A missional church is a church designed to reach members of a non-Christian culture. America, especially urban America, is becoming increasingly post-Christian and needs missional churches in order to engage those whose worldview is profoundly non-Christian. Yet, a missional church is much more than a church with an evangelistic program. It means creating a church where all ministry is conducted with the mindset that non-Christians will be present.

We need a calling in life greater than the selfishness of our own hearts. When Elijah takes Elisha as his successor, we see an example of the call of God. Elisha did not call himself, but was called by God. Though he was rich, he gave up his wealth in order to answer God’s call. Likewise, every Christian must follow the specific call that God has laid out for them, and must fall back upon the grace of God when we inevitably fail to measure up to all that God has called us to do and to be.

We yearn for a truth outside of ourselves. We yearn for a God who speaks to us. Christianity differs from all other religions because Jesus Christ not only brings us the truth, but He IS the truth. When we acknowledge Jesus as Lord and put ourselves under His truth, then we will know true freedom.

Additional scriptural references made in this sermon are: Luke 6:46; Luke 9:35; Exodus 7: 1-2; Galatians 1:8; Hebrews 1: 1-2; John 1:1; John 8: 31-32, Matthew 6: 25-30; Colossians 3:16

Money will always reveal what you truly worship. As God’s money managers, we are called to share the money he has provided to us with those who do not have as much. However, money exercises great power over us and we are often oblivious to this power. If you feel unable to part with your wealth, meditate upon the radical generosity of Christ on the cross and he will become the treasure of your heart.

Meeting with God and grasping the grace he freely gives us changes our relationship to our money, possessions, and career. When we see that salvation cannot be earned or gained through hard work, we are freed from the idolatry of wealth. When we experience this freedom, we can give with spontaneity and joy.

Christianity presents a revolutionary view of sex, singleness, and marriage that rejects both traditional and modern conceptions of the purpose of sex. Ultimately, our hope in our future family, future journey and certainty of our true love, Jesus Christ, shapes our attitudes towards sex, singleness, and marriage.

Jesus not only saves us from our sins, he weaves us into a new human community. That community is characterized by a reversal of values. When we realize that we are both sinners and saved by grace, we will have freedom from the values that previously defined us, and yet a regard and love for those who don't share our values.

Why do we sin — even when we know right from wrong? Sin is a power that enslaves us, but we can be freed from its power by encountering God through worship.

The rich young ruler in this passage has followed all the rules, but receives an astonishing rebuttal from Jesus. Any encounter with the “real” Jesus shocks us. His religious assumptions failed him because he didn't understand treasure in heaven, and failed to recognize the true freedom and inheritance Jesus offers us.

It is our nature to seek our identity in the praise of others and in the praise of self. But the praise doesn’t last, and we are never satisfied. God has provided, through Jesus’ death, a new identity to all who know him. This new identity is built on Jesus’ performance rather than on our own; we receive the praise that He deserved. The more we know God, the more our new identity is strengthened and our old identity dies away.