Elevate - Write the Vision Pt 1 - Overview

The speaker emphasizes the importance of having a clear vision in life. He mentions that God has a specific purpose for each individual and encourages seeking guidance from God to engage with the world. The speaker refers to the prophet Habakkuk and how God instructed him to write down the vision so that others may run with it. He relates this to the church's vision and emphasizes the need to renew and be reminded of it. The speaker also discusses the concept of biblical authenticity and authentic identity, highlighting the importance of denying oneself and following Jesus. He emphasizes that life is no longer about personal desires, but about carrying out God's goals and plans. The speaker encourages individuals to reflect on their own roles and the vision God has for their lives. God has an authentic identity for you right now that this world needs. I'm telling you, you may feel like, I don't even know what to do right now, I don't understand, we can't even figure out what a boy and a girl is anymore. How am I supposed to make an impact? How am I supposed to make a difference? Ask God. Get on your face before the Lord and say, God, how am I supposed to engage this culture? Because you're here, in this time, in this culture, in this chaotic mess, for a very specific purpose, for His glory. Welcome to Elevate, from Authentic Life Church in Mobile, Alabama, with Pastor John DiQuattro. We hope it builds your faith and helps you to live a life for God that you've always wanted to live. We hope it inspires you to be a fully devoted, authentic follower of Jesus Christ. Enjoy the message, and welcome to Elevate. Turn with me to Habakkuk, chapter 2, verse 2, it says this, very simply, write the vision, make it plain on tablets, so He may run who reads it. We are a year, it's been a year since the Lord moved us to name this church Authentic Life Church. And with that name change, with that change in identity, the Lord rolled out an entirely new vision for who we, not that this is necessarily entirely new, but it's clear, right? A clear vision for who God has called us to be as a church, individually, what He's called us to be in this community. And it's been a year, and so it's time that we renew these things. But we look at this scripture and it says, write the vision, make it plain on tablets, so He may run who reads it. Habakkuk was a prophet that came on the scene during one of Israel's exiles, right? And so this is God speaking to Habakkuk, saying write the vision, make it plain on tablets, and so if you look into chapter 1, that's in Habakkuk chapter 2, but if you look in chapter 1, you see Habakkuk kind of asking these questions of God, like why are things the way they are? Why is all this stuff happening? Why are things going like this? And then he just sits on the wall and he waits for God to answer him. And so God answers, but before He answers, He makes sure that Habakkuk, Habakkuk, Habakkuk, however you want to say it, He makes sure that he is ready to take notes, to write it down, to put it down on tablets. Why? So that whoever reads the vision that God is about to give Habakkuk, they may run with it. So that they can get into the hearts and the minds of the people, so that it will shape their perspective and give them a track to run on. Vision, when we have vision, when we have clear vision about what God is saying, it makes us laser focused. And you know this, when you have a goal that you're looking to achieve, right, it gets you laser focused on everything you do is in service to that goal. You know what I'm talking about. This is how we are as people and God knows that He says, I need you to write this vision down so that we can all be laser focused on what God is saying. So here we are, a year after establishing new vision for the church here, but sharing vision once is not enough. It just never is, right? It's time for us to be reminded why we are Authentic Life Church. And what that, not just what that means for us as a church, but what that means for each and every one of us individually. What does it mean to be a part of this church and the vision of this church? So we're going to take the next few weeks and we're going to, we're going to, uh, remember, right? We're going to, to, um, to review the vision that God has given us here. And I think, I think like, like Habakkuk, you've probably asked the question, what is going on around here? That's what Habakkuk was asking God. And it's a good question. Like what's happening in the world right now? What's happening in our country? It seems like everybody has lost their minds and we ask these questions. And I think like with Habakkuk, who's wondering why are things like this? God responds with vision. And I think that God is responding to us right now as we've been wondering what is going on. I just don't understand it anymore. What's happening on the, in our country, what's happening on the, on the foreign political front and all these different things. It's nuts. But what ought we to be doing right now? What does that mean for us? All this stuff's happening. The world's changing. Everybody's going crazy. But what does that mean for me? How do I stay in lockstep with what God has for me? What should be my focus through all of this? And so as we move on throughout this message, I want you to be thinking and I want you to be praying as I'm speaking, because I want you to ask God, what is specifically the vision that God has for my life? I mean, I understand that God wants us to, to be in relationship with Him. And what you're doing right now is a good thing, right? We're here in church and, and we've worshiped God, but what specifically is the vision that God has given to you in your life? It's, it's, it's one thing to say, this is who we are as a church, but the question has to be, okay, this is who we are as a church, but how does that play out for me? What is God calling me to do individually to make sure that I'm carrying out his vision for my life? It's like a football team, right? We all, well, many of us watched football and some of us were, were very happy and, and others of us were very, very sad yesterday. But if you look at a football team, they have a team vision, right? The vision is win games and get to a championship. But each individual player on that team has a different role in how they're going to achieve the vision, the team vision, right? So the quarterback, you may have a great quarterback, but that quarterback can't do his job without a good offensive line and he needs capable receivers and he needs trustworthy running backs and people around him and, and coaches to, to help them see his blind spots. And each person on that team has an individual role as they band together on a team. We are on team God. We are a team. We are the family of God. We are the people of God. The kingdom of God is our team and this church is just one facet of the kingdom of God here in Mobile. But we have to ask ourselves this question and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you this morning. What is my role? What is the vision God has for me? So let's, let's talk a little bit about vision, about authentic life, church, what that means. The word authentic, we've defined this, we defined this many times when we went through this a year ago, but it means, and many of you wear it on a t-shirt still, it says that, I mean, authentic means real and genuine, not counterfeit. In other words, to be authentic means to be the real deal. And so to real quickly review some of the things that, that, that, that we, we, we've talked about a little here and there all throughout the year is that there are two areas of authenticity. There's the idea of being of biblical authenticity, but then there's this idea of authentic identity, biblical authenticity and authentic identity. Matthew 16, 24 and 25 says this, then Jesus said to his disciples, whoever wants to be my disciple must, all right, now we pay attention, right? Whoever wants to be my disciple must, whatever follows is what it takes to truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ. They must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Him. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. Biblical authenticity. When Jesus says, whoever wants to be my disciple must, and he says this, deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me. That means that if you make a decision to follow Christ, when you get baptized, when you say, I am in this God, you are the Lord of my life, I am trusting you for salvation, thank you for what you did on the cross, I am forgiven, I am a new creation. When you do that, this life is not about you anymore. It's not about your desires and your goals and your plans. It's not about your feelings or your insecurities or your limitations. It's not about your career. It's not about your success. It's not about your wealth, and it's certainly not about your reputation, your number of Instagram followers, or how many likes you get on Facebook. We take up our cross, which means, and the original readers of when this was spoken, they would know that to take up your cross means to be condemned to die. Listen, dead men don't have goals. They don't have dreams and plans for the future. All that lies ahead for them is death, right? So when we follow Christ and we deny ourselves and we die to ourselves, we now have the opportunity to take on His goals, His dreams, and His plans for me. I read a book recently called, I always get this mixed up, Agenda Driven or Assignment Led. Agenda Driven or Assignment Led, and one of the most powerful statements in that book is this, you don't get to have an agenda. God is the only one that gets to have an agenda. You have an assignment to carry out His agenda. Do you hear what I'm saying? I'm going to repeat it. You don't get to have an agenda. I don't get to have an agenda. God is the only one that gets to have an agenda, but we get assignments in order to carry out His agenda. That is real discipleship. What is it that Jesus wants from my life? What is it that He has called me to do? And I'm not talking about perfection and not making mistakes. I'm talking about the trajectory of your life, the posture of your heart, the way in which you live your life. Ask yourself, is it about me or is it about Him? And if you ask yourself that question, answer it honestly, because you might be surprised at what you find down there deep down in your own heart. And listen, when I read that book, I went, yep, I've been on my own agenda. Time to get on God's assignment. Time to get on God's agenda. So that's biblical authenticity, following Christ and saying yes to Him and what it is that He has called for us to do, which is to die to ourselves and to follow Him. But then there's this idea of authentic identity. There's a second part of that scripture says, for whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. So when we are willing to lose our life, right, crucify the flesh, put down our desires and our goals and our plans, He says that as we do that, we actually find our life in Him. It's not necessarily the one that we wanted or the one that we thought that we wanted, but it is the authentic self that He has created us to be, our real self, our real identity. You see, before Christ, and we're all just living and running through this rat race called life, just doing our thing, trying to accumulate as much wealth as we possibly can so that we can die and not take any of it with us, right, but when we came to Christ, we have the opportunity now to become the real self, the real authentic identity that God has called us to be. Look what Paul said in Philippians 3, verse 12, he says, not that I have already obtained all this or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. I take hold, I press on to take, why did Jesus save me? I'm going to find out why, and I'm going to take hold of that, and I'm going to do that thing. That's what he's saying, Jesus saved me for a reason, and I'm not quite there yet, and I don't understand all of it yet, but I know that there is an authentic identity, there's a real self, there's a purpose and a plan for why God put me on this earth, and by George, I'm going to go find out what that is, and I'm going to grab a hold of it. I just said by George, I may never have said that in my life, but we have to realize that there is a blueprint in heaven for your life, and it was drawn up before the foundations of the earth. Your life was planned and purposed before there ever was dirt or water or sky or animals. Your life was prepared and purposed. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4 says, for He chose us in Him before the creation of the world. He chose us in Him before the creation of the world. So whenever you arrived on the scene, if it was 15 or 30 or 50 or 75 years ago or more, you have the opportunity to follow that blueprint. The very reason why God has laid hold of your life, that's authentic identity, taking hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of us, that's what authentic life is all about. It's not just, you know, doing church really well. It's about you and me living out exactly what God has called us to be. There is an authentic identity for your life, and it's no accident that you were placed on this earth this time in this culture. God has an authentic identity for you right now that this world needs. I'm telling you, you may feel like, I don't even know what to do, right, because I don't understand. We can't even figure out what a boy and a girl is anymore. How am I supposed to make an impact? How am I supposed to make a difference? Ask God. Get on your face before the Lord and say, God, how am I supposed to engage this culture? Because you're here in this time, in this culture, in this chaotic mess for a very specific purpose for His glory. Amen? So we have this mission statement that we feel like the Lord gave us. Very simple. Very plain. It says this. to build a community of fully devoted, authentic followers of Jesus Christ. Now, we've talked about biblical authenticity, and we've talked about authentic identity and who God has called us to be, but what does this mean? Because this is the key, this idea of being fully devoted. What does that mean? How do I know that I'm a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ? How can I know that my devotion is where it belongs with regards to my relationship with God? How do I know that I'm able to walk into that authentic identity because of the relationship that I have with Christ? Now, I'm a firm believer in things being clearly defined or as clearly as possible for me so that I know that I can meet the expectation, right? So if we're going to build a community of fully devoted followers, then we need to know what that means. And that's why we've got these banners here, and they've been sitting on this platform for a year. Hopefully, that has gotten so deep into your spirit that you know exactly, if somebody were to say, what is the Authentic Life Church all about, you could say this, save people seek God, save people serve people, and save people save people. But that's what this is all about. Ultimately, we can't consider ourselves fully devoted without embracing each of these areas of devotion. And not just because I said it, right, not just because I put it on banners, it's because this is what Jesus modeled for us when he was on the earth. This is this is what he did. And so he's saying, now you follow me and do like I did, like when, like, you know, with your kids, you're like, all right, you follow me, you do exactly what I do. I'll show you and you do it. That's how Jesus is with us. He lived this life, 33 years, perfect. And this is how he lived his life. And we've just distilled it into something that's easy to remember, right? But this is what God, what Jesus modeled and taught and revealed through his word. And so over the next couple of weeks, we're going to break each one of those things down again and just kind of just get remarinated in this vision that God has given us. But let me just touch briefly on each of these things this morning. So he said, Authentic Life Church exists to build a community of fully devoted, authentic followers of Jesus Christ. And we do this by teaching and modeling these authentic attributes, saved people, seek God, saved people, serve people and saved people, save people. So let me, let me stop here for a second. We use the term saved people because that's exactly what we are. Saved. Understand, you know, that's like a Christian East term. Like I'm saved. I'm saved. And for many people, that means I'm go to church, right? I believe in God. So understand the gravity and the weight of the word saved. You've been saved from the eternal consequences of sin. You have been saved from the wrath of God, what we're actually deserving of, but how we are not objects of wrath because we are in Christ. We have been saved. We have been saved from living a life that is held captive to our sinful nature. Right? We are saved from that. Look what it says in Romans five, beginning of verse eight, but God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God's condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his son, while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. This is what we are, folks. We are saved and now our friends with God. We have been rescued by the blood of Jesus and that demands a response. If you were drowning in the middle of the ocean and a helicopter came by with a man at the end of a rope and he rescued you from that water and pulled you up and got you to safety, you wouldn't be like, cool man, thanks. No, that would demand a response from you. You'd be crying and hugging on that man, right? You'd send him letters. You'd probably buy him a gift every year at Christmas time. You'd find out where his kid's birthdays are and you'd send them gifts too. You'd be so grateful that your life was saved, that your life was spared. It demands a response. And our salvation demands a response from our life. And so we say that saved people seek God. Matthew 4.4 says, Jesus answered, it is written, man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. You know, we said that we're endeavoring to be fully devoted, authentic followers of Jesus Christ. But how can I know how to follow unless I have the instructions? You ever try to put together a bookshelf without the instructions? I have. And then I have to take it apart and put it back together the right way, according to the instructions. In order to follow, you need to know what you're supposed to do. That's where the Word of God comes in in your life. Listen, we cannot be a believer. You cannot call yourself a Christian while that Bible sits on your end table collecting dust. Because you have no idea what you are to be doing with your life. If you are going to be a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ, you need to crack that Word open. You need to read the words on that page and internalize them by the power of the Holy Spirit, who's going to reveal to you how that applies in here to your life, is going to show you what adjustments need to be made. That's what we do. And then we obey. We read the Word, we read the instructions, and then we put it to action through our obedience. We seek God so that we know how to properly follow Him. You don't live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Let me tell you something. He's given you 66 books, written over 4,000 years, and He's put them all in one nice volume for you that you can read. This is the written revelation of God. Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. If you never feel or hear God speak to you individually, you at least have the Word of God, and that speaks to you. You've got to be a person of the Word, because what's in the Word is what pleases Him. And as we seek to read and hear and know God's Word to us, then we will be 100% certain about what it is that He desires from us. And that's how we walk in the authentic identity that He has for us. We seek Him. We listen. We obey. And I promise you, God will speak to you individually. God will put things in your heart. God will reveal things. He will use His Word to do it. He will use other people around you to help steer you. He will put impressions into your heart. But God, as the more you seek Him and what He wants from you, He will reveal that to you. I promise He's not going to keep it hidden from you. He's not going to. So we'll get more on that. Save people, seek God. We'll touch on that more next week. But the next attribute of a fully devoted, authentic follower of Jesus Christ is save people, serve people. You know, it's really easy as an American to take this amazing salvation that we have and become selfish with it. Right? It's what we do. It's what our culture has taught us to do. Gather every convenience, every resource, every possession that you can, and it's all for you. Don't expect anything from me. Don't put your hands in my pocket. Don't touch my stuff. But Jesus taught us a different way, a way that gets out of a selfish mindset and brings us outside of ourselves to the real reason that we are here to serve others. Mark 10 verse 42 says, Jesus called them together and said, You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Listen what these words say. You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their high officials exercise authority over them. Listen to me. Stop trying to be somebody. Stop trying to feel important. Stop trying to make sure your reputation is one where people respect you and honor you and your authority. Stop trying to be somebody. Stop looking for recognition and accolades and respect. That's what Jesus was addressing with his disciples here. He's like, I'm giving you the gospel. Now don't go lording that over people. Don't walk around like you're some big hot shot. And what you're going to do is you're going to take that and you're going to serve people with it. In fact, the very lasting memory that Jesus wanted to leave with his disciples was of him washing their feet. The very last thing that he did as a group with his disciples was to wash their feet. He stooped down to serve them as he was about to go to the cross to save all of humanity. Jesus, the Son of God, high and lifted up at the right hand of the Father, stooped to wash the feet of his disciples. And it's not like our clean feet that are in socks and shoes all day. This is a non-negotiable in order to be a fully devoted follower of Christ. Do as Jesus did. Serve people. Stop. Stop. Listen to me. When you're trying to be somebody, when somebody gets under your skin or insults you, and now it's like, whoa. Just be like Jesus. If anybody had a right to lord anything over anybody, it was the Lord. But instead he used what he had to serve, and that's what he's called us to do. So save people, serve people. And the last one, and we'll end with this, is that save people, save people. This is probably the most overlooked, avoided, and ignored aspect of being a Christian. There's no way around the fact that a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ is concerned about the souls and the eternal destiny of others. Matthew 28, 19 says, therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. It's a very, very simple command. Go and make disciples. Reproduce yourself in others. Bring people to Christ and then teach them how to be fully devoted followers. Are we all evangelists? No. There's a very specific personality type and gifting that God has given certain people that can go and preach on street corners and spin every conversation into a gospel presentation. And there's no denying that some people are more gifted in the area of evangelism than others. But that's not an excuse for us to ignore the command of Jesus. If we have been saved and we know that this is the only way to have eternal life and to have a right relationship with God and that the alternative is to spend eternity apart from God in hell, if we know that this is the only way, then we better be about spreading the Word and rescuing others. That's why we have the Holy Spirit. Right because we're not all evangelists. We're all not. We're not all eloquent of speech. We don't have all the creative ideas necessarily. Sometimes we get a little meek, a little nervous in sharing our faith, but that's why we have the Holy Spirit. Acts 1 verse 8 says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses. Thank you for listening to Elevate. We hope this message encouraged, inspired, and challenged you. Authentic Life Church is located at 3750 Michael Boulevard in Mobile, Alabama. Visit our website authenticlife.tv for more information about Authentic Life Church, to find out what we have going on, or to make a donation. You can also find us on Facebook. We'd love for you to join us on Sundays at 10 a.m. for our weekend service. We have excellent children's, nursery, and youth programs, so bring the family. For Pastor John DeQuatro, I'm Scott Chestnut. Thanks again for listening, and God bless you.