A Year to Rebuild
December 30, 2012
TEXT: Please turn to Acts 14.
INTRODUCTION
I preached a sermon titled “A Year to Build” in 2008 under totally different circumstances. The two brigades had finally settled into Grafenwoehr and Vilseck and after five years of endless change and transition, it finally looked like we would have a stable congregation. We had also just finished the reconstruction on our building and were meeting in this auditorium for the first time. Things looked rosy…and God has given us many wonderful experiences since then.
But now, in 2013, we face tumultuous times ahead:
• First, between February and April, we will lose the Praters, who are heavily involved in our teaching ministry in our Adult GrowGroups and the International Homegroup.
• Our teen leaders, the Neals, will be PCSing in February.
• In May, the Brechlers will be leaving, meaning we’ll lose Patty as our Nursery Director, Steve as our Sunday night children’s teacher and their home as a homegroup venue.
• In February through June, the rest of the 172nd Infantry Brigade will exit our community, causing us to lose about half of our children’s ministry teaching staff.
• Regular PCS moves OUT of the community will follow in the summer, leaving several holes in our ministry, including Tom Mowers, who is our sound and media technician.
• By August, all of the ladies in our worship team married to soldiers will have PCSed.
• Also this summer, Vilseck’s 2CR will deploy to Afghanistan, taking away our Children’s Ministries Director, Chris Morello.
Of course new battalions and other units will eventually be coming in after that; there will be normal PCS rotations back into the community; and some Vilseck families will be quartered in Grafenwoehr and Netzaberg.
So it’s not all gloom and doom for us…it’s just going to be a wild ride, to say the least.
What a GREAT time to be in Grace Baptist Church to help us rebuild from the ground up!
Grace Baptist has a short, but a great heritage since its inception in 2003.!
• It’s a church WHERE PEOPLE LOVE ONE ANOTHER!
• It’s a church WHERE PEOPLE CAN FIND CHRIST, AND LEARN HOW TO GROW IN FAITH AND COMMITMENT TO GOD.
• It’s a church THAT HAS SEEN GOD’S UNIQUE BLESSINGS ON IT!
This is a great foundation and this is a time to look ahead with great confidence, not wring our hands in fear and trembling.
As we launch into a new year, this is a time to look forward to the best! It’s a time to reach out and try to do BIG things for God. The great missionary William Carey used to say, “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.”
I believe this is the year to do it! It’s a time we shouldn’t be preoccupied with lesser things; when we shouldn’t be deterred by pleasure and a desire for comfort; when we should “keep our eye on the ball”;…it’s a time to rebuild for the future!
How shall we rebuild?—The same three ways Paul did in Acts 14:
I. FIRST, LET US REBUILD THROUGH EVANGELISM – Acts 14:19-21 – “And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. 20 Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. 21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch.”
Here, Paul was stoned and believed to be dead. The disciples gather around his body, but he rises and surprises them! Folks, let’s let the world know we’re ALIVE! Let’s rise and surprise them!
What does Paul do in our text?—He heads for Derbe to reach people for Christ.
This was the purpose of his life – He said in 1 Corinthians 9:16 – “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” This was what made him such a powerful missionary. This was why he founded so many churches. His heart throbbed for evangelism—in reaching the lost for Christ!
Folks, evangelism should be the heartthrob of Grace Baptist, not just a course we take on Sunday nights once every couple of years.
• Let’s bring in people to hear the Gospel at Grace Baptist Church!
• Let’s be living messengers of the Gospel ourselves through the lives we live!
• And then let’s personally proclaim the Gospel ourselves to others!
In Mark 16:15, Jesus commanded, “…Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
Now don’t get hung up on the word “preach” here and think, “Well, I’m not a preacher, so that doesn’t apply to me.”No, the Greek word here is kérússō (κηρύσσω), which means “to herald (as a public crier), to proclaim, to publish.” EVERY Christian is a preacher in that sense. EVERY Christian is to PROCLAIM the Gospel; to PUBLISH the Good News of salvation so folks can know about Jesus!
You say, “Pastor, I don’t know how to tell people about Jesus.” Well, we’ve been going through a DVD series called Share Jesus Without Fear on Sunday nights. If you missed it, we can loan you a copy of the DVD series for you to go through on your own in just 3 sessions, and you can watch the optional 4th DVD too if you want.
But besides telling people about Christ, you can also tell them where to go to hear the Gospel by inviting them to come to Grace Baptist Church! First, let us rebuild through EVANGELISM.
II. SECOND, LET US REBUILD THROUGH ENCOURAGEMENT – Acts 14:21-22 – “And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, 22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”
One aspect of the word translated “exhort” is to encourage. After Paul brought people to Christ through his preaching and teaching, he encouraged them to continue in the faith and he encouraged them to stay true when trials came.
Folks, let’s be encouragers!
• Let’s encourage those who are discouraged.
• Let’s encourage those who feel like giving up.
• Let’s encourage the weak in faith.
• Let’s encourage those in leadership.
• Let’s encourage ALL in the family of faith.
How can you become an encourager?
• Frist, be an encourager IN THE COMMUNITY.
---Be an encourager to the TELLER at the bank; she needs it!
---Be an encourager to the CASHIER at the PX; she needs it too.
---Be an encourager to the baggers at the commissary and give a good tip too; they need the encouragement AND the tip! You may not know it, but baggers don’t get an hourly wage. Their only income is from their tips. What a discouragement to bag your groceries, trudge out in the cold with your groceries and not get a tip, or to get a puny one. Encourage those who serve you, both in word and action.
As you go through the community, be a blessing and an encouragement wherever you go. As I always say, “Some people are an blessing wherever they go and some are blessing WHENEVER they go.” Be in the former category, not the latter!
Unchurched folks need to see that Christians are joyful, positive, encouraging people. If you’re a sourpuss, you’re a lousy advertisement for Christianity! Folks need to see believers who are encouraging in the face of this broken-down, sinful world of trial and tribulation.
If you’re that kind of person in the community, tell EVERYONE you know that you go to Grace Baptist, but if you go around with a chip on your shoulder and you look like you’ve been sucking on persimmons, just be mum about where you go to church—AMEN? We don’t need any bad publicity!
• Second, be an encourager AT CHURCH.
When you come to church, do you come to be ministered to or to minister? I can always tell the one from the other…
---The one who wants TO BE MINISTERED TO usually sits down immediately and waits for people to come and greet them and ask how they’re doing and they want to be encouraged by others.
---The one who comes TO MINISTER comes early because he or she wants to be as much a blessing as they can, and as long as they can….He mingles in the congregation both before and after church. She hangs around looking for people who need encouragement. They take the initiative and go to others and talk to them and ask how they’re doing and try to encourage them.
Usually, the most encouraged people are the people who are the encouragers! There’s something about getting out of YOURSELF and your OWN set of problems and stewing about how rough life is treating YOU…and going over to OTHER people and trying to minister to THEM. As you’re ministering selflessly, there’s joy you feel that encourages your OWN heart, and lifts your OWN spirit. The more discouraged you are, the MORE you ought to get up out of your seat, get out of yourself, and encourage OTHERS.
Now you probably think I’m talking about the greeters or the ushers. No, I’m talking about YOU!—Each of you! If you’re a member or regular attender of Grace Baptist, I want to encourage you to come early every Sunday, and once you save your seat with your Bible, LEAVE your seat and go through the congregation and do not sit down again until you’ve encouraged a MINIMUM of 5 people with a greeting, or a kind word or a word of encouragement.
And make sure it’s not just those in your circle of friends or homegroup. Homegroups engender friendships, which is GOOD; but if you’re not careful, you can become cliquish and exclusive: that’s BAD. Of course greet your friends; but branch out and encourage others others outside that circle.
Especially reach out to encourage VISITORS. You know, it’s always a little scary and intimidating when people visit a church for the first time. They don’t know if we’re a bunch of snake handlers or legalists over dress, or a country club that’ll snub them because they’re not rich enough, or if we swing from the chandeliers or what! The best way to put people at ease is to just be a friend to them—just normal, accepting, warm and friendly.
Greet them with a warm handshake; ask them if they need assistance; assure them that their little ones will be safe and well-cared-for in children’s church and our nurseries.
Don’t try to be a politician and shake EVERYBODY’S hand in the church as fast as you can. Sit down for a few minutes with visitors and ask where they live; ask about their work, their families, where they’re from, where their last duty station was, what unit they’re in.
Don’t just be a hand-shaker: be an agent of encouragement. Be a friend.
Also be an encouragement to our own people. – If you see that something’s wrong with someone, ask them what’s going on and “be there” for them to encourage them in that tough time. Encourage them to hang in there. Encourage them by CARING. Encourage them by telling them you’ll pray for them.
Let’s rebuild through EVANGELISM and through ENCOURAGEMENT.
III. THIRD, LET US REBUILD THROUGH EDIFICATION – Acts 14:21-22a – “And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, 22 Confirming the souls of the disciples.”
Paul “confirmed” the souls of the disciples. The Greek word here is from a word that means, “to strengthen, confirm.” The word “edify” best captures the thought here.
To “edify” means “to build up.” Some people specialize in tearing down. Refuse to be part of their wrecking crew! Be a BUILDER, not a destroyer.
Paul talks a lot about building up and edifying believers in his letters. In Ephesians he said his primary job was to equip laymen to do the work of the ministry. Paul built up and edified people so they could SERVE. He taught them God’s Word and then put them into ministry to serve in the local church.
We see this in verse 23 – “And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.” Paul had invested the ministry in the hands of these leaders. Wait a minute—you mean these men didn’t go to seminary?—You got it! The leaders of New Testament churches were leaders who were raised up from WITHIN those local churches. Yes, there were trained men like Paul and Apollos. But the bulk of them were simple laymen—trained in the seminary of the local church.
Paul was not into power trips; he was into unleashing the saints to step up and do the work of the ministry.
Over the next year, I believe we will see new servers and leaders step forward. They’ll have to: Both our leadership and servants are vanishing before our eyes. It will be those of you who are just visitors now; and those sitting on the sidelines; and those whom God will bring into our church who will have to step into these precious leaders’ and servants’ shoes and teach in our children’s classes; work in our nurseries; host homegroups; lead homegroups and small groups; run the sound room; clean the church each week; keep the yard and building up; and take care of all the other jobs, great and small; servant-oriented and leadership-oriented; visible and behind-the-scenes.
CONCLUSION
So my challenge to you this year is this: Let us rise up and rebuild.
Folks, it’s time for some of you to decide where you stand. You’ve been visiting Grace, but you just haven’t taken a step to get in and get to work. Grace is a place you can grow in and help rebuild through sacrifice and service and commitment and faithfulness for our God. It’s a place that needs your tithes and offerings to survive and meet our obligations and reach our goals and teach our kids and disciple our adults and teens, and pay for the maintenance of this wonderful building. This isn’t a military chapel subsidized by the Army. Every expense is paid by the faithful tithes and offerings of God’s people with this church.
I challenge you to consider joining in fellowship in our church. Even if you do not join the church membership for some reason, many, if not most, of the ministry opportunities of Grace Baptist are open to you to jump into and to serve in, in order to help to build up this congregation and edify others and to serve so that the work of Grace Baptist Church can go on and do great things for God and reach more people for Christ and strengthen and confirm more believers in the faith.
I challenge you to, as my pastor used to say (PAUSE): “Get off of what we’re down on and get in on what God’s up to.”
And I want to tell you something: I believe God’s up to something GREAT in Grace Baptist Church! I honestly believe our best days are still ahead even though we’re losing some of our best people! But to rebuild and get there, we’re going to need YOU to get involved. As we partake of the ministries of the church, we need providers of those ministries.
Let’s get our eyes off SELF and get our eyes on OTHERS. THAT’S where joy is; THAT’S where fulfillment is.
Let’s get involved in spiritual reconstruction at Grace Baptist Church. Let us go forth and rebuild!
How?
• Through EVANGELISM
• Through ENCOURAGEMENT
• Through EDIFICATION
And let me close by saying a few words to those who are leaving: We desperately need you to serve as long as you think you can. We need you to continue to be faithful to the end in serving and attendance. We need you to continue your giving to Grace even after you leave until you unite with another local church in church membership.
The days ahead are perilous for this church if we are not faithful to the end. I know I can count on you.
Let us pray. (CLOSE)
