Shortly after Herman Ostry bought a piece of land and a barn, the nearby creek rose, and the barn was under twenty nine inches of water. He half-jokingly said to his family, ‘I bet if we had enough people, we could pick that barn up and carry it to higher ground.’
To his surprise, one of his sons, Mike, started thinking about it, and after counting the number of boards, timbers, and nails, he estimated that the barn weighed about 19,000 pounds. Mike figured that 344 people would only have to lift about 55 pounds each to carry the barn to higher ground. But how do that many people get a grip on the barn in order to lift it? Mike ingeniously designed a grid of steel tubing and attached it to the inside and outside of the barn. This provided handles for the ‘barn raisers.’
As the town of Bruno was planning its centennial activities, Herman suggested a ‘barn raising’ as part of the celebration. As the centennial approached word of the ‘barn raising’ spread far beyond Bruno. On the morning of the lift, July 30, 1988, nearly four hundred thousand people from eleven states were there. When everything was ready, Herman counted, ‘one, two, three’ and 344 people lifted the barn. The crowd cheered and applauded as they carried that 9 ton barn fifty yards up a hill in just three minutes.
How did they do it?
It happened because those 344 people had a common goal and a plan was put into place. Because of Mike’s grid each person could do the impossible because now that barn weighed nothing at all.
People with one heart, one mind, one purpose, and two hands worked together to accomplish the impossible.
They got enough people to work towards a common goal, spreading the load evenly and equally, and at the same time, going the same direction. Those 344 people took ownership of the project and invested themselves in moving that barn.
The last half of Proverbs 29: 18 reveals what happens if we don't firmly grasp God's revelation to us and if there is no common goal, no ownership of the goal, no investment of the people.
The translation "the people perish" (KJV) does not refer to unsaved people dying in sin.
Para is the Hebrew verb translated "perish," in the KJV means to cast off restraint.
The word literally means "to become uncovered, to loosen, or to run wild."
So the verse is stating that without God's Word people abandon themselves to their own sinful ways [Walvoord, John & Zuck, Roy. The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983, S. 968].
People without vision, without revelation from the Word of God, are like passengers on a ship drifting on the ocean, without a star to point the way, a pilot to steer the ship, or compass to guide them. They have no clue where they need to go, no plan for how to get there. There is no hope if they have no Word from God. Mama used to say “They’ve got nowhere to go and all day to get there.”
Once we begin to respond to God's redemptive revelation, He will show us the vision He has for us as a body.
What has to happen in every church is for the leader, the leadership team, and the church (those sitting in the pews) to rally in support of the vision or revelation of God so that they do not return to the ways of the world.
This is not done by a simply taking a vote in a business meeting. It happens by each of us taking personal ownership and becoming personally committed to the vision. It means getting arm in arm with the leadership and committing ourselves to the strategy developed to accomplish it.
We need to ask God for His vision for EBC and then when He has given it to us follow those He makes responsible for its execution.
Each individual church needs a strategy developed that will be put into practice.
I want to give you a simple definition of the five functions of the church, which according to Acts 2:38-47 are:
Worship: To lift up in praise and thanksgiving the Lord Jesus and to draw near to Him so that we might be confronted, cleansed and comforted. Worship is not the simple act of showing up for the 11am to noon hour that we call “the worship service.”
Evangelism: To share the good news of Jesus Christ with as many people as God provides opportunity. To create an atmosphere in this place that encourages unsaved people to place their faith in Christ and encourages Christians to lead people to Christ.
It’s amazing how we can tell people were the best coffee or burger can be found but we can’t seem to find the time nor the nerve to tell them where Jesus is.
Discipleship: To teach and model the Word of God so that Christians might be sustained and matured in their living in Christ and be empowered for greater service to the Risen Lord. That’s why we have Sunday morning and Sunday evening Bible study...
Ministry: To serve in tangible ways those experiencing need and to implement ministry and mission projects.
We ALL need to get personally involved in the ministry of EBC.
I read a story about a little child in an African village who wandered off into the tall jungle grass and could not be found. The entire village searched all day but could not find her.
The next day every man, woman, boy and girl gathered to search again but this time, they all held hands and walked through the grass together.
This was what it took to find the child. Unfortunately because of the cold night the child did not survive.
In her anguish and through her tears, the mother cried, "If only we would have held hands sooner."
How many will need to die lost without hope bound for eternity in a place called hell before the church decides to hold hands and search the tall grass!
It is not enough that we all share a common goal. It’s not enough to SEE!
We must ALL work together to accomplish the goal without hesitation.
Christmas shoe boxes are great and it’s a wonderful ministry, even though it has become a major struggle to fill theses boxes, but it is so easy to minister from a distance. That’s not what we are called to do. Every believer needs to be a hands on, feet first type of person.
Ministry must be personal and from the heart… Did you know that someone else receives your blessing by leading that child/that village to Jesus, if that’s all we do.
Wouldn’t it be great if we, not only sent these boxes around the world but made our own boxes and sent teams out to find the families with children, in the area that have been left out by the churches in the area? Once we find them we take our boxes to those children and share the love of Jesus with local families?
There is a Mission field right down the road called a trailer park...
Fellowship: Notice I placed this one at the end. Most churches put this one at the top.
This is more than getting together to eat. It means to spiritually encourage one another in Christian love and harmony so that our church grows in joy, peace and unity.
It means to lead in actions that help NEW members fit into the fellowship. You know why most NEW members don’t stay long? It’s because they were never made to feel welcome. Fellowship means to build relationships with each other, as we join together to build our relationship with God.
The ministry of the local church must be based on and rooted in the eternal Word of God. These vital functions of the church cannot be accomplished without fervent prayer, love and faith being put into action daily.
