There is an old legend of a benevolent king who had his men place a great heavy stone on a certain roadway over which all his subjects would be forced to travel. He then hid himself to see who would try to remove the stone only to discover that no one stopped to try to remove the stone, but all worked their way around it, loudly blaming the king for not keeping the roadway clear. Finally, a poor peasant farmer on his way to town with a load of vegetables which he hoped to sell in the marketplace for a profit to feed his family, came to the blocked roadway. In haste, he laid down his load and with considerable effort and loss of time he managed to move the great stone to the side of the roadway. Then, turning to leave, he spied a purse which had been under the stone to which he proceeded to open the purse and found it to be filled with pieces of gold, with a note from the king indicating that it was all to be the property of the one who would remove the stone.
As I read that in preparation for this message, how quickly it began to dawn on me that all of us face obstacles and difficulties on the roadway of life and have two options on how to handle life’s road. We can deal with the obstacle and roadblock or the obstacle and the roadblock can deal with us. We can either go around them and let another deal with them, or we can face them head-on and overcome them, using it for our good and our growth; turning the adversity into our advantage; and shifting the obstacle into an opportunity; and making the burden a definite blessing. For more often than not we find ourselves sandwiched between the backdrop of a pleasurable place of complacency over against the seeming risk of future possibility.
• As we stand on the brink of greatness as a church—will we allow the obstacles in the road to deter us, discourage us and impede our progress or will we move forward, navigate to new heights, charter new territory and impact the world for Jesus Christ?
• The obstacles of mediocrity/settling/business as usual/fear of the future and of tomorrow/lethargic and complacent people and toxic attitudes/setbacks/failures….
• And I have discovered that much like the peasant was rewarded for his work, you and I as believers, Christians, children of God—will be rewarded for persevering through the obstacles, difficulties, setbacks that try to hinder us, hurt us and harm when we use it to harness the power of God to help us, to teach us, to train, and to grow us.
And usually what God will do is He will seek to work in a place where there are people of purpose and pursuit and during those moments where He forces us to face the roadblock that stands between our past and our future; where there is a decisive moment of leaving what’s behind and seizing what’s ahead—that becomes the determining factor for success or defeat; where there are inevitably mixed and varying emotions about the future.
Consequently, I remember here in Houston, while I was in school there was talk—Bud Adams had become disgruntled with the city for he desired a new stadium and some things. Bud Adams was the owner of the then Houston Oilers. And so the city would not give him his new stadium and so he said, we are going to pack up and move. And so the city said you do what you’ve got to do and we’ll do what we have to do. Therefore now we have now the Tennessee Titans. Bud Adams packed up the Oilers and left the state of Texas and went to the state of Tennessee. And there had now been a great part of the history of the city of Houston was gone. That our National Football League, our professional football franchise –was no more. And then when we lose our football franchise we were the home of one of the great wonders of the world—the first dome stadium, the Astrodome, is in Houston, Texas. But the Astrodome loses some of her glory and lure if she does not have her team connected with it. Coupled with the Houston Oilers leaving for Tennessee, then the Houston Astros, that played at the Astrodome Stadium, build another stadium downtown. So you see where I’m going, that there were people who were tied to the tradition and all of the lure and glory of the Astrodome because it really reminded them of a great era in the life of the city but now it is no more. Then a few days later a man by the name of McNair, comes and he submits a proposal for a new sports team, a new football team…he submits it to the National Football League and they accepted it and hence we have a new football team in the city of Houston. Well what comes with this new football team is a brand new stadium, Reliant Arena. And so we have the end of an era that the Houston Oilers are no gone and the Astrodome is no more. I remember when they were going through the bidding process and they were taking names for mascots. They were talking about ‘maybe we ought to be the Houston Oilers again/Houston Rough Necks/Houston Texans.’ But they decided/settled on the Houston Texans. Then they started the construction of the Reliant Area. Of course, there were mixed emotions. Because they built Reliant Stadium on the parking lot of the Astrodome. The Astrodome still stands—but they start building the Reliant Stadium and the new stadium didn’t look anything like the old one. People remembered the Astrodome and they remembered that she had these multi-colored seats and it had these rainbow colors. And on the perfect day it could rain in the Astrodome if the atmosphere was right—It was just a phenomena—it was a special place. But now Reliant Stadium is on it’s way and people have mixed emotions—because ‘we don’t know anything about these Houston Texans/McNair…but we know the Houston Oilers.’ And so there were those who were hurt and then there were the children who didn’t know anything about the Houston Oilers were excited because ‘we’re getting a brand new professional football team, the Houston Texans’. And so there were mixed emotions in the city of Houston.
• But we see here through the text and the Spirit breathing between the very lines of the text and the context that there were mixed emotions in Jerusalem as well.
(Parallel passages) Our setting here marks the end of a season and the ushering forth of the new. God has raised Jesus from the dead…
• It is a picture and depiction of Ezra 3:10-13 where Cyrus, King of Persia, issues a decree to allow the people to return to their home after 70 in exile and he issues a decree to construct and finance the building of a new temple—the same month and location of Solomon’s first temple. The new temple was magnificent, grand and glorious. The new generation was excited—for they knew nothing about Solomon’s first temple. As the temple began to erect, the people begin to let out great shouts of joy and adulation—there is the opening of a new chapter.
Progress for the future is to be celebrated….
• A new foundation was a big deal – “The people gave a great shout”
• Priestly garments, praise, & thanksgiving
• “New” – new potential, new experiences in and with God, new victories, new testimonies, reminds us that God is faithful
But then there were those who saw the former temple and wept.
• Here we are, there are some mixed emotions. The price for sin has been settled through Christ’s vicarious death of the cross. He has defeated death. The old way has been done away with. It is no longer by the law of works but rather by the new law of grace. This is symbolic of the fact that as He hung on that cross, the veil of the temple was ripped from the top to the bottom.
• So they are excited about what He did; but now they must face the reality that their teacher, their master, they leader—is now bequeathing His authority to them to do the work of ministry upon the earth.
There are mixed emotions because they have been with Him for 3 years.
Weeping in the midst of their joy; Tears of sorrow in the midst of their gladness. And some of them have a problem adapting and adjusting to the mission they have been given by the Lord.
- They kind of know what they were supposed to do because He’s walked with them for 3 years—but they are adamant about going forward.
- There is sorrow because the future is upon them and
And as we move forward this passage is going to help us process change, evaluate the purpose, engage in the mission of Cornerstone Baptist Church and compel us to press toward the vision.
I. Follow Christ’s Commission (Matthew 28:16-20; Acts 1:8)
• Our church must always be in our place of opening another chapter
• The only thing that is constant is change
God has brought His church into a new era, new day, new experience in Him. But before they can move forward God is moving His people forward.
Cornerstone, God is ready to move us forward. But in order to advance we’ve got to let go of yesterday and move forward in what God has prepared for us.
The book of Acts was written by Luke the physician, Paul’s beloved companion, the author of the gospel of Luke. Unfortunately, it bears the wrong title, because in most editions of Scripture it is called the Acts of the Apostles. But as you read the book through, the only apostles whose acts are highlighted are Peter and Paul. Most of the other apostles kind of just slip off of the scene into the great abyss never to be heard from in the Book of Acts. The book should really be titled the Acts of the Holy Spirit—or even more appropriately, the Continuing Acts of the Lord Jesus Christ.
• The ones with whom God often uses the most are the one’s we would expect the least.
Why is it that so often we ascribe value, worth and significance to:
The right height/weight/look/gear
• That may be how the world defines usefulness, but God is not looking for status, He’s looking for surrender.
But Cornerstone Baptist Church of Pearland is called to reach and reproduce a people who surrender wholeheartedly to the Kingdom agenda—and point up in worship, point out in outreach and the point in through empowering themselves to edify and impact the city, region, state, nation and world for Jesus Christ.
The book of Acts is really a sequel to the Gospel of Luke.
- In the Gospel of Luke the Son of Man offered his life; in Acts the Son of God offers his power
- In the Gospels we see the original seeds of Christianity; in Acts we see the continual growth of the church.
- The Gospel of Luke tells us of Christ crucified and risen; Acts speaks of Christ ascended and exalted.
- The Gospel of Luke models the Christian life as lived by the perfect Man; Acts models it as lives out by imperfect humanity.
• The ‘Former’ shows me:
- God is not through with me yet
- I am still in process
- The Best is yet to come
• Membership has both its privileges and responsibilities
• The Great Commission is for the church, but only happens if each individual accepts responsibility
• Sports team metaphor - “Go out there and win!” – every player must execute
• Making disciples becomes fundamental discipline of Christianity like prayer and Bible reading
• Only command in Great Commission – make disciples
Thesis: Our responsibility is to get people to believe in, identify with, and live for Christ.
II. FINISH THE WORK CHRIST HAS STARTED IN YOU
“….began to do and teach”
• It’s not how you start—it’s how you finish (vss. 9-11)
Began—He’s not through working yet. He hasn’t taken a leave of absence, hasn’t clocked out, not AWOL. What He did then He is doing now.
PHILIPPIANS 1:6
What has He begun? He’s doing and He’s teaching!
Maybe the church should take more time out doing 2 things: Doing and Teaching.
MISSION STATEMENT/VISION STATEMENT
III. GIVE LIFE TO DEAD SITUATIONS
“presented Himself Alive”
IV. IMPACT LIVES IN UNDENIABLE WAYS
“Infallible proofs”
It is No secret….what God can do!
