Rowing The Growing Machine Series

BETTER BODY BUILDING Part 5

all my illustrations come from Sermon Central unless otherwse noted scripture is NIV unless noted

ROWING THE GROWING MACHINE

I hope that you have enjoyed this series of sermons as much as I have enjoyed writing them. Building a Better Body is the theme of this series and we have seen that we, the church, are the Body of Christ. We are many members, we all have different tasks, but we are one body. We have looked at the importance of “Listening to our Trainer” - Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, we have looked at the importance of dining on the solid food of God’s infallible Word, we have seen the need to become a Prayer Master and today we look at, “Rowing the Growing Machine” -

Bringing people to the Lord is every Christian’s main objective! We need to be a church on fire. It is easy to determine when something is aflame. It ignites other material. Any fire that does not spread will eventually go out. A church without outreach is a contradiction of terms, just as a fire that does not burn is a contradiction.

This morning let’s take a look at one of the most well known passages of scripture in the Bible, MATTHEW 28:19-20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

The first thing I must bring to your attention is the word GO. So many churches think that as long as things are going well inside their walls, the church will grow. BUT, nothing could be further from the truth. So many people in this world know they are lost, BUT, they really don’t want to be saved. They would prefer to stay in the dark and that is WHY Jesus tells us to GO.

The boss of a big company needed to call one of his employees about an urgent problem with one of the main computers. He dialed the employees home telephone number and was greeted with a child’s whispered, "Hello?" Feeling put out at the inconvenience of having to talk to a youngster, the boss asked, "Is your Daddy home?" "Yes," whispered the small voice. "May I talk with him?" the man asked. To the surprise of the boss, the small voice whispered, "No." Wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, "Is your Mommy there?" "Yes," came the answer. "May I talk with her?" Again, the small voice whispered, "No." Knowing that it was not likely that a young child would be left home alone, the boss decided he would just leave a message with the person who should be there watching over the child. "Is there any one there besides you?" the boss asked the child. "Yes," whispered the child, "a policeman." Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee’s home, the boss asked, "May I speak with the policeman?" "No, he is busy," whispered the child. "Busy doing what?" asked the boss. "Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the Fireman," came the whispered answer. Growing concerned and even worried as he heard what sounded like a helicopter through the ear piece on the phone, the boss asked, "What is that noise?" "A hello-copper," answered the whispering voice. "What is going on there?" asked the boss, now alarmed. In an awed whispering voice, the child answered, "The search team just landed the hello-copper!" Alarmed, concerned and more than just a little frustrated, the boss asked, "Why are they there?" Still whispering, the young voice replied (along with a muffled giggle), "They are looking for me!"

It can be a real task to grow the church, it will take each and every person working together, in prayer and with a plan to see the lost come to Christ. Bill Hybels has such a plan and this morning I would like to use his plan to see what we can do to get our church to grow.

HP + CP + CC = MI

HP stands for High Potency! Folks, it is a fact that the lost of this world do not care what you know, until they know that you care. It is easy to dazzle people with words from the scripture, put the truth is that the world is looking for authenticity. They want our walk to match our talk. They want to see Christ in our actions and not just in our words.

There is a Peanuts cartoon that shows Snoopy sitting outside in the middle of a snowstorm. He is shivering from the cold. Linus and Charlie Brown happen by and see Snoopy and his condition. They say, “There is Snoopy, let’s go cheer him up.” They go up to Snoopy and say, “Be of good cheer, Snoopy!” The next panel shows them walking off, leaving Snoopy in the same condition they found him, satisfied that they have “cheered” him up. Somehow, we have gotten the idea that evangelism is only about teaching and preaching. But Jesus shows us that evangelism is much more than that. By healing people, Jesus reached out and demonstrated his compassion by actual works. He had actions that backed up His words.