Sunday 10-01-06 lesson notes

The Mission Is You

Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27


You have a mission in life and this is it: you. Your mission is not only your story, though that is part of it, it is you, because Christ is in you. You were made to be a vessel to carry Him and reflect Him through your personality as He lives His life through yours. You are the temple, the dwelling place of the most high. You are a carrier of Christ; He lives again in you. Jesus died, rose again and went to heaven in His new body, but He lives on through His Spirit in us. You could say He never really left; He just took up residence in us. John Fischer

I. The bible calls us lots of things.

A. We are the fragrance of Christ wherever we go.

2 Corinthians 2:14-16 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life…

B. We are a letter known and read by everyone.

2 Corinthians 3:2-3 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

C. We are a vessel carrying around treasure.

2 Corinthians 4:6-7 For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

D. All believers together form the body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:12, 27 12 The Body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 27 Now you are the Body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

II. You and I are God’s greatest statement. It’s why He made us.

A. How can I possibly be the equivalent of Christ walking around on earth?

1. We are a body. Together, each one using his gifts, forms the body.
2. We aren’t perfect, we are a work in process.

B. We are the evidence of the reality of Christ to the world, because God has
a mission, and the mission is you.

Help me to understand

Dear Lord,

In my ignorance I struggle with dealing with the challenges of many of the residents. I spoke to a man Sunday about his life and how bitter and angry he is with you and I must say I find it hard to understand why so many of these people must suffer so much. He was a builder of airplanes, elder in his church, successful business man, taught water skiing and C&W dancing and was very active serving other people. "How can God do this to me after all the years of service to Him?" Parkinsons is a terrible disease that steals the life from people in their prime. "I had always romanticized about retiring and spending my life serving God and loving my wife, enjoying the blessings that God had given me. Instead I'm confined to a 20'x20' room for the rest of my life." My warm and fuzzy life was interrupted with the reality of humanity. Why doesn't your church take care of these beautiful people, why is it so difficult to find someone to come and love these folks, why don't family members visit more often, why don't we respect these folks and help them to grow old and die with dignity and respect????

Father, forgive me for my frustration and lack of faith. Help me to see you in the lives at Winters Park. Please send out workers to meet the needs and be Jesus to these people, not just at Winters Park but at all nursing homes. Thank you so much for those that you have sent to serve with us, they are the most awesome people that I know, they give me hope.

I pray that I would live by faith and not by sight!!

Thank you Father! I love you! David