Building the house of the Lord
Isaiah 66:1-2
Intro-
We have talked about making an impact in this community. I believe very much that we have done that. Between Bountiful Blessings and other community outreaches, we have come in contact with many people who would not have heard the gospel or see Jesus work through the people of this church.
King Artaxerxes ask Nehemiah in Neh. Chapter 2- “What is your request of me”. Nehemiah responds by telling him that he has a burden to rebuild the city of Jerusalem.
Is that your cry for this community?
Jesus save the city
Let the kingdom come
That is what a lot of us say with our mouths. What does our actions say to the Lord? I recently sat in a restaurant eating lunch and in front of me was a table full of pastors. They greeted me and that whole conversation at lunch was “what comes with the veal parmesian”, “what sides do I get with that”? I sat there praying to myself “Lord, we need a fresh word from you. We need to refocus the people who need to be focused.
I believe we can take this community for Jesus Christ The problem is not with Jesus, the problem is being focused on what is needed to do that.
Oswald Chambers: “Prayer is not what you do before the work, it is the work”
Prayer is the foundation of making an impact. Our role of spreading the gospel is to make opportunity for Jesus to touch people, not to be the whole answer ourselves. We build a foundation of self. We think people need what we have for them.
Question-
Have you ever wondered what draws the Lord’s presence? Why He responds more at different times? If we are going to have Jesus inhabit our community, He must dwell within us.
What is God looking for?
V 2- “But on this one I will look, on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word.” God is looking for a place to dwell. And a place to operate from. When the church is in unity , doing what the Lord wants, the community will see Jesus. The harvest won’t come as a result of clever methods, it will come as the church prays and is lead by the Lord. Prayer lies at the very heart of what God is doing and building. That is why we have men praying during the week. That is why women meet for prayer. People try to build skyscraper of ideas on a 2 inch spiritual foundation. It does not work. It is like the skit we did last week of the house being built on sand. You cannot have these big ideas of ministry built on little or not foundation of prayer.
What are we building? In most cases, it is a house of cards and will quickly fall at first sign of resistance. We think because we are always busy that we are building something for the kingdom of God. Let me say that again!
Psalm 127:1- “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who built it. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”
We can spin our wheels trying ever new thing that comes down the pike. We can make our church to look like another church. Or... we can be praying what God has for Rosedale Church of the Nazarene. Then we will see what the Lord is building!
Illustration-
Have you ever heard of George Mueller? One day he looked down the streets of Bristol, England, and saw 100’s of homeless children. He was so moved with concern for them that he decided that something had to be done. He had only two pence in his pocket. That’s two cents. But he decided to start an orphanage. In 60 years, beginning with two pence, George Mueller took care of 10, 000 orphans. He looked out and saw homeless kids. He could have said, but I don’t have any money. But there is no way to care for them, to meet their needs, to buy the food. Instead, he looked at them and said, “therefore , I will reach out and help them.” and God blessed his efforts in a mighty way. He told amazing stories of answered prayers, he kept record of his prayers, and his prayer records filled more than 3000 pages. His notes show that more than 30,000 prayers were answered. One night there was no food in the orphanage to give the children for breakfast. But at 3:00 in the morning a baker called him and said , “I just can’t sleep. I am going down to the bakery to bake some bread. Would it be all right for me to bring some over to you in the morning? One time a milk truck just happen to break down in front of the orphanage on a day when they had no milk. The truck driver came and said, “This milk is all going to spoil. Would you like some of it? And there need was met. Time and again, 30,000 times in 60 years, God answered George Mueller’s prayers.
Rhonda Hughey- “We invite His presence into our houses that we are building as if we want Him to come and rearrange the furniture.”
What am I saying to you this morning?
Romans 12:1-
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
When we are hungry and desperate for God’s presence, the church gets affected and the community will reap the benefits. Human ideas don’t bring revival. Revival comes when God sets fire to the people who are ready to respond .
We need to stop treating prayer like an activity. It is a relationship with Jesus Christ. In fact, it is a intimate relationship with Christ and we are merely expressing our communication with him.
“Prayer is not a church activity, it is a believers responsibility”
We need people to be intercessors, “watchmen” praying night and day, wanting the Holy Spirit to reach the people that we come in contact with.
James 5:15- “The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much”
Illustration-
It is like the following :in a desert stands a water pump in the sand. You are a lone traveler, your canteen is empty, your thirsty, and you come upon that pump. Tied to the pump is a hand written sign. The sign reads “I have buried a bottle of water to prime the pump. Don’t drink any of it. Pour in half of it to wet the leather. Wait, and then pour in the rest. Then pump. The well has never gone dry, but the pump must be primed to bring the water up. Have faith, believe. When you are through drawing the water, fill the bottle and bury it in the sand for the next traveler.” Having come upon this pump in the desert with it’s sign and being out of water, what would you do? Will you dig the water bottle from the sand and drink from it? Or will you believe and in believing dare to pour that water every drop of it down into the old rusty pump? Because you trust, you take the risk, both for yourself and for the next traveler who will pass that way. What will you do? Will you be faithful to the written promises of God?
We pray 15 minutes and think we can take a city, a shotgun prayer for help and we expect God to right a wrong. Jesus tells us that we must wait until we are endued from on high with power.
We would see the Lord move in a mighty way if we would be waiting on His power and direction, both for our lives, our families, and our churches.
The fruit of our ministry will be in proportion to the amount of prayer we engage in.
God’s desire for relationship has never ended. He longs to fellowship with us. People who are hungry for God and want to see him do tremendous things “press in’
Like the lady who pressed through the crowds to get a hold of Jesus garment- she was healed
People don’t make room for God in their lives, he’s looking to become their lives. We are more concerned about the plan of men than the plan of God.
In bringing this to a close- prayer changes lives, prayer changes circumstances, prayer get’s God’s attention
Some pray- some talk about prayer.
Some want to make a difference- some will do something to make it happen.
Some will never see the obstacles in their blind spot. They will drive and continually crash and burn.
Lev. 6:12-13
“And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it, it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it, and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offering. A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.
A.W. Tozer-
“There is little that we need other than God himself”
Which one are you? talker or prayer? I am going to open the altars for a moment. I will not be begging anyone to come. If you feel lead to find a place, I would ask you to come right now. I will close us in prayer and be praying that we make a difference in this neighborhood and our families.
We need to ask God to ignite our souls. He wants to renew his people. He wants to call us back to Him.
Satan’s main strategy has always been to whisper to God’s people, “Don’t call, don’t ask, don’t depend on God to do great things. You’ll be fine if you just trust on your own cleverness and energy. The truth of the matter is that the devil is not terribly frightened of our own human efforts and credentials. But he knows his kingdom is damaged when we lift up our hearts to God.
Illustration-
King David’s weaponry was ridiculous. A sling and five stones. God uses foolish tools in the hands of weak people to build his kingdom. Backed by prayer and his power, we can accomplish the unthinkable.
You and I will never know our potential under God until we step out and take risks on the front lines of battle.
Prayer is calling out to God. That is what will get God’s attention. “Call unto me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know”
“I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come and eat with him, and he with me...he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Altar call:
