Waking the Sleeping Giant
A 4 Part Series – although these sermons can function as stand-alone sermons, it’s better to use it as a series – It’s been said that the church in North America may be a sleeping giant in need of awakening. If that’s true, then it’s crucial that churches determine how to stay awake – how to stay on mission with God in the community they live in. That means paying attention to what God says about using our giftedness and passions as we take the church to the community rather than expecting the community to come to us. We’ll be doing that as we look at a number of realities that God wants to awaken in us.
Companion Week-end Workshop – “Network” – a discovery of our God-given giftedness, passions and personality – click here for more information. Link Coming Soon
Awakening our Call (Romans 12:1-8; I Corinthians 12:7-27) – The question we’re going to explore is this: what does our call to serve look like? According to Romans 12:1, God calls believers to develop a sacrificial mentality to serving. To do that we need to develop not only a new mindset (seeing things from God’s perspective) but also a new lifestyle, one characterized by the word “interdependence”.
Awakening our S.H.A.P.E. (Psalm 139; Romans 12, I Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, I Peter 4) – According to the Bible, God has created each of us with a unique servant profile or SHAPE, in order that we might serve Him and others in a fulfilling way. Using the word SHAPE as an acronym, let’s look at the puzzle pieces that determine the way in which God has shaped each of us. (Resource - “S.H.A.P.E.” from Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church)
Awakening our Motivation (I Corinthians 12:31 – 13:8; John 13:1-17) – In order to serve God & others sacrificially - in order to serve others according to our SHAPE (i.e. the way in which God has made us), we need to allow God to awaken in us the right motivation – which begs the question: What should our motivation be? According to I Corinthians 13, the answer quite simply is love, from God’s perspective, something that is really a sight to behold.
Awakening our Purpose and Empowerment (Various Bible Readings) – To awaken our purpose, we need to answer the question “why do we serve”? The answer is two-fold; to glorify God (to elevate Him in the eyes of others) and to edify others (to strengthen and build others up in the faith). As to what kind of empowerment is available to us as we serve God, it’s the empowerment of the Spirit The reality is this: God wants to empower us. But we need a heart willing to be immersed in His presence for that to happen.