Notes from the Sermon

A new series begins today:

Be One, Make One: Crafting Discipleship at Ventura Missionary

Today's sermon is "The Mission."

I found out that the church's mission statement is:

Live and share the transforming love of Jesus. 

No wonder I like the place ;)  This series will unpack that mission statement. Seems pretty simple and straightforward to me. 

It occurs to me that following Jesus' mandate:

Matthew 7:1-2 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 

actually simplifies discipleship for us. We are to share of love of God - pure and simple. As a wise friend of mine said, " I just love them."

All this before the sermon actually begins.  I may be dizzy and loopy, but this sure won't be a wasted trip ;)

One of the best coping methods is to obey God. We were designed for God, designed for joy, and obeying God is how we go with the flow - doing what we were designed to do. 

What does God want us to do? If you love God, follow Jesus. No promises that life will then be full of good fortune (as we would consider it). Thinking about it, to promise that would be like giving a child ice cream for dinner. They'll be overjoyed about their good fortune until the stomachache hits. 

"Clarity of purpose is critical to Kingdom success."

To be a Christian goes beyond belief. It is to be a disciple. Our discipleship is revealed through our love. 

This series will cover three areas over the next three weeks:

Love God

Reach the World

Build Community

These things don't naturally happen - we have to work at it. 

Having the trappings of religion doesn't make us a disciple. 

This church is a member of the Missionary denomination. I thought it was non- denominational. The new president said that the denomination was relational. 

Check out The Voice - a translation of scripture kind of in between the NIV and The Message (Bible Gateway has it). 

We can "do church" and we can do a lot of church without God. Guard against that. 

Jesus doesn't just invite us to spend a bit of time with Him (like an hour on Sunday) - Jesus wants to move in, to come and make His home with us.