*Be The Kind Of Church That People Need....Not What People Want*

 

Many churches mission is to be the kind of church that appeals to everyone. That is an impossible task! I also believe it to be an unholy task. In order for us to be the church that everyone wants or is looking for....we would have to compromise our principles......condone sinful practices.... and change God’s plan. Jesus did not commission the church to be everything to everybody....but he said..........Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 

It should not be the mission of the church to entertain....but to evangelize....and to edify. 

Our purpose should not be that we exist to meet everyone’s wants....but be a church that everyone needs. 

Acts 2:41-47 

3 FIRES

In 51 days, Peter visited 3 fires that were to transform his life and make him the man God wanted him to be. 

God wants us to visit those 3 fires too!

1. THE FIRE OF PURGING (Luke 22:54-62) 

Before this fire, Peter was trying to hold onto both this world and God’s kingdom. After this fire (purging), he let go of this world. It caused the death of the old Peter and the beginning of the new Peter. 

2. FIRE OF OBEDIENCE (John 21:15-17)

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ he said, ‘you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, Feed my sheep. 

Jesus repeated 3 times *Feed my sheep* 

We are to be obedient in feeding His sheep!! 

3. FIRE OF EMPOWERING (Luke 24:49)

(Acts 1:8) (Acts 2:1-4)

It’s good to be purged from the world. It’s good to be dedicated and be obedient to the work of the the Lord. But there is something more....you need to be filled (empowered) with the Baptism in the Holy Spirit which is evidenced by speaking with other tongues.

Are you prepared to go through the fire? 

Bro. Kenneth Stewart 

“HUMPTY DUMPTY”

Isaiah 61:1-3 

1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. The word meek is translated poor or in other cases as depressed. The enemy’s complete desire is to use the tactic of fear and terror to bring oppression and depression upon man and woman. Once someone has brought another person to the point of absolute fear and then they become obsessed with that thing that they fear, then oppression kicks in.

Then they discover that they are alone can’t do anything about the situation depression kicks in.

Even though Jesus promised “If ye have faith as a grain of a mustard, yea shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Matthew 17:20. The thing which are impossible with men are possible with God - Luke 19:27.

The Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek. The depressed. The downcast. The dejected. The downhearted. The blue. The low-spirited. The sad. The weary. The meek. What are tidings? Tidings are a good word. Tidings are good news. Christ was to be a comforter. He is sent to comfort all who mourn. We are to do the same works or Christ and even greater.

What is the good news? The good news is that Jesus is no longer dead. He is alive. He rose on the 3rd day. He conquered death and the grave. He rose with all power and authority. You may be meek. You may be low. You may be depressed. But I know a man who is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all we could ask or think. There is healing power in the name of Jesus. There is deliverance in the name of Jesus.

I remember a song that said, “Who can I run to?” 

The verse in the song says As I stand here contemplating, on the right thing to decide. Will I take the wrong direction, all my life? Where will I go? What lies ahead of me? The chorus says...Who can I run to? To share this empty space. Who can I run to? When I need love? Who can I run to? To fill this empty space with laughter.

I am here to tell you to run to Jesus. I am here to tell you to run to the savior. That is the good news. That’s the glad tidings!

A lot of us have been running to the wrong source. A lot of us have been looking to the wrong person for good news. These days women are looking to other women…men are looking to other men for the good news. Just cause you get a man/woman or get married....that ain’t the good news. You should be rooted and grounded in Jesus. Before the man/woman come and after he/she leaves. The right husband/wife will be a blessing. The wrong husband/wife will be a curse! Accept that good news! So many men/women are sitting in church picking out their perfect wife/husband. Planning the perfect wedding. Already planning the honeymoon night. You need to get another dose of Jesus. The bible says, he that findeth a wife findeth a good thing and obtaineth favor from the Lord. Let me be real careful here. You better make sure it was the Lord that told him/her to find you. That there were no hidden agendas or ulterior motives behind it. A lot of people are fame seekers. A lot of us have made ourselves sick and depressed trying to make someone want us that don’t want us. No gift is going to sway him/her if that is not who God has ordained for you.

The word says, He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. The word bind means to cover, as with bandage or dress. You can bind up a wound. Some people are stinking from their wounds. God has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted

Psalms 147 reads Praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God. How pleasant and fitting to praise him! The Lord builds up Jerusalem he gathers the exiles of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is the Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.

In order for the Lord to build. Something was in ruin or non existent. Some ashes were there. You might have a broken heart. That might be your ashes. Broken or wounded hearts require as much care and time as any other wound.

God has sent me to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. God wants to free your mind. Free your thoughts. Some of us are prisoners of our mind. The battle ground is the mind. If you are constantly replaying the memories of the broken heart the devil is having a field day and has enslaved you. But God holds the key to set you free!

Every wound needs 3 things. Cleansing. Protection. Time to Heal.

The bible says the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, CLEANESETH us from every sin 

 1 John 1 :7

 

Are you feeling vulnerable? Suffering with feelings of low self-esteem, emptiness, loneliness, sadness or depression? It is during your most vulnerable time that you need others to PROTECT and comfort you. God is the closest to those with a broken heart. The bible says he sent Jesus to heal the brokenhearted. Jesus wants you to know that your value comes from who you are, not from who you are with. You are beautiful in his sight. He loves you unconditionally. That means you don’t have to perform to get his love. Jesus knows and understands your pain and wants to heal your wounded heart. But you have to turn over all the pieces to him. Remember, the Joy of the Lord is your strength!

You need TIME TO HEAL. Have you ever picked the scab from a wound before it is properly healed? The same can happen when you have a wounded heart. You can go back and pick and relive things that happened in the past. There has to be a time of forgiveness, time of releasing the one who has hurt you and moving on. The bible instructs us to “Release and you will be Released  Luke 6:37. 

To release someone you have to forgive them. If you truly forgive someone (or yourself), you cannot blame that person, even though to the normal mind he/she is blameworthy. If you don’t blame  a person, you cannot resent. In the same way, if you don’t resent, you cannot hold bitterness and so if we don’t hold bitterness then you do not hate or dislike or talk about the individual. If you do not hate, then you are not held in bondage. If we release through forgiveness the one who has hurt us, we are released also and can move on to greater things!!!!!!!!!!!!

God is going to complete you and make you whole. When you give him your pieces. He will make you whole. Some of you are like Humpty-Dumpty that sat on the wall. You’ve had a great fall. All the Kings horses and all the Kings men cannot put you back together again. But a man named Jesus wants to step in and meet you in your time of trouble. God wants to comfort all who mourn. God wants to give you Beauty For Your Ashes. Double for your trouble. The bible says, weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning. God declares new things!!!!

The Spirit of Contention .....(anger and disagreement)

The Spirit of Contention .....(anger and disagreement)

Psalm 119:165 Great peace have they which love the law of the Lord and that  nothing shall offend them”. 

Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. 

 

The Bible says..."Great peace have they which love the law of the Lord and that  nothing shall offend them”. 

When the spirit of contention is manifesting, or in a more practical way, when there is contention in the air....it does not matter whether you talk or not.....and it does not matter what you say or how you said it. 

If you talk....then that becomes the subject of the contention...in the sense of not just what you said but especially...how you said it....

If you do not talk...then it becomes don’t tell me you have nothing to say about this or that.  

So how do you deal with the issue of contention? 

How do you resist the spirit of contention?

 

Psalm 119:165 (KJV) says “Great peace have they which love Thy law: and nothing shall offend them”.

 

Offence causes people to stumble. Consider how great the peace Jesus had at the time of His crucifixion...to the extent that whatever they did or said to Him...or how they said it or did it....did not stir up offense in Him. 

In the midst of it....He said Father forgive them…

Does this kind of response come out of an offended heart or mind?

How do you respond to what people say to you? 

Do you get offended and justify it by saying that you are offended because you do not like how they said it? 

This does not mean that it is okay for people to talk in nasty ways to others but we cannot really control how people talk to us.

Day in and day out we are being constantly subjected to these in various mixes. Jesus went through them all until He got to the cross where all of them came on Him.  

Sometimes people may talk to us in ways we consider as rude...often not intentional...but because of pressures of life. 

We must understand in Psalm 119:165 not to get offended but to walk in such a great peace.....that NOTHING offends us.  

It is like choosing to forgive no matter what people do to us. 

Shake your religion for a second. 

Jesus said in Mathew 5:44 to love your enemies.

So what does that mean??

The purpose of your enemies is to learn to love better.

**Another Lesson from The Lord's Prayer**

When we asked forgiveness from God it was for our own good....same thing when we need to forgive others..it's for our own good. 

We can't be healed, never really move toward wholeness, we will never really get on with our lives until we are able to let go of the resentment, until we can give up gaining revenge...and forgive. 

When we have been wronged, we need to look at who God is and what God has done for us. 

How far am I to go with this forgiveness ?.......

How far has God gone with you?.............

We are to forgive them. Not because of who they are or what they have done; but because of who God is, and what God has graciously done.

Take a look at Matthew 6, verse 12. Right in the middle of the Lord's Prayer is a prayer that you and I, if we are not careful, just pray as a motion when we say the Lord's Prayer. ***Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors***.

We are asking God to treat us, to forgive us, exactly the way that we deal with other folks who have wronged us. 

Father, please forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. In Jesus name. Amen.

After all the Bible says that we should grow in grace 2 Peter 3:18 

But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. 

The less you are offended by things that are thrown at you....the more you are lining up with The Word in Psalms 119. 

By the time you have grown in grace to the point where nothing offends you....then you have lined up with the word of God.

We should grow in the grace of not becoming offended...by growing in great peace.  

We can choose not to get offended....no matter how people talk to us....just like we choose to forgive no matter the offense. 

We should take responsibility to deal with our own response to the things we face in life....because you do not have the means to control them all.

Contention must be avoided as it will generate more contention. 

It produces loss of spiritual energy. 

Contention and offense go together and they create strife. “Great peace have they which love Thy law: and nothing shall offend them”. 

This tells us that the biblical answer to offense is to have great peace....and this great peace comes from loving the law of the Lord.

Fulfilling God’s Purpose requires

Fulfilling God’s Purpose requires... (1) OUR RESPONSE.....God does not say to you.....I'll show you my will and then you can decide if it is good or bad. When God speaks His will...it is not for us to talk about it....discuss it or bring it up to the board meeting and vote on it. God reveals His will it is for man to obey. We are called to RESPOND!! (2) OUR INVOLVEMENT....God’s purpose will not be fulfilled accidentally. Nothing is automatic. If you do nothing.....nothing will happen. We are to be very involved in the fulfilment of God’s will. It takes INVOLVEMENT!! (3) OUR FAITH.....If your heart is right....focused on God and in line with His purposes... you can run into the battlefield with a sling...like David. You can step into the Red Sea with a rod...like Moses. You can bring down the walls of Jericho with a shout.....like Israel. The problem will not be a problem. Faith is the issue!! Watch your heart. WHO are you really trusting? It takes FAITH!! (4) OUR UNITY......John 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Unity is strength....no doubt. But here unity is also a WITNESS. Unity was the key to the success of Israel’s mission....it is also the key to our effective witness for Jesus Christ on earth. We are in this together......for God’s glory and to fulfill His will. The church will succeed because God is present and He has made His promise. It takes UNITY!!

#OUR RESPONSE
#OURINVOLVEMENT
#OURFAITH
#OURUNITY

The Empty Chair

A man’s daughter had asked the local minister to come and pray with her father. When the minister arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows. An empty chair sat beside his bed.The minister assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit. I guess you were expecting me, he said. ’No, who are you?" said the father. The minister told him his name and then remarked, I saw the empty chair an! d I figured you knew I> was going to show up," Oh yeah, the chair,"said the bed ridden man. Would you mind closing the door?" Puzzled, the minister shut the door. I have never told anyone this, not even my daughter," said the man. But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, But it went right over my head." I abandoned any attempt at prayer, "the old man continued, until one day four years ago, A friend of mine said to me, Johnny, prayer is just a simple matterof having a conversation with Jesus. Here is what I suggest." Sit down in a chair; place an empty chair in front of you,and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It’s not spooky because he promised, I will be with you always’. Then just speak to him in the same way you’re doing with me right now." So, I tried ! it and I’ve liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I’m careful though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she’d either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm." The minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, anointed him with oil, and returned to the church. Two nights later the daughter called to tell the minister that her daddy had died that afternoon. "Did he die in peace?" he asked. Yes, when I left the house about two o’clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me how much he loved me and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But there was something strange about his death. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on ! the chair beside the bed.What do you make of that? The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said, "I wish we could all go like that."

"The Man in the Mirror"

After being away on business, a man thought it would be nice to bring his wife a little gift. “How about some perfume?” he asked the cosmetics clerk.She showed him a bottle costing $50.00. “That’s a bit much,” he said, so she returned with a smaller bottle for $30.00. “That’s still quite a bit,” he complained. Growing annoyed, the clerk brought out a tiny $15.00 bottle. “You know,” he said, “What I mean is that I’d like to see something really cheap.” The clerk handed him a mirror!
But on a more serious note, when we look in the mirror, who do we see? Do we see more of Jesus, or more of us?
2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
When we look in the mirror, God doesn’t want us to see what we see with our natural eyes. Because what we see in the natural, is the drama of life, the strife around the world, the day to day going on’s around us. You see, in the natural you may be sick, weak, broke and depressed, yet God wants you to see yourself the way He sees you.... healed, strong, blessed and whole because Christ is in you. But you must make that change! If your going to change things, "you" must do something about you. If you don’t put any effort, nothing will happen. If you don’t start making changes, nothing will change. God doesn’t see our imperfections, they were washed in the blood, cleansed forever, never to be remembered again. So, when we look in the mirror, we should see the same thing God sees, His Righteousness, living in us! The late Michael Jackson sang a song that got the whole worlds attention.............I'm starting with the man in the mirror I'm asking him to change his ways And no message could have been any clearer If you want to make the world a better place Take a look at yourself, and then make a change.........
It's true, it all starts with the man in the mirror, But quickly becomes about Jesus, who lives in the heart of the man, or women in the mirror. Are you seeing His reflection in the mirror today, instead of your own? Start to see, what God sees, believe that He wants His very best for you in your life..... get ready and expect it to happen as you do!