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Fred Somebody, Thomas Everybody, Peter Anybody, and Joe Nobody were neighbors, but they were not like you and me. They were odd people and most difficult to understand. The way they lived was a shame.
All four belonged to the same church, but you would not have enjoyed worshipping with them.
Everybody went fishing on Sunday or stayed home to visit with friends.
Anybody wanted to worship but was afraid Somebody wouldn’t speak to him. So guess who went to church - uh, huh - Nobody.
Really, Nobody was the only decent one of the four.
Nobody did the visitation. Nobody worked on the church building.
Once they needed a Sunday school teacher. Everybody thought Anybody would do it, and Anybody thought Somebody would do it.
And you know who did it? That’s exactly right...Nobody!
It happened that a fifth neighbor (an unbeliever) moved into the area. Everybody thought Somebody should try to win him for Christ. Anybody could have made an effort. You probably know who finally won him: Nobody!
We as the Church and body of Jesus Christ have a tremendous work to do in this last day...
Text:
Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
So often we say that we have a great work to do, but yet are unsure of what we as the church are supposed to be doing...
Jesus would never send us forth before giving us a job description to center our efforts around...
Have you ever gotten a new job with no job description, or at least an indication of what was expected of you?
So often we fail to realize that Jesus promised that He would build the church...
It’s up to us to just be instruments of obedience as we show the love of Christ to a lost and dying world...
Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
It is so true that we are the only bible that many people will ever read - 2 Cor 3:3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
Do people have to squint to read your epistle, or are you living your life before the world in large print?
We have a 3-fold purpose as a part of the worldwide church of Jesus Christ, and as a local Assembly we have the same 3-fold purpose as well...
First of all today we are here to:
I. TO EXALT THE SAVIOR
We are here to establish and maintain a place for the worship of Almighty God according to our distinctive testimony...
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. - John 4:23
Jesus said here that the Father seeketh such to worship Him...
Can you think of any greater reason to worship God than the fact that the Father who created you and I is seeking for such a thing to happen?
When we walk into church, the first thought on our mind ought to be worship...
Why? Because the Father is here seeking those who will worship him in Spirit and in Truth! My Bible also tells me that He inhabits or dwells in the praises of His people.
If there is anything that the enemy wants to stop today in our churches, it is the Worship of Almighty God.
Why?
a. Because we know that the Worship of God sensitizes us to the Presence of God.
We are living in a real world with real problems and seemingly impossible situations that arise from time to time, and when we begin to cast our gaze upon the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we soon begin to realize that God is greater than any problem or circumstance we may be facing.
How are we ever going to fulfill our purpose of winning those without Christ if we are constantly captivated with our needs and problems...
b. Worship opens the lines of communication between God and man...
Isn’t that why Jesus Christ came to earth? To restore fellowship with the Father, and bridge the gap between God and Man...
God is raising up people who will worship Him no matter what the cost today...
A.W. Tozer said the following: God wants worshipers before workers; indeed the only acceptable workers are those who have learned the lost art of worship
So often we can get so caught up in the work of the Lord, that we forget the Lord of the Work!
There’s a portion of scripture in the Bible where Jesus clearly brings out this fact:
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
It wasn’t that Jesus was “against” Martha because of Her desire to work and prepare, but He was being clear that her priorities were backwards.
Our first purpose for being here as an Assembly of Believers is to worship Almighty God with hearts that are captured with His awesomeness and Glory!
Our second purpose for being or part of our Mission is:
II. TO EDIFY THE SAINTS
1Th 5:11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
Not only are we here to Exalt the Savior in worship but we are here to Edify the Saints and that means one another...
To edify means “to instruct especially so as to encourage intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement.”
To Edify means to always look for the best in one another and make that our focus instead of obvious weaknesses that we all have...
In a Peanuts cartoon by Charles Schultz, we see an illustration of the opposite of encouragement:
Linus has just written a comic strip of his own, and he wants Lucy’s opinion. In the first frame, he tentatively hands Lucy his comic strip and says, “Lucy, would you read this and tell me if you think it is funny?”
In the next frame, you see Lucy patting her foot, and a little bit of a grin comes across her face. She looks at Linus and says, “Well, Linus, who wrote this?”
Linus with his chest heaved out and a great big grin says, “Lucy, I wrote that.”
In the next frame, you see Lucy wadding it up, throwing it to the side, and saying, “Well, then, I don’t think it’s very funny.”
In the final frame, you see Linus picking up his comic strip, throwing his blanket over his shoulder, looking at Lucy and saying, “Big sisters are the crab grass in the lawn of life.”
We find that humorous. I dare say if you and I thought long and hard enough, we’d remember being the crab grass in the lawn of somebody else’s life. None of us wants to be a loser. None of us wants to be a source of discouragement. And yet, if we’re not careful, we can find ourselves being more pessimistic than optimistic, more discouraging than encouraging.
If you can’t feel built up in your spirit in the Body of Christ then where can you go?
If this is not a place where tears are understood, Where do I go to cry?
If this is not a place where my spirits can take wing, Where do I go to fly?
If this is not a place where my questions can be asked, Where do I go to seek?
If this is not a place where my feelings can be heard, Where do I go to speak?
If this is not a place where you’ll accept me as I am, Where can I go to be?
If this is not a place where I can try to learn and grow, Where can I be just me?
William J. Crockett
The Church of Jesus Christ exists to:
a. Help The Hurting Ones
We are here to minister to the lost, the hurting, the poor, and heartbroken and to continue on with the work and example of Jesus Christ...
Matthew 25:37 "Then the righteous will answer him, ’Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
Matthew 25:38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
Matthew 25:39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
Matthew 25:40 "The King will reply, ’I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,
Jesus came to minister to those who were in need...
A church that can’t do that has turned into a bless-me club in need of new vision...
The Bible tells us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together especially as we see the day approaching...
But as we assemble together, we must remember that we are here to comfort and edify one another...
And after we do that continue to do the same in our conversations with one another in our daily lives...
Not only are we here to Help the Hurting Ones, but we are also here to:
b. Restore The Fallen Ones
A person who can build up and strengthen the hands of another is a person who will always be of great value in the Kingdom of God, while the opposite is true of one who tears down another…
An Unknown Author wrote the following poem:
As I watched them tear a building down
A gang of men in a busy town
With a ho-heave-ho, and a lusty yell
They swung a beam and the side wall fell
I asked the foreman, “Are these men skilled,
And the men you’d hire if you wanted to build?”
He gave a laugh and said, “No, indeed,
Just common labor is all I need.”
“I can easily wreck in a day or two,
What builders have taken years to do.”
And I thought to myself, as I went my way
Which of these roles have I tried to play?
Am I a builder who works with care,
Measuring life by rule and square?
Am I shaping my work to a well-made plan
Patiently doing the best I can?
Or am I a wrecker who walks to town
Content with the labor of tearing down?
“O Lord let my life and my labors be
That which will build for eternity!”
Sure, we can always find faults with one another, because we’re human beings and we have faults... but what does the bible say?
Gal 6:1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
I don’t know about you, but I want to be part of a body that will make me stronger not weaker...
I believe there is great value also in being part of a body that will tell you the truth about your life even when it hurts! So often though, when we get in a position that requires hard work and good old fashioned “stick to it-iveness”, we need to get impatient with both God and the people around us.
What are you doing to edify the Saints?
Not only are we here to Exalt the Savior, Edify the Saints, but we are here to ...
III. EVANGELIZE THE SINNER
Well, you’re right Pastor I give money every Sunday to help evangelize those heathens in Africa and other far-off nations of the world...
The Bible says….
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Did you know that God has placed our church in this area to minister first of all to those in our area?
In other words, our ministry focus is to be first of all:
a. In Our Jerusalem
When the Disciples received the power of the Holy Spirit, their first place of ministry was in Jerusalem, or in other words where they were at the present time...
That doesn’t mean that we must send our support to Jerusalem to evangelize the Jews, it simply means that we must start at home, and work outward...
Our purpose as a church in this area is to reach out to those in need of Christ with the Good News of the Gospel, and that there is a Savior that can set them free from the power of Sin!
We must develop new ways to reach those around us with the Gospel of Jesus Christ...
The Bible says that “God so loved the World…”
b. And The World
Jesus came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost...
Can our Mission be any different? Can we expect persecution, and even to be misunderstood by those around us?
He didn’t come to please the religious hierarchy, and as we know that didn’t happen either...
As a matter of fact he said they that are whole don’t need a physician, but those that are sick...
We live in a sick world without a doubt which needs the touch of the Great Physician, Jesus Christ..
The world is not looking for a new religion, they’re in need of a new relationship...
I believe when we lose our burden for souls, we have lost the very heart of what Jesus is all about...
If we will get to the very basics as Christians and begin to Exalt the Savior in worship God’s way, then we will also begin to Edify and build up one another, because we will have a new realization of the body, and that if one hurts, then we all hurt, if one rejoices, then we all rejoice!
After we Exalt the Savior, and Edify the Saints then we will realize that the purpose of a strong body is to Evangelize the Sinner....
God is not into body-building just for the sake of having a beautiful body...
I’ve seen body-builders that were filled and rippling with muscles, but yet were the laziest people you could ever run into...
They felt so good about how they looked, that there was no desire to put all those gifts and talents to work to make society better...
God is wanting to see the body built up and strong to do a work.... and that work is to win the lost...
Now is the time to gather in the Harvest, not tomorrow...
We need to pray for the heart of God, and the eyes of God, as well as the compassion of God to be seen in us, and through us.
I’ve heard a song on the radio these past few weeks that has just been pounded into my spirit, and I want you today to not only hear the song, but see it in video as Brandon Heath sings this song called “Give Me Your Eyes” (4:02)
Vs. 1
Looked down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight
Touched down on the cold black tile
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breathe in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos
All those people going somewhere?
Why have I never cared?
Vs. 2
Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide what’s underneath
There’s a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie
Too ashamed to tell his wife
He’s out of work
He’s buying time
all those people going somewhere?
Why have I never cared?
Chorus:
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me your heart for the once forgotten
Bridge
I’ve Been there a million times
A couple of million eyes
just move and pass me by
I swear I never thought that I was wrong
Well I want a second glance
So give me a second chance
To see the way you see the people all alone
We must consistently be asking the following three questions in the things we do here and outside our church:
How are we Exalting the Savior?
How are we Edifying the Saints?
How are we Evangelizing the Sinner?
We have a purpose as a church, and it’s not to sit still and wait for the rapture...
If we do that, we’ll miss the rapture...
The Lord is coming for a church that is on fire to spread the Good News and not lukewarm...
