What is your greatest need?
There are a lot of things we need as a church. But what is the one thing that we need above anything and everything else?
Today, on Vision Sunday, I want to share with you our 2020 Focus.
Ephesians 1:15–23
15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Their faith was
Your spiritual growth depends on
God.
D.A. Carson once asked the question, “What is the greatest need in the church today?” To which he responded, “The one thing we need in Western Christendom is a deeper knowledge of God. We need to know God better.”
The knowledge of God leads ultimately to
If you are saved today, you were not saved to know that God is—you were saved to know God. Jesus Christ gave His life on the cross so that you could be reconciled to your creator and that you may have a relationship with Him—that you may know Him and in knowing Him, you will desire Him.
Let me put it this way, the more you know God the greater your desire will be for God. If this is true, then the greatest need for every Christian in this room today is to know God.
But how do we get to know God the way Paul was praying for?
The Holy Spirit accomplishes this task by opening the eyes of your heart so that you might know—that you might grasp—that you might understand two important realities:
That you might know God’s
That you might know God’s
Ephesians 2:1, 4-7
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins…4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
How can you not love a God who displayed such power to save you?
How can you not desire a God who did for you what no one else could ever do?
This power not only brought us the point of salvation, God’s power sees us through the entire experience. God’s power opened our eyes so that we could see our need of a Savior and God’s power enables us day-by-day to grow in our faith and live our lives for the glory and purpose of God.
Philippians 1:6
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 2:12–13
12 Therefore, my beloved…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Paul wanted the believers to know—to grasp—to understand and recognize God’s power that saved them was still operating in them and would continue to operate in them and on their behalf until they were in the very presence of God.
In other words, believer you need to know that God exercised His power in you for your salvation and His power continues to operate in you and it is His power that brings you along as you are conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
I believe Paul’s thinking is pretty clear, if God opens your eyes to the reality of the blessings of the gospel in your life, your desire for Him will grow.
That is why he made this prayer to God on behalf of the Ephesians believers. This is why his prayer was recorded for us—because what was true for them is true for us.
Brothers and sisters, the key to spiritual growth is knowing God and the way we know God is by understanding what God has done for us.
Knowing God, God’s riches, and God’s power forever changes you. This is why your spiritual growth depends on knowing God.
This is why I’m praying this prayer for you in 2020 and this is why I’m asking you to pray this prayer for me and for the people sitting around you. The only way the people of CrossPointe Church will experience spiritual growth is by knowing God.
Spiritual growth is our greatest need, therefore our focus in 2020 is to