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The speaker discusses the concept of living in "airplane mode," which means disconnecting from the distractions of the world and focusing on one's relationship with Christ. The three attributes of an authentic follower of Jesus are seeking God, serving others, and sharing one's faith. Each person is a unique masterpiece created by God with a specific purpose and assignment. Living according to this assignment requires recognizing the authority of God and following His direction. You are a unique, one-of-a-kind work of art that God Himself has created. And none of His works of art get tucked away in the back of the studio with a cover over it. No, they are all put on display to the world as a reflection of the Creator, of the Master. You are a masterpiece. Welcome to Elevate, the radio ministry of Authentic Life Church in Mobile, Alabama. We pray that it builds your faith, helps you to live a life for God that you've always wanted to live, and that it inspires you to be a fully devoted, authentic follower of Jesus Christ. Here's today's message. Today's speaker is Pastor John DiQuatro. Today we are going to wrap up this series that we've been in called Airplane Mode. And we kind of entered into this at the beginning of the year just wanting to maybe do a little bit of a reset, get ourselves into that place where we are exercising spiritual disciplines in our life. And we've been saying every week, right, we have Airplane Mode on our phone, and that disconnects us from the Internet and all the things that come through the Internet, right? And that's a good thing, but we need Airplane Mode in our lives. We need to be able to disconnect from this world, from everything that's pulling at us, everything that is vying for our time and for our attention, and focus on doing the things that are going to cause our relationship with Christ, number one, to increase and improve and grow and strengthen, but also that we would be an expression of God's love here on the earth. And that's what we are to do that. So we've covered all of these things, right? We've talked about prayer. We've talked about worship and Bible study. We've talked about rest and living simply so that we're not so connected to all the world's goods and things that this world has to offer. And last week we talked about generosity and what it means to be generous with all that we are toward God. We learned through the parable of the Good Samaritan last week. And so this week we're going to wrap this all up. And I want to talk about something that I believe kind of... I don't think what we're going to talk about today is necessarily a spiritual discipline according to the definition that we've been using, but I think it's something that kind of ties everything together. And I believe it is something that is a core part of the vision of this church. We know that we've talked a lot, especially anytime that we preach on the vision of this church, we talk a lot about authentic identity, right? And when we say identity, we're not talking about who I am or what's on my driver's license or the dreams that I have and the things that I want to do and my skills and my talent. We're talking about what's the purpose for which God placed you on this earth. That is your real identity. That's your authentic identity because it was given to you by God. Not by your parents, not by the government, not by your job, not by your school or your career choice. But we know that when we are living in authentic identity, then we are living according to what God created us to be. And so as a reminder, the vision of this church is expressed as follows. Authentic Life Church exists to build a community of fully devoted, authentic followers of Jesus Christ. That's not a very specific vision, right? What does it mean to be fully devoted? What does an authentic follower of Jesus Christ actually look like? And we've answered those questions in part as we've talked about the three authentic attributes of what we believe makes an authentic believer, right? The first one is that saved people seek God. Everybody say that. Saved people seek God. That's right. They actively pursue a relationship with their Creator. They search the Scriptures and they not only learn and know what's in there, but they pattern their lives according to the principles in the Word of God. They pray and ask God to be active in their everyday lives, right? They're engaging in the Holy Spirit and they seek the Holy Spirit's guidance regarding their God-given purpose. Saved people seek God. But the second one that we've talked about, who knows it? Saved people serve people. Saved people serve people, right? We've covered this recently in airplane mode. We did a week about serving, right? The discipline of serving, of humbling ourselves to serve others. The Bible tells us that Jesus came to serve, not to be served. So we've got to push away the desire to be served and to try to be somebody in the world's eyes. Because what the world thinks of us doesn't matter. Because we're not going to stand before anyone in this world when we get to the end. Right? We're going to stand before Jesus. We're going to stand before God and He is going to be the one that we're going to be concerned about. What do you think about me? Right? So let's not try to be somebody and try to be... Let's humble ourselves like Jesus did and serve. And the last one is that saved people... Saved people, right? An authentic follower of Jesus Christ is concerned about the souls of others. They share their faith. They invite folks to church. They testify of God's goodness whenever they can. And they engage in activities in service to the Great Commission to go and make disciples of all nations. And so these, I think, are really great guide rails for us as believers. Saved people seek God. Saved people serve people. And saved people save people. Living this way is a good start, right? But really, when it comes down to it, these three attributes, right? These are only a part of the story. It's not the whole story of what it means to be an authentic follower of Jesus Christ. And the reason is this. Because we are not just meant to be cookie cutter and all the same. God has made each of us individually and has gifted each one of us with a specific purpose. And I'm glad that we're not all supposed to be carbon copies of each other. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2 if you could. We're going to look at verse 10 here. It says this, For we are God's masterpiece. Everybody say masterpiece. We are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago. Now we have to realize that when Paul was writing Scriptures like this, he wasn't writing them to individuals. He was writing them to churches. And so he's writing this to a church. We are God's masterpiece, right? But this one also has a very, very personal meaning to each and every one of us. As we are God's masterpiece individually as well. There are works of art that are regarded as masterpieces all throughout the world. The Mona Lisa. The Sistine Chapel. The statue of David. Van Gogh's Starry Night. Or American Gothic. That's the pitchfork. Masterpieces. And the thing about masterpieces is that they are unique. By very definition, they are different than any other thing. And they rise above in terms of creativity and skill and quality. That's what a masterpiece is. Now imagine if someone went and painted the Mona Lisa again. And then released it to the world as a new work of art. We'd look at him and we'd say, Ah, no. This is the Mona Lisa. This is just da Vinci's work of art. That's his masterpiece. Yours is just a cheap knockoff. In fact, if there were two Mona Lisas in the world, neither of them would be considered very special or unique, nor would they be regarded as a masterpiece. So it's no accident in the Bible, when we read that it uses this language that says, We are God's masterpiece. It means that each and every one of you are a unique expression of God's Spirit within you. Think about that. You are you. No matter where you've been from, no matter what you've experienced in your life, or what you think about yourself, you are a unique, one-of-a-kind work of art that God Himself has created. And none of His works of art get tucked away in the back of the studio with a cover over it. No, they are all put on display to the world as a reflection of the Creator, of the Master. You are a masterpiece. And because of that, the way that I carry out the purpose and call of God in my life is not the way that you will carry out God's call and purpose in your life. We're different. We are built differently. We are given different gifts and different skills, and we have been built for different purposes in this earth. So it would be unnatural for you to try to be me, or for me to try to be you. So while we may not all be designed to do the same thing, and while it is unnatural for us to try to do something other than that for which we are created, one thing we can all be sure of is that we are a unique masterpiece. And God has good works planned out for each of us. So if we're all living by the same Word of God, if we're all living following the same Jesus, then what differentiates each one of us? Well, this is what differentiates us. Our assignments. That's what differentiates us. It's the assignment that God has called us to. And so when we hear that word assignment with regards to our walk with Christ, it brings up a few ideas. And the first is this. There is an authority above us that is calling the shots. An assignment is a thing to which we have been assigned. It's plain and simple. And it kind of takes out the free agent aspect of living our lives. You know, just like at work, it's your boss that assigns you tasks. It's not your co-workers. It's not you. He knows what needs to be done, or she knows what needs to be done, and they tell you what to do. They give you an assignment. And it's how we are to live our lives as we follow Christ. Knowing that we are not in control of our own lives. And there is a higher authority that gives us direction, and that will allow us to carry out our God-given assignment. This is how Jesus lived. Jesus was not on the earth and just given carte blanche to do whatever He wanted. He was not a free agent on this earth. He was under authority, and He was given a particular assignment to accomplish. Look at John 6, verse 38, it says this, For I have come down from heaven, not to do My will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me. Look what He says in Mark chapter 3, beginning in verse 31, Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call Him. The crowd was sitting around Him, and they told Him, Your mother and brothers are outside looking for You. Who are My mother and My brothers? He asked. Then He looked at those seated in a circle around Him and said, Here are My mother and My brothers. Whoever does God's will is My brother and My sister and My mother. Jesus understood that He was not a free agent, nor were His followers meant to be free agents. He said, You're a part of the family. You're a mother, or you're a brother, and He could have gone on. You're a sister, or you're a cousin, or a grandmother, whatever. You're part of the family when you are about the will of the Father. That's what He's saying. So Jesus understood that He wasn't a free agent. Now He could have been. We all can be. We can be a free agent if we want. We do have free will. But as followers of Christ, we must do what Jesus said to do, and that is to die daily, to die to ourselves, to die to selfishness, to die to worldly thinking, and follow Christ. As we do that, we carry out the assignment that we are given, and not our own agenda. Too many of us are following our own agenda, but what we've got to realize is that the only person allowed to have an agenda is God. And then God gives each and every one of us assignments. Jesus understood that He wasn't a free agent. He understood that there was an authority above Him. So when we hear the word assignment, we think of that, right? That there is an authority above us that is calling the shots. Another thing that comes to mind, at least for me, when I hear the word assignment, is the military. You know, each platoon or brigade in wartime, they are assigned to very specific things, right? Maybe this group here has to secure a particular area. Maybe this group over here has to protect an asset. Maybe this group has to take out infrastructure or capture a particular leader. Whatever they're doing, they're all doing different things, but they're all fighting the same war. And they have the same goal. And that's how we must look at our individual assignments here on earth. The ultimate goal is the proliferation of the gospel throughout the world that His house would be full and that none would perish to build and grow disciples of Jesus Christ and announce the salvation of Jesus Christ to all who will hear. That is our common goal. But in order for that goal to be accomplished, we all must embrace our particular assignments, our role in that common goal. In the military, not all the platoons and companies know what all the others are doing. They trust that the leadership, the one above them, has the bigger picture. And so they follow orders. We may not understand the big picture. We may not know exactly why God puts us on certain assignments and calls us to do certain things, but He does. And we have to learn to trust that. We can't look at somebody else and be like, oh, but I wish I had His assignment. No, you weren't built to do His assignment, nor were you assigned to His assignment. We've got to trust that the one over us, that God the Father, the Creator of all things, knows the bigger picture and how you fit into it. And so we're going to look here in the book of Acts at a story here about Paul, and I'm going to give you a little context, just by way of illustrating about assignment, a little context about what we're about to read. Paul was in a town called Lystra, and things didn't go so well for him there. He was dragged out of town and left for dead, for preaching the gospel. He was beaten up, he was stoned, dragged out of town and left there to die. But by the grace of God, he gets up, and he goes back into Lystra. He goes back into town for the night, and then in the morning, he moves on to a town called Derby. And while he was in Derby, many people heard the gospel, many were converted, many were discipled by Paul and Barnabas. Barnabas was his companion on this particular journey. But here's what happens next. He gets beat up, stoned, drug out of the city, left for dead. He moves on to Derby, he preaches the gospel. This is the next part of the story, in Acts chapter 14, beginning in verse 21. After preaching the good news in Derby and making many disciples, Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia, where they strengthened the believers. You see where he returned to? Lystra. This is where he just got kicked out of. They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. Then they traveled back through Pisidia to Pamphylia. They preached the word in Perga, then went down to Italia. Finally, they returned by ship to Antioch of Syria, where their journey had begun. The believers there had entrusted them to the grace of God to do the work they had now completed. Upon arriving in Antioch, they called the church together and reported everything God had done through them and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles too. And they stayed there with the believers for a long time. See, what we just read here is that after getting beaten and stoned and dragged out of town and left for dead, Paul goes to Derbe. He preaches and then returns right back to the town of Lystra. Now, why would he do something so stupid? Why would he do something so dangerous, so life-threatening? Because Paul and Barnabas were on assignment from God. And they had not finished what God had sent them to do. So what does this speak to us? When we read about Paul and Barnabas realizing that they're still unfinished work and they're willing to put themselves in harm's way in order to complete the assignment, what does this tell us? I think it speaks to us this, this passage of Scripture, is that your assignment is unique. You know, there were twelve disciples and there was Paul, the apostle, and they were all doing different things. Peter was off doing something else. James and John and Philip, they were all off on different assignments. They were all sharing the gospel in different parts of the known world. But the assignment to go to Lystra and the surrounding area, that was Paul's assignment. That was uniquely Paul's assignment. It was not for Peter to do. It wasn't for James to do. It wasn't for Philip to do. So when Paul is beaten and stoned and booted out of the city and left for dead, he was not deterred. Why? Because that was his assignment. It was nobody else's assignment. He wasn't okay just saying, well, that was hard. I guess I'll move on. No. He knew the challenges that he would face in going back there, so he took some time to regroup, to heal up, to get strong again, and he went right back to where God had assigned him because he knew, this is my assignment. It's not for any of these other apostles. And if I don't do it, there's nobody else that's going to get it done for me. And so he went right back to where God assigned him, which leads me to the next thing that I think we can see out of here. That is this. Accomplishing your assignment will not necessarily be easy. The assignment that God gives you, the uniqueness of the assignment that God gives you, is not necessarily going to be easy. I'm not sure that I've ever accomplished anything of real significance that was easy. Yeah, I can do lots of little insignificant things, just keep myself busy throughout my life, but the ones that really make a difference, the ones of eternal importance, those things are never easy. Folks, we have got to let go of the American spiritual wisdom in a can that says things like, well, if it's easy, then it must be God. Or God will never give us more than we can handle. We love to quote these proverbs, right? But they're damaging, and we say them to people like they're actually Scripture. And they're not. They're platitudes that we've made up to try to reconcile the difficulty of life with a God who loves us. But you know what? The God who loves us never promised us an easy life. God will usually give you more than you can handle. Why? Because He wants you to rely on Him. Plain and simple. He wants to do the work through you. Your assignment is not going to be easy. And whether your assignment is to raise a special needs child, or your assignment is to preach the gospel to millions of people in Africa, whatever that assignment that you have is from God, that you know this is what I'm supposed to be right here at this moment, this is my assignment, it's not going to be easy for you. But don't let that scare you. Because you'll find that as you walk hand in hand, step by step, over every hurdle and up every hill and through rough terrain, you'll know that Jesus is with you the whole way. And there is no greater peace than knowing that you are in the center of God's will. Can I tell you that? You know, in a hurricane, the center is very calm and still, right? The eye. And even though that things can be swirling all around, and there's a lot of bad things that happen with a hurricane, the very, very center is a peaceful place. And when you're in the center of God's will, there may be challenging things, there may be things swirling around you, there may be all kinds of craziness, it may be hard, it may be difficult, but there is peace when you're in the center of God's will. So don't be afraid because things get difficult for you. For Paul and Barnabas, they faced some real serious opposition. And we read about that already, but at the end of the story, it's so beautiful. Let's read this with me again, beginning at verse 26. This is finally. They returned by ship to Antioch. That's that same area where Lystra is and all that, right? Where their journey had begun. The believers there had entrusted them to the grace of God to do the work they had now completed. Hear that? They entrusted them to the grace of God to do the work that they had now completed. Upon arriving in Antioch, they called the church together and reported everything God had done through them and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles too, and they stayed there with the believers for a long time. Listen, when it was all said and done, after he gets beat, after he gets stoned, after he gets left for dead, after he flees town, and then he comes back, after all of that, Paul was able to spend time with the fruit of his labor. His labor, a community of believers that he loved, and that loved him equally, satisfied that he didn't run away from the assignment that God had called him to, but he completed it. Such a beautiful end to that story. And the third thing I want you to know, number one, your assignment is unique. There's nobody else that's been assigned your assignment. Number two, it's not going to be easy, but if it's God, there's peace knowing you're in the center of God's will, and that's good. And number three, you have everything that you need to fulfill your assignment. Everything. You know, when God called out to Moses from the burning bush, He told Moses what He was going to do. Hey, you're going to go to Pharaoh. You're going to stand before Him. You're going to demand that He release My people. And you're going to tell Pharaoh everything that I tell you to say. And then you're going to lead this former group of slaves. You're going to lead Israel out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. But Moses, you know what, while given such an incredible assignment, Moses answers this way in Exodus 4 verse 1, Moses answered, What if they do not believe Me or listen to Me and say, The Lord did not appear to you? What's Moses saying here? He's saying, God, this assignment scares me. He's saying, I don't think I can convince the Pharaoh. I don't think the people are really going to listen to me. But God is not deterred because He knows that He created and prepared Moses for this. So He responds. Exodus 4, beginning of verse 2, He says, Then the Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? Now if we read further, we'll see that Moses responds, Well, it's a staff. I have a staff in my hand. God says, Alright, we'll throw it down. He throws the staff down and it becomes a snake. And then He says, Pick it back up. He picks it back up and it turns back into a staff. And then from that point on, you see that while Moses was leading the people, that staff, God used it to do many miracles. He did the snake trick in front of the Egyptians, in front of Pharaoh. He used it, he held it up over the waters of the Red Sea and the Red Sea parted. He struck the rock and water came gushing out of it to water all of the people of Israel. God is asking all of us, What is in your hand? You see, it wasn't the staff that was magical. It was that God placed it in Moses' hands. And when God placed it in Moses' hands, all Moses had to do was be obedient and God would do the rest. So what is He placed in your hand? Because you're saying that you have everything that you need to fulfill your assignment. I promise you, God did not call you without equipping you. It's there. You've got to determine what that is. And He's asking you, What's in your hand? What has God assigned to you that scares you to death? What is God asking you to do that you feel completely ill-equipped to do? But then He says, But what have I given you? What have I placed in your hand? God has placed gifts in our hands. We talked with the men yesterday at our men's breakfast and we read that scripture. It says that, Hey, what has God given you? He's given gifts to everyone. If your gift is to prophesy, then prophesy. If your gift is to serve, then serve. If your gift is to give, then give generously. If your gift is to lead, then you go for it and you lead people. But whatever gift that God has given you, He says, Use it for Me. He's placed something in your hand. Gifts that will enable us to complete our assignment through His power. Don't think that God will ever call you somewhere where He has not equipped you. No matter what you think about yourself. No matter what you think about your abilities or your skills or your qualifications, God will always equip you for the assignment that He gives to you. Everything you need is in your hand. Everything is in you. Use it. We all have an assignment. It's a unique assignment. It's a challenging assignment. It's not easy. But God has equipped you to fulfill that assignment. And one last thing. Because we like to think a lot about what do I want. We try to square that with God's will in your life. But sometimes your assignment is not the thing that you want. Thank you for listening to Elevate. We pray that this message encouraged, inspired, and challenged you. Authentic Life Church is located at 3750 Michael Boulevard in Mobile, Alabama. Visit our website authenticlife.tv for more information about Authentic Life Church, to find out what we have going on, or to make a donation. We'd love for you to join us on Sundays at 10 a.m. for our weekend service. We have excellent children's, nursery, and youth programs, so bring the family. Thanks again for listening to Elevate, and may God bless you.
