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110213 just as i am isaiah 55 6-9 (from pdcoc dedication service)
- 1. Just As I Am?! You’ve gotta be kidding!
- 2. Isaiah 55:6-9 NIV Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
- 4. Prepare all members – prayer, study, engagement , alignment and involvement to where we want to go
- 7. Prepare all members – prayer, study, engagement , alignment and involvement to where we want to go
- 9. Isaiah 55:6 NIV Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
- 10. Isaiah 55:7 NIV Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
- 11. Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Editor's Notes
- Invitation song: Just as I am.Good news & bad news: Bad news: Romans 3:23 CEV All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory.Worse news: Romans 6:23a CEV Sin pays off with death. …Good news: Romans 6:23b CEV … God's gift is eternal life given by Jesus Christ our Lord.Great news: God accepts us sinners just as we are when we turn to him.But there’s a corollary: he won’t let us stay just as we are!He expects us to give up old, sinful ways & embrace new, spiritual ways; he expects & requires us to grow!Read text
- This text has implications for us both as a congregation and as individualsAs a congregation, we can see the physical evidence of God’s blessings. In less than five years, we’ve gone from a small group that could rattle around in this building, to become a group that is very close to standing room only!We believe this is because we have sought, and continue to seek the Lord. We believe it is because we have turned to the Lord for his abundant pardon and provision.We believe it is because God has thoughts and plans for us that we cannot begin to comprehend, and that he will work those thoughts and plans out in his own way.That means we have to be prepared for whatever God has in store for us.
- Note that some preparation work is already underway. 1.Our ground breaking today addresses some needs if only for the near term2.The back side of the handout shows our continued work in this column and the timeline for getting more and more folks involved. Ultimately every member gets a chance for input and all will be needed to implement the tactics.*** Notice the second bullet in the “Preparation” column.Is it really important for the leaders of this congregation to urge every member to be actively involved in the work of this congregation?Is it really important for us as individual members to be actively involved in the work of this congregation?Isn’t it good enough for us to warm a seat on Sunday and put our money in the collection bags as they are passed?Isn’t the rest of this all the work of the elders, deacons, ministers & ministry leaders?
- Read Ephesians 4:11-12*** Highlight “He did it so that they might prepare God’s people to serve.”The building up of the body of Christ is NOT the work of the elders, deacons, ministers, ministry leaders – it is the work of each and every member of this congregation.If the body of Christ here in the CV is to be built up, it will be because our leaders have PREPARED us to serve, and because WE have individually and collectively served.We needevery member to commit ourselves to service and alignment to meeting the challenges before us.
- The free gift of grace does not eliminate all human initiative in the plan of salvation. Urgency is heard in the new imperative, "Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near" (Isa_55:6). Although everyone who hungers and thirsts for righteousness receives the invitation to salvation, God expects the courtesy of an RSVP. (RSVP or Regrets)Have you ever received an invitation and lost it in the shuffle of papers?*** Weeks later, you find it and see RSVP on the bottom, only to realize, too late, that you missed it.God's invitation to salvation is both timely and timeless.He requires “the favor of a reply”. We can either RSVP, or regret not having done so.
- Sin is both doing and being. The wicked man must stop DOING sin and the unrighteous man must stop THINKING sinfully. *** To repent of our wicked WAYS and unrighteous THOUGHTS, we must do a U-turn. Jewish theology puts major emphasis upon the actions of a person as the indicator of righteousness. Roman Catholic practice in the 16th century taught that sinful acts could be forgiven by confession and indulgences without a change of heart. Martin Luther reacted so strongly against this theology that he contended for salvation by faith alone. Isaiah says that repentance is a turning from the acts of wickedness and the thoughts of sinfulness. By turning from our sin and returning to the Lord, the promise of mercy is given, "For He will freely pardon" (Isa_55:7).
- We tend to emphasize the way a person lives over the thoughts of the heart; God reverses the order and puts thoughts first, before actions.There is a distinct break between the thoughts and ways of God and human beings. He thinks as we cannot think, and He acts in ways that we cannot act. He gets to define SIN and he gets to lay down his expectations of us, precisely because he is God.*** In our world of iTunes, iPhones, iPods & iPads, he is the iGod who says “I am God, and there is no one else to compete with me”The promise "For He will abundantly pardon" (Isa_55:7), was an act of divine intervention. From His transcendent thought of human redemption, He bridged the gap through sending Jesus to save those who seek Him, call upon Him, and repent of their wicked acts and unrighteous thoughts.
- Charlotte Elliott was a bitter woman. Her health was broken and her disability had hardened her. “If God loved me, he would not have treated me this way.”Cesar Malan, a minister, visited her family on May 9, 1822. During dinner, she lost her temper and railed against God and her family in a violent outburst.Malan asked to speak to her privately. He said “You’re tired of yourself, aren’t you. You hold to your hate and anger because there is nothing else to cling to.”Charlotte: “What is your cure?” Malan: “The faith you despise.” Charlotte: “If I wanted to share the peace and joy you possess, what would I do?”Malan: “You would give yourself to God just as you are now, with your fightings and fears, hates and loves, pride and shame.”Charlotte: “I would come to God just as I am?”*** Years later, she wrote the poem that became the song we’re about to sing. She wrote 150 hymns during her 82 years of ill health, but none has touched as many as this one.