Where Do We Go From Here?

As I thought about this question, I thought about my own walk of faith and how I have come to where I am. It was good to see how far God had brought me as a man, as a pastor, as a child of God, but then I was reminded that our journey is never complete. God is never done with us. As Paul wrote, we do truly “Press on” and continually strive to lay hold of that which Christ gave.

As I read the scripture, I was reminded that we are never to be complacent in our Christian lives. We never stop and say, “I’m finished. I’ve done my share. Nor … I’m too old or too young for that.” We change as we grow older, but that doesn’t mean that God has nothing else for us. It doesn’t mean that we can’t serve Him anymore. It doesn’t mean that God loves us any less because we can’t do the things we used to do. Our relationship with God changes, and the way we serve Him become different. But one thing there is no question of , we never stop giving glory to His name by serving Him and our relationship with God never stops unless we forget about Him. We continually aim for that prize of becoming closer to God and becoming more like Christ. (Pause) The sad reality though is that we often find ourselves doing the opposite. Instead of progressing, we find ourselves protecting and preserving. We prefer to live in safety. We find it much easier to preserve what we have than to reach out for more of what God has for us. We live in our comfort zones. We forget that pressing on often requires sacrifice … requires us to leave that comfort zone to put our eyes on Jesus, to take His hand and say wherever you lead I will follow. Believe me, times have not changed that much. Amos told God’s chosen people: Amos 6:1 “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion And to those who feel secure in the mountain of Samaria, The distinguished men of the foremost of nations, To whom the house of Israel comes.” (Pause) Just like the people of yesteryear, we forget that “God can’t do something new as long as we hold on to the past.”

The first step to move away from this problem is to realize that it is a problem. That cozy feeling, safe feeling, is alluring. It is a ‘warm fuzzy.’ But it is that contentment which we must shake off. (Pause) In terms of a spiritual comfort zone, this is what Pastor Doug Dickerson had to say. “It is a place where we value the past over the future, where we build memorials to the ‘way it used to be’ as opposed to blazing a new trail with God.” To be blunt, it is an indifference that places comfort over commitment, ease over sacrifice, self-interests over God’s will! If we truthfully look around and more importantly … look at ourselves, are we not all guilty of this problem. We all have certain things we prefer … these songs, this dress code, those instruments. Yet these petty items are how Satan climbs a hold of us. He uses traditions, complacency, the old status quo, to keep us stumbling. He forces us into a ‘self-preservation mode’ where we grab on to the past and hold so tight that we forfeit the future. We forfeit the possibilities of what God can do, because we can’t let go and trust. (Pause) We are not alone in this problem … did not even Moses grow impatient and strike a rock for water? We have to understand that hymns, clothes, traditions, buildings, towns, technology … they all change. We have to understand that JESUS CHRIST ALONE IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER. IT IS HIS WORD WHICH IS UNCHANGEABLE. The word of God alone. Wesley said that scripture is primary. God’s word should never change, but how we present it does. Just as we are changed by His Word and power, others are changed by that Word. (Pause)

I don’t want to preserve my relationship with God that began many years ago, I want to progress in it. If I don’t move forward then my relationship with God will stagnate and die. I don’t want that and I could be wrong but I don’t think you do either. I want to continually grow from day one to the last day I take a breath. I want to continually feel the zeal, the power of God in my life and in the lives of this community. I want to see the power of the Holy Spirit moving in each of us everyday.

With each passing day, we must acknowledge that there is a higher calling. Preserving is conceding that there is nothing more … progressing is knowing that God has a higher calling in our lives. It is realizing that no matter how big or small, young or old, God is not done with us. It is trusting that we are clay in the potter’s hand. It is trusting that with God all things are possible. It is being able to look at yesterday and appreciating it; not trying to preserve it. It is being able to look back and see how far “I have come” … Knowing that I can go farther.

I read this week and remembered the life Wesley led. He was scoffed, he was ridiculed, he was thrown out. Like Luther and others, Wesley did what the church could not stand … he tried to impose change. This is what Paul was warning us about. The deadliest words a church could ever utter are these: “We’ve never done it this way before!” If Luther or Wesley had ‘not done it,’ we would not be here as we are today. (Pause) “We’ve never done it ….” Churches across the land use these words … but the truth is often this: “They have never done it that way and they likely never will … because they are trying to preserve not progress!”

We must not succumb to fear, but rather trust and realize that we have a heavenly Father who loves us, who cared enough to send His Son for each and every single one of us, a God who listens to our every word. We have a God who can see us right now and who is here with us even now. We have a God who sits with us in our meetings and listens to our squabbles and still thinks us worthy of glorifying His name, a God who has never given up on us even when we show ourselves undeserving of His grace. If He hasn’t given up on us why are we giving up on Him by not trusting Him to change us and lead us? We can’t just stay the way we are forever because our forever might not last very long. If we don’t allow God to love us and change us and use us individually and as one body then there is no reason for us to be here. Like Paul, we must have a passion and we must take action. To use Paul’s words:

V. 12 “I press on” … “take hold”

V.13 “One thing I do” … “I strain forward”

V. 14 “I press on” … “to win”

To win the race against strife, temptation, and sin. (Pause)

I have ended many sermons with the words I have a challenge for each of you. This week I will do it a little differently. I have a challenge for all of us, even me. Please write it in your bulletins or on a scrap of paper. Every day for this week pray and ask God “how would you like to change me today and what would you have me do today.” I challenge each of us to remember these truths:

God wants to exceed our self-expectations (Eph. 3:20)

God wants us to keep our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2)

God wants each of us to continually Press On (Phil. 3:13).