 |
| Rev. Brent Russett |
Pastor of
Sunnyside Wesleyan Church in Ottawa:
http://www.sunnysidechurchottawa.com/ _______________________________________________________
PODCAST LINK to CFRA broadcast - Sunday, January 24th, 2016:
'Jesus Mission Statement - I came to bring life'
Good morning. And welcome to good news in the
morning. My name is Brent Russett. I am
the Senior Pastor at Sunnyside Wesleyan Church here in Ottawa. It is my
pleasure to look at some of life’s challenges, and then bring you some good
news in the morning.
This
morning’s program has been sponsored by someone who wants to remain anonymous.
But I want to thankyou for you generosity. You have given a gift to all who
have tuned in.
I
want to say a special welcome to our international listeners, who listen via the
internet. We are glad that you have found us, and that you are finding this
ministry an encouragement.
******
This
morning I want to talk about one of the personal mission statement. I tend to
read widely. Personal mission statements are big in the area of success
literature right now. I have read so many articles that say that you need to
know what you are about and focus on that area.
A
number of top CEOs have mission statements
"To
serve as a leader, live a balanced life, and apply ethical principles to make a
significant difference."
Joel
Manby, Herschend Family
Entertainment
Says
, “I define personal success as being consistent to my own personal mission
statement: To love God and love others.
Some
of you have engaged in creating a mission statement for a business, or an
organization. You know that it takes thought, but if used properly, it helps us
the business or organization keep focused on what they are all about.
Many
churches have mission statements. But the mission statement I want to talk
about this morning is Jesus’
*****
Jesus actually made 3 mission statements. They
start with the same phrase, “I have come to” This morning I want to look at just
one of the three. It is found in John
10:10
The New Testament was written in
Greek. Let me give you three different translations of John 10:10
Jesus
said,
John
10:10 (NIV)
10 The thief comes only to
steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to
the full.
John
10:10 (NLT)
10 The thief’s purpose is
to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying
life.
John
10:10 (NRSV)
10 The thief comes only to
steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it
abundantly.
The
mission statement or purpose statement that we are going to look at today is
that Jesus came to give life, full life,
a rich and satisfying life, abundant life.
******
There
are a number of reasons why I want to take a look at Jesus’ mission statement.
When you know someone’s mission statement, it tells you a lot about who they
are.
Oprah Winfrey’ mission statement
"To
be a teacher. And to be known for inspiring my students to be more than they
thought they could be."
"To
have fun in [my] journey through life and learn from [my] mistakes."
You
can tell a lot about who these people are just by listening to their mission
statement. Oprah is about inspiring others. Richard Branson, is more about
himself.
You
can tell a lot about Jesus by looking at his mission statements. He came to
give life.
By
looking at Jesus mission statements I want you to see who Jesus is, who Jesus
wants to be for you, and who you are called to be for Jesus in this world.
MUSIC
Sandi Patty Morning like this– Shepherd of my Heart 4:05 Track 4
We
are looking at Jesus Mission statement,- found in John 10:10 Jesus came to give life, full life, a rich
and satisfying life, abundant life.
Come
with me to John 5. And let’s look at who Jesus is. I have got to say that this
passage is most easily understood in the NLT
John
5:21–26 (NLT)
21 For just as the Father
gives life to those he raises from the dead,
so the Son gives life to
anyone he wants. 22 In addition, the Father judges
no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge, 23 so
that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Anyone who
does not honor the Son is certainly not honoring the Father who sent him.
24 “I tell you the truth,
those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life.
They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already
passed from death into life.
25 “And I assure you that
the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the
voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. 26 The
Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son.
The
first question we want to answer is who is Jesus. The Gospel of John that we
are looking at has been trying to answer that question from its opening words.
It starts our calling Jesus the Word
John
1:1–5 (NLT)
1 In the beginning the
Word already existed.
The
Word was with God,
and
the Word was God.
2 He existed in the
beginning with God.
3 God created everything
through him,
and
nothing was created except through him.
4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,*
and his life brought light to everyone.
Jesus gave life to everything that
was created – and his life brought light to everyone. That light is the light
of truth – not just scientific truth, although it encompasses that, - not just
philosophical truth, although it encompasses that, but the truth of
authenticity, a way of being in this world, that allows us to live in harmony
with our creator and in harmony with the way we were created.
The Bible goes on to say.
5 The light shines in the
darkness,
and
the darkness can never extinguish it.*
6 God sent a man, John the
Baptist,* 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might
believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the
light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. 9 The
one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the
world.
10 He came into the very
world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came
to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all
who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.
13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from
human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
To as many as believed or accepted
him They are reborn – they are given new life.
4 So the Word became
human* and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and
faithfulness.*
Who is Jesus. In the beginning
was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. Jesus is God –
God the Son. He gave life to all that is and he brought the light of truth, so
all who believed in him, to all who receive him –they are reborn – they are
given new life.
Now let’s go back and look at John
5. We will work our way up from the bottom of the passage we looked at.
John
5:26 (NLT)
26 The Father has life in
himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son.
Jesus,
God’s son has the power to give life. He is life.
John
5:24 (NLT)
24 “I tell you the truth,
those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal
life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed
from death into life.
Jesus
gives life to those who believe in his message. Eternal life. But that life
starts now, because they have already passed from death to life.
Here
is what the Bible says about Jesus. Jesus is one who created life. And even in
this dark world he brings the light of life. A life that walks in harmony with
God and in harmony with the way we were created to be. The way we get this life
is we believe in him, we receive him. He is the one who has the power to
breathe life into us.
So
when we hear that his mission statement
John
10:10 (NLT)
10 The thief’s purpose is
to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying
life.
John
10:10 (NRSV)
10 The thief comes only to
steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it
abundantly.
We know a little about who he is. He is the
life bringer.
It also tells us a little of what he
wants to do for you. He wants to bring you life. Eternal life. Life that starts
now and goes on into eternity. He wants you to be reborn, and to grow up in
this life. He is about life.
Right
now I am feeling a little impoverished in words. For I am hunting for a way to
describe what Jesus wants to do in a way that does it justice – and I don’t
think I can – but let me try.
The
gospel that I grew up with was a pale reflection of the good news of Jesus. The
gospel I grew up with is that you became a Christian by praying the sinners
pray, and then Jesus came into your life. And you lived the Christian life by
keeping the commands of God, by following the rules.
But
the good news, the gospel is yes we need to receive Jesus into our lives. We
need to trust and believe in him and his work on the cross and his
resurrection. Sometimes the best expression of that is the sinners prayers,
Lord Jesus, come into my life, forgive me of
my sin, I give my life to you, I’m going to follow you.
But
the prayer itself is not magical. What is supernatural is the ability of Jesus
to put his life in you. And you access the supernatural by believing in him and
in his message. It is Christ in you that is the hope of glory
Your
are not a Christian a Christ follower because you prayed a prayer. You become a
Christian a Christ follower, a child of God, because of what Jesus does in you.
Jesus is the life giver. He gives life to those who believe in him.
It is
not about what you do, it is about what he does. The sinners prayer does not
save you. You are saved by the grace of Jesus through faith in what he has
done.
When
you get that the gospel is about Jesus life in you, when you get that it is
about Jesus putting life in you, about being reborn, then living out the gospel
becomes far less about the rules and about the commands.
Living
out the gospel is about living in harmony with God and about living out the
life he has created you to live.
Sin
is sin, because it is not harmonious with God and the way you were created to
live. The gospel is about living, really living. The reason why God hates sin so much is that
sin brings death, and death is our enemy and God’s.
The
good news is not about the rules. It is about life. Real live. Full life.
Abundant life.
When
we live in a way that kills our souls, and deadens our hearts, and hurts our
bodies, and damages our relationship with God – it kills us. It is anti-life.
The negative commandments – the “thou shall not” commandments are there to
point towards what those things are killing us. They let us know what the
poison is. But the commands don’t bring life, any more than not eating poison
brings life.
The
good news is that walking in relationship with Jesus brings life. Being
connected to Jesus brings life. Living like Jesus brings life. Jesus is the
life bringer. If you want to be fully alive, don’t ingest poison and be fully
connected to Jesus.
Jesus
came that you might have life and have it to the full
There
are some of you here today, who are thinking Pastor, I have believe in Jesus
and I have given my life to Jesus, but I have swallowed a lot of poison. My
soul is really sick. What do I do?.....
Come back next week----. We are going
to look at another part of Jesus mission statement. He said, I cam not for the
healthy but the sick. He want to help you to become fully alive.
What
I want you to know today is that what Jesus wants for you, is to make you fully
alive. His mission statement tells us who he is. It tells us who he wants to be
for us. It also tells us who he wants us to be for this world.
Jesus
mission statement also tells us who are his followers, who we are to be in this
world. We have the same mission as Jesus. We are to be life bringers. We are to
be poison stoppers?
How
did Jesus do that? Well he went about teaching what the kingdom of God was
like. If we want to bring life to our world, we cannot do it apart from the
message of who God is.
But
if you look at the life of Jesus, he did much more than just talk. He went
about doing good. He healed the sick. Now I recognize that we are not Jesus,
and that most of us don’t have the gift of healing like he had. But some of you
have the gift of comforting the sick, of helping the hurting, of caring for the
dying. Whenever you do that you are being Jesus in the neighbourhood.
When
you look at the life of Jesus he made his way to a number of funerals.
Sometimes he raised the dead. But what you always see is him entering into the
places of grief to be with the people. When you comfort those who are mourning,
you are on mission with Jesus. When you enter into the grief of people, you are
being Jesus in the neighbourhood.
When
you look at the life of Jesus, he also went to a number of parties. Remember
the wedding at Cana. The wedding is in full swing, but they ran out of wine.
Jesus turned the water into wine. People get caught up in the miracle, but you
have to ask why. Jesus facilitated the celebration of a good part of life. You
are like Jesus when you come along side of people and help them celebrate the
goodness around them. Part of being Jesus in the neighbourhood, is facilitating
celebrations of goodness.
When
you look at the life of Jesus, there were a number of times when he fed the
hungry. We are like Jesus when we feed the hungry. When we feed the hungry we
are being Jesus in the neighbourhood.
When
you look at the life of Jesus, he often took on the power that be, and called
them to something better. In his day the Pharisees and Sadducees had laid heavy
weights on people. They took the law of God and made it burdensome. Instead of
bringing life, it brought death.
When
we engage is social action as Christians, we have had a tendency to do it
poorly. Whether the issue is abortion, or oppression of the poor, or whatever –
we have tended to approach it like were right and your wrong. But if you know
what the gospel is about, we say,
“listen we believe if we go in this direction it will hurt you and it
will hurt society – and we really don’t want to see more death more in our
world – because God loves this world.” There is a big difference between that,
and we’re right and your wrong. Whenever we protest in arrogance or hate we
bring more death into the world – Love brings life to the world. But there is a
time to speak truth to power. When we do that we are being Jesus in the
neighbourhood.
John
10:10 (NLT)
10 The thief’s purpose is
to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying
life.
John
10:10 (NRSV)
10 The thief comes only to
steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it
abundantly.
Part
of Jesus’ mission statement is to bring life. This tells us a little about who
he is. He is the one who is the source of life, and he has the power to bring
life. This tells us a little of what he wants to do for us. The gospel the good
news is about life. Jesus wants to bring life to you. He wants to come into
you, and bring life to you. He wants to help you stop poisoning yourself. He is
our healer. The gospel is about life.
Jesus
mission statement also tells us about our mission to this world. We are called
to speak and act in ways that bring life to this world.
LET’S PRAY
Lord
Jesus, Thank you for showing us who you are. Thank you, Lord, for the fact that
you do bring life. I pray, Lord, that you would just bless the people who are listening
today. Lord, for those who haven’t received you. I would ask that, even now, that
they would invite you into their life and that they would follow you so that you
could bring life to them.
Lord,
I also ask that you would bless them. And, Lord, I pray that you would help us to
be ambassadors of life, in Jesus’ name. AMEN.
Pray for those to receive Jesus
Pray for those to follow Jesus
Pray for us to be Jesus in our neighbourhood.
“ If Good News in the Morning has been a factor in
your journey of faith, we would love to hear your story. Nothing could
encourage us more in this work. Contact
us by e-mail or Twitter via the web site –goodnewsinthemorning.ca
And
Thank you for listening this morning.
This
program is on the air by the grace of God and donations of many faithful
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anonymously
If you can help financially we would really
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May you know
Jesus Christ personally and profoundly. May the Holy Spirit reside deep within your
heart . And may the heavenly Father
surround you with His constant and abiding and accompanying love
MUSIC Revival in Belfast – Robin Mark – There is no
other name. 4:03 (Track 7)
By Rev. Brent Russett
Pastor of Sunnyside Wesleyan Church in
Ottawa:
_______________________________________________________
PODCAST LINK to the CFRA broadcast:
PODCAST LINK to the CFRA broadcast:
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