II Corinthians 5
INTRO:
The church is very precious to the Lord today.I talk with pastors & lay people today & they are having more & more problems in the church. One day folks will stand before the Lord & they will be held accountable for the way they have treated the church. It’s harder & harder today on ministers.
I’ve thought a lot this week about the church. I can remember when we lived in Florida traveling to Arkansas. Traveling on I-75, then to I-10, then to 49 from Mobile up to Jackson, then taking I-20 all the way to Shreveport & get on Hwy 71. We used to travel all hours of the night. Very few places were open 24 hours except maybe a truck stop or two.
As we would travel every now & then we would see a blue sign with a white "H" on it. This let us know that there was a hospital near. If we were in trouble, sick or whatever, this sign let us know that a hospital was near & we could get help.
Today when I see a church with a cross on it or a church sign on the side of the road I am quickly reminded that this is a place I can get help also.
But you know, not every church you see is a place where we can get help. Sometimes churches are no more than a Country-Club, unable to help folks. The only way a church can help today? Is for God to work thru the church.
II Corinthians 5: verses 17-21
RECONCILE: The restore.
RESTORE: To bring back to a former condition.
God has called THE CHURCH into The Ministry of Reconciliation. This is not a ministry for certain denominations, but a ministry that God is calling THE CHURCH into
Man because of SIN is in a fallen condition. Unless things change, man will eventually die & then go to a burning hell.RE-READ VERSE 17
Jesus Christ died on the cross so that man could be reconciled back to God. Man was created to LOVE GOD, to have a RELATIONSHIP with God.Without this RELATIONSHIP, man is LOST.
So God calls the CHURCH to be in the RECONCILIATION BUSINESS!! Folks may say today Well, that just isn’t my calling It is the calling of THE CHURCH!!
The church is a Hospital for the SICK THE WOUNDED.THE BROKEN, THE
DYING.
(A good friend of mine was Preaching years ago: talking about receiving a gift from a friend or family from the store: it usually doesn’t fit, it is the wrong color or it doesn’t work. Today it is so easy to just head to the store & take it to the SERVICE desk. Pitch it up on the desk & say here it does not work, it is broke, or I don¡¦t like it, you need to fix it.)
What about with people? He said wouldn’t it be easy if there was a great big SERVICE desk that you could take people today & say here they don’t work, they are broke, they don’t fit in, here take them back, FIX THEM!!
There is a place like this, it is called the church!! God is going to use the church to reconcile those that are broke, those that don’t work.The church has got to be OPEN FOR BUSINESS Are we open for business?
We pastored a small church a few years ago the I could see that there was a great opportunity to be a HOSPITAL FOR GOD. I started praying for God to send us broken people, hurting people, lost people, people that others just threw away. I believe that God did just that.
RE-READ verse 20
We are Ambassadors for Christ.
AMBASSADOR: An official representative of another country. You & I as the church are Official Representatives for Christ.
People out there in this world are going to CRY OUT TO GOD for help, to cry out in need. The church is going to have to BE OPEN FOR BUSINESS
(I was thinking this week about the lady that stopped in our church as she was traveling thru our community She came into our service, came to the altar crying, hurting. Afterwards she explained to us that she was miserable & hurting & cried out to God & He told her to stop at our church, which was on her way home. She was reluctant because she did not know anyone in our community. She kind of wrestled with God but finally she stooped in. God told her to stop at our church & there she received help. )
God doesn’t look at the size of the church He looks at the AVAILABILITY of the church, the WILLINGNESS of the church. Sometimes we in the smaller church think we are not significant (being important) in this world. I was thinking about a church we pastored back in the 90’s there were so many opportunities for God to work thru the church. How much easier it would be if & when we cry out to God that He just sends thousands & thousands of angels down to take care of the situation. In stead, He uses something so very precious to Him. HIS CHURCH!! HIS PEOPLE!!
I thought about the Fire Department that I was a member & a chaplain on. I thought about the big fire trucks you see in Little Rock. I see the big fancy trucks in Memphis. What a comfort it is to see one of these babies near your neighborhood thinking how nice
it is knowing this piece of equipment is nearby just in case Then I thought about the volunteer rural Fire Department that was in Froglevel, I remember when the forestry dept gave them an old gasoline truck they converted into a fire truck. How proud everyone felt & how safe we felt knowing this was now in our community!!
Then I thought what if a horrible fire broke out in town & the big city called on the pumper there in Froglevel It might even be embarrassing to get into town & compare equipment. WOW look at that big fire truck & all of the latest technology Even the fire fighters (I remember in the fire department I was a chaplain on we didn’t have new turn outs or new helmets) But we might compare our equipment with theirs & we might even begin to think that we are even insignificant.
This week we were in Little Rock, we drove past Immanuel Baptist church¡K..went down 430 got on 40 headed back to Cabot & drove past the 2 big churches on 40. Then later on that night I was heading home & drove past our little church & thought wow. What part do we play in this battle?
No finances, No fellowship hall, No van, No classrooms. How can we impact the world? Just like the small Fire Dept, we were called to the fire, not to compare equipment, not to feel insignificant, BUT WE WERE CALLED TO FIGHT THE FIRE. To do our part. We are to do what we are suppose to do!!
There are folks in this world that will cry out to God & we must be ready to answer God’s call. (Just like Israel, they were in bondage in Egypt they called out to God, He heard their cry)
And in turn God called out to Moses. This world is FULL of people with HIGH POWERED problems today. Folks & families are going thru things we have no idea what they are going thru. THE ANSWER? Jesus Christ. The majority of the world their problems could & would be solved if they would turn to Jesus Christ.
Several weeks ago I preached that two things have got to happen:
1. They must TURN FROM Sin. (Saw a church sign this week in Blytheville: Sin is a short word that carries a long sentence) Folks have got to Turn from Sin. Then
2. They must TURN TO GOD.
The answer today is Jesus Christ. The church is a place we come to learn, a place we come to Praise & Worship God. But it is also a place where God equips us to go out into the Highways and the hedges.
I saw a Country Club one time a few years ago and saw a sign in the front that read: Members and Qualified Guests only. I made my way up by another community building where I saw a sign out in the front of it that read: Members and Qualified Guests only.
I am ashamed to say today that I believe there are signs in the front of churches today, they may be invisible but they are nevertheless there: Members and Qualified Guests Only.
CLOSING
You see our church was open for business as a hospital. A place where there are people that are part of something that is OPEN FOR BUSINESS.
We get discouraged because we don’t have a lot of the resources a lot of the bigger churches have. God is ALL THE RESOURCE we need.
This morning He does not look at our financial situation, or the number of folks we have or the size of our building or our location. He looks at WHAT WE ARE WILLING TO DO. HE LOOKS AT WHETHER OR NOT HE CAN USE US.
God will use this church & it will GROW. We don’t have to look around & worry about what is going on around us. We are to just be about the Fathers business.
THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION
The past 6 years at our ministry I have prayed every day for 3 things:
1. God send us lost folks, sinners, folks that don’t know Jesus as their Saviour,
2. God send us broken, hurting folks, folks other churches have thrown out and
3. God send us laborers. I have learned when #1 & #2 requests are answered. They make the best laborers
The church is a hospital. The question today? Are you open for business?
