It seems to me that we don't make enough of special occasions, anniversaries, birthdays,
and that sort of thing.
Hopefully we remember some of the very important ones, but often even of those we don't make
quite enough.
In the Bible, God made a great deal out of annual events.
In the Old Testament, in his people Israel, God assigned a number of annual events which
they were to remember, and by which he would remind them of the great and mighty things
he had done on their behalf.
There were other times when the Lord reminded his people and allowed for permanent reminders
to be established so that they would not forget what a great God he is.
Another example of that is found in the book of 1 Samuel chapter 12.
I'd like you to turn there and look at this verse with me as we begin our journey this
morning.
1 Samuel chapter 7.
The people of Israel had been unfaithful to the Lord, following the false gods of the
nations around them.
Consequently, God allowed them to be defeated in battle.
Israel ministered to the people as a prophet at this time.
As a result of his ministry, revival came, and the people repented of their sins.
Early in the chapter you can read about the way that they observed this revival.
They cried out to the Lord, and the Lord forgave them.
An offering was made.
The Philistines, who were their dedicated enemies, desired to take advantage of this
time in the nation.
They felt that the nation was ripe for an attack because the people were gathered together
during service to their God.
So they gathered together their army and marched upon the Israelites.
The Israelites turned to the Lord, and God delivered them.
It says that God thundered with a great thunder.
Now exactly what does that mean?
Well, we weren't there.
We don't know precisely.
And God caused unusual noise, like the noise of thunder that reverberated and echoed throughout
that whole area.
And it continued on and on and on, and as a result of that, the Philistines fled and
they were defeated in battle.
Because of that, it says in verse 12, Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and
Shen and named it Ebenezer, saying, thus far the Lord has helped us.
Ebenezer means the stone of help.
It was to be a reminder as a pillar in a permanent location between two cities of what God had
done for them.
And the testimony of the stone was, up to this point, the Lord has helped us.
I believe that that is our testimony too.
Thus far the Lord has helped us.
This is an Ebenezer Sunday of sorts to us.
We look over the past five years with sincere gratitude for what God has been pleased to
do in our midst.
And we must never forget that it has been God who has done it.
This is not the work of man or a group of people.
It is the work of the Lord.
We are so close to what God has done here over this period of time that it's easy for
us to overlook the greatness of the work of the Lord.
We must be careful not to do that.
Anniversary Sunday can be an Ebenezer Sunday for us, a time for us to remember that thus
far the Lord has helped us.
We can also look to the future on this Sunday and know that the Lord will continue to help
us.
We can look to the future with confidence because he who has begun a good work in us
will complete it, will fulfill it, will perfect it in the day of Jesus Christ, that is the
day of the rapture when Jesus comes for the church.
So we look to the past on this Sunday and we look to the future.
As I was preparing for this morning and desiring God to show me what he wanted me to share,
God seemed to lay on my heart to review with all of us the important things at Grace Church,
Roseville.
What things are important to us?
What are the things that really are the bottom line to what we are all about?
What is it that counts in this ministry?
You see it's too easy for us to forget these things or for those who come in over the process
of time not to even know about them.
And so I went back to some of the statements that were made five years ago and some of
the ones that have been made since.
And I try to condense these and allow them to filter out through my heart for today.
What is important to us at Grace Church, Roseville?
I believe that there are at least seven answers to that question.
Now there are more things that could be said, this is not an all-inclusive message by any
means, but these seven things need to be said.
What are important to us in this church?
All these things could be included.
Number one, the Bible.
That would seem obvious, but we must say it.
The Bible is important to us because it is God's Word.
It is God's inerrant, infallible Word.
By that we mean not just that the Bible is infallible when it speaks about theology and
doctrine, but that it is also inerrant when it speaks in the area of geography or history
or any other subject.
God is a holy God.
And the only kind of book that can accurately represent Him and reveal Him to us is a book
that is itself the holy Bible.
It is an inerrant book, an infallible book, and because it is that, it is authoritative.
God's Word is our final authority in what we believe and how we behave.
That is, in our faith and in our practice, this book is important to us because it is
our final authority.
Not what I want, not what someone else wishes, but what the Bible says.
That is what is important.
Therefore, we teach the Bible.
We teach it in our worship services.
We teach it in our small churches and electives.
We teach it in our growth groups and our flocks.
The emphasis of our ministry is the teaching of the Word of God.
It is our desire to explain it, hopefully, in a relevant, practical way that we can all
understand and get a hold of.
If we can't understand what's being said, then what's the use of it being said?
It is my goal as the pastor of the church to explain the Bible in simple terms, hopefully
not simplistically, but simply, so that we can understand what God says to us and how
that applies to our lives.
It is not our desire to explain the Bible away using certain methods of interpretation
and saying, well, that doesn't apply to today.
This is not for today.
It is true that there are some things that are not directly for us, but the whole Bible
is written to us.
So, every part of the Bible has an application to our lives, every part of it.
We need to study it.
That is important in this ministry.
The result of that is that the body is built up.
The body is made stronger.
It grows.
Occasionally, I am asked, what is it that has made Grace Church grow?
I have a good friend who has just taken a new church in the state of Washington.
He wrote me a letter and he asked me that question.
He knew better than to ask it, but he did anyway.
I went back and bowled him out gently.
I said, you know very well that there is no secret, there is no formula for church growth.
It is very simple why the church grows, because the Bible is being taught and being applied
to lives.
You tell most people that and they will scratch their heads and say, now there has got to
be something else.
That can't be it.
That is too simple.
Why have you come to Grace Church, Roseville?
Because the Bible is being taught here.
There are other parts to answer that question.
It is not fully as simple as that, but that is the basic reason.
We simply are teaching the word of God to people.
People want to know what God has to say and how that applies to life and living.
That is the goal of this ministry.
What is important to us, the Bible, the teaching of it and the practice of it, the fact that
it is important is reflected not only in the way that we teach it, in our services and
the emphasis that we place upon it, but also in how we treat it as a people.
The importance of the Bible is reflected in the fact that we bring it to church with us.
Have you ever gone to a church with your Bible and been the only one there with a Bible?
That has happened to our family sometimes on vacation.
You say, isn't it a little bit embarrassing?
Not at all.
I think the other people ought to be embarrassed.
You see, the reason we come to church is to study the word of God, that God may speak
to us.
We all should be carrying Bibles.
We are not just carrying them with us in the church, but opening them and using them and
reading the passages that are being discussed.
I would hope every person here this morning has a Bible, or if a couple of us here, that
you at least have one Bible to share between the two of you.
Because you see, the Bible is important to us.
This is the word of God, and we want to know what God has to say.
Not only should we bring it to church with us, but we should use it during the week.
It's not good enough to bring the Bible on Sunday and lay it on the shelf in the week,
is it?
We want to be reading it and applying it to our lives on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday
and throughout the week.
We can say that we are a Bible teaching church and be glad for that.
But unless we who are a part of this church make the Bible important throughout the week,
we've missed something.
I believe that we see the importance of the Bible reflected also in each one of us, allowing
it to be our own personal final authority.
What am I supposed to do?
What decisions should I make?
How should I respond?
What should I think about this?
Well, the Bible is our final authority.
When those kinds of questions come to you and your business and your family, wherever
you are, let the Bible be your final authority.
The Bible is important.
That's where we start.
And may it ever be important in our church.
But it doesn't stop there.
What other things are important?
Well, secondly, I would mention worship.
Worship is vitally important to us as a church.
It has been from the beginning and it must always be so.
And I think of worship not just as a service that we come to, but our actions, our lives.
Worship is not just a noun, it's a verb.
Worship is important to us as a church.
And I'm thinking of two aspects of this.
First a personal aspect, individual aspect.
We must learn how to worship God personally.
We need to learn how to practice the presence of God, as one ancient mystic put it.
We must learn how to remember that God is with us throughout the day in all of our routine,
so that we don't forget that what we do and what we say and even what we're thinking at
any given moment is not just private to us, but it is open to heaven.
God knows.
He's there.
And therefore we practice His presence and in that way we worship God personally.
We need to learn what it is to personally walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.
God has given us the Holy Spirit to strengthen us, to enable us to live as He wants us to
live.
We need to learn personally what that means.
How to appropriate the power of the Holy Spirit and thus worship God in spirit as well as
in truth.
Worshipping God individually means that we have a holy lifestyle.
That we're concerned about separation from sinful actions.
That we do not want sin expressed in our lives.
That we want our lives to be pure and upright and pleasing to God.
That is worship personally.
That is important to us as members of this church.
It is important for us to learn what it is to be salt and light in our society.
We worship God when we live before the unregenerate in such a way that we expose their wickedness.
I don't mean it all in a self-righteous way or even in a judgmental way, but just in the
godly way that we live, their lifestyle is exposed.
Ephesians 5 talks about that.
We want to be salt.
What is salt good for?
What a lot of things, including making a person thirsty.
You can have a friend at work that you've tried to witness to and there's just no desire
for it on their part.
How is it that you make that person desirous?
Well, be salt before that person.
Live such a warm, godly life, a life of worship so that that individual will develop a taste
and will want to taste and see for himself that the Lord is good.
We need to worship the Lord personally.
If we don't learn how to worship the Lord personally through the week, coming on Sunday
morning to worship with other people is meaningless.
It really is.
Because you see, what we do here in these minutes that we have together is an overflow
of our whole week.
So that as we learn to worship God out beyond these walls, when we come together within
them, we can truly worship the Lord with each other.
We need to learn to worship the Lord together.
That too is a matter of learning to recognize the awesome presence of the living God and
to respond with joy that lifts the heart, with fear, yes, with fear that trusts God.
When we come together, we need to remember that we are here in the presence of the living
Christ in a very special way.
He is here in our midst when we come together like this.
That's why it's so important that we be here.
Whenever the church meets, Sunday morning, Sunday night, for worship, the Lord is there.
The Lord is here now.
We worship him.
We must learn to do that because we are naturally ignorant as to how to do it and we're naturally
insensitive to his presence.
So we need to develop that in our lives.
One of the tools that God uses is music.
Music is such a vital part to our worship.
I thank God for every person who's a part of our music ministry and for what we're able
to do now.
We want to do so much more in terms of the music ministry of our church.
A person who doesn't believe in a music ministry in a church is a person who really does not
know his Bible very well.
For not only does the New Testament talk about that in Colossians and Ephesians as the outflow
of the spirit-filled life, but if you go back to the Old Testament, you will be amazed at
the importance of music in the worship of ancient Israel.
You realize that there were literally thousands of people who were supported by the nation
to be full-time musicians at the temple.
Thousands of them.
Some were singers.
Others were composers.
Some were arrangers.
There were those who played instruments, and I mean all kinds of instruments.
Why?
Because music is important to worship.
God has made us in such a way that music enables our spirit to be released in worship to God.
Therefore, we as a church make music important.
It is a priority with us.
It is a priority of this church and will remain that way.
A lot of us enjoyed the orchestra last Sunday, and I think it was Sunday night that I mentioned
that it has been a vision of mine for a long time to have an orchestra with every service
in the church where I would pastor.
Frankly, my faith isn't big enough that I think we could have that big of an orchestra
all the time, but even a small one.
I thank the Lord for our brass group this morning and how that adds to our regular instruments.
But an orchestra with the strings and the mixture of sound that it produces is marvelous.
We can only imagine what it must have been like in ancient Israel when those hundreds
and hundreds of people would gather with their instruments and thousands of singers would
praise the Lord.
It must have been absolutely glorious.
I believe that our local churches today need to be something like that.
We can't quite come up to that same status as ancient Israel, but within the confines
of the ministry God has given us, we want to make music important.
We need to train musicians.
We need to train people in music within the church.
It can be done in other places, but even the school systems now are having trouble funding
that.
Why can't we have a school for music within our church that the students themselves would
pay for, just like my kids pay for music lessons?
Your children probably do too.
Why not in the church?
Let it be there.
Let's let our children know that they can use music in our church.
I think that next Sunday night there is a concert at 5.30 for children in our church
who will be just doing things for those who come early.
That's going to be a marvelous thing.
We need to let our children know that music is important.
We want great inquirers in our church so that from young ages right on up, they're able
to understand what music means and how it is used in the worship of God.
That is vital to our future as a worshiping church.
We can talk about worship being important, but it's when we get down to some of these
other areas that we really begin to mean that it's important by the investment of our money
in our gifts in music.
And enthusiastic participation on the part of all of us is vital in our worship.
What is important to Grace Church Roosevelt?
The word, worship.
Thirdly, I would mention evangelism, missions, and church planting.
We as a church are committed to the Great Commission.
We believe in having a world vision with a local application.
We don't want to be looking out there at the world and miss what's happening here locally.
It needs to be balanced.
But we want to have a vision for the world.
In that sense, we want to use that word, that term that's been coined in our day, world
Christians.
We want to know what's happening in other parts of our world in the work of God and
be involved in supporting it.
In as many ways as we possibly can.
Some of us going, all of us praying and writing to our missionaries, encouraging them, or
being involved in giving faithfully so that our missions outreach can increase.
We will continue as a church to invest large portions of our annual budgets to the cause
of world evangelization.
Right?
Because that is a priority to God.
And it's important to us as a church, and we will continue to pray that God will call
out workers from our own church to go.
Do you know that right now there are between 40 and 50 people in our congregation that
are at some point seeking to discern God's will regarding missions?
That is marvelous.
That's wonderful.
Let's just suppose that half of those people go.
Let's say 20 of them actually go in the next five years.
Half of them discern that it's not the will of God.
But half of them say, this is what God wants.
Do you recognize what a responsibility that is for us who remain here in terms of supporting
them even financially?
We have a big challenge before us.
So as we pray for workers, we need to remember that we're going to be giving more in the
future as well, for evangelism, missions, and church planting, there is nothing that
supersedes the value of a person's soul.
Whatever color the person may be, whatever language he speaks, his soul is of infinite
worth.
Or shall a prophet a man if he gains the whole world, said Jesus, and loses his own soul?
That's true of you, my friend, and me too.
Jesus said, what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Your soul is valuable to God, so valuable that he sent his beloved son to die for you,
and give his life that you might be saved by the grace of God.
He died for others around this world, and they need to hear the message.
In this regard, it's important for us to remember that since the beginning, we've had a twin
city orientation.
Grace Church has never been a neighborhood church in the traditional sense, where a local
church attracts people within just two or three miles of its building.
We have people who drive all the way from the nominee, Wisconsin, to here, all the way
the other side of Inoka to come, the other side of the Twin Cities to come to Grace Church.
That's because we have had, from the beginning, a twin city orientation.
That doesn't mean that neighborhood churches are wrong at all.
There's a place for them.
But in our ministry, God has given us a twin city orientation.
We need to keep that in mind.
That's important to us.
We're committed also to new growth.
That's important to remember.
We are not interested in the transplantation of members from other evangelical churches
to ours.
The speaker that we had a year ago today, Warren Wiersby, has made a statement that
has stuck with me through the years.
He says, you can't build with borrowed bricks.
And you think about that statement in terms of a local church, and you understand its
application.
Now, I'm not talking about people coming from other churches where the Bible is not being
preached.
That's another matter altogether.
But our goal is not to reach other people in Bible teaching evangelical churches.
We are not in competition with them.
Our goal is new growth.
People coming to trust the Savior and following Him in baptism and becoming a part of our
church.
That is what our goal is.
Important to us is evangelism, missions, and church planting.
Now, if that's important to us as a church, it's important to us as individuals too.
Because you see, as someone said, we's the church.
We's the church.
And if we as individuals are not involved in evangelism, missions, and church planting,
we can talk about this till we're blue in the face and it won't mean a hill of beans.
So let me ask you this question.
How are you involved in a strategy for winning people to Jesus Christ?
You may want to be involved in a target group of reaching prisoners in a jail.
Or having been saved out of alcoholism, you may be concerned about alcoholics and want
to win them to Christ.
Maybe you're burdened about the AIDS victims in the Twin Cities.
People going to hell with not knowing the Lord Jesus Christ.
Maybe that's a target group that you could begin to work on.
But listen, every one of us ought to have a strategy.
It may be family right now.
It could be the people in the office.
But there ought to be some way in which we personally are involved in a strategy of outreach
for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Because only then will evangelism, missions, and church planting really be important in
our church.
What is important to Grace Church?
A fourth answer to that question would be a ministering body.
We have turned to Ephesians 4 verses 11 and 12 so many times that it's almost embarrassing.
But the truth there has to be repeated over and over again.
Why has the Lord given the church evangelists and pastor teachers?
It is for the equipping of the saints unto the work of ministry.
We do not believe in a hired professional staff to do the ministry for the church.
Our perspective is that that is an unbiblical teaching.
Why then do we have staff?
We add staff to our church when we see in a person certain gifts that will make him
or her valuable to the equipping of the people of our church for their ministries.
Every one of us need to be involved in ministry.
That's the point.
Otherwise, a church languishes.
It just limps along.
It misses the dynamic that comes with a ministering people.
God's plan is for people, members of a church, to be active participants and not passive
spectators.
So we have to ask this question.
What gifts do you have and how are you employing them in this church or if you're a visitor
in your local church where you attend?
You see, there is no exception to this principle that every one of us is gifted and expected
by God to use that gift in or through, in some way, the ministry of his local body,
the local church.
What is important to us?
A ministering body.
That means there are some people that will not be comfortable in our church because all
they want to do is to sit in a chair and do nothing.
Today, their spiritual gift is that of criticism and employ it.
Well, I will guarantee you that is not a spiritual gift, nor is it the will of God for them to
be a pew warmer.
God has called us to be a ministering people and people who come to be a part of Grace
Church Roosevelt need to recognize that.
That it is important to us that we follow through and be, each of us, a ministering
person.
What is important to us?
Commitment to growth.
Number five.
Now, certainly numbers are not the most important thing.
Effective ministry, biblical ministry is the most important.
But when a church has an effective ministry, when it is biblically ministering to people,
that will almost inevitably result in growing numbers.
Some have asked me from time to time, what is the goal numerically for Grace Church Roosevelt?
Are we going to stop with a thousand or with 1200 or 2000?
What is the goal?
Well, the answer to that is very simple.
We have no goal.
We do not have a minimum and we don't have a cap.
We will simply minister as God leads us to minister and let him grow the church to whatever
size he deems is important.
We are committed though to growth.
But that has several ramifications that need to be talked about.
If we say that we are committed to growth, that means, number one, that we are committed
to be flexible as a church.
That we are willing to make changes in our ministry whenever and wherever necessary to
facilitate growth.
We have to get over this threat of change, some of us.
In our first year or two or maybe even three, we went through a lot of changes because we
had, we were forced into it and it was good for us.
It was healthy.
It wasn't always comfortable.
It wasn't always easy, but we changed because we were growing.
We must continue to have that kind of an attitude.
We must not allow ourselves to seek our own comfort above what is best for the whole ministry.
We must keep challenging ourselves to move out of our comfort zones and be willing to
change whatever is necessary in order that we may accommodate the growth that God is
pleased to give.
In Mark 2 22, Jesus says that you cannot put new wine into old wineskins because the old
wineskins will burst.
If God is going to keep pouring new wine into a church, that church is going to have to
keep shedding its old wineskins and developing new ones.
I have seen churches that have killed themselves because they refuse to change.
We're committed to utilize contemporary methods to proclaim an unchanging message.
The message of Jesus Christ, the message of the Bible does not change with the times,
but methodologies do and must.
We must be willing to lay aside tradition the way we've always done it for the sake
of a better, more effective ministry now and in the future.
We have to keep evaluating this folks and dealing with it.
It's not always going to please everybody, but change is inevitable and we must face
that.
The message doesn't change.
We are as conservative in theology, I suppose, as most churches that are called evangelical
or even fundamental.
You'll recall last week I mentioned that in our first worship service we had 50 high school
singers from a high school locally.
Their director attends our church.
He brought them so that they might experience the worship service last week with the orchestra
and choir and they also got a sermon while they were here.
A sermon on adultery, which was pretty conservative for them.
In fact, one of them made the statement as they left, he's like Jerry Falwell.
Well, I appreciate the compliment.
We have an unchanging message.
It is a conservative message.
That is not going to change, but the way that we deliver it, the package in which it comes,
the methods that we utilize to reach people, those must change.
We're committed to try new ideas and if I may say so, we're committed even to risk failure.
Failure does not mean somebody has goofed.
Did you know that?
Our society is so concerned about finding out who is at fault.
You see it right now with the shuttle probe.
There are going to be some people whose heads are going to be chopped off over that whole
thing.
It will be rightly so, I don't know, but it certainly illustrates the fact that in our
society we want to know who is at fault and we want to lay blame at somebody's feet.
Let's get over that.
If there is a failure, then let's just thank God that we know that doesn't work and look
for something better.
Let's use it as a stepping stone to go on to something that God can use in a more effective
way in our church.
We're committed to trying new ideas and risk failure if necessary because you see faith
from a human perspective now involves risk.
It does.
Faith is risky business from a human perspective, but without faith it's impossible to please
God.
Without the kind of faith that's willing to risk big, we can't please God.
What is important to Grace Church?
A commitment to growth and the ramifications of that.
Although we are committed to grow, it does not mean, however, that we're going to lower
our membership standards to grow.
I expect that our attendance will always be higher than our membership because it means
something to be a member of Grace Church.
Grace Church is not for everybody.
It doesn't mean that they're unspiritual.
It doesn't mean that we're better than anybody else.
To be a member of our church, one must have a clear testimony of his faith in Christ.
He must have a sincere desire to grow spiritually.
He must follow the Lord in believers' baptism by immersion.
There must be an agreement with our church's doctrine, philosophy of ministry, and our
mission, our goals.
Not everybody's going to agree with those things, and that's fine.
They should find a place where they can be comfortable and serve God there.
It doesn't mean they're unspiritual or disobedient, but we as a church are committed to certain
things, and because of that, not everybody who attends is going to join.
We understand.
We expect that our attendance will always be higher than our membership.
But I want to say this, that our membership in Grace Church is important to us.
Becoming a member of this local church is considered an important step for a person.
It would not be our desire for people to continue on and on and on, just attending.
There needs to be that commitment of life.
That outward indication of agreement that comes with membership.
What is important to Grace Church?
Well, let me say sixly that unity and diversity is important.
There's nothing that's so important to a New Testament church as its unity.
It's the crown jewel.
And when that jewel is stolen or lost, the church has suffered a grievous setback.
And yet unity does not mean uniformity because there will be diversity in a church due to
different backgrounds, stages of spiritual maturity, and varying personalities.
We then need to learn to respect other people's opinions and convictions in the area where
the Bible does not speak with absolute clarity.
That is the gray areas, the disputable things.
There's no place for dissension, for critical spirit, or for gossip about these matters.
The Word of God says, be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus.
Accept one another just as Christ also accepted us.
We are to accept each other with our diversities.
Not to be critical, not to be splitting, not to be filled with dissension.
We are to be unified.
What is important to us?
Unity in our diversity.
But that does not apply to false doctrine.
There's not going to be unity if there's false doctrine.
Nor does it apply to sinful living.
There's not going to be unity if there's sinful living.
Indeed, in those two areas, the Word of God commands us to practice church discipline,
which is a whole other subject.
So there's not unity about those things.
But there is unity when we're walking with Jesus Christ and fellowship with Him in obedience
to His Word.
And finally, what is important to Grace Church?
That we be a loving church that cares.
We want to be the kind of a church that fosters a family spirit of close personal friendships
and brotherly love so that we reach out to the hurting, to the wounded, and yes, even
to the sinful.
So we don't judge and kick and stab, but that with the love of Jesus Christ we reach out
to those who are reaching out for help themselves.
We want to foster that kind of a loving, caring spirit in our church.
Now these things are important to us.
The question is, are they important to the Savior?
I believe the answer to that is an unequivocal yes.
Because the things that we've talked about are found here in this book.
In the second and third chapters of Revelation, there are seven letters written to the seven
ancient churches in Asia Minor.
There are certain similarities and differences in those letters, but among the similarities
are certain phrases.
Two of them are words that Jesus used.
In every letter you will find Him saying, I know and I will.
To every church He says, I know, I will.
What does that mean?
What does that suggest?
Well first it suggests that the Lord Jesus Christ is fully aware of the condition of
each church at all times, including ours today.
He knows.
Now each of us would have an opinion as to whether we are meeting our goals, if we are
doing what we say is important.
What we think or our opinions may be are not important.
What He knows is important and I want to tell you, Jesus knows.
He knows the condition of this church and He knows the condition of your life and mine.
Not only that, but Jesus responds to what He knows.
He says, I know and I will.
In other words, He is engaged in blessing and correcting and warning, even removing
local churches on the basis of what He knows about them.
Jesus will not allow a church to remain static.
There's no place in His plan for the status quo.
In each of these letters He urges progress and movement, often through repentance.
We can state what's important.
We can give our opinions as to whether we are succeeding or failing, but it's the evaluation
of the Lord Jesus Christ that is accurate and His is the only one that ultimately counts.
For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.
So then each one of us shall give a count of himself to God.
So let us look at year six in our ministry with that in mind.
That the sovereign Lord who is the head of our church is examining our lampstand too.
He precisely knows the spiritual condition of us as a congregation and He urges upon
us humble repentance and renewed acknowledgement of Himself as the Lord.
If we will obey, then we will continue to know His blessing.
If we don't obey, then we face the eventual loss of our life and vision as a church.
It's inevitable.
You see no church is guaranteed continued existence or even spiritual health and blessing.
Spiritual health and blessing come only when the Lordship of Jesus Christ is recognized.
Not just in word but in truth.
And of course the same is true individually.
Our fifth anniversary is a time of celebration as it ought to be, a time of gratitude.
But it's also a time of inspection and a time of introspection for each one of us.
An opportunity for us to evaluate our own spiritual commitment and condition.
It is a time for us to give ourselves in repentance to a fresh commitment to Jesus Christ.
To seek His kingdom first and then know His blessing.
So I conclude by asking how do you fit in to your local church?
If it's here, here or if it's somewhere else, there.
How do you fit into your local church?
What is your part in it?
What is your commitment to its vision, to what it's all about?
What is your commitment to membership?
What about giving?
What about prayer partnership?
What about general support and encouragement?
Are you on track with your local church?
Well a time like this is an opportunity for those of us who are part of this church to
examine ourselves and to see where we really are.
Not where we know we ought to be, but where we really are.
Jesus Christ examines you and He examines our church today and He knows.
On the basis of what He knows, He will take action.
Let's respond to Him in repentance and fresh commitment to His Lordship.
With our heads bowed and eyes closed, I don't know what area of your life God may be talking
to you about, but I hope that whatever it is you will say to Him, be the Lord.
Let Him be the Lord my friend.
Let Him do in your life what He wants to do.
Let Him pour the blessing in.
But to do that, your heart needs to be receptive.
There needs to be perhaps repentance and confession.
There needs to be new commitment, change.
Will you, out where you're seated, deal with these things in your life?
And in relation to your church, what do you need to do there so that the Lordship of Jesus
Christ is more than a word to you, but it's reality?
Lord Jesus, I pray that each one of us will feel the prick of your conviction today.
And may we by the Holy Spirit be able to respond as we ought to.
But we might be in obedience and really know in our lives the Lordship that is rightfully
yours.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto
you.
Those are the things that are important to us, dear people.
They are important to Jesus Christ.
So this week as we live for Him and walk with Him and practice His presence, let's show
that these things are important.
God bless you.
We're dismissed.