Roll Up Your Sleeves and Get to Work (05/08/24)

Pastor of Harrison United Methodist would like to meet with me. He’s “new” to the area. (My cousin is a Methodist minister so I know that they can move around.)

Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 12th

No Connection Groups

No Evening services/activities

Master Clubs Closing Program, Sunday evening, May 19 @ 5:30 PM.

Teen Olympics, Friday, May 31st

Kindergarten & High School Graduations

Concert in the Park, Saturday, June 1, 5 PM

Place posters in businesses

The Praisemen Ministry Team from Maranatha Baptist University

2024 Neighborhood Bible Time

Dinner from the Grill

Looking ahead…

Eldora, Iowa Summer Missions - The Rideout and Whited families (week of July 21st)

Fall Revival Services w/Evangelist Rich Tozour - week of Sept. 1st.

Take a moment to pray for these upcoming activities that they will be used by God to allow us to accomplish our purpose of proclaiming the Gospel and experiencing the miracle of changed lives.

Roll Up Our Sleeves and Get to Work!

Turn to and read 2 Timothy 4:1-5.

Paul’s words in vv. 2 and 3 are not very encouraging. (I’m sure they weren’t very encouraging when Timothy read them!)

The news surrounding the “local church” can be somewhat depressing and discouraging.

I just learned that a church that my parents attended while I was in college, Center Street Baptist Church, a GARB church, as of this past Sunday, May 5, is no longer Center Street Baptist Church but is now New City Church Marshalltown!

New City Church Marshalltown

The news article (from the local paper in Marshalltown) wrote:

There are very few things doctrinally different between Center Street as a regular Baptist Church and New City Churches. There’s a whole lot more that unite us and that are central to this good news message.

One of those seemingly “unimportant” doctrinal differences is the fact that New City Church Marshalltown will be lead by a woman, Angie Juergens.

2 Timothy 4:3–4 KJV 1900

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

According to Gallup Polls and the Pew Research Center, regular church attendance has steadily declined since the turn of the century (2000).

In 2000, 32% of Americans attended church at least once a week. Now, that rate has dropped to 20%.

https://www.churchtrac.com/articles/the-state-of-church-attendance-trends-and-statistics-2023

In a recent article, entitled…

Dropping Out of Everything

Social scientist and pastor, Ryan Burge, notes:

There’s a growing number of people whom I have begun to call "the dropouts." They are looking at all the institutions that once consumed a huge part of American social life and saying, "I don’t need any of this."

These are individuals who are now known as Nones. They do not want to be classified as atheists/agnostic but they also do not want to be classified in a particular religious group.

Ryan Burge goes on to write…

Now, in the most recent data, somewhere between 23-24% of all American adults just shrug their shoulders when asked about their faith. They don’t want to label themselves one way or another.

And, I think that sentiment—the "I’m done with traditional categories"—is becoming an epidemic in American society.

These dropouts likely number in the tens of millions, and their ranks are growing by the day as people retreat into apps like TikTok and Instagram.

Instead of being shaped by in-person interactions at the town council meeting, the local Catholic Church, or the halls of the local community college or university, they are holed up in their rooms, letting algorithms feed them more of what they think they want to see.

And they are worse for it.

Hebrews 10:24–25 KJV 1900

And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 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.

In another article, entitled…

Is Transfer Growth Bad?

The simple answer to the question is “no,” or better, “not always.”

When someone moves from one city to another and desires to remain an active and contributing local church member, that’s a good thing.

When someone leaves a church teaching heresy and moves to a church that is true to the gospel, that’s a good thing.

While not all transfer growth is bad, it often represents disgruntled church members moving their attitudes and preferences from one church to another.

The article basically states that most churches have focused on and celebrated “transfer growth.”

Instead, we should focus on and celebrate “conversion growth.”

At its heart, conversion growth is the fruit of evangelism.

Conversion growth…represents those new followers of Christ who have become disciples of Christ and committed members of a local church.

For most of Church history, conversion growth was the heart of local church. In recent history, the celebration of transfer growth has become normative. That is not healthy. That is not Kingdom growth.

Going along with this…

While each church is unique, leading experts say a church should expect to lose about 10%-15% of its members year over year.

https://www.churchtrac.com/articles/the-state-of-church-attendance-trends-and-statistics-2023

So, given all of this “bad news,” what should we do?

This takes us back to our Scripture in 2 Timothy chapter 4.

2 Timothy 4:1 KJV 1900

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

Regardless of the “bad news” of our day and regardless of the response to truth we must always keep in mind the truth that one day we will stand before God to give account to Him!

That should be motivation enough to keep us faithful to the Gospel ministry in spite of the “bad news” that we may hear!

2 Timothy 4:2 KJV 1900

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

We must continue to proclaim the Gospel message!

We must continue to proclaim the truth - the whole truth and nothing but the truth!

Two characteristics of our proclaiming ministry?

Patience

Doctrine - the Truth

2 Timothy 4:3–4 KJV 1900

Instead of being upset by this “bad news” we should simply take it as a reminder of the spiritual battle that we are in.

2 Timothy 2:24–26 KJV 1900

And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

But, this is a spiritual battle in which we have already been guaranteed the victory!

1 Corinthians 15:57 KJV 1900

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 2:14 KJV 1900

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.

1 John 4:4 KJV 1900

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

2 Timothy 4:5 KJV 1900

But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

But watch thou in all things

We need to be alert and on guard that we not develop a defeatist attitude because of this “bad news.” We should never allow the “bad news” to become the only news that we dwell upon and expect.

This watchful attitude is the same attitude that God looked for when choosing those 300 to fight along side of Gideon in Judges chapter 6.

Endure afflictions

Encouraging words? Not normally!

We must never deceive ourselves into thinking that it is going to get easier to serve the Lord in a world that is becoming increasingly hostile to Christ and the truth.

Do the work of an evangelist

There it is…that dirty, four-letter word - work!

Do not allow yourself to be fooled into thinking that the ministry is anything other than hard work! You will work up a sweat in the ministry - literally and figuratively!

Boss Homsher, the founder of Neighborhood Bible Time, use to say to the evangelists that, they should be tired at the end of a NBT Rally!

Ephesians 2:10 KJV 1900

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

What kind of work should we busy ourselves with? The work of an evangelist. An evangelist proclaims the Gospel; extends the invitation; and seeks to lead people to Christ!

Make full proof of thy ministry

Exploring the Pastoral Epistles: An Expository Commentary (d) Be Victorious (4:5d)

The word translated “make full proof” means “to bring in a full measure.” It paints a picture of a ship moving along with all sails set. Timothy needed to set his sails and make an all-out effort because there was still a fair wind in Ephesus. A storm might well be coming, but no sails needed to be shortened. Timothy was to keep moving forward, whether under full sail with a favorable wind or with sails furled because of the howling tempest.

In other words, in spite of the “bad news” we need to keep pressing forward, faithfully doing the work of the Lord!

John 9:4 KJV 1900

I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.

I wish that I could finish this message with some good news as it relates to this local church.

But what I can do is finish with the greatest news of all!

1 Thessalonians 4:15–18 KJV 1900

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.