by Pastor Bruce Ball
Senior Pastor, CrossWinds Bible Church
(former Associate Pastor of Grace Christian Church)
Please allow me to deviate a bit from my usual message topics. Today, I want to talk to you about this church, and what it has done, what it is because of that, and what it will be doing in the future. Our church is not a large church, but it is a very great church. It is a powerful church for God! We study the holy Word of God. We pray over the Word of God. We talk about the Word of God. And, we simply try to follow the Word of God.
This morning is a very special morning. Not just for Grace Christian Church, but for the entire community in this area, and for the entire community of God.
This morning marks the first service in our new church building. This church started as a brand new church plant 2 years ago, this past August. Since then, it has remained faithful in its focus on the Lord, and its goal of making sure everything we do is biblical in nature.
To make sure that it is biblical in all it does, a church must commit to a variety of different areas. In my opinion, among the most important are the five mentioned here:
1. We have kept vigilant in the duty (and the desire) to pray.
2. We have devoted ourselves to loving our fellowship with others and having the desire to share God’s word of salvation with them.
3. We have been diligent in helping to spread the gospel by our generous missions giving and our personal testimonies in our lives.
4. We have been keenly aware of the need to invite the Holy Spirit into our church,
5. and we have always tried to seek God’s face and His desires for this church.
I will expand more on these areas in a few moments. For now, though, I want to say that I truly think God has blessed us by allowing us to move from the office space we held services in, to this wonderful building that He has supplied. We must always remember that we are here for a season. This is the first of many steps that the Lord God will bless us with.
So, if the Lord has loved us enough to bless us with this move, what must we do from this point in time? We are going to be talking about our future in a moment, but first, let us read the main text of today’s sermon. Please turn to LUKE 5:1-11 and read with me.
LET US OPEN IN PRAYER
A moment ago, I quickly outlined five areas of prime importance that a church must follow if it is going to be a strong biblical church for God. Let me expand on them now.
FROM THE BEGINNING UNTIL NOW:
1. We committed ourselves to prayer
This body of believers are just wonderful Christians who do love to pray!
I have told you before that when Diana and I came to our first service here, the very first thing we noticed was the depth of love for praying that existed in this church.
We have been told over and over in scripture to pray.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:17
NIV - ‘Pray continually.’
NLT - ‘Keep on praying.’
KJV - ‘Pray without ceasing.’
This church does, indeed, believe in the supernatural power of prayer to the Father! We know
that no matter how much one prays, it is never enough. We simply cannot pray as much as we should.
2. We kept in fellowship.
The second thing we noticed when we first came to this church was its genuine love for others. You went out of your way to really make us feel very welcomed. You made us feel as if we were actually wanted here by each one of you. You truly made us feel as if we had found our ‘home’.
But we need to be very careful when fellowshipping with other Christians. I knew a man at another church who told me that he loved to fellowship with others, but they did not seem to want to fellowship with him. I asked him why, and he said he thought he only had one talent – the talent of criticism.
I told him that the Bible tells us that the man with only one talent went out and buried his: I told him that it might be better if he did the same.
We have also been commanded to love one another in Christian fellowship.
PHILIPPIANS 1:5
KJV - ‘For your fellowship in the gospel, from the first day until now.’
NLT - ‘because you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.’
JOHN 15:17
KJV - ‘These things I command you, that ye love one another.’
NLT - ‘I command you to love each other.’
Grace Christian Church has been mighty in its love towards our fellow man!
3. We have kept vigilant in spreading the gospel to others.
For two years, this church has committed itself to giving more than 25% of its income to the mission fields, supporting them monthly. In addition, everyone in this church that I am aware of has been forthright in telling others around them in their personal lives about the plan of salvation thru Jesus Christ.
We have been commanded to take the Good News of Jesus Christ to others!
MATTHEW 9:37,38
NLT - ‘37 - ….the harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. 38 – So, pray to the Lord, who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send out more workers, for His fields.’
ACTS 28:30,31
NIV - 30 – ‘For two whole years, Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. 31 – Boldly and without hindrance, he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.’
(In the NLT, it says, ‘and no one tried to stop him’)
And, for two whole years, we have met weekly to share the gospel and and the love of Christ at an assisted-living home in north Mesa. That has resulted so far, in at least one person accepting the Lord Jesus as her savior!
4. We have invited the Holy Spirit to be a part of everything we do at this church.
We have continually prayed and sang praises to the Lord, and tried our best to honor the Holy Spirit as our counselor, adviser and comforter.
We believe that the Holy Spirit is meant to indwell, or fill up, the saved individual.
LUKE 2:25
NLT – Now there was a man named Simeon who lived near Jerusalem. He was a righteous man and very devout. He was filled with the Holy Spirit…….’
JOHN 20:22 As Jesus appeared to those in the upper room to the disciples, He said, NLT – ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’
We believe the Holy Spirit is our comforter, advisor, guide and councilor.
Just like the little girl told her mother that they learned in Sunday School that the quilt will be here soon. The mother, quite perplexed, called the pastor and inquired. The pastor told her they had studied that morning, that the ‘comforter’ was coming soon.
5. We have tried to contstantly seek His face for direction for us and our church
We have made many decisions in our history, but have tried to not make any decisions at all unless we first went to seek God’s knowledge and desires and what He would have us do.
2 CHRONICLES 21:21 (This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah )
NIV - 21 – ‘In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.
And so, we feel that this church has prospered because we have tried to seek God in all things.
CONCLUSION
Our church now stands at the doorway of a New Beginning. It is our faithful wish that we can help in the harvest of more and more souls for the Kingdom of God, here on this earth, as our future unfolds in front of us.
To do this, we need the ongoing help from each of you. You can help by staying in the word of God, by staying in prayer and praise, and by showing the love of Christ to others, including your brothers and sisters in Christ.
If we truly feel love towards others, the true light of Jesus Christ will shine thru us as a beacon of light – as a lighthouse to the unsaved – to help get those that are lost to the shores of safety.
Remember what Jesus said in JOHN 15:17 “This is my command: Love each other.”
And, as the disciples left everything behind after the miracle of catching the fish in the beginning scripture, just to follow Jesus Christ, let us commit this church, and our own individual hearts to follow our Savior for the singular result of saving those that are lost in this world.
You see, it is not just this church that must be willing to step out in faith to follow Christ, each individual here today MUST also be willing to accept the call. The call to spread the gospel of Good News, in love and fellowship, through prayer. We do that by always inviting the Holy Spirit into our hearts as we walk our many Valley of Decisions, to let Him guide us and comfort us, while we earnestly seek God’s face and guidance.
LET US CLOSE IN PRAYER
GRACE and PEACE to each of you as you go forth into your daily life from this service.
