2020: Known For What We're For
This past Sunday we entered into a time of vision casting for what the church stands by on a core, foundational level. Pastor Robbie declared our identity as a church, what we have stood for, and how to how we plan to embody them even better this year! If you were not able to make it to our Gathering this past Sunday, know that we missed you and hope to be able to see you this upcoming Sunday!
So many people, when the new year comes around will want to set for themselves ‘New Years’ Resolutions’ so that they can work towards something to better themselves and their lives. We decided to do this too, but it is probably different than what most would consider a typical approach to the New Year - we are going before the Lord with intentional prayer and fasting, to strengthen our relationships with Him and watch God do some incredible things in the lives of His children! Pastor Robbie started off saying, ‘We are going to, as a church, pray in unity for the next 21 days, and also fast together. I know, you might think we already pray a lot, we are a praying church. From Day 1, we said that this would be a house of prayer. And I think we’ve honored that, but the question that comes to mind of not just this church, but all believers, is do we really dedicate significant time to fasting? Some of you from more liturgical backgrounds might give up something for Lent, like chocolate or soda, but I’m talking about true fasting.’ This sense of ‘true fasting’ is a means of purposefully depriving ourselves of typically good things (food, entertainment, distractions) so that we can use this time instead to focus on our relationship with God. This is not something new, and it’s unfortunate that it has become something that believers are not accustomed to; historically, fasting has been apart fo the church from the very beginning! This isn't an accident, because Jesus modeled this for us in His life, and assuming that His disciples would follow in the same manner (Matt. 4:2; 6:16-18). We hope to be able to humble ourselves, seek after a deeper relationship with God, understand His Kingdom more deeply, and hear from God during these times!
A phrase that we have used since the earliest days fo Legacy City is this: We are for God and his Kingdom. We are for people and this city. We are for God, Why? Well, first of all, because God is for us.
Psalm 56:9 - Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call. This I know, that God is for me.
Psalm 118:6 - The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?
Ezekiel 36:9 - For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown.
Romans 8:31 - What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Our God is for us. He is about us.
We are for God. We are about God. For far too long the church has been known for what it’s against, we want to be known by what for. That’s why our statement simply says we are For this and For that. And our # is ForGreenwood. This church is for a lot of things; we love to worship, we love serving, we love being generous, we love the community - but first, and foremost, we are for God because frankly, he’s for us. This Kingdom is about bringing God’s glory to light in a dark and fallen world - it is made up of His children, of us! A healthy kingdom has people that are thriving and taken care of - this is something that we believe should a primary concern of ours.
We are also for people. We believe that God is for people, so we are for people. We are for all people. Not just people that come to this church. Not just people that have the same gender or race or socioeconomic status as us. All people. Because God is for all people. Pastor Robbie, near the conclusion of the message, left us a bombshell of truth, saying, ‘It absolutely breaks my heart to know that there are people that feel like they will get rejected if they even try to go into a church. I don’t care where someone was born or what gender they identify as or how much drugs they did the night before if there is ONE place where they should feel loved and welcomed, it should be the House of the Lord! It should be us! We claim to walk with the God who IS love! If WE, who have the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Love living in us, cannot show love to people no matter what walk of life they come from or decisions they may have made, then hope is lost. Because here it is church, people won’t know Jesus is FOR them if they don’t know that we are FOR them. And it has to go beyond prayers. Prayers are great, but this needs to be tangible. If we are for people, it needs to show.
This is where we are planted, church. This is where God has put us.
We plan to leave a Jesus legacy in every city that God calls us to reach!
SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS
2020: Known What We’re For - This is where we are planted, church. This is where God has put us. And we are going to pray for this city, serve this city, love this city, and then when he calls us to spread influence and plant in another city, we are going to do the same thing because we are for the cities and the communities that God places us in.
Main Scripture Passages - Matthew 4:2; 6:16-18; Psalms 56:9; 118:6; Ezekiel 36:9; Romans 8:31; James 1:27; Matthew 25:37-40; Jeremiah 29:4-7
21 Days of Prayer and Fasting - Go to legacycity.church/21days for more details! We hope to Humble Ourselves, Seek God, Hear from Heaven, and Dwell in His Kingdom’s power during this time!
We Are God and His Kingdom, We Are for People and This City - “This church is for a lot of things; we love to worship, we love serving, we love being generous, we love the community - but first, and foremost, we are for God because frankly, he’s for us. He set the bar pretty high with creation, then he set it higher with salvation, so we are going to be for him, about him and his glory in all that we do. We are here to serve all people, because God loves all people, period.
The Kingdom & The People - The Kingdom of God encompasses a lot of different things, but Jesus ushered it in, and we are dwelling in it because of our relationship with Him; we want everyone we come in contact with to know of the glory and majesty of God’s Kingdom - our Mission is to make His name known and to serve those whom He loves!
If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.
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Join us next Sunday as we continue our 2020 vision casting series!
We’re saving you a seat, and know that You Are Loved!