In the message series called “Building Tomorrow Together,” we’re going to be talking about tomorrow for our church family. What is God’s vision for our church? What does He want us to do? Those are very important questions. To answer those questions, we need to realize that tomorrow will be different than today.
As you read the Bible, you begin to understand that God wants your tomorrow to be different than today. God wants you to grow to become more like Jesus than you are right now. In the same way, God’s vision for our church tomorrow is different than where we are today. Remember the church is not a building, the church is a family of believers.
Luke 9:23 (NIV) Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
How do we get to God’s vision for our tomorrow? We get there by sacrificing ourselves and following Jesus. Think about how a child learns and grows. A child learns and grows by watching their parents and following their example. In that way, a child goes from being a child today to ultimately adulthood tomorrow. In the same way, a church family matures as it follows Jesus.
In the book of Revelation we see that a church has spiritual significance. Jesus told John …
Revelation 1:20 (NIV) The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
The Lord Jesus is in charge of every true Bible-believing church. He is the one that allows each church to let their light shine in a dark world. Some churches, Jesus praised and others he warned that unless they repented, He would remove their lampstand. So, at Life Church, we want to be a church that follows Jesus. We want to be a church that looks to a better tomorrow. We want to be a church that lets it’s light shine. In order for that to happen, we’ve got to keep on following Jesus, even though it means change, even though it means sacrifice, even though it means denying ourselves and taking up our cross.
Listen to my September 27, 2009 message “Looking Out With Love” (message notes).