Habakkuk 3:2

Lord, I have heard of your fame;
    I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.
Repeat them in our day,
    in our time make them known;
    in wrath remember mercy.

2 Timothy 2:20-21

20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. 21 Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

Sermon Recap

For the next three weeks as a church we are taking a break from preaching through Year of the Bible and focusing ourselves on a yearly initiative we call Move of God.

As a church we are crying out to God what Habakkuk cried out: “In our day and in our time!” We want to see God move in mighty ways in and through New City.

We have two goals with Move of God. One: to cultivate a life of dependence and consecration to God. And two: to strengthen New City financially to be able to handle the kind of move we’re asking God for.

We’re calling everyone at New City to consider how they can sacrificially give toward what God is doing at New City. But this isn’t just about raising money. It’s about something deeper.

We want God to move. And God moves through people. But what kind of people?

God moves through consecrated people.

That’s not a word we commonly use. So what does it mean to be consecrated? To consecrate something most simply means to set it apart. More specifically, consecration is setting something apart, making it available and dedicated for God’s use.

Consecration is all over the Bible. One helpful picture comes from Paul in his letter to Timothy. He describes a house where there are two kinds of vessels (think plates, silverware, glasses, etc.). There are common vessels for common use and special vessels set apart for special use. God wants to turn his people into vessels for honorable use, people he can use to accomplish his mission in the world. So the question is what kind of people will we be? And how do we become that kind of people?

Paul says people who “cleanse themselves” of common use and make themselves available for honorable use will be people God uses. What he’s talking about is consecration.

Consecration is saying “no” to the things of this world in order to say “yes” to God.

Our hope for you is that you will consider how God might be calling you to say “no” to somethings in order to make yourself more available to God. What can you sacrifice in order to give more to God?

Application Questions