We're going to talk about being life savers today! The story of the life saving society.

There once was a very dangerous piece of coastline. A group of concerned citizens set up the life saving club. They rescued many sailors drowning in the sea from shipwrecks. Pretty soon there were so many rescued people and so many members of the club that they had to expand the building. They started throwing great parties and had the best music on the island. But the coastline was still very dangerous and ships were still crashing and sailors were still dying. Sometimes a sailor might find their way to the club battered and dripping, a real mess, starving for water. But because they didn't fit in with the people inside the club they were turned away at the door. The life saving club forgot why they were there in the first place. We grow sleepy and comfortable and forget that we are called to be part of the life saving society. Here is my big point tonight: When you were saved, you were saved for a purpose. And that purpose is to be sent by Jesus into the world, just like Jesus was sent into the world by his Father. This is your identity follower of Jesus, "SENT ONE" Read John 19 & 20. 1- Being a life saver begins with revelations of Jesus Christ Talk about the season the church is moving into. What would a radical pursuit of Jesus Christ and his revelation look like for you at this time? I've started to ask myself this question myself. The reality is, the Christian needs revelation of Jesus Christ every bit as desperately as a newborn baby needs milk. Without revelation of Jesus we begin to starve. Here is the revelation the disciples received and we need to receive and go on receiving. Revelation of Jesus' peace When you think about it, this must have been a mad scene. Obviously they were freaking out because Jesus starts telling them to "Calm down." "Peace be with you." "Chill out boys." But this peace is bigger than just "Calm down." This is like Jesus standing at the front of a boat in a raging storm and saying "peace, be still." This is a king declaring rule of peace over their lives forevermore. Revelation of sacrifice and resurrection

 Jesus is able to say peace to them because he has just defeated every enemy to them experiencing full life and joy. Revelation about Jesus' nearness, his friendship Jesus came and stood among them. There is an experience available to us of Jesus coming among us through the Holy Spirit. Revelation about joy in his presence Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Revelation that Jesus comes to get you The disciples were in a locked room. They were not looking for Jesus. Jesus came to them. Everything in the world is about you working you way up. Jesus comes down to rescue you. He comes looking for you. He wanted you. Christianity is about revelations from God. It is not ultimately about what you can reach up to see, but about what God reveals down to you. So our posture needs to be one of a totally dependent, desperate, child. Revelation about Jesus being the king "when they saw the Lord." He is Lord. Being a life saver begins and is kept alive in us by revelations of Jesus. 2- Being a life saver is about being sent like Jesus is sent. As the Father has sent me so I am sending you. When you think about it this is mad. We are sent to the world in the way Jesus was sent to the world. Imagine a Sylvester Stalone movie, he comes back from the jungle with his scars and you see the fires and explosions in the background, and he's like, Peace, I've destroyed the enemy, and then he's like, just like I've been sent out into battle, now I'm sending you. 2 Things would happen 1- You would have a massive purpose for your life. 2- You would probably be scared. Well this is what Jesus is saying here. He's like: I've won the battle, I've won the war, Peace with God is come and peace in this world is promised, but there are many skirmishes left to win, many strongholds of the enemy left to be conquered, and I'm sending you out just like I was sent by the Father. It is a massive thing Jesus is saying to his disciples. But he isn't leaving them alone in this mission. Jesus doesn't leave the world, he continues to be sent. The sense in the original language here is that Jesus has been ongoing sent to this world. Jesus is constantly sent to this world through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus was sent to the world, but he hasn't abandoned this world when he went to be with his Father, he is still sent to this world, Jesus is still here, he is still on mission. But he is not here physically, and so the amazing reality now is that Jesus is present and sent to the world now through his people, the church. Jesus is ongoingly sent to the world, with you and with me, and through you and through me. The same mission Jesus was on is the same mission he sends us on. 1- You need to wake up to the grand purpose for your life You will never become a powerful life saver until your identity becomes consumed with the fact Jesus sends you. YOU ARE SENT PERSON. That is your mission. That is the purpose for your life. And the most important, powerful being in the universe has sent you on that mission. The minute you got saved you also got sent. Some of us are sleeping, thinking Jesus saved us so that we could have a guilt free life of kicking back and relaxing. Jesus did save you for a guilt free life, but not a life of relaxation. You are either a missionary, or you have banged your head on the world and forgotten who you really are. We are asleep in comfort and the warm bath water of entertainment. Do you know how you boil a frog to death? You don't throw it into a pot of boiling water, you throw it into warm water and slowly heat it up. The frog will just sit there. This is what the world does to us. It sucks us in, and then our souls slowly begin to shrivel up to the size of a TV sitcom. We are the most entertained people to ever live on this planet. The average teenager spends: 1 hour a day playing video games, 31 hours online, more time in front of the tv than doing anything else other than sleeping. I have no idea how much time we spend on our smartphones, but it's a lot. And, guess what, we're all BORED! Because we were made to have a purpose. That's why we watch action movies or stories about heroes. That's why little kids wear undies on the outside of their trousers. That's why when no one's looking you pretend to be ninja or a soldier or something. If only I was like Aragorn. If only I was the beautiful damsel going on mission, riding out with my hero, being part of something spectacular. If only I was part of an army fighting a cause against all odds. YOU ARE IN AN ARMY FIGHTING A BATTLE AGAINST ALL ODDS. You're just lurking at the back. Jesus says there is a purpose for your life. Your purpose for your life, is the same purpose Jesus had for his life.

The best way to know what it means to be sent into the world is to ask the question: How was Jesus sent into the world? Our life is following in our Master's footsteps. Jesus had a very clear purpose for his life: Luke 10:19 The son of man came to seek and to save the lost. Let's unpack some things here: A- Jesus came for Lost people All throughout the gospels you see Jesus going after people who are needy and desperate. People who are lost. It is true that all people are lost. Everyone is lost in sin, everyone is under the judgment of God. Everyone on this planet is lost, but some people are so proud they aren't aware of their lostness at all. Did Jesus come everyone? Yes. Definitely. Everyone is lost and Jesus came for every lost person. But, if you look at where he spent his time, the people he was with, those he healed of disease, those he cast demons out of, it was those who were aware of their lostness. Jesus didn't have time for people who thought they had it all together and didn't need him. He never begged people to follow him. Not once. Jesus was not a desperate begging teacher. He was king. He spent his time with people who knew they needed rescuing. It was blind people, women who were prostitutes, religious people who didn't feel like they had the answers and were drowning in religion, powerful soldiers and captains who were aware of their weakness and inability to ultimately fight the things which were destroying their lives, rich lonely people who were desperate, a woman who was an adulteress, a woman who was bleeding constantly, and people who hid their lostness in their hearts but couldn't hide it from Jesus. And Jesus didn't do this at arms length. Jesus didn't just drop a message and then disappear. Jesus got up close and personal with people. In fact, Jesus filled every corner of his life with lost people. Jesus' strategy was not to aim for masses and masses of people. For sure, he did not neglect any opportunity to speak to the crowds. But Jesus' main focus was on a small group of people who he invited into his life. Jesus filled his life with lost people. Jesus was surrounded by lost people when he came to the world. And so are you. Let me ask you a question:

Do you really think people are lost? Sometimes because we are so desperate for God and his activity in our lives we think that the people around us are not as lost as we are. Well, even though we experience feelings of lostness, ultimately we are not lost, we are found, we are found by Jesus. And your life is full of people who experience lostness and have no Saviour to rescue them from their lostness. You probably just don't think of them as lost because most people don't walk up to you saying, "I'm lost, I'm lost, help me." I enjoy driving and on my phone I have a nifty little satnav. When I am lost, I never admit it. Lauren will never hear me say, "Baby can we just stop for a while because I think I am lost." Not until I'm in such a desperate state that there is nothing else left to do. In the same way, your life is full of people who are totally and utterly lost. Some of them have reached a place where they are so desperately lost that they are obviously crying out for help. With other people it is swelling under the surface of their life. People don't know who they are or why they are here, people don't know how to deal with the ugliness they face in themselves everyday, people are starving for love and comfort, people are lost to addictions, people are trapped in sin that is destroying their lives. Jesus came after these people. And since Jesus is still on mission in this world he is still after these people. So let's go after lost people as well. Let's go after the people Jesus is going after. B- Jesus came to save When the bible talks about salvation is talking about something absolutely massive. It is talking about something much more than someone not going to hell but going to heaven. It is talking about the whole world being saved from all suffering. Jesus came to save people from and destroy all suffering as a consequence of sin, especially spiritual. Jesus wasn't interested in making converts, he was interested in saving people. Jesus went around his entire life saving people. He saved people from sickness and physical death. He saved people from depression. He saved people from being purposeless in life. Ultimately Jesus saved people through being a sacrifice for sins into this world Jesus came on mission to find and fill his life with lost people so that they could experience his totally life and world transforming salvation.

And you are sent to the world like Jesus was sent to the world. Jesus doesn't tell us to make events, meetings, exams, jobs, leisure pursuits, . He tells to go and seek out lost people so they can be saved! The question is: How is that going for you? The point isn't to make us feel guilty, but to step back for a minute and assess how our lives are ordered, what our priorities are, not because we have some difficult, unpleasant burden of going to the world, but because it is who we are. When we were saved Jesus changed our core identity, he changed our make-up, our spiritual DNA, he changed us so we would be like him. This means that just like a fish is happiest and functioning at it's optimum capacity when it is in water, we work best when we are living like we are sent to the world. The coastguard master on the evening of a terrible storm. The new recruit to the coastguard comes up to him when they get the news that there is a ship in trouble out at sea: "Sir, we cannot go out in this, there is no guarantee we will come back!" "Young man, we do not have to come back, but learn this, we do have to go out. This is the purpose of the coastguard. This is what we do." Being sent to seek and save the lost is what we do because it is who we are! Maybe the reason you're bored is because you're doing things that are boring, when the God of the universe is inviting you to do something very exciting. When we stop engaging with men and women in discipleship we start getting sleepy. When there is too much order and everything sorted we grow stagnant and dormant. Go seek and save the lost. Be a life saver. Think of it like SAS Christian. Special forces for Jesus. Anyone know who Bear Grylls is? Do you think Bear Grylls is bored? Talk to your SAS guy when he's on mission and he will say he's all kinds of things, scared, tired, filled with adrenaline, aching, discouraged, but I tell you what he won't be, he won't be BORED. He's got a mission and a purpose and that makes life exciting. You have a mission and a purpose for your life right now? What is it? Is it sleeping, eating, getting more stuff, getting the right bf/gf, being cool, looking impressive, getting good grades... Or is your purpose for your life like Jesus'? Are you trying to seek and save the lost? BREAK FOR DRINK / SNACK

Some implications for your life: 1- You need to make the focus of your life seeking for lost people so they can be saved Matthew 4, Mark 1 Jesus said "follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Being sent like Jesus means going on the hunt for lost people. Become fishers of men X=Change. Think about a fisherman. He prepares his nets, readies his boat, sets out looking for the rippling on the waves. He is planned and prepared and ready and he is aiming for men. A fisherman is a focused man living a focused life. He is after fish. There is something very powerful about a focused life. Jesus was a man with a real sense of purpose about his life. He describes himself as a shepherd who has 100 sheep, and one of them wanders off, he leaves the 99 in the open country and goes after the one. Jesus went after the one. READ Luke 9:51 Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem. When he did this a bunch of people didn't like him and didn't understand him. But Jesus wasn't living for the praises of men, he was living for the praises of God. If you set your face towards the lost, towards saving the lost, Which athletes make it to the Olympics? Is it the ones who try their hands at a bunch of different sports. Do you someone competing in the track events, the swimming, the basketball, and the curling? No. The athletes that make it to the Olympics are those that live a focused life. Chances are you're not being a life saver because you didn't make any plans to go life saving. Start making some plans, start getting some focus in your life.

Charles Spurgeon: He and his elders were always on the "watch for souls" in the great congregation. "One brother," he said, "has earned for himself the title of my hunting dog, for he is always ready to pick up the wounded birds. And just like Jesus, you cannot do this at arms length. You have to get up close and personal with people. You need to fill your life with lost people so that they can be saved. Get into people's lives, and invite people into your lives. Use regular rhythms - Everybody's life has a natural rhythm and flow to it. There are people we see on a daily or weekly basis. Your life is already full of lost people. Make some plans to get them into your life and get into their lives. But it is also true that: Your life is not full enough of lost people So we should look at ways to: Introduce new rhythms Think about who you socialise with. Who can you invite into that? Where can you go to socialise? What teams can you join? Get a bunch of you together and aim at a group of people. What are you going to do with your summer? Can I urge you to do something significant. Start making plans for how to engage people. A focused life where we seek for the lost is a powerful thing in the hands of our King Jesus. 2- You need to join in Jesus' mission of saving people Jesus came to save people. Jesus saved people like nobody else could ever do. He died for sins. He bought the entire universe back from the curse of sin. He became a sacrifice which satisfied God's anger. He became a perfect representative before God the Father for his people, making them clean and acceptable to God. We cannot save anyone. Jesus saves people. So if we are sent like Jesus, and came to save the lost, how can we be sent like him? Well we cannot save people, but we can carry his life transforming salvation with us as we journey to the world We are carriers of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is built, it doesn't need us to build it, but it does need to be proclaimed and represented.

On other words, People need to hear the message of the kingdom, and see the the king through the people in his kingdom. Or, people need to hear about the Jesus the king, and see people who look like Jesus the king. A - We can be part of Jesus' salvation project by shouting there is a king who saves people into his kingdom. We go out into the world shouting: Jesus is king over everything, and he has a kingdom where all suffering is destroyed and going to be destroyed. And you're invited to be part of his kingdom. Come under his blessings by submitting yourself to his kingship through his life, death resurrection. You are a HERALD. Someone who goes to a far off land with a message of peace from a King. Start heralding the message of Jesus. And because Jesus is still on mission seeking and saving lost people, when you herald, Jesus saves.

I read an interesting article about awkwardness recently. Anyone seen "That awkward moment when" on FB. Talk into Awkardness as the new untouchable area for our generation. There are people all over the world who are dying for being heralds of this good news of Jesus. I think we can deal with a bit of awkwardness. We can even deal with people insulting us, rejecting us, hating us, and even bullying us if what is at stake is the salvation of people and the coming of the kingdom of God where Jesus is the king who gets all the glory. We need to call people to surrender everything to Christ and come under him as king by embracing his gift of life through his life, death and resurrection. We need to stand up like the Spartans before the battle in 300, "WE ARE SPARTA". We need the same certainty of who we are: "WE ARE HERALD." B - We can be part of Jesus' salvation project by representing the king and kingdom. People need to hear the message of the kingdom and see the kingdom. Jesus didn't just speak a message, he also lived as a kingdom and brought his kingdom to the earth. We HAVE TO speak the message of the king, but since we are sent like Jesus we have to live out the kingdom. The extent to which people believe the gospel is often linked to the extent to which they see the gospel manifested in your life.

When people see your life line up with what you say about Jesus the king, the Holy Spirit comes and blows life into their souls. Some ways we represent the kingdom Love for other Christians Generosity Truth Opposition to systems that make people slaves addictions religion Miracles and healings Justice and Mercy Sacrifice We are sent to the world carrying the kingdom. And this is the great news as we go: Jesus said in Matthew 16: I will build my church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it! Because of what Jesus has done, the gates of Hell are now flimsy wooden gates waiting to be kicked in. And Jesus sends you to kick them in. Let's go! But wait: I'm scared. I don't feel powerful. I don't know what to say. I don't know where to go. I just feel inadequate. 3 - We need revelation of Jesus and power in the Holy Spirit The breath of Jesus is the very essence of his life. When Jesus is breathing on the disciples he is saying: here, have my breath, have my life, have the resources and power I have to do what I've been doing. Receive the Holy Spirit. X=Change, we desperately need the Holy Spirit to be life savers in this world. Acts 2:37 This promise is for YOU if God has called you. Response time.