Fanatical Focus on the Future through FAITH

What is the cost of discipleship?
time, money, power, attention..

Where is our/your focus? future or past

What is the church's(HRBC) mission?
Our mission at HRBC is to glorify God by being a loving, Christian community that reaches out to all people through worship, spiritual growth, proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ, and ministry to needs in our world. (Acts 1:8)


Where do our resources come from?
God, experience, skills, gifts...

Facilitator Thoughts to interject if/when appropriate.

• The illusion of support is a foundation for failure on a gigantic scale.  If the foundation is false, the "building" will crumble.
  
• We must maintain a fanatical focus on the opportunities available to us in the future.
• We must remember that we are beloved of God and that he will provide for our needs. 
• We cannot OUTSOURCE our ministry obligation via the church, the cooperative programs, the staff, or children.
• The church is a tool to educate, empower, support and embolden individual. It is not the goal in itself.
• Maintaining what we have in the present is an anchor which can distract us. 
• Our past is indeed a base of security and comfort, but it is also a burden and an excuse for inaction. 
• We must remain vigilant as it is the small distractions which are easiest to miss and that have the most impact over the long term. 
  
• A fanatical focus on hope for the future, presents opportunities in every day, minute, meal, conversation, performance...  We begin to see messages and levers for change in everything from movies, to our workplace, to our familes, and yes in our GIVING.  
• time & money matter... resources are required for support and change.
• Stewardship is an important focus for all of us.. A Steward has an obligation to "care for the passengers" on their journey. The job is by its very nature, temporary and is a means to an end.. Remember the end,  and do NOT focus so much on the means.
  

What is our mission?  now THAT is the question we each have to ask... and are we stewards, or do we maintain an illusion of control in place of a stewardship of others awaiting the "return of the king.


REFERENCE RESOURCES:
Luke 9:57-62 (MESSAGE)

  ⁵⁷On the road someone asked if he could go along. "I'll go with you, wherever," he said.
   ⁵⁸Jesus was curt: "Are you ready to rough it? We're not staying in the best inns, you know."
   Jesus said to another, "Follow me."
   ⁵⁹He said, "Certainly, but first excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have to make arrangements for my father's funeral."
   ⁶⁰Jesus refused. "First things first. Your business is life, not death. And life is urgent: Announce God's kingdom!"
   ⁶¹Then another said, "I'm ready to follow you, Master, but first excuse me while I get things straightened out at home."
   ⁶²Jesus said, "No procrastination. No backward looks. You can't put God's kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day." 

Luke 9:23-27 (MESSAGE)
 ^{23 -27}Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat—I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? If any of you is embarrassed with me and the way I'm leading you, know that the Son of Man will be far more embarrassed with you when he arrives in all his splendor in company with the Father and the holy angels. This isn't, you realize, pie in the sky by and by. Some who have taken their stand right here are going to see it happen, see with their own eyes the kingdom of God."

Luke 14:25-27 (MESSAGE)

  ^{25 -27}One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them, "Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one's own self!—can't be my disciple. Anyone who won't shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can't be my disciple.


Movie reference: Return of the King  ...Tolkien

• The steward was to secure and "keep" the city for the king. He was NOT the king.
• In the face of the real battle, each member had to hold the line and do their part. All were needed.
• Stewardship does not equal control but without the stewards, the city could not have survived.

Fanatic:
a person filled with excessive and single-minded zeal, esp. for an extreme religious or political cause. ---- informal a person with an obsessive interest in and enthusiasm for something, esp. an activity

STEWARD:
1 a person who looks after the passengers on a ship, aircraft, or train and brings them meals.--a person responsible for supplies of food to a college, club, or other institution.
2 an official appointed to supervise arrangements or keep order at a large public event, for example a sporting event.--short for shop steward .
3 a person employed to manage another's property, esp. a large house or estate--a person whose responsibility it is to take care of something : farmers pride themselves on being stewards of the countryside.