Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: RSS

Where are you? It is important to know where we stand in all areas of our life. We periodically need to take an honest look at where we are and how we got here. Wherever we find ourselves, Jesus is available to help us move on and continue moving toward Him. We are here individually and as a church body, and God has a purpose for us here. Are you willing to step into that purpose today?
P.S. Here is the You are Here sermon from 2012 <—CLICK HERE!

You are here | Redemption Church Sermon – Marshal Blessing from Redemption Church on Vimeo.

Hello and welcome to Redemption Church. I am Pastor Marshal and I serve as the Care Pastor.
I am glad to see you on this holiday weekend. I hope you had a good Thanksgiving.
I’m glad to see you all survived the Black Friday and “Small Business Saturday,” and I am very happy that you decided not to participate in “Stay Home Sunday” where everyone stays home from church to watch football and recover before they go back to work tomorrow.
Instead You Are Here to join us in fellowship, and I’m glad to have the opportunity to worship with you.
If you are watching this online, you are here too, in spirit. You are joining us in fellowship; you are receiving this same message. We are praying for you, and I hope that you are praying for us.
We have several people that watch our videos who we have never met. If that is you, thank you. I hope that someday you’ll get the chance to be here in person. We would love to meet you.
If you’re watching online or if you here today at Redemption Church, I am glad you are here receiving this message. I hope you’re blessed by it, and I hope you will share it with someone. I feel like this is an important message and I am glad you are here to receive it.
You are here. Now, if you’ve been here at Redemption Church for a while you might start to get a sense of déjà vu. Don’t be alarmed. I preached a message with the same title almost exactly two years ago. At the time Redemption was moving from our previous location on the south side of Parker Road to our current space here at the Ivy School. This year, as we were looking at renewing our lease and considering if we were going to move again, a lot of similar things were on my heart, and the Lord caused me to go back and review that message. Fortunately it is posted on our website, and you can go back and watch it if you want to see one of my early attempts at preaching.
But since it’s already there I didn’t want to just say the same thing over again. So I went back and updated the whole thing. I hope you are here mentally and spiritually, not just physically, because this message is for you here today.
You are here. That is a pretty simple statement. Seems obvious. You are here.
Turn to someone and tell them, “you are here.” If you’re watching online, pause the video, go find someone, and tell them, “You are here.” You can explain it later.
These three words sound obvious, maybe even unnecessary. But in the right context they can be very important. They can serve as a guide, or helpful pointer. They can be a warning. Or they can act as a reminder.
I went to a mall yesterday, along with the rest of the Metroplex. I was looking for a particular store, and I had never been to this mall before, so I found one of the big maps. And the first thing I looked for was the arrow that said “You are here.” Then I knew where I was, I found where the store was, and I figured out how to get there. But those three words also reminded me, “You are here…” at the mall, and you haven’t finished writing your sermon.
It is important to know where you are. If you don’t know where you are, that is commonly known as being lost.
CONGREGANT [call on someone], where are you?
Seems easy nowadays, phones have GPS. We can track our locations at all times and check in everywhere we go. This question applies to other areas of life that our phones don’t track.
Consider, where are you financially? Family life? Health? Education? Occupation? Faith life?
Do you want to be lost financially? Do you want to be lost in terms of you relationships?
That is why it is important to know where you are at.
You need to Evaluate Your Situation.
Periodically, we need to make an honest evaluation of where we are, in all aspects of life.
How will you know where you are if you don’t check?
Matthew 7:24-27 NIV “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Our lives aren’t just one or the other. Every day we are building. Are you building on sand or on rock?
We often don’t evaluate our situation because we’re afraid of answer, or we think already know.
How can you know where you stand unless you check? If you don’t know where you are you’re lost.
Crucial that it be HONEST assessment. [Picture of Galaxy “You are here.”]
If you stand far enough away, it doesn’t matter how bad things are, it all looks the same. Is that useful?
From a certain angle everything looks fine. That is the side we show to the world.
Only you and God know where you are truly at. You have to be honest with yourself.
Have you ever met someone that seemed like they can be in two places at once? You can do that.
Matthew 15:8 NIV “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”
You can be in church, but your heart can be elsewhere. Where is your heart?
God can help you make that assessment, but we have to be open to what He has to say
Example: Rich young ruler, Gideon
Once you make that evaluation you need to realize: You Are Here For A Reason
There is a reason that you are here.
Sometimes you’ll look at an area of your life and see you’ve come a long way. That didn’t just happen. That took dedication and effort.
Sometimes you will look at an area of your life and see that it hasn’t changed very much, things haven’t improved. More often than not, it’s because we haven’t put effort into that area of life.
Sometimes you may look and find yourself in a place you don’t want to be.
We need to be honest with ourselves about how we got there.
There are setbacks in life. We live in a broken world. Things happen beyond our control.
But when we find ourselves in a place we don’t want to be, we need to own the role we played in getting there.
If you find yourself in a negative place financially, relationally, with your job, with your health, you need to do something different in order to get somewhere else.
Who are you following? Who or what guides you?
We all follow something.
You can follow another person, but there’s no telling where they’ll lead you. May not have your interests at heart.
Lots of people chase after romance, but it often leads to heartache.
Some people chase after money or status, but they never seem to get there, and it often leads to an empty life.
You may say, “I don’t follow anyone; I’m guide myself.” If you lead yourself you will end up going in circles.
I only know one thing guaranteed to guide you to good things.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.
Not your own understanding. Trust in the Lord. He will make your paths straight.
Let me give somebody some hope today. You may have evaluated your situation, and determined that there is no way out of where you are at right now. You are here and you cannot get out.
Isaiah 42:16 NIV I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn darkness into light before them and make rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.
God will not forsake you. There is a way you do not even know about, but He will guide you. Trust in Him with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.
Who have you been following? Where has it lead?
Don’t give up hope. Trust in the One who created the universe. He can create a way out of any situation.
Now, that’s not to say that God is going to pick you up and move you to a completely different place. When some people get in trouble their first instinct is to cut and run. That’s not necessarily how God does things. Even in the same place, God can make your situation new.
Revelation 21:5 ESV And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Jesus is making all things new. In Christ you are a new creation. Maybe He will use you to change the situation.
After Jesus healed the man possessed by the legion of demons the man wanted to go with Jesus
Luke 8:38-39 NIV The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with Him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39”Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.
Don’t get discouraged if you find yourself in a place you’ve been before. Evaluate your situation and realize You Are Here For A Reason
There are seasons to life – Advent
Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV – There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
Life tends to move in cycles.
At some point you will find yourself back at a place you have been before. Don’t burn bridges.
At some point you will find yourself back at a place you have been before. There’s always a reason.
Life may put you there.
You may put yourself there. If you don’t have a vision, if you keep doing the same things why would you expect to end up somewhere new. If you are disappointed by a lack of progress take it as an indication that you need to try something else.
You may put yourself there as you repent.
God may put you there.
Not as punishment, but to teach you something: Israelites at the Jordan River.
Maybe what you have learned can help others.
Maybe what Christ has done in you is what will change the situation.
We’ve renewed our lease at the Ivy School. We are still here. We are here for a reason.
We always want to know “Why am I here?” You are here for a reason…
You Are Here to Glorify God
No matter where you are, you can glorify God in that place.
Your purpose wherever you are, is to glorify God.
Matthew 5:13-14 MESSAGE “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. 14 “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill.
No matter where you are, you can glorify God. But you need to know where you are so when God calls you, you can respond “Here I am.” Abraham, Moses, Samuel, Isaiah
Isaiah 6:8 NIV Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me.”
In fact, the first time people sin God ends up calling out to them, saying, “Where are you?”
Don’t hide from God. If you find yourself in a bad place you can glorify God through repentance.
You are here. I am here. But none of us are at our final destination. Hopefully we are all trying to move closer to God day by day. Are you working to make the place where you are at more like the Kingdom of God?
No matter where you are, You Are Here to Glorify God ***MUSICIAN***
And we are here to glorify God. God has led us back to the Ivy School. God has blessed us. We are here for a reason. How are we going to glorify God in this place? Who will you bring? What will you do? How will you share the Gospel? How will you take what you receive here and share it to bring Him glory?
You are here. We are here, but we’re not alone. God is here also. He will never leave you or forsake you.
Isaiah 58:9a ESV Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
Are you here for Him? Every week we open these altars and invite everyone to talk to God.
We are here to glorify Him, so I invite you to come and praise Him for all He has done and all He will do.
If you need His help to take an honest look at your situation.
Maybe you need to turn to Him because you realize your way isn’t working. The things you’ve been following aren’t leading you anywhere
If you feel stuck, He can make a way for you.
As you draw near to Him, He will draw near to you.
Come and pray for this church, that He would continue to guide us. How can we glorify Him in this place? How can he use you where you are?
Come talk to God. If you need special prayer stand within 2 feet of the steps.

You are Here

Sermon Notes by Marshal Blessing