Good morning! We're going to have an --incredible-- Fall for several reasons. For example, did you know we're starting a series next week called "Walk Like Jesus?" Think of some reasons you admire Jesus. What if you could worship like Jesus? Pray like Jesus? Love like Jesus? Believe like Jesus? Obey like Jesus? It's true, Jesus is the Son of God. But do you realize that the same Spirit that lived in Jesus now lives in you? By the power of that same Spirit we can do more than "admire" Jesus, we can become like Jesus... we can walk like Jesus! How would your life (marriage, family) change if you became "more" like Jesus this Fall? You're going to want to hear these messages and we're encouraging you to bring a friend for the whole 10 week series. We are encouraging as many people as possible to attend 1st or 3rd to make room in 2nd.
But it gets better. Next week our groups begin. When you get into a group, it's a game-changer. Every week we'll provide a study guide based off Sunday's message. So after hearing a great message, you can get together in a small group and apply what you are learning. Groups are engine of our church. Groups are where we grow together, pray, and truly become the church. We have such amazing leaders. They've been praying and going through training all summer long. They're so ready! We are trusting God to involve hundreds of adults in these groups, and I'll tell you, they are filling up fast. You can sign up in the lobby.
Still, there is more! We want you to grow deeper in your faith than ever before. Growing up, I'd attend church, but I was a "skimmer." I never sank my teeth into the meat of this thing, I was content to drink skim milk. I'd skim a few spiritual tidbits here and there, but I never just owned my faith, I never applied myself to the word. As we start this new series, you can purchase a $10 Study Guide, and dig into the word for yourself. 5 days a week, not seven, but 5 days a week... you'll spend 15 minutes digging into the Scriptures to learn how to walk like Jesus. You will reap huge dividends in your spiritual life for investing just few minutes every day. You can join a group, and if you're interested in the study guide, its all in the lobby by coffee bar.
Now, I want you to think the team you'll be rooting for this Fall. As you know, I'm a Bears Fan, and this Pre-Season the Bears haven't been looking too pretty. The sports commentators, have been ruthless. No one thinks that Bears will be any good! It's so bad, I contemplated becoming a Cubs fan. Nobody likes it when their team loses.
This Fall, I want to encourage you to root for a winning team. Not the Bears, not Cubs, definitely not the Packers... but the Church! One of my favorite books talks about Church being a team sport. I really like that. We're a team. You're not just a fan, you're on the roster, you have a vital role to fulfill, you are a star player, you're contribution really matters, no contribution is too small. It takes all of us working together to make the dream a reality. God didn't call you to be a spectator, he's gifted you to be spectacular... to be sensational... to be a real game-changer.
Let me talk about the dream for a moment. Ephesians 4:10 makes it clear that God wants "to fill the whole universe." Do you know how big the universe is? I saw this map showing how different regions cheer for different teams. Springfield is supposed to be Bear's country, come on people! But you know God wants his presence to fill the whole universe. He wants his name on every marquee, for every knee to bow, every tongue confess,. . . he wants to fill every stadium, every church, every home with his glory... he wants to be known and worshipped from here to outer edges of the universe! The Heavens already declare God's glory, so what about you?
I'll tell you something else. God's given you everything you need to be spectacular. He's given you everything you need to shine. Ephesians 4:7 says, "to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it." God has given me exceptional abilities. But he's also given you exceptional abilities. You aren't average. You are an exceptionally gifted person. God has given you abilities he hasn't given anyone else. God's apportioned some grace your way that no one else has. When you excel in sharing the grace God's given you, by serving others, everyone wins! You win. The Church wins. World Wins. God's glory fill the universe that much more! Nobody else has the number on your jersey. No other number is being called up to do what God created you to do. When you use your gifts, and serve, it's a game-changer.
Now for a team to win, some things are quite necessary. In Ephesians 4:1-6 Paul offers some examples. He says, "live a life worthy of the calling you have received." God's calling your number. Get in the game! Be spectacular. Make God smile!
Paul says (verse 1-2), "Be completely humble." Again, Church is a team sport! And it isn't you're name that goes on the marquee, it's the name of Jesus! Paul says, "Be gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." We can't tackle each other in our own huddle and expect to win! We need to be for one another in the deepest and most profound way. When one wins, we are all winning!
Paul says (verse 3-6), "Make every effort to keep unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope... one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
When you attend a church, you don't come being the peace-breaker. You don't come as a maverick, being a law unto yourself, thinking, I'll do what I want, say what I want, believe what I want, submit to the Lord when I want, attend when I want, serve when it's convenient. That's not how any winning team I've ever known operates. No, winning teams are unified. They have a common core, ethic, bond, playbook, vision, dream. If you're new to Lakeside, we urge you to get oriented to our faith, our practices, our Lord, our baptism. Become "one" with us. Pasta with the Pastors, Welcome to Lakeside are two ways to get oriented to Lakeside.
What would a be without a great coaching staff? Lakeside has great Elders, we have an amazing pastoral, dedicated staff, who know the game! In Ephesians 4:11-13 Paul says, "Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers to equip his people [team] for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up... until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."
We don't attain our full potential as a Church without godly leaders equipping us, and organizing us to play at our highest octane. This Sunday is our "Voluntour." After the service we want you to take 5-10 minutes and take our Voluntour! In our two largest classrooms, we've setup six informational booths designed to help you get acquainted with six key areas of our ministry. The leaders from each area has information to share. You can learn about things, you can fill out a volunteer application and serve. The first 50 people in 1st & 2nd Service, and first 25 in 3rd, to fill out a volunteer application, get a free T-Shirt.
You know, when you came to church today, you were being positively impacted by others, and may not have even noticed. Someone setup your chair. Someone made you coffee. Someone paid the light bill, and the mortgage. Someone took your baby into their arms and was willing to change their dirty diaper. Someone cut the grass, sharpened the mower blades, trimmed the hedges, changed out lightbulbs in parking lot fixtures, folded your bulletin, changed batteries in the microphones, programmed the slides, filled communion trays, cleaned toilets, sanitized every toy in the nursery so you child wouldn't get sick later on... someone watered the flowers, prepared the music, shopped for Bible school supplies, prayed for you, wrote you an encouragement note...
What makes the dream work is what Paul says in Ephesians 4:16... "From Jesus the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."
Let me ask. What do you want the world to be filled with? God wants the world to be filled with his presence His team is the Church. Lakeside is a winning team! But if not God's glory than what? What do you want universe filled with? What about your nation? Your city? Your marriage, your family? Your workplace? Your neighborhood?
Our world has had more than its fill of... anger, bitterness, jealousy, violence and strife, racism, political corruption, greed, sexual immorality, arrogance, godlessness, war... The Evil One wants you to be sidelined. He wants you to be a disengaged spectacular. He wants you to keep your jersey hidden in the locker with your name on it. He wants you to miss this moment, to miss your calling, to miss your destiny. No wonder the world is filled with so much darkness.
But God's dream is to fill the universe w/his glory... and you are one of his stars.