| Welcome to Lakeview Church and welcome to Luau weekend.
We’ve put away our boots and hats and we’ve put away the beef and the beans along with country weekend. And we’ve put on sandals and flowered shirts and we’re eating pork of all things. And I don’t know what else to say. I’m just hoping nobody shows up from my hometown. They’ll wonder what’s happened to me, I might get beat up.
Folks, welcome – first thing – stand and shake someone’s hand – Aloha.
Folks, today is not just Luau weekend, but it is also the start of our fall series – “Finding God on your iPod.” And for the next month we’re gonna celebrate the gift of music in our culture. See, we believe that music in life is more than just some thing nice to listen to, more than just some music. We believe it’s a gift directly from God and it’s attached to His truth.
So each week in September we’re gonna take the songs that you would find on any one of our iPods, songs that talk about life and hope and fears and hurts. And we’re gonna trace these songs right back to the heart of God. And through music we’ll find that connect with God.
So – get excited. This series will not just point you towards a closer walk with God, but it will also serve up some of the best music of our
lives.
Start today by asking you a series of questions – as we talk about
iLive . . . sit back and soak these up.
Today – iLive . . .
What does it mean to really feel alive?
When is the last time you felt rested?
And how long has it been since you felt exuberant first thing in the morning – completely excited about-facing the day?
Can you remember the last time tears came to your eyes just at the sight of beauty.
When is the last time you spent an hour dreaming about the future and what it might hold in store for you?
When is the last time you did something completely spontaneous – like bring home flowers just because it was Tuesday.
What does it really mean to be fully alive?
Now don’t answer those out loud, but really try hard to get those answers for yourself. And if you had a hard time answering positively to any of them check your pulse you might already be dead.
Tony Campolo – Carpe Diem
“When I was twelve years old,” I told him, “I was taken to New York City. It was one of those cultural enrichment trips that was designed to broaden the experiences of the sixth-grade class. There must have been close to forty of us in the group, although I don’t remember enough about it to say for sure. What I do remember was being on the observation deck near the top of the Empire State Building. I had been running around chasing somebody just for the fun of it, (as kids on a school trip are prone to do,) but then when I stopped, went over to the guardrail, took hold of it, and gazed over the city.
“I remember that moment vividly. Everything around me seemed to drop away. A strange stillness drowned out the noise of the other kids. And For me . . . that moment belonged to another dimension of time and space. And I took it in—that incredible city, sprawled out before me with its towers of concrete and glass. There was an awesome expanse of what seemed to be a vast, miniaturized, make-believe, toy world.
I was awestruck! Full of wonder! And I remember saying these simple words to myself: Tony! You are on top of the Empire State Building.
It was with a heightened awareness, a hyper-intensive consciousness, that I held that moment far too wonderful to describe.
I do not know how long I will live . . . but if I were to live a million years, I would remember that moment, because I truly lived it.”
How are you doing on the “alive” scale of life? And the alive scale isn’t about being alive or dead – it’s about being alive or fully. I mean
We are all alive to a point because alive is simply breathing and eating and sleeping and going through life. We’re all alive, but being “fully” alive is a whole other thing. Fully alive is about living in that state of heightened awareness. Fully alive is being in a position to completely engage and fully experience everything coming at you in life. Fully alive is about being aware of mind, body and soul and how those three interact with each other every moment of every day.
Being fully alive is the ability to seize the very most out of life to squeeze it for all it’s worth every second of every day.
Henry David Thoreau said it like this . . .
“I want to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like so as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close,”
Isn’t that a great quote?
There is a verse in the bible that says this . . . “Teach me Lord to number by days.” And without getting into all the history and details of what the author meant when he said that . . . it simply means this. You and I have been given a certain number of days in which to live our lives. We are given a specific amount of time that our hearts will beat and then they will stop. And whether we like it or not, that time is limited and to be honest it’s probably less days than we think. So, God says, live these days that you have on this earth with heightened awareness – number the days – seize your life – make it count. What number is today?
Be fully alive God says don’t just walk through life number your days.
And today I would like to spend some time helping all of us understand what that might look like.
The song you just heard (just in case it’s not on your iPod) . . . is called “unwritten” (Natasha Bedingfield) Listen to the opening lines again.
“I am unwritten, I’m undefined, I’m just beginning, the pen’s in my hand, ending unplanned staring at the blank page before you.”
i Begin
When I read those words this week a couple thoughts came to my mind. And then a whole bunch more flooded in, but my first thoughts were this, that often in life our scripts, our pages aren’t blank at the start of every day at least we think they’re not, to most of us the book we’re writing in our lives at this point has some history our life is already pretty defined it’s already written or at least it feels like it is because we’ve allowed it to be.
See, I think if we’re honest with ourselves most of us wake up every day with a page half full of stuff that kinda defines us whether it’s good or bad and we read that page before we ever start the day.
I’m Joe and I’m a salesman, or I’m John and I work for a construction company, or I’m Sally and I sell real estate or I’m Josh and I’m a student. Pretty defined. Or we say, I live in Saskatoon, and I work here and I go for lunch there and I’m done work at 5 o’clock and I go to the gym there and I socialize here and I watch 24 on this night and CSI on this night and then I get up the next day and go to work and do it all over again. And that is our story we like to draw boxes around our lives. Now, I’m not saying there is anything wrong with working or routines or consistency at all what I’m saying is that sometimes the routines of life, and the lack of surprises in our worlds make the plot of our book in life not much of a mystery and if we’re not careful, we might be tempted to simply settle for and be satisfied by just setting our alarm clock every night and we might then be tempted to be lulled to sleep tomorrow by the routine of life. And pretty soon a year goes by and then two and then 10 and your book that was to be a mystery, your book that was to be an adventure remains unwritten – because the pen isn’t even in your
hand and we find ourselves living, but not necessarily fully alive.
There are still others of us who can’t fully live or live in a state of heightened awareness in life because of our pasts. We are the ones who maybe wake up every morning hearing those brutal words our parents told
us and we really believe that we’ll never turn out to be anything. Or maybe we are the ones who relive that one huge mistake that we made that rocked our confidence – and that marked us so harshly. Or perhaps you wake up every single day and struggle to get over that horrible thing that happened to you that had nothing to do with you, but it still steals your energy and it still gets you down . . . and it happened 20 years ago. And every morning your page is half full too, but it’s full of lies that tell you you’re not good enough and you never will be. And it’s like you’ve got to erase it or ignore it every morning before you can start a new day. And that just takes so much energy. And so the question becomes . . . how can we fully experience life when there’s so much dragging us down? And how is it that our life script could be unwritten and yet have all these smudges on it.
And how can I live the way this preacher says is possible when I’m stuck on this treadmill in life? I mean my heart is beating and I’m breathing, but I’m not fully alive. And my life book is just a long way from being an adventure.
Well, if any of those describe you, let me read a bit of truth for you. A couple promises from God about the future of our lives and about the part of our story that really is unwritten.
Ephesians 1:18 (NIV) The Apostle Paul prays this prayer.
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which God has called you.”
Every time I read that verse I think about you guys and this church and
I dream of the day when you will be able to fully understand the hope that lies in front of you, your marriage – your family – your future when you follow Christ that no matter what state you find your life in now that there is much good in store for us in the future.
And then this promise spoken 1000’s of years ago . . .
Jeremiah 29:11(NIV)
“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
You now some times when we hear something we just hear it and then sometimes as I prayed this week sometimes when we hear something that’s true it shifts our thinking. This I really want you to hear and if you can’t hear it today that’s okay . . . just hang on.
But long before you and I were ever born God created a plan and a design for your life a clear path laid out for you to run on. And it was good in a sense . . . it’s like the ideas or the thoughts behind our lives were written down before we were even born. God’s thoughts, began our storyline in life and those thoughts of God about our lives have eternity and greatness written in the lines. And folks you need to know that God is always very personal and individual with his thoughts.
And so, God in his infinite wisdom in the moments of your creation looked down and said, this is Reg and she will be able to accomplish greatness with her family. And He looked down and said this is Mark and he will be great at organizing and leading people and he’ll have a heart for kids and he will accomplish greatness in his lifetime.
And he looked down and said this is Randy and he might get off in the weeds a bit, but he has a strong heart and in the second half of his life he’ll have energy and passion and endurance enough for two lifetimes. And his life will be great and everyone of you Reg and Mark and Randy will make a difference for eternity with your lives and you don’t even know it yet.
Folks, I don’t know if you get what I’m saying or not, but God’s plan for our lives is already written into the book our life has purpose simply because we’re a child of His. Our life matters because we are deeply loved by the God of the universe. And what’s more He wants to partner with us as we write our script into the future. He wants us to walk and live and breath-in-life in such a way that we can know the hope to which be has called us and that we might understand the plans and dreams and hopes that lie in our future.
And here’s the corner I hope some of you might make this weekend. If you’re feeling a little lost or like life is kinda foggy or if you’re confused about what is next or if you wake up drained before the day even begins . . . then hold onto this truth. There is much of your life that remains unwritten and there is great hope for your future no matter what stage or age or circumstance you find your life in.
There is great hope not because I say so, but because God has made it so He has weaved greatness into the fabric of your life.
So, do whatever it takes to open up that dirty window in your life that is blocking you from seeing into the future and when you’ve got it open even a crack look and see and hope and dream and breath in life because He’s got something great in store for you.
iChoose
Now let me take a bit of a jump and tell you what I believe to be true from Gods word. I believe that that storyline that God designed into our lives before we were born has a very specific direction to it.
See, He not only creates us with the ability to dream as we walk into the future, but he created us with very specific individual abilities and passions to pursue that dream. Like Reg and like Mark and like Randy.
See, I talked with someone this week who was absolutely passionate about teaching little kids about art and creativity - kept her up at night. And I gotta tell you I would last 5 minutes in that classroom - even as a student. But she was perfectly designed by God for that passion.
I met someone else recently who was an EMT - Emergency Medical Technician and absolutely lived for helping people dealing with severe crises and emergency medical situations.
And some of you are going – WOW she can have that job that’s not for me that doesn’t give me passion – it makes me uptight.
You get where I’m going?
All of us were designed to write a certain and specific kind of book and part of making that story go is knowing what direction the plot or the storyline is already headed.
Let me throw out a challenge and a few questions to you as you write the next chapter of your life in this year that is ahead of you. And before I say all this, I am assuming that everyone of you has a fresh page that starts today – regardless of your past - and so if that’s true you get a fresh page today.
What is it that you really want to do?
And what are your unique talents and abilities?
What is the one thing that you dream about accomplishing?
What one thing does God want you to partner with Him on to change this world?
Can you put a finger on the storyline that God has already started in your life?
Let me tell you about Moses and his one thing.
Moses lived 1000’s of years ago in the land of Egypt and you can read his story in the book of Exodus in the bible. But in that time all the Israelites (Hebrews as they were called) were slaves to the Egyptians, but Moses when he was only a child had been adopted into and raised by and Egyptian family and not just any Egyptian family – but a wealthy one and in the royal house of Pharaoh himself.
And so Moses grew up he saw his own people in slavery, but he was living in royalty. He watched every day, as they were forced into hard labour and he saw with his own eyes how brutal they were treated and how they lived in misery. And finally one day – he just knew that something had to be done about the injustice he saw in front of him. He’d had enough and he couldn’t stand it anymore and so he began to act and the rest as they say is history.
During that time God started talking to Moses about the plight of his own people and how He and Moses could partner together in a powerful way to bring freedom to a whole nation.
As you read the story in the bible it’s amazing to watch how one man’s driving passion injected with God’s power could bring justice and freedom to over a million people.
Moses spent the rest of his life not living in royal luxury, not just content with being alive, but Moses spent the rest of his life fully engaged in pursuing the dream of seeing Israel have freedom and it’s own land. A Remarkable story of someone who really began to live.
How many of you have heard of a man names William Wilberforce? Wilberforce grew up in the 1700’s and in that time England ran the slave trade all over the world. English ships would load up slaves in Africa and sell them all over the world, but especially into America and into the English settlements in the new land. Think about it. It was perfectly legal under British law to kidnap Africans by force and then enslave and sell them to whoever would bid the highest. And not only was it legal – it was normal how else was this new land and the new colony’s in America to do the work required – of course slavery was the only answer.
Well William Wilberforce grew up in a fairly wealthy English home and so he saw all this first hand and accepted as the norm, but when he was a young man – he began to follow Jesus Christ . . . and almost immediately – his new found faith began to clash with the injustice he saw happening all around him in his country. And what was perfectly acceptable to many of his friends and family – became very unacceptable to William and it burned inside of him. And he just couldn’t stand how the English elite were making money on the back of slaves. And so Wilberforce dedicated his entire life to ridding England of the slave trade. He campaigned and got elected to parliament using his own money and from that point on he began a political crusade to outlaw slavery. During the next nearly 20 years he would be ridiculed and laughed at by his peers. He would be voted down, but not out dozens of times and he had many of his so called friends stab him in the back politically because they had their hand in the slave trade as well - ($).
But after more than a dozen bills brought before parliament over 16 years and all of them blocked or voted down and after significant personal sacrifice and tireless effort The Emancipation bill gathered support in British parliament and received it’s final reading on July 26, 1833 . . . and was passed. Slavery in England would be abolished and the rest of the modern world would follow.
And 3 days later on July 29, 1833 Wilberforce died. See folks, one man can make a huge difference when he sees some thing he can’t stand and then allows the power of God to help him do something about it. Suddenly Wilberforce’s story is one worth telling – and it’s a book worth writing and it was a life worth living.
Martin Luther King couldn’t stand segregation in America . . . he just couldn’t stand it that blacks weren’t allowed in certain areas and in certain restaurants and on certain buses. He just couldn’t stand it and he gave his life to the dream of seeing blacks and whites treated equally and living as brother and sisters.
Folks, do you see where I’m going with this?
Making a difference with your life and living life to the absolute fullest happens only when we open up our hearts to the things that God dreams about changing in this world.
So let me ask you . . .
What is it that you can’t stand?
Injustice?
Racism?
Poverty?
Moral condition of society?
Spiritual state of society?
Saskatoon natives living in poverty?
Marriages being lost to divorce?
Inner city kids not getting education?
Kids on drugs?
What is it that you can’t stand?
And if you want to really live . . .
Find it Search for it – travel – go – see – talk . . .
Do whatever it takes to find that one area of this world that you can’t stand and then partner with God and use his power to do some thing about it
1st - find it . . . 2nd . . .
Feed it
- increase your exposure to it once you see the one thing God has called you to
- see it again
- try to begin to understand it
- focus on it
Find it and then feed it and you will be amazed at how alive you feel when your heart and God’s lines up – remarkable experience.
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Harold Whitman
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