First Pres D Team - Add'l Info, Page 1

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Jesus makes it clear his followers can be confident knowing where they will spend eternity. But what are we doing with our lives after we become Christians and our future is secure? The New Testament has a lot to say about this. Here are a few texts. (From the NIV).

"For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost." 

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” 

Mt. 13, The parable of the sower explained.   

18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” 

Study guides of this chapter in Matthew usually ask a version of these questions:  Which kind of soil are you?  What kind of a yield is God getting from the seeds you and your fellowship community are planting?

In Matthew 16:27, Jesus says, "For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done." He repeats these words to John near the end of the Bible in Revelation, 22:12.  “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done."

And here's what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:6-8. "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor."

Continuing, Paul states a few verses later that all believers need to build our lives carefully on the foundation of Christ. And... "If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. vs. 14).

If you are interested in reading more about this topic, here are two parables of Jesus that deal with the fact that we have responsibilities and we will be rewarded accordingly. 

The parable of the ten minas, Luke 19: 11-27.  

 11 While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. 12 He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas.[a] ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’

14 “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’

15 “He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.

16 “The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’

17 “‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’

18 “The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’

19 “His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’

20 “Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’

22 “His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’

24 “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’

25 “‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’

26 “He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 27 But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’”

The parable of the talents (bags of gold), Matthew 25:14-30, 

14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Well, if God wants to reward each of us for obeying his command to "love our neighbor as ourselves," we certainly don't want to see any of us lose this opportunity.

We each get only one chance at life. And for us alive now in America with all our privileges and blessings, how can we not want to serve the cause of Christ in all we do, and do it in community with others who feel the same?

TO BE DETERMINED

RUGGED INDIVIDUALISM.  In the US, this term generally has a positive meaning, and often leads (or at least should lead) to the development of each  person's full potential.  However, we can also see how an excessive focus on “me, mine and ours" has had wide-ranging ramifications for us personally, as well as our nation. 

Unfortunately, our church culture has often embraced "individualism" to such an extent that it sometimes serves as an idol, competing with God's commands for us to live in counter-cultural Christian community based on His love and values. As a result, we are doing a grave injustice in our witness to non-believers. 

Is what we see modeled in our neighborhood churches that much different from what takes place in our local social service organizations, like Rotary, the Lions Club, or Rotary? 

 John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” 

Here's a link to an article that summarizes five misconceptions in the way we think about community. 

https://relevantmagazine.com/god/5-big-misconceptions-about-community 

 Here I've summarized a few blog posts about church by Scott Lenke, "The Prodigal Thought."
What I do long for regarding the church, is that we move towards functioning as a community of God’s people who see relationship as essential above all other things. We begin to experience what Eugene Peterson has termed as ‘conversational humility,’ meaning we have shared conversation, with humbleness, allowing for the diversity of our strengths, gifts, abilities and differences.

Our conversations do not consist of simply the surface issues, although there is nothing wrong in talking about basketball or a new novel we just finished or about our favorite music group. But, we are ultimately called to something deeper, as David Benner reminds us in his book, Sacred Companions,  "This is not the same as discussing theology, church politics or even the Sunday sermon. Genuine spiritual intimacy involves sharing my experience, not simply my ideas.’"  

But now, I want to move on and briefly challenge us to guard against one of the biggest enemies of the church, at least in the western world. That enemy is called individualism. We, in America, and other parts of the western world, have been so trained in the ideology of individualism. I can make it on my own, I can pray on my own, I can worship on my own, I can reach others for Christ on my own. You see the mistake with those statements. There are too many ‘I’s’. Many times, there can be too much of ‘me, Jesus, and my Bible.’

Yet, Christ called us into a body, into a family, to be part of a people. He called us into life with a variety of others who are to be joined to us, ones with whom we have covenant relationships. We know this from reading such passages as 1 Corinthians 12. For some of us, the body analogy has been overdone. But if we read the passages again, I wonder if we might find something fresh.

We are not each individually Christ-followers. We are together Christ-followers. He accomplished so much through His intercession, death, resurrection, and ascension. Yes, He died so you and I could each spend eternity with Him. But He also accomplished everything we need in order to live life together, truly believing we have been called into this journey together. Let’s keep going deeper with one another. Let’s keep sharing our lives with one another. And the world will see something they haven’t seen since possibly the first century. 

But have you noticed that Sunday mornings are usually dedicated to one person, or possibly a handful. Yeah, we all sing, or most of us, and we all listen to the ‘preacher’, or most of us. But 1 Corinthians 14:26 seems to teach that all of us have something specific, and special, to give in the meeting. Thus, we must shield ourselves from taking on an audience mentality when we meet together. That means guarding against letting one person, or a handful, do everything and lead everything. For remember, we are the people of God called to share our lives together. And when we gather together, we must embrace the reality that ‘each one has’. We cannot leave it to the professional paid Christian behind the pulpit. It is us together. We are a team, we are a body.