We are going to study Change the World - Recovering the Message and Mission of Jesus at church and in small groups in the coming months so your cell group leaders will be asking you to get it. Carolyn and I disciple a young group of twenty and thirty-somethings in our home on Tuesday nights and we're doing a chapter at a time. We are on chapter three this week. The reason I wrote the book is because it’s so easy for the church to forget why we exist and what our mission is. Jesus told us right after the resurrection the only reason we exist. The first thing he said to his disciples was, “Father has sent me, now I'm sending you.” We exist for one purpose, and it’s not to come here to be inspired or sing songs but to be the hands and feet of Jesus and carry his mission out in the world. It's who we are. We are the community of Jesus' disciples who are giving our lives with his for the life and health of the world. To understand the mission of Jesus, we have to understand it in the context of the messianic passages in the book of Isaiah. So will you turn to Isaiah 58. We're going to go from Isaiah 58 to Isaiah 61 today. The book of Isaiah was written in the 7th century, BC, to people who were living in great distress. They were under Assyrian captivity.

I want to tell you something sisters and brothers, God will use distress to get your attention. God will use adversity in our lives for his redemptive purpose. Have you ever noticed what happens when you experience adversity in your life? What do people do? They cry out to God. Do you remember 9/11? The churches in America were totally unprepared for what happened on 9/11. We could not hold all the people who showed up that next Sunday morning. As a matter of fact, Ginghamsburg attendance more than doubled in one week. We ran out of chairs. We ran over to the Avenue. We set up every single, black folding chair we had. We had people standing all along the back of the walls and standing out in the entry way. People cry out to God in times when they're scared and in times of adversity. Three weeks later attendance was back to normal. Attendance went up 3000 people in a week and went down 3000 people three weeks later. We find this to be the same kind of problem that existed in Israel in the 7th century BC.  We see in the first verse that people were eager to turn back to God and discover God's ways. Do you see the word eager? They were eager to know God's word. They're praying; they're fasting.  But in the third verse, you see they cry ou, "Why are we doing this God? You're not paying attention. You're not listening." The people of God in the 7th century BC, as well as the church today, tend to pervert the mission or pervert the gospel of Jesus Christ. What they were doing was making it a gospel about “me.” Any gospel about “me” is when we begin to use God for our purpose instead of offering our lives for his. It was their own, privatized gospel. So, why were they fasting and praying? To earn God's favor. They would make an offering. They would fast. Then they would plant their fields in the spring to ensure a bountiful harvest. You see, they would pray and they would fast to win an upper hand with God over their enemies. They would pray and fast to protect themselves from illness. So they're using God. A privatized gospel is when you use God for your purpose rather than offering your life for his.

You see it often on TV. You can turn on almost any television evangelist and they'll be talking about a prosperity gospel, you've heard it. What are they telling you? Sow a seed in faith so that you can reap a material blessing. We often make the same mistake in the church today that Israel was making. We fail to realize you can't have a relationship with God apart from your relationship and actions towards other people. Now look at Isaiah 58, the second half of verse three. "On the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers." So you’re filling up the churches, singing songs and praying to God, but you're ripping off the people who work with you. See you can't have a relationship with God apart from your actions towards other people. It says you are bickering and quarreling. You're striking each other with wicked fists. In other words, you're using your tongues to demean, demonize and injure other people.

I don't remember a time in my life since the 1960’s when there's been such a lack of civility in the country. But what bothers me more is how it has infected the church. You see the book of James puts it this way: “How can you come with your mouth and sing praises to God, and during the week, with the same mouth, curse human beings who are created in God's image?” You can't have a relationship with God apart from the words that you speak towards any other human being or the actions that you commit either for them or against them. Now look at Isaiah 58:5 with me. "Is this the kind of fast I've chosen, only a day for you people to come and hang out at church? Is it only for bowing one's head in prayer and for singing your songs? Is this what you call an acceptable day?” Now in other words, these people in the gospel of “me,” love to and regularly lift holy hands to God. But see, God's not looking for your holy hands lifted to him. Here's what God's looking at, look at verse 6. “Here's the kind of fasting I have chosen. To loose the chains of injustice. To untie the cords of the yoke…” that means anything that's binding a person up, addiction or anything. “To set the oppressed free, to break every yoke. Is it not to share your food with the hungry? To provide the poor wanderer with shelter. When you see the naked to clothe them and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood.” So in other words, what religious people call worship is lifting holy hands to God, but God doesn't want holy hands lifted to him. He wants extended hands helping others. See religious people love to lift holy hands. Jesus people extend helping hands. That's the difference we see between the gospel of “me” and the gospel of the Kingdom of God, sisters and brothers.

Now look at Isaiah 58:8. This is so important. How do we have power with God? When does God notice? We have power with God by our actions towards people, especially marginalized people, hurting people and lost people. When we are clothing the naked, when we are housing the poor, when we're feeding the hungry…look at Isaiah 58:8. “Then your light will break forth like the dawn. And your healing will quickly appear. Then your righteousness will go before you and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call and the Lord will answer. You will cry for help and he will say ’Here I am.’” You can't have a relationship with God apart from your relationship with people.

Now we don't often talk about the Old Testament. You can't understand the New Testament nor the mission of a Messiah apart from the Old Testament. Amos was a contemporary of Isaiah’s and a prophet. Amos wrote about 750 BC, and here's what he says, speaking in God's voice, speaking for God. Amos 5:21 "I hate and despise your religious festivals. I can't stand your meetings. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I won't accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs. I will not listen to the music of your harps. Let justice roll on like a river and righteousness like a never failing stream.” See, folks, you can't have a relationship with God apart from the relationship and responsibility that God has given us for the world. The gospel of Jesus Christ isn't a privatized gospel of “me.” The gospel of Jesus Christ is the gospel of the Kingdom of God. This is why I wrote the book. And why it's so important to really understand the messianic scriptures of what God is doing. You see, Jesus’ primary purpose wasn't to get people into heaven. We have so cheapened the gospel by thinking that you get an eternal pass just because you come forward and acknowledge that Jesus is the son of God. The Bible says even the demons in hell know Jesus is the son of God. You're not doing anything but stating the obvious when you make that proclamation. You see Jesus’ primary purpose was not to get people into heaven but the Kingdom of heaven into earth. Look at Isaiah 58:12. Here's what the people of this messianic Kingdom will be doing. “Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins. They will raise up the age-old foundations, the foundations of truth that have been eroded from a godless society. You will be called repairer of broken walls, restorer of streets with dwellings.” So where will you find church people? This room is where we come together to thank God for the spirit he gives us and for the salvation that he has brought into our life. It is also where we come up with a game plan to go out and rebuild in broken places. See that's where you're going to find the people of God - in the places of vulnerability and brokenness.

I'm so excited. My wife is on her way to Fort McKinley or she's in worship right now, with the young women that are in our discipleship group - twenty somethings and thirty somethings. They are going to worship and then going out to work in the neighborhood all day. They will see how are we going to rebuild cities long devastated like Dayton, Ohio, which is one of the cities Forbes magazine named as one of the ten fastest dying cities in America. We're not just going to all hang out here. We're going to continue to reclaim dead churches around Dayton and renew communities one at a time. I'm looking next at where all those strip joints are on 25-A. That's the next place we need to go. We need to reclaim that community.

Now go with me to Isaiah 61. As you understand that Jesus’ primary purpose wasn't to get people into heaven, but to get the Kingdom of God on earth you’ll see in this passage,  the mission statement of Jesus. He read it when he came in and announced his ministry in his hometown synagogue in Nazareth. This is what he read from the school of Isaiah. “The spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.” If you have your Bible, notice the word “anointed.”  In Hebrew, it says the anointed one and the word anointed is “Meshach,” which means Messiah. So this verse was talking about the Messiah and what he will do and how he will proclaim good news to the poor. This is the Messiah's mission. So folks, if it's not good news for the poor, it's not the gospel. Isaiah 61 continues, “He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted." So it's not primarily to get people into heaven but to heal people that are on earth. Do you see that? “To bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives…” whatever has you captivated, addictions or anything else, “and release from darkness for the prisoners.” That's for all of us who have been bound up in the darkness of this demonic age as we come into the light of the Lord Jesus' salvation. “To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God.” That's judgment. “To comfort all who mourn.” Now what will we be doing as the followers of this “Meshach,” this Messiah? Look at Isaiah 61:4. The people of Messiah, the community of his disciples, will be rebuilding ancient ruins. They will be restoring places long devastated. They will be renewing the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. So what will we be doing? We won’t be sitting around passively waiting to go to heaven. We will be rebuilding, restoring and renewing. And what will these people be called? Look at Isaiah 61:6. “You will be called priests of the Lord. You will be named ministers of our God.” See the institutional churches created these false categories of professional priests and spectators. There's no category like that in the New Testament. Everyone who names Jesus as Lord is his priest and his minister. And the same responsibility that's on my head is on your head, sisters and brothers. It's the only reason we exist. It's not to come here to be inspired. “As the Lord has sent me, so now I am sending you.” We are to carry out his ministry of restoration and redemption in the world.

Jesus gave us this mission; here are his second words after the resurrection. It's what we come here to celebrate, right, and then go back out and give our lives for. Jesus said this, “As the father sent me, so I send you.”  Then he said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” This is the means through which we, every person who is born again, will carry out his mission. When Jesus ascended into heaven, he gave gifts to human beings. Every person who's born again has a supernatural gift of the spirit. We're all the body of Christ. And every gift that was in Jesus, healing, prophecy, etc., is embodied in his church or his body on earth. The only difference is that none of us have all of the gifts. His plan was for each of us to function with the gifts he gives us. Well, how do you discover these gifts? You discover your gifts through serving. You don't figure out your gifts and then go serve. You serve.

Here's how I found my gift. I was a freshman in college, a new Christian. Dr. Harry Whitehouse from my church called me and asked, “Will you help out with the youth group on Sunday nights?” I went to help out and whoever was in charge didn't come back the second week. Now here I am, an 18 year old kid with a youth group. I didn't know what to do. I had no training in ministry. I had no education courses in college. As a new Christian I was reading all these great books: Paul Little's book, Know Why You Believe, Ray Steadman, The Body of Christ, and Tom Skinner, Black and Free. I didn’t know what to do so I just showed up. I would read a chapter of the book to these kids. Well, I looked up, expecting them to be bored, sticking gum in each other's hair or something crazy. But they were listening. Their lives were being changed. And it wasn't because of me, but because of the gift that was in me - the anointing to teach. See I only have one gift. I don't have the gift of healing. I don't have the gift for other things, but I've got the gift of mouth. All I can do is say something like “Darfur.” But I can't do anything about it. Or I can say, “Christmas is not your birthday.” Or I can say on Easter, “Let’s take an exit offering so we can us the money for rebuilding in Haiti. “But guess what? It's Pastor Brian and a team of 12 people from our church who are right now, today rebuilding in Haiti. Do you see what I'm trying to say? God needs your gift. Listen to what the word says right here. 1st Peter 4:10, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace or gift in its various forms.” We need all of the gifts. Jesus said this, “Whoever believes in me from their innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” Do you know what that is? God life. The only way God does anything in the world is through his followers, his believers. God life, God gifts, come through you. So you know if God wants to do something physically in the world, the only hands God has are your hands.

The United Methodists Church has been inspired to raise $75 million to prevent malaria. They asked experts how much it would cost to eliminate malaria in Africa and were told that $75 million will eliminate malaria in Africa. Isn't that amazing? Malaria is curable and preventable so $75 million would eliminate it. So the Methodists themselves have established this incredible goal. There’s going to be a concert kick-off in Austin, Texas at 2 or 2:30 this afternoon. The band, Jars of Clay is going to start this thing off. But guess what? The only way that God can buy mosquito nets for children are through our bank accounts. I don't see them falling from heaven, do you? “Whoever believes in me from their innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” God needs your voice. The only way God can share good news with the lost is through your mouth. Isn't that amazing? It's why in Romans 12:1 it says, “All for your bodies is the living sacrifice to the Lord, for this is true worship.” Do you know coming here and singing songs is not true worship? That's good because I don't like to sing that much anyway. Coming here and praying, even though prayer is essentially important, isn't true worship. It's only when we offer every part of ourselves, not just our seats in a chair. It's only when we offer our hands, our feet, our mouths, our bank accounts - everything we have - that we truly worship and honor God. I can sign up for that movement; how about you?

This morning I was reading in the word. It says seek the face of God. All of my life, when I’ve read that I’ve wanted to see God. Do you know what God said to me? “You will see me in the face of other people.” I said this morning, I was praying, “God, I want to see your face.” He said, “Well, look around you today, Mike, because today you're going to see me in the child. You're going to see me in the face of that person who's struggling with cancer. You're going to see me in the face of all those Ginghamsburg people who are out there serving, day in and day out. So look at people, Mike, and use the gift I've given you to encourage people, Mike, and you'll make me smile. That is worship that truly honors me.” Now, can I tell you something honest? A lot of you keep saying that my gift is not the gift of mouth, but it's the gift of irritation. I say it's one and the same. But you inspire me because so many of you are serving in many different ways. I’d like to use this time right now as a moment of testimony where you can stand up and tell us how you've been inspired by a person in this church. Tell us how you've been inspired by seeing God work in another person's life in a certain way.

[Mike] Evie, here's how you inspire me, and this is important because you're a witness to me. Every time I get out there running like today and my legs are hurting, I think of you. Here you are 73, and you're still running half marathons. You're an encouragement to me every time I'm out there running and want to quit.

Okay, so give a testimony of how God working through someone here has inspired you in a specific way.

[Person] Hey Mike, I think I do all the work I do with the youth because of Clark Miller. Watching what Clark Miller has done over the years is inspiring.

[Mike] Boy, isn't that the truth. He’s had a great impact on my son's life.  When we come together, we're supposed to honor the Lord with our testimony.

[Person] I want to honor Mike Sandlin because I know God used Mike to involve me with youth at the West Central Juvenile Facility. It's been such a blessing.

[Person] Well, Mike, this church inspired me to go to Ghana, Africa, and I was part of the help putting a fresh water well in that isolated community. And the people were so thankful. They thought I was the Messiah. Why would I come from the United States, leave a family, and provide water for these people? And so now God's trying to find a way for me to be able to plant wells in that part of the world many times over. And so that's what I'm going to try to do.

[Mike] Water is life.

[Person] I just want to say that Jay Meyer in  the Saturday night Next Step Worship Celebration has been an incredible inspiration to me and a multitude of people here. I just want to thank him.

[Mike] Last night I heard someone stand up at Next Step and say he has been five days sober off of crack. And, he served yesterday at Project Neighborhood. What hope.

[Person] I want to thank you, all of you, because each one of you has inspired me – especially everybody who helps our children in the nursery and every teacher.

[Person] Dave Hood has inspired me for Fort McKinley, the food pantry and all the people in the neighborhood. I've just fallen in love with that ministry and his enthusiasm has rubbed off on me.

[Person] In 2007, I took the Love is a Choice class by Anna Oparah. She was teachin, and it really broke so many bonds in my life that were crippling me from healthy choices, a life of love, from truth and from Christ himself. I was so inspired by that class that Anna Oparah asked me to teach. So I'm teaching that class now, I'm one of the facilitators for it, and I'm just so grateful for her example because without that, I wouldn't be where I am. Now I'm married and have a whole new life, and Christ has just raised me up from the dead literally.

[Person] A couple of months ago, my wife and I were on the brink of bankruptcy. Through the Crown Ministries and specifically Gail, she put the faith in us, we prayed, we studied God's word, and we are now solvent. We're back from the brink.

[Person] Mike, I just want to say I've been here a lot of years. You inspired me a few years ago. At 60 years old I decided it was time to get off mywhatever and do what God wants me to do, so I said “whatever you want to do with me God.” I started a ministry called Joshua Recovery Ministry. Basically we have a house in Dayton where we do counseling for drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and I just want to thank you. I want to thank the church for really being part of my life, making a difference in my life. I've seen God work here, and that's the reason I'm here.

[Mike] Well, you're a witness to me. I prayed for you so much when you had that heart situation because I said, “Well Lord, he can't go yet because he's serving you. If he wasn't serving, take his behind, but he's serving.” Thank you all for being a witness to me – and to the world.

Let’s pray right now and thank God for how he's working through us.

Lord Jesus, we have come here today to celebrate Your resurrection. And to offer ourselves again to You for Your mission in the world. We thank You for giving us this incredible gift of life that's eternal, and we pray that You use us for the life of the world. to be a demonstration of Your good news. We pray this together in Jesus' name. Amen.

God bless you.