Northside Church - Sydney
Impact…Making Your Life Count // Week 1: What Do I Believe About God?
We're listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. Well friends this morning we start a series and it's a series going to take us for quite a few weeks called impact and the subtitle Making Your Life Count. And in this series we'll be able to look at some of the big questions that really confront us all in life at different stages of our life. Why am I here? What is my purpose? How can I make a difference in this world? Who are the people I can influence for good? Now if you've already got answers to these questions then this series I hope will sharpen your awareness of exactly where you fit in. But if these are some of the questions that you're kind of struggling with and would like to get more clarity on, I'm sure that this series is going to have an impact on you as we discover some truth, some God's word over a number of weeks we're going to look at questions like what do I believe about God, that's today. Next week what do I believe about myself? The following week what are my priorities? What am I holding on to the next week? The things that may hold us back. What is my mission? And finally what is the extent of my influence? Making our lives count, making a difference. This is the theme that we're going to unfold in these coming weeks. Now look it's one of the most interesting moments in the life of Paul. He's in the city of Athens and he's a philosopher, he's an educator, he's a great thinker. And in this particular incident recorded in Acts chapter 17 Paul is pitting his wits against his counterparts in the ancient city of Athens. That was a city known for its thinkers, known for its philosophers. And if you relax chapter 17 Paul's really getting amongst it and he's doing pretty well. He's amazed that they have so many gods, I can't believe it. They seem to have gods for every particular purpose and reason under the sun. And in one point in his message to them he makes a huge claim on behalf of all Christians and he asserts that far from worshipping gods of stone and wood and clay, Christians enjoy a personal relationship with the one true God. It's intimate, it's very, very personal. And so he puts it this way in verse 28 of Acts chapter 17, look at this, he says, "God is not far from each one of us, for in him we live, move and have our very being." Now it's a bit of a way of describing the richness, the closeness of the relationship that is possible with God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And so it stands to reason, it's a natural deduction that the extent to which our life counts, the extent to which we make an impact is inextricably linked to the strength of our relationship with God, that's a natural follow-on. If what Paul is saying is right, then our impact on life is inextricably linked to the strength of our relationship with God. I mean that's how it is for the people of faith. If God is the one who's never far from us, if he's the one in whom we live and move and have our very being, any impact we have on the people with whom we associate and on the situations in which we find ourselves is going to be a reflection of what we think and feel about God, how we're traveling with him at any one time. That's assuming we want to make a positive impact. That's assuming we want to make a positive impact. I mean you think for a moment of the people whose impact on the world has been negative and destructive and in some cases it's been a reflection at least in part of how they have viewed God. I'll give you an example, the racist, both now and over history, has based their views on the belief that God, God creates some people superior to others. That's been their view of God. Many fundamentalists believe God is all about rules and judgment and condemnation and this is reflected in their tendency to arouse feelings of guilt and anxiety and shame on the people they're trying to influence. At the other end of the spectrum you've got the extreme liberal Christian whose view of God is that of a doddery, benevolent old man who's pretty much oblivious to what's going on around him, doesn't have any definite view on any issue, is happy to accommodate virtually any moral or ethical viewpoint as long as nobody seems to get hurt. So what we believe about God plays a vital role in the shaping of who we are as disciples and the subsequent impact we're likely to have on those around us. Now I've chosen Psalm 8, I've chosen Psalm 8 because in this Psalm we get a very strong impression of how David saw God, of how he viewed him, the sort of relationship he had with him and we get a clear insight into some of the convictions that David had about God and I want to say that these are convictions we can share. These are beliefs and convictions that we can take on board. It can shape our understanding of God and in turn shape how we influence other people. It's a striking Psalm, it's a compelling Psalm, it was beautifully read by Annie who captured the sense of it this morning. Here's the first thing, David has understanding of the vastness of God, the expansiveness of his creation, look at verses 1, 3 and 4, how good is this, oh Lord, our Lord, your greatness is seen in all the world. Your praise reaches up to the heavens, when I look at the sky which you've made, the moon and the stars which you've set in their places, what a human being that you think of them, mere mortals that you care for them and friends, here's the thing, if we can believe God is incomprehensibly and unimaginably vast, that is potentially going to have a profound effect on our approach to life in so many areas, if you believe that. For one thing, when it comes to the impact we make on others, it means we can influence people to aspire and not expire, we can influence people to press on rather than give up, to step out in faith, to take a risk, to face the future with optimism and confidence, knowing that our great God will sustain us, will uphold us, will enable us to push through even the most adverse of circumstances. That was the apostle Paul, isn't it? Consistently, in the writings of the apostle Paul, he's pointing people to the greatness of God, he's challenging people to press into God and to acknowledge his power, if he's in 320, he talks about the God who is able to do so much more than we can ever imagine or even think of. In Philippians 4.13, he declares that in Jesus Christ he has the power to face all conditions. In Romans 8.31, he asserts, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" When we believe in the greatness of God and his power to work miracles, our approach to challenges, to opportunities, to adversity, changes forever, and with that conviction, with that conviction we can have a positive influence on others. This is an integral part of our ministry here at Northside. This ministry and conference center complex is a tribute to our belief in the God of the miraculous, and we haven't got time to go into that story, but if you know it and you live through it, you know what I'm talking about. Our emphasis is on prayer in this church. The fact that somebody can ring in a prayer request and within a very short period of time there's a whole group of people praying about that. We had several instances of that this week, our ministry of anointing both publicly and privately with the eldership. It's just a further sign of our acknowledgement that God is the God of the miraculous. These are just some of the ways we express our belief in the greatness of God. Now this is a far cry from the belief that God is like some sort of Santa Claus, and you just present your big long list of requests. The expectation that He's going to fill every single one of them to the letter. You may remember last week, I think it was last week, I wrote an article in the church paper about an experience I had up in Queensland recently over Easter. When I drove past a church and outside the church was a chalkboard, and the big heading on the chalkboard was, "I wish God would," and it was clear it was an invitation to get a bit of chalk and write up a request for God. When I pour as long enough to see what was being written up, pray the grandma get better, I'll pass my exam, but I'll keep safe on holidays. It was all the kind of stuff that you would expect. Nothing wrong with any of those things, but in the little piece last week, I reminded people of what Micah says, the prophet Micah in chapter 6, verse 8, he sort of switches it. He says, "What does the Lord require of you?" And what it is is to do justice, to love mercy, to walk humbly with your God. Friends, in our relationship with God, the most important list is not the one we give to God, it's the one he gives to you and me. That's the most important list. That's what the relationship is all about. Let's look at another way in which David viewed God. Second part of verse 2, look at it, "You are safe and secure from all your enemies. If you stop anyone who opposes you, safe and secure from all these enemies, stops anyone who opposes..." Look, friends, this is not meant to convey the idea of a vindictive, vengeful God who aggressively crushes anyone who opposes him. No, it's more the notion of a God who is impenetrable. That's it, a God who is impenetrable, one who cannot be defeated by evil, one who will prevail even though it may appear at times that he's on the back foot and losing the battle. And isn't that the way it is? So often you look around the world and you wonder like, "Who's winning this battle?" And often it seems like the other side is winning. We've seen evidence of that this week, broken, bruised bodies in a street that should have been filled with so much joy both in the United States and in Iraq. I mean, you just can't get your head around what would prompt somebody to do that. And you can only put it down to the dark forces of evil. That's it, you're looking evil right there in the eye and you think, "Well, how's this all going? How's this fight going? It doesn't look like the forces of good are doing very much at the moment. But you know what? Here's the thing. Look, the Bible reveals a much bigger picture of events. It's an eternal perspective we find here in the Word, okay? And it talks about love, truth, mercy, justice, being the values that will ultimately prevail over everything. The Apostle John was given a vision. It's called the Revelation. It's the last book in the Bible. And part of what he writes is found in chapter 21 verse 4. Some of you know it so well. Look at this. He, God, will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief, you get this? No more crying, no more pain. All these things will disappear, wipe away all tears, no more death, no more pain, no more crying. Yes, of course, this picture, this picture, of course, refers to our ultimate destiny, in eternity. Of course, this is long-term future. But here's the thing. That picture, that eternal picture, begins here and now. As you see, victory starts here and now. Every time someone shows kindness in the face of despair, that's a victory. Every time someone shows courage in the face of fear, that's a victory. Every time somebody shows compassion in the face of cruelty, that's a victory. Every time somebody shows hope in the face of grief, faith in the face of doubt, forgiveness in the face of hate, they're all victories. Because in this little preview of that which will ultimately be the victory. And here's the point. If we can believe God has already won the victory, if we can by faith grasp the truth that God has won the victory over evil and death, because of what Jesus did on the cross and through His resurrection, just recently celebrated at Easter, if we can believe that, we can more confidently and convincingly support people in a crisis, whether large or small. But because we can offer the one thing people need in a crisis, the one thing people need in a crisis and that's hope, H-O-P-E, if you can believe that, we can offer hope. And we can operate more convincingly and with greater conviction. So here in Psalm 8, wow, what a psalm. We receive powerful insights into how David viewed God, his belief about God, unimaginably vast, having already won the victory, and then in verses 4 to 6 we receive another insight, 4 to 6. Look at this. This is 4 to 6 of Psalm 8. What are human beings that you think of them, mere mortals that you care for them, yet you made them inferior only to yourself, you crowned them with glory and honor, you appointed them rulers over everything you made. You placed them over all creation. They're remarkable. I mean, that question, what are human beings that you think of them? It's the most logical question to follow David's declarations about God's greatness and about his victory because it's basically saying, God, why on earth would you worry about this? These people. You're so great. You're so other. You're so out there. Why would you worry about people? They're so unreliable. They're so unpredictable. They're so fragile. They're so vulnerable. Why are you worrying about them? And yet God has placed us at the pinnacle of the creation order with enormous capacity, enormous potential for good, and he's always demonstrated an intense interest in humanity, not just en masse, but individually, one to one. The ministry of Jesus, which of course is God in human form, that depicts this so beautifully. Numerous examples. So much of our Lord's dealings with people was on a one-to-one basis. Yes, there were the vast crowds, serving on the Mount, thousands of people, feeding the 5,000, all that, but there was also Matthew the tax collector. There was also the rich young ruler. There was also the man at the Bethesda Pool. There was also the woman at the well. There was also Zacchaeus. There was also the woman who touched the hem of his garment. So Jesus, yeah, one to one. And friends, it follows, "If we can believe God is intensely interested in every person, treats us all as treasured individuals, treasured individuals, we'll be more inclined to treat others with dignity and grace." Isn't that followed? Because we'll see them as children of the living God, and this realization will determine how we extend justice, mercy, forgiveness, understanding and love. You know, down through the centuries, and even right up until now, Christianity has always been on the forefront of all the initiatives in the world to bring about release from suffering. The Christian church has always played a key role in the establishment of welfare programs for the poor, care facilities for the aged, chaplaincy services for prisons, orphanages for children in crisis in earlier years, hospitals for struggling people in developing nations. Now I'm not suggesting for one moment, as I've said from this platform many times, not suggesting for one moment that Christianity has exclusive rights to values like compassion and justice. But I tell you what, if the influence of Christian aid organizations and churches and charities was removed from this world overnight without warning, by surprise, there'd be a huge difference in the way the hurting and the hopeless and the people who are really struggling would be cared for. That'd be a huge difference. Here's a final point and time has almost gone. Look at David's comment in verses 6 and 7, "You appointed them rulers over everything you made. You placed them over all creations, sheep and cattle and the wild animals too, and birds and the fish and the creatures of the sea. You appointed them rulers over everything you made." Wow, friends, here's the point. Our God is a trusting God. He's a trusting Him. He's into delegation. That's God we serve. He's into empowerment. I couldn't believe my luck when I entered the corporate speaking scene back in the late 80s as a pastor, starting to get quite a bit of exposure. The buzz word in business at that time was empowerment. The business was like, "Ooh, we'll discover a new word, we'll discover a new concept. Managers and leaders can empower their people to become great." I just had to dig out a few sermons and drop the references to God and the Bible, and I was away because that's what the Bible's all, that's what it's been about from the beginning. One of the last things Jesus said to His disciples, well, first of all, here's the thing. Here's the thing. We're at the top of the creation order. If we can believe God has given us authority, if we can believe He trusts us to that extent we can feel empowered, and we, in turn, can empower others. What was one of the last things Jesus said to His disciples, you will receive power. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you'll be my witnesses and so on, friends, as followers of the living Christ, we are meant to walk, get this, we are meant to walk with a strong sense of poise and purpose and confidence. The resolute about fulfilling our mission to be the light of the world, that's our destiny. There's nothing wimpish and weak about being a Christian. It requires emotional and spiritual strength and a strong awareness of ones calling to serve rather than be served. And having discovered our identity in Christ, our potential in Him, our ongoing task is to help others discover their identity, their potential, their calling. So much more I can say about that, but time has beaten us by way of summary, as we look at David's Psalm 8, get into this, you don't have to be in Andy's connection group to get into this, Psalm 8, as we look at a summary, we see His beliefs, David's beliefs about God, and we can see how we too, if we embrace His beliefs about God, we too can become someone who inspires, someone who cares deeply, someone who treats people with dignity and grace, somebody who is empowered and empowers others. That my friends is a description of somebody who's making an impact, that's a description of somebody who's making their life count. That is a description of a disciple of Jesus Christ, and that at the bottom line is what we are on about here at this church. None of us have made it yet, but there's the benchmark. That's where we're heading, making an impact, making our lives count, make your life count This week, you'll have stacks of opportunities.