Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: RSS
You need a plan. A better life does not happen by accident. You need a plan. You need a plan that brings progress.
Do you have a plan? Is it working?
Do you despise the process? In a world that only appreciates a finished product, a life in process is often undervalued.
Can we stop judging each other over being in process? Truth told, we are all in process and will only find our finished selves when we see Jesus face to face. (1 John 3:2)
If we will persevere in a good plan we will one day receive the life we desire. (Galatians6:7-9)
Do Not Give Up!
Reboot 2 – Plan, Progress, Process, Persevere from Redemption Church on Vimeo.
Reboot 2 – Plan, Progress, Process, Persevere
Sermon notes by Chris Fluitt
Redemption Church Plano Tx
Reboot Bumper
Welcome back to the 2nd week of the Reboot series at Redemption Church. My name is Chris Fluitt and I welcome you.
R1 1Reboot
Before we dive into the word today we need to take time to realize that our nation went through a reboot this past week. There was of course a Presidential election, and don’t forget about the Senate & Congress and numerous state & city level elections.
There is a lot of unrest. Both presidential nominees had a historically high disapproval rating. So after this long drawn out negative campaign cycle many are left with a feeling of uncertainty, anger, or fear.
What should the Church of Jesus Christ do? We should pray.
We pray for our leaders. Even if we do not agree with their policies – We pray for them. It is unbiblical to only pray for the officials you voted for… Christians should pray for all government leaders. Our prayer should not be partisan.
Even leaders you don’t like… Even leaders you fear are corrupt… Even leaders who you think are jerks… Even leaders who fail and have flawed policy… I remind you that the Bible commands us to pray not just for our friends but for our enemies as well. This is not a suggestion, but a command.
So I want you to join me in praying for President elect Trump and the rest of our current and coming government. We are going to pray for their hearts and minds. We are going to pray that God would lead them. We are going to pray that God would convict them of sin and lead them to live in righteousness. We are going to pray that America would be a Godly nation and that God would receive honor in our nation.
Let’s also pray that the Church of Jesus Christ would make a difference in this world. That we would be a light to the world. That we would be about the Father’s business and not caught up in political games.
<Pray>
I invite you to continue to pray for our national leaders daily.
Last week we talked about the System Errors that happen in our life. We talked about the trajectory of our life and how it shows us our future. If we don’t bring a corrective change into our life then we will continue down the path of our trajectory.
We talked about Jesus as a Restore Point. If you missed the first week of the series I would love for you to check it out. That can be done on our website www.redemption-church.com, through podcasts, or numerous video sites like YouTube, Vimeo or Dailymotion.
Today I want to talk to you about your plan.
Do you have a plan? Your life needs a plan. When you are looking to reboot your life you need to have a plan in place. There are areas of your life you want to restart, but do you have a plan.
We often have a spoken plan but we live a different default.
Example:
One day I plan to own a house (spoken plan) but I have never even started to save for a down payment (a different default).
I plan to be in great shape or crazy wealthy and successful (spoken plan) but I don’t work out because all I do is binge watch Netflix… and I am in debt with more growing debt (a different default).
I plan to help my children go to college and to have a comfortable retirement (spoken plan) but I have never lived by a budget that makes these a priority (a different default).
I plan to have a clean organized house (spoken plan) but once again I reach home after work and just drop everything by the back door and go collapse on the couch (a different default).
I plan to have a good relationship with my kids and a strong passionate marriage (spoken plan) but I pay no attention to either, I am however completely caught up on all my favorite shows and movies (a different default).
I plan to grow in relationship with God and the people of my Church (spoken plan) but I never read my Bible, I may or may not be in service this next weekend, and I never spend time with anyone from Church outside of a Sunday service (a different default).
You need more than a spoken plan. You need an active plan that attacks the default.
If the default was working then you wouldn’t need a reboot plan.
The default needs to be rejected. Our default is lazy. Our default is selfish. Our default is not the trajectory we want. Our default is a directionless drift.
ATTACK YOUR DEFAULT.
You need a defined plan and you need to be committed to the plan.
A plan for your paycheck. Tell your money what to do or it will drift by default.
A plan for your time so you spend time wisely or else you won’t have the time to give to important people and projects.
A plan to grow spiritually. A plan to set aside time to pray and read the Word of God. A plan to be at Church and Connect Group. A plan to grow in relationship with God and other believers.
These things do not happen by default. They happen with a defined plan and a killer commitment!
One more thing… The reason we hate plans is because we want to have FLEXIBILITY.
We have friends in town so we won’t be going to Church this weekend…
I saw an outfit that I really want to buy, so I am going to ignore my budget…
I have been on a diet, but I kinda cheated with hash browns at breakfast… so, let’s declare today cheat day as we pull up to an all you can eat buffet for lunch.
There is a difference between being flexible within the plan, and abandoning the plan.
You can be flexible but you need some non-negotiables in your plan.
You live the plan so that you can see Progress
Progress looks so good in the mirror. I love to see progress in my bank account. Progress feels good when your relationships are healthy. Progress on the job or in school is rewarding.
I will put up with pain to see progress. I will turn down cake if it will help my progress. I will subject myself to relationship conversations I would otherwise like to avoid if it will bring progress. I will make myself uncomfortable in the natural if it will bring progress to my supernatural. THAT IS WHAT WORSHIP AND PRAYER IS!
You will be surprised at what you can endure for the sake of progress.
Is there a plan in your life? Then there ought to be progress. If there is no progress then you need to rethink your plan.
I joined a YMCA in Early September. I have been working out 5-6 times a week. I have spent a lot of time there in the last 2 months. Going to the Gym often I quickly began to notice the same people and even met some of them, but there is one nameless gentleman that stands out.
He is always there. He seems to know everyone. I think it is safe to say that he has been a member there for years… yet… To put this gently and not in a mean spirit… His body does not look like he has been a member for years. His body does not look like he spends hours at the gym.
I don’t mean to be a fat shaming jerk… I simply want to ask “where is the progress?”
This guy is often found BY the treadmills talking, not on the treadmills talking. I have the feeling the gym is a social hour for him and not a place where he attacks his default.
Redemption Church! Listen up! You could come to services and small group meetings and not be showing progress. This is not supposed to be a social hour – this is supposed to be bringing radical progress into your life.
Are you showing progress in your spiritual life? Is your worship progressing? Is your knowledge of God and His Word increasing? Are you closer to God today than you were a month ago?
There is something wrong if you are not progressing in life.
I don’t mean to be a jerk, but I do mean to confront you, and you need to confront yourself on the areas where you are lacking progress!
You need a plan.
You need to be making progress.
Also, you must not despise the Process
We live in a world that despises the process. We only want a before and after picture.
No one on Instagram posts their process pics. No we only post the success pics covered in a nifty filter.
We don’t celebrate the “I am trying but it is really hard to change my life, but I haven’t given up.” Those posts cannot be found on the interwebs.
I went to my 10 year high school reunion expecting to see all of my friends… Hardly anyone came, I asked some why they did not come… It was because they didn’t feel like a success and didn’t want to show up and be judged a failure. YOU AREN’T A FAILURE; YOU ARE MY FRIEND! YOU ARE JUST IN PROCESS.
There is space between starting your plan and completing your plan. That space is just as important as the after picture.
There is struggle in process. There is sweat in process. There is failure sometimes. But there is also growth in process. There is a change in our moral character in process.
Process is not Instagram pretty but it is necessary.
Let me talk to the Church of Jesus Christ for a moment. The Church isn’t always happy with process.
How about church plants. “Oh you planted a church! Wow. So how many thousand people do you have coming?” This is much of the attitude of the church these days. Just thought I would gripe about it.
But honestly… People come in that back door and find their way up here and start a new life in Christ. They say a sinner’s prayer and we all clap and sing “how great is our Church.”
But this is only the begging moment of their walk with Christ. This is not the after picture! They may still have problems. They may still have some secret sins in their life. They may have areas of their life they have not yet surrendered to God. They may set out to live a life for Christ only to immediately failing the next day.
Will they still be welcome here even when it is evident that they are still in process? Do we only want perfect pictures of smiling people in beautiful families?
Can we be a church that does not judge people in process? Can we be true Jesus followers and admit that we too are in process?
Can we encourage those in progress? Will you judge your pastor for still being in progress?
I remember giving my heart to Jesus. I remember repenting of my sin, turning away from sin and turning toward Jesus. But I also remember walking out of the church and falling back into the sin I had asked God to forgive me of. I remember how terrible I felt. I felt like a loser. I felt like a fake. I questioned if I really loved Jesus or was just pretending. I remember how the enemy the devil tried to get me to question my faith. I remember the guilt I felt as I was around other Christians. I remember thinking “I can’t let anyone know that I am a sinner.”
I want everyone to hear me say this. I won’t judge for being in process, because I too am still in process.
It is only by the grace of God that I am saved!
We are all in process.
I am thankful to tell you that I am not the after picture of what a Christian should look like. You don’t need to try to measure up to me.
Jesus is the after picture.
Ephesians 4:13 (keep working) until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (NIV)
1 John 3:2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.(NIV)
You are still in process. You are welcome here. I am happy to call you my brother and sister. You are loved by Jesus Christ!
You have a plan.
You are seeing progress.
You are still in process.
Please here my plea to you today.
Persevere
Do not give up. Keep trying.
Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.(NIV)
Galatians 6:8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.(NIV)
Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.(NIV)
This is the law of the harvest. It works with good positive seed and also bad negative seed. Verse 9 Apostle Paul encourages those who are trying to do good to not give up because at the proper time they will reap a good harvest.
Philippians 1:6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.(NIV)
Jesus has never stopped working on you. He began this work and you can be confident that He is able to complete the work. DO NOT GIVE UP!
Proverbs 24:16 for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again… NIV)
What kind of man falls seven times? Surely this is a mistake in my Bible.. It surely meant to say a sinner falls seven times.
The Bible made no mistake here. The righteousness of the man or woman is not tied to their falling… it is tied to their rising up again. Your perseverance is righteous.
Your plan cannot be carried out in one day. Don’t beat yourself up.. Keep going.