Values: We Put God First

 

Values 

“A Church That Put’s God First”

Introduction:

Good morning Eastern Shore Baptist Church. Welcome to our visitors. My name is Stuart Davidson and I am the pastor here. Thank you for joining us this morning and thank you if you are watching online. 

Today is a special day. We are starting new series entitled “Values”. Basically I am going to take the next 6 weeks to look at the values of our church. We will talk about vision and purpose. We will talk about why Eastern Shore Baptist Church was planted all the way back in 1989 and we will discover how we can reach our community for Jesus Christ. 

Why are we here? Who are we trying to reach? I want to answer these questions for us this morning. If you have been here for a while you have probably seen our values. They are strategically placed around the outside of our sanctuary. If you have ever walked in the fronts doors of this very room, you have seen our purpose. 

Our Vision:

ESBC is on mission to share Christ with every family in the community of Lake Forest and the greater Eastern Shore.

“ESBC is on mission to share Christ with every family in the community of Lake Forest and the greater Eastern Shore”. Over the next 6 weeks we will unpack that vision and discuss our values as a church. So you might be wondering, what is the difference between “vision” and “values”. Those words both start with a “v” and sound similar. Aren’t they just the same thing said with different words?

No! Not really. They have very different meanings. 

The vision is what we hope to achieve. It is what we want to do in our present and it is what we want to accomplish in the future. 

Our values represent our core beliefs. Our values make us who we are, who we want to be. 

So, how did we arrive at this vision? Pretty simple really. 35 years go Eastern Shore Baptist Church was constituted. Before that, the church was not really a church, it was a mission of Daphne Baptist. 

Grant Barber was the pastor at Daphne Baptist and he felt God calling the church to plant a congregation in the Lake Forest community. Grant wisely saw the numerous families coming to the area.  He, along with several members from Daphne Baptist, heard God’s command to plant that mission to reach Lake Forest. That’s right friends, Eastern Shore Baptist Church was placed to bring God’s presence and power to the Lake Forest neighborhood. 

In fact, that is your “Today’s Thought”. You can fill in those blanks this morning. Eastern Shore Baptist Church Is Uniquely Positioned To Bring God’s Presence and Power To the Lake Forest Community!

Today’s Thought:

Eastern Shore Baptist Church Exists To Love Lake Forest And Lead Its People To Jesus Christ!

Let’s talk about Lake Forest for just a second. 

When people think about Daphne, they think about beautiful neighborhoods, great schools, and a wonderful place to raise a family. Lake Forest has been a big part of that story for more than 50 years.

Lake Forest was first developed in the early 1970s. What started as a planned community built around a golf course has grown into one of the largest neighborhoods in the entire state of Alabama. Today there are roughly 3,300 homes spread throughout the subdivision.  

Think about that.

Three thousand, three hundred homes.

That’s not a neighborhood.

That’s practically a small city.

Thousands of people drive through those streets every single day.

Thousands of children ride bicycles on those sidewalks.

Thousands of families sit around dinner tables every evening.

Some are young couples just starting out.

Some are families with children.

Some are single parents doing everything they can to make ends meet.

Some are retired grandparents enjoying the next season of life.

Some have lived there for decades.

Others unpacked their moving truck just a few weeks ago.

Every one of those homes has a story.

Every one of those homes has joys.

Every one of those homes has struggles.

Every one of those homes has people who matter to God.

Now here’s what really captures my attention.

Depending on whose estimate you use, somewhere around 8,000 to 10,000 people live in the Lake Forest community alone. That means nearly one out of every three people in Daphne lives within just a few miles of where we’re sitting this morning.  

Now let me ask you a question.

How many of those people know Jesus?

How many of those families are actively involved in a Bible believing, gospel preaching church this morning?

Researchers estimate that around 60 to 70 percent of Americans are not actively involved in a local church. That would mean somewhere between 5,000 and 7,000 of our neighbors are not gathering with God’s people today.

Think about that.

Thousands of people.

Not in another country.

Not across the ocean.

Those are people that are living just outside the walls of Eastern Shore Baptist Church. If they were to die today, they would be escorted into the outer darkness of hell. That should burden you. That should inspire you to go and tell the good news of Jesus Christ. 

Friends that’s why Eastern Shore Baptist Church exists.

God did not plant this church here by accident.

He planted this church in the middle of one of the largest mission fields in Baldwin County.

Every time you drive through Lake Forest…

Every time you pass another home…

Every time you stop at a stop sign…

Remember this.

Those aren’t just houses.

Those are souls.

God has strategically placed us here to take the hope of the Gospel to every single one of them.

I would dare say that no other church on the Eastern Shore is positioned better or more strategically to reach Lake Forest. Grant, along with that handful of members from Daphne Baptist, boldly set out to grow the fledgling mission. The group met all over the community. They met in hotels and houses. They met in community centers, schools, and even the Lake Forest Yacht Club. It would not take long but that mission would grow into the church we are today. 

Now today is not so much a history lesson for all of us. Over the next 6 weeks we will indeed look back a few times to look forward. We will talk about what has happened so that we can be informed of our future. I will talk about what my vision was when I first came to Eastern Shore Baptist Church and how that vision has shifted. 

If Im being truthful with you this morning, our new fresh vision is really not that new and it is not that fresh. What I believe God calling us to do today is to get back to our original calling, our original mission, to reach Lake Forest for the glory of God. 

Now I know what you are thinking. What about Spanish Fort? What about Fairhope? What about the rest of us that don’t live in Lake Forest? Does that mean that Eastern Shore Baptist Church is no longer for me if I don’t live in that neighborhood? 

The answer to that is clearly “of course not”. Friend, I don’t live in Lake Forest. Many of you do not live there either. That’s ok. 

The Great Commission of making disciples around the world is still our ultimate goal. However, if we can’t reach the community that we are planted in, how can we expect to reach Spanish Fort, Fairhope, or Daphne proper? Frankly, I find it freeing to know why Eastern Shore Baptist Church exists. The doorway to the nations is that neighborhood. 

If we cannot be committed to reaching that neighborhood, the one that we are planted in, then we can’t reach the nations. 

Simple as that. 

So, how do we get there? Well our first step is to know our values. What do we believe about God and what do we believe about ourselves? 

The first value that we are going to be discussing this morning is that we are a “church that puts God first”. 

Think about it folks, it we are a church that puts anything above God, we will never ever be able to reach our community for Christ. You might be thinking, “but preacher, of course we are a church that puts God first”. 

The temptation is to think that but there are a lot of things, situations, or ideals that are bend churches away from putting God first. Churches across America get lost along the way, take their eyes off Christ, and miss out on their calling. This is a problem that dates back to the early church. In John’s Revelation, the Apostle addresses the Church in Ephesus. Listen to what he says to this church, 

Revelation 2:4-5 NLT

"But I have this complaint against you. You don't love me or each other as you did at first! [5] Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don't repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.

“You don’t love me or each other as you did at first”. What a terrible commentary. Oh church, we can lose our love of God when we put our eyes on our preferences, our particular worship styles, the outward trappings of our buildings. We can lose our first love when we care more about keeping our facilities nice and neat than the truth that our community going to hell without Christ. We lose our first love when we argue over petty things. Matters that are mundane and monotonous. 

In preparing for this message I ran across Kevin DeYoung’s book entitled “What is the Mission of the Church?”. Mr. DeYoung explains that we are not here to build buildings, preserve traditions, or keep programs running. God has called us to proclaim the gospel, make disciples, and help people become faithful followers of Jesus Christ. Everything we do should point people to Him and bring glory to God.

Today’s Quote:

“The mission of the church is to go into the world and make disciples by declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit and gathering these disciples into churches, that they might worship and obey Jesus Christ now and in eternity to the glory of God the Father.”

Kevin DeYoung’s “What Is the Mission of the Church?: Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission

So Eastern Shore Baptist Church, our first value is that we are church that puts God first. 

God over ourselves. 

God over our preferences. 

God over our selfish worldly desires. 

God over all. 

In order to reach every single home in Lake Forest, God has to first reach our hearts. 

This morning we are reading from Matthew 22. Matthew 22:34-40 to be exact. Let me set up the scene for you. Let me give you the background and the context of today’s Scripture. 

Matthew 22 is an interesting chapter in the Bible. Jesus is in the thick of His ministry. His followers are growing and His teachings are making waves. In fact, the powerful religious leaders are taking notice. They are beginning to feel threatened by Jesus. Jesus made them nervous. The Pharisees were the religious experts and because they were threatened, they would question Jesus in creative ways hoping to trap Him. They desperately wanted to make Jesus look foolish. 

The Pharisees ask Jesus a question, 'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?' 

The Pharisees are hoping to catch Jesus in an inconsistency. 

To them, the law was their salvation. 

To say that one law was more or greater than another law would discredit Jesus. 

Jesus not only answers their question but He goes beyond it. He quotes Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. Jesus tells them that they are to love the Lord but they are to also love their neighbor. Jesus’ reveals the idea that love of God fuels our ability to love our neighbor. Love of God and putting do first is the foundation of our faith.

Before we read God’s Word together, let me tell you how we regard God’s Word. 

Statement of Belief:

“We are opening the living and powerful Word of God…truth without error, breathed out by Him, and fully sufficient for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. It is our authority, our guide, and our hope. In honor of the God who gave us His perfect Word, I invite you to stand with me as we read it together.”

Today’s Scripture:

Matthew 22:34-40 ESV

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. [35] And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. [36] "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" [37] And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. [38] This is the great and first commandment. [39] And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. [40] On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."

How Can The Church Put God First?

I. Listen: The Commandments vs. 37-38

So, this morning we are going to answer that question. 

How can the church put God first? 

How can Eastern Shore Baptist Church realize our first value? 

How can Eastern Shore Baptist Church put God first? 

Roman numeral one is listen, specifically listen to the commandments. Verses 37 and 38 tell us what those commandments are: love God and love our neighbors. 

"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" [37] And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. [38] This is the great and first commandment.

There on your outline is a short explanation of our first point this morning. Check it out. 

“Putting God first begins with listening to His voice, obeying His Word, and making His will more important than our own.”

Let’s talk about listening first and then we will talk about God and our neighbor. 

Generally there are a couple types of people in this world: there are those who listen to God and then there are those who listen to themselves. 

Which one are you? 

Which one am I? 

If Im being honest, I am probably a bit of both. Sometimes I listen to God and then my inner voice gets in the way and drives me off of God’s path. However, it is my desire to be completely tuned into Scripture. I want to put God first in every area of my life. The only problem is that I can sometimes be a very poor listener. 

Friends, let me tell you something right here and now, God is always speaking. He is always communicating. He is always relaying His will to us. It’s not just the fact that God needs to turn the volume up for those folks in the back. That’s not the problem. 

The problem is that Im either to busy to hear God or I tune Him out all together. 

If you are wanting to put God first in your life, you better start with tuning your ears, your heart, your mind, and your soul to Him. In fact, listening is a lot like loving. Isn’t it funny that if you want to love God, you need to listen to Him, giving Him your very best attention. Church, did you know that the Bible mentions “listening” 278 times. 278 times friends. 

Trying to compare our inability to listen to God is probably going to fall short, but I will give it a shot. Imagine that you go to the doctor. He walks into the examination room and there you are, sitting on the table. The doctor greets you but before he can get out another word, you immediately tell her about your problems. “Hey Doc, Im having all sorts of problems: Ive got fungus growing between my toes, Ive got some oozing here and some bleeding there, Ive got some wax over here, my back aches, my joints hurt, and let me tell you about that headache. Im pretty sure that I need a flu shot and I will be on my way.”

“Thanks for listening Doc I’ll be on my way now.”

The doctor, grabbing your shoulder might say, “well hold on there partner, don’t you want to hear what I have to say?”

You see most of us do that to God. We bring to Him all of our problems. All of our troubles. However, we don’t listen to Him. We never hear His diagnosis. We never get the cure and we never form the relationship. 

Do you know what I discovered the other day, the word “silent” and the word “listen” are spelled with the exact same letters. 

Isn’t that interesting? 

To hear God we have to listen, we have to be silent. I think that it is also funny that Jesus was speaking to people that prided themselves on praying. The Pharisees were great men of prayer but they were not great men of listening. They were great talkers but not great listeners. 

Putting God first involves you and I being silent, listening to His voice, and going His way. Going the Jesus way. Like Jesus says in Matthew 11…

Matthew 11:15 NLT

Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!

How Can The Church Put God First?

I. Listen: The Commandments vs. 37-38

II. Love : Our Calling vs. 39

So, how can the church put God first? Listen. 

Second, love.

Specifically love our calling. Jesus tells the Pharisees that the greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” But then Jesus continues, “And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. 

Think about it like this…

“When we truly love God, we cannot help but love our neighbors and point them to Jesus Christ.”

A couple of things to look at in this point. What is “love” and who is my “neighbor”. The Greek word for “love” is agapaō. It is the type of love most closely identified with God Himself. 

It is a love that welcomes. 

It is a love that entertains. 

It is a love that sacrifices.

It is the sort of love that gives with the expectation of getting nothing in return. 

In terms of our church, it means that we are to love people where they are, with no expectation of anything in return. It is a love that is filled with grace, with peace, with joy, and with mercy. 

It’s the kind of love that takes people with all their problems, with all their flaws and failures and chooses to host them in their home without any expectation of payment. It is a love that freely gives even if it means that it costs us our very lives. 

Putting God first means that as a church, that is how we are to love people that walk in these doors. That is how we are to love our community. I know, I know, you’ve heard this before in dozens of others sermons. Of course we are to put God first, to love other people. But practically speaking, how does hits impact Lake Forest? 

I will come back to that in just a second. Let’s break down the second part. Who is our neighbor?

The Greek word being used for “neighbor” is plēsion pronounced play-see'-on. The word goes far beyond the family that lives right next door to you. It also goes far beyond people that look like you, who go to church with you, who are in supper club with you, or people that you work with or go to school with. The literally means “the other person”. Jesus is actually saying “the person that you have forgotten about, the person that you want nothing to do with, the person that doesn’t look like you”. That person is your neighbor. 

Loving your neighbor as yourself is found 8 times in the Bible. Not once. Not twice. Eight times! Loving your neighbor as yourself is so vital to Jesus that He not only repeats Himself, He makes it an all out command. It is so important to Jesus that He hooks loving God to loving your neighbor. What Jesus is actually saying is that you cannot love God fully if you do not love your neighbor. 

Loving your neighbor is not always easy. It is not always fun. It can present lots of problems and issues, but it is worth it and it is what this church will be about. 

So practically speaking, what does this look like?

Church, think back to what we talked about just a few minutes ago. There are roughly 3,300 homes in Lake Forest. Somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000 people live there. If the national trends hold true in our own community, somewhere around 5,000 to 7,000 of those people are not actively involved in a Bible believing, gospel preaching church. Think about that. Thousands of our neighbors are living just a few minutes from this sanctuary. Many of them would probably tell you they believe in God. They may even tell you they pray from time to time. Yet believing God exists is not the same as knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. If they have never repented of their sin and placed their faith in Christ alone, they are still separated from God. Church, those aren’t statistics. Those are souls. Those are husbands and wives, moms and dads, teenagers and children. Those are our neighbors. Jesus has called us to love them enough to go to them with the hope of the Gospel.

These are our neighbors and we must reach them. They are clearly not coming here so this means that we must go to them. 

Prayer walking

Door to door evangelism 

Block parties

Mailers 

Opening up counseling groups for grief, groups for substance abuse, groups for addiction support.

Creating a prayer ministry where we send hand written prayer cards to each and every home in Lake Forest.

Social media 

Upward basketball

Tutoring 

English as a Second Language

Targeted events like Vacation Bible School and Musical events.

You and I individually praying daily that God would stir in that neighborhood.  

Maybe you have an idea that I did not mention. Maybe you want to lead a ministry that I just suggested. We cannot reach Lake Forest without you. We just can’t. Where will God place you?

Imagine the stir if this church were able to reach that 4300 people who are not connected to Christ. Imagine how that would reinvigorate our community, transforming our homes and lives. 

Isn’t it exciting. The world is an awfully big place to reach. Why don’t we start with our neighbors? Why not take in their joys and sorrows? Why not pray for them? Why not reach them?

John 13:34 ESV

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

How Can The Church Put God First?

I. Listen: The Commandments vs. 37-38

II. Love : Our Calling vs. 39

III. Lift: Be Courageous  vs. 40

So we need to listen. 

We need to love. 

Lastly we need to lift, be courageous. Listen to what Jesus says in verse 40. 

“On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."

There on your outline is the last explanation for this point. 

“When we put God first, we boldly lift up the name of Jesus so others can come to know Him.”

Jesus is saying in verse 40, the entire faith, everything we believe, hinges on loving God and loving others. Loving God and loving our neighbor. 

Church here is what I need you to do. 

Be proud. 

Be proud of Jesus. 

Share Him. 

Talk about your faith with your friends, your co workers, your class mates. Lift high the name of Jesus. Lift Christ to the top priority of your life. Next, lift the name of Eastern Shore Baptist Church. Tell people about Eastern Shore Baptist Church. Tell them why you are here, what led you to join, how this church has changed your life. Who could you tell? A neighbor? A friend? Another family member?  Are you proud of your church? I am! Im honored to be the pastor here. Honored to worship with you. Let’s let our community know what we have found. 

Not to long ago we had a consultant come and speak to our staff. It was a few years ago actually. The moment was real and it sure stuck with me. He asked us this question, “what do people say about Eastern Shore Baptist Church in this community”? We sort of looked at each other and shrugged. 

I don’t know.

He replied back to us, “That’s right. No one is really talking about your church. Your church is not known for anything good and your church is not known for anything bad. That’s actually not a bad thing because today, you can choose what people will say about your church.”

Here’s the good news. That is not true anymore. People are talking about Eastern Shore Baptist Church. People know where we are. I believe that our church has a great reputation in this community. We are doing things write. We are growing. Our attendance is up. Our giving is up. Baptisms are up. Across the board, in all the programming ministries, we are seeing more and more people coming. 

It’s awesome. 

There has never been a better time to be a member of Eastern Shore Baptist Church. 

Amen?

Amen indeed!

Let me tell you what I hope people will one day say about Eastern Shore Baptist Church. I hope that they say “Man alive, that church sure does love the people of Lake Forest. They love that neighborhood the way I’d imagine Jesus would love them”. 

I want people to point at our building and comment how sold out we are to reaching that neighborhood for Jesus Christ. Remember, the Lake Forest neighborhood is the doorway to the nations.

To God be the glory! May we let our light shine.  

I John 2:9-11 ESV

“Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”

Brothers and sisters, I hope that you will enjoy this series…”Values”. Remember…

“Where There Is No Vision, People Perish…”