Beach Life - Uncomfortable Grace

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 Beach Church's mission. Our mission is to lead people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus. Our Mission answers the question of " why” we exist, and our Guiding Values answer the question of " how” we fulfill our mission.

We could gather every weekend for worship, distribute food to 500 families every week, go on mission trips, have life groups, and have a ministry for children with special needs, but without our guiding values, we would not be leading people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus.

The Bible tells us without love, we are nothing.

Our Guiding Values, shaped by the love of Jesus demonstrated while he lived on earth, will help us fulfill our mission.

The Values are:

The Values are:

1. Life-Changing Truth

2. Transparent Living

3. Captivating Celebration

4. Uncomfortable Grace

5. Selfless Service

Today, we are going to talk about our third guiding value:

UNCOMFORTABLE GRACE

That is, we believe that:

FOLLOWERS OF JESUS GIVE THE SAME LIMITLESS GRACE THEY HAVE RECEIVED FROM GOD.

If you are a follower of Jesus – the Grace god has given to you isn’t only FOR you – but it is also FOR you to GIVE to others. We are going to keep talking about that – but for now let’s look at the passage of scripture that best demonstrates UNCOMFORTABLE GRACE.

Let’s read together from Colossians 3.

Colossians 3:12-13 (NLT2) 

12  Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13  Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

If you grew up in church, you might be thinking to yourself, the two words “Uncomfortable” and “Grace” are two words that do not go together.

“Uncomfortable Grace”

We are taught that GRACE is wonderful.  And it is.

That GRACE is comforting.  And it is.

That Grace is AMAZING. And it is.

When we pray for others, we often pray that they would experience the GRACE of God in their lives…because God’s GRACE is a good thing. But – what is GRACE? The Word “Grace” can be a little confusing. For instance, I grew up saying “Grace” before I ate a meal.  My family would close our eyes and say GRACE.  

Bless us oh Lord, For these thy Gifts, Which we are about to receive, From thy Bounty, Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Then, after I surrendered my life to Jesus and received Him as my Savior and received forgiveness for my sins, people used the word differently. The mealtime prayer was no longer called Grace.  That was for the Catholics…and the Clark W. Griswold family. Now the mealtime prayer was called a Blessing…”Who wants to say the Blessing?” 

No wonder people can get confused the churches choice of vocabulary.

For the sake of the message, Grace is not referring to a mealtime prayer. Grace is not the name of a woman who is very uncomfortable right now.

You can jot this down in your Lifenotes.

God’s grace is best described as:

GRACE: GOD’S GOODNESS TO THOSE WHO DESERVE PUNISHMENT.

I deserve to be punished for my sins.

I have lied. 

I have stolen. 

I have cheated. 

I have looked at pornography.  

I have hated in my heart. 

I have been drunk. 

I have sinned in my anger and lost my temper. 

I have been arrogant.  

I have been filled with pride. 

I have wanted the spotlight on me, rather than God. 

I have been selfish, unfaithful to God, and unfaithful to friends.  

I have been rude. 

I have been impatient with others. 

I have carried grudges in my heart. 

I have not helped somebody when they needed it the most. 

I have not cared for my body, my wife, and even my children the way I should. 

I have rejected my Creator. 

I have used the name of Jesus as a cuss word. 

I have openly mocked followers of Jesus for living for Jesus.

I have not worshipped God.  

I have not lived for God. 

I have not loved others the way I should.

And…I deserve to be punished for my rebellion against my CREATOR GOD.

God says in Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 18:4 

“…all people are mine to judge—both parents and children alike. And this is my rule: The person who sins is the one who will die.”

All people belong to God…and since we belong to Him, he makes the rules…and he says, “The person who sins is the one who will die.” The punishment that I deserve for my rebellion against God is DEATH.  Not only do I deserve to physically die, but I deserve to be punished by experiencing spiritual death.  

I deserve to suffer in Hell for ALL eternity. I deserve to be tormented in a fire that is so awful the flames never consume what they burn.  An everlasting flame that never goes out.

That is what I deserve. And so do you.

Let that sink in.

You deserve to be punished for your sins.

When you accept that weight of that statement – you can best understand how life-changing the Grace of God is.  God’s goodness toward those who deserve punishment.  

God’s Goodness is NOT PUNISHING us by giving us what we deserve. 

God’s Justice demands that punishment be paid.

God’s LOVE chooses to pay the punishment himself.

Jesus chose to willingly suffer on the cross and pay the price for our sins. God’s rule was that all people who sinned would die. Jesus became a person and paid the penalty as a man for our sin.

The PRICE was paid. The debt was satisfied.

And the relationship between God and People was redeemed. That is the GRACE we sing about and embrace.  

Amazing Grace

How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me

I once was lost

But now I’m found

Was blind but now I see

So, if you feel hopeless, discouraged, overwhelmed.  If you wake up every morning and your past sins weigh you down. If you feel like a failure in life. If you think that God will never forgive you for something you have done…I want you to look down at your Life Notes and ask yourself honestly:

WHICH ONE OF YOUR SINS WILL GOD NOT FORGIVE?

Which ONE of your sins do you think God is holding against you?

Have you done something that damaged somebody else so bad you think God will not forgive you for it?

Do you wake up every day with regret? Shame? 

Do you go through pill after pill, or bottle after bottle trying to forget the pain you caused?

God has something better for you.

It is called: FREEDOM!

You do not have to be weighed down by the sin of your past. God’s goodness toward you cannot fail.  God’s goodness toward you, demonstrated by Jesus on the cross, cannot be watered down, explained away, or made powerless. Jesus has set you free from your sin – and that means he has set you free from shame, from fear, from doubt, and from insecurities about your past mistakes, sin and failure. He has set you free – so stop chaining yourself down by the weight of guilt.

Walk in Freedom. Live in Uncomfortable Grace. And as you live out God’s uncomfortable grace in your own life, ask:

DO YOU ALLOW OTHERS SPACE TO FAIL?

Do you allow other people around you and give them space to fail?  

Do you criticize people when they mess up? Do you harp on people around you because they have made poor choices? 

Do you whisper about the teenage girl who got pregnant? The mother who drinks too much? The parent losing their temper in the grocery store?

Do you gossip about your neighbors choice of swimwear at the beach? (She is too old to be wearing a bikini…she is 95!) 

Weren’t you once like that? (Minus the 95-year-old bikini.)

Didn’t you once make horrible mistakes? Didn’t you once live as a sinner with no hope?

Then, give other people space to fail without judging them.  You once made similar choices. You deserved death. You deserved God’s judgement over sin…

But you were made new – So why limit the Grace of God only toward you?  Why not demonstrate God’s grace so much it makes other people UNCOMFORTABLE? Followers of Jesus ought to show so much grace, that everybody gets a second, third, fourth, fifth chance.  

Kristy and I are talking about camping.  I love building a nice hot fire for mornings and evenings…When it comes to camping, the one problem I have with the campfire is the smoke! 

Have you ever noticed, when it comes a campfire, the smell of smoke soaks into everything. My hair. My beard. My hat. My clothes. My undies. The tent. The sleeping bags, the van, the tent…

After camping, in order to be clean – I have to do more than change my clothes. I need to take a shower, scrub that smoke off my skin and hair, then put on clean clothes. But, if I only changed clothes to be clean, it would not make sense. The smokey odor would still be on my skin. I would not feel clean – and I would not be clean. Putting on fresh clothes would not fool anybody. 

Sometimes people try to do that to feel better.

They start attending church.

They start using the churchy words like grace and peace and Jesus.

They begin doing nice things to other people…

But they have never accepted God’s Grace, personally.  

If you would like to receive forgiveness for your sins, all your sins, and begin a relationship with God, and start over…I invite you to surrender all you are, into God’s hands, by receiving Jesus as your Savior.

It looks something like this:

PRAYER OF SURRENDER

Thank you, God, for creating me. I admit that I have sinned, and I deserve to be punished for my sin. Thank you that Jesus paid the punishment for me I deserved on the cross. I believe Jesus died, rose from the dead, and will one day return. I surrender my life to you and receive Jesus as my Savior. 

We will continue to change the world around us, when we clothe ourselves with the Grace of God and demonstrate that towards EVERYBODY.

Beach Life - Transparent Living

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 Beach Church's mission. Our mission is to lead people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus. Our Mission answers the question of " why” we exist, and our Guiding Values answer the question of " how” we fulfill our mission.

We could gather every weekend for worship, distribute food to 500 families every week, go on mission trips, have life groups, and have a ministry for children with special needs, but without our guiding values, we would not be leading people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus.

The Bible tells us without love, we are nothing.

Our Guiding Values, shaped by the love of Jesus demonstrated while he lived on earth, will help us fulfill our mission.

The Values are:

1. Life-Changing Truth

2. Transparent Living

3. Captivating Celebration

4. Uncomfortable Grace

5. Selfless Service

Today, we are going to talk about our second guiding value, 

Transparent Living

GOD DESIRES US TO BE REAL, OPEN, AND HONEST ABOUT WHO WE ARE AND ALLOW OTHERS TO DO THE SAME. 

Because we love one another, you can be the real you at Beach Church. Because we love one another, I am allowed to be a real Pastor, a real person, a real husband, and a real daddy.  You do not have to pretend to be perfect.

Maybe you grew up in a church that practiced “privacy” rather than “transparency.”  Maybe you were encouraged not to talk about real life and real problems at church. Maybe your experience was to sing from a Hymnal, listen quietly to the sermon, and leave just at the end of the last song to get to the restaurant first. 

Maybe your experience in church has leaned toward “pretending to be perfect.”

Because we love one another, you get to be real, open and honest about who you are – AND you allow others to do the same. If I get to be transparent,  if you get to be transparent, then others are allowed to be transparent, too. Because followers of Jesus love each other, we all get to be who we really are during the week. When you come to church, it's okay if you wear mismatched socks, have baby vomit on your shirt, and toothpaste on your chin.

The apostle John describes transparent living and some amazing benefits when followers of Jesus live transparently with one another.

Let’s read:

1 John 1:7-9 (NLT2) 

7  But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8  If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9  But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 

First, John is writing to believers in Jesus. He describes what happens when believers in Jesus are serious about living in the light and following Jesus. If you have surrendered your life to Jesus, you are living in the light. But you didn’t always live in the light. Before you surrendered to Jesus, you lived in darkness. I did too.

And, there is a vast difference between living in darkness and the light. Thanks to the light outside, every one of us followed a predictable pattern when we arrived on our campus this morning.  

You parked your car. You and your crew got out of your car. You walked through the parking lot. You entered the lobby. Maybe you stopped to use the restroom. Maybe you picked up a cup of coffee. Then, you finally entered the worship center and sat in your seat. I imagine you will do that in reverse when it is time to leave.

Getting into the building and making your way to the seat wasn't difficult because you were “living in the light.”

However, imagine that after parking the car, your crew put blindfolds on and attempted to make it into the worship center.  Just simply finding the entrance would be hard enough. Obstacles of parked cars, moving cars, bushes, and steps would make it difficult for you to enter the worship center. Some of us would still be wandering around outside. In the same way, a lack of transparency creates an obstacle for you to really experience “fellowship” with God and with other believers. The word fellowship communicates a deep intimacy with other believers. It suggests an “exchange” of lives with one another.

“Exchanging” means giving and receiving. When believers share their burdens with each other, they live in the light of Jesus. They are living in community with each other. Living in the light and fellowship means sharing the burden, which goes both ways. Others share their wins and sins with you, and you share your wins and sins with them. You may not have a problem with people sharing their real lives with you, but you may struggle to open up to others.

Maybe you aren’t sure what others would think about you if they knew what you really struggled with, so you remain private.  You listen to others but do not share your life with them. Maybe you smile and nod and tell people everything is okay, but your heart cries out for somebody to listen to you. Maybe you don’t tell others about the struggle you are having with sin at work or with your family. Many of us sometimes pretend everything is ok when everything is not ok.

You might think, “If people knew the real me, they wouldn’t like me.”

The truth is, transparent living is hard.  

Transparent Living means we are vulnerable with others

1 John 1:8 (NLT2) 

8  If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.

Being open and honest about who you are means you are vulnerable.

And, when we are vulnerable, we can be hurt.  

When we are vulnerable to others, we can be rejected.  

When we are vulnerable, we give people power with areas of our lives we keep secret for a reason.

And, if other people view you as a leader, vulnerability is even more difficult.

You are the leader in your family, and your family looks to you for protection and provision.

You are the leader at work, and your coworkers turn to you for advice and solutions.

You are a leader in your neighborhood, and your neighbors may bring their complaints to you to solve them.

You are a leader in your life group, and people look up to you as a role model…

You may be tempted to think, “I can’t live transparently because people expect me to be strong.”

If I am vulnerable, people will turn on me. 

If I am vulnerable, people will reject me. 

If I am vulnerable, others will think I am too weak to lead and find another leader.

If I am vulnerable with my spouse, they will find somebody else.

If I am vulnerable with my children, they won’t respect me.

If I am vulnerable at work, I will never get that promotion.

That is not true. For example, let's look at Animal Kingdom:

In the animal kingdom, every ‘pack’ has a leader guiding them through life. 

Wolves have a pack leader. Lions have a den leader. Orangutans have leaders.

The pack leader keeps the pack safe and provides solutions to the dangers they may face. We may be tempted to think that if a pack leader demonstrates vulnerability, the pack will reject them and find a new leader. We can learn some lessons about the power of vulnerability from animals!

When the leader of the pack demonstrates appropriate vulnerability, amazing things happen inside the community:

• The leader becomes more relatable.

• The leader’s vulnerability reduces tension, which leads to less conflict and stabilizes the pack.

• The leader's vulnerability helps promote and develop future leaders of the pack.

• In situations of potential conflict within the pack, leaders who show vulnerability de-escalate tension and preserve strength for the critical battles the pack faces with other packs.

Pack leaders who show appropriate vulnerability enhance the entire pack's survival and success!

The lesson: When followers of Jesus lead with transparency and demonstrate vulnerability, the entire church is strengthened. Sharing our weaknesses makes us stronger!

Paul, a Christian leader, said:

2 Corinthians 12:10 (NLT2) 

10  That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

So, trust others. Be vulnerable. Because,

Confessing our sins, our wins, and our struggles develops fellowship. 

We develop genuine, meaningful friendships when we confess our sins, wins, and struggles to one another. If you have been attending church for a while and still feel like you do not know people, you are probably correct.  

If you love the worship and are engaged with the message but are still missing friendships with other believers, it may be because you have not yet taken the initiative to join a life group or serve on a ministry team.

Transparent Living does not mean everybody in the church knows you. The power of transparent living is best experienced in the context of a life group.  

A life group commits to confidentiality, exchanges life experiences with each other and develops meaningful friendships. But from time to time, some stories must be told churchwide. Sometimes, stories of triumph and victory must be captured and shared with the church to strengthen the whole church.

I believe one such story is the story of Stephen and Mary Boyd. For years, they struggled with infertility. They prayed to conceive a baby. They desired to be parents, - but spent a long season in the valley of disappointment and struggle.

Here is their story:

When God works in our lives, the stories must be shared. Some share the story of God’s work in their lives through baptism. Some share their stories in lifegroups. And sometimes, stories need to be shared with the church.

This is because,

Transparent Living leads to freedom!

When real connections are made, we live in freedom. When real friendships are made, we live in freedom. We can confess our sins, our victories, and our journey as followers of Jesus—and that type of living leads to freedom! You can be free to be the real you.  

Transparent Living invites us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, to live in freedom with each other, and continues to help us lead people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus.

Beach Life - Life-Changing Truth

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. Last week, we kicked off this series by discussing Beach Church's mission. Our mission is to lead people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus. Our Mission is the answer to the question of “Why we do anything around here.”

Why we gather together for worship each weekend.

Why we serve in our community.  

Why we have children’s ministry.

Why we go on mission trips. 

Why we provide stoves in the Mayan jungles.

Why we have student ministry.

Why we have LifeGroups.

Why we plan for the future.

Why we have an online presence.

The “Why” behind everything we do is answered by our Mission, “To lead people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.”

We have five Guiding Values that I believe will help us fulfill our mission.

1. Life-Changing Truth

2. Transparent Living

3. Captivating Celebration

4. Uncomfortable Grace

5. Selfless Service

For the next five weeks, I encourage you to embrace these guiding values as your own. Today – we are going to talk about the first Guiding Value of Life-Changing Truth.

You might have noticed that we begin every sermon with an invitation to take a Bible home…and then say something like, “At Beach Church we believe…”

IF WE READ AND APPLY THE WORD OF GOD, GOD WILL CHANGE OUR LIVES

That is not just a cute saying.  That statement is developed from the life of Jesus in Matthew 4 when Jesus used God’s word to resist the temptation of the Devil and in Second Timothy. I have never met anybody that didn’t want to experience some level of change in their life…

They want a better marriage. 

Better relationships at work. 

Better relationships with their family members…

They want to be better off financially. 

They want to have more peace, more joy, and give more love in their lives.

And the BEST and most PRACTICAL way to experience life change is found in 2 Timothy 3:16.

2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT2) 

16  All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. In the original language, Paul used the word “inspiration,” which suggests the Bible was “breathed out” by the mouth of God.

THE BIBLE IS GOD BREATHED AND TEACHES RIGHT AND WRONG

The Bible is not merely a religious book. The Bible is not just a collection of churchy books smashed together. The Bible is a collection of 66 books. God, the Creator of the world, BREATHED out into the minds of men, who recorded His words.

For the first season of Human History, God walked and talked with His creation – until Adam and Eve – the first man and woman, rebelled against God and sinned.  They preferred living for themselves rather than living for their Creator. Then, God communicated with his creation through the Prophets, through Jesus and his Apostles. His communication and interaction with humans are recorded in this Book.

The Bible is God Breathed.  

Just like these words you are hearing right now are Joe-Breathed.  I am forcing air out of my lungs into my vocal cords; they vibrate, and you hear these words I am saying – God spoke into the minds of the Prophets and Apostles and gave us words that have endured for the past 4,000 years. God loves Human Beings enough to communicate with us. We have not been abandoned by our Creator.

 Even when we FEEL alone – our feelings are wrong.  Through the Bible, we are encouraged and comforted by the heart of God.

The Bible tells us what is right and wrong.

I love hearing an ATTABOY, and I love words of affirmation when I am doing something right. It motivates me to continue to do right, but not many people like to be told when they are living or doing something wrong… 

Today, the culture of the world EMBRACES what is WRONG and REJECTS what is RIGHT. If an athlete or a politician is a follower of Jesus and uses his platform to be a role model and point others to Jesus – he/she is ridiculed and mocked by the culture. But if an athlete or politician uses their platform to promote anti-Christian views, they are hailed as heroic status symbols. The reality is this: if you enjoy doing wrong, the Bible is going to offend you.

If you enjoy doing wrong and do not want to be corrected, sermons here at Beach Church are going to offend you. They are going to step on your toes and get all up in your business. 

I will offend you because, from time to time, I will teach something from the Bible that goes against what you value and embrace. There is RIGHT, and there is WRONG.  

I acknowledge that since the Bible is GOD BREATHED, it has authority over our lives. We can depend on it as the foundation upon which we can build our lives. I don’t preach sermons wagging my finger at you. I look in the mirror, point the truth of God’s Word at myself, and seek to apply the truth to my life before I ever preach, and I ask you to do the same.

My focus when I preach is to help YOU apply God’s Word to YOUR life. We believe that Spiritual Growth is evident when each of us individually applies God’s Word to our lives. So, how can you train yourself to apply God’s Word to your life?

In 1996, five years after I became a follower of Jesus. Five years after I understood that there was a right and wrong. Five years after I surrendered my life to Jesus, received Christ as my Savior, and became a born-again believer in Jesus…

I was taught how to READ my BIBLE and develop an application from it… If we do accept the Bible as the living and active Word of God – then we have to figure out how to read it and apply it. How do we read the Bible without falling asleep? How do we read the Bible without our minds drifting off?  It happens to all of us.  We open up the Bible to read it…and our minds drift off, and we begin to think about other things.

Today I want to give you a tool to help you be able to read God’s Word and apply God’s Word to your life: If you do not have a Letter or Book of the Bible that you are currently reading on a regular basis, I want to invite you to begin reading the shorter letters in the New Testament. The letters were written to followers of Jesus and gave instructions on how to live as followers of Jesus. How to raise their children, get along with their neighbors, and LIVE out their faith as followers of Jesus.

When I read the Bible, I typically read these shorter letters in one sitting. As I read them, I underline all the verses that make me go, “Hmmm.” Or strike me in a particular way…

That’s all I do in that first sitting. I read the letter, and when a verse stands out to me…I underline and move on. The next morning, I typed out the first verse that stood out to me, and I began to meditate on it and let it sink into my life. I ask myself, did this verse leap out to me because there is a…

SIN TO AVOID or CONFESS

Is there a sin I have been thinking about doing (robbing a bank, committing murder, overeating tacos) that I need to avoid? Or have I murdered somebody, and I need to confess it to God, admit it was wrong, and stop doing it? Mostly, I don’t struggle with temptation in those areas – but I am tempted in areas of lust, gossip, greed, selfishness, resentment, bitterness, unforgiveness…

If there is, I will write about it.  I journal about it. Then, I ask myself if this verse leaped out at me because there is a…

PROMISE TO CLAIM

Within the New Testament, God has made over 250 promises to followers of Jesus.  Here are a couple of them as examples:

Jesus promised rest in 

Matthew 11:28-30 (NLT2) 

28  Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29  Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Jesus promised abundant life to those who follow Him 

John 10:10 (NLT2) 

10  The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. 

There are many more promises of God, and every single one of them find their ultimate fulfillment in a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. If there is a promise, I write it down and CLAIM it. I pray it into my heart and life.

Third, I ask myself…did this scripture pop out to me because there is an…

EXAMPLE TO FOLLOW

Am I supposed to follow the example of somebody I am reading about? Is there an example I am supposed to follow about somebody’s strength, faithfulness, or obedience? Does somebody inspire me to walk with God more closely?

If so, I will write about it, and I will seek to follow their example. Fourthly, I ask myself, is there a…

COMMAND TO OBEY

Is there an area of my life that I need to bring into alignment with the Word of God?  What is it?

I write about it and begin to apply it to my life. I often find commands I once obeyed that I have become relaxed about continuing to do. Am I no longer generous like I once was?

Do I love others as I once did?

Am I being patient and kind and tenderhearted with my family and friends?  Am I following Jesus like God expects me to?

Then, finally – I ask myself if the verse leaped out at me simply because it has some bit of… 

KNOWLEDGE TO GAIN

…about God or my fellow man that I need to be reminded of, tuck away, and even pass along one day.  

You will never know how much of an encouragement you can be to others by simply passing along an encouraging thought from the Bible to others. Now, I have given you solid questions you can ask yourself as you read the Bible. These things will help your mind stay focused and alert as you read God’s Word.

I want you to ask yourself,

WHAT IS MY DAILY PLAN TO READ GOD’S WORD?

Will you wake up thirty minutes earlier daily to read the Bible and pray?

Will you go to your bedroom thirty minutes earlier to read God’s Word and to pray?

Devise a plan for the next thirty days and stick with it. I guarantee you will never regret developing a plan to read and apply the Word of God.

Beach Life - Our Mission

Today, we are launching our Beach Life Series. Throughout this series, we will explore Jesus' mission and values and how he calls us as a church to follow him and make his mission and values our own. If you are interested in joining our church or if you are already a partner or member, this series is going to be very appealing to you. As we begin, it is so important to address the question, “Why?” Why should we spend 7 weeks in a series called Beach Life?

As followers of Jesus, ultimately, when our life is finished here on this earth, and we stand before God, we all want to hear Jesus say to us: Well done, my good and faithful servant.

Most of us want to be a part of something significant. We want to leave our family, friends, community and even the world a better place when we pass on from this life. The only way we will hear those words from Jesus is if we value what Jesus values and make his mission and values our mission and values—personally and together as a church.

The Bible calls Solomon the wisest man who ever lived. Solomon was a great “people reader.” He knew how to read and motivate people. Read through the Proverbs, and you will discover incredible God-breathed wisdom. In Proverbs 29, Solomon wrote about the importance of leaders casting vision for God’s people. 

He writes:

Proverbs 29:18 (NLT2) 

18  When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful. 

If you grew up in church, you may be familiar with other translations. The King James version reads:

Proverbs 29:18 (KJV) 

18  Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. 

And the English Standard Version reads:

Proverbs 29:18 (ESV) 

18  Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law. 

In other words, without divine guidance and vision, God’s people will not hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”  

Without vision, God’s people will run wild.

Without vision, God’s people will cast off restraint.

Without vision, God’s people will perish.

The direct result of not living with a clear direction and mission will result in God’s people running wild. I really like the emphasis on “running wild.”  During my college years, I worked in an after-school program for elementary-age children. If we didn’t have a plan, those kids ran wild! 

Cliques of kids would do whatever they wanted to do. Some would try to play kickball on the same field others were trying to play football. Kids would swing on the swings, and other kids would play tag in between.  Girls were playing, dancing, and getting smashed by others playing football. 

Without direction – there would be bumps, bruises, and tears.

That’s how it is for the church or any organization without a clear mission. Without unity around a clear mission, God’s people can be playground bullies and hurt others. So, that’s why, for the next seven weeks, we will do this series on “Beach Life.”

At Beach Church, we are…

Leading People to a Life-Changing Relationship with Jesus.

Our mission, our purpose, is to lead people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus, and our mission is formed by Jesus's life and mission. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus' mission is very clear. Before he was born, an angel appeared to Mary and told her his purpose:

Matthew 1:21 (NLT2) 

21  And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Jesus described his mission early on in his ministry and said:

Luke 5:31-32 (NLT2) 

31 …. “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. 32  I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.” 

And he made his mission even more clear in Luke 19:10

Luke 19:10 (NLT2) 

10  For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”

50-60 years later, the apostle Paul described the mission of Jesus to Timothy and said:

1 Timothy 1:15 (NLT2) 

15  This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all.

The mission of Jesus was to seek and save the lost.  

The mission of Jesus was to save sinners.

The mission of Jesus was to save people from their sins.

That is why our mission as a church could not be any clearer. Our Mission is to lead people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus. If you are a follower of Jesus, that is your mission as well because the mission of Beach Church is the mission of Jesus. Over the last few weeks, we have looked at the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.  Now, before Jesus ascends into heaven, Jesus passed his mission on to his followers:

Let’s read together From Acts Chapter One.

Acts 1:6-11 (NLT2) 

6  So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” 7  He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. 8  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9  After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. 10  As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 11  “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!” 

Jesus left the earth because his part of the mission, to save people from their sins, had been fulfilled. There is only one way a person can be forgiven for their sins, and that is through Jesus' death and resurrection. Jesus' role in his mission had been completed, but his mission is ongoing. He told his followers that His mission to seek and save the lost now rested in their hands.

The timing of when Jesus invited these men to participate in his mission is crucial for us to understand how we are supposed to fulfill Jesus's mission. Jesus did not wait until he ascended into Heaven to select the people to fulfill his mission; he selected them at the very beginning of his ministry. He had already shown them how to fulfill their mission and how to lead people to a life-changing relationship with him.  

He did not ask them to do something he had not already shown them how to do. In Jesus's culture, when a teacher invited people to follow him and be his disciple, the teacher was inviting them to become LIKE HIM. 

The reason he invited them at the beginning of his ministry is because Jesus knew…

A follower of Jesus reflects the character of Jesus.

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John describe roughly three years of Jesus's life. They describe how he interacted with religious leaders, prostitutes, the worst of the worst, and the best of the best. Jesus spent time in the slums with the poor, and he went to the parties of the rich. Jesus taught people who went to the synagogues, and he taught in the streets and fields.

The Gospel writers provide accounts of Jesus working miracles: He healed people with leprosy, brought the dead back to life, made the sick well, and made the paralyzed run and skip. For three years, Jesus engaged with people and taught them how to love God with all their hearts and love their neighbors as they loved themselves. His disciples were right there watching him every step of the way. 

Jesus knew their observation of his life would transform their lives. He knew that before he could assign them the responsibility to fulfill his mission, they must be prepared, and the preparation happened partly through their observation of his life and as they became more like him.

Growing up, I acted just like the friends I hung out with. The more time I spent with them, the more I became like them. If they spit spitballs from a straw in the cafeteria, I spit spitballs from a straw in the cafeteria. If they superglued their fingers together, I superglued my fingers together. If they did dumb things, I did dumb things. My teachers always told us that we acted just like each other. If you are a follower of Jesus, the more you observe the life of Jesus through prayer and reading the Bible, the more you will reflect the character of Jesus. When we reflect the character of Jesus, we will lead people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus.

In other words, the character of Jesus rubbed off on his disciples. The disciples became like Jesus – not just in regard to their mission, but in regard to their character.

We have Five guiding values that guide our decision making at Beach Church, these guiding values are reflected in the life of Jesus.  The more we grow in these values, the more we reflect the character of Jesus, and the more we fulfill his mission:

Our first guiding value is…

GUIDING VALUE #1: LIFE-CHANGING TRUTH

“We believe if we read and apply the Word of God, He will change our lives.”

Matthew 4:1-11 tells the story of Jesus being tempted by Satan in the wilderness. Despite being hungry and weak, Jesus stood firm and resisted the temptation to sin by quoting Scripture and applying the truth of God's Word to His life. In doing so, Jesus demonstrated the power of God's Word to overcome temptation and sin.

GUIDING VALUE #2: TRANSPARENT LIVING

“We believe God desires us to be real, open, and honest about who we are and allow others to do the same.”

In John 11:35 and Matthew 26:36-46, Jesus is vulnerable. He wept at Lazarus' tomb and experienced anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane. We cannot be transparent without being vulnerable.  It is okay not to be okay.  

GUIDING VALUE #3:  UNCOMFORTABLE GRACE

“We believe followers of Jesus give the same limitless grace they have received from God.”

In Matthew 9:10-17, Mark 2:15-22, and Luke 5:29-39 and throughout the Gospels, Jesus ate with prostitutes, tax collectors, and other notorious sinners.  In that culture, sharing a meal was the greatest way to demonstrate love and acceptance.

We must make allowance for the personality clashes, sins, and faults of other people and show the same type of grace Jesus did. 

GUIDING VALUE #4: CAPTIVATING CELEBRATION

“We believe following Jesus results in a joy-filled life that draws people to Jesus.”

Throughout the Gospels, when Jesus healed people, the healings led to joy for the person healed and spilled over to others who saw the change in their lives. The joy and celebration that followed the healing would draw more people to Jesus.

We intentionally celebrate during the hardships that living in a broken world brings.

GUIDING VALUE #5: SELFLESS SERVICE

“We believe followers of Jesus best demonstrate love to others through acts of kindness and service.”

In John 13:1-17, Jesus washed his disciples' feet, a powerful act of humility and deference that indicates servanthood is a defining characteristic of Jesus, and he calls his followers to become servants to one another and the world.

We demonstrate selfless service by serving our community with no strings attached. Throughout his ministry, Jesus reflected the value of the Word of God, Grace, Transparency, Joy, and Serving others. These values were blueprints for how we, as followers of Jesus, fulfill his mission. When first-time guests walk into our church, we want them to see that we live with purpose and encounter Jesus's values through each and every one of us.

So, invite!

We are building a culture in which each of us strives to exemplify the values of Jesus. We are developing followers of Jesus who strive to live their lives like Jesus did.

1 John 2:6 (NLT2)

 6  Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

We are developing a culture where people are not ashamed to invite their family, friends, and neighbors who don’t yet know Jesus. Regardless of their lifestyle, political views, and past, all people are welcomed at Beach Church because all people are welcomed to the cross.

So, invite others!

And finally, 

Jesus will return, are you ready now? (Acts 1:10-11)

I am ready for Jesus to return because I know Him as my Savior.  

By faith, I have been made a new creation through the GRACE and FORGIVENESS of Jesus death on the cross.  By faith, I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins, that he rose from the dead, went up into heaven and will one day return.

But I am not ready based on what BELIEF.  I am ready because I have RECEIVED the free gift of forgiveness. In 1991, I knelt beside my youth pastor, and I asked Jesus to forgive me, and I invited Jesus into my life.  I had already KNOWN what Jesus had done for me.  But I never received him as my Savior.

Paul writes in Romans 10:9

Romans 10:9 (NLT2) 

9  If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

If you have not yet made a decision to follow Jesus, I invite you to pray with me right now and surrender your life to God and accept Jesus to be your Savior and Lord. Wherever you are.  In your car. At the beach. In an RV. In your House. You can get ready for the return of Jesus, right now.  

So let’s pray together.

You can pray something like this:

Dear God,

I am ready to receive Jesus as my Savior.  I believe that Jesus paid the punishment for my rebellion and sin. I believe he suffered and died on the cross for me.  I believe he rose from the dead. I believe he went up into Heaven and will one day return.  God, I give you my life and accept Jesus as my Savior.  Thank you for forgiving me!