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. Our five guiding values guide us in fulfilling our mission.  

At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus invited men to follow him and learn from him. He showed his disciples the way to live. 

1 John 2:6 (NLT2) 

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

Our Guiding Values are rooted in Jesus's life. 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 that they find accountability when they share their wins, sins, and struggles. That leads to Uncomfortable Grace. We show grace so powerfully that it's unusual and a bit uncomfortable when we first begin to demonstrate it. That leads to Captivating Celebration. Followers of Jesus celebrate their faith even through the hard seasons, which is captivating to others drawn to Jesus. This leads to Selfless Service. Jesus has changed our lives, and we want to serve others.

You may be asking, now that we have discussed our mission and our Guiding Values, what is left to discuss?

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 and ignore his teaching are building a house that will collapse when the storms come.

When we bought our house, we looked at many homes, and every house we looked at 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 only being concerned about what the house looked like on the exterior and not being worried about the foundation of the house? 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 proper foundation, great will be your fall.

Life Storms come in all varieties

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 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 because 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…

You made it through the storm because you continued to follow Jesus and apply his word to your life. 

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

You have anchored your life to the Promises of God’s word. 

You have anchored your heart and your attitude into the bedrock of God’s word.

Somehow, you learned along the way that…

Anchors prevent drift and provide stability

Last July, during a double red flag warning, we baptized 95 people at the beach. This summer, we will have another Beach Baptism on July 14. I learned the importance of having an anchor last summer.  I set my water bottle and phone down in a little spot on the sand, walked out into the ocean, and began baptizing people.

We could go through the line, take turns, and baptize one at a time. The sand under my feet was twisting and churning. The foundation was constantly shifting under my feet because of the power of the waves and the tide.  I was continually in motion, trying to stand up 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 far from where we began. 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. Not all storm damage can be clearly seen. Some storms gut us, but other storms cause us to drift away from Jesus.

In the book of Revelations, Jesus spoke to different churches and warned them about specific issues they were facing. To the church in Ephesus, Jesus acknowledged how hard the church had worked. The church in Ephesus knew the Word of God so well that they discovered false teachers and turned away from them because they were liars. But they were missing something.

Listen to Jesus:

Revelation 2:2-5 (NLT2) 

2  “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. 3  You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. 4  “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! 5  Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. 

Hard work.

Patient Endurance.

They did not tolerate liars, evil people, and those who pretended to be God-called Pastors.

They patiently suffered without quitting…

But they still drifted away. They endured the storm but drifted away in their love for Jesus. I have been there. I have endured brutal storms in my life.  

Childhood of abuse.

Six years of infertility.

Three children were diagnosed with type one diabetes.

Job loss.

Financial loss.

Betrayal of friendships.

It appears as though I have endured those storms…but the words of Jesus call to me today as they call to you.

“I have this complaint against you: You don’t love me or love each other as you did at first. Turn back to me. Turn back to your relationship with me. Turn back to your first love.”

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 first love. 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, to prevent ourselves from becoming hypocrites, we must daily check to see if we are truly anchored to Jesus. To help you with that, in the Beach Church App, you have 7 Anchor Points to ask yourself daily.  To prevent drifting away, even when you do everything right, use these questions to reflect on and evaluate your life 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 to return to Jesus daily—to return to your first love 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 refuge for others

I was living about forty miles south of Atlanta when Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans.  Lives were lost, and 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 do something to help because of the storm's damage and destruction.

Beach Church is a place for refugees searching 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. Here, you will find community, you will be encouraged, you are welcome, and you can join our mission to lead people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus.

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.