Knowing Christ and Making Him Known Proverbs 29:18a (KJV) 18 Where there is no vision, the people perish… ● It’s not the number of things you know but the ability to apply what you know correctly ○ From what you’ve heard over the past few weeks, take a moment, and think about where the Lord has spoken to your heart. What is He drawing you into and towards? Philippians 3:13–14 (NLT) 13No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Romans 8:1 (NKJV) 1There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. ● It is easy to agree with a theory but living it out is a different story. Big ideas ● Am I Connected to God’s Plan? ● Am I Connected to My Purpose & Calling? ● Am I Connected to Biblical Community? James 1:22 (NLT) 22But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. Am I Connected to God’s Plan? ● What is God’s Plan? ○ Making Christ known to all creation/making disciples. Matthew 28:18–20 (NKJV) 19Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Mark 16:15 (NKJV) 15And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. ● That seems big; what does that mean to me individually? Matthew 5:16 (NKJV) 16Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. ● Let your light shine to others by living your life for Christ. Colossians 3:23–24 (NKJV) 23And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. ● Book- The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence ● We can fall into just doing good things, but what is my unique purpose and calling? How do I discover it? Am I Connected To My Purpose and Calling? Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV) 10For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. ○ Created in Christ- Knowing Christ ○ For Good Works -Making Him Known ● Purpose and Calling can be big and scary words to people. ○ We can fall into competition and/or condemnation depending on If we know what we are called to or not. ● We get hung up on the wrong thing. What I am doing versus Who I am doing it for. 1 Peter 4:10–11 (NLT) 10God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 11Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen. 1 Corinthians 3:7–8 (NLT) 7It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. 8The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. Other Refernces:1 Corinthians 12:15–26 & Romans 12:3–8 ● Lifestyle and Seasons ○ John 15- The Abiding Lifestyle doesn’t change depending on your season. ■ Trust the process that God is doing in your life "the fact is when a man gets to the place where he really loves obscurity, where he does not care to preach, and where he would rather sit in the back pew than on the platform, then God can lift him up and use him, and not very much before." Frank Bartleman (the journalist who witnessed the Azusa street revival) ● While you wait, prepare. Don’t fall into despair. ○ The journey creates in you the heart that the Lord can trust with great things. ● The main place where our connection to God’s plan and our purposes are developed and encouraged is within, not outside, the Biblical community. Proverbs 27:17 (NLT) 17As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. ● Not just knowledge about something, but the application of what you know. ○ Experience Trumps Theory! 1 John 3:18 (NKJV) 18My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. Am I Connected to Biblical Community? ● We are created to do life together. Acts 2:41–47 (NKJV) 41Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 42And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. ● Rows and Tables- you need a synergy of both in your life to be a healthy disciple. ○ Ecclesia: Called out ones/an assembly or a congregation ○ Koinonia: Fellowship, communion, joint participation, contribution, sharing, community (to have in common) ● Unity brought multiplication. Ephesians 4:2–3 (NKJV) 2with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ● We have to be intentional about staying in unity and harmony with others. Matthew 18:20 (NKJV) 20For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” ● This is a powerful way to make Christ known to those around us. John 13:34–35 (NKJV) 34A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” ● Biblical community happens partly on Sunday mornings, but deep biblical community happens within small group culture. ■ Going from hearing and being seen to discussion and being known. ○ We were not created to live life alone. Proverbs 18:1 (NKJV) 1A man who isolates himself seeks his desire; He rages against all wise judgment. ● We desire every person to be involved in a small group context within Catalyst. ○ Catalyst Groups, Discipleship Classes, Journey Groups, Organic Gatherings, Men’s Ministry, Women’s Ministry, etc. ■ You don’t have to do everything, but you can do something. ● Being connected to biblical community goes beyond just attending, to helping multiply small-group cultures within our body. ○ Suppose you are in a season of healing, development, and getting healthy. Take your time and invite people in to help you through that process. ○ BUT for some of us, I believe God is asking us to stretch a bit from our comfort zones into His supernatural in our lives. ○ We have an amazing opportunity at Catalyst- the world is coming to our backyard. ● People are tired of JUST BEING SEEN; they WANT TO BE KNOW Isaiah 6:8 (ESV) 8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” Within your Biblical Community, you have the opportunity to receive and give. ● Encouragement and being built up 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NLT) 11So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing. ● Care and Humility Galatians 6:1–3 (NKJV) 1Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. 2Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. ● Strength and Help Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NKJV) 12Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Proverbs 17:17 (NKJV) 17A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity. ● Love, Kindness, Honor, Prayer, & Provision Romans 12:10–13 (NKJV) 10Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. ○ We are better together! ● When we are connected, we are being knit together by Christ. ○ We are Christ-dependent first, then interdependent with each other. Ephesians 4:11–16 (NKJV) 11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. Colossians 2:19 (NKJV) 19and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. ● The biblical community is a beautiful mess in which God invites us to be involved. Takeaway Questions: ● How am I really connected with God’s plan, and in what way is He beckoning me to engage with it in a deeper way? ● How am I honestly connecting with my purpose and callings? What season am I currently in? What might I need to do to develop further in these areas? ● How am I truly connecting with the biblical community and helping to cultivate deeper and wider body life at Catalyst? God is doing something special in our midst; if you are not connected, you will not experience the fullness of what’s happening. Hebrews 10:24–25 (NKJV) 24And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.