“Dear Church: We Can’t Stand Sitting Down”

Last week I enjoyed speaking at my hometown church of Oilton Christ Fellowship. Whenever I preach at different churches its always different from my speaking at a school assembly, workshop, or teacher in-service. My speaking style shifts into a preaching dynamic and the message is always to the church globally more than to just that one particular church I am preaching at. Being a preacher’s kid, my heart is often stirred when I deliver these kind of messages, because I see so many things revealed to me through the scripture. Its almost like a jump start to my walk with God. It excites me and this sermon definitely fired me up, it’s an uncommon one, but one I feel compelled to share with each of you. Here are the sermon notes from last week. Simply put: We have to take a stand

Dear Church: We Can’t Stand Sitting Down,

Prepare the Way

“…Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” (Mark 1:3)

-God did not say be comfortable, He did not say take a seat. He called us to Take a Stand. There is Work to do and as ambassadors of the Gospel we are blessed to be part of it. We Have to Prepare and not just be Passive.

Galatians 5- We Have a Freedom Because of Christ Jesus, but with this Freedom comes a responsibility to Reach Others. What are you doing with this Freedom?

THE COVENANT IS PREVALENT

The Covenant I’m referring to is the Cross Jesus died on for us. It’s a constant reminder that there is a Promise of Love for Every Man, Woman, and Child on this planet. This covenant does not discriminate. Its meant to be a promise of love for everyone regardless of past experiences. The sting of our past must never defeat the next step into our future. This future requires U.S. to share this covenant, we must be willing to show others this love, just as Jesus did for us. The worst thing we can do is push people away who may be different than us. It is critical that we show the Love that Has Showed Us All So much.

The Covenant is Prevalent because it Made the Ultimate Difference in each of our Hearts and this world stands in need of knowing this urgent hope. This is where we come in!

As Believers we Forget that Love is a Portal to Our Faith. What is important is that our Faith is Expressing itself in Love, not condemning others through hate. We must let our lives be an example of this love. There is a vast difference between hating someone and disagreeing with another person’s lifestyle. This covenant of love can be shared with the world in way that compels others to draw near to Christ. Unfortunately, when we choose not to reach out to others in love, we begin to see a spiritual dwindle in our churches, because we begin deprive ourselves of achieving the purpose God has destined us to be part of. This type of action does not bring life instead, brings in death. Simply put: The Church Becomes the Church when we Leave the 4-Walls of the Church Building and Activate the Body to Reach a World in Need of Love.

5 Signs of Death in the Church:

-No New Leaders are Being Trained

-1 Age Group is emerging bigger than others

-There is No Vision For Outreach or Evangelism

-Worship Music Becomes Outdated

-There is 0 transparency and 0 financial accountability within the church.

I speak to a Living Church, because the Covenant is Prevalent. Christ is Alive, but instead of sitting in seat, we must choose to take a stand. Speak life into our churches by actively reaching out to others. In other words, we must prepare the way.

3 Ways We Can Prepare The Way:

–Sound The Alarm-Reach Out

–Mobilize The Troops-Get Involved

–Fire Away-Put Faith Into Action

-“Sound The Alarm“-Reach Out. Let Others Know Who Jesus is. Share Your Hope and make others aware of His Covenant. How will you Reach Others?

-“Mobilize The Troops“- Get Others Involved and Share Your Vision of Impact. Are you actively making disciples for Christ?

-“Fire Away“-Combine Your Faith into Action. Aim Towards Your Target of Impact. Put all you have into all you do for the Impact You Envision to make.

Acts 3:1-12 tells us of how the Apostle Peter was able to incorporate all 3 ways by speaking life into a lame man. If you read this story, you will see that Peter is approached by a lame beggar asking for money, and Peter’s response is incredible. He says, “Silver and gold have I none; but what I have, that give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” (‭Acts‬ ‭3‬:‭6‬ ASV)

Because of Peter’s unwavering faith, the lame beggar is healed. He begins to not only walk, but leap and jump for joy. People surrounding him began to take notice and were amazed at what happened. Peter activated his faith, he sounded the alarm by reaching out, he mobilized a troop by speaking life into the beggar, and he fired away his faith by putting his belief into action. This got people’s attention and soon we would see an impact unfold.

It’s Easy for us to take a seat & be comfortable. But that’s not what we’re Called to do. We Must Prepare The Way. At the end of the day, the Covenant of the Cross has become more prevalent than ever before, because it directly affects each of us and our daily walk with Jesus. We have to be more than just a people who simply sit in a Sunday morning service and conclude that to be the full extent of our relationship with God. There is so much more at stake than what we realize. Issues are waiting to be addressed, statements are needing to be spoken, hearts are longing to be touched, and stands are needing to be taken. It is a fantasy to think these things can happen by the mere reality of us sitting in our seats of comfort. We have work to do and this work won’t get done by itself. The truth is we can’t Stand Sitting Down.

The Covenant is Prevalent and there is no better time to make a difference than now. We must ask ourselves, “Will we be a people who simply takes a seat of comfort and cruises along with the norm of mediocrity or will we be the people who answer the call, realizing that enough is enough, passionately preparing the way for our Lord by taking a stand?” The choice is ours, the opportunity is here, will we choose to sit or will we choose to Stand?