Breaking Down the Barriers
Pastor Glenn Newton 11-28-99
Text: Heb. 10: 19-25
Heb. 10:39-11:1-2
This morning I want to continue on with where I was leading last week. If you remember,
My message last week was entitled “ A Battle Worth Fighting” and I talked about this
Spiritual battle that we are in, and I gave you two weapons that God has given us to do
battle with, Prayer, and His Word.
Again, this morning, I tell you, It’s a battle worth fighting, and it’s a battle we
must win. My message this morning is entitled, “Breaking Down the Barriers”.
In any battle, in every war there are barriers or obstacles that must be removed or
broken down in order to achieve victory. This battle that we are in as Christians is no
different. As a small church working to fulfill what we believe is God’s Plan and will for
us we face real obstacles that we must overcome to achieve and reach our goals.
The fact is this morning, Were going to Do it because God has given this dream to
us, and He will be faithful to see it through, amen? This morning I want to share 3 things
we need to Breakthrough the Barriers in 2000.
READ v.23
Do you hear the Word of God this morning? Don’t let go, Hold on. When things
look down, Hold on to the Hope that we have in Jesus. Don’t let anyone loosen your grip
on your Hope. Don’t allow Satan to come along and lie to you and convince you that the
battle will never be won. Don’t listen to the liar, but instead Hold on to your Hope, Why?
Because He who promised Is Faithful!!!!Repeat.
Be encouraged this morning. We are on the winning side, don’t lose sight of that.
OK, the Three things we need to break down the Barriers that we face.
First, YOU GOT TO HAVE A PLAN, YOU MUST HAVE A STRATEDGY.
Do you think Gen. Powell told his men to just go out and do the best they could
and hope for a win? NO way, he had a plan, in every battle that has been won, their was a
plan that was put into place that helped guide the victory.
In the church, if we are going to breakdown the barriers that we face, we must
have a plan, and the fact is we do, and were going to talk about that plan. But first, I
think we should identify some obstacles that we face. Some things that without a doubt
seem to get in the way of us accomplishing what We would like to get done.
(these are in no specific order, and you will probably think of some I leave out, but
I wanted to give you an idea of what I’m talking about this morning)
obstacle #1- willing workers. The number one obstacle any small church faces is
the lack of people who can or will serve in the church. The 80/20 principle is true in most
churches, 20% of the people do 80% of the work. And what you end up with is a group
of faithful folks who are worn out trying to do to much. Does that sound familiar?
obstacle #2 - The Seven Deadliest Words in the Church “We’ve never done it
that way before.” This second obstacle represents a disease that keeps good people from
trying new things to break through old problems. I will say, I’m proud of you, You have
been willing to try new ideas, and I believe that this will be one of the reasons we will have
the victory, real breakthrough. But it can be a huge obstacle.
obstacle #3 - Finances and Facilities. I will group these together, because they
usually go together. When the finances are low, it seems to keep a church’s focus off of
the real need, which is winning the Lost. This is one obstacle that seems to loom large in
our situation, probably because it’s been in the forefront for so long, but rest assured God
has a plan, and God will help us to overcome.
Other obstacles that can arise: Disunity in the church, usually caused by bad
attitudes, gossip, or whatever else Satan loves to try to drive between God’s people.
Apathy can be a major obstacle. A Critical Spirit can tear a church down, and on
and on. I’m sure you can add more to the list, but these are some of the obstacles
that typically face a church our size.
Again, lets read V. 23-24 as we look at our first way to bring about a Breakthrough in
2000. Read.
How are we going to breakthrough some of these obstacles that we listed, how
will we produce WILLING WORKERS, how do we raise up a people who are WILLING
TO TRY NEW THINGS AND DO THINGS A NEW WAY FOR THE SAKE OF THE
GOSPEL?
We talked about some of the ways last week, so I won’t repreach those, but
through training our people in Prayer and Bible Study and allowing God to do His
miraculous work in us as we obey his Word- a People willing to follow God and his will
will emerge and the church will be unstoppable.
But we must have a plan, and we do.
Our Corporate Worship, what we do here together on Sunday mornings is one of the most
important things we do as the church, it’s our time to call upon God and Worship Him,
and it’s a time where He can speak to us, and give us direction as a church, and as
individuals.
Again, Sunday evening Discipleship classes, time will show how God Blesses our
willingness to devote ourselves to His Word. God transforms and renews our mind
through the study of His Word.
Starting in January, Care Ministry will be starting, and we as a church are going to have in
place a organized structure that will enable us to better Care for our Newcomers. Not
only will our new people know that We love them, that God loves them, and that we want
to meet their need, whatever it might be, but Care ministry also is going to give YOU,
Some of you who have never been apart of any kind of ministry before, God wants to use
you to perform a miracle in someone’s life.
If you are relatively new to our church, or maybe you’ve just never felt like you
had a place to serve, I want you to pray about being apart of our Care Ministry Team.
You will have a chance to really make a difference in somebody’s life, and in your own.
Pray about it, and in two weeks we will be having a introductory training session so you
can get an idea of what is involved. I believe God will use Care Ministries to help us
move to the next level in ministry.
What are some of our other plans that we have for this coming year? We believe
that God wants us to minister to families. So to carry out that calling we have been and
continue to plan for a Full-time day-care where we can provide Christian child care and
have the opportunity to minister to many, many families who will use our day-care.
In January we will be advertising and starting a support group called
DivorceCare/Changed Lives. This is a 13 week program that will give Hope to people
who are hurting because of divorce, or those thinking about divorce. Listen to some of
the comments about this Care Program:
“Your DivorceCare class saved my marriage.”
another participant said, “I’m not sure I could have survived emotionally or
spiritually without it.”.
One Pastor said, “It’s a powerful, powerful experience to see a person come from
that much hurt, come through a process of a support group, accept Christ as a personal
savior, being integrated into the church and being an active participant of his church. It’s
an amazing process of what God does through this ministry.”
I can’t wait to get this started because I know that God will use this ministry to
bring Hope to so many in our community. This will without a doubt be an outreach
ministry. Pray for this Divorcee ministry and if this would be something you would like to
be involved in.
Another ministry that we would love to start this coming year is a Great Youth
Program that the Church of the Nazarene has developed called “Caravans”. It intertwines
the spiritual lessons we want our children to learn with a scouting type program where the
kids earn badges for doing certain tasks and our promoted each year to a new rank. It will
take some willing workers to get our Caravan program started, keep the faith, and keep
praying.
Friends, we have a strategy, We have the plans in place.
The Second thing we need to break down the barriers is PEOPLEPOWER.
v. 24-25
Were called to spur each other on, to encourage one another toward love and
good deeds. God has also called us to reach out and bring in the lost. There’s only one
way to build a church, and that’s by winning people to Jesus.
We are called to be soulwinners. I’ve shared this with you before, let me do it
again. The reason that the vast majority of churches in America are in decline is because
95% of Christians have not ever led someone to Christ. Good folks, good Christians, go
to church, read their Bibles, but 95% of them have not been personally involved in leading
someone to Christ.
One name that I would like to give to our Teen Class, when we get one, is the
“Bold and the Beautiful”. Because as Christians if we are going to make a difference in
our World, we must be Bold about our faith in Jesus and willing to share what He’s done
for us. Of coarse, Jesus living in us makes us beautiful and attractive. We are to be the
fragrance of God to our World. How are you smelling this morning? Do you smell like
Jesus?
If we are going to breakdown the barriers, we need PeoplePowered by the Holy
Spirit. God uses people to carry out his plan, so we need to bring in as many people as
possible so we can do all that he has for us, amen? Go ahead, bring em in next Sunday,
don’t be shy.
The Third thing we need to Break Through the Barriers that we face, we need
Perseverance. V. 23
Friends, when your in a battle, it will never be easy. We have an advisory, were not
unopposed in this battle. Every little thing that Satan can put in our path he will. We
must not look at him and what he’s doing, but we must keep looking at Christ and doing
what He’s called us to do. Persevere, Hold on, don’t give up. Hold on, don’t lose sight
of the goal. Hold on, and dig in, it’s time we got our hands dirty. We need some more
hands involved in this church. It will take everyone doing something for us to battle
through to the other side. Are you ready to get into the battle? We need you. God wants
you.
You may have some barriers in your own life that are keeping you from living for God.
The same is true in our own lives, we need God to come in and forgive us, to cleanse us
and give us new Hope, eternal life. And when you turn to Him and ask him for the
forgiveness of your Sins, that’s exacltyly what he will do. The most important battle in life
is the one for your soul. Will you give your life to Jesus today?
As a Christian, will you give God your hands, your talents today and allow Him to use you
to minister and meet the needs of the people in our community. Lets just give everything
we have to him this morning and watch what he will do with it. Remember the boy with
two fish and a loaf of bread, he fed 5,000 men plus women and children. What will he do
with what you offer? Only he knows.
