Oakbrook Evangelical Free Church

I. Jesus Is My Friend

Matthew 11:19 “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”” ESV

Spent time with them.

John 15:15 “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” ESV

Shared intimately with them.

That they might be with him.

Zachius, I’m going to your house today.

Attended weddings.

Attended parties.

Sat around numerous tables and talked into the night.

When on fishing trips with them.

Prepared shore lunch for them.

Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” ESV

What better picture of invitation into friendship?

Context – Awareness that I need a friend

II. Jesus Is My Savior, John 14:19

Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”” ESV

John 1:29 “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” ESV

John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Even those who were by no means believers make great concessions admitting their need for God…

Nietzsche “My life now consists in the wish that it might be otherwise than I comprehend, and that SOMEBODY might make my ‘truths’ appear incredible to me.”

Camus, French existential philosopher, “Nothing can discourage the appetite for divinity in the heart of man…for anyone who is alone, without God and without a master, the weight of days is dreadful.”

Will Durant, the humanist historian, “I survive morally without God because I retain the moral code that was taught me along with the religion that I have discarded.”

We are Really Sick

The tendency toward hypocrisy shows itself in many subtle ways. Have you ever noticed how we like to “rename” our sins? We do that by ascribing the worst motives to others, while using other phrases to let ourselves off the hook. If you do it, you’re a liar; I merely “stretch the truth.” If you do it, you’re cheating; I am “bending the rules.”

You lose your temper; I have righteous anger.

You’re a jerk; I’m having a bad day.

You have a critical spirit; I bluntly tell the truth.

You gossip; I share prayer requests.

You curse and swear; I let off steam.

You’re pushy; I’m intensely goal-oriented.

You’re greedy; I’m simply taking care of business.

You’re a hypochondriac; but I’m really sick.

You stink; I merely have an “earthy aroma.”

And so it goes. We all have a thousand ways to excuse our own behavior while at the same time criticizing others for doing the same things. No wonder Jesus said, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.”

He’s really challenging us to examine ourselves based on the truth about us. He is really saying that we should look first to ourselves, because we do the same things that we judge other people for doing. We must understand that we are mere human beings. We are not God. No one has left us in charge of everyone else. We should first get our own house in order.

John 6:44-45 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. “It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—” ESV

Calling is the truth that God calls us to Himself

A. So many are not real seekers

They are spiritually unattached…not really seekers, but have a drifters sort of life; “hoppers and shoppers”; maul gazers…uncommitted, restless. Those who are open to everything but committed to nothing.

B. True Seeking

Looking for something. Have a sense of need. Not satisfied with life as it is.

In your heart you are looking for “home”, you desire your own “far off country”, you have the scent of a flower you have not found, and the echo of a tune you have not heard. You are looking for your heart’s true home and your one true desire. There is a yearning to know why we are each unique.

Not a search for search’s sake. Not an open minded or empty headed tolerance for anything and everything.

Not the Buddist solution that the real problem is desire itself. Their

nirvana is found not in fulfilling our desire for purpose but in stopping

our desires for meaning.

Nor is narcissism a solution. It only deadens the pain for a

while.

All seeking short of a pursuit of God brings only restlessness and emptiness.

C. Will the true Seeker Please Stand Up

“We start out searching, but we end up being discovered. We think we are looking for something only to eventually discover that we are the ones being sought.”

God is the “hound of heaven” who spends time with the religious but lost Elder, Nicodemus.

He is the pursuer who “had to go through Samaria” to keep an

appointment with the woman who didn’t know he was coming.

He is the unavoidable light that blinded the zealous but wrong

and rising Jewish “star” Paul who was seeking Christians to

arrest.

C.S. Lewis, in his book Surprised by Joy said in his own intense search “God closed in on me.” “So the great Angler played his fish and I never dreamed that the hook was in my tongue….Soon I could no longer cherish even the illusion that the initiative lay with me. My Adversary began to make His final moves. The first move…the second move…the third move…the fourth move… Remember, I had always wanted, above all things, not to be “interfered with”, I had wanted to call my sole my own. I had always aimed at limited liabilities.

The odd thing was that before God closed in on me I was in fact offered what now appears a moment of wholly free choice. I became aware that I was holding something at bay, or shutting something out. The choice appeared to be momentous but it was also strangely unemotional….I chose to open, to unbuckle, to loosen the rein…Total surrender, the absolute leap in the dark was demanded…no treaty can be made…the demand was not even “all or nothing” it was simply, “all”.

Our seeking will always fall short unless God’s grace initiates the search and His call draws us to him and completes the search.

There is a great truth you personally need to hear, “True seekers are themselves sought.”

John 4:23 “a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”

Revelation 3:20

There is for true seekers and those open to His call

“the steady, unrelenting approach of God. I gave in and admitted that God was God and knelt and prayed. Who can adequately adore the Love which opened the high gates to a prodigal reluctant to come to God, kicking, struggling, resentful and looking for a way to escape. The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men.”

There is no calling unless there is a Caller.

And if there is no Caller there are no callings - only life and work!

As people we call out to animals, to each other, to God.

The Caller sees and addresses us as individuals - unique, exceptional, precious, significant and free to respond.

And He calls us into a personal relationship with Him.

Everything else will leave us with the pain of disappointment.

There is a desire within us that the world can not satisfy…that only God can satisfy

The first phase of God’s personal calling is His calling you into relationship with Him. It is a call to come to Him as the only One who can forgive us for running our lives without Him and for putting other things ahead of Him.

It is a call for us to turn our backs on everything else as

unimportant in comparison to Him and to come to Him as our best Friend, as our

Savior and our leader.

Open the door of your life to Christ.

Invite Him in and you will never ever be alone

and He will never ever let you down!

III. Jesus Is My Leader

John 8:12 “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”” ESV

Matthew 4:19 “And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”” ESV

Our primary calling is that we are called into a relationship with God Himself, not to do something or to go somewhere but simply into a relationship with God. Called by God, to God for God. This is the central purpose of our lives - to know God and enjoy Him forever.

“How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose!…You drove them from me, you who are the true, the sovereign joy. You drove them from me and took their place, you who are sweeter than all pleasure.” Larry Crabb

The deepest pleasure we are capable of experiencing is a direct encounter with God.

The place where life begins to make sense

Where there is truly forgiveness, true peace, true satisfaction

is in a real encounter with God.

Everything else in life flows out of our relationship with Him.

This is the foundation for personal transformation and discovering the central purpose for your life.

Pray: invite Christ in.

Encounter Christ in a way that fills your soul w/ peace and joy.

Need to plead with Christ to in His sovereign mercy to fill us more

and more with a rich encounter with our Eternal Companion

This is our first priority! Everyone else flows out of it.

Calling is the truth that the “Caller” has big plans for us.

Everything we are, everything we do and everything we have belongs to Him and is to be invested with a special devotion and dynamic that is a response to His call, and His grace in our lives.” Another way to say: Romans 12:1-2

This is the place to find and fulfill the central purpose of your life!

Coming to Christ as your Savior leads to

Coming to Christ as your Leader!

This is part two of the single decision to come to Christ - to answer the call of Christ for us to open the door of our lives to Him.

But He doesn’t just want in the back seat of the car.

He wants to be in the driver’s seat!

As Jesus calls people to become His followers he also calls them to other things and tasks: to peace, to fellowship, to eternal life, to suffering and to service.

1 Corinthians 10:31 ” whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

Col 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men”

IV. Jesus Is My Helper

Hebrews 13:6 “So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”” ESV

Hebrews 4:16 “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” ESV

1 Peter 5:7 “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” ESV

Philippians 4:6-7 “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” ESV

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, “who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” ESV

The Lamb of God is passing by

Weak and wounded sinner Lost and left to die
O raise your head for Love is passin’ by
Come to Jesus Come to Jesus Come to Jesus and live

Now your burden’s lifted And carried far away
And precious blood has washed away the stain
So sing to Jesus Sing to Jesus Sing to Jesus and live

Like a newborn baby Don’t be afraid to crawl
And remember when you walk sometimes we fall
So fall on Jesus Fall on Jesus Fall on Jesus and live

Sometimes the way is lonely And steep and filled with pain
So if your sky is dark and pours the rain
Then cry to Jesus Cry to Jesus Cry to Jesus and live

O and when the love spills over And music fills the night
And when you can’t contain your joy inside
Then dance for Jesus Dance for Jesus Dance for Jesus and live

And with your final heartbeat Kiss the world good-bye
Then go in peace and laugh on glory’s side
And fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus Fly to Jesus and live
Fly to Jesus Fly to Jesus Fly to Jesus and live