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Slide How are you?

Tonight Im continuing a summer sermon series called Doing well. The aim of this
series is to equip all of us to do well. So much so that when we are asked the question, How
are you? we can answer with authenticity, I am doing well.
The point, of course, is not to be trained in a rote way to one question. The point of this
series is for us to be coached and equipped so that we do well. We want to do well with our
whole personour mind, our spirit, and our body.
At Chain of Lakes were calling this the summer of love. No, we dont mean the summer
of watching whether the Timberwolves trade Kevin Love. No we dont mean the promiscuous
love characterized by the 1960s. Were talking about growing this summer in agape loe. We
are going to end this series on Wednesday, August 20
th
with an outdoor service. My hope is that
we can say on August 20
th
that we have gone deeper in our mind, our spirit, and even our body in
living and sharing agape love.
I dont make many promises, but I do promise that when we live out agape love with our
mind, our spirit, and even our body, then we will do well.
As part of this series were memorizing some verses from Ephesians. I want you to know
that our staff has committed ourselves to memorizing this Scripture from Ephesians. Weve
been working on it at every staff meeting.
3-2-1-1-2-3.
Memory is repetition
SLIDE
I pray that, according to the riches of Gods glory, God may grant that you may be strengthened
in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts
through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. Ephesians 3:16
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Let me tell you where were going with this series. Next week Im going to look at doing
well by living a balanced life. Anyone feel or know of someone whose life is out of balance.
Im going to address that topic next week. Two weeks tonight Kate OBrien is going to address
the topic of doing well when we feel anxious.
Tonight the topic is doing well with God.
I want to start out with one question? What does God want from us? What does God
want from each of us?
Jesus addressed this question in a section of the Bible called the Sermon on the Plain. Its
from Luke. This section from Luke is very similar to a section in Matthew called the Sermon on
the Mount.
In the Sermon on the Plain Jesus was teaching people about the type of life he desired
from him. He was answering this question of what does God want from us. We should pay
attention.
Can a blind person, guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above
the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher. Luke 6:39-40

Jesus was inferring that he was the teacher. He had the words that would guide peoples
lives. He wasnt a blind person. He was teaching people that he was the teacher and that people
who would follow would be his disciples.
That word disciple should get our attention. The word is in our Purpose Statement at
Chain of Lakes.
We are called to be an authentic, Christian community where:
Strangers become friends
Friends become disciples
Disciples impact the world

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When we put together our Purpose Statement we had some pushback on using the word
disciple. The pushback was very legitimate. People worried that the wider world would not
understand what we meant about being a disciple. In the context of religion, a disciple is
sometimes seen as a person who is way over the top in their faith. When we had this
conversation when we put together our Purpose Statement folks worried that people outside the
church might think that we meant that to be a disciple would be like being in a cult. That to be a
disciple means we have to drink the kool-aidto use a metaphor from the people who died in
following Jim Jones.
When we use the word disciple we use it as Jesus did. For us to be a disciple is to be a
follower of Jesus. Jesus is our teacher. He is our ultimate guide. He was the bodily form of God
for us. He sends us his Spirit hthat is still with us. We want to be like him. As he said,
everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher. Jesus is the teacher, and we are the
followers. It is not that complicated.
To be a disciple doesnt mean we have to drink kool-aid
To be a disciple doesnt mean we have to join a cult
To be a disciple doesnt mean we have to exchange our brains at the door
To be a disciple doesnt mean we give up our freedom
To be a disciple doesnt mean we have to follow any one person or any group of person.

To be a disciple means we follow Jesus and were guided by his Spirit

in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts
through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.

Lets push into this. How do we follow. How do we follow Jesus?
Jesus answered this question in tonights reading.
SLIDE
Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not do what I tell you? I will show you what
someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. Luke 6:46-47
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So to be a disciple or follower of Jesus is to hear the word and act on it. The one word
that Jesus teaches us and asks us to act upon is love. Jesus shared what is most important is that
we love or agape God with all of our heart, all of our soul, and all of our mind and that we love
or agape our neighbor as we love or agape ourselves.
Whats so cool about this reading tonight is that Jesus gave a vision of what will happen
to our lives when we are sold out to this agape love.
To illustrate Jesus point let me ask you some questions. They are very easy questions.
How many of us have home insurance? Why do we have home insurance
To protect us from damagefor security
How many of us have car insurance? (Were required by law) Besides following the law why
do we have car insurance? To protect ourselves from a financial loss
How many of us have health insurance? Why do we have health insurance
To protect us from financial catastrophe
How many of us have a home security system? If we had one why would we have a home
security system?
To protect us from robbery

We can sum up all of this with two words that are very similar.

We purchase insurance for protection of security.

Jesus gave a vision for security. He said that when we follow him and when we do what
he tells us our life is like a man building a home. The foundation of this home is dug deeply and
the foundation is on rock. The foundation is deep. When the flood comes and a river burst
against the house the mans who is following Jesus and who is committed to agape love can not
be shaken. The foundation is so deep.
But the one who hears the message of Jesus and does not act on it. The man who is not
committed to agape love. He is like a man who has a house that is not on a foundation. When
the river bursts against the house the house fell down immediately. The house is in ruins.
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Its important to note about this story that Jesus doesnt question whether a flood will
come. The flood is a metaphor for bad things happening to us. Jesus wasnt saying that bad
things might happen to us. He wasnt saying that if you are a disciple or a follower and live out
his words of agape that bad things wont happen. This passage is not prosperity gospel that
teaches that just follow Jesus and that you will be rich by the worlds standards. Jesus was
saying that bad things will happen on occasion whether we follow or not. .
That is a significant reason to committing ourselves to agape love with our mind, our
spirit, and our bodies.
I dont want anyone going away thinking that when we go through a difficult time God is
punishing us for something that weve done. God doesnt work that way. God is not waiting to
pounce on our mistakes. God doesnt expect us to be perfect so that we will then be rewarded
with the good life according to the worlds standards. God does want us to love so that when the
storms hit our own lives we will have such a deep foundation our life wont fall apart.
Let me spend a little time talking about the difference between agape love and human
love. Agape love is self-sacrificial love. Its when we get out of ourselves and look to the
interest of the other person and try to help them and care for them. .
Agape love is different than human love.
I was pointed to the difference between agape love and human love in a book called Life
Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Last Thursday at our staff meeting Sally Narr read a passage
from Life Together. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a pastor who confronted Adolph Hitler in
Germany during the second World War. Ive read many of his books. I hadnt read Life
Together for a long time. I want to thank Sally for sharing this devotion.
He said that
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SLIDE In agape love our motivation is for the other person
In human love our motivation is for ourselves

Human love is based on desire
Agape love is based on service

Human love is an end in itself. It creates of itself an end, an idol which it
worships.
Agape love is a spiritual love that comes from Christ. The and result is not to
serve ourselves, but to serve God.

Let me read some more.

SLIDE
Human love lives by uncontrolled and uncontrollable dark desires; spiritual love lives in the
clear light of service ordered by truth. Human love produces human subjection, dependence,
constraint; spiritual love creates freedom of the brethren under the Word. Human love breeds
hothouse flowers; spiritual love creates the fruits that grow healthily in accord with Gods good
will in the rain and storm and sunshine of Gods outdoors. The existence of any Christian life
together depends on whether it succeeds at the right time in bringing out the ability to distinguish
between a human ideal and Gods reality, between spiritual and human community.
Life Together

Thats deep stuff isnt it?

Let me give an example. It involves our own congregation. Our goal this year is to bless
people in an extraordinary way. This blessing is the same as agape love. We want to share this
agape love in a way that touches people. That is our goal. We know that weve been successful
when weve done so well that 20 new familiey connect.
When we bless people its important that were clear about our own motivation. We
dont want to bless people with a human love, we want to bless people with a spiritual love.
Were blessing people just for the sake of blessing people. There are no strings attached in our
blessing.
Focus on sharing agape loveand we will do fine. Its already happening this year.
When weve blessed people with agape love theyve attached to our congregation.
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Let me share two tips for agape love. This first is this:
SLIDE When we mess up may we have the capacity to reflect, learn and grow
When I mess up Im called to reflect on what happened. When Im doing well Ill look at
myself first and how I could have responded differently and how I can learn from the experience.
When Im doing well I wont point a finger at another person. Almost every morning when I
pray I write out the ways that I messed up the day before. I do that not because Im a horrible
person, but because I dont want to mess up. I want to learn with God what Im doing wrong.
The point is to reflect and learn, so that I can grow. Thats agapereflecting, learning, growing.
This is why I believe we can all grow in agape this summer. What would happen if we
became aware of situations that set us off. Instead of making mistakes we respond with agape
love.
Ohand by the wayif I reflect on the previous day and dont find anyways I mess up, I
confess pride.
Second tip for agape love is thislook for opportunities to say thanks. How many times
do we say thank you in a day. One, five, ten, Could we train ourselves to say thank you more
often. When we awake in the morning, what are the first words that could come from our lips
thank you. Before every meal what words could we saythank you. When we finish a portion
of our day what could we saythank you. When someone leaves us instead of saying good bye
perhaps we could share thanks that the person was with us. Even if we dont have a great day at
the end of the day we say thanks to God.
When we train ourselves in saying thanks suddenly life is not about us. Its about being
appreciative and thankful for what we have.
SLIDE Three take-aways and two tips from this sermon
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Take-aways
1. God wants us to be a follower or disciplewe do this by committing to agape love
2. We find security or a deep foundation from the inevitable storms that life presents us by
living out agape love.
3. Agape love is much different from human love. Our motivation for agape love is based on
service and not desire
Tips
1. When we mess up may this be an opportunity to reflect, learn, grow
2. How often can we say thank you during the day? Can we multiply that by ten.