Stay on Mission – 4th February 2018

1. Be a Champion.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. Matthew 7:24-29
Joining Jesus in His Mission requires putting into practice the things that He tells us!
I want to be really honest as I encourage you to stay on Mission with Jesus throughout this week and this honesty requires that I challenge you to consider how much it costs you to follow Jesus.
The sense I have is that the idea of cost is something that has been lost in many churches, if we find something difficult, or think it will be costly to do what Jesus wants us to do, our tendency and the prevailing atmosphere in many churches, is to not attempt what might be costly – we so easily revert back to our comfort zone and fail to see through the things that the Lord wants us to do. This frustrates the mission of Jesus!
In my gym there is a poster high on the wall that contains a quote from legendary boxer, Muhammed Ali, he says:
DON’T QUIT suffer now and live the rest of your life as a CHAMPION.
As Muhammed Ali urges people to pay the price to receive the reward, we see similar quotations in God’s word. The Apostle Paul writes:
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24
And:
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14
Our salvation and gift of eternal life are infinitely greater than being the kind of champion that Muhammed Ali refers to. We will live forever – all because of what Jesus did, His grace! But that does not mean we should just accept this and then live lives that keep ourselves at the centre. In response to the price He paid for us, Jesus wants us to join Him in His mission and make Him known