follow God in big ways, when we sacrifice willingly for His vision, we are elevating Him. We are communicating His value / importance / significance / worth. We are saying that He is real and we are willing to stake our lives and finances on it. 3. A faith that lifts Jesus up is always a risk taking, sacrificial type of faith. This was Jesus example. In John 12 He is referring to the crucifixion. He is referring to His sacrificial faith to save us all. He went to the cross for us! 4. This is why believers who are not willing to embrace risk or sacrifice never lift Jesus up. They re too busy lifting themselves up / their own agenda / Page 1 of 1

2 their own purposes / they re own importance / too busy playing it safe! 5. By sacrificing for the purchase of this building, we are saying that Jesus is real here and He is doing something of significance, and we are a part of it. 6. This purchase gives you opportunity to talk about the reality of Christ to other people who don t understand this. It gives you the opportunity to elevate Jesus to believers and unbelievers alike! 7. Talk about your love for Him. (It was Valentine s Day Wed.) Today, you can turn in your commitment Card and indicate you love Him first. You are lifting Jesus up! B. Our faith to purchase multiplies opportunities to elevate Jesus How so? 1. First, let s understand the community we re supposed to elevate Jesus in. (Share Molalla area statistics / demographic info.) - Molalla School District 2900 students! - Elementary 440 / Middle 680 / HS 908 = 2028 in town!!! - Molalla area projected growth mile = mile = 46,000+ We have a responsibility! We are called to reach these people! 2. Secondly, let s understand what hindrances are keeping us from lifting Jesus up? (Share hindrances Parking / classroom space / lease increases / resource center / Do you realize that we have stopped growing numerically? I can t begin to tell you how much this frustrates me! It s contrary to the vision! We are Pioneers not Settlers! It s time to get past the hindrances! 3. Thirdly, we need to personalize this. This is why we are willing to sacrifice having more stuff so that people come to Christ. What s it worth seeing people rescued out of the kingdom of darkness and transferred into Jesus Kingdom light? Is our focus on accumulating more possessions or accumulating more people into the Kingdom of God? By purchasing this building we are saying that we are Kingdom minded people and our goal is to elevate Jesus in this community as much as we can by having more space to multiply opportunities to reach these people! II. A Faith That Shines Publicly Matt. 5:16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. (NLT) A. Our faith motivates us to multiply good deeds publicly 1. God wants this church on display for all the community to see. He wants us shining publicly. We are not a church who hides behind the safety of it s Page 2 of 2

3 walls. We embrace the needs of our community. 2. One of the ways we do this is to develop ministries for needs in our community. We see a community need, we rise up and meet that need. This is part of our vision and calling as a church. 3. Our current facility is actually limiting the amount of good works we can do for the kingdom of God in our community. It is hindering the vision God gave to us because of space. 4. Yet, this property is strategically located for the purposes of God. I believe God put us in the center of town for a reason. He wants everyone to see. He wants us on display so He can show a community who He is. 5. For us to be channels of God s transformation, we need to be in the community He is transforming. We want people to see the reality of Jesus up close and personal! 6. What good deeds / what ministries need to multiply? Our children s ministries Our youth ministries Our Sunday morning ministries (parking / classrooms / nursery) Our Resource Center Our Equipping / educational ministries WHY do we need to multiply ministries? B. Our public faith will draw people to God 1. This is what Jesus said in Matt 5! They will observe the good works we do for the Kingdom, and the result will be that people turn to God. 2. I have already had conversations out in the community about this. I ve had people say, Why do you guys do that? Why aren t you guys the typical church? (Testimony Time!!!) Lisa and I at Carl Jr. s last week. Share 3. This community needs to see something it has never seen before. A group of people radically committed to Jesus Christ and compassionately committed to reaching out to a hurting community. 4. When we help the homeless and hungry / when we work with the addicts / when we give hope to the abused / when we provide safe places for the children / when we reach out with compassion rather than condemnation, people believe that God just might be real! 5. The purchase of this property allows us to go public with our faith even more then we are now. It allows us to embrace this community even more. It allows us to tell people that God has given them a safe place to come and be healed. 6. God s not giving us this building for us. He s not giving us this property so we can be more comfortable. He s giving us this building for the community! So they can observe what things God does through us and be drawn like a magnet to Jesus! Page 3 of 3

4 A Faith That Destroys Enemy Strongholds II Cor. 10:3-4 We are human, but we don t wage war with human plans and methods. We use God s mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons to knock down the Devil s strongholds. (NLT) Remember, we re in a war zone! We re engaged in battle! A. Your faith today is destroying strongholds in your own life 1. This commitment card is a stronghold buster! The military has these special bombs called bunker busters. (explain). Our faith and obedience is like a bunker buster. It bust s Satan s bunkers in your life that He has developed over the years. 2. By turning in your commitment card, you are saying to your spiritual enemy, You lose today and Jesus wins in my life! 3. I believe many people have strongholds that Satan has built up over years in your life. It could be a stronghold of materialism / stronghold of fear and doubt / self-sufficiency pride / Unbiblical ways that we think that control our behavior as Christians. (That s a stronghold!) 4. How do you break it? You believe God s word and obey Him regardless how you feel. You send the enemy a spiritual bunker buster bomb. It is faith and obedience that will destroy that stronghold. (Yes, prayer as well, but you have to put obedience to your prayers! Obedience is the trigger! 5. This is what some of you are doing today! The enemy s lies no longer get to control your life. This is a line in the sand type of day! Some of your lives will never be the same because of your obedience today. B. Our corporate faith will destroy strongholds in this area. 1. The time has come for a group of people to finally trust God and demand the enemy to release the captives. To declare that this town no longer belongs to him. That we are taking it back for God s Kingdom purposes. 2. Community transformation is God s agenda for this area, and owning this property is part of it. We will never have the freedom to design a facility that fosters the transformational power of God until we take possession of it! 3. We will never have the faith for community transformation until we experience the power of God first hand. This becomes the first piece of ground that we reclaim for the purposes of God! Once we see God reclaim this piece of property, our faith will be unleashed for God s greater agenda. Commercial lots across the street / Grange / Dr. Offices down the street. Where s the limit of what God can do if we trust Him here? 4. Last week I received a publication from the City of Molalla. (Share) As I read about their plans for the downtown area, something caught my eye. The term downtown revival. I agree! Let it start right here!!! Page 4 of 4

5 5. Here s a satellite photo of the area God is calling us to. Here s the territory God has called us to reclaim for Him. It begins right here on Grange street! It begins by trusting God today with your commitment card. Now, we want to give you the opportunity to present your gifts and commitment cards to the Lord. We want you to see this as an act of worship and obedience. You are offering these things to Him (not the church). We are not going to collect them. You are going to offer them to Jesus. Up front, we have 2 tables. As we worship before the Lord, we are asking you to come up front as individuals / families / couples and present your gift to God. We are going to celebrate before the Lord as we give. We are going to give with great joy! Page 5 of 5