First Things First!
August 1st, 1999
Do First Things First illustration (Priorities)
(a Big Jar, needs to be clear, need rocks, sand, water, ... Don’t let the people see what all
you have to put into the jar. First, put rocks into the jar and ask, “is it full?” They should
say yes. Then add sand, then ask same thing.... Then fill with water.... until full. The
point... If you don’t put the Big Rocks in first, they will never fit. The Big Rocks
represent the most important things in our lives.)
This illustration is a valid one for us in our personal lives, but it’s also important
for us as a church body to know what our priorities are, What are those big rocks that we
should be concerned about first and foremost in the church?
Turn in your Bibles with me to Mathew 28:18-20 Read.
How many would agree that this scripture is the Mission of the Church? The
mission of the church is the harvest of disciples. Winning the lost, and discipling them in
God’s Word and training them to share their faith with others. Jesus came to seek and
save the lost, and now he has passed his mission onto us.
If this is true, then how do we measure the effectiveness of the church? The
Biblical standard of measuring our effectiveness is the evidence of a harvest of disciples
for Jesus Christ.
Church, are we making disciples? Are we carrying out our main mission? I would
say Yes, but, not not nealy as well as we should be if this is really our Main Goal. We
have a lot of room for impovement, but this morning you probably already know that,
what I want to do this morning is challenge you, Challenge you in an area that I have
before, but I will say it a little different this morning.
This week, I’m not sure what brought it up, but Nola and I were talking about
how different things have different values to people. While I was in High School, I had
this T-shirt that I recieved in Olathe when our Football team won the conference
championship, it was just a normal t-shirt, but it had all the scores of that years games, it
reminded me of all that work that went into that season. Even after we moved to Baxter
Springs and a new High School, that was still my favorite shirt. During it’s last days, you
should have seen it. It was all stretched out, it was dark blue when I first got it, it was a
faded light blue, and it had some holes in it. My mom threw it away one day when I was
at school. What a terrible thing to do. I valued that t-shirt even though it was not worth
anything to anyone else.
We all have things that we value. In the church we have things that we value,
maybe a certain pew, maybe a certain song, or style of songs.
Listen this morning to this, What we value determines what we do. REPEAT.
Let me break the news to you, it might be hard for you to believe, but as we look
at the evidence, you won’t be able to deny it.
THE CHURCH IN AMERICA IS NOT A MISSION DRIVEN CHURCH.
A mission driven church carries out the Mission that Jesus gave us in Matt. 28, A Mission
driven church values more than anything else making disciples and winning the lost for
Jesus.
Let me share the evidence:
A. 98% of all American Church Growth is due to church transfer, not conversion growth.
B. The American Church produces only 2% conversion growth.
Do you realize that if any Corportion in America were fulfilling it’s Mission
Statement by only 2%, it would be bankrupt or out of business! If Sara Lee was operating
at 2% productivity level do you think you would keep your job very long? No way, they
would be out of business.
Hear this, the American Church is bankrupt, and will soon be out of business if we
do not focus on the mission of the church. We must put First things First, or we will
never get it right, and God won’t bless us.
C. 95% of all American Christians are Barren.
They are good Christians: they live good lives, go to church, and read their Bibles,
but they have personally not been involved in someones conversion in years, and
sometimes they themselves have never experienced the “joy of salvation”.
Let’s look at our church and see how we measure up.
1. About 50% of our growth has been from someone coming to us from another church,
not necessarily a Nazarene church.
2. The other 50% has been conversion growth. So we are reaching some, just not as
many as we could be.
3. How many of our members have been involved in winning someone to Christ? I’m not
sure, but I know from talking to many of you, you want to do alot better, and you want to
be more effective, Right? We are going to get back to training in Evangelism.
4. Last year our church grew by an average of 3 in SS and in MW. Over the last two
years we have grown by an average of about 12 in SS and in MW. We are going the right
direction, but I’m not satisfied with 3 a year are you? Were going to do better, believe it.
5. Another question that helps us to see what we value. What number of our members are
involved in caring for nonmembers? Big 0, but we have help on the way through Care
Ministries, and you will be able to have a big part.
Here’s what the results tell us very simply. Grit your teeth and bear it, Don’t worry I have
good news at the end. But listen.
Our stats tell us this:
1. We have not been focused on the mission.
2.We have unconsciously redefined the Mission of the church to fit our own needs.
3. We have allowed our American Culture to define who we are.
4. We do not, as of right now have the Values of the Mission Driven Church.
Let me share with you what it is that we do value, and value heres’ what I mean Are
Values are the convictions of the way we think things ought to be done.
Right now one of our biggest value, or how we think church should be done, is :
MAINTENANCE OF THE CHURCH FOLK;
Sunday morning worship service: Who’s it for? We want the church folk to come to
church, get nutured, get blessed, and go home.
Sunday Evening service: Who is it for? We want the church folk to come to church, get
nutured, get blessed, and go home.
Sunday School classes: Who are they for? We want the church folk to come to church,
get nutured, get blessed, and go home.
We have special services designed for you to invite your friends and neighbors in
hopes that they will come and find Jesus, but remember how they turned out? Were not
good at it because it’s almost foreign to us, Why? Because 99% of the time church is for
the church folks, we have not designed it for reaching out to the unchurched and the
unsaved. Were going to break that habit, if you’ll help me.
The Second Habit goes hand in hand. The pastor’s time, 95% of it is spent caring
for church folk. Our church values greatly the pastors spending time calling and caring for
the members. But if I were to try and spend 1/2 of the time that I now spend calling on
the church folks and devote it to people outside the church, I can tell you I would hear
about it, because the Pastor’s job is to call on us, Isn’t it?
What would happen if your pastor trained a couple of capable laymen to make
calls, to pray with, to just stop by and visit with the members so the pastor could spend
more time with unchurched people, evangelizing? Of coarse some calls only the pastor
should make, but I’m talking about the routine, how’s life going type of calls? That would
be new, but it would be very Biblical, very NT church like.
THE THIRD HABIT- The church spends 90-95% of it’s money on Maintenance
issues. The fact is most churches don’t have money in the budget to get people saved.
A FORTH HABIT THAT TELLS ALOT ABOUT WHAT WE VALUE. THE
STRONGEST LAY LEADERS ARE APPOINTED TO MAINTENACNE
PROGRAMS. Boy you would make a great teacher, we really need a SS teacher” Isn’t
that almost the first words that comes to mind? Why don’t we say, Boy, your going to be
a great Soul Winner in our Outreach ministry!
Almost everything we do is maintenance. Why? Because we have maintenence
values. These values determine what we do as a church.
The Church that Jesus Christ gave birth to at Pentecost in the book of Acts, was
not a maintenance model church.
The church in Acts was a Mission Driven Church. They were driven to carry out
the great commission. Now don’t get me wrong, taking care of the members is part of the
ministry of the church, but it is not the main thing, it not one of the Big Rocks, Jesus came
for the sick, not those who didn’t need a doctor. And as church members, instead of
wondering why noone has called on you, you should be asking, Who can I call on, How
can I carry out the mission of our church?
Church, Christians, your focus, your concern should not be on yourself, what you
want to happen, what you want to sing, what color you want the carpet, Our concern
should be winning the lost, and everything else comes in second place.
OTHERS FIRST, OTHERS FIRST, OTHERS FIRST, YOU SEE IT’S SO
UNAMERICAN, BUT IT’S GOD’S WAY, ESPECIALLY FOR HIS CHURCH, HIS
PEOPLE.
As a pastor, the last people I should have to fight about trying to win the lost, is
the church people. But so many times, that’s the reality, because you see, when we start
winniing the lost, when we start doing things in the church that is designed for “them” and
not “you”, that’s when the rubber meets the road.
Do you want to know what crunch time is?
When we design our music service to appeal to the unchurched, that’s when we will find
out where your values are.
Here’s another one. When we advetise New Hope Church of the Nazarene as a Church
that wants you to come just as you are, causal dress, and we have people show up in
shorts, or they just don’t look like what we look like, that’s when we will know were are
values are, are they on the lost, or our own preferences.
I value people over anything else. You see I believe that’s Christlikeness. I want
to be like him. I want our church to value people like he does. When we do there will be
no stopping the flow of people coming to see this church that really cares, that really is
interested in them and their needs.
God had a mission.
God sent Jesus on His mission.
Jesus sent the Church on God’s Mission.
God is still on His Mission, and the Church is still on God’s Mission.
The Acts church was a Mission Driven Church.
God wants us to be a Mission Driven Church.
How do we restore the Mission back into our hearts and our church value’s?
Acts 3:19 tells us, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out,
so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send
Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must recieve until the times
of restoration of all things.”
We need to repent for our apathy towards the lost.
We need to have faith that our change in values will move us to a breakthough.
We need to decide to become a Mission Driven Church.
Are we ready to put first things first in our church. What about in your own personal life,
in your marriage, in your relationship with God, Are you putting First things First?
Were going to close with a invitation this morning, if you feel the Lord speaking to your
heart, be obedient, come to our alter and pray and allow God to work on your heart.
God forgive us for caring more about ourselves than the lost people in Clarksville.
We all could pray that prayer if we were honest today. Lets get serious today. Maybe this
morning you realize you need a personal relationship with Jesus, today can be the day of
salvation for you, you can be forgiven and ensure your home in heaven, by Faith trust in
Jesus, and confess him as Lord, he’s waiting, he’s calling you.
