Sermon Central
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Moving Forward In Service For Tomorrow 50th Anniversary Series
Contributed by Rick Gillespie- Mobley on Sep 24, 2012 (message contributor)
Summary: As co-pastors, my wife and I preached this sermon together encouraging the church to accept change as part of the future during our church's 50th anniversary service.
Praise Your Name Lord God Almighty We give thanks to God for Glenville New Life Community Church. On this 50th anniversary, we pause to see where we have been, but also to rededicate ourselves to the work ahead, work yet to do and give You the glory, for You are a good God, worthy of our praise and celebration. Speak to our hearts, O God, as we actively listen to the preaching of Your Word on this great day of celebration, so that We remain focused on the high calling of Jesus Christ upon our lives as your Church. In Jesus Name amen.
Moving Forward In Service For Tomorrow
P.T. Today is a day of celebration. A celebration of what God has done a celebration of what God is doing, and a celebration of what God will yet do. When God calls us, it is a call to engage in a partnership with God, to make a difference in the world. 50 years ago, God called a group of believers to bring into this building, the church of Jesus Christ. The goal was to move the body of Christ forward in service to the Lord Jesus Christ. And each time we move forward today, we position ourselves to be ready for service tomorrow.
P.R. Glenville New Life Community Church as ministering servant is fifty years old today. She is made up of those who have served from less than a year to those who have served all fifty years of her existence, and all those in between. It does not matter when you came in or what age, color, or financial status you had upon arrival, what matters is what have you been doing since you arrived? What have you done or what are you doing to keep us moving forward? We all have a part to play.
(Hi-5 your neighbor)
P.T. The one thing that is necessary in order to move forward is a willingness to listen to God, and a commitment to follow wherever the Lord leads. When the children of Israel, God’s people, were coming out of Egypt, they had their eyes set on reaching the Promised Land.
The Promised Land was a land that was rich in fruits and vegetables, and fertile farm land. It was a place where the people could prosper and be at rest from their enemies.
But most important of all it, would be a place to offer service to God and to each other in peace. There would be no more slavery and brutal treaatment. BUT, (Everybody say)To get to the Promised Land the people of God had to be in touch with the Spirit of God.
P.R. God has a promised land for us as a church. It’s a land in which we shall see our family members getting saved. It is a land in which we will see people give their hearts to Christ. It is a land in which the desires of our hearts will be fulfilled.
It is a land in which our broken relationships will be restored, our financial setbacks will be turned around and our wavering faith will be made as solid as a rock.
It is a land in which people are set free from the addictions of this world. A land where people discover God truly loves and cares about them. It is a land in which when people see us they will declare, surely God is in this place and we knew it not.
P. T. Ya know Saints, Moses didn’t know how to get the people from Egypt to the Promised Land so God helped him out. God gave instructions for the people to build a Tabernacle; it was kind of like a portable temple that could be moved from place to place.
In order to build it, they asked for volunteer donations, much like we asked for in our vision 2000 Campaign, Our New Life Center Campaign, and Our Excellence in Giving Campaign.
Now the people donated so much, they had to be told to stop making donations.(P.R./P.K), We never quite had the problem, but we did have the hearts of God’s people here at GNLCC, rose up in rich generosity, because we as a church, too, wanted to move forward in service.
P.R. When the tabernacle was built, there was a cloud which represented God’s presence that led the children of Israel by day and by night. The cloud would be like fire providing light during the night. God moved the cloud from the front of the people to reside directly over the tabernacle itself.
When people saw the presence of the cloud, they knew that God was still among them. We do not have a cloud with us today, but we do have the Holy Spirit. Jesus told us the Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth. So when we have needed direction these past 50 years we have looked to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the reason we are celebrating 50 years today.
