Good
morning everyone, I’m glad to be with you today. Several of you have been
asking how I made out last week in Halifax, and I‘ve been told, I did quite
well, they were able to replace a few drains and stints.
So thank-you for
your continued prayers for my family and me during this season of life. You
have no idea what it means to us.
I’ve been doing
some praying lately. Lying in a hospital bed for hours on end, allows one time
to pray. Along with praying, I have
been doing some dreaming about what could be possible here at MRWC--- but I’m getting
ahead of myself.
As
we are still unwrapping this new year, I would like to do a couple of things
this morning: I want to take you back,
and I want to move you forward.
We
as a church have seen some great things over the last 4 ½ years; allow me to
mention just few of these things:
Life change- we have been blessed to see over 20
decisions for Jesus in the last few years! This loved ones, is cause for
celebration!
More
people will be in heaven because of their commitment to Jesus, here at our
church.
We have also seen over 40 people
go through the waters of baptism! This is another reason to celebrate!
Lives are being changed because of our church!
I
have had the awesome opportunity and privilege to dedicate 10 children to God.
If you are a parent of one of the children that I held in my arms and dedicated
to God: Thank-you!
Thank-you for
trusting our church to help in your child’s spiritual development. (I also want
to ask you to HAVE MORE BABIES!!!!)
We have made
significant improvements to our Sunday morning experience; we have an awesome
children’s program, and have seen growth not only numerically, but also spiritually.
This is terrific
and something to get excited about, and to give thanks to God for!
If you have
prayed; given to; or volunteered for anything in our church over the last
several years, Thank-you!
There is no way
we could have done, or still do what we do without you, so thank-you!
But, we must not
stop here. As good and awesome and wonderful as all of the above mentioned
things are; I’m praying and dreaming for more.
I’m praying and
dreaming for more, because God has called us to move forward, not stay where we
are, even though it might be comfortable for us to stay where we are.
We must move
forward and pursue all that God has for us as His church.
So, because it’s
a new year, I would like for us to begin with a new challenge. But before I lay
out this new challenge, I think it’s important for you to know that this new
challenge has come out of my time alone with God.
I have been in
prayer asking God for Greater things for our church for quite some time now. I
have been dreaming about what our church could be and where our church could
go.
I have looked
into the Scriptures for guidance; and one passage in particular led to this new
challenge. The passage comes from Matthew 9:35-38.
Jesus’
popularity was at an all-time high, and he: “went through all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and
healing every disease and sickness.
36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion
on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a
shepherd.
37 Then he said to
his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.
38 Ask the Lord of
the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
(NIV84)
The verse that
resonated with my heart then, and still does today, is verse 36: “When he saw the
crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless,
like sheep without a shepherd.” (NIV84)
Jesus saw these
people, the people from His hometown, and His heart broke for them. They were
without direction; harassed and helpless, wandering around on their own.
ILLUSTRATION- For so many of you here
today, this area is your hometown.
You were born and raised here;
you know almost everyone, and who they are related to. This is your hometown.
Others
of us are not from this area, but we live here now. This is our “hometown”. We
live here, have set roots down here, and love the area.
We need to
develop a heart of compassion for the people in our hometown, just as Jesus
demonstrated.
Jesus’ heart
broke for His people, they were, as Matthew wrote: “like sheep without a shepherd”
(9:36).
Many of these
people were bullied and oppressed, without direction to help them face the
storms of life.
ILLUSTRATION- You don’t have to spend much
time looking around to see that people are messed up.
I
see this most clearly every time I end up in the hospital. People are filled
with sickness, and disease.
Some people are in hospital for a life altering operation, or because of
pain inflicted on them at the hands of someone else.
The
pain and hurt seen in a hospital ward is, often times, unbearable. This is just the physical pain that
can be seen; we cannot see how desperately people need the Lord, not only in
hospitals, but also here in our hometown.
Paul
reminded us that: “we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but
against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers
in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” (Eph. 6:12, NLT2)
Our
battle isn’t just a physical battle, it’s a spiritual battle, and if we believe
what we say we believe about the afterlife, we as a church have a
responsibility to rescue the perishing.
Paul,
in 2 Corinthians, reminded us that: “we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal
through us. We speak for Christ when we plead,
“Come back to God!” (NLT2)
An
ambassador is one who represents one in authority, and we represent The One in
authority, the Lord God Almighty.
He has chosen to spread His message of
reconciliation through you and me. We are God’s plan A, there is no plan B.
So,
the challenge, and please don’t misunderstand me. There is no way in the world
that I think we are able to meet one, two or all aspects of this challenge.
Without the
direct involvement and full participation of God’s Holy Spirit, we cannot
accomplish one thing.
But
with God, we can do anything! I know this because of the words found in Eph.
3:20-21:
“Now
to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the
church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!
Amen.” (NIV84)
We need the power of Almighty
God to fall upon our church and people like we have never experienced before.
It’s “'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,'
says the LORD Almighty.”
(Zech. 4:6, NIV84)
So,
we must pray like crazy for this new challenge, and I’ll have more to say about
that in a moment.
I’m
calling this new challenge: “5 fifteens in 2015”.
Starting today, we are praying for:
15
Salvations. There are hundreds of people in the 463 exchange—even
more if you add in the 575 exchange—who are not regular attenders of an
evangelical church.
Starting today, we’re going to pray
that at least 15 of them will come to faith in Christ Jesus because of our
church.
We’re
also praying for 15 baptisms this year.
If someone has committed their life to Jesus Christ, baptism is the next
logical step to take as we move forward in faith with Jesus.
If
you are a follower of Jesus and have never been baptised, or if you were
baptised early on in your life and want to renew your commitment to Jesus, we
want to talk with you!
There is
something supernatural that occurs when God’s people get baptised, so we’re
praying for at least 15 of them.
We’re also praying for 15 thousand
dollars to be given to Missions.
I believe God blesses a church who
gives to His work globally, so we’re praying for 15k to be given to missions
through the missionaries and missions projects that our church partners with, which
are:
Ø Dr.
Bob and Brenda Bagley, who serve as the Africa Area Directors;
Ø Allan
and Sherri Stevens, who are missionaries to Albania;
Ø Kevin
and Laura Meyers, church planters in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and
Ø Our
Church plant in Ouagadougou, Burkina
Faso.
As well as our own
local outreach, the Berean’s, which is the name of the Bible study that meets
each Tuesday morning that is facilitated by Marilyn Moore.
This group regularly prays for people, and
reaches out to those in need in our community, so we want to stand with and
support them!
We’re also praying for 15 new families to be part
of our church!
The church is the only
organization that exists for the people who aren’t here yet, so we
want to pray and reach out and attract at least 15 new families this year.
Each one of you has a
special part to play in this. You know at least one family that doesn’t attend
church regularly, so we want you to invite them to church on the Ridge!
We are not a county club
for members only, we’re open to anyone and everyone, so get out and invite!
You have my commitment
that we will do everything in our power to continue on improving our Sunday
morning experience, because a
Higher calling deserves Higher standards—and we will share the life
changing message of Jesus Christ in a relevant way.
So join me in praying for who we can reach out to.
We’re also praying for 15 servant leaders.
To make this church
function, we need people who are willing to step up and serve in an area of
ministry here at the church.
When we work together,
everyone wins, so I’m praying for 15 new servant leaders to rise up and serve
in our church this year.
President John F.
Kennedy once said: “Ask not what your country can do for
you, ask what you can do for your country.”
I say: “Ask
not what your church can do for you, ask what you can do for your church.”
We’re not called only to take; we’re called
to serve too, so we’re praying for 15 new servant leaders this year.
Please understand
friends, these are not just numbers to me. Each number
represents real people.
As Pastor Perry Noble says: “Every number has a name, every name has a story and every
story matters to God!”
Because every name
matters to God, we who follow Him are to concern ourselves with lost people. So
how we do that?
Well, I’m glad you asked, as this is the “what do you
want me to do with what I just heard” part of the sermon.
I want to take you back
to Matthew chapter 9 for another moment.
After Jesus had compassion on the people of His hometown, He
called His disciples together and said to them:
"The harvest
is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest,
therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." (37-38,
NIV84)
The
first thing you can do is pray!
Pray
that God would send workers into His harvest field, and reach more people for
Jesus, and chances are that God is going to use you to reach the people you
will be praying for.
Pray
for our 5
fifteens in 2015. Pray for lives to be transformed this year, Pray
for God to pour out His spirit on our church.
You
can begin praying as soon as tomorrow, for tomorrow is our day of prayer and
fasting.
This day is where you give up
something—usually food, but it could be anything—and spend that time praying to
God.
ILLUSTRATION- When we’ve had days of prayer
and fasting in the past, I’ve fasted from using my iPad, and spent the time I
would normally be on my iPad to pray.
I will do the same tomorrow. I will ask God to take our 5 fifteens in
2015 challenge.
Oswald Chambers once wrote: “We tend to use
prayer as a last resort, but God wants it to be our first line of defense. We
pray when there's nothing else we can do, but God wants us to pray before we do
anything at all.” (http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/41469.Oswald_Chambers)
God
himself said: “If
my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek
my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will
forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chr. 7:14, NIV84)
So
before we do anything else, we’re going to pray and ask God for 5 fifteens in
2015.
The
second thing you can do, is take the
card that is in your bulletin—or the extra ones on the alter rail—and write down the name—or names—of someone who
you can invest in this year.
It
could be your friend, your neighbour, your co-workers, or a loved one—whoever
it is, write their name down on this card, and stick it where you will see it
most often, and it will remind you also to pray for our challenge.
If,
at the end of 2015 we don’t reach our goal of 5 fifteens, but we did something
for Jesus this year, we’re going to rejoice, because we have seen lives
transformed for Jesus Christ.
We’re
told in Luke 15 that: “there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who
repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (15:7 NIV84)
I
hope and pray that PM and I can count on you to embrace, be excited about and
take part in this new challenge for this new year.
We
have the opportunity to see lives transformed for Jesus this year and I’m
praying that we would make much of Jesus and we would continue To Know Christ and to Make Him known!
