Beach Life: Anchor Points

Throughout this “Beach Life” series, we will explore Jesus' mission and values and how he calls us to follow him and make his mission and values our own.

We kicked off this series by discussing the Mission of Beach Church. Our mission is to lead people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus. Our Mission is the reason we exist. And, our five guiding values guide us in fulfilling our mission. 

The more we allow these guiding values to shape our character, the more effective we will be in leading people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus.

Our Guiding Values are:

1)    Life-Changing Truth
2)    Transparent Living
3)    Uncomfortable Grace
4)    Captivating Celebration
5)    Selfless Service

The life-changing truth of the Word of God begins to change a person. They embrace the value of transparent living and understand when they share their wins, sins, and struggles, they find accountability.

That leads to Uncomfortable Grace.  We show grace so powerfully, its unusual and a bit uncomfortable when we first begin to demonstrate it.

And, that leads to Captivating Celebration. Followers of Jesus celebrate their faith even through the hard seasons, and that is captivating to others and they are drawn to Jesus.

And, all of this leads to Selfless Service.  Lives have been changed by Jesus, and we want to serve others.

You may be asking, now that we have talked about our mission and our Guiding Values, what is left to talk about Today, we are talking about our Anchor Points and looking at Matthew 7:24-27.

Matthew 7:24-27 (NLT2)
24  “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25  Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26  But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27  When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

Jesus said the life of a follower of Jesus can be compared to a house. Every decision you make in life is part of the house you are building. According to Jesus, our lives are the houses we build, and the materials used are our decisions. Those who listen to his teachings and develop applications are wise and are building a strong house that can withstand storms. And those who hear his teaching and ignore it are building a house that will collapse when the storms come.

When we bought our house, we looked at many homes, and every single one had a foundation. Even the houses in the Grand Strand that appear to be built along the coast on shifting sand are built on piers that dig deep through the sand into the bedrock. Can you imagine being concerned only with what the house looked like on the exterior, and not with the foundation? It would not matter how beautiful the home is if it isn’t built on a solid foundation.  When the hurricane comes, the house will be destroyed.

Jesus tells us that our lives are the very same way. A dating relationship built without the solid foundation of the word of God will collapse. A marriage without the solid foundation of the Word of God will collapse. And, a LIFE without the foundation of the word of God will collapse.

When the storm of this life comes, the flood waters will crash against the life you have built, and if you have not built on the right foundation, great will be your fall.

Life storms hit hard

At points in your life, you will face STORMS that have the potential to destroy you. Storms that can destroy your faith and weaken your trust in God. Storms that can wipe out everything you.

Many of you have faced storms in life you never thought you would have to face, and if it wasn’t for your faith in God, you would not have made it through the storm. You kept your faith through that cancer diagnosis. You kept your faith through the betrayal of a close friend. You kept your faith through the financial collapse that wasn’t supposed to happen. You kept your faith in God through that injury at work. You kept your faith through that job loss – you didn’t know how to provide for your family, but you made it through and God took care of you. You kept your faith in God even though your spouse was unfaithful to you.

You faced death, family disputes, friendships falling apart, divorce, and unemployment.

You faced depression, anxiety, and darkness – but you made it through to the other side of that dark storm.

You kept getting out of bed.

You kept putting one foot in front of the other.

You kept trusting in God.

You kept believing in His Word.

You kept applying His Word to your life.

You kept on following Jesus…

…and you made it through the storm.

You have faced high winds, rain, tornadoes, and hurricanes of life…and you have made it through because you have spent a lifetime building your house on the Word of God. You have learned along the way that

Storms reveal what anchors you

This afternoon, we will have our first Beach Baptism of the summer. I learned the importance of having an anchor the first summer we baptized in the ocean. I set my water bottle and phone down in a little spot on the sand, walked out into the ocean, and we began baptizing people. The sand under my feet was twisting and churning. The foundation was constantly shifting beneath my feet because of the waves and the tide.  I was constantly in motion, trying to stand up, balance, and encourage people to enter the waves. When we finished baptizing, and I came out of the ocean, I couldn’t find my water bottle or my phone. I thought, “Somebody I just baptized stole my iPhone!” Then, somebody pointed down the beach and explained we had drifted about forty yards from where we began.

I had no idea we had drifted that far from the place we began. Sunday evening at 7:00 PM at Plyler Park – you have an opportunity to publicly show what you are anchored to.  If you have surrendered your life to Jesus but have not yet been baptized, sign up today through the Beach Church App or simply show up this evening.  We have baptized through tropical storms, double red flags, sharks, heavy rain, rainbows and double rainbows – and if the weather is bad – as long as you are willing, we will baptize you too!

We would love to celebrate with you!  Your Baptism helps ANCHOR you in your faith.  It helps you remember the decision you made to commit your life to Jesus was real.  Your friends and family may not have been there when you surrendered to Jesus, but if you invite them, they can be there as you are baptized.

And sometimes, as followers of Jesus, we can drift away from our relationship with him. The storms come, the waves beat us down… but we make it through. But our relationship with Jesus drifts. It is not as deep, meaningful, or personal as it once was. We made it through the storm; our faith in God carried us through, but our relationship with Jesus feels…hollow.

See, not all storm damage is clearly visible. Some storms gut us, but other storms we face in life cause us to drift away from Jesus. We can be on target with our mission to lead people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus. We can live out our guiding values of:

Life-Changing Truth
Transparent Living
Uncomfortable Grace
Captivating Celebration
Selfless Service

We can practice 1 John 2:6 and live our lives as Jesus did.  We can do all of the right things. We can live right through the storms. But our hearts can drift away from our relationship with God. We can endure the storms. We can endure suffering. We can stay on target in our mission. But our hearts can drift away from Jesus.

So we must check daily to see if we are truly anchored to Jesus.

To help you with that, Beach Church uses these Anchor Points to reflect and stay anchored every single day:

Beach Church Anchor Points:

1.     LOVING: How am I showing others kindness and respect?

2.     GROWING: How am I deepening my relationship with God?

3.     CONNECTING: Who am I getting real with?

4.     FORGIVING: Who am I forgiving and extending grace to?

5.     SERVING: How am I selflessly meeting the needs of others?

6.     INVITING: Who am I encouraging to follow Jesus?

7.     GIVING: How am I trusting God with my finances?

All of these questions are rooted in the challenge of becoming more and more like Jesus every single day. And, when you build your house on the words of Jesus. When you face the storms of life without drifting away…

You can become a shelter for others

I was living about forty miles south of Atlanta when Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans.  Lives were lost, homes were destroyed. Families fled. Refugees from New Orleans made their way to Atlanta and needed food, clothing, and shelter. Kristy and I got involved, cooking meals, leading clothing drives, and trying to help as much as we could. It seemed that the entire community wanted to help because of the storm's damage.

Beach Church is a place for people seeking to rebuild their lives. Beach Church is a place for those who have been hurt by the church, hurt by life, and hurt by the storms. Some people walk through these doors carrying church hurt. Some carry divorce papers. Some carry addiction. Some carry shame. Some smile during worship while their marriage falls apart in the parking lot.

Here, you will find community, encouragement, welcome, and you can join our mission to lead people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus.

And you will realize the same hurt you have experienced in life, others are walking through today.  And God will invite you to become a shelter for others.  You will learn that you can place your arm around them, let them know they are not alone.  You will be able to tell them you have been through that storm, and God carried you through.  You will be able to pray for them. Encourage them.  And help them understand they are not alone.

You can talk with a young married couple barely hanging on and say, “We almost did not make it either.”

You can speak into the life of a dad battling addiction and say, “I know what it feels like to hate what you see in the mirror.”

You can sit in silence with somebody whose anxiety is spiraling and simply refuse to leave them alone.

You can let somebody cry without rushing to give them an answer.

You can tell the truth about your own storm instead of pretending your life has always been polished and put together.

Drowning people do not need fake perfection. They need shelter. They need you. 

The reason Jesus told us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves is that as we genuinely love others, Jesus uses us to provide shelter for them.

This isn’t just a place for you to attend. This is a body of believers in Jesus Christ who are serious about building our lives on Jesus, and we are committed to building relationships with each other and doing life together.