I just want to start off by saying a big “thank you” to Maina Mwaura for returning to speak to us again this weekend. He always does such a great job, and we love to have him up from ATL.
For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NLT
A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest.
A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.
Okay, no judgment.. Who thought this was just a cool Beatles song, and didn’t realize that they ripped off King Solomon’s poetry in Ecclesiastes?
Maina had five excellent observations about this passage that directly apply to us today. Which of them stood out to you? What were your big takeaways from Maina’s message?
I thought all of them were good… But I want to deal with just one of them during this conversation. It was his 2nd point: “Do not allow this season to mess with your focus.“
Do you feel like this recent season (extreme political division, extreme social unrest, pandemic, etc) has caused us to lose some of our focus? In what ways?
Okay, here is the big question for you… What even IS your focus?
- Do you have a purpose, a focus, for your family?
- Do you have a purpose, a focus, for your job or business?
- Do you have a purpose, a focus, for your lost neighbor?
- Do you have a purpose, a focus, for your personal ministry?
Please don’t breeze by those bullets. Seriously. Maybe it is difficult to answer those questions out loud? What do you think?
I think this question, “what even IS your focus” is difficult for many believers. That’s right… BELIEVERS, of all people… We have trouble even having focus, let alone maintaining our focus. Even in pre-Covid seasons of life. Why do you think this is?
Jesus described our focus, our purpose in several passages… I want to just take a quick look at one of the basic ones. Here is one way Jesus describes your purpose, your focus:
“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
Matthew 5:13-16 NLT
Okay.. I will give you a couple of minutes to just unpack that. Work through that passage together, and talk about what our purpose, our focus really is to be in our family, our job, with our lost neighbor, and in our personal life.
Is this the only passage that speaks to this purpose? Can you think of others?
(here are a few hints for you… Look them up and read them out loud: Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 1:17, Luke 10:2, John 20:21)
There are lots of other passages throughout the New Testament that describe who we are to be… These are just a very few… But based on what you’re reading here, what do you think our purpose, our focus should be?
I think Satan LOVES for us to be off-focus. In fact, I don’t think his goal is to turn us into Satan worshippers… I think he just wants to get us off-focus.
Why would this be true?
Has he been successful in getting us off-focus? How do you know?
Is it possible that we find our world in the disaster that it seems to be in because we believers have lost our purpose, our focus?
How can we begin to regain that purpose, that focus? What steps do we, the Body of Christ need to be taking? (seriously, let me know your ideas… Our staff is working up a good plan to help us return to that purpose, and I would really love your thoughts and ideas. Reply in the comments!)
I say it starts with the Body of Christ gathering together to worship, to glorify Him. Have you reserved your seat for this coming Sunday?