• He looked at her and said, “Of course I know what day it is!” and went back to reading his newspaper. He didn't have a clue.
• He thought to himself later, “Is it her birthday? That must be it.” So after he got to work he called the florist and had a bouquet of white roses sent to his wife.
• Then as the day went on, he began worrying that flowers may not be enough for such an important day. “What if it’s our anniversary?” So he went to the jewellery store down from his office, picked out a beautiful gold necklace and had it special delivered to his wife.
• As he started home from work he decided that maybe he should also stop and buy an expensive box of chocolates to bring to her - just in case.
• He pulls into the driveway and his wife runs out to greet him. As he gets out of the car he presents her with the box of chocolates, she throws her arms around him and says, “Oh, honey, this is the best ground hog day I've ever had!”
As you know this is a very special day here at Lykesland First Baptist. If you haven’t figured it out yet, today we are celebrating 31 years of God’s faithfulness to us as a church.
So how should we celebrate this special day here at the First Baptist!!!
I suggest we do some things that Paul talks about in our text in Pilippians 3:13-14.
Such as, this should be a time of…
I. EVALUATION
Look at the first part of 13a – “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended”
Illus: Often companies will call people in to do an evaluation of their performance as an employee. One man who was evaluated came out with this evaluation. It was not good, it went like this…
• “Since my last report, this employee has reached rock bottom and has started to dig.”
• “This associate is not so much of a has-been, but more of a definitely won’t be.”
• “When he opens his mouth, it seems that this is only to change whatever foot was previously in there.”
• “He would be out of his depth in a parking lot puddle.”
• “He sets low personal standards and consistently fails to meet them.”
• “This employee should go far! The sooner he starts, the better.”
• “This employee is depriving a village somewhere of an Idiot.”
Evaluations can be good and they can be bad.
As we evaluate First Baptist for the last thirty years we trust it will be a good evaluation.
Illus: They say that dogs age 7 times faster than their owners.
We hope in the sight of God for these 31 years we as a church have aged well in the sight of God.
Alot of folks have said some nice things about this church and for that we are thankful.
Illus: Makes me think of a famous comedian was asked when you die and people walk by your casket…
• What would you like for people to say about you.
• He said, “That is easy, when they walk by me and look at me in my casket I hope they will say, “Look, he is moving!”
As the Lord looks at this church we hope the Lord would say “As a church, 31 years of age, we look look pretty good for our age’”
As we look back over the past 31 years of this church…
• We cannot help but to look at the wonderful people who have served so faithfully down through the years. Many of these have gone to be with the Lord.
• We look at the spiritual victory that has been won around these altars...
• We look at the many successful marriages that have been made...
• We look at those who have come to know Christ as Their Savior…
• We look at the bad habits that have been broken by the power of Christ...
• We look at the babies we have dedicated to the Lord…
• We look at the many that has followed the Lord in Believer’s baptism…
• We look at the sacrifice of those Christians in the early days of our church...
As we look back over these 31 years we can only say, “To God be the Glory...Great Things He Has Done”!!!
One of the many things I say about this church often is some of the greatest Christians that you will find in Columbia are members of the First Baptist of Lykesland. I SAY THAT SINCERELY!!!
As we look back we have to admit...First Baptist looks pretty good for our age...all glory to God!!
But as we look at all that God has accomplish we have to recognize WE LIKE PAUL HAVE NOT YET ARRIVED!
Notice, in this scripture passage that I read to you Paul says he has not arrived!!!
To me, that's an amazing statement. Paul is an old man now. If anybody had the right to claim he had arrived it would be Paul.
• He wrote most of the New Testament. He helped spread Christianity throughout the Roman Empire.
• He made an incredible impact on the world.
Yet Paul, at the end of his life, says "I haven't arrived."
Paul could have taken great pride in what he had already been able to accomplish. Instead he is EVALUATING HIMSELF and he says God is not through with me yet!
I think it is important for us as a church to remember that on this 31st anniversary.
We have been so blessed as a church in the last 31 years, but we still have a long way to go. God is not done with us yet. He still wants us to grow numerically and spiritually.
EVALUATION is a big part of this celebration of 31 years of God’s blessings.
This is a time of EVALUATION but it is also a time of…
II. ELIMINATION
Notice in verse 13b, Paul also says, Forgetting those things which are behind,
How often we look back and see the progress that has been made in the world which we live.
Just think about all of the changes that have taken place in our lifetime.
Illus: Did you know we are told that NASA had less computing power when they landed man on the moon than what is found in the cheapest available cell phone today?
More specifically, the U.S. Governments' first computer was:
• 8 feet high,
• 3 feet deep,
• 80 feet long.
• It contained 20,000 vacuum tubes, 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors and approximately 5,000,000 hand-soldered joints.
• It weighed nearly 30 tons.
• Compared to a turn-of the century clam-shell phone with only texting & a MP3 player, the phone is 40 million times smaller but 1,300 times more powerful.
(The ENIAC vs. The Cell Phone; Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)
And now probably everyone now have one of these computers sitting on their desk.
The world we live in has made many changes that has taken place in our life time.
And this church in which we worship our Lord each week we can look back and see many changes that have taken place…MANY!!!
• We still talk about the little Convenient Store Building that we met in for our worship service to start with. (Getting locked in the bathroom)
• We still talk about trying to find the right location to build this church.
• We still talk about the men each day would get off of work and work six days a week in the building of this church for approximately six months.
• We still talk we work late and it was getting dark and we had not had time to properly brace the walls, so we had a man in our church that a big ugly dodge truck he called “Big Red”. We drove iit into the sanctuary and tied ropes from the corner of big red to support the walls until we could come back the next day and brace everything off.
• Never in that six months of building did you ever hear of one fellow complaining. NEVER! Never one time any of them said, “Preacher, I do not mind helping but I need this much money!” They gave their time and energy because they loved the Lord!
We have some wonderful memories of the past.
But look what Paul tells us we should do in this 31st anniversary in verse 13b, “Forgetting those things which are behind,
We have spent time this morning remembering. So why am I now using a scripture that talks about forgetting what is behind?
Because while it is important to learn from the past you cannot live there.
Illus: Many churches will assemble together and build a new church building. They will work and sacrifice. Then one day they move into the new church building and every thing comes to a halt.
Illus: Have you noticed that the elderly talk about the past. That is, we hear them talk about things that took place fifty years ago. Why? They have quit living, they live in the past!
They are driving through life no longer looking through the front window but through the rear view mirror.
We have to put the past behind us because it is behind us!!!
To move forward involves 2 things;
A. Forget your Failures
We all have failures, even a church.
Illus: Remember, years ago we hired a woman to take care of our nursery. This lady that we hired seem to be the ideal woman. She appeared to be a nice lady and we thought we would hire her and this would help her as a widow and also help the church.
We hired her, however one day a lady came to me and said, “Pastor, you need to come to the nursery?”
He did and when he arrived he saw this lady that the church had hired was DRUNK! Not just a little drunk, she was WOBBLY DRUNK? She did not need to take of any baby, she needed someone to take care of her!!!
We should have check her out thoroughly but we hired her when she was sober and made our decision on her good appearance. She looked like she would be a good nursery worker.
We make mistakes often on what looks right but does not turn our right.
Illus: One afternoon, this guy drives down a highway to visit a nearby lake and relax.
• On his way to the lake, a guy dressed from head to toe in red standing on the side of the highway gestures for him to stop.
• The guy rolls down the window and says, "How can I help you?"
• The man said "I am the red jerk of the highway. You got something to eat?"
• With a smile on his face, the guy hands a sandwich to the guy in red and drives away.
• Not even five minutes later, he comes across another guy. This guy is dressed fully in yellow, standing on the side of the road and waving for him to stop.
• A bit irritated, our guy stops, cranks down the window, and says, "What can I do for you?"
• "I am the yellow jerk of the highway. You got something to drink?"
• Hardly managing to smile this time, he hands the guy a can of Coke and stomps on the pedal and takes off again. In order to make it to the lakeside before sunset, he decides to go faster and not to stop no matter what.
• To his frustration, he sees another guy on the side of the road, this one dressed in blue and signaling for him to stop. Reluctantly, our guy decides to stop one last time. He rolls down his window, and yells, "Let me guess. You're the blue jerk of the highway, and just what do you want?"
• The man says "Driver's license and registration, please."
We all make mistakes individually, even a church.
We make them, learn from them and move on for the Lord.
The problem with a lot of folks is that they can see the wrong of others but can not see the wrong in their own life.
Illus: As a senior citizen was driving down the freeway, his car phone rang.
• Answering, he heard his wife's voice urgently warning him, "Herman, I just heard on the news that there's a car going the wrong way on Highway 401. Please be careful!"
• Herman replied, "It's not just one car. It's hundreds of them!"
We all make mistakes…
Illus: A young boy, about eight years old, was at the corner "Mom and Pop" grocery picking out a good size box of laundry detergent.
• The store clerk walked over, and, trying to be friendly, asked the boy if he had a lot of laundry to do.
• "Oh, no laundry," the boy said, "I'm going to wash my dog."
• "But you shouldn't use this to wash your dog. It's very powerful and if you wash your dog in this, he'll get sick. In fact, it might even kill him."
• But the boy was not to be stopped and carried the detergent to the counter and paid for it, even as the grocer still tried to talk him out of washing his dog.
• About a week later the boy was back in the store to buy some candy. The grocer asked the boy how his dog was doing. "Oh, he died," the boy said.
• The store clerk, trying not to be an "I-told-you-so", said he was sorry the dog died but added, "I tried to tell you not to use that detergent on your dog."
• "Well, the boy replied, "I don't think it was the detergent that killed him."
• "Oh? What was it then?"
• "I think it was the spin cycle.”
We all make mistakes individually and as a church. But some folks you can help, but others you can not help them!!!
Illus: Have you ever tried to counsel with someone and you knew what they needed to do, but everything you suggested they should do, they would say, “That want work…I tried that before and it did not work”.
You suggest something else that would help them but they would respond by saying, “That want work…I tried that also before and it did not work”.
People like this build their life around failures. They do not have the answer nor does anyone else…LIFE TO THEM IS ONE BIG FAILURE!!!
THERE ARE NO SOLUTIONS, JUST PROBLEMS!!!
Did you know you can talk to some churches and they will say, “That want work…We tried that before and it did not work.
For years and years they have not done anything different because they have come to accept FAILURE as a way of life.
Illus: Thomas Alva Edison held 1,093 patents for different inventions. Many of them, like thelightbulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera, were brilliant creations that have a huge influence on our everyday life. However, not everything he created was a success; he also had many failures. Edison, of course, had a predictably inventive take on the projects that didn’t quite work the way he expected. “I have not failed 10,000 times, “ he said, “I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.”
Satan's favorite desire is to paralyze the church with the past.
Paul says "I learn to forget the past." Do not sit around beating yourself up for mistakes you have made.
Paul, of all people, probably had many regrets that could have haunted him.
• He was a persecutor of the church.
• He hounded people who were believers and had them locked up and stoned them.
Listen, nothing you ever do will change your past. It is gone! Since you can’t change it…let it go. Learn from it but then let it go.
As we celebrate this anniversary we must FORGET THE PAST of those things that did not work.
B. Forget your Successes
Just like failure, you can learn from success but you can’t live in them.
Sometimes we try to live in the past and base our security on past performance. The “good old days” are gone. Let them go.
What may have worked in the past does not mean it will work in the future.
Success tends to make you complacent and fills you with pride. Then you stop growing and learning and then you're going to fail.
Today we celebrate our past but we cannot live in the past.
Illus: You cannot run a race looking backwards. You've got to focus ahead.
We have looked at:
I. EVALUATION
II. ELIMINATION
But now let us look at Paul’s…
III. DETERMINATION (vs. 13c) – and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Notice, the word PRESS ON is the Greek word DIOKO which means to run swiftly.
Also, It is the same word as persecution.
Illus: That is, before Paul came to know the Lord as His personal Savior, Paul would persecute or DIOKO the church – chase after them with all his might.
Now Paul is chasing after Christ.
The intensity was the same, the direction was different.
Illus: Wouldn’t it be GREAT that people would serve the Lord with the same fervor they once served the devil.
He was once a dedicated servant of the devil, but after he received Christ he became a dedicated servant of the Lord.
As we look to the future I pray that we would have the same determination that those who went before us had.
We need to have the same daring faith that this congregation had when we bought this land and built this building.
We need to be ready to try new things and let old things go.
Illus: On Nov. 22, 1963 President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. What you may not know is that, on that exact same day, another famous man died.
The newspapers were so focused and full of information about the Kennedy assassination that hardly any mention of him.
His name was C.S. Lewis.
WHO WAS C.S. LEWIS?
C. S. Lewis, was an Irish author and Oxford and Cambridge literature professor known for his popular writings.
As the world mourned the death of an American president, heaven celebrated the homecoming of a child of God.
The great strength of his writing is in connecting spiritual ideas to everyday experience.
Think about that, living a life of CONNECTING SPIRITUAL IDEAS TO EVERYDAY EXPERIENCE.
Conclusion:
As we close this celebration service I want to make something clear. We could talk much about what this church has done. I know the Lord appreciates everything we have done for these 31 years.
But the fact is, God get all the glory because if it wasn’t for Him this church would not be here.
The Lord Jesus said, I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH AND THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINT HIS CHURCH.
What did He mean by that?
He meant we mortals can do certain things like build buildings, use our talents to be a blessing to others, but we cannot build a church, that is why the Lord said, I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH.
We can draw a crowd, so what, so can the wringling brother circus!!!
It is God who works in the heart of man when God’s Word is preached He builds his church.
• He takes men and women and changes them where they once thought life was all about making money and change them into coming to know it is all about coming to know Him.
• He takes men and women can changes them where they once thought life was all about sports, entertainment and change them into coming to know it is all about coming to know Him.
• He changes teenager who see their class mates going in the wrong direction and change them into going in the right direction.
This is what He means when He said, I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH!!!
That is something none of us can do, but He can.
And when He said I will build my church that is what He is talking about.
We can build a building and use our talents to bless other, BUT HE BUILDS HIS CHURCH.
He is not coming back for a building, He is coming back for believers who are His church.
We celebrate 31 years as a church today, but what we really are celebrating is the goodness and grace of Jesus Christ. To Him and Him alone be the glory for these 31 years.
We have looked at for God to build His church we need to look at:
I. EVALUATION
II. ELIMINATION
III. DETERMINATION
