Ascension Baptist Church

February 16, 2020

LIVING TO CAPACITY

Joshua 17:14-18

Beginning with chapter 13 of the book of Joshua, we have the division of the Promised Land to the various tribes of Israel. After seven years of battle, the major strongholds in Canaan have been dismantled, the land is distributed, and the people are to finish taking and settling into the land. Canaan—the Promised Land, is not a type or picture of heaven, but it represents living the victorious Christian life, which is inclusive of battles and blessings. God wanted Israel to possess all that He had given to them. And He wants the same for His people today. He wants you to live on the level of God’s provision for you. God want you to live to capacity—nothing less. But here in this passage, the descendants of Joseph, the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh are examples of some who failed to maximize their potential. We learn from their mistakes what it takes for us to live to capacity. First of all:

Our attitude must be right (verse 14)

If we want more, we must be faithful right where we are (verses 15-16)

We must believe that what God has promised He is able to do (verses 17-18)

February 2, 2020

GOD KNOWS WHAT HE’S DOING

Romans 11:33-36

One of the common responses to life’s trials and tragedies is to want to know why such things happen. The recent death of Kobe Bryant, along with his 13-year old daughter and seven other persons in a helicopter crash is just one example. Huge numbers of people are still struggling to process this tragedy. So many times we simply want to understand why things like this happen, and God just doesn’t reveal the reasons to us. But when life doesn’t seem to make sense, those who know God have to trust that He knows what He’s doing. Corrie Ten Boom, author and Holocaust survivor, wrote, “When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.” It’s no different with life. We have to trust God farther than we can “see.” “We walk by faith, and not by sight,” (2 Co 5:7). Our God is awesome! It has been said that, “What truly defines us is what we think of God. At the end of Romans 11, Paul moves from theology to doxology (praise). After completing a lengthy section of doctrinal teaching, including how the death and resurrection of Jesus makes it possible to be righteous before a holy God through faith in Jesus Christ, and how we are to live by the Spirit and not by the flesh, and how God plans to incorporate both the Jews and Gentiles into His kingdom; Paul then paused to consider the greatness of a God who could accomplish all of these things, before completing the last part of his letter. The God that Paul celebrates is a God who knows what He’s doing, even when life is mysterious and doesn’t make sense. And in his doxology, Paul points out some basic truths that give us reasons to praise God:

God’s perspective is complete, but ours is limited (verses 33-34)

God doesn’t owe us anything, but we owe Him everything (verse 35)

The world does not revolve around us it revolves around God (verse 36)

January 26, 2020

SPIRIT-LED MINISTRY: WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE

Acts 16:1-12

If you are familiar with the old westerns, you probably remember seeing the self-defense approach or strategy the pioneers used called, “Circling the wagons.” They would form their wagon train into a circle so that the people could camp inside and keep Indians and wild animals out. Today, some people see the church as a circle of wagons, protecting them from the world around them. That was not Jesus’ intention for the church. He taught His disciples to reach out to those on the outside. In case you didn’t know it, the church is not here to keep people safe from the world; the church is here to change the world. We’re not here to hide from the world; we’re here to offer hope to the world. That was the major focus of Paul’s ministry. No other person, with the exception of Jesus Himself, shaped the history of Christianity like the apostle Paul. Before his conversion, little had been done to take the gospel to non-Jews. But after Paul was saved on the road to Damascus, he dedicated his life to taking the gospel throughout the Roman Empire, which included three missionary journeys. In Acts chapter 16, Paul was just beginning his second missionary journey. The purpose was to visit the churches that had been established on his first campaign. After revisiting these churches, Paul had a vision for greater outreach. He wanted to take the Gospel into new territory. It’s great to have a vision; it’s great to want to see Kingdom expansion, and it’s great to be a part of helping to change lives; but this passage gives us insight into what Spirit-led ministry looks like. One of the first things that jumps out in the text is this:

The Holy Spirit will supply the workers that are needed. Before Paul could begin this second mission trip, he had already lost two members of his team. Barnabas and John Mark had gone in a different direction. When it comes to ministry, we cannot accomplish all that God has given us to do without people to help us. And for ministry to be successful, we need the right people. Paul replaced Barnabas with Silas, and when they arrived in Lystra, The Holy Spirit guided Paul to a young believer by the name of Timothy. Timothy had probably gotten saved during Paul’s first visit to Lystra. Now look at what it says in verses 2 and 3: “Timothy was well thought of by the believers in Lystra and Iconium, so Paul wanted him to join them on their journey.” We don’t know much about Timothy’s skills, talents or education. What we do know is that he had proven himself to be faithful to the Lord. The Lord is not concerned about your abilities—He’ll take care of that; but what He looks at is your faithfulness. Paul invested in Timothy, and trained Timothy to invest in others, so that more and more people would be equipped to do ministry. We see in verse 5 that with the right team in place, the church was strengthened spiritually and continued to grow.

The Holy Spirit will direct us to the right opportunities for ministry. After visiting the churches he had founded, Paul did not wait for directions from God on where he was to go next. He went to the most logical place. He went to where he thought there would be an opportunity. But verses 6-8 tell us that when Paul tried to enter the province of Asia, the Holy Spirit stopped him. And then when he tried to go north into Bithynia, the Spirit closed the door again. God will sometimes open doors, and then sometimes He will close doors. He will open and close doors to direct us to what His will is. You may have things all planned out. You are going this way. You’re convinced that God’s will is this way. And then you get a phone call that changes the course of your life. Your boss tells you that they’re downsizing, and your job has been eliminated. The Holy Spirit stopped Paul, because God had something else for him to do. And what we see is that Paul was in tune with God, and dependent on His leading. Spirit-led ministry is sensitive to the Spirit’s leading, ready to change plans or direction at the Spirit’s instructions.

We have to be ready to act when we are called to our tasks. The Lord can use a variety of means to reveal to us the tasks He’s calling us to. In this case, we’re told that Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia, who was begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us, (v.9).” This vision convinced them that God wanted them to go to Macedonia and preach Jesus. So, what did they do? They got on a ship and headed for Macedonia. They acted on the revelation they received. Once you have determined the will of God, what’s your next step? Your next step is to do it! Once His instructions are clear, we don’t need to sit around and talk anymore. It’s time to get up and get busy! When we get busy with Spirit-led ministry, great things will happen! The Lord will open doors for us! The Lord opened a door for Paul in Macedonia and many souls were saved. It started with a woman named Lydia and her household; next it was a demon-possessed slave girl; and then it was the jailer who was guarding Paul and Silas, and his family.

You ought to want to see people saved!

No, we can’t reach everybody, but we can reach somebody!

The Lord has need of workers to till His fields today, so kindly He has led me to walk in wisdom’s way; I pray for grace to help me with all my heart to say, O blessed Savior count on me!

Can He count on you today?

January 19, 2020

THE CHURCH IS BETTER WHEN WE’RE ALL TOGETHER
Ephesians 4:3-12

When it comes to believers, unity or oneness, is being on the same page spiritually.
Before coming to chapter 4 of Ephesians, Paul has explained to his readers about God’s
great mystery and plan for His church, and he has prayed a powerful prayer that they
might know all of Christ’ love and all of His blessings. In chapter 4, Paul deals
extensively with the call for unity among believers. Many of the challenges that churches
were confronted with in Paul’s day are not very different from the challenges of the
church today. One of the major problems that the early church had to deal with was the
problem of disunity. Sadly, disunity—divisiveness—disharmony are clearly problems
that continue to hinder our ability as the body of Christ to show the world who Jesus truly
is. Today’s text offers several insights with regards to oneness. First:

• Our lives ought to communicate the conviction that the Body of Christ is one (verses
  1-6).
• Every believer is gifted in their own way to serve this one body (verses 6-7).
• The expected outcome of our unity is spiritual development (verses11-13).

January 12, 2020

BEING IN THE PLACE WHERE GOD WANTS YOU TO BE

Genesis 35:1-7

One of our greatest struggles as believers is surrendering our wills to the Lord and following Him to the place where He wants us to be. When we are not in the place of our appointment, which is the place where God wants us to be, then we cannot be as productive or effective for the Kingdom. In fact, we can find ourselves moving farther away from God. In today’s text, that was Jacob’s experience. God had met with Jacob at a place called Bethel, when Jacob was running from his brother Esau. Jacob had vowed that if the Lord would bring him back safely to his own land, then God would be his God. God did His part, but when He brought Jacob safely home to Canaan, Jacob did not return to Bethel—the place God wanted him to be, but he settled in a place called Shechem. When Jacob recognized the consequences of going his own way, he decided to go to Bethel—the place God wanted Him to be. As we look at this passage about Jacob’s journey to Bethel, we glean several insights:  

We have to listen when God is speaking to us (verse 1).

We must get rid of the stuff that hinders our spiritual focus (verse2, 4).

We must acknowledge God with our worship (verses 3, 6-7).

EMBRACING GOD’S VISION IN 2020: A CHURCH THAT’S ALL IN
Romans 12:1-2

As we begin a brand new year, some of you are excitedly setting new goals for 2020. You’re ready to take on new challenges. You’re ready to conquer new territory. What a great place to be! But there are some, for them; the beginning of 2020 is a time to push the reset button, a time to refocus, it’s a time to get things back on track. God wants 2020 to be a great year for you. And He has a plan for each and every one of you. In Paul’s letter to the church at Rome, he dedicated most of it to doctrinal teaching. But in the last section, chapters 12-16, Paul’s focus shifts from the doctrinal to the practical, from what we should believe, to how we should live in this world. As we look at the first two verses of Romans chapter 12, Paul shares some principles with us that, for those who will embrace them, they will position us for a great year in 2020. Here is the point: “If you want to be blessed and live up to your potential in 2020, you’re going to have to embrace God’s vision for you.” Here’s what that looks like:

You have to give yourself to the Lord completely (v.1)

The Lord is only interested in living sacrifices (v.1)

The Lord’s vision for us is transformation and renewal (v.2)