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By Remy Diederich

Cedarbrook Church

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One Month to Live

Thirty Days to a No-Regret Life

What would you do if you had one month to live? How would you change your life? This

sermon series is based on the book, One Month to Live, by Kerry Shook. Following is a brief

recap of each session.

Introduction: Resurrected from a Life of Regret. If Jesus had a "Bucket List" what would be on

it? In this Easter message Remy looks at what Jesus did with one month to live to challenge us

to do the same. Because of Easter - the hope of resurrection - we don't have to waste our time

trying to please ourselves with our last moments on earth. We can focus on leaving a legacy for

others.

Part One: Living the Dash. Remy gives an overview of the One Month to Live series. If we

only have 30 days we want to live as much like Jesus as we can. We want to live passionately,

love completely, learn humbly and leave boldly. This message gives you a taste of things to

come in this series.

Part Two: Live Passionately. Christine Ruth looks at how easily we lose our passion and what

we can do to recapture it with only 30 days to live.

Part Three: Love Completely. Remy returns to give us seven tangible ways to love our friends

and family so that when we die we leave our loved ones with good memories of us.

Part Four: Learn Humbly - When life is hard it's easy to spend your time complaining,

rationalizing or denying it. But with 30 days to live you can't waste a minute. Seize the moment

to let pain and hardship be your teacher. Here Remy uses the story of Peter to see how Peter

learned humbly after he denied Jesus. Instead of giving up he retooled and used his failure to

propel him to success.

Part Five: Leave Boldly by Christine Ruth. Sometimes we have trouble knowing how to invest

our life. Christine talks about having a "Popeye Moment" where you find something that really

makes you mad. God might use your anger as a catalyst to try to right the wrong in front of you.

Part Six: My Last Sermon. Remy closes out this series by imagining what he would say if he

were to die the next day and not be able to lead Cedarbrook church any more. He looks at what

Cedarbrook has done well, what he longs to see and mentions one regret that he would have if he

were to die right now.

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Resurrected from a Life of Regret

One Month to Live Introduction

By Remy Diederich

Imagine… you get home from church today and your voice mail recorder is blinking. You

wonder who would call you on Easter morning. So you push the button and you hear this

message…

This is the clinic. I’m sorry to bother you on Easter but we’ve been trying to get a hold of

you. We got the results back from the lab and we’d like to talk to you about them as soon

as possible.

Your heartbeat quickens as you call them back and the nurse says that your doctor wants you to

call him at home. Call your doctor at home on Easter. Not a good sign. Now your heart rate is

not only fast but skipping a few beats. You take a deep breath and make the call. And it’s the

worse case scenario…you’ve got one month to live.

You know, facing death has this incredible way of bringing clarity to life, doesn’t it? What may

have been at the top of your priority list the day before might completely drop off the list when

you get the bad news. And what wasn’t on your list might rocket to the very top when you hear

that your life is coming to an abrupt end.

So, what would you do if you knew that you had one month to live? After you get over the

shock…some of us would take our dream vacation with the family. Some would do the risky

things we always wanted to do but were afraid to do…like rock climbing or skydiving. Some

might party hard. But some of us would be so overwhelmed with regret – regrets over what they

had or hadn’t done - that we would just mourn their last days on earth.

I know a lot of us have regrets. In fact, maybe that’s why you came today because you read in

the paper that I was going to be talking about overcoming regrets. Well, if you have a lot of

regrets I’m glad you’re here because I want to encourage you this morning. I want to talk about

how Easter can resurrect your life of regret.

Judy’s Regrets

Every week Newsweek magazine runs an article written by a reader. A few years back a woman

by the name of Judy submitted an article about her life of regret. This is what she said…

When I was younger, I thought my past didn’t mean anything. I thought that neglecting

important things or speaking hurtful words or breaking the law weren’t important. I was

a good person…I thought time flowed over these things and covered them up so they no

longer existed…I used to laugh about my mother telling me, ―That will go on your

permanent record, ya know.‖ I thought I had no permanent record. I was young and

had a long, full lifetime in which to make mistakes and explore endless possibilities.

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I meandered around for a while, experimenting with drugs and playing the hippie. I

won’t tell you how many times I’ve been married, but it’s more than I care to admit.

Never was there a moment’s concern about the possibility of these events coming back to

haunt me later, because, in my mind, there was no later. Just now. But one day, I looked

in the mirror and I was 40. The next day I was 45. I look ahead and I see 50 closing in.

I used to have the attitude that I didn’t care what other people thought about me – it was

my life and I was going to live it. No one was going to dictate what I should do or say, or

how I ought to live my life. Life wasn’t precious to me… it was a commodity to use, a

vehicle to ride, a thoughtless roaming.

I would like to add some upbeat comment like, ―Oh well, it was worth it all.‖ But it

wasn’t worth it. I have so much waste in my past that it almost washes away my future.

I’m here to say that there is a permanent record. It lives on in the memories of all the

people you’ve come in contact with. It lives on in your own perception of

yourself,……You can’t shake it. You may be able to redeem it with great effort, but given

my druthers, I would rather have written my permanent record with forethought and

careful planning, and skipped the woulduvs, coulduvs and shoulduvs. … It affects

everything you do and everything you hope to become.

Maybe you can relate to Judy…relate to being overwhelmed with regret. And if you can

relate…how do you recover from a life filled with regret especially if you are given just one

month to live?

There’s a movie that you may have seen recently that talks about facing death. It’s called The

Bucket List. It strikes at some of these issues that I’m talking about it. Let’s watch the trailer.

So…if you had one month to live, how would you spend that month? (I want to keep asking that

question because it brings our present life into focus). What would be on your Bucket List?

Well, I’m going to give you a chance to think about that more in a few minutes but first I want to

talk about what Jesus had on his bucket list.

Did you know that Jesus had a Bucket List? I’m sure he didn’t call it that. And I’m sure it wasn’t

written down. But we know that Jesus was very intentional - nothing happened by accident in

his life. So we can look at what he did in the last month of his life and work backwards

toreconstruct a Bucket List – those things that he wanted to do before he died.

The Bible helps us with this list in the book of Luke. The first part of Luke gives us an overview

of Jesus’ birth and early ministry. But starting in chapter nine, it says this…

As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for

Jerusalem. Luke 9:51

So from chapter nine through the end of the book, Luke gives us an account of Jesus’ last days,

probably his last month or so. You might not realize it because of all the stories, but there is this

sense of movement toward Jerusalem and his death.

Luke 13:22-Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his

way to Jerusalem.

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Luke 17:11- Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between

Samaria and Galilee.

Luke 18:31- Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem,

and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.

Luke 19:28- After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

Luke helps us to see what Jesus did in that last month of his life.

The Bucket List of Jesus

So, if you want to know what was on Jesus’ Bucket List you just have to read what happened in

these chapters and create a list. And that’s what I did. Let’s take a look…

Immortalize My Teaching.

That means that he did certain things to make sure that his life and words would never be

forgotten…that his life would speak beyond the grave. Or a simpler way to say that is that he

made a point of ―making memories‖. So he told memorable stories like The Good Samaritan and

the parable of The Lost Sheep. And he multiplied his story tellers in that last month. Luke tells us

that Jesus sent out 70 disciples two by two to tell people about him.

Jesus also created memorable events – some unforgettable events. Before the Passover meal he

washed his disciple’s feet. Do you think you’d ever forget Jesus washing your feet or the events

that surrounded that moment? No way! And then, that same night, Jesus reframed the Passover

meal – the meal that celebrated God delivering His people out of Egypt – as a ceremony

commemorating his death. Jesus told his disciples to ―Do this in remembrance of me.‖ So those

are just a few of the things that Jesus did to immortalize his teaching and make sure that his

words lived beyond the grave.

Spend time with my friends.

I only had 30 days to live I would probably isolate myself from everyone but my closest family

members. But Jesus was with his disciples almost 24/7. Why did he do that? My guess is that he

wanted to pour as much of himself into his followers as possible. He knew that his impending

death would bring greater weight and clarity to his message than all the days before. And so,

instead of spending less time with his disciples, he spent more.

Challenge false religion and injustice.

think with only 30 days to live you’d lay low and just give it a rest. That’s not the time to pick

fights with religious powerbrokers. But Jesus knew that nothing puts people in bondage and

distorts the image of God greater than false religion. So he fought against it right up until the

end. One of the most dramatic stories was when he cleared the temple of the money changers.

The priests and the moneychangers had a scam going to rip off the worshippers in town for the

Passover and Jesus wouldn’t stand for it.

Allow a close associate to betray me.

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That’s an odd thing to have on your bucket list, isn’t it? If you knew someone was going to

betray you, why wouldn’t you confront them and prevent them from that betrayal? But Jesus

allowed it to play out because he knew that ultimately God was going to use evil for good, not so

much in his life but in the life of others. And that leads me to the next thing Jesus had on his

list…

Suffer humbly.

I’ve got to admit…suffering humbly would not be on my Bucket List. But Jesus knew that it

wasn’t just what he did in his last month on earth that was important, it was how he responded to

what was done to him.

Just think of the powerful example that Jesus’ suffering has been to millions of people

throughout the last 2000 years. In just a few days of suffering injustice Jesus taught us how to

turn the other cheek and refuse to fight violence with violence. The entire civil rights movement

was based on his commitment to suffering humbly. Jesus knew the impact that his response

would have and that’s why he included suffering humbly on his Bucket List.

Forgive my assassins.

This is what Luke tells us…

When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the

criminals--one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for

they do not know what they are doing.‖ Luke 23:33,34

Jesus had the right to judge these guys. He had the authority to judge them. But he didn’t. He

forgave them. Jesus didn’t want to die harboring any unforgiveness in his heart. He wanted to

pass into eternity with a clean slate.

Invite others to join me.

This is amazing to me. Jesus was always others-focused, even in his last moments on the cross.

Luke tells us…

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save

yourself and us!" But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said,

"since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what

our deeds deserve.

But this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you

come into your kingdom." Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be

with me in paradise." Luke 23:39-43

Take care of my mother.

Every mom has got to love that! John describes what happened at the cross…

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,

and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved

standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," and to the

disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

John 19:25-27

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Jesus wasn’t so caught up in saving the world that he couldn’t take time to make sure his mother

was cared for.

Well, there you have it- Jesus’ Bucket List - the things he wanted to do before he died. It’s

interesting to me that Jesus didn’t go cliff diving or race camels or go on his dream vacation to

see the Pyramids when he only had one month to live. Why do you think that was? Why did

Jesus choose to do these hard things when he could have chosen an easier path?

I think the answer is simple and that is he knew that he would live again. He knew that this life

was not all there was to his existence. There was life beyond the grave. You see, when you

know that you’ll live again, it changes everything. And that’s not only true for Jesus. It’s true

for us too.

So rather than go cliff diving or take his dream vacation Jesus chose to leave a legacy. He chose

to do difficult things that made a statement - like forgive and serve and suffer - because he knew

that what he did would last beyond this life and impact millions of people for generations to

come. In fact, his final 30 days made a bigger statement than the 33 years that led up to that last

month. Think about that…His final 30 days made a bigger statement than the 33 years that led

up to it.

Resurrected from a Life of Regret

So here’s my point: Do you want to resurrect a life of regret? Do you want to make up for lost

time? Then let your final days make a bigger statement than the years that led up to it. Well, you

might ask, How do I do that? I mean, I haven’t been very successful so far. And I would say that

if you want to resurrect a life of regret you need to get a different perspective on life. You need

to reframe your understanding of not only this life, but the next life. And that’s where Easter

comes in.

You see, the good news of Easter is not only that Jesus lived again but, like the thief on the cross,

Jesus has invited you and me to live again with him in heaven for eternity. And knowing that

gives us incredible freedom – right now - in this life.

You see, you don’t have to live your final days trying to gorge yourself with every kind of self-

serving experience that you can imagine. That’s what people do who have no hope beyond the

grave. But we know better than that. We know that there’s a much better life waiting for us on

the other side. So, instead of living to please ourselves we can live to leave a legacy that will

bless people for years to come.

Isn’t that how you want to be remembered – for your generosity instead of your greed? For your

boldness instead of your fear? Do any of us want our friends and family to stand around at our

funeral and talk about how much we took instead of how much we gave – comparing the IOU’s

that we left behind? Of course not.

So instead of holding resentments you can forgive.

Instead of clinging to your bank accounts and your toys you can give to those in need.

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Instead of isolating and spending all your time alone you can spend time with people, helping

them and serving them.

These are the kind of things that leave a legacy. These are the kind of things that will make you

proud of how you ended your life.

And it’s Easter that makes this all possible. You see, when Jesus rose from the dead, he

conquered death for us. Because of the resurrection – death is no longer the end for us. It’s a

beginning - the start of something much better. And knowing that frees us to finish this life well.

Our Bucket List doesn’t have to be self-serving…trying to squeeze out every ounce of life before

we die because we think that it’s GAME OVER. Our Bucket List can be about leaving a legacy.

Now, I hope we all have a lot more than 30 days to live. But here’s the hard truth… none of us

know our final hour. And none of us get a 30 day notice. Most of us will look down on our

funeral and say to ourselves, ―Man, I didn’t see that coming! If I would have known I was going

to die, I would have made a few changes!‖

But that’s the problem – we don’t know when we’re going to die. So the smart thing to do is to

live life like you’ve got one month to live. It’s that mindset that keeps your life in proper

perspective. That means you should make a Bucket List and start working on it so when your

number comes up you are ready to go – with no regrets!

I’m going to give you some help. In your bulletin there’s a Bucket List for you to fill out. Even

while you are still sitting here today I hope you’ll put a few things down…maybe things that you

learned from Jesus like ―make memories‖ or ―forgive others‖. But I can give you more help than

that.

I want to invite you back for six more weeks because for the next six weeks I’m going to be

speaking on the topic: One Month to Live – 30 Days to a No-regret life. It’s based on the book

by the same name – as well as the Bible, of course. And I’m going to coach you on how to make

the changes you need to make so you can leave a legacy to those you leave behind.

Imagine what could happen if we all started living like we had one month to live? Think of the

broken relationships that would be healed. Think of the time and money that would be

redirected into things of value instead of things of waste. Think of the great legacy’s that we can

leave behind. And think about how good it will be to meet Jesus knowing that you finished well.

No matter how poorly you’ve lived to this point…

you can leave a legacy that you are proud of instead of just a string of regrets.

So, I hope you’ll come back next week. We have special small group studies that are set up all

around and if you’d like to join one you can register on your feedback form and then drop it in

the offering. [If you’d like to buy the book, go to our homepage and click the One Month to Live

link. www.cedarbrookchurch.net ]

Prayer:

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Jesus, thank you for your example. You poured out your life to help others. Thank you for

conquering death. Because we will live again, we don’t have to play it safe anymore. We don’t

have to live for ourselves. We can recover from a life of regret by using our final days to create

a legacy to bless others. Come into our lives in a fresh way…for some of us…that may be for the

first time. But whether we have followed you for a long time or are just beginning today, fill us

with your Spirit to live this life of yours – a life that truly satisfies us and blesses others. Amen.

One Month to Live

Part Two - Living the Dash

By Remy Diederich

Video: A man is given 6-10 weeks to live and he talks about his response to that news. He senses

a profound peace from God and his marriage takes on a new dimension.

Welcome to our new series One Month to Live; thirty days to a no-regret life. If you were here

last week I had you imagine being notified that you had just a few weeks to live but that’s what

actually happened to this man. What would you do if you were him? That’s the question that we

are going to be looking at for the next few weeks

I haven’t mentioned this before but there are over 500 churches throughout the country that are

starting this same series this morning. So, not only are WE all hearing the same sermons and

reading the same book together, but so are about a half a million other people! And all 500

churches have one goal in mind: to change your life. I hope that’s why you are here.

This series is based on a book written by a pastor down in Texas by the name of Kerry Shook. In

the introduction to his book Kerry talks about walking through a cemetery and seeing how

people’s lives are reduced to two numbers and a dash on a tombstone. He says that we don’t

have any control over when we are born. And we don’t have any control over when we die. But

we do have a lot of control over what happens in the dash – the years in between our birth and

death.

That’s so true isn’t it? Much of our life is controlled but other people and other events. But we

still control a lot of our life story by the choices we make every day. And that’s really what this

series boils down to – making choices. The whole idea of having one month to live simply

brings our choices into greater focus.

That’s one thing I like about speaking at funerals – at funerals people have a sense of their

mortality. We all know that we are going to die some day but we always think it’s in the distant

future. But when you sit at a funeral your mortality stares you right in the face. For a few brief

moments you realize that you’re not going to live forever. You could die at any moment just like

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the person who is being buried that day. And so you think seriously about your life and the

choices you are making.

But that’s not how we always think on Sundays, is it? So often we come here and our mind is on

automatic pilot…not really engaged. When we hear a sermon we often agree with what’s being

said but in the back of our mind we are saying…

Yeah, someday I really need to get serious about what Remy is talking about. Someday

when I’m not so busy I’ll definitely do that.

Or… someday when my life is really falling apart I’ll remember what Remy said and

that’s when I’ll get serious about God. Someday!

Am I right? C’mon…admit it! That’s called the Someday Syndrome. We all suffer from it.

So what this series does is to artificially manufacture a sense of urgency by having us imagine

that we only have 30 days to live. It makes ―Someday‖ today. It fast forwards us to that place in

time when we have one month to live - when we’ve got one last chance to leave this life with no

regrets. And the idea is this…if you know you’d change your life with one month to live…then

why not make those changes now…and that way you get to enjoy the benefits of those changes

for more than 30 days.

The Bible says…

You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears

for a little while and then vanishes away. James 4;14

And since our life is a vapor we want to make the most of our time. We want to make good

choices with the few days that we have left. That’s why the Psalmist said…

Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom. Psalm 90:12

Or look at this quote…

It’s never too late to be what you might have been. George Eliot

Well, over the next five weeks we are going to talk specifically about how to make the most of

our time here on earth. But today I want to give you an overview of some of the things we’ll be

talking about. The book is written in four parts based on what Jesus did when he had one month

to live. And so let’s look at these four things to give us an idea about how we should live if we

only had one month to live.

1. Live Passionately - make Jesus personal, not religious

First we should live passionately. This was Jesus’ outlook on life…

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your

mind. Mt. 22:37

Jesus was fully alive. He lived with passion every day. And because of that he didn’t hold

anything back. He lived his life with all he had all the time. And when you’ve only got a month

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to live that’s how you want to live too. When you’re about to meet God it’s no time to play

games. This is the real deal. So if you haven’t made a personal connection with Jesus then now’s

the time. Today’s the day. And when you make that connection, that’s what’s going to enable

you to live passionately.

Now, my guess is that some of you here are afraid of making your faith personal. You

purposefully keep God at a distance because you’re afraid that if you get serious about God

you’ll actually lose your passion for life. You’re afraid that if you allow God in your life that

he’s going to turn you into a boring person - that he’s going to perform some kind of lobotomy

on you that will make you zombie–like – with no personality. You’ll become this person who

spends all his time at church and every night of the week will be taken up with Bible studies and

prayer meetings. You’ll have to dump all of your friends and start inviting the pastor over to play

Canasta and watch G-rated movies. And so you purposefully keep God at a distance.

But if that’s what you think, you’ve got it all wrong! You don’t know what you’re missing!

Playing Canasta with me is a riot! Just kidding. I might be overstating it a bit but my point is

that when you make a personal connection with God that’s when God really lights your fuse. It’s

like plugging a lamp into a wall socket. That lamp didn’t know what life was all about until it got

plugged in. Up until then it just thought it was a coat rack. But now it’s full of electricity and

lighting a whole room!

Listen to what one of Jesus’ closest friends had to say about knowing Jesus…

This is what God told us: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 1 John

5:11

Now, let me stop for a second here because eternal life is one of those Bible terms that sounds

spiritual but most of us don’t have a clue what it means. Eternal life isn’t just a quantity of life.

It doesn’t just refer to life that lasts forever (although that’s certainly true). Eternal life also

refers to a quality of life. It’s a life that’s not tied into the material world. And because of that

eternal life finds joy and satisfaction apart from things/possessions. Eternal life is the life that

enables you to find peace in the middle of a storm because the peace isn’t connected to the

storm. By tapping into eternal life you are able to transcend the storm and find the peace of God.

And that’s what eternal life is - it’s the life that God has and the life that filled Jesus and made

him so passionate.

So I have to start this whole series by asking you this question… what kind of life are you living?

Are you living an eternal quality of life or are you living just an earthly quality of life - where

your happiness rises and falls based on your possessions and experiences? You see, an eternal

quality of life is what’s going to help you to live passionately. And if you only have 30 days to

live, that’s the kind of life you want. And thankfully John tells us how we can tap into this kind

of life. He says…

Whoever has the Son has life, but whoever does not have the Son of God does not have

life. 1 John 5:12

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So here’s my next question – Do you have the Son? Do you have Jesus living inside of you

because John tells us that the Son is the One who gives us this kind of life. And without the Son

you don’t have the life. You might indeed have passion, but it’s not the passion of God.

Maybe some of the guys here can relate to this. It’s like back in high school when you like a girl

and you hang out with her in biology lab or in the halls and talk to her and you really like her but

you never ask her out on a date…you never take the relationship any deeper and it just always

stays superficial. As a result - your relationship has a limited quality. It’s not bad. It’s enjoyable

to a degree. It’s just one dimensional.

But when you ask that girl out and you enter into a relationship with her you suddenly

experience a totally different quality of relationship. You’ve got passions stirring in your heart

that you never knew existed before. You just seem to come alive inside and people even notice

that something’s different about you.

That’s the way it is with God too. It’s the same thing (or at least similar!). You can come to

church and read your Bible and even pray but never be in relationship with God. You know

things about God but it’s not personal. It’s one-dimensional and superficial. It’s not bad – it’s

somewhat enjoyable - but something’s missing and you know it. You look around at other people

and wonder why they’ve got a passion for God and a passion for life that you don’t. And a lot of

times that’s because you haven’t made your faith personal.

But if you have only 30 days to live you need to get down to business. You need to get personal

with Jesus. Jesus tells us how to do that in the book of Revelation.

Hear I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I

will come in and eat with them and they with me. Revelation 3:201

A few years back I was talking about this and I put a prayer up on the screen to help people take

this step and I was surprised how many people thanked me for it. So I’m going to do it again.

I’m going to pray this prayer and if you can agree with it I want you to pray along with me.

Jesus, I want this eternal life that John talked about. I’m tired of being religious. I’m

tired of playing spiritual games. I don’t want a passive superficial faith. I want to be

actively engaged in a relationship with you. Thank you for dying for me. Thank you for

forgiving me. But I need more than your forgiveness, I need a different quality of life. So

I invite you to live inside of me. Come and fill me with your passion so I can live a no-

regret life. Amen

Is that really all there is to it? Well, the hard part is in coming to the place of faith and wanting

God in your life. But yes, it is that easy to establish the relationship. Like I said, it’s as easy as

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st century that Jesus wants to eat with us. But in his day sharing a meal was a sign of

covenant love. To share a meal meant that you were in a committed relationship where all was forgiven. And in

addition to this, sharing a meal with God was symbolic of the feast of God in heaven. So this short verse has much

more meaning that might appear at first take.

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asking someone on a date. God doesn’t play hard to get! He’s been waiting for you to ask him

into your life a long time.

With Jesus in your life, you can finally live passionately. And that passion will move you to do

some exciting things…things that will cause you to leave a legacy and not a string of regrets.

Christine will be talking more about this next week.

2. Love Completely - take action instead of being passive.

Next, if you have one month to live you’ll want to love completely. John tells us this about Jesus

in his last days…

Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world

and return to his Father. He now showed the disciples the full extent of his love… So he

got up …[and] then he began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel

he had around him. John 13:1, 4,5

When Jesus showed the full extent of his love he served others. Now, I don’t know what comes

to mind when you hear the word love. But in Jesus’ mind love wasn’t a fuzzy feeling with

violins playing in the background. Love meant taking action to benefit someone else at his

expense.

Is that what love means to you? Do you take action to benefit people at your expense? Is that

how others would describe your love? If not then now’s the time to start. You’ve got 30 days to

transform you idea of love into an action oriented love. Start making a list of people that you

want to show your love to in the next 30 days.

After last weeks sermon someone wrote me and said that they realized how they had drifted from

a friend and they were going to reestablish that friendship in the next 30 days. That’s great.

That’s love taking action. At the end of these six weeks I’m trusting that God is going to heal a

lot of relationships because people stopped talking about love and starting doing something

about it. We’ll be talking more about this in a couple weeks.

3. Learn Humbly – obey God in problems instead of complaining.

The next thing that we want to do with one month to live is to learn humbly. Have you ever

thought about how much time you’ve wasted through the years complaining about your

circumstances? You know, you’ve got it so bad. You always get the short end of the stick, blah,

blah, blah.

What if for the next thirty days, instead of complaining about your problems, you started looking

at your problems as a tool that God wants to use to teach you to be more like Jesus. That’s what

Jesus did. Listen to this…

…even though Jesus was God's Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.

Hebrews 5:8

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Jesus learned obedience through the things that he suffered. That means that Jesus obeyed God

even during the hard times…when times were tough. He submitted himself to the problems as an

opportunity to learn and grow in character.

Some of us think that we don’t need to obey God when times are tough. We think that problems

give us an excuse to ignore God because we’ve got it so bad. But Jesus didn’t think that. He did

just the opposite. He seized problems as a chance to obey God because he knew that his

obedience – in the face of problems - would bring God even more honor.

And we can do the same. That means that instead of ignoring God in the face of our problems we

put him first. There’s a great verse in the book of Proverbs that has always guided me during

hard times. It says…

Trust the Lord with all your heart, and don't depend on your own understanding. In

everything you do put God first and he will direct you and crown your efforts with

success. Proverbs 3:6

If you want to overcome your problems put God first in everything you do. Don’t complain or

feel sorry for yourself or look for pity. Obey God and you’ll be amazed how your life straightens

out.

I like the little formula that Kerry Shook’s dad passed on to him about putting God first. It goes

like this…

Give God the first of everything you have…

The first day of the week

The first part of every day

The first portion of your income

The first consideration of every decision

So to give God the first day of the week means to give God your Sunday mornings. Don’t sleep

in. Don’t sit around and wait for your sports show to come on. Don’t watch some TV preacher

and think that it’s the same as church. Put God first by worshipping God with God’s family.

Second, give God the first part of every day. That means to take time to read some of the Bible

and pray. Talk to God about your day, about what you read in the Bible, about the people you

love and ask God to help you to obey him.

Next, give God the first portion of your income. The Bible tells us that when we don’t give back

to God that we are literally robbing from God. Well, we don’t want to rob God! God says,

everything you’ve got you got from him. And so when you get paid he wants you to give back

10% of your income (the Bible calls that tithing) to honor him for his generosity to you. What

really helps me here is the idea that God overpays me by 10% and all he’s asking me to do is

give it back. It’s like an integrity test. He wants to see what I’ll do. If he gives me $100 will I

give him back $10 or will I keep it for myself? And once you see it that way, tithing is easy.

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And finally, you want to give God the first consideration in every decision you make…

the big ones and the small ones.

If you make these four things non-negotiable – if you make them automatic – something you

don’t even think about - you’ll find success. That doesn’t mean you’ll be rich and famous and

problem-free but it means that you’ll be in the center of God’s will. And that’s a good place to

be. It’s much better to be in God’s will as you face your problems than to be out of God’s will

and facing problems!

4. Leave Boldly – leave a legacy, not a string of regrets.

In the final section of the book it tells us that with one month to live we should leave boldly.

Jesus didn’t run from his fate in Jerusalem. Luke tells us that…

As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for

Jerusalem. Luke 9:51

Jesus went to Jerusalem determined to fulfill God’s call on his life. He wasn’t backing down. I

see the same determination in the apostle Paul at the end of his life…

As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my

death is near. I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained

faithful. And now the prize awaits me – the crown of righteousness that the Lord, the

righteous Judge, will give me on that great day of his return. 2 Timothy 2:6-8

The point here is that we weren’t made for this life. We were ultimately made for the next life.

This life is temporary. The next life is eternal. So you don’t want to go out with a whimper and

a gasp. Like they say in sports; you don’t want to leave anything on the bench. That means you

don’t hold anything back. You give it your all. You leave this life with a legacy and not regrets,

I.O.U.’s and excuses.

So, let me ask you…If you were to die today, what would be your legacy? What would people

say about you? Would they say that you died boldly? Or would they say that you never lived up

to your potential? They lost track of you and you just kind of faded away.

We’ve got a couple teams leaving for New Orleans here soon and there’s a guy down there that

is working hard at leaving boldly. His name is Craig Cuccia. He’s owns a fantastic little

restaurant called Café Reconcile where he trains people to learn job skills so they can work their

way out of poverty.

Craig was a successful contractor when his priest took him on a trip to Jamaica. When he saw all

the hurting people there he came back home and decided that life shouldn’t be all about him. It

should be about helping others.

In a recent article Craig said this about his journey…

After about 8 months of meeting with [my priest] and talking, we came to this reality that

he wanted to do something, and I was sort of searching for what my next level of call

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was, so I went to a neighborhood called Center City, which is where Café Reconcile is

now…it just became clear to me that Center City was where I needed to be. … we opened

a homeless center next to the church, and then he developed a thing called the Good

Shepherd Nativity School, as well as open Café Reconcile. That was a tremendous

experience for me. I say some days I’m just sitting back, watching God’s hands work. But

everyday you’ve got to show up and do what He’s asking you to do.

I try to stay tuned to the right way to go. The diving board of faith gets higher and the

dark hole you’ve got to dive into gets deeper, but you’ve just got to dive off and trust that

God catches you along the way…God can use anybody anywhere anyhow, and it’s up to

us to open the door and let him use us. Catholic Digest 2008

God can use anybody anywhere anyhow… I think that includes you. So what do you say? Are

you willing to open the door and let God use you? Are you going to leave this world boldly,

having done something to help others or will the rest of your days be about survival, taking care

of your own needs and building your own kingdom? I hope you want a legacy and if you stick

with me here over the next few weeks I’ll coach you on how to do that.

Just in case you are here for the first time, I want to invite you to join us in this series.

Hear the sermons.

Read the book.

Join a small group.

And let God change your life.

I’m not asking you to quit your job.

I’m not asking you to give away your money.

I’m not asking you to sell your house and move to Africa.

I’m just asking you to commit the next five weeks to living like they were your last weeks on

earth.

Some of us have trouble turning our lives over to God. That’s understandable. So this is the trial

size version. Turn your life over to God for five weeks. Dive into this thing for five weeks and

just see if you aren’t a better person after it’s all over. What have you got to lose? But just

think…when it’s all over, you might be a new person with a whole new life.

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One Month to Live

Part Three: Living Passionately

By Christine Ruth

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been asking, ―If you had 30 days to live, how would you choose

to live your life? What changes would you make? What things do you keep putting off assuming

that someday, your life is going to get less complicated or busy?‖ Over the next four weeks,

we’re going to be looking at for principles for living a ―No-Regrets Life.‖ Today, we’ll look at

the 1st Principle, which is how to live passionately.

What does it mean to live a passionate life? I looked up the word, ―passion‖ in the dictionary,

and it said, ―To have a strong feeling or emotion, to have enthusiasm about a certain activity or

subject.‖

When was the last time you feel like you were living life passionately? What memories or

thoughts come to mind? When I think of living life ―passionately,‖ I tend to think back to my

high school or college years.

Passion was what you had in high school when you were a musician or an athlete or an

artist, and you threw yourself into that thing you loved. Maybe you even fantasized

about becoming a Jimmy Hendrix, a Brett Farvre, or a Claude Monet someday.

Passion was what you had when you finally got out of school and decided to road trip

across the country with friends, or you took a job at a ski lodge in Colorado, just because

you could.

Passion was what you had that 1st time you fell in love, when you walked around all day

singing REO Speedwagon or Air Supply songs, because ―his kiss was on your list,‖ and

you couldn’t think straight enough to have anything else on your list!

Passion was what you had on those hot summer nights, when you’d lay under the canopy

of the stars and were completely overwhelmed by how beautiful and BIG it all was.

When was the last time you felt passionate? Like you were truly ALIVE?

Get Practical

Now, I don’t about you, but somehow, it got drilled into me that passion is something you’re

supposed to ―grow out‖ of. I mean, living passionately is fine when you’re in your twenties, but

then you’re supposed to grow up and face the ―real world,‖ right? Go out and make a living.

Pick a degree that makes you money. Buy a house and start saving for your retirement. You’re

supposed to give up your passion, and get practical, right?

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Because the ―real world‖ isn’t about passion and poetry. It’s about duty and discipline. It’s

about paying the bills, and finding a ―practical‖ guy with SHORT hair and a job, who’s probably

NOT going to buy you flowers once you have the ring. Your only hope in life is to save up

enough money to get cable T.V. or go on an occasional vacation. You give up your passion, and

get practical.

Now, if you’re anything like me, you began to internalize this message more and more, until you

felt your soul, your heart, kind of shrivel up. The more duties you embraced, the more routines

you settled into, the smaller your world got. You resigned yourself into thinking that that

loneliness you feel, it’s normal. That boredom you feel, it’s normal, and you walled up those old

passions up into some small corner of your brain.

The problem is, in our weak moments, this passionate part of us threatens to get loose, and some

of us panic when it does because we don’t know how to integrate it with the ―real life‖ we’re

living. So, we do one of two things:

1) Some of us try to stuff it down, somehow. We work more, make ourselves busier.

We volunteer for more things at church or sign our kids up for more activities after

school. We make ourselves as busy as possible and try to convince ourselves to be

grateful for the life that we have.

2) Others of us try to indulge that passion – maybe in secretive ways that seem pretty

harmless and allow us to cope. So we escape in romance novels, obsess on sports, eat too

much chocolate, or look at pornography. While these little indulgences never remove the

ache, they seem to provide some level of relief – and get us through our week.

But whether we try to fend off our passionate side through distraction or try to indulge it a little,

through little addictions, we still feel empty. So we walk around feeling restless at times, like

there must be something more…

Our Passionate God

But what if I told you that this passionate part of you that you try to stuff down, God put it there

for a reason! What if I told you that that the ache, that discontent you sometime feel, God placed

it there for a purpose?

Because you see, God is a passionate God – he’s the Author of passion, and He longs for us to be

truly alive! God knew that if he created people who – in the words of the Rolling Stones –

―can’t get no satisfaction,‖ they might be driven to keep seeking, keep searching, until they

ultimately found their satisfaction in Him.

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Because, you see, our problem isn’t that we need to ―give up‖ or ―grow out‖ of our passions.

Our challenge is to keep pursuing them until we find the only place where they can be ultimately

fulfilled – in the love and purposes of Jesus Christ. Listen to what C.S. Lewis wrote about this

life of passion.

―If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the

rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord find our desires not too

strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex

and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on

making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a

holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased.‖ C. S. Lewis- the Weight of Glory.

Let me ask you, are you living the life you’d want if you had only 30 days to live, or are you

stuck ―making mud pies in the slum?‖

Our problem isn’t that we pursue passion and pleasure. It’s that we don’t seek it out with the

determination that we should. John Piper writes:

―Our mistake lies not in the intensity of our desire for happiness, but in the weakness of

it... We have settled for a home, a family, a few friends, a job, a television, a microwave

oven, an occasional night out, a yearly vacation, and perhaps a new computer. We have

accustomed ourselves to such meager, short-lived pleasures that our capacity for joy has

shriveled.‖ (John Piper, Desiring God, 88)

I want ask you: Do you think you’ve maxed out your capacity for joy, or do you think God

might just have something more for you? Did you find yourself, last week, throwing up your

hands, saying, ―There’s just too much joy in my life. I can’t take it any more?‖ or might there be

room for some changes?

How to Live the Passionate Life

If you think you could handle a little more joy in your life, I want to talk about HOW to start

living this passionate life – how to access it. I’d want to read to you a parable, a story Jesus told,

in the Gospel of Matthew 13.

―The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it

again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.‖

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found

one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. (44-46)

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Identify the treasure. Now – I want to ask a few questions here. First – what IS this ―kingdom of heaven,‖ this

―treasure in the field‖ that these guys are getting all worked up about? I think Paul explains the

treasure well in the book of Ephesians, chapter I.

―How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is!...Long before he laid down earth's

foundations, he had you in mind, had settled on you as the focus of his love, to be made

whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt {you} into his family

through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted {you} to enter

into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.

Okay, let’s pause here….So what is that treasure? First, it’s that God has set his sights on you

and wants to make you whole by his love. He doesn’t want you running around with this

dissatisfied, restless ache. So what he’s done is He’s adopted you into His ―happy family‖ – this

intimate community of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Trinity – they’re all about

passion. They’re having this party of ―lavish gift-giving‖ up there, and they want you to be a

part of the celebration.

But there’s more to the treasure. Keep listening…

Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah…we're a free people—free of penalties and

punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly

free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us

in on the plans he took such delight in making…Long before we first heard of him, he had

his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is

working out in everything and everyone.‖ (Ephesians 1:3-12 MSG)

So what’s the treasure? The treasure is understanding that God has taken care of everything we

need to allow us to be FREE. Jesus died on the cross so that everything we waste our time

worrying about: he anticipated it and has made provision for it – and paid all of our penalties on

the cross.

It’s like God sent you on this journey called life, but HE packed your bags so that you’d have

EVERYTHING you need to live a life of passion and freedom. Your freedom and joy doesn’t

depend on the actions of another person. It doesn’t depend on your life circumstances.

Everything you need, you’ve got it already in here.

Now, when GOD packs your bags, he doesn’t forget your toothbrush or your underwear. He

packed exactly what you need to handle the mess you’re in – to satisfy the loneliness you feel –

to calm the anxiety you feel. God designed you ―for glorious living,‖ and you have everything

you need. Can you believe that? That you have in your possession right now - everything you

need to live a passionate life? That’s the treasure that God is longing for you to discover!

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So – what’s the deal here– if God has packed our bags, and we have everything we need for

―glorious living,‖ then why do we have so much trouble accessing this? Why do we live like

we’re missing something, like the bag is just half full?

Well, there are a lot of reasons we struggle to access the treasure.

1) Sometimes it’s because of our stubbornness and pride. We think we can be self-

sufficient and can get through life on our own.

2) Sometimes, it’s that we haven’t sought out healing from the baggage of our past – so

we’re holding onto so many old bags, that we don’t have any space to take on another

one.

3) But a lot of times, it’s because of the simple fact that we don’t take the time to open

the bag and to examine its contents. We just don’t know what’s in here!

Richard Swenson wrote a book called, Margin, and he says that the #1 reason we Americans live

such fractured, unhappy lives is because we have no margin in our lives. Margin is ―the

difference between your load and your limit‖ - the difference between what you CAN take on

and the maximum amount that you can bear. The less margin you have, the more stress you

experience. Most of us have no margin in our lives at all. We try to operate at maximum

capacity all the time. We don’t get enough rest. We don’t eat right and exercise. We have no

margin in our finances, so we live paycheck to paycheck. When there’s no margin in our lives,

we’re always on the run. We never have time to unpack our bags!

If you want to live life passionately, you MUST create margin in your life. Why? It’s

interesting that in Jesus’ parable, the treasure is hidden. It’s not advertised on a billboard. It

doesn’t pop up on your e-mail screen. It’s not handed to you in the drive-through. Why?

Because God’s treasures most often reveal themselves when we’re doing things that have no

deadlines – that aren’t on our ―to do‖ list.- - while we’re wandering through a field or digging

through some pearls.

Jesus used the same Greek word for ―hidden‖ two chapters earlier in Matthew. He says, ―I

thank you that you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and have revealed them

to children.‖ (11:25) There’s something about God’s treasure that kids can find it more easily

than adults. Why is that? Because kids take time to do the things that FILL their lives with

passion: 1) They take time to frolic through fields, 2) They read their favorite stories, and 3)

They curl up with the people they love. You have to leave chunks of your schedule open for

these spontaneous eruptions of passion! God’s treasures reveal themselves when we’re doing

these child-like things.

Respond Wholeheartedly.

Now, once you’ve created enough margin in your life so you have time to seek the treasure, what

next? How do you respond? Look at how the two men respond in the parable when they

discover their treasure. Do they have practical, measured responses? Do they say,

―Hmmm…This sounds too good to be true. I think I’ll cover this back up and return to my safe,

dependable routine?‖

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No! When they stumble across this treasure, they don’t give a rip about the things they used care

about: their house, their plasma TV, their pension plan, or their condo in the Dells. They

respond wholeheartedly and immediately sell it all! Because they don’t want one measly

molehill of the kingdom. They want the whole field! They want it so bad that it’s worth

sacrificing anything to get it!

You see, we’re often so half-hearted about the God thing. Maybe we’ve connected with God at a

poignant moment in our lives, but instead of sacrificing anything to pursue more of that treasure,

we try to eek by on visiting it or remembering it once in a while. Instead of buying the field, we

try to take little mini-trips there. We try to live half of our life with God and half of it, without

Him. ―I’ll connect with you on Sundays, or I’ll pray to you when I’m in crises, but I’m not going

to change anything about my lifestyle. I’m not going to ―bet the farm on it!‖‖

This is why even Christ-followers lose their passion in life. We try to exercise ―portion-control‖

as far as God is concerned: ―I’ll take a little piece of God here, and a little piece of God there, so

I can stay in control.‖ But God doesn’t work that way. You can’t just take one promise here,

one doctrine there, and then think you’re going to be satisfied. In fact, you may just be LESS

satisfied because you’ll feel like you have some ―faulty product‖: ―I believe in God, but I’m just

as stressed out as I always was!‖ Well, that’s because you got the sampler platter, when you

needed the whole enchilada! God wants to walk with you – to abide in you - every moment of

your day, so you’ve got to know his word and take time to pray.

Eliminate the Competition. Finally, if you want to live a passionate life, you need to eliminate ALL the competitors for God

in your life. You see, just like we need ALL of God, the ―whole enchilada‖, God demands ALL

of us. We can’t ―take on‖ a more passionate lifestyle, without eliminating something first. God

doesn’t like it when we ―fool around‖ with other gods.

You see, when we try to escape the ache in our lives - be it through work, through food, through

alcohol, through shopping, God sees those things as personal competition. God doesn’t call

them ―innocent distractions.‖ He calls them ―other lovers.‖ He doesn’t call them ―addictions.‖

He calls them ―adultery.‖ Listen to how God describes us in Jeremiah:

"How can you say, 'I am not defiled;

I have not run after other gods?‖…

Consider what you have done.

You are a swift she-camel

running here and there,

a wild donkey accustomed to the desert,

sniffing the wind in her craving—

in {your} heat how can I restrain {you}?

Any males that pursue {you} need not tire themselves;

at mating time they’ll find {you}!

25 Do not run, as your feet are bare

and your throat is dry.

But you say, 'It's no use!

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I love other gods,

and I must go after them.' (2:23-25)

When were YOU were last compared to a ―wild donkey in heat‖? If your husband hasn’t called

you that recently, God has! God’s saying, ―Will you STOP running to these other things you

keep trying to fill your life with? I love you, and I want to fulfill the passions I’ve placed in you.

Stick with me, and I’ll give you what you need!‖ Because God knows how quickly these lovers

lead us into bondage. Brent Curtis writes:

―Once we allow our heart to drink water from these ―less-than-eternal‖ wells with the

goal of finding the life we were made for, it overpowers our will, and becomes – as

Jonathan Edwards said, ―like a viper, hissing and spitting at God‖ and us if we try to

restrain it.‖ (The Sacred Romance, 133)

That jolt of pornography or the thrill of finding that shopping bargain deceives us into thinking,

―Oh…A sip of water in the dessert. I gotta have more of that!‖ Soon we’re right back to

―making mud pies in the slums‖ when God offers us ―infinite Joy.‖ We’ve got to eliminate the

competition.

Over the next three weeks, Remy and I are going to unpack more concrete ways for allowing

God to fulfill those passions – through infinite love, humble service, and connecting with God’s

purposes in our life. I hope you’ll come back and join us, because if you put into place the things

we’re going to be talking abut, I guarantee you’ll be living a more passionate life.

I want to close with a prayer: Lord, I thank you that you created me to be a passionate person.

All those memories and feelings I had as a child of leading a more passionate life, you put there

for a reason. You created hungers and thirsts in me that you wanted to be satisfied in you. I

confess that I have tried to dull that passion – to stuff it away through work, through busyness.

I’ve tried to indulge with things that don’t satisfy – whether it be through food, alcohol,

pornography or shopping. But God, you’re a jealous God, and you say you want ALL of me. I

don’t want to live a life of resignation. Unlock my passion, and show me how to have it fulfilled

in you. God, we pray for the offering that we’re about to receive. We want as many people as

possible, here in Menomonie and beyond, living passionate lives. Us this offering to break more

and more people free from the bondage with which they suffer. Make us free in you. Amen.

*Thank you to Brent Curtis and John Eldridge’s chapter on ―Less-Wild Lovers‖ in their book,

The Sacred Romance, for helping me articulate many of these concepts. This is a must-read

book!

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One Month to Live

Part Four: Love Completely

F. Remy Diederich

The premise of this series is very simple… What if you knew that you only had 30 days to live?

How would you change your life? I think that question alone is worth the price of the book

because it’s a huge reality check. If you know that you’d change your life with 30 days to live

then you have to ask yourself…why don’t I change my life now?

And the good news is…if you make the changes and die, you’ll die with no regrets. And if you

live longer than 30 days then you’ll be able to live with no regret. Either way you are a winner!

Let’s watch a short video to see how this series impacted a woman from Pastor Kerry’s church.

VIDEO- A single, divorced mom talks about how she has chosen to forgive he ex-husband and

savor the moments she has with her young daughter…eating with her, spending as little time at

work as possible and journaling thoughts to share with her in case she were to die prematurely.

Last week I raised the bar a little bit with the concept of having one month to live by assigning a

drop dead date of May 5th. For me, saying that we had one month to live was too vague. I

needed an actual date to help me not procrastinate so I set May 5th

as the end of the 30 days.

That’s the day after the last sermon in this series and it’s 37 days after we started the series so

you actually get seven days for free!

Well, today we are looking at how to love completely. And this might be the most practical

message of the series because it has to do with our relationships.

I think one of the best ways to get in touch with your relationships is to think about your funeral.

Imagine looking in on your funeral. Who’s there? Who chose to stay home? For those that

came, what are they saying about you? What are they thinking about you? Now, if you don’t

like what you see and hear when you imagine that, then do something about it…while there’s

still time!

You see, when you die and look in on your funeral I don’t think you are going to wish that you

spent more time at work or more time watching tv or hanging out at the bar or surfing the

internet and playing video games. My guess is that 90 % of your regrets are going to be about

your relationships. Isn’t that right? You’re going to wish that you had taken better care of your

relationships so that when you are gone people have good memories of you and not memories

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that are bitter or sad. So that’s why I want to talk about how you can bring closure to your

relationships before you die by loving completely.

Now, two weeks ago I mentioned that Jesus’ idea of love was taking action. I quoted these

verses from the book of John…

Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his

love. … so he … began to wash his disciples' feet… John 13 2-5

The full extent of his love was expressed not in words but in action…he washed feet. That’s not

very exciting. Not very dramatic. But that’s how Jesus defines love. And that’s why I defined

love as - serving others at your own expense. You see, love to Jesus wasn’t a warm and fuzzy

feeling. It manifested itself by doing something that cost him something. Like it says in the book

of Romans…

God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for

us. Romans 5:8

So love is something that is demonstrated and not just talked about. In the book of John it tells

us that…

God so loved the world that he gave his Only Son. John 3:16

God’s love moved him to take action…to give his Son. You see, it’s action that convinces us

that his love is sincere. Paul told the Philippian church how Jesus loved completely…

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing,

taking the very nature of a servant, … he humbled himself and became obedient to death-

- even death on a cross! Philippians 2:5-8

Jesus showed us his love by serving us at his own expense and that’s how God wants us to love

people. He wants us to serve them at our expense. Not at our convenience but at our expense.

That’s why it requires humility because it requires that we place the desires of other people

ahead of our personal desires.

So my point here is that if you want to end your life with no regrets, then you want to love the

people in your life completely during your final days. Maybe you’ve done a terrible job of it so

far. Maybe you’ve been the most self-centered, self-indulgent couch potato on the planet up

until today - but that can change. With God’s help, with his Spirit living inside of you - you can

humble yourself and start demonstrating your love to people in tangible ways…ways that will

make you proud at your funeral and not filled with regret.

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So let’s consider how to do that. I want us to think in terms of John 3:16 today. I just read it. It

says…God so loved the world that he gave his Only Son. So think of this sentence.

I so love (person) that I will (do something for them).

I want to give you seven things to consider doing between now and May 5th

.

1. I so love (?) that I will accept them unconditionally. The Bible says…

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you…Romans 15:7

If you are a parent you might say… I so love my child that I will accept them unconditionally.

Parents, do your kids feel unconditionally accepted by you or do they live with a sense that they

need to jump through hoops before you will truly love them? If your kids were involved in a

lifestyle that they know you disapprove of would they feel safe talking to you about it? Or,

would they hold that part of themselves back for fear of being rejected?

Or you might turn that around. How many of us can say about our parents…I so love my parents

that I accept them unconditionally? Or do we have hoops that our parents have to jump through

for us?

If you had 30-days to live wouldn’t it be nice to know that the people closest to you felt accepted

by you? That doesn’t mean that you have to approve of everything they do. It means that you

accept them IN SPITE of what they do. I want to encourage you to take this month to show

acceptance to people just like Jesus accepted you.

2. I so love (?) that I will seek to understand them. The Bible says…

Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak…James 1:19

It’s one thing to show acceptance…but if you can understand someone it’s even better. Again, to

understand someone doesn’t mean that you approve of their behavior. It simply means that you

are willing to sit down and listen to them and see life from their perspective. Think about the

people in your life that would love to have you understand them. What a great gift to give them

before you die.

Wouldn’t it be great to have your family and friends say that you didn’t always agree with them

but you always accepted them for who they were and really tried to understand them?

3. I so love (blank) that I will take time for small things with them. The Bible says…

Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house… Matthew 9:10

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That is such a simple thing that Jesus did. I mean, he was God and he valued Matthew enough to

sit down and eat a meal with him. Jesus knew that eating a meal with someone has a powerful

bonding effect.

But do you know what I hear back all the time from people? That families are too fragmented

and too busy to eat together. People might make their own meals and one eats in their bedroom

while the other one eats in the living room watching television. That just amazes me. I’m from

the old school where everyone made it home at night to eat dinner together. And I know first

hand that that’s a good thing. Meal time was one of the best things about my family.

But if you aren’t eating dinner as a family, let me tell you, that’s a habit that you need to change.

That’s something that you’ll live to regret. Go home today and eat a meal together in the same

room at the same table without the television and talk to each other!

Eating together is just one of the small things you can do to show your love. So, take time to

walk with those you love. Take time to pray with them. That’s another thing that amazes me.

When I came to Christ I was taught to pray with people and so I always have. I pray with my

wife and kids, I pray with my friends and I pray in small groups. But so many Christians don’t

do that. I don’t understand why not. That’s one of the little things that creates intimacy in

relationships. So learn how to pray with others.

And another little thing you can do is have fun with those you love and learn to talk to each

other. I was talking to a friend recently about getting a hot tub. His name is Larry. I told Larry

that hot tubs seem like a big waste of money. And he agreed. He said his wife and kids begged

him for a hot tub for years and he wouldn’t do it. Then one day a friend of his told him that he

has the best conversations with his teenagers in his hot tub. And Larry said that settled it for

him. To his families amazement he went right out and bought a hot tub and he said it was the

best decision of his life. Now he’s having the best conversations of his life with his teenagers.

When Larry dies, his kids are going to remember sitting around the hot tub with dad. Now, my

point isn’t to buy a hot tub, okay! The point is; take time to do the little things that are

memorable whether that’s eating dinner together, taking walks together or sitting in the hot tub

together.

4. I so love (blank) that I will thank them for helping/guiding/loving/inspiring me.

I have not stopped giving thanks for you… Ephesians 1:6

Has anyone here been thanked too much this week? Has anyone been given too much

appreciation this week? Are you feeling like if one more person stops to thank you and show

you appreciation you are going to punch them in the nose! No, that’s one thing that we never get

enough of.

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You know, we all wonder if we’ve made a difference in anyone’s life. And the only way we’ll

know is if someone tells us. So who can you thank for making a difference in your life?

Years ago a friend of mine and I were at church and the pastor talked about thanking the person

who either led you to Christ or people who have helped you grow in Christ. We both went home

and not knowing it, wrote a note of thanks to a mentor that we had in common. And that guy

was so touched to receive two letters the same week thanking him for his influence. He was a

staff worker for a campus ministry (Inter-Varsity). He invested his life in college students every

day and my guess is that very few of us ever stopped to thank him for what he was doing with

his life.

You know, if you die before you give away your thanks you’ll take that thanks to the grave. And

that’s a shame because that person will never hear the words of thanks that they should have

heard. And they’ll miss the joy that only comes from being appreciated.

So before May 5th

write a few words of thanks and send them off. Thank the person that told

you about Jesus. I’m going to see my sister this week and she regularly thanks be for helping her

connect with Jesus. I was buying a golf club a few years ago and she jumped in and bought it for

me. I said, ―What are you doing that for?‖ And she said, ―I’m just so thankful for you helping

me connect with Jesus. It’s changed my life and I want you to know that.‖

Thank the teachers that made a difference in your life or the life of your children. I’d love to

hear that some of our volunteers in Children’s Ministry got notes of thanks. Brenda Brewer, the

director, does a great job of thanking her volunteers but wouldn’t it be great for parents to stop in

and thank them? Just say, ―Hey, thanks for donating your time so generously. It really makes a

difference in my child.‖ They don’t volunteer to be thanked but it sure feels good to be thanked.

Or thank some of the other folks around here. I had someone email me and tell me how much

they liked that ―guy‖ who plays the drums and sings. They said his singing always ministers to

them.

Or thank the boss that helped you get to where you are today. But whatever you do, don’t leave

any thanks in your heart. Make sure you give it all away before you die.

5. I so love (?) that I will forgive them for offending me.

Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13

Just like thanks you don’t want to take your forgiveness to the grave. That’s a gift that you want

to make sure that you give away before you die otherwise the person will never get it.

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You see, unforgiveness is a form of revenge. It’s payback. And we are called to forgive not pay

back. Do you realize how much energy revenge drains from you emotionally? And do you

realize that revenge undermines all of your relationships, including your relationship with God?

And so, with only 30 days to live, why would you want to hold any unforgiveness in your heart?

Let it go.

6. I so love (blank) that I will confess my faults and ask their forgiveness

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other. James 5:16

I like that verse because it puts a face on confession. You know, so often people want to confess

their fault to God and call it good. Or they confess their fault to a pastor or a counselor, which is

fine, but our confession isn’t complete until we confess our fault to the person that we offended.

Sometimes that person is God. But often times our actions offend both God and another person.

And so if you want to leave a good taste in people’s mouth after you are gone you want to

confess your faults and ask for them to forgive you. You don’t want to die owing anyone

anything…especially an apology. So don’t take your apology to the grave. Sit down with the

people you’ve offended and come clean.

7. I so love (?) that I will invest my time, talent and money in their life.

For I know your eagerness to help …you… were ready to give; and your

enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action. 2 Corinthians 9:2

The idea here is that rather than selfishly using your last 30 days for yourself, why not invest

your time, talent and money in someone else? By investing in another life you can leave a

legacy that you are proud of instead of leaving a string of regrets.

And I’m not just talking about giving an inheritance to your children. I’m talking about using

your last days to invest in things that will change lives. Spend your money on ministries that are

working hard to bring God’s kingdom into this world.

But it’s not just money. I’m talking about investing your time and talent. Remember that verse

that I read at the beginning about Jesus? It said that he humbled himself and became a servant.

That’s a model for us…that we pour out our life for others right up until the end. I don’t see

anywhere in the Bible where we are supposed to retire and spend all of our earnings on an RV to

travel the country.

So, if service hasn’t defined your life up until now at least let it define how you spend your last

month on earth. Experience what it feels like to pour yourself out for someone else. Help out in

children’s ministry. Help out in the youth ministry. Help out with our set up crews on Sunday.

Help out in New Orleans. Help out with the Food Pantry. There are hundreds of opportunities to

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invest your life. That’s why we are featuring the ―Stories of Great Adventures‖ next Sunday

night (April 20th

). We have so many people out there serving we want to give them a chance to

tell their stories and hopefully encourage you to serve as well. And if you live more than a month

you will have developed a habit that will bring you an incredible amount of joy.

It’s sad to think how many people live their entire life search for joy…buying more and more

toys, seeking the ultimate experience, only to be continually disappointed. But they are often

shocked to learn that joy isn’t found in serving themselves but in serving others. So it’s never to

late to serve.

Now, before I close here, I have one word of caution. I can see how some people might use this

idea of One Month to Live to go around and drop Gospel bombs on people. Do you know what I

mean by that?… they tell people about this series and how we are acting like May 5th

is our drop

dead date and they use it as an excuse to corner people and try to get them to become Christians.

Be really careful about that.

God might give some of us the perfect opportunity over the next few weeks to share our faith

appropriately, but I just don’t want our friends and families to think that this One Month to Live

series is a thinly veiled excuse to evangelize them. If people think that you are using this to be

self-serving or underhanded in any way it will backfire and instead of improving your

relationships it could really sour them.

But, with that caution aside, I’m excited at what could happen if we actually do these things. I’m

going to follow this list. But what really excites me is to think that 100 others or maybe 200 or

300 of us here might do the same. Can you imagine the impact this could have on us

corporately? In the old days they’d call that a ―revival‖, right? People getting serious about God

and changing their lives. That’s a revival.

That’s what happens when a group of people determine in their hearts to love others

completely…not SOME day…but TODAY. So, if you want a no-regret life I hope you will do

these things. Let’s close with another story of someone who made these changes in their life.

Video- A father tells of how he showed his love by surprising his son at school with a Happy

Meal, spending more time with his wife and reconciling with his father. He said that he was

always upset with his father for not being the dad he wanted him to be but then it dawned on him

that maybe he wasn’t the son that he could be. With that simple change of perspective he was

able to reconcile with his father and finally get the relationship with him that he always wanted.

I’m going to pray for us in just a minute and then we’ll receive an offering. I just want to

mention that if you don’t have a book or you have a book but you are getting behind in the

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reading… I summarize the daily readings and post them on the church website. Just go to the

homepage (www.cedarbrookchurch.net) where there’s a picture of me. And by it it says ―Read

Remy’s Blog‖. Click on it and you’ll get the summaries.

Now, like the powerpoint says… the offering is a time for us to worship God with our finances.

And it’s a time for people who call Cedarbrook their church to support what God is doing. But if

you are just visiting with us please don’t feel obligated to participate.

Prayer:

Father, you teach us to number our days. And so we don’t want to take one day or even one

second for granted. We want to end our days with a shout of victory and not a whimper of

regret. So help us to seize the next few weeks to get down to business. Help us put our faith into

action. Show us the people you want us to love completely and give us the courage we need to

do it. Might our obedience in these things bring you honor and might it transform our lives.

Amen.

One Month to Live

Part Five: Learn Humbly

By Remy Diederich

VIDEO: A middle aged couple talks about the changes they went through when they learned

that the husband had cancer. He said that cancer forces you into a room full of pictures and you

have to deal with those pictures. He also talked about regretting that he didn’t treat his wife

better. She noted that he’s not as preoccupied with his job now and spends more time with the

family.

We’ve been wrestling with the question…What would I do if I had one month to live? It’s like

this man said, facing death forces you into a room to look at a number of pictures on the wall and

ask the question; How am I doing? And then…How should I change?

Today is the fourth message in a six part series called One Month to Live: 30 days to a No

Regret Life. So far we’ve looked at living passionately, loving completely and now today we are

going to take a look at learning humbly.

You know, many people have stopped and thanked me for this series. God seems to be using it to

stir up and rekindle their faith in very practical ways. But while many of us are engaged in this

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series, my guess is that some of us aren’t. I don’t know this for a fact but my guess is that some

of you are unmoved by this series and the reasoning goes something like this…

You are in a hard spot…either you put yourself there with your own bad choices or life put you

there through bad breaks. Maybe it was the economy or your health – like this guy with cancer -

or maybe someone betrayed you. But either way your situation makes you feel hopeless…like

your life isn’t worth anything … like you’ll never make a difference.

And so, whether you have 30 days to live or 30 years to live, you don’t really care. It doesn’t

matter. You don’t think you can change and even if you could change you still don’t think it

would make any difference. And the truth is you fight the temptation to give up every day.

That’s pretty bleak but - for some of you – if you are honest – it’s true.

Well, if that’s how you feel - if you have given up or you are tempted to give up today then I’m

glad you are here. I want to encourage you to get back in the game because with God, failure is

never final. God can still use you. And life can be good again. The only way you lose is when

you give up.

I think an interesting comparison to make in the Bible regarding giving up is between Peter and

Judas. Peter and Judas both betrayed Jesus. They both turned their back on him. But Judas gave

up on himself while Peter didn’t. Judas ended his life while Peter restarted his life and – as a

result - God used him to transform the lives of thousands of people. Isn’t that interesting?

And what’s also interesting is that Peter turned his life around in about 30 days. He went from

goat to hero in about a 30 day time span so he’s a great model for our 30 Day challenge. So let’s

take a deeper look at Peter’s story.

Now, I don’t know if you’ve read much about Peter but he’s quite the piece of work. If you read

through what the Bible has to say about him you come to learn that he’s one of those guys who

tends to fire the gun before he aims it. Or, gets out of the car before he puts it in park. He’s just a

little impulsive.

Matthew, Mark and Luke all introduce Peter in the story as being a Zealot. Now, they weren’t

describing his personality. Zealots were a political group of revolutionaries. They were radical

religious fundamentalists who were willing to use violence to achieve their political goals.

And so when Jesus came on the scene and Peter recognized Jesus to be the Messiah - he was

excited! Peter thought…here’s the guy who is going to make my dreams come true. Here’s the

guy that is going to champion the revolution’s agenda. I’m sure most politicians were too wishy

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washy for Peter. But he could see that Jesus was the real deal. Jesus was a radical just like he

was.

So Peter hooked his wagon to Jesus and intended on riding his way into power. And that’s why

he was so committed to Jesus. He promised Jesus…

Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will." Even if I have to die with you, I will never

disown you." …Matthew 26:33,35

But when Jesus started to hint that he wasn’t the conquering king that Peter was looking for Peter

wouldn’t hear of it. The Bible tells us…

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen

to you!" Matthew 16:22

What was only implied at first became evident in the Garden of Gethsemane. When the soldiers

came to arrest Jesus Peter pulled out his sword and cut off the ear of one of the guards. His

attitude was, ―Let the revolution begin!‖ But to his shock, Jesus healed the man and then

surrendered.

Can you imagine how disillusioned Peter must have felt? It must have been a nightmare. The

Bible says that…

Peter followed him [Jesus] at a distance, …

So here’s this revolutionary – the one who used to like the lead the crowd - hanging at the back

of the pack not quite sure what to do with Jesus. Maybe you’ve been disillusioned like that when

Jesus didn’t fulfill your agenda. Peter’s going back and forth in his mind…should he stick with

Jesus? Should he abandon ship? But then his decision is forced out of him when people accused

him of being with Jesus. And he flat out denied it.

Peter spoke out of the abundance of his heart. His words revealed how he really felt and then …

The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had

spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times." And he went

outside and wept bitterly. Luke 22:56-62

Jesus looked straight at him and Peter felt exposed. He was a failure and he knew it. Maybe

that’s where you are. Maybe you’ve failed Jesus. Or maybe you feel like he’s failed you. But

either way, you’ve given up… maybe not outwardly. Outwardly you are still going through the

motions but inwardly you’ve checked out.

It’s only a matter of time before you drift away and drop off the radar spiritually. That’s what

most people do. But not Peter.

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Peter chose to learn humbly. He knew something about the restoring power of Jesus that caused

him to say something like…

Okay. I messed up. I was wrong. I did something terrible. But Jesus forgives me, my

fellow disciples forgive me and so I’m going to learn from my mistake and make the

most of my life. I’m not going to give up. I’m going to start over…and maybe…just

maybe…I can contribute to this new movement in some way.

It was Peter’s ability to learn humbly from his mistake that got him back in the game, helped him

to regain his place of leadership and make a significant contribution to the church. So let’s take

a look at what it means to learn humbly. I think it involves several things.

1. To learn humbly means to acknowledge your situation.

That means if you did something wrong, admit it. Look in the mirror and tell yourself…I had an

affair. I relapsed. I lied. I cheated. I compromised my morals. Proverbs tells us…

If you hide your sins, you will not succeed. If you confess and reject them, you will receive

mercy. Proverbs 28:13

If something was done to you, admit that. I’m divorced. I got cancer. I was betrayed. You see,

humility starts by being willing to honestly acknowledge your situation. You can’t learn anything

if you aren’t willing to first face reality.

2. To learn humbly means to take responsibility for your situation.

That’s what Peter did. The Bible tells us that he wept bitterly after betraying Jesus but after that

he seems to get right back into the flow of things. We don’t see him making excuses for what he

did or covering it up with a string of lies or running away. He owned his failure and got right

back to work.

So, with Peter as our model – when life hits you hard - don’t let it paralyze you. Don’t sit around

and feel sorry for yourself. Don’t sit and wait for someone to swoop in and rescue you. If you

want to turn your life around - dust yourself off, face the facts…and tell God that you are willing

to do whatever it takes to get your life back on track.

3. To learn humbly means to let God use your situation to teach you.

There’s something about pain that is a great teacher. Pain is what humbles us and gets us to

admit that we aren’t as smart as we think we are. That’s why in the story of Job, Job told God…

I was talking about things I did not understand, things far too wonderful for me… I take back

everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance. Job 42: 3,6

When Jesus looked at Peter, Peter immediately saw his dark side. At first Peter felt betrayed by

Jesus but then he realized that he was the betrayer. And so suddenly he was open to Jesus’

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teaching in a way that he had never been open before. And he learned things about himself that

he was never able to see before.

You see, you can fight against the pain of your situation or complain about it or deny it or … you

can open your heart and learn from it. You can spend your life telling your sob story – about all

the stupid things you did as a way of ―doing penance‖ or about all the bad breaks you got –

hoping to get some sympathy and pity. Or you can pray what David prayed…

Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths… Psalm 25:4

And the amazing thing is…when you pray that - God will teach you and – if you embrace his

teaching - that truth will radically change you. It will set you free.

4. To learn humbly means to see the gain and not the loss of your situation.

What I mean is that we need to reframe how we view our bad experiences in life. Too many of

us drag behind us this cart of problems. Painful life experiences. And we feel obligated to

explain it, to justify it, to blame people for it or to complain about it. Because to us, this cart is

just one huge pile of mistakes and we just don’t know what to do with it but we are convinced

that it disqualifies us.

It’s like a 1000 pound weight that we drag around behind us. And we use it to convince both

ourselves and others not to expect too much from us… after all, we’ve got this baggage. If you

had this baggage you’d understand. But that’s only one way to look at painful life experiences.

There’s another way to look at it. You can use your past experience as a resource.

Let me give you an example. I was with a couple pastor friends the other day and coincidentally

they both have a child with special needs. One has Rhett’s Syndrome and the other has Down’s

Syndrome…conditions that have dramatically altered their life experience. But neither one of

them treated it like it was some big loss. Some big inconvenience. Neither one looked for

sympathy. It was just a part of their life.

As I listened to them I thought,

These guys are great. So many people would feel sorry for themselves. So many people would

use this as an excuse to under-perform in life - to get a ―free-pass‖ from being responsible

contributing members of their community. But they don’t see their situation as a loss. They see

it as adding to their lives.

You see, they understand a side to life that most people don’t. And because of their perspective

they don’t drag behind them a cart full of woes. They pull behind them a tremendous resource to

draw upon to help them relate to other people in need.

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They understand pain and suffering and hardship and compassion in a way that most of us can’t

imagine. And so when they speak on these things, they speak with an incredible amount of

authority and credibility. And as a result, God is doing a wonderful work of healing in both of

their churches.

And that’s what I want us all to see about the pain in our lives. I don’t care if you brought it

upon yourself by foolish living or if someone afflicted you with it unfairly. The point is…no

matter what your situation…God can use your pain for good. I’m sure Peter preached with much

greater insight into the human condition because of his own sin.

And so, how do you see your life experience? Is it a burden, an embarrassment or a resource? A

source of regret and lament or a source of inspiration. It’s up to you. But how you see it will

determine if you are an overcomer in this world or merely overcome by the world.

5. To learn humbly means to let go of your guilt.

I have talked to so many people who say they have trouble forgiving themselves. They say they

know God forgives them. But they can’t forgive themselves. I’ve never had a good answer for

that.

But then one day I was talking to a young girl who said she couldn’t forgive herself for her past

and I said…tell me, if you could forgive yourself, how would that change your life?

I think I caught her by surprise. She had never thought about that before. And when she thought

about it for a second she said…

I think if I could forgive myself that I’d have to change how I’m living because I’ve always used

my guilt as an excuse to not change.

And then I said, How do you feel about that? And she said…

Not so good. I’m afraid I won’t be able to change. It’s easier to feel guilty and stay the same than

to forgive myself and change.

That was a revelation to her. She realized that the issue really wasn’t about forgiving herself.

The issue was fear of change. It was her fear of change that kept her clinging to guilt. That was

her excuse. And it worked because people felt sorry for her and grew to not expect anything from

her.

I wonder if that’s your excuse. Are you using guilt over the past to justify not changing? That’s

what I like about Peter. He didn’t use his past as an excuse. He had a better excuse than

anyone… I mean, he betrayed the Messiah. It doesn’t get much worse than that. But Peter

released his guilt and got right back to following Jesus.

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6. To learn humbly means rely on God’s strength.

Peter was so impetuous - so quick to act on his own power that it got him into trouble. Maybe

you are like that.

Maybe you are quick to trust in yourself or other people before you trust in God. Maybe you

trust in your talent or your career or your money. But trusting in anyone or anything but God will

always come around to bite you.

For example, when Peter trusted in the revolution and the revolution failed - he failed. That

wouldn’t have happened if he was trusting in God’s strength. David prayed…

I will sing of your strength…; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. Psalm

59:16

7. To learn humbly means to pursue God’s path.

This is where a lot of us fail. We do the six things I mentioned here but when we start to walk

down God’s path we get scared. We get scared that following God’s path will be boring or

restrictive or totally contrary to who we are or what we like.

What I’m talking about here is trust. We have trouble trusting that God’s path is good for us.

That’s understandable. You can’t trust someone or something you don’t know. So how do you

develop trust? You develop it over time through experience, right?

First you observe and then you test and then finally you trust. If I see a foot bridge over a

canyon I’m probably not going to run over it the minute I see it. Why? Because I don’t trust it at

first. Before I’m willing to risk my life I’m going to first watch others walk over it and then I’m

going to slowly test it out before I proceed across the bridge. After a few times across I might be

so confident that I run across the bridge.

It’s the same in building trust with God. First you spend time observing others encounter God.

You can do that by reading the Bible or reading books about people who have walked with God

or talk to people here that are close to God. And then you take small steps of faith until you build

up your confidence to take big steps of faith. It’s a process. I like what it says in Psalm 119…

I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free. Psalm 119:32.

What a great picture of someone trusting God. He recklessly abandons himself to God’s path

because he knows that he can trust God. The Bible also tells us…

Happy is the person who trusts the Lord, who doesn't turn to those who are proud or to those

who worship false gods. Psalm 40:4

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Well, Peter learned humbly from his pain and it helped him get back on track with Jesus. And he

did this all in less than a month’s time. Imagine that. And then soon after he was restored Peter

stood up in a crowd and preached his first sermon. The Bible tells us that 3000 people were

joined to the church that day. A few days later he preached his second sermon and 5000 more

people were added. And he went on to be a great leader in the early church. I bet he was glad that

he didn’t give up and chose to learn from his mistakes rather than just quit.

So, no matter what your situation is today I want to tell you…don’t give up. Don’t quit. Failure

isn’t final! God can turn your life around…even in 30 days, if you let him. There’s still time to

make your mark in this world.

Prayer: Father…help us to not give up. Breathe hope into us right now by the power of your

Spirit.. Help us to fully engage…not because we have so much to offer but because you have so

much to offer through us. Thank you for your forgiveness. Help us to release our guilt and run

in the path of your commands. God, use us to make a difference even if we only have 30 days to

live. Amen.

One Month to Live

Part Five: Leaving Boldly: Leaving a Legacy that Lasts

By Pastor Christine Ruth

So far, we’ve looked at 3 Principles for living a ―No Regrets‖ Life: 1) Living Passionately, 2)

Loving Completely, and 3) Learning Humbly. Today, we’re going to look at principle 4)

Leaving Boldly – Leaving a Spiritual Legacy.‖

Over the past few weeks, Remy has invited us to assign ourselves a drop-dead date as a way of

thinking about how we’d live our lives differently if we had only 30 days to live.

Today, I want you to imagine your eulogy – the ―ham-bun‖ luncheon that follows your funeral.

What are you hoping people will be saying about you? What words will they use to describe

your life? Today, I want to talk about the fact that God created you with a certain legacy that he

wants you to leave. Now – usually when we think about leaving a legacy, we think about

leaving money or property to the next generation. But today, I want to talk about the kind of

legacy that Jesus created you and I to leave: a spiritual legacy of the people among whom you

shared the life-changing love of God.

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God Created You to Leave a Legacy

Because, you see, if there’s one thing that I’m hoping you’ve gotten out of this series, it’s that we

were created for a lot more than a house, a dog, 2.5 children, and a job that pays the bills. You

were created with heavenly purposes in mind. When God, the Master Artist, was lovingly

forming you and shaping you in your mother’s womb, he wasn’t thinking: ―Well – I hope this

finds a nice shelf to sit on.‖ or ―I hope it can make it through life without breaking.‖ No! He

wanted you to fulfill the purpose for which you were created.

You see, God had a specific legacy He had in mind for you to leave when he created you. Paul

says in Ephesians: ―For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,

which God prepared in advance for us to do!‖ He’s saying that God placed you on this earth for

a reason – with a specific list of tasks he’s equipped you to do.

Paul thought about the legacy God called us to leave like a construction project that we’re all

supposed to be working on. He says in I Corinthians 3:9-10:

―For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. By the grace God

has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on

it.‖

So Paul’s saying that your lives are like a building. Someone helped you lay the foundation by

telling you about Jesus, but now – we’re called to build on it.

But then, Paul continues by warning us that our building is going to be inspected:

But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other

than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation

using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it

is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test

the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.

1 Corinthians 3:11-13

So we’re all engaged in this building project, but when it comes to building your house, you have

some decisions to make.

What’s Your Foundation?

First off, you have to decide on what foundation you’re going to build. When I think of a

foundation, I always think of a character from the ―Fantastic Four‖ – the Silver Surfer. Have any

of you seen that movie? You see, the ―silver surfer‖ was this amazing guy who can surf in the

air – as long as he’s attached to his surfboard. His surfboard was his power source, and if

someone wants to render this guy powerless, all they have to do is separate him from his board!

Whenever we talk about ―foundation‖ - the question is: what’s going to give me my power, my

support, my ability to stay planted? I can choose to stand on my own two feet – operating out of

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my own willpower, resources, and skills – or I can choose to allow God to be the, power, the

stability, the foundation of my legacy.

Think of your foundation as your power source. I can say, ―Yes. I like this ―One Month to

Live‖ stuff. I’m resolving to go out and love people and lose weight and be a better parent and

spouse,‖ but you see, if I leave my foundation, and start trying to walk out on my own two feet –

the life changes I’ve set out to make won’t last.

You see, if I decide to make all these ―30-Days to Live‖ resolutions and to try to do them by my

own effort, I won’t NEED thirty days to live. I’ll be burnt out by day two. If I’m not secured to

my foundation – by connecting with God through his Word, I’m going to fail. I have TRIED to

this stuff on my own effort – to be passionate and loving and humble, but 3 coffees into my

morning, I’m already burnt out! It feels like another burden, and I quit. I’m just too tired.

But if I plant myself on the foundation of Jesus Christ – He produces in me all the passion, love,

and humility I could ever need! God’s love spills out from me naturally, because I’m firmly

planted to my Source. If you want to leave a legacy, you’ve got to stick to your foundation.

What are your materials?

Once you’re building on the right foundation, now you have to decide how to build - what

building materials to use. When it comes to finding building materials that are going to last –

Jesus insists that we only have one option. Listen to what he says in Matthew 7: 21-23:

"Knowing the correct password—saying 'Master, Master,' isn't going to get you anywhere with

me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills…

―The words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to

your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these

words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain

poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the

rock.

"But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you

are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in

and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards." (MSG)

Jesus is saying that once you’ve decided to build on him, you’ve got to follow HIS blueprints. If

you want to leave a legacy that lasts, you have to follow the Architect’s plans! Who cares how

many Bible studies you go, if you’re not building your life on His words?

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Your Legacy

So – if we want to leave a lasting legacy, we need to …

1) Plant ourselves on the foundation of Jesus Christ, and

2) Follow the Architect’s blueprints by being obedient to His words.

But now – I want to get really practical. How do we figure out what legacy we’re supposed to be

leaving leave? How are we supposed to know what ―good works‖ God’s prepared for us to do?

Find it

One of the easiest ways to find out what kind of legacy God has created you to leave is to pay

attention to something you probably don’t think much about: ―What makes you mad? What

issue – every time you think about it, makes your blood boil? In what situations does your blood

pressure automatically rise? We often think of being angry as a negative thing – but God often

gives us our anger, and listening to it helps us locate our legacy.

Bill Hybels, the head pastor at Willow Creek, recently wrote a book I love called ―Holy

Discontent.‖ (Check it out at Cedarbooks!) Bill argues that when God was forming your

personality, weaving together your DNA, He placed in you this ―spark of anger‖ that tends to

ignite in certain situations.

You see, when God looks down at the world he’s created, there are things that make Him angry.

When He sees a child being abused, or a family that has no access to food, or church that’s

crushing people with legalism, God gets angry. So when He created you in His image, He

placed in you a spark of ―Holy Anger‖ that reflects His own.

That means that whenever you witness a certain injustice or hear about a problem, this trigger

gets tripped in you and you sort of spontaneously combust. People around you might be

shrugging their shoulders, ―Whatever!‖, but you become incensed. Something inside you says,

―This is wrong. It must stop!‖

Bill Hybels called this the ―Popeye Principle.‖ Do any of you remember the show, ―Popeye?‖ –

the man who inspired an entire generation to eat spinach? Well, Popeye was a Sailor Man (go

ahead and sing it…), and he was madly in love with his girlfriend, Olive Oyl. Normally, Popeye

was a pretty laid back guy, but every once in a while, his nemesis, Brutus, would push things too

far with Popeye’s ―goil,‖ and Popeye would blow a gasket. His pulse would race, his blood

pressure would skyrocket, and he’d yell: ―That’s all I can stands, and I can’t stands it no more!‖

Then, he’d rip open a can of spinach, gulp it down, and this stream of supernatural strength

would flow into his body – turning Popeye into this unstoppable force for good.

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Well – Hybels argues that God has buried in every one of us that same sort of ―holy

indignation‖ where we say, ―That’s all I can stands, and I can’t stands it no more!‖ A certain

problem or injustice makes your blood boil, and you feel you have to act.

Bill wanted to see how widespread this ―Popeye Principle‖ was, so he started surveying the

volunteers at his church. He found that - whether they were children’s ministry workers or

landscape volunteers – almost every one of them was able to identify a ―Popeye Moment‖ that

had propelled them to volunteer in the ministry they served.

Their ―Popeye Moments‖ ranged the gamut:

• A businessman visited a 3rd world country filled with starving kids, and came back with

a fire in his gut to effect change.

• A young mom battled through the pain of having lost a baby, and resurfaced with a

determination to minister to other grieving women.

• A newly married couple watched the news, and heard about a country struggling under a

corrupt political regime. They began advocating for individual rights in their sphere of

influence.

These volunteers discovered the nature of their spiritual legacy when they got stirred up by the

same thing that stirs up the heart of their Creator. Some source of frustration fueled this raging-

fire within their souls.

Have you had a ―Popeye Moment?‖ Mine happened in 8th grade. I was sitting in something my

parents forced me to go to called ―confirmation class.‖ I was listening to this ancient pastor

blather on in a completely monotone voice about some church doctrine we had to memorize, and

I felt like I got flooded with rage! I had been lucky enough to have been raised by parents who

really lived out their faith by opening their hearts and lives to people in need, but this pastor was

making it seem like the life of faith was about memorizing church doctrines.

Here, this man had this incredible opportunity to be ministering to my peers – some of whom

were already having sex, doing drugs – one had even attempted suicide. Everyone in the room

knew it – but HE was clueless! How often does a pastor have a chance to get at 15 8th graders?

How could he make Jesus seem so boring, so irrelevant, so dead? This rage welled within me,

and I thought: ―That’s all I can stands, and I can’t stands it no more!‖ So I popped him in the

nose (No, I didn’t…), but my ―holy anger‖ propelled me to become a youth director during

college, and eventually pushed me to become a pastor. I wanted to make my faith relevant to

my peers!

What makes you consistently mad? Maybe it’s some kind of injustice or extreme poverty or bad

financial decisions. Maybe it’s loveless marriages or abused children or destructive divorce.

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Maybe it’s racism or green lakes or high taxes. Or maybe it’s boring churches or legalistic

Christians or under-challenged teenagers. What trips your trigger or raises your blood pressure?

That may be the place God made you to serve – the place where God’s created you to leave a

legacy.

Now, in case you’re thinking: ―Okay, Christine. You’re obviously a passionate, hot-headed

woman that gets fired up about a lot of things – but I’m not like you. I’m a simple, content sort

of person.‖

Yep. I am ―hot-headed,‖ but even if you just have the smallest ember of rage inside of you, I

want to encourage you to do something counter-intuitive: I want to invite you to go out and

―fuel‖ your discontent.

Fuel it

The tendency for us – when we see something that stirs up our anger or discontent – is to avoid it

– to distance ourselves from it. Our culture is an ace at this: ―If you see inner-city poverty,

move into the suburbs! If you don’t want to see starving children, turn off your TV!‖ But when

we distance ourselves from places of pain or suffering, we’re often distancing ourselves from the

very place God’s calling us to ―lean-in‖ to. Bill says that we need to ―move towards our area of

discontent until we get a clear direction from God as to what action you should take to resolve

it.‖

One thing that really bugs me is hungry children. My temptation is to distance myself from it,

because it breaks my heart. But I’ve found that the more time I spend with hungry children, the

more God starts formulating plans in my heart for how to help them.

The reason those children break my heart is because God keeps motivating me to try to DO

something about it! I know this is a part of the legacy God wants me to leave.

Now, if you can’t think of anything that gets you passionate and riled up to make change –

consider that perhaps you’ve insulated yourself from the things that God is most passionate

about.

If that’s you, YOU need to do some experimenting. Enlarge your world. Travel outside of your

normal circumstances. Visit other ministries. Go and work at the Food Pantry or Thursday

Table. Go down to New Orleans. Hang out with and talk to our kids in our youth ministry.

Eventually, you will have your ―Popeye Moment‖ where you’ll say, ―Now that I can’t stand, and

I can’t stands it no more!‖

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Follow it

Now, once you’ve found your frustration and fueled it until you’ve reached a steady boil, take

the risk, and follow it. You’ve got to reorient your life so you can DO something about that

thing that frustrates you. Reallocate your time, energy, and your money so you can help

eradicate the problem.

Nehemiah

When I think about Biblical characters who had to reorient their lives to leave their legacy, I

think of an OT character named, Nehemiah. When we meet Nehemiah, he’s living in the lap of

luxury in the Persian Empire. Nehemiah had the hard job of being the king’s wine taster, or the

―cup-bearer,‖ which meant that Nehemiah had the exhausting job of tasting the king’s wine to

make sure he wasn’t being poisoned. Yeh. You could say there was some ―risk-taking‖

involved, but on the whole, it had to be a little under-stimulating. But then, Nehemiah had his

―Popeye Moment.‖

One day, Nehemiah gets this terrible news about his ancestral home in Jerusalem. His brother

and friends return from there distressed, saying: ―You should have seen it! It was appalling!

The walls of Jerusalem are still rubble, and the city gates are still cinders!‖ Nehemiah’s blood-

pressure rises. He knows his fellow Jews back in Jerusalem are in trouble. If their wall of

protection is in ruins, anyone could attack. The people might be assimilated into other cultures,

and they’d likely lose their identity and faith. Worse than that - the nations surrounding them

would be mocking this God who wasn’t strong enough even to protect his own people.

Nehemiah’s trigger was tripped. Scripture says he broke down weeping at the news.

Now, Nehemiah had two options:

1) He could keep on being a ―Cup-bearer‖ and just sit on his anger. He could sit around

venting: ―I can’t believe….‖

2) He could consider that God had ignited this anger within him, and he had to DO

something about it.

Nehemiah chose the second option. He went to the king and advocated for his people. This

foreign king gave him safe passage and provision. Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem and

organized the people to start rebuilding the walls.

Nehemiah could have died being known as ―Cupbearer for the king‖ – it was a cushy,

respectable life. But instead, he let his anger propel him and left his legacy as ―Nehemiah,

Rebuilder of Walls-‖ a symbol of hope for an entire nation.

We ALL have to make the same choice Nehemiah did. When we get angry about an issue, we

can sit on it and stew and vent and become a whiner (Don’t you LOVE those people?) - or we

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can listen hard and consider that God might be talking to us. This might be the legacy we were

created to leave.

God does not want us to be whiny cupbearers. He wants us to DO something about the burdens

He places on our hearts. So - how do you get started? Our lives are so full already! How do

you reorient your life to live to start living out your legacy?

Three Steps for Making Your Legacy a Reality:

1) Come up with a personal vision statement. Get your family together, or take time to

yourself to create a personal vision statement. Listen to your anger and see what passions and

principles rise to the top. My spiritual mentor, Joan Tyvoll, has invited me to pick a ―life verse‖

– a Bible verse that embodies for you the legacy God has put on your heart – the verse that

embodies what you want to be about.

2) Set up measurable short-terms and long-term goals for yourself. Bob Colson, our Dunn

County Planner, says that the important thing in making changes is to be able to come up with

achievable goals and benchmarks – measures – that allow you to celebrate when you’ve arrived.

If one of the things that anger you is hunger, go through your budget, and see how you can

reorient things to set 3% more of your salary aside this year aside for relieving hunger. If you

don’t steer your boat, it will always follow the current.

3) Leverage everything you have to build your spiritual house. God has given you a lot of

resources – perhaps you have a house, a group of friends, time, a groups of skills, passions, and

ATM card. Hold those things up to God and ask him, ―Lord – how do we want me to use my

house to leave my spiritual legacy?‖ Leverage every resource you have for the sake of leaving

your spiritual legacy. If you’re willing to let him use it, God promises to use it well.

As I close today, I want to ask: ―What are you waiting for? In what other life are you going to

go all out? We all have this one shot to leave a lasting legacy…A legacy that says, ―I have been

trusted to carry God’s message of hope to an aching, fractured world in need.‖ Don’t rest until

your role in that is fulfilled.‖ (Hybels 136)

• What if we got angry about the fact that Dunn County is the 3rd poorest county in

Wisconsin and said, ―Lord, we want to help people in their struggles. Use us to change it?‖

• What if we got so sick of divorce, so sick of sexual abuse, so sick of drug addiction, that

we said, ―I’m fed up. Use me to change it?‖

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• What if every single one of us at Cedarbrook listened to their ―Popeye Moment,‖ allowed

God to fill us with supernatural strength? What if WE became an unstoppable force for good?

God has created you – He’s created Cedarbrook - to leave a legacy. Don’t miss out.

**Thank you to Juliet Fox, head of the Dunn County Visioning Team – for helping me think

through how to bring about change in a community.

** Thank you to Jamie Winsand, home builder for Timber Ridge Construction, for helping me

think through which ―corners‖ builders try to cut when building homes.

**Thank you to Bob Colson, Dunn County Planner, for granting me an interview on the current

issues facing Dunn County and how we might mobilize for change.

One Month to Live

Part Six: My Last Sermon

By F. Remy Diederich

If you are just joining us today I am closing out a six week series called One Month to Live; 30

days to a no regrets life. We have been asking the questions, What would I do if I only had one

month to live? How would I bring closure to my relationships? How would I make amends for

past regrets? And, how can I leave a legacy that lasts beyond the grave?

I hope you’ve been challenged by this series. I know I have. One woman told me that she wrote

her adult daughter an email, told her about the 30 day challenge and said, ―If I only had 30 days

to live I’d want you to know that I regret that we haven’t been closer over the years.‖ And she

said that simple email reestablished her relationship with her daughter. Isn’t that great? I’d love

to hear back from you what you’ve done as a result of this series.

Some of you know that to help keep me from procrastinating I set tomorrow, May 5th, as my

imaginary ―Drop Dead‖ date. And I’m glad I did that because it helped bring my life into focus

and it really helped me to prioritize what’s most important to me. I feel like I’m looking at life

through a new set of glasses.

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So, theoretically, if I were to die tomorrow, this would be my last sermon. Now if I knew for

sure that I was going to die tomorrow I’d throw out the clock and spend a lot of time thanking

God for all that he’s done and thanking you all for all you’ve done to make Cedarbrook a reality.

And then I’d close by casting some vision for where I hope Cedarbrook will go in the future in

my absence.

But a talk like that would take a lot of time – time that we don’t have today. And so I’m just

going to cut to the chase and focus on what I hope Cedarbrook looks like in the future if I’m not

around.

But first, I want to mention one thing that I like about what we’ve done so far. I think from the

beginning we’ve been a place for people to connect or reconnect with both church and God. So

many people have told me that they hated church for one reason or the other and then told me

how God used Cedarbrook to get them back on track spiritually. That always makes my day!

That’s especially great to hear because that was one of our biggest goals in starting Cedarbrook -

just bringing credibility back to God and church. And we’ve tried to do that by communicating

that you don’t have to be weird or judgmental or close minded to follow Jesus. And it’s okay to

doubt God or the Bible or disagree with the pastor and still follow Jesus. And you don’t have to

be perfect or quote the Bible all the time to be accepted here.

And if you have issues, or habits or addictions or been divorced, that doesn’t disqualify you from

following Jesus because we are all sinners who have issues. And you don’t have to be boring or

vote Republican or Democrat or Green and you can still have fun and laugh and rock and roll

and you can even like country music and follow Jesus!

I think all of these things have really made God and church approachable for people. In fact, a lot

of you are shocked to see that church has become more than a Christmas and Easter event in

your life - it’s become a weekly habit. It’s a part of your week that you actually look forward to

and feel like you missed something if you can’t make it.

One guy told me, ―A few years ago I was going in and out of a certain bar on Main Street and

today I was in the bookstore, two doors down, buying a Bible! Whoda thought?‖ He was

surprised at how much his priorities had changed after coming here for a while.

But if I were to die tomorrow I’d want to challenge you to not be content with merely showing

up on Sunday. As happy as I am that many of you are coming to church for the first time I’d

want to challenge you to go much deeper with God. You see, there’s a lot more to God and

church than a Sunday meeting.

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There’s a great picture of going deeper with God in the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel has a vision of

a spring that starts to flow out of the temple. Coming out of the temple tells us that this is God’s

spring. But the spring grows into a river. Ezekiel sees himself walking into this river first ankle

deep and then knee deep and then waist deep and then his feet lose touch and he’s swept along

by the current.

That’s the picture of what God wants to do in your life. He wants to transform you from merely

being a spiritual consumer - cooling your feet at your convenience in the river of God - to being

a spiritual producer – caught up in the flow of God’s Spirit and being taken by God to bless other

people.

Some of you can’t imagine that happening. You think you have to be a pastor or someone special

to be used by God. But that’s not true. God has a plan to use every one of us.

So, what does it look like to go deeper with God? Does that mean you go to church more often?

Does that mean you read your Bible more or pray more? Well, that might be a part of it. But

listen to what Jesus taught us to pray…

May your kingdom come, May your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew

6:10

Jesus wants us not only to PRAY that his kingdom comes to earth – that is, heaven comes to

earth. He wants us to MAKE his kingdom come to earth. That might sound strange but the Bible

tells us that we are citizens of heaven. Paul tells us…

We are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. Philippians 3:20

We are citizens of heaven sent here to bring God’s kingdom to earth. It’s like when the United

States sends ambassadors to other countries. They set up a little bit of the United States. They

speak English. They abide by the government of the United States and serve as a resource to

people in that country who want to know about the United States. That’s our mission – to

establish that kind window into heaven here on earth.

I like what Henri Nouwen has to say about mission…

When we live our lives as missions, we become aware that there is a home from where

we are sent and to where we have to return. We start thinking about ourselves as people

who are in a faraway country to bring a message or work on a project, but only for a

certain amount of time. When the message has been delivered and the project is finished,

we want to return home to give an account of our mission and to rest from our labours.

One of the most important spiritual disciplines is to develop the knowledge that the years

of our lives are years "on a mission. Henri Nouwen, Daily Meditation

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And that’s exactly what I want every one of us to understand before I go. You are here on a

mission. And your mission isn’t just to survive, pay your bills, have some fun and be religious

on Sunday. Your mission is to work together to bring heaven to earth. I’ll unpack what this

means in a minute.

But I’ve got to tell you – if I have one regret about Cedarbrook it’s that I haven’t painted a big

enough picture of what our mission is. Our stated mission is that we want to first experience and

then share the life-changing love of God. And that’s what we’ve been working at doing these

past five years.

But as I stared at our mission statement this past month I realized that Jesus called us to

something much bigger than that. We can’t settle for simply experiencing and sharing God’s

life-changing love. As good of a mission statement as it is I think it falls short of our calling.

Our mission is to establish an alternative kingdom here on earth for people to turn to when they

realize that this world has sold them out. We are to create an oasis of heaven that people can

turn to find healing and wholeness and a true sense of purpose for their lives.

And my regret is that I haven’t made that plain – I haven’t made that obvious over the years. I’m

afraid that I was so focused on helping people connect and reconnect with God and church that

maybe I failed to show you the full mission of the church. And my fear is that if I were to die

tomorrow- although I know that God used me to help people reconnect spiritually – my fear is

that I have only been successful in producing a new generation of church goers but I haven’t

been successful in showing you how to be a generation of kingdom builders. There’s a big

difference. Church goers are spiritual consumers. Kingdom builders are spiritual producers sent

on a mission.

And so, if this is my last sermon I want to at least have one shot at pointing you to something

bigger than experiencing God’s life-changing love. I want to show you what it means to bring

heaven to earth.

Now, I realize that ―bringing heaven to earth‖ sounds pretty strange. And it might sound

overwhelming. But it’s really quite simple. So let me take some time to unpack that for you. I’ve

got four characteristics of what heaven looks like when it comes to earth. And they all happen to

start with the letter ―m‖.

The Model of Heaven

The first M is the MODEL of heaven. What is the model God uses to bring heaven to earth?

Community. But it’s not a community of people who sit together. It’s the community of his

followers doing life together. You see, heaven isn’t expressed by random individuals gathering

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on Sunday to passively observe others perform and then return home to live the rest of their

week in isolation. That’s not a picture of heaven.

Heaven is modeled on earth when followers of Jesus share their lives together on a daily basis.

That’s where we see love and forgiveness and compassion and mercy in action. That’s

community. That’s what heaven looks like. And that’s my hope for Cedarbrook that increasingly

every one of us will move from living independent lives in isolation to interconnected lives in

community.

I was talking to Swen Erickson about his small group that meets in North Menomonie. They’ve

been meeting for a few years now and they’ve all gotten really close to each other. The other

night they went around the room and reminded each other of the prayer requests they’ve made

over the years and how God has answered them one by one. And Swen said that at the end of the

meeting everyone was in tears. It was a holy moment. That’s community. That’s a picture of

heaven.

There’s another small group here that impresses me (the Prochnow’s young couples group).

They’ve been meeting for a few years too and I see them sitting together in church and I see

them at restaurants together and I’ve heard that they have even taken vacations together. Folks,

that’s community. That’s church. That’s what happens when heaven breaks into this world –

people share their lives with each other.

So, if these are my last words I want you to know that whether community happens in a

structured way through small groups or an unstructured spontaneous way as you meet people

naturally, I hope that people doing life together in community becomes the standard for people

who call Cedarbrook their home.

The Mantra of Heaven

The second M is for the mantra of heaven. A mantra is the thing that you repeat over and over.

And the mantra of heaven ―Jesus is Lord‖. The word ―lord‖ comes from the days of slavery. A

lord is the person that has complete control of your life. It says in the book of Revelation that

God’s name is written on everyone’s forehead and there is no need for the sun because the light

from Jesus lights up the world. In other words, Jesus is at the center of everything in heaven and

that should be our goal here on earth too – to show people what it looks like to be fully submitted

to Jesus in every area of life.

In my first sermon in this series I passed on a little saying from Kerry Shook that said..

Give God the first day of your week,

The first moments of your day,

The first of your income and

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The first thoughts in any decision you make.

But as I thought about that I decided it was inadequate. You see, sometimes we think that if we

give God the first part of something that means that the rest is ours to do with it what we please.

For example…as long as I give God Sunday then I can live the other six days however I want. If

I read the Bible and pray every morning then I can live for myself the rest of the day. If I give

God 10% of my money then I can spend the other 90% any way I like. But that’s not putting

Jesus first in everything. That’s just being religious. So I want to amend that saying to this…

Give God every day of your week,

Every moment of your day,

Every dollar of your income [that is, spend your money as if it was all God’s money] and

All the thoughts in any decision you make.

You might say, Remy, that’s radical. But not for a citizen of heaven. For a citizen of heaven it’s

normal. But that’s the difference between being religious…WHERE YOU are in control of what

you do and being full of the Spirit WHERE GOD has full control of what you do. I think we are

too quick to congratulate ourselves when we are ankle deep in the river of God. We say, ―I’m

going to church on Sundays! I’m reading my Bible! Woohoo! Aren’t I doing great spiritually?‖

And that is great, but that’s not the end. That’s not the pinnacle of spirituality! That’s just the

beginning. So, if I die tomorrow, don’t stay in the shallow side of the river. Keep going deeper

by making Jesus lord. Keeping going until your feet don’t touch the bottom and the Spirit of

God has full control of your life.

The Mission of Heaven

The next M is the mission of heaven. Our mission as a heavenly community is restoration. Let

me give you an example. How many of you here like boats? What do boats leave behind them?

A wake, right? You can tell a lot about a boat and its driver by the wake that follows the boat.

Have you ever been in a wake-free zone when some hotshot came flying through in their boat

and their wake knocked everything around? Some churches are like that. Their wake is

destructive. It’s important to look at your wake and see the impact that it has on people.

My point here is that when heaven invades earth it leaves a wake and that wake is restoration.

The book of Isaiah talks about God’s wake. It brings…

beauty for ashes

the oil of gladness for mourning

and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair…

Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins.

They will raise up the former devastations.

And they will repair the ruined cities. Isaiah 61:3-6

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Heaven is a place of restoration. And so when heaven comes to earth restoration happens. And

when a church passes by it should leave restoration in its wake too.

Broken relationships should be reconciled.

Divorced people should find hope.

Addicts should recover.

The oppressed should find justice.

The hungry should be fed.

Flooded homes in New Orleans should be rebuilt.

Uncared for gardens in Boyceville should be weeded.

Old hymns should be given a new beat.

And wayward people should be reunited with God.

If I die tomorrow I hope Cedarbrook will increasingly becomes known as a place that leaves a

wake of restoration wherever you go.

The Manner of Heaven

The final M is the manner in which we bring heaven to earth. I want to mention two things here;

first, generous, joyful sacrifice.

Whether I’m here or not, I want Cedarbrook to be a great church. I want Cedarbrook to live up to

its full calling. But as far as I can tell great things never happen without great sacrifice. I’ve

never seen anything great come from half-hearted effort, have you? And I’ve never seen any

games won by people standing on the sidelines. Games are won when people are willing to get

dirty and give it their all.

When I was in first grade my baseball team regularly had races to see who the fastest kid on the

team was. I kept coming in second or third. Bobby Lameroux always came in first! And so my

dad told me,

Remy, if you want to have a chance at winning you can’t just run fast. Running fast isn’t

good enough. You have to run until it hurts.

I had never heard that before. In other words, you can’t hold anything back. You have to give

everything you’ve got. And you know you’ve given everything you’ve got because it starts to

hurt.

And I think that’s true for the church too. If you want a great church…if you want to be a model

of heaven on earth you have to give until it hurts. You can’t just do what’s convenient. Your

giving has to move you out of your comfort zone to a place of risk, to a point of sacrifice. That

means that you give time that you didn’t think you had time to give or you give money you

didn’t think you could afford to give.

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Do you remember the woman in the Bible who gave her last two coins to the temple? Did Jesus

call her crazy? No, he commended her.

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd

putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts.

But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of

a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has

put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she,

out of her poverty, put in everything--all she had to live on." Matthew 12:41-44

Jesus commended her giving because her action reflected the generosity of heaven. And so my

prayer for Cedarbrook is that a spirit of generous joyful sacrifice would be so prominent here that

when people encounter you they say,

―I can’t believe what I’m seeing. They don’t hold anything back. I’ve never seen such

generosity. I’ve never seen such sacrifice. And they seem to be so happy about it. They

are the real deal. They are fully committed to God’s work. And I’m compelled to be a

part of what they are about.‖

That’s the first manner of heaven.

The second manner in which we live out heaven on earth is fun. We’ve always made a point to

have fun around here and if I die tomorrow, I hope you’ll continue to do that. In fact, when I die,

I hope you’ll have fun at my funeral! If you were here at the concert on Sunday, that was fun!

Someone told me yesterday that the concert was like ―New Years Eve fun!‖ And that’s a good

thing.

You see, fun models heaven too. There’s just something about laughter that softens the heart and

brings people together. It’s hard to hold a grudge against someone when you are laughing with

them. Isn’t that true? That’s why if a married couple is at odds it’s good to do things together to

make you laugh because it breaks down the barriers and helps you to start talking. So don’t ever

feel guilty or less spiritual for having fun. Fun is just as much a part of heaven as is sacrifice. In

fact they often go together.

Well, those are my last words. Remember your mission isn’t to attend meetings. Your mission

is to bring heaven on earth. If I die I’ll be watching. And if I don’t see you bringing heaven to

earth I’m going to ask Jesus to come after you!

But I hope you hear what I’m saying today. I’m raising the bar for us. Just showing up is a start

but that will never bring heaven to earth. And that’s our mission. It’s time to go deeper. It’s time

to go beyond ankle deep spiritually and go knee deep and waist deep and then finally lose

yourself in God’s spirit all together.

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That’s when things will get exciting around here. Can you imagine the impact of a church fully

committed to bringing heaven to earth? I hope I’m here to enjoy that. In many ways I feel like

I’m just learning how to pastor. I feel like I’m just getting to know people. So, I hope I wake up

tomorrow. But if not, I want you to take Cedarbrook to the next level.

Prayer: Father, thank you for giving birth to this community and showing us what it means to

follow you. Forgive us for reducing church to a mere meeting. Might you use Cedarbrook to

invade earth with heaven. Might thousands come to know you through our witness. And might

you get all the credit.

Now to him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think,

according to the power that works within us, to him be the glory in the church and in

Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20