Radically Challenged
Introduction: A mass exodus is occuring in the established church across America today. Something has to be done before it’s too late. This something will need to be radical. It will have to radically change our outlook as well as our perspective on our reason for being. Church leaders and statisticians have come to recognize that: (1) Churches are failing in their evangelism efforts; (2) Worldwide mission efforts are failing because support from home is slipping; (3) Christians are failing in their personal evangelism efforts; and (4) The number of people being saved is slipping. To change this current situation will indeed require a radical change in our line of thinking.
A radical change will require a radical challenge. This radical challenge was voiced by our Lord 2000 years ago. This final word to the Church before His ascension as recorded in Acts 1:8 is the most radical challenge ever committed to mankind. It is a challenge to break out of these four walls of confinement and become involved in winning the world to Jesus Christ. This radical challenge says:
Text: Acts 1:8
Jerry Falwell recently said: "We are called to proclaim the gospel to a culture that rejects it and to a world that is in desperate need of it." To fulfill this challenge, we must determine that we are going to become radicals for the cause of Christ. Falwell went on to say: "You’ve got to decide who you are. Between now and the time the Lord calls you home, be a dreamer. Be a revolutionary."
Without a drastic change in our churches, we will not survive for the next generation. Jesus started a revolution when He walked on this earth. It is time for the church to enter that revolution. We must determine to become revolutionaries. We must dream big dreams. We must determine to accomplish great things for God’s Kingdom. Ahead of us lies unprecedented opportunity to win the lost if we will but take up the challenge.
Now don’t let this word revolutionary frighten you. A revolution is simply a total or radical change. And radical simply means departing from the usual or customary. A radical is one who advocates fundamental or revolutionary changes in current practices, conditions, or institutions. Jesus was a radical revolutionary and for the church to survive, we must determine to be as such.
Things are happening in today’s church. People are coming to grips with the fact that tradition and the church establishment isn’t working anymore. People are looking for more. People have an intense hunger for more than the traditional church is willing to feed them. They are sick and tired of watered-down truths - sick and tired of pansy preachers prancing around preaching their little sermonettes that have no personal practicality whatsoever. The time has come, church, for a change - a radical revolution!
Jesus was a revolutionary! Jesus was a radical! He went about doing good. He went about preaching a message of grace. He went about seeking to release people from bondage. His message was radical. His actions were radical. His lifestyle was radical. And it is time for you and I to become radical! It is time for the church to rise up and start a revolution! God has a specific plan and purpose for your church. Are you willing to step up to the plate and fulfill His plan and purpose by accepting this radical challenge?
Consider with me what this challenge requires.
This challenge requires that this church must learn to:
1. Embrace the Heart of God
A. To embrace the heart of God means to grab ahold of, seize eagerly. The chief aim of man is to worship God.
B. Too many churches have a wrong understanding concerning worship. Worship involves the whole service.
1. Too many people go to church, sit in a cold pew, and stare at the back of someone’s head.
2. They barely whisper as they pretend to sing along.
3. They listen to a 15 minute feel good sermonette from some guy who steps into the pulpit without having already been into the throne room.
4. They fight to stay awake and still call it worship.
5. These people are spectators not worshippers.
C. Real worship demands participation.
1. Real worship lifts the participants up into the throne room of God.
2. Real worship invigorates, encourages and strengthens.
3. Real worship connects you with God.
D. If you walk away from church as empty as you entered, the church and the preacher have failed you miserably.
- The psalmist said: "Taste and see that the LORD is good." - (Ps 34:8).
- Jesus said: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for God. They will be satisfied." - (Mt 5:6).
Application: Do you feel personally refreshed when you leave this place? Do you feel that you have truly experienced God in a new way? In this world we are living in, we need a refreshing from above as often as we can get it. We must embrace the heart of God!
This challenge requires that there be a:
2. Transformation Within the Church
A. To transform means a to bring about a radical change in form, shape and appearance.
B. A study recently released indicates "SBC evangelism statistics are grim" and the "Convention is in an evangelistic crisis."
C. The only means of changing the SBC as a whole is for the individual churches who make up the SBC to determine it is time for a radical change within.
D. We must step back, take an indepth look at our church and ask ourselves what changes need to be made to transform this place into a radical center of evangelism.
Application: Are your services attractive to all age groups? Does your music bring your people into intimacy with God? Do you motivate all your people to be actively involved in the ministry and work of the Lord? If not, what can be done to make this happen? You will never reach the lost out there if you are not encouraging the believer in here. The majority of our churches deperately need to undergo a radical transformation within!
This challenge requires that this church be involved in:
3. Taking the Gospel Everywhere
A. The single most important mission of the church is to reach the lost.
B. Consider what former SBC President Bobby Welch had to say:
“We in the church have failed the people outside of the church. We have come to the point where we think it is all about getting a crowd inside the church, and I am amazed at how many pastors out there don’t get it. I don’t know what keeps you going. It cannot be the crowd inside that keeps you going. It’s that massive crowd outside, the lost, that keeps you going...."
He went on to say:
"What if God is trying to have a revival out there where they are hungering, thirsting, longing and looking and we will not move out of here? What if we miss what God is doing out there because we refuse to go? If you think the church is the place you come to, you have missed the whole point. The church is the place we leave from. You came today to leave. You didn’t come to stay here. We come here to get equipped to go out there because out there is where you rescue the perishing. Out there is where you care for the dying. Out there is where you meet people and minister to their lives. Outside these walls is where the action is."
C. Every believer is called to be a witness.
D. The church is merely the equipping place. The pastor and teachers are the equippers. God did not call pastors to be the only soul-winners.
Application: Are you doing your part? When did you last tell somebody about Jesus? Is the church equipping us for our personal mission? Again I say, it is time for a radical change in the churches of America!
Conclusion: We are standing on the brink of a major revolution. I believe God is wanting to start a revival in this land of unprecedented proportions. I am eager to be a part of God’s plan. I want to see America’s churches burning with the fires of evangelism and revival. I want to see America’s churches radically changed for the sake of God’s kingdom. I want to grow the church. On more time I quote Bobby Welch:
"Church growth is filling the building, but growing the church is different. Growing the church is when you fill the people who fill the church, and then send them out there to witness, so they can rob hell and help fill up heaven. That’s growing the church.”
I’m ready to grow the church. I’m ready to rob hell.
What about you? Where is your heart today? What does church mean to you? Do you want to see change? Do you want to experience change? When you partner with ministries such as City of Refuge, you fulfill your part of His radical challenge to reach your Judea. It often means leaving your comfort zone and entering the unknown. But as you do, you begin to experience the power and presence of God leading you into exciting and challenging things - leading you to places and realms you never imagined. There is a hurting world outside these walls. Many of your neighbors and friends need God’s comfort. I believe God is calling many of you to step out right now, to leave your comfort zone, and to commit yourself to the purpose and plan of God. If that is you, get up and move forward right now. Is God speaking to you? Is God calling you to make a fresh commitment unto Him? What is your response to Him?
Disclaimer: Portions of this message or ideas contained within this message may have been gleaned from other sources. Please feel free to use this message as the Lord leads for His glory.
