Life Center at the Sanctuary

Message by Pastor Jeff Davis We live in a world that is fluent with using the word “love,” but is anemic in the practice of it. The Goal: To transform how we experience and express love 1 John 4:7-12 NLT BIG IDEA: LOVE DIDN’T ORIGINATE WITH YOU, SO YOU DON’T GET TO PICK AND CHOOSE WHO YOU LOVE. Ephesians 5:1-2 NLT WHAT KIND OF LOVE DOES JESUS WANT YOU TO GIVE AWAY? LOVE THAT PUTS OTHER PEOPLE FIRST 1 Corinthians 13:4 NLT 2 Peter 3:9 NLT Romans 2:4 NLT LOVE THAT CELEBRATES OTHERS 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 Philippians 2:4-5 NLT LOVE THAT SEES THE BIG PICTURE 1 Corinthians 13:5-6 1 Corinthians 13:6 NIV Ephesians 4:15 NLT LOVE THAT NEVER QUITS 1 Corinthians 13:7 NLT Love is about sacrificing yourself for others John 3:16-17 NLT

Loveology: This thing called love We live in a world that is fluent with using the word “love”, but is anemic in the practice of it. Anemic: (lacking power, vigor, vitality, or colorfulness; listless; weak) TO KNOW JESUS IS TO LOVE HIM. TO LOVE JESUS IS TO OBEY HIM. HOW CAN YOU TRULY KNOW WHAT LOVE IS? 1. YOU HAVE TO START AT THE FOUNDATION OF LOVE Dear friends, let us love each other, because love comes from God. Those who love are God’s children and they know God. Those who do not love do not know God because God is love. 1 John 4:7-8 NLT 2. YOU HAVE TO BUILD YOUR LOVE FROM THE GIFT YOU’VE RECEIVED God has shown His love to us by sending His only Son into the world. God did this so we might have life through Christ. This is love! It is not that we loved God but that He loved us. For God sent His Son to pay for our sins with His own blood. Dear friends, if God loved us that much, then we should love each other. 1 John 4:9-11 NLT This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:10 NIV In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10 ESV 3. AS YOU LOVE YOU LIVE OUT GOD TO OTHERS No person has ever seen God at any time. If we love each other, God lives in us. His love is made perfect in us. 1 John 4:12 NLT

The Church I See—Becoming the Church Jesus said, “I will build MY church.” Acts 2:42 - “They DEVOTED themselves…” THE CHURCH I SEE IS DEVOTED WE DON’T JUST GO TO CHURCH, WE ARE THE CHURCH "Don't let who you were keep you from who you are becoming." - Bob Goff "If you handed someone a Bible and after they read it you asked: what’s a church? What’s the chance they would say it’s a building, a business, an institution or an organization? I’d say zero.” Wes Davis | People Becoming The Church BENEFITS OF BECOMING THE CHURCH 1. YOU HAVE A PLACE TO BELONG The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12 NLT All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. 1 Corinthians 12:27 NLT 2. YOU MAKE UNITY YOUR DESTINATION Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 1 Corinthians 12:13-14 NLT 3. YOUR ATTITUDE STAYS IN CHECK If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? 1 Corinthians 12:15-17 How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 1 Corinthians 12:19-24 NLT But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 1 Corinthians 12:18 NLT 4. YOU DISCOVER YOUR PLACE AND MOVE FROM DOING CHURCH TO BECOMING THE CHURCH 25 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. 26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. 1 Corinthians 12:25-26 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Hebrews 10:24-25 NLT We are people with unique GIFTS We are people with different OPPORTUNITIES We are people who carry His PRESENCE

The Church I See—A Church for the City Jesus said, “I will build MY church.” Acts 2:42 - “They DEVOTED themselves…” This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: 5 “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. 6 Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! 7 And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.” 8 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let your prophets and fortune-tellers who are with you in the land of Babylon trick you. Do not listen to their dreams, 9 because they are telling you lies in my name. I have not sent them,” says the Lord. 10 This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 14 I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.” Jeremiah 29:4-14 NLT The church became a refuge from the world rather than a force in the world. The church became a fortress from the world rather than the hope of the world. THE CHURCH I SEE IS NOT JUST A CHURCH IN A CITY, IT IS A CHURCH FOR OUR CITY If we ceased to exist, would our city notice? Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” Mark 1:17 NLT DO WE WANT A TANK FOR US OR TRANSFORMATION FOR ALL? On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” Jonah 3:4 NLT When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened. This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen. The Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?” Jonah 3:10-4:4 NLT Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?” “Yes,” Jonah retorted, “even angry enough to die!” Then the Lord said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?” Jonah 4:9-11 God sends Jonah to a city for THE CITY’S SAKE, not for Jonah’s comfort. We are in the city to LOVE the city. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Romans 5:8 NLT We are in the city to SERVE the city. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28 NLT We are in the city to REACH the city. Therefore, go and make disciples… Matthew 28:19 NLT

THE CHURCH I SEE IS: Devoted to reaching generations O my people, listen to my instructions. Open your ears to what I am saying, 2 for I will speak to you in a parable. I will teach you hidden lessons from our past— 3 stories we have heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us. 4 We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders. 5 For he issued his laws to Jacob; he gave his instructions to Israel. He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children, 6 so the next generation might know them— even the children not yet born— and they in turn will teach their own children. 7 So each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands. Psalm 78:1-7 (NIV) We’re not keeping this to ourselves, we’re passing it along to the next generation—God’s fame and fortune, the marvelous things he has done. Ps 78:4 (MSG) THE CHURCH I SEE IS… DEVOTED TO REACHING GENERATIONS Psalm 78 This can’t stop with us. Not on our watch. We will turn Life Center over to another generation. Are we ready, are we preparing them? 2 Kings 20:19 - Hezekiah devoted to himself and his comfort 2 Kings 22:8-11 - Josiah, 3 generations later Three Devotions needed in our generation: THE RESPONSE WITHIN ME 2 Kings 22:19 - Josiah had a responsive heart THE RESPONSIBILITY I HAVE BEYOND ME WHAT WE DO WILL LIVE BEYOND US WHAT WE DON’T DO WILL LIVE BEYOND US MISSION > PREFERENCE THE RESOURCE AVAILABLE TO ME 2 Timothy 1:5-6 5 I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you. 6 This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you.