Romaine Park Church Service – 06/02/2022, Nick Booth:- Making God’s priorities our priorities Priority 1 – Love God – seek Him first – Mark 12 and Matt 6
Well at the start of the year, I like to start with Vision Month – We are not setting out to change our vision but to recast it or cast it afresh and clarify for people who may have joined us and for people who may be considering joining us at Romaine Park. We sure hope you do.
As part of this vision casting, I want to speak today about “Making God’s priorities our priorities at Romaine, in our lives & in our homes.”
It is always good for a church to revisit the Vision and Recast it. Actually – it needs to be cast constantly throughout the whole year and hopefully you are beginning to see it come about in our church as a lived reality. I am praying the 2022 will be a year when we see it get solidified in our experience even more. What is our vision?
I wonder who might know it off by heart already? Our simple vision statement that we launched is “Loving God, Serving Faithfully, Reaching People Together”.
You may have seen it on the wall as you entered, It summarises what we see as being God’s pattern for all Church in Acts 2:42–47
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.
44 All the believers were together and had everything in common.
45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.
46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
47 praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Our vision closely aligns with our values. Romaine Values the Word of God, we ae people of the book. We aren’t here to learn self help but to get God’s help.
Likewise, we value God’s presence. It is so important to be “A church where God wants to come and a church where people want to come.”
We are a church that values community and family.
We value Missions and Evangelism – they are very high priorities, and they combine with making disciples. We are determined to be a great commission church.
And church, we value all generations! Let’s never forget that God gives us the mandate to reach every new generation for Him.
Can I make it clear – these ROMAINE VALUES REMAIN OUR VALUES. This is who Romaine Park Christian Centre is.
Let’s Prioritise what God prioritises – Commit to the things that God Himself is committed to. When we do that – we get God’s blessing upon our lives. Now it’s not that everything will be perfect or trouble free but Life Goes better when we set our lives according to God’s order!
Let’s look at a couple of passages from the Mark’s gospel and then from Matthew this morning as it relates to our Vision
Text: Mark 12: 28 -30
28One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
31The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
This teacher wanting to either trap Jesus or to verify if Jesus was the real deal poses this question to Jesus. What’s the greatest law? Of course, the question was raised by different people at different times. In Luke’s gospel we hear Jesus answer the same question and then tell the parable of the Good Samaritan to explain who our neighbours are.
But in this case, in Marks Gospel – it says that Jesus loved the scribe’s reply and told him that he was not far from the Kingdom of God!
The greatest thing that we can do with our lives is put God First! The second like it is to love others the same as we love ourselves. That is important – we need to see how much God values us, and we need to value others with that same kind of value too!
Loving others is not about devaluing ourselves but it is about loving people in much the same way that God loves them.
But let’s start with command 1 – How do we actually Love God? We love Him by: Praying and Worshipping – these 2 really come down to spending time with Him. Maybe you think, but I’m not much of a singer. You don’t have to be – just take some time to bend you heart and maybe your knees to God and tell him ha you love him. Give him thanks, yield yourself to him again daily.
It’s also important to listen to his voice (we do this by reading our bible, still small voice, the inner impressions that we get, we do it by listening to sermons, even in dreams, visions and prophesies. They can be other ways that we hear God speak to us – but we need to keep everything submitted to the main one of through his word by the Holy Spirit.)
Now, it is important to know His word but it is most important to Obey God’s word – if you have wondered why God is not talking to you – it might just be that you have been ignoring him about the things that he has already spoken to you about.
We also love God by loving people – the way we treat others is actually how we treat God. BTW that also extends to the way we treat his creation too. But that message is for another week.
So many times in our lives we set out to put our agenda, our priorities first and then we wonder why things don’t work out right? Unfortunately, most people don’t come to that place – most often, they often end up blaming God for not blessing their ways, their rebellions, their self-centredness (the things that the bible calls SIN). What is sin? – Well you will notice that right in the Centre of that Word there I am!
Why is sin such an issue? It breaks the relationship between you and God and You and others! Sin wrecks us! Sin wrecks others.
I am always free to make choices – but I am not free to choose the consequence. Neither are you!
We have been going through a Pandemic for nearly 2 years now but there is another Pandemic that predates it, has been intensified by the Pandemic and will outlast this Pandemic. I am talking about the Issue of mental health.
Anxiety and depression are besetting generations like never before.
For some, this can be clinical depression and anxiety that may need medical and professional help, but it also impact upon all of us at some level, and so for those of us who are possibly not dealing well with these issues of life, I will speak in more general terms and if you are needing more professional help then please make contact with a doctor, or a counsellor. Maybe reach out to Lifeline or Beyond Blue if you find yourself struggling. At the very least find a friend to talk.
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is the mind and body’s reaction to stressful, dangerous, or unfamiliar situations. It’s the sense of uneasiness, distress, or dread you feel before a significant event. A certain level of Anxiety helps us stay alert and aware.
The levels of Fear, worry and stress in our society appear to be unprecedented, but is it any wonder when media portray everything as unprecedented and the worst possible scenarios are proclaimed constantly as fact. Can I speak truth to this, there have been precedents, wars, famines, plagues have impacted humanity throughout all history. And people have gotten through with much less technological and scientific help and seemingly handled it better. Why is that?
When the belief in God is removed from our current society and people are left with only a materialistic world, I think that we find the roots to the issue. You see, despite everything that people had thought and been taught, they have had it driven home that they have little or no power to effect change in their situations. We really have very little control! The deities that replaced God, You know the idols that our modern world told us would never fail. The small g gods of Science, Health, Wealth, Leisure, Sport, Fun etc. They all fell in a very short period of time and people have discovered that life without a foundation will not handle the storm!
Friend, God is real and we really need him.
• The Bi-product of putting ourselves first is very often anxiety and worry. And actually, they are in themselves sin!
When Philippians 4:6 tells us ‘Do not be Anxious about anything’ and Jesus in Matt 6 says ‘do not worry’ 5 times, well to refuse to listen to him has dire results. We not only may miss out on the answer to our prayers because of the sin of unbelief but we end up without peace and without God’s presence and in our lives.
Now let’s look quickly at this second text from Matthew
Matt 6: 25 – 34
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Lack of Trust – in God
Increased concern for things that are beyond our control
Wrongly aligned priorities result in fear, in anxiety,
God’s remedy – Seek Him
– Trust Him
– Pray to Him
– Don’t be so busy about the future that you lose sight of your present blessings.
Ph 4: 6 -7 – Thanksgiving – call to mind yesterdays answers and your current blessings.
– Lift your eyes back onto the one who is our help.
1 Peter – Cast your care on Him and realise that God actually cares for you
Today, I would like to give the opportunity to put your life in God’s hands and surrender not just your worries, your struggles and your concerns, but also your failings, your sins and your rebellions to God. To ask his forgiveness and to seek His help.
Our God is an ever-present help in time of need. He is trustworthy and I would encourage you at whatever level you are able to, to reach out to Him today.
I wonder if you would join me and pray this prayer? It is a simple prayer for salvation. If that is you then let’s pray as we come to Christ today.
Dear Lord,
I admit that I am a sinner. I have done many things that don’t please you. I have lived my life for myself only. I am sorry, and I repent. I ask you to forgive me.
I believe that you died on the cross to save me. You did what I could not do for myself. I come to you now and I give my life to you. From this day forward, help me to live every day for you and in a way that pleases you.
I love you, Lord, and I thank you that I will spend all eternity with you.
Amen.
