State of the Church 2008
Hebrews 12:1-2
Turn with me to Hebrews 12. Before we read the first two verses of Hebrews 12, we need to be reminded that Hebrews 11 gives us what has been referred to as “Faith’s Hall of Fame.” Here are some great men and women of faith listed with the 2 words “by faith” preceding their name. We read such names as Abel, Enoch, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Rahab, and Isaac. Additionally, the writer conveys that he doesn’t have time to tell us about everybody and then lists half dozen others while making reference to the “prophets” as a catch all thought.
Here is the point. We are to be a people of faith. Our faith is in Father God. Our faith in Father God causes us to believe that He loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, Jesus, and that “if” we believe in Jesus, we will have eternal life. Our faith in the Father and the Son demands that we are obedient to them in all things while here on earth.
This State of the Church message has been the most difficult message which I have prepared in many years. And there are many reasons for this. So if I stumble or seem to lose my words for a moment, just know that it is my desire to give God’s prophetic message in a manner which is honoring to His call and not so harsh that it is offensive.
For you see, mine is a unique perspective. Allow me to Illustrate; Were I to randomly choose 25 people from our congregation today and asked what they think the “State of this Church” really is, there would be a myriad of responses. These would probably range from “terrific to terrible.” Some are asking, “Terrible? Who would think this church is terrible?” How about the long time member who was wounded in their spirit last week by unkind and demeaning words of another long time member? How about the long time member who in 2007 experience difficulty settling into a new Sunday school class? How about a new member who cannot break through the barrier of simply, being new? How about a person serving being criticized?
That is enough about the “terrible”, how about the “great?” You know the old song, “I sure could use a little good news today.” Admittedly, we are above average on many things, my desire is to raise the bar this morning. Begin above average is not enough; our desire must be to “be all God wants us to be.” How does this happen? Let’s Read our Scripture. (Read text)
Overwhelmed does not do justice to Deb and my feelings on that November night in 2005 when, after voting to call us as your new Pastor and wife, you gave a standing ovation as we entered the room to accept this call and responsibility. I can not even tell you the myriad of things which were going through our hearts and minds as we journeyed back to Mississippi to make our preparations to move to Hueytown with the prospect of God’s powerful hand on us. As we prayed and looked forward to our days of ministry together, God birthed in me a dream for this congregation. During this past two years, I have done my best to convey to you my vision or dream for this congregation. For us, there were many unanswered questions, some of which still linger today. Yet, it always serves us well to revisit, evaluate, and even revise a vision as time goes by.
I have a dream for HBC. Without reservation or hesitation, I believe it is a God given dream. And it is so much more than what we are doing or even have ever done. What ‘is now’ evident to me, as your leader, is that while we have made some progress to becoming the church God wants us to be, there remains much to be done & which simply must be changed if we are to fulfill God’s purpose for us in this place. Isaiah begins his prophecy with this call, “Come, let’s discuss this” or as the KJV says, ‘let’s reason together’.
The concept of change, while un-nerving to many of us, is an ongoing theme in life as well as in the Bible. The lives of those normal men whom Jesus called as disciples never stopped changing from the day they were called until the day they died. For Saul of Tarsus, life would never be the same after His Damascus road experience. After Pentecost, the church had Jerusalem and all the believers continued to go through change after change to make sure there ministry and mission stayed on point.
Never forget this; that our divine task is to make disciples of all people, you know, the “changing lives for time and eternity” purpose statement of this body. A form of the word “change” even appears in our statement. Keeping the principle of making disciples in front of us and then making every philosophy susceptible to accomplishing that purpose will do much to bring us into line with God’s will.
Let’s briefly begin this morning and use the word “change” as an acrostic to understand our mission, ministry, and even mandate.
The “C” could stand for many things. Commitment, Conversion, Consistency, Caring, or Confrontation, are just some of the concepts this letter could represent. I choose the word “Compare.” For you see, my heartache, my burden, and/or my desire are that we see ourselves in light of those first century believers. For just a moment consider this question with me. “How do I measure up to those believers in the first century?” Think about it. These people were excited about the resurrection of Jesus. They were excited about the forgiveness they found in Him and the security which they had come to know in their relationship to Him. At work, at play, in the community, and everywhere they went they had become known as “people of the WAY.” They found they hope for life, their reason for living, and their focus in the very NAME of Jesus. Because the believers (the members) were so focused on HIM, the church was a wonderful place to be. It’s hard for me to imagine these people demanding to have their way or that the church give them what they want or need. Remember this “C” stands not for comfort but compare. Can you imagine these guys staying at home from the assembly because it was too cold or hot, or the “I don’t like” syndrome? Shame on the church of the 21st century (and I use that term lightly) for demanding that we come together to GET from God instead of Give to God. Perhaps we need a series of messages, lessons, or seminars, on the believers and church of the first century to understand the divine motivation and focus for the church and the believer.
The “H” will focus our attention on “HEART.” The Bible has much to say about the heart, not the least of which a message we refuse to believe. I’m amazed at us who claim to be “people of the book” and yet, we choose to totally ignore the word when we don’t care for what it has to say. Last Wednesday we discussed this message in staff meeting and Bro. Terry asked, “how many times have you heard, that may be what the Bible says, but I believe.” In Jeremiah, the Bible tells us that “above all else the heart is deceitful.” Then in Romans, we are told we believe in the heart, then when one combines 2 Corinthians and Ezekiel we discover that in Christ we are given a new heart and become a new creation. By the way, your heart is not ‘invisible.’ There are those who say, “no one knows what’s in someone else’s heart.” Yet the Bible says that we CAN know. Watch this, wherever your treasure is, count on it that is where your heart is. It is difficult to say that our heart is to build up the body of Christ, the family called HBC when we are absent more than present, when we have more negative to say than positive, when we are more concerned about US than THEM.
The “A” word is the word “AIM.” What is the aim, the goal, the purpose, or the objective of this body or even of your life? As a church, we have numerous statements but I’m curious if new people or better still, if our Lord would affirm that we are “touching Hueytown with Hope” or if we are about “Changing lives for time and eternity” or even “if – the Bible is truly our guide book”. Too many people claiming to be believers have no personal purpose or direction. As Joshua passed off the seen He gave a stirring statement when He said, “As for me and my house we will SERVE the Lord.” Too often we’re thinking about what is needed “IN YOU,” while God imagines the great things He could do “THROUGH YOU.” Rather than thinking about what thing our church needs in order to be great, we need to imagine the great things God wants to do “THROUGH YOU” to make it happen! May I offer you another thought; “your aim affects your attitude.”
The “N” word is the concept “NEGLECT.” This is a double edged sword. If we are truly HIS there are some things we must and must not neglect. The Bible clearly teaches us to “put down, off, away, and even “to death” some specific things. Let’s think about those. Paul gives us some specific things to turn loose of. To Ephesus he tells to us get rid of anger, bitterness, insults, slander, and the like. To Colossi he says, put to death sexual immorality, impurity, lust, greed, evil desire, malice, and the like. The principle is this; none of these should have a part in the life of a believer. At the same time we should NOT NEGLECT compassion, kindness, forgiveness, encouragement, praise, gratitude, and the like. Just as surely as knowledge & wisdom shows us “what to say” and “what not to say.” Knowledge & wisdom teach us what to neglect as well as what not to neglect.
The “G” word is “GROWTH.” We need a fresh understanding of personal and corporate growth. Our “cause and effect” or “objective and outcome” have become a little blurred in the lives of many believers and churches. Growth is not the objective of our life. Rather it is the outcome of being healthy. Please allow me to illustrate this as clearly as possible. Think of a toddler, perhaps in your family. Was it really your objective to make that toddler grow? Certainly not. Your objective was to keep that child healthy so that nothing would impede the normal growth pattern. Please think about this one an individual as well as a collective level. Our objective should not be to “grow” spiritually but rather it should be to get to know God better and become more like His Son. Watch this, “IF” we get to know God better, we will become more like Jesus in thought, word, and deed.
The OUTCOME will be personal spiritual growth. As a congregation, I’m afraid we get so focused on “growing” and church growth (and I head the list of “the guilty”) that we forget that our objective is “making disciples of all people.” This process requires that we befriend those who do not know Christ, that we live our lives in such a way that He is seen in us. Through our words we point people to Jesus and they come to believe in Jesus and we then begin the extended process of discipling those new believers in an intentional fashion. Guess what? The results are numerical growth. Yet in both cases, individually and collectively, growth is the outcome instead of the objective.
The “E” word is “EXPECTATIONS.” The great missionary William Carey said, “Expect Great Things from God, Attempt Great things for God.” I am reminded of 1 Corinthians 2:9 which says, “No eye has seen and No ear has heard all that God has in store for those who love Him.” This passage and others like it make me, personally, dissatisfied and unwilling to accept status quo in His work. God wants to show Himself strong, He is simply looking for those who expect Him to act. Know what, in the Baptist church for far too long we have expected nothing of members. Guess what, you will always get from members what you expect of members. But we’ll get to that in a second. When I think of expectations, we come back to a two edged sword. Admittedly my first thoughts could be misconstrued to be selfish because these thoughts center on my vision, my dream, and my hope for us as a church family. What are your dreams for HBC? But the more impacting thought from this word is what does God expect of us? It is this question which should permeate every member of HBC. I dare say that if HE could stand HERE today; His message would be even more stinging than mine. He gave His most prized possession for us, but for us to do and be what; Selfish, Self-centered, Self-serving, or Compassionate, Caring, and Christ like.
So we see this clear picture of what change involves and entails. Let’s spend the final minutes together relating change to the scripture. Look at Hebrews 12 once again and remember we are being watched over by a HUGE Crowd of witnesses. They are watching every move
1) This Change Requires Us to Confront. The text says, “let us lay aside every weight & sin which so easily ensnares us.” Drawing a picture is fairly simple. In high school, we wore ankle weights which slowed us down.
That is, they slowed us down during our training time. When we took off the weight, our leg muscles were stronger so the results were that we were faster & better because we were released from the bondage. Additionally, last Wednesday we talked about how temptation comes at us from Satan with a hook to ensnare us and hang on to us. Let’s get personal and identify 3 things we need to confront in this fellowship.
a) Thoughtless words – if there is a #1 sin on my personal hit list, it is this one. I alluded to some of this problem in my opening remarks. Just this week, I have received several reports that there are those among us who have made a determination to speak their minds, and have, in the process, wounded the spirit of others. If there is one characteristic that is well known among this body, it is that we know how to misuse the tongue with thoughtless and hurtful words. There is not one of us who has been a church member, has become old enough, or smart enough to speak whatever we want. How do I know this? God puts a bridle in our mouth. You should know how serious this is to your pastor. Whether I’m here for one more day or the rest of my life, I am prepared to go to the mat with whoever wants to harm this body with their thoughtless words. The Bible commands us to have our conversations seasoned with grace.
b) Selfish Attitudes and Actions – We live in a culture who works under the motif of “what’s in it for me?” We make our decisions about our hobbies, jobs, and even our church membership on this mantra. Do you know what become of that attitude in a church? About every 2 to 5 years, it’ll be time to find a new church; “IF” you cannot control the one you’re at. In the last 3 months I have spoken with at least 3 pastors who have echoed this truth as a trend in our area. We’ll stay as long as they please me, and when they no longer do what I want (I.E. schedule, temperature, color of the carpet, music, etc) then I’ll go somewhere else and find what I want. One of the tenants of Jesus Christ was the opposite of selfishness. Christ was selfless in everything He did, every example He gave & every word He spoke. Please listen, we must change our selfishness into selflessness and to do this may require a face to face confrontation.
c) Immorality- I have to be candid. Never in my entire ministry have I been around a body where there appears to be so much sexual promiscuity. We have cleaned up adultery to call it an affair. But an affair is still adultery which is still an abomination. Almost every time Paul writes about hell, he says the sexually immoral will have their place there. Possibly we need to review the five sexual abominations in to Old Testament.
There is first Adultery which involves sexual relations between two people who are married to others. Next is Fornication which involves sexual relations between two unmarried people. (By the way, sexual abstinence is divinely expected by people who have been divorced or widowed). Next is Incest is sex between first general blood kin. (I.E. mother & son, daddy & daughter, brother & sister, etc). Next, the Bible speaks against Homosexuality. That is sex between two people of the same sex. This is not a civil-rights issue, it is a moral issue. Finally, is the sin called beastiality which is spoken against in the Bible as “man lying with beast.” Please know that the Bible teaches that these have no place in the life and heart of a Believer. The church is called on to confront those who are living in sin. This is not popular today, but God never gave us His truth based on popularity. Be aware that it is now time for US to begin the process of lovingly, gently, yet firmly call some of our people into account about this. As an aside, your Pastor has already done this a couple of times in 2 years. The Bible, which we “say” we believe, gives us the mandate to confront sin and we will, as lovingly and as Christ like as we can.
2) This Change Recognizes A Call. – Our call is to run the race with endurance. This race is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. We have proven to be a GREAT congregation out of the blocks. We start things and then our support falls off. In staff meeting, as we deliberated this truth, we had to be honest and say that for over 150 years Baptist churches have not EXPECTED anything of her members except to attend when they wanted to and give their money. That is not running the race and it certainly doesn’t speak of “enduring” anything. Bro. Terry offered that a ‘Brother in Law’, many years ago, asked him to type up the covenant for hunting club. And the provisions were surprising. This club actually had demands and expectations for her members, and oh by the way, if these were unmet, they were probably unmembered. Several years ago I said down in my prayer time and meditated on exactly what the church has a right to expect of her membership. Whether you know it or not, God certainly has some expectation and I suggest that what I’m about to share with you is much less than God expects. As I read 2 Corinthians 13 where it said, “test yourself”, I believe God put on my mind that we need to PASS that test. Here is a meaningful acrostic for you. Without reservation, I believe this is the minimum this church has a right to expect from every member.
Prayer will head the list. But it’s not just a “God is great” or “Now I lay me down to sleep” type of prayer. The church has a right to expect you and me to spend time in prayer and Bible Study, coming clean before God by repenting of sin. Out of this prayer time should come a desire to know Him more and to be more like Him. This will result in;
Attendance is next on the list. It is fair to expect members to be present at all gathering. Now, every one of us realizes that, from time to time, we’ll be sick, hindered, or an “occasional” out of town trip. But let’s be candid, we come when we want to, when we feel like the service is something which is beneficial for me (selfishness), and/or when we have nothing better to do. Over the past 2 years I have watched with interest and intrigue as we have schedule some unique services which, quite candidly, were designed to be attractive to the unchurched and unconvinced. Some of the very people who should have been here with a couple of friends took the service off because that didn’t appeal to them. It seems to me that Jesus would have been please “if” we sat through a service not designed me because sitting beside us was someone who needed Christ.
Support is next on the list. Please make no mistake; I am talking “MONEY”!! Truthfully, no one can say that “all Bro. Jerry talks about is money” because that is simply untrue. In two years, I may have preached one message about money. Probably I should repent over this. God expects every believer to “at least” give a tithe. You may be interested to know that while our attendance numbers have gone up, our gifts have gone flat, if not down slightly. To Lottie Moon we didn’t match last year with our gifts this year.
Service is the final letter of our pass acrostic. Every member of the body of Christ has been divinely given at least ONE spiritual gift and the use of that gift is required for the body to properly function. When you become a member of the body of Christ and refused to use your gift for the building of the body, you have little paralyzed part of the body. Just like in a physical body a stroke can render an arm, eye, or side helpless, so does the member who refuses to help. In just a few days, Bro. Charlie and I will meet, along with our personnel team to begin the process of hiring a church secretary. Also, we will begin the process of adding a staff position for nursery coordinator. Why? Because whoever God has in our fellowship to perform this action has not stepped up to be used.
Our call is to pass the test which God places before us. The question is, will we? Allow me to end with one last thought;
3) This Change Responds to the Challenge. What is our challenge for 2008? It is beyond simply “keeping our eyes on Jesus.” The Greek construction which is rendered in the KJV is “looking unto” and here’s what it means; to take your eyes off of everything else and focus on Jesus. How will we do this? Let me make 3 practical suggestions for every person here:
a) Revisit – your salvation experience. Now is the time to look into the mirror of God’s face and see what reflection you see. Revisit it and make sure that you allowed Him to change your life and began a relationship with HIM. Nothing else will do.
b) Repent – if need be. I am thankful for the priesthood of the believer, so that every person can carry your sins, burdens, and hurts to the Lord. But listen, every one of us has the need to repent and return. We all have a little of the prodigal Son in us. That is, we all go through times of wanting to go our own way. Perhaps you’re in the far country today. You’ve been selfish, hardheaded, and just disobedient and like the prodigal, repentance is needed.
c) Reconnect – We will never have a restored connection with our Savior until we repent, spending quality time in prayer, and have a true desire to be HIS Ambassdor.
