A Growing Church Series

Mission Statement:

The Redeeming River Church is a family of believers committed to preaching the cross with conviction, reaching the lost with compassion, and equipping the saints with the Word!

Our Vison:

The Word tells us in Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people perish”. Therefore, we know that where there is a God breathed vision the people have life. It is because of God’s specific plan for us that we can clearly see where we are going.

7 We Will Be’s

· We will be a life giving church whose waters flow from the River of God through all cultures and generations!

· We will be a life sustaining church where the heartbeat of God will keep our families spiritually healthy.

· We will be a life birthing church where new ministries are conceived, delivered, nurtured, and sent out.

· We will be a people of faith and expectancy who are not moved by what we see, but stand in the God who we know!

· We will be a people of devotion who are committed to the work of the Lord through the local church!

· We will be a people of worship who honor the Lord for who He is and not what He will do for us!

· We will be a growing church whose walls will not contain us!

I. INTRODUCTION

A. CHURCH GROWTH INSTITUTE SURVEY

1. The #1 reason for people not going to church is that “church is boring.”

2. The #2 reason is that “church is irrelevant.”

3. But the #3 reason for people not coming to church is they believe that “all the church wants is my money.”

B. A STUDY FROM BARNA RESEARCH HAS REVEALED THE FOLLOWING

1. First, a person’s moral foundations are generally in place by the time they reach 9. Their fundamental perspectives on truth, integrity, meaning, justice, morality, and ethics are formed early

in life

2. Second, responses to the meaning and personal value of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is usually determined before age 18

3. Third, most spiritual beliefs are irrevocably formed by the pre-teens. “In essence,” George Barna notes, “what you believe by the time you are 13 is what you will die believing.”

4. Finally, the research revealed adult church leaders usually have serious involvement in church life and training when they are young. Churches experiencing great influence in children’s lives realize that children are of special significance to God. Consequently, effective churches employ long-term, multi-pronged strategy that they tirelessly execute to facilitate the spiritual growth of children.

C. BEFORE WE GO ANY FURTHER

1. The church is not just a place that....

2. The church is a place that...

3. The church will grow if it is healthy

4. The church will bring people to the cross if it is healthy

5. When people come to the cross the church grows!

6. Can somebody give Him some praise in here this morning?

II. WHEN YOU GET EXCITED

A. YOUR FEELINGS AND THOUGHTS MAKE UP YOUR REALITY

1. One day I was excited about the cleaners....I had just bought my own business I was excited

2. Fast forward 3 years I was riding down the same road to the same place but I wasn’t excited anymore

3. Some of what I dreamed did not pan out with what I saw

4. Some of waht I was sure about I had lost faith in

5. The cleaners was the same...the car was the same...the potential was the same....What I felt was not the same.

6. What I felt defined where I was

7. Proverbs 23:7

7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

8. My mind and emotions made the world in which I lived in

9. Some folks have it good, but because of their negatism...they’ve got it bad!

10. Jesus is reality!

B. JESUS IS REALITY

1. When Jesus came along he didn’t make His reality

2. He was reality

3. God loved us and wanted us to be with Him

4. Thus Jesus

5. I wonder what went on inside of Jesus

6. Mark 11:12

12 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:

7. We know that he was hungry

8. Jesus knows...He is touched by your infirmities

9. Hebrews 4:15

15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

10. He was a man and tempted just like you...but without sin

C. WHERE ARE YOUR THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS?

1. Where are you this morning?

2. Are you in the pit of addiction?