Introduction 

 

Today’s Sermon Will be Preached in light of  

• A review last year’s thematic highlights
• An Announcement of this year’s theme
• Context for this year’s focus

Year In Review 

“The Untapped Power of We” (January) 

It taught us how to become a “we” people in the midst of a “me” culture. 

There are all kinds of benefits we experience when we are unified in Christ. 

But here’s the rub: the benefits of unity require adjustments. 

Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit (February) 

Being one in Christ is not only spiritual but also social. 

 

The Kingdom Way (March) 

A series about God’s thoughts and how different they are from our own. 

Knowing God comes at the cost of exchanging our thinking for His. 

When you welcome God’s ideas, it naturally lends itself to innovation. 

The Lord has called us to specific kinds of innovation, among which include the following three areas: 

• Arts and Entertainment 
• Science and Technology 
• Business and Entrepreneurship 

How the Lord Pastors Us (April) 

The Lord is your pastor. 

No human pastor can guide you effectively unless you are first submitted to the Lord’s leadership. 

Do you trust the Lord with your pastoral care? 

When you have pastor issues, do you first go to Him? 

The Benefactor (May – June) 

Giving is chore when, in a relationship with resources, you primarily identify as a beneficiary. 

On the other hand, giving is a dynamic source of life and blessing when, in a relationship with resources, you primarily identify as a benefactor. 

Benefactor: someone or something that provides help or an advantage: one that confers a benefit [Meriam-Webster Dictionary] 

If you are a believer, you’re blessed with spiritual blessings that have earthly implications. 

To be a Christian is to be a blessing to other people—even if you’re poor. 

Because of the Holy Spirit in you, you have the capacity to be a blessing, no matter what your circumstances are. 

As Peter told the man at the Gate Beautiful, Acts 3:6 (ESV): 6 . . . “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. . .” 

The Blessing and Joy of Honoring Our Fathers (June) 

Shortly after Father’s Day, we talked about the Fatherhood of God within the context of the Lord’s Prayer. 

Part of what makes the Lord’s prayer so powerful is that it is prayed in the first-person plural,  

• “Our Father” 
• “Give usthis day.” 
• “Weforgive those who trespasse.d” 

The pronouns “Our,” “us,” and “we” draw us back into the collective spirit God is calling us to. 

 

One Vision, One Voice (July) 

The subject of our summer guest speaker series 

I Prayed About It (But What Does That Mean)? (August) 

That series covered the basics of prayer for beginners and provided encouragement for people wanting to reinvigorate their prayer lives. 

The objective of the series was to get us to pray sincerely, biblically, attentively, regularly, and persistently.  

 

Beef (September) 

We dedicated an entire series to the slang term “beef”.  

To talk about the numerous ways that conflict arises in the process of working together and how we are to respond when conflict shows up.  

Imagine, You’re Part of Something Bigger (October) 

Of course, one significant way to help us move past the smallness of our differences is to place our focus on the largeness of our common vision. 

Financial giving is not about money, but about the heart behind it. 

From God’s perspective, anyone, regardless of financial status, can be a big giver. 

 

The Gathering (November) 

Gathering is far more than about church attendance, but about our collective identity and purpose. 

Church is not a mere social experience, but a branch of heaven’s government charged with extending the influence of heaven on earth.  

Beef (December) 

The literal business of the church can be a source of conflict .

At the same time, the business is spiritual, and taking it seriously plays a vital role in the fulfillment of God’s plan for us as a church. 

Stay Woke 

• Matthew 24:12 (ESV):12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 
• Matthew 24:36–37 (ESV): 36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.  
• Markers of the days of Noah  
• Evil:Genesis 6:5 (ESV): 5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 
• Prophetic Warnings (acts of mercy): Jude 14–15 (ESV): 14 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 
• The response to this should be repentance 
• And when they hear about Noah building the ark, they should throng him with support. 
• But instead. . . 
• Matthew 24:38 (ESV): 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the daywhen Noah entered the ark, 

• They are behaving as if  
• Nothing’s wrong 
• There’s no work to do 
• The future is promised
• They are detached from reality
• Their human accomplishments give them confidence that their world is stable. 
• They had no clue until the door was shut, and the rain started falling.  
• Ignoring Noah’s construction 
• Ignoring the clouds 
• Ignoring the changes in the atmosphere—literally and spiritually 
• Why? 

• Matthew 24:39 (ESV): 39 and they were unawareuntil the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 

 

• They were spiritually asleep. 

 

• Matthew 24:42 (ESV): 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 

So, at this moment in Jesus’ discussion of the last days. He’s given us two ways to respond to the news about the future demise of the world: 

• Don’t be afraid: Matthew 24:6 (ESV): 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 

 

• Stay awake. 

How do you stay awake? 

• You remain attentive to the business of the Lord, working like you expect Him to return at any moment 

After He describes the characteristics of the last days, Jesus shares three scenarios that explain the difference between staying awake and going to sleep: 

The story of wise and foolish servants: 

• Matthew 24:45 (ESV):45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 

 

• Matthew 24:46-47 (ESV):46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 

 

• Matthew 24:48-51 (ESV):48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51 and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

The Parable of the Ten Virgins: 

• Matthew 25:10 (ESV):10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.  

 

• Matthew 25:11 (ESV):11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 

 

• Matthew 25:13 (ESV):13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. 

 

The Parable of the Talents: 

• Matthew 25:14–19 (ESV):14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 

 

The Parable of the Minas: 

• Luke 19:12–13 (ESV):12 He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. 13 Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’ 

We are to be engaged in the business of the Lord until He returns. 

Each year, there’s going to be a different emphasis on the nature of that business. 

What is our Business This Year? 

Construction. 

The physical reconstruction project is an analogy for our spiritual reconstruction project.  

 

Renovation sounds exciting, but the reality is that the process of construction is frustrating.  

 

Enduring the process from beginning to end requires patience.   

 

As a case in point—and we discussed this several months ago: 

 

The children of Israel were involved in a construction project of sorts after they had been freed from slavery. 

 

• Numbers 11:1 (ESV): 1 And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. 

 

• The people are upset. 

 

• God is upset 

 

• Numbers 11:4–6 (ESV):4 . . .And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” 

• They think God is not taking care of them, but He is 
• He’s addressing their needs; He’s just not addressing their preferences. 
• And if they would turn their attention to His actual provision, they would be grateful instead of resentful. 
• Moses is complaining: 

 

• Numbers 11:12–13 (ESV): 12 Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child,’ to the land that you swore to give their fathers? 13 Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ 

• The leaders complain: 

 

• Numbers 12:1–2 (ESV): 1 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. 2 And they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it. 
• What Miriam and Aaron did not realize is that their complaint was not a critique of Moses’s leadership, but of God’s leadership. 

 

• Because it was God who was leading Moses 

 

• The Congregation complains about the direction of the ministry: 

 

• Numbers 14:1–4 (ESV): 1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel grumbledagainst Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” 

What’s challenging about this is that they were almost there 

• James 1:4 (NKJV): 4 But let patience have itsperfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 

 

This Year’s Theme 

This Year’s Theme: “Under Construction” 

This Year’s Theme Scripture: 1 Peter 2:4–5 (ESV): 4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  

• He will build our sanctuary as we become His sanctuary.