Mission Statement:
The Redeeming River Church is a family of believers committed to preaching the cross with conviction, reaching the lost with compassion, and equipping the saints with the Word!
Our Vison:
The Word tells us in Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people perish”. Therefore, we know that where there is a God breathed vision the people have life. It is because of God’s specific plan for us that we can clearly see where we are going.
7 We Will Be’s
· We will be a life giving church whose waters flow from the River of God through all cultures and generations!
· We will be a life sustaining church where the heartbeat of God will keep our families spiritually healthy.
· We will be a life birthing church where new ministries are conceived, delivered, nurtured, and sent out.
· We will be a people of faith and expectancy who are not moved by what we see, but stand in the God who we know!
· We will be a people of devotion who are committed to the work of the Lord through the local church!
· We will be a people of worship who honor the Lord for who He is and not what He will do for us!
· We will be a growing church whose walls will not contain us!
Devotion - commitment to a purpose, willingness to serve God
I. TODAY COMMITMENT IS AN UGLY WORD
A. YESTERDAY’S CULTURE
1. Acts 4:24-32
24 And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:
25 Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,
30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.
31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
B. TODAY’S CULTURE
1. 2 Timothy 3:1-5
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
2. How many of you know that we are in the last days
3. Barna Research :Faith Without Church
Barna Research reports that in the U.S:
10 million self-proclaimed, born-again Christians have not been to church in the last 6 months, apart from Christmas or Easter.
About a third of Americans are unchurched and 35% of those (approximately 23 million) claim they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ.
C. BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
1. How many of you have heard the saying, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"
2. Some of you all got picked by somebody who was blind
3. Somebody told me Beverly must have been on medication when she married me
4. They come to me and ask me, "How did you end up with such a beautiful woman?"
5. Cause you ugly!
6. Well my friend "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"
7. Illustration: One man said, "God, why did you make women so soft and beautiful?" God said, "So you’d love them." Then the man asked, "Then, God, why did you make women so illogical and emotional?" God said, "So they’d love you!"
8. Illustration:
A girl knelt in the confessional and said, "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned."
"What is it, child?"
"Father, I have committed the sin of vanity. Twice a day I gaze at myself in the mirror and tell myself how beautiful I am."
The priest turned, took a good look at the girl, and said, "My dear, I have good news. That isn’t a sin - it’s only a mistake."
9. Our different experiences that make us look at certain things differently
10. This culture looks at things differently
11. You are bombarded with lies every day
12. The culture tells us today that:
13. Do what feels good
14. Nothing owns you
15. You don’t have to do anything if you dont feel like it
16. But I’m glad Jesus died when He didn’t feel like it
17. I am so glad that God forgave us even though we crucified His only begotten son
18. It’s about time we take of the lazy cultural glasses we use as an excuse
19. It’s time we put on some GOD GOGGLES this morning
20. We have to put the FILTER OF THE WORD in our hearts
21. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
22. And honey I’ve got my God goggles on and all of you are looking like capable committed people this morning
C. HOW DO YOU BEHOLD YOUR OWN BODY
1. Do you love yourself
2. Do you brush your teeth every morning?
3. Do you feed your body when your stomach growls?
4. Do you look at yourself in the mirror and make sure you are looking good?
5. Do you commit to making sure that you live and not die?
6. I Corinthians 6:19
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
7. We need to stop piercing our bodies ...who are we appeasing
8. We need to fully dress our bodies... didn’t God cloth us in the garden
9. We need to stop over feeding ourselves... isn’t gluttony a sin?
10. But if we care about our own bodies in
11. I Corinthians 12:2
27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
12. We care about how we look...Why don’t we care about how the house of God looks
13. We care about feeding ourselves..Why don’t we care about feeding the body of Christ
14. We care about whether our breath stinks...Why don’t we care when our Christian character stinks
15. We are committed to live, Where is our commitment for the church to live?
16. The local body is necessary
17. What if my arms went with you everywhere you went? Would they do you any good
18. No! They would just be there
19. Some folks are just here, but they are not connected to the local body!
II. ARE YOU WILLING
A. TO THE RACES
1. If you were going to signup for 5 races and come to find out they were all held on the same day...
2. How successful would you be
3. What would you have accomplished
4. Hebrews 12:1
1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience
the race that is set before us,
5. I believe that there is one race that we are in that has a prize that cannot be destroyed
6. The blood has been shed and is your entry fee
7. The joy of the Lord is your strength
8. The Word of God is your road map
9. Eternal life is the finish line
10. And there is only one spiritual race...not 5
11. Matthew 6:24
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
12. The Bible teaches us a principle that you cannot serve two different causes...man and God
13. Why is it that we only have one race eternal life
14. We only have one master God
15. But many think God would not want them devoted to any one church?
B. IF IT COST NOTHIN’ IT’S WORTH NOTHIN’
1. Everytime I use to see something FREE I would get excited!
2. One day I learned that there isn’t anything FREE unless it’s worth nothin’
3. Everybody wants something for free today
4. Everybody wants something cheap today
4. But there are no spiritual BIG MACS
5. Heaven don’t manufacture HAPPY MEALS
6. If you want to see God do something in this realm
7. You are gonna have to abide in the shadow of the almightie’s wings
8. If you want the power of God to move in your life
9. You are going to have to let Him move through you
10. Carnality will reap carnality
11. Dying out to the flesh reaps power in the Holy Ghost!
12. How many of you know that it TAKES COMMITMENT TO DIE FOR A CAUSE!
C. IS THERE ANYONE WILLING TO GO
1. Isaiah 6:8
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
2. You want the power - die out of yourself and what you want
3. You want a move of God -let Him move through you
4. You want the world to be turned upside down? - Let him move through you in this church
5. God brought you here for a reason
6. You have a purpose in this church
7. The enemy wants to take the commitment out of the church
8. He doesn’t want you to be passionate about your church
9. He wants the church to lose it’s heart
11. The only way he can do that is to make you lose heart in your church
III. THE ULTIMATE COMMITMENT
A. JESUS ESTABLISHED THE CHURCH
1. Matthew 16:18 - Whom do you say that I am
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
B. THE HOLY GHOST EMPOWERS THE CHURCH
1. Acts 1:8
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost
part of the earth.
C. GOD ORDAINED THE CHURCH
1. Hebrews 10:19-25
19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
21 And having an high priest over the house of God;
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
IV. CONCLUSION
A. FINISH WHAT YOU START
1. God always finishes what He starts
2. Jesus finished what He starts
3. Thank God the Holy Ghost is still finishing what He started
4. Now are you going to finish what God started in you?
