AtomSetting Your Course With the Vector Principle in Mind
Luke 14:25-33
Grace to you and peace that comes from God our Father, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who comes to us through His Holy Spirit, Amen.
Suppose you were on a nonstop flight to Asia and heard this announcement: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We’re traveling west across the Pacific Ocean. In a few hours, you will be able to look down and see land. When that happens, we are going to start looking for a big city with an airport. If we find one before our fuel runs out, we will land. Then we will figure out where we are and decide where we want to go next. In the meantime folks, just sit back and relax and enjoy your trip.
“Would you have a relaxed flight? Wouldn’t it be better if somebody had planned ahead?”
It has been said that the average American spends more time planning for their vacation than they do planning for their life.
Jesus certainly believed we need a plan for our lives. On one occasion he told his disciples:
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down plan it out??”
“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and plan it out??”
It’s Rally Day 2007…a Day to “Kick-off” another year of growth in faith and life…and we’re ready to go!!!
• Sunday School is underway…teachers are trained…kids are ready to go!!
• There’s a new exciting curriculum called GRAPPLE happening with our 5th and 6th graders!!
• The choir is back in worship after taking the summer off (from singing…not worship)
• The Pancake crew is ready to serve you right after worship today!!!
• Oasis gets going this Wednesday…with opportunities for learning for all ages
• As a church, WE have A LOT to look forward too…
• Talk is happening as to when to send out some rebuilding teams….
It’s Rally Day 2007…a time to set course for the next year…individually and as a congregation.
Let’ start with Individually…
I was introduced this week to a little book called LIFEFOCUS by Jerry Foster. In this book, he refers to each of the 4 important areas of our life – our health, our finances, our relationships, our spiritual life; reminding us that these are our assets. And all four are necessary to our well-being.
Foster asks: “How do you want your life to end?
• With your final breath do you want to utter, ‘What a satisfying, fulfilling, and meaningful life I have lived’?
• Do you desire your relationship with your spouse and children to grow closer and stronger right to the very end?
• Do you want to leave a rich legacy of material and nonmaterial treasures for your heirs?
• Do you hope that friends and coworkers who attend your memorial service are filled with gratitude for your contribution to their lives?”
If you answer yes to these questions, then you need a plan to make it happen. Foster suggests a very practical plan which he calls “the Vector Principle.”
Here’s a practical application to help us understand. Let’s return to our airplane…we’re flying to Europe. But somehow right at the beginning of our flight, we are knocked off course just a few degrees south. As we keep flying, that little discrepancy in our direction is amplified over time and distance many, many times…Meaning, ultimately we don’t arrive in Europe at all. We arrive somewhere in North Africa.
This is the vector principle. Just a few degrees off at our point of origin produces a large variation in our final destination. Small changes at one point in your life produce major, life-affecting results later in life. And, it works both ways…
How does this apply??
• For our physical asset: Let’s suppose that a person decides at age 35 to jog two miles every day, and she keeps this up day after day. Can you see that this small change in this person’s lifestyle might have major ramifications for her health 35 years later? A small change, but with major consequences. The same might be said for taking up walking two miles every day at age 65.
• In our financial area: Do you know that putting $ 50 every month into a mutual fund when you are 25 can produce significant results when you reach retirement age? A small doable change, but the rewards can be significant. And, while many of us are now beyond 25, it is never too late to begin sound financial habits.
• In our relationships: What might happen if you began today finding a way daily to pay more attention to your spouse or your children or a friend…say 15 minutes a day? Might it not strengthen your relationship in such a way that you will be able to count on each other’s love and loyalty right until the end of life?
• And then there’s our relationship with God. What would it mean for your spiritual life if you began spending a little time each day in God’s presence, listening for God’s guidance in how you should lead your life and committing yourself daily, unconditionally to walking in the way God would have you go?
The vector principle. Making small, doable changes at one point in your life which produce major, life-affecting results later in your life.
This Rally Day, let’s ask…what would these adjustments be for you? Consider writing it down!
Take each of these four areas of your life – your finances, your health, your relationships, especially your relationship with your spouse or your children, and your relationship with God.
What is one doable adjustment you can make to improve each of these areas of your life? And know that this is not a frivolous thing. Foster writes:
The day you do this could be the most important day of your life as you would make a few small DOABLE changes today that would change your final life destination significantly!
NOTE: the ½ page sheet is intended to be a conversation starter during meal time today, or during halftime of the Vikings game (while they make their mid-game adjustments you can be making your LIFE adjustments!!!)
It’s Rally Day 2007…a time to set course for the next year…individually and as a congregation.
How about as a Congregationally…
It’s been said that EVERY MEMBER of EVERY CHURCH owes their church and their Lord Jesus at least one significant YES every year…as a member of the Body of Christ…and as their response to the call of Jesus.
At First Lutheran, 100’s of you have given your YES over and over and over again. Here’s a small list…
• Over 100 have said YES to being a part of the educational ministry of First Lutheran.
• Dozens have said their YES to being in the ministry of the Quilters…
• Hundred’s serve in the worship ministry through ushering, greeting, serving communion, reading lessons, altar guild, and more…
• Hundred’s also serve in our hospitality ministry at funerals, coffee time, special events, and the many more times the Action Corp is placed into service.
• Members of The BeFriender ministry serve so faithfully, without recognition, those who need to be BeFriended in the community.
• And, we could give dozen’s more examples…all significant YES’S to the call of Jesus and the church…and…
Today, on Rally Day, we celebrate the many “YES’S” spoken by God’s people…and lift up the need for more and more followers of Jesus to offer their Yes’s…
Think about it this way…
Several centuries ago in a mountain village in Europe, a wealthy nobleman wondered what legacy he should leave to his townspeople. He made a good decision. He decided to build them a church. No one was permitted to see the plans or the inside of the church until it was finished. At its grand opening, the people gathered and marveled at the beauty of the new church. Everything had been thought of and included. It was a masterpiece.
But then someone said, “Wait a minute! Where are the lamps? It is really quite dark in here. How will the church be lighted?” The nobleman pointed to some brackets in the walls, and then he gave each family a lamp, which they were to bring with them each time they came to worship.
“Each time you are here’” he said, “the place where you are seated will be lighted. Each time you are not here, that place will be dark. This is to remind you that whenever you fail to enter into the community of faith, some part of God’s house will be dark.”
It’s a poignant story, isn’t it? And it makes a very significant point about the importance of our commitment and loyalty to the church and to Jesus…about our YES to Jesus!!!
• It’s take the YES of every follower of Jesus…every day and week and month and year…for the church to be the church that Jesus has called and empowered us to be!!
• It’s take the YES of every followers of Jesus…for the church to be the LIGHT to the WORLD that Jesus has called and empowered us to be!!!
The right side of your sheet lifts up many of the general areas of ministry at First Lutheran. Take a look and see…where your YES has been…or could be spoken for the Good of the community of Faith.
Actually, I so look forward to the day when those in leadership and the recruitment areas of ministry tell me that, instead of needing to be calling people to ask for their service and ministry, they have been overwhelmed with phone calls saying, “How can I help?” I long for the day…when phone call after phone calls comes in…saying:
• Sign me up to read a lesson, usher, serve communion, sing in the choir, offer a solo
• I’ll be there to teach…when do you need me Joy, Wade, Angie, Eric???
• Drama ministry…that’s me!! Rick, what are the plans??
• Any funerals this week when you need some help…count me in!!!
• Sunday school rooms need painting…I’ll do that Judy….
It’s Rally Day 2007…a time to set course for the next year…individually and as a congregation.
A time when we’re called to be looking forward to what God has in store for us! Called to be like the woman who underwent a very delicate form of brain surgery.
In removing the tumor, the doctors were concerned that the slightest miscue could cause the loss of either her memory or her eyesight. So they asked the woman to choose which side of the brain tissue to enter with their scalpels. In other words, if she had to lose one of those senses, which would she prefer to lose? Wisely, she said, “Let me think about it overnight, and I’ll tell you tomorrow which sense is more important to me.”
The next day she told the doctors, “If I had to lose either memory or sight, I would prefer to lose my memory.”
When asked how she arrived at her decision, she calmly replied, “I’d rather see where I’m going than remember where I’ve been.”
This is the story of the Old Testament people in our first lesson as they stood looking into the future with God. They were called to choose to look forward and choose LIFE and ministry that God had set before them…
As we look to the future in front of us, Jesus reminds us that, in order to grow in faith, we also need to make plans to grow in faith and life!!! What did Jesus say:
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower.
“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king.
His words carry a very practical message about living. Think about your life. Where are you headed?
Remember…
It has been said that the average American spends more time planning their vacation than they do planning their life.
Ask yourself, What will it take to get you to where you want to be and where God wants you to be? And then…
Put the vector principle into place in your life today!!! Start today making the small, doable changes that are necessary to take you where you want to go…individually, and for us, as a congregation!!
It’s Rally Day 2007…it’s a great day…and potentially…it’s a LIFE CHANGING day as each follower of Jesus offers his/her YES to what God has in store for us; individually and as a congregation…
I can’t WAIT to see what God will do in us, with us, and through us this year!! Thanks be to God…AMEN!!!
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