· 3 VOLUNTEERS: I need you to answer one of these questions: What is the best thing that happened to you this year, or perhaps the saddest? What is one lesson that you learned in 2002? What would you like to see happen in your life in the new year?
Looking back often gives us a chance to look into our future. Someone has said, “You will become what you are now.” Someone else said, “Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.”
What are some things that we can do in order to see our dreams for the future become a reality? Here are two things to remember: [1.] do the things now that will take you there and [2.] surround yourself with people who want to go there with you. When you begin to put those two things into practice, then anything is possible!
I have often said, “God has not put our church here to fail.” That’s true. I’ve also said, “The best days for our church are ahead of us.” That’s also true. God has a wonderful plan for our church, but it won’t become a reality by just an act of God–it is even less likely that anything within the church will happen just by chance.
+ Matthew 16:18 . . . on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. (NIV)
+ This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out. (The Message)
Jesus will build His church of which Praise A/G is a part; His blueprint or plan for the church is great. What is a great church? It is not measured by the standards of success in the eyes of the world, although some of those things like increased attendance or finances or other such things may happen as a result of being a great church.
In God’s eyes a great church is one in which you and I become more and more like Jesus thus making Him known. Great churches impact their families, friends, communities and their world with the reality of the risen Christ. The monotonous, humdrum and empty lives of people are transformed by the power of ordinary believers as the life and power of Christ works in and through their lives. That’s what makes a church great.
God’s plan to make Praise A/G a great church is dependent upon you and me. Study any of the miracles in the Bible, beyond creation and the resurrection of Jesus, and you will find that every time God acted there was a human agent present. God did the impossible as individuals did the possible.
· In the Old Testament God didn’t just show up in Egypt and miraculously take the nation of Israel to the promised land; God used Moses (see Exodus 2-11).
· In the New Testament God sends His Son who preforms some incredible miracles, but Jesus didn’t just show off His divine power. Jesus involved other people in all of His miracles. For instance Jesus didn’t just feed the 5,000 out of thin air. Instead Jesus had the disciples have the people sit down, then taking a boys lunch He blessed it and had the disciples serve the fish and loaves to the people (see Luke 9).
If you only hear one thing this morning then hear this: God will do great things in and through our church, BUT HE WILL ONLY DO IT AS YOU AND I COOPERATE WITH HIM. Miracles will happen in our church as together we work with God!
Now apply the truth I shared earlier about what we can do to see our dreams come true to the church. We will only see God’s plan for Praise A/G fulfilled as we continue to do two things: [1.] do things now that will take us where God wants us to go, and [2.] surround ourselves with people who want the same thing.
I’m confident that each of us here wants to see Praise A/G become everything God has dreamed for it to be. All of us believe it can happen. But how do we get there? God won’t become a genie in a bottle and just “blink” us there!
Someone has defined insanity like this, “Insanity is to continue doing the things you have always done expecting different results.” Last time I checked God is still not mocked, a man will reap what he sows (see Galatians 6:7).
If you aren’t satisfied with how your life is turning out, something has to change. If as a church we want to fulfill God’s purpose, but we don’t seem to be getting there, then we need to start doing the things that take us there. In other words, if you’re not happy with beans, stop planting bean seed and plant something else. Or in computer terminology, “if you’re not satisfied with the output, then change your input.”
I’m excited about what I see beginning to happen in our church, but I’m not satisfied with where we are. As I said, “the best days for the church lie ahead of us.” I believe God has more and better things planned for us. But how do we get there? The simple answer: DO THE RIGHT THINGS.
· Now for those who need a three-point sermon to keep themselves on track, you get a bonus this morning! Let me quickly tell you four eternal truths about the Church of Jesus Christ of which we are a part.
1. THE CHURCH IS ESTABLISHED BY JESUS CHRIST.
Jesus said, “I will build my church.” Don’t miss Jesus’ first word; He said “I.” Jesus builds the Church!
How does Jesus build His Church? No where in the Bible does Jesus say, “Let there be church,” and ‘poof’ the church appears. Jesus’ plan is to build His Church through you and me.
Although He uses us to build the Church, none of us can build the church apart from Him! If anyone other than Jesus is the builder, then the Church is not what’s being built. Jesus is the builder of His church.
2. JESUS HAS A PLAN FOR HIS CHURCH.
Look again at what Jesus said: “I WILL BUILD my church.” WILL BUILD is future tense. The building of the church is not an action which Jesus completed at some time in the past.
Jesus began the building of the church in the book of Acts. However, its construction did not conclude there. Jesus continues the building of His Church today and will not cease its construction until its completion at His second coming. Jesus will build His Church!
3. THE CHURCH BELONGS TO JESUS CHRIST.
Jesus said, “I will build MY CHURCH.” No church, not Praise A/G nor any other church, belongs to the pastor, the deacons or anyone else in the congregation. The church belongs to Jesus.
· Be careful the next time you want to control things at the church or achieve some position of status. Remember the story of Ananias and Sapphira (see Acts 5)? They died in the church because they wanted to gain the recognition of others as generous–you might even say spiritual.
Perhaps if we had more funerals in the church we would return to the fear of God that was present in the New Testament. . . maybe then we would see the miracles that they saw. . .just food for thought.
Remember, none of us died for the Church; only Jesus shed his blood to establish the Church. Jesus is the owner of His Church.
4. JESUS WILL PROTECT THE CHURCH.
Notice how Jesus concluded what He said about His Church: “I will build my church, AND THE GATES OF HADES WILL NOT OVERCOME IT.” None of us need to fear doing the work of God. Satan may bring the attack, but Christ empowers us to stand in victory! Regardless of where the attack may come from, the Church of Jesus Christ will not suffer harm from what people can do to it. Jesus will protect His Church!
Okay, we know that [1.] the Church is established by Jesus; [2.] God has a plan for His Church; [3.] the Church belongs to Jesus; and [4.] the Church is protected by Christ, but how do we fulfill God’s plan? How do we get to where God wants us to go? I’ve asked that question several times now haven’t I–how many of you think there is an answer to that question?
The answer is “The State of the Church”; answering the question, “how can we get there” will tell us the things we need to both begin and continue to do as a church in order to be the church God wants us to be–a great church. These are things that I believe Jesus would do; remember a great church is one which makes Jesus know to their world.
1. PRAISE A/G MUST BE COMMITTED TO PRAYER.
We need to take some practical steps to become more effective as a PRAYING CHURCH. The church must come together for prayer; Jesus said, “My house will be called a house of prayer” (Matthew 21:13). It’s not good enough for us to just pray as individuals; we must pray corporately.
Prayer must be our #1 priority. We cannot forget that the Lord says it is “not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit” (Zechariah 4:6). Here are some ways we can do this:
▸ Development of “Pastor’s Prayer Partners.” My goal is to have twelve men who will make to commitment to pray with me on a weekly basis. Am I biased against women? NO, but I know that if the man prays, the odds are better that his family will pray and support the church also. You can look for this to begin to take shape in January.
▸ Corporate prayer in our worship services where we are comfortable to pray for another. In addition we need to train our leaders to pray for those with special needs at the altar.
▸ Development of four intercessory prayer teams with three to four members per team. These teams will be trained to pray for individuals or families with special needs. Those seeking counseling or other help from the church will also be ministered to by these prayer teams. In addition to this prayer ministry to individuals and families in need, prayer teams will also each take one Sunday per month to intercede during our worship services.
▸ Effective use of a prayer chain to pray for needs within the church as well as those we receive from our community from either the internet or telephone.
2. PRAISE A/G MUST TRUST THE HEART AND WHEN NECESSARY FORGIVE THE HANDS.
You’re most likely wondering what I mean by “trust the heart and forgive the hands.” The Bible tells us that our hearts are the “wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23) meaning that our hearts will direct what we do and say. Who you and I really are within our hearts will overflow into how we live our lives. Put another way, when you examine the activities of an individual’s life and listen to what he or she says, then you will discover what is in their heart.
As believers our hearts have been cleansed by the blood of Christ. You could say that God has given us His heart because He lives within us by His Spirit. Therefore, our hearts are directed not by self but by God. That means then that we should trust one another’s hearts because it is God who should direct everything that we do and say.
Unfortunately although our hearts or motives may be pure, our hands will sometimes fail us because we are human. Each of us will have times when the things we do or say doesn’t turn out the way we had hoped. These are the times when we need to be willing to forgive one another’s hands.
Can I make it plain and simple for you? As your pastor I will make some mistakes. Some of my ideas may take off like a lead balloon; I will do or say some things that you think I should have done or said differently. In those times will you know my heart well enough to see that I really do love you? Will you see that in my heart I really want to please God and follow His leading? If you know my heart, then you can forgive my hands.
Guess what? It’s not just the pastor’s hands that may fail his heart. Your hands may need to be forgiven too, but if we trust one another’s hearts it will be easy to forgive human hands.
Now it’s hard to trust the heart of a stranger. If we are going to trust one another, then we have to be in relationships with each other. We must build meaningful friendships which open the door to our hearts.
How can we as a church trust the heart and when necessary forgive the hands? Here are some ways:
▸ We must pray together. Corporate prayer makes our hearts known to one another. Through prayer we can say the “amen” because we learn that our hearts beat together. Prayer establishes and maintains the unity of our hearts.
▸ We must nurture and develop small group ministries. Whether it is through Sunday School, home groups or any other ministry we need to not only come into contact with God’s word, but we must get connected with each other.
▸ We must continue to share in “koinonia” fellowships. Our monthly pot luck dinners are only the beginning of how we can build and strengthen loving relationships within the church.
3. PRAISE A/G MUST HAVE A LOVING AND GENEROUS HEART.
Love and generosity go hand in hand; you can’t have one without the other. Everything that we do should be out of the overflow of love for Christ and one another. Love will produce a giving heart that is willing to share whatever we have in order to meet a need.
Remember, if we are going to be a great church, then we will become more and more like Jesus thus making Him known. Jesus is the full expression of God’s love for us; “for God so loved the world that he gave.”
WE ARE MOST LIKE JESUS WHEN WE SHARE OUR LIVES WITH OTHERS; LOVE IS GENEROUS! Loving generosity is really about putting the needs of others ahead of our own needs and desires. Like Jesus we willing lay down our lives for others.
Loving generosity is not just about opening our wallet or checkbooks; our financial resources are only one way that love can be expressed. In addition to giving of our treasure, we can also give our time and our talents.
What are some ways that we can generously give of God’s love that is within us? Hold on to your seats; this is going to get very practical.
▸ We must minister to the needs of our children and youth. I’m not looking for volunteers to work in the nursery or teach a Sunday School class; I’m looking for people who are compelled by love to lay down their lives for children.
➩ We need to have a nursery for infants and toddlers that is open for each service. We need someone who will be in the nursery to welcome children when they come.
➩ We need others to work with Christy and Susie to improve our children’s church during the worship service.
➩ We need to have teachers for our children on Wednesday nights; we need to think about how we can be most effective for our children. We need others to work with our youth.
➩ We need to renew our Sunday School ministry. Our children don’t just need a baby-sitter with a bible story; they need to be taught how to live like a Christian in today’s world (adults too).
▸ We can use our time and talents to strengthen the church. Everything we do will cost us time, but where can our time be best spent? We’ll get the most for our time when it’s used according to our abilities.
➩ We need folks like Dean, Jim, or others who have used their gifts to repair or improve things around the building. We had around 20 people help to paint the sanctuary–work like that still needs to be done.
➩ We need people like the Geeslings who took the time to mow the grass. Others came out to improve our flower gardens. The appearance of the exterior of the church says a lot about what we think about God.
➩ We need people who will use their talents to help with administrative, financial and secretarial duties each week.
▸ We can give to establish and encourage other churches. Praise A/G is not “the church”; we are a part of “His Church.” Praise A/G is not in competition with other churches in our community, nor within the A/G. We can work together to fulfil God’s purpose with loving generosity.
➩ We can continue to give to support our missionaries around the world. I’m looking forward to the day when more than 10% of our total income is given to world missions.
➩ We can give of our time, talents and treasure to begin satellite churches in neighboring communities like Windham or Mantua. In time we could see outreaches like these become daughter churches.
➩ We can cooperate with area churches in special outreach projects–nothing is impossible if we begin to do the things that Jesus would do!
➩ We can do the simplest thing of all and commit to pray for our missionaries around the world and sister churches throughout the area.
4. PRAISE A/G MUST BE COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE IN EVERYTHING THAT WE DO.
Remember I’ve said that I want to see us build it “THICK.” The church should be like a thick peanut butter sandwich; one bite should leave a taste that sticks to the roof of your mouth. We want people to be attracted to the ministries of the church and then get connected as a part of the church. We don’t want our ministries to be spread out so thin that everyone just gets tired and people go away looking for more.
NONE OF US CAN DO EVERYTHING, BUT WE ALL CAN DO SOMETHING. I think that’s worth repeating because we have been given the opportunity to work together to build the kingdom of God here at Praise A/G–none of us can do everything, but we all can do something.
The Bible says the church “grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Ephesians 4:16). If we are going to become a great church making Christ known to our community, then we all have to do our part.
I have been asked about what areas of ministry folks can be involved in if they are not an “official member” of the church. The board and I will be developing a ministry policy in the new year, but can I give you the simple answer now? I know that some of you would like to know the direction we are heading in. The simple answer is we want everyone to do their part; we don’t want to put a lot of restrictions on individuals who want to help build our church.
Someone may ask why will we consider letting people be involved in ministry who are not members? The reason is because our culture has changed. Years ago people would accept what you believe and then they would belong to the group. Today folks want to know that they belong and then they will be willing to believe what you believe. We want to include as many people as possible in the ministries of the church, not only nonmembers, but even non-believers. When they are included and know that they belong, then their beliefs can change putting them in a position to know Christ as their Savior.
If we are going to be a great church, then we cannot just keep doing what we have always done; some things have to change. We can’t just begin to move forward aimlessly; we don’t want to be like Charlie Brown who shot his arrows and then went and drew circles around them. We must take steady aim with purpose and vision to move in the direction God wants us to go.
God is building a great church at Praise A/G. Are you willing to cooperate with God in the building of His Church at Praise A/G?
