Presenting: The Lord's House

Audio at: www.sermonlist.com/Presenting.m3u

What do you want this church to look like to outsiders? What do you want it to accomplish? As Christians, we should want this church to look inviting to outsiders; a place that is warm and friendly, not a place that is distant and cold. As far as what we want it to accomplish, I think that is simple.

We want this church to spread the Good News to other people. But how can it spread that news if there are no other people coming in to the church?

Today, I want to talk to you about these things, but I also want to include how we, as the people in the church, can make or break this church without realizing it. I want to talk about what is expected of each one of us, as we work to grow this church for Jesus.

God has blessed us immensely. We began this church with just 14 people six months ago. Now, we are nearing 40, and even though that is still a very small number, it shows that this church is growing.

Today, I would like to focus on what the future of our church looks like, and how it will be affected by what we are doing today. The best way I have found to be healthy is to take action to thwart off those things that can make you unhealthy.

Most messages are meant to keep you spiritually healthy. This message will do that, but it also includes how to keep the church spiritually healthy.

And, since none of us want to be here all day, this will not be a very long sermon, as we are going to have our first annual business meeting after the service, and then we will have our monthly board meeting.

Let me tell you about when I was in the Navy. I was a flight weather forecaster. I gave weather briefings to pilots, telling them what kind of weather they would encounter between their flight’s origination and destination points. I am not bragging, but I was consistently given accommodations for my accuracy. Now, to prove to you that I am not bragging, let me tell you how I accomplished that.

I would take the weather forecasts from up to 50 reporting stations around me and simply average them out to get my forecast. I was not plagiarizing their reports, but I was using their intelligence and know-how to help my forecasts. Many of these people knew much more than I did, and many had more experience than I did; so I relied on them to help me.

I know many pastors throughout this nation, and I do the same thing with them. I borrow ideas from them to help me deliver better sermons to you, and I feel free to ask them for help whenever I run into a problem.

The reason I rely on them is to make sure you are getting everything possible out of a church that is truly focused on Jesus Christ.

Now, that being said, I want to talk to you about …

1. MAKING A CHOICE TO DO GODLY THINGS

I believe too many churches expect nothing more of their congregations than to come in, sit, listen, and then go home, just to come back next week and go through the same motions.

And some churches do this without telling them what their obligations to that church are. This makes for a content, albeit somewhat non-focused, congregation. And a church that is not properly focused cannot do its Godly job of leading others to Christ.

A pastor asked a ten-year-old boy after service one morning if the boy knew why the church served coffee to the adults after church. The boy said, “Sure. It’s to make sure they wake up before they drive home.”

I would hate to think of this congregation ever getting in that shape because if you were not focused on the word of God in the sermon, you wouldn’t be focused on anything of God in the church.

Each of you were led to this church for a very special purpose, and each of you are a very special blessing to this church. As your pastor, I will do all I can to keep you informed as to not only what direction we need to travel, but what God wants from each of us as we go there.

Here is a thought that very few people ever consider. If we go to a church on a regular basis, do we owe that church anything?

I have always felt that if we go to a church regularly, we owe it several things. We owe the church to try and build it strong for the Lord’s work, and that means we have to focus on God’s vision for the church, not what we might personally want in the church. And what is God’s vision for CrossRoads Church?