Pastor Mark
\nMikels – October 15, 2006<\/p>\n
“WE
\nMAKE EACH OTHER BETTER!”<\/p>\n
Church Under Construction – Relational Phase #4<\/p>\n
Intro … One of the most complementary things and most coveted
\nthings that can be said about a professional athlete is … “He makes
\nthose around him better”. Usually those to whom those words are
\naddressed wind up in their respective sports Halls of Fame …<\/p>\n
In my lifetime, it has been said of Magic Johnson – he made every
\nmember of the Showtime Lakers better because of his play; it was said
\nof Michael Jordan – he lifted and practically willed his teammates on
\nseveral Chicago Bulls teams to championship level; and it has also been
\nsaid about my personal favorite athlete John Elway who on numerous
\noccasions brought championship efforts out<\/p>\n
of a bunch a pretty average players.<\/p>\n
Each of them has been enshrined in the Hall of Fame not only because of
\ntheir personal skills but also because of the effect they had upon
\nthose around them.<\/p>\n
If there had been a Hall of Fame in the first Century and if
\nChristianity had been considered a sport, then Jesus Christ would have
\nmade it in on a unanimous first round ballot because there has never
\nbeen a player in any venue to whom this designation more rightly
\nbelongs.<\/p>\n
Jesus made everyone associated with him better … He elevated their
\ngame to levels they never thought possible – he took a motley
\nassortment of fishermen and rebels and government workers and
\nvisionaries and practical, hard-nosed “I don’t believe it until I see
\nit” types of people and built them into a team of men who “turned the
\nworld upside down” playing the game he taught them to play.<\/p>\n
He turned cowards into heroes – doubters into believers willing to die
\nfor their faith – he turned common ordinary working men into
\nworld-class proclaimers of the Gospel and administrators of<\/p>\n
His Church.<\/p>\n
And now here’s the thing for us today … He says that we should “play
\nour game” the same way that he played his!<\/p>\n
He says in effect that we should be able to look around at those with
\nwhom we share this Christian experience and say (as the title of this
\nmessage puts it) … “We Make Each Other Better”.<\/p>\n
Here’s the way, one of Jesus’ most well-known prot\u00ea\u00a8\u00a9s, the Apostle
\nPaul, put it in his letter to the Thessalonian Church …<\/p>\n
Biblical Relational Directive #4 … “BUILD One Another UP”<\/p>\n
1 Thessalonians 5:11<\/p>\n
Now that’s our fourth directive in this series of “relational
\nmessages”. It’s added to the first three which
\nwere: “Be Devoted To One Another”<\/p>\n
“Agape One Another” and<\/p>\n
“Encourage One Another”<\/p>\n
Each of these “directives” can be expressed in the form of a personal
\nreflection …<\/p>\n
“These People Are So Special To Me”<\/p>\n
“I Would Do Anything For Them”<\/p>\n
“We Keep Each Other Going”<\/p>\n
And now to those three we add today’s reflection … “We Make Each
\nOther Better” or to use the exact Biblical wording “We Build One
\nAnother Up”.<\/p>\n
That Biblical Directive and resulting Personal Reflection zeroes our
\nattention squarely upon …<\/p>\n
Today’s Key Concept …<\/p>\n
God calls us to play significant ROLES in one another’s SPIRITUAL
\nGROWTH!<\/p>\n
To some degree, all of us in this room this morning (who are committed
\nto this particular local fellowship) are dependant upon the others for
\nour spiritual growth …<\/p>\n
We will not reach our full maturity in Christ without them.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, all those others are equally dependant –<\/p>\n
They will not reach their full maturity in Christ without us!<\/p>\n
Those twin realities lie at the heart of all these “relational
\ndirectives” … we need one another … we can’t become all that Christ
\nwould have us be without each other – we are engaged in a “team sport”
\nand we cannot be successful playing alone.<\/p>\n
And so the Word of God instructs us …”Build One Another Up”<\/p>\n
You build me as I build you!<\/p>\n
This morning I want us to consider Two Strategic Roles God would have
\nus play as we build one another up – as we “make each other better” …<\/p>\n
First of all, consider the Role of<\/p>\n
1. THE ROLE OF INSTRUCTOR – providing INFORMATION – (Romans 15:14)<\/p>\n
“I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of
\ngoodness,<\/p>\n
complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another.”<\/p>\n
Note the other things that Paul includes in that Scripture:<\/p>\n
“full of goodness” … Your intentions are positive and loving as you
\nseek to involve yourself in someone else’s life – you truly do “cherish
\nthem” and are only “seeking the best for them”. You truly do desire to
\n“encourage them” and help “keep them going”.<\/p>\n
“complete in knowledge” … No matter who you are, there is someone in
\nthis room who knows less than you about something relevant to the
\nChristian Life … your knowledge is more “complete” than theirs.<\/p>\n
It may involve Christian Truth … something the Bible says that they
\nhave not heard or have not remembered and yet applies to their current
\ncircumstances.<\/p>\n
It may involve Personal Testimony … some situation where the Lord or
\nthe Lord’s People provided for you in some significant way –
\nparticularly in your personal conversion.<\/p>\n
But be sure of this … there’s a “completeness” in your personal
\nknowledge that the Lord can use in the building up of someone else.<\/p>\n
Pray every day that the Lord will “hook you up” with someone who needs
\nto know what you know about Him and His Gracious Workings.<\/p>\n
And when He does, be ready to assume the role of “instructor” in their
\nlives for you possess knowledge that can “build them up”.<\/p>\n
Now consider with me secondly this morning<\/p>\n
2. THE ROLE OF MOTIVATOR – providing STIMULATION – (Hebrews 10:24)<\/p>\n
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and
\ngood deeds.”<\/p>\n
Now that’s what those Hall of Fame athletes that I mentioned at the
\nbeginning of this message were particularly good at … they knew how
\nto motivate their teammates and their methods were as different as they
\nwere …<\/p>\n
A playmaker like Magic Johnson motivated his teammates by his uncanny
\nability to get them the ball at the very moment that they were prepared
\nto take a comfortable shot – they knew that if they got to their spot,
\nhe would get them the ball and they would have an excellent chance of
\nsuccess – they worked hard to get to that spot!<\/p>\n
A passionate competitor like Michael Jordan motivated his teammates by
\nbringing such intensity on to the court that they simply threw
\nthemselves into the flood of energy that he brought and played at
\nlevels beyond what they had ever done before.<\/p>\n
A never-say-die quarterback like John Elway simply kept plays alive by
\nevading would be tacklers until even the slowest receivers could find
\nsome open spot on the field where he could get them the ball. They
\nlearned to never give up on a play and as a result they participated in
\nmany memorable moments over the years.<\/p>\n
Each of these “Hall of Famers” stirred their teammates – spurred them
\non – by their own example to high, high levels of achievement.<\/p>\n
And so, of course, in the most important game of all, did Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
He said to his followers … “As I have loved you, so you must love one
\nanother.” John 13:34<\/p>\n
In other words … “Do for one another what you have seen me do for
\nyou”.<\/p>\n
The Apostle Peter picked up on that when he wrote in 1 Peter 2:21 …<\/p>\n
“Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example,<\/p>\n
that you should follow in His Steps”<\/p>\n
And when we get right down to it – that’s still the most effective way
\nto “spur one another on” …<\/p>\n
Be an example – a faithful, passionate, informed example of a follower
\nof Christ!<\/p>\n
You seek to be an example for me and I’ll seek to be an example for you
\nand together we will<\/p>\n
“make each other better”.<\/p>\n
You approach me when you see something that needs to be addressed and
\nI’ll approach you … we will be one another’s eyes and ears and as a
\nresult the cause of Christ will flourish in our midst!<\/p>\n
Final Thot …<\/p>\n
The building of a LIFE just like the building of a CHURCH is intended
\nto be a GROUP EFFORT!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pastor Mark Mikels – October 15, 2006 “WE MAKE EACH OTHER BETTER!” Church Under Construction – Relational Phase #4 Intro … One of the most complementary things and most coveted things that can be said about a professional athlete is … “He makes those around him better”. Usually those to whom those words are addressed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"template":"","meta":[],"categories":[9,3],"archive_item":"http:\/\/archive.org\/details\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com--church-under-construction---relational-phase-part-4","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermons\/160"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermons"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sp_sermon"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}