ATMOSPHERE PT 2

ATMOSPHERE PT2

VOLUNTEERING

Walt Disney was a VISIONARY. Walt’s vision led him to borrow money to start a production studio that would use cartoons to tell stories. During Walt’s lifetime, the word “Disney” became almost synonymous with family entertainment. But a production studio wasn’t enough. His vision and passion for telling stories gave him the idea of developing a brand new family oriented vacation destination to entertain fans who came to visit the studio. He opened Disney Land in 1955.

Disney Land wasn’t enough. He wanted people to feel like they had been transported to an enchanted land. How could people feel swept away when garbage was being hauled in public and employees were switching shifts. So against some people’s better judgment and to the objections of some closest to him, Disney purchased land in a swamp near a small town in Florida to build a theme park there as well. This park would have underground tunnels to handle the mundane tasks of operating a theme park. Nothing should interfere with the enchantment.

“Too much, too fast” his advisors said. “Curtail the dream.” But Walt didn’t flinch. His Vision became a reality. Walt Disney World opened it’s gates in 1971.

VISION often requires risk -- they often require big budgets and lots of help. And that is hard to swallow. FOLKS GOD HAS GIVEN US A VISION HERE

But I Look Around Our Congregation And I Realize That We Are Not A Mega Church.

We Don’t Operate With A Multi-Million Dollar Budget

We Don’t Have Thousands Of Members.

Financially -- We Are Not The Wealthiest Congregation.

And, At Times, It Seems Even To Me That We Do Not Have Enough.

NOT ENOUGH time in the day.

NOT ENOUGH money.

NOT ENOUGH energy.

NOT ENOUGH youthfulness.

Do any of these “NOT ENOUGH” phrases ring true to you?

LIFE WITHOUT A VISION IS BORING. But big VISION and BIG GOALS often require big budgets and lot’s of help. Sometimes it can seem we don’t have enough (especially in a small church.)

What does God have to say about this?

Exodus 36:1-7 (NKJV) “And Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whom the LORD has put wisdom and understanding, to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, shall do according to all that the LORD has commanded.” Then Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, everyone whose heart was stirred, to come and do the work. And they received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of making the sanctuary. So they continued bringing to him freewill offerings every morning. Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work he was doing, and they spoke to Moses, saying, “The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the LORD commanded us to do.” So Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.” And the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done -- indeed too much.

I don’t know about YOU BUT most people value excellence -- We LOVE it when there is attention to details -- BUT there is NO Attention to detail without VOLUNTEERS

VOLUNTEERING – willingness to give myself - is very counter-cultural – but very much the atmosphere of the KINGDOM!

CULTURALLY – we are spectators and consumers

It is SO much more natural to stay a ‘bystander’ than participator

The context here is Moses having just come down off the mountain where he had spent 40 days in the presence of God – Receiving instruction from GOD for how to lead the people

God’s desire was to build a COMMUNITY OF PEOPLE that were distinct from other nations

That Distinction Was Going To Be Demonstrated In Every Area Of Life:

Simple as eating habits

Handle their marriages / relationships

Civil matters – business / neighbors

How they worshipped and responded to the work of God

2 Distinctions for ALL those that SERVE or VOLUNTEER

1. Marked by WILLINGNESS

Ex 35:20-22 (NLT) So the whole community of Israel left Moses and returned to their tents. All whose hearts were stirred and whose spirits were moved came and brought their sacred offerings to the LORD. They brought all the materials needed for the Tabernacle, for the performance of its rituals, and for the sacred garments. Both men and women came, all whose hearts were willing.

EX 35:26 All the women who were willing used their skills to spin …

EX 35:29 So the people of Israel—every man and woman who was eager to help in the work the LORD had given them through Moses — brought their gifts and gave them freely to the LORD.

Their hearts were MOVED by the vision of God’s WORK -- WILLINGLY

In the Kingdom of God – the behavior of those whose lives have been changed by Christ – is marked by their WILLINGNESS to follow Jesus and serve His purposes!

Matthew 16:24 (WEY) Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If any one desires to follow me, let him renounce SELF and take up his cross, and so be my FOLLOWER.

FOLLOWING JESUS, RENOUNCING SELF, GIVING & SERVING is FEW of our core values here at Outreach of Love Church

We didn’t sit around and think ‘what would be a good thing to have as a core value’ – rather it is a part of the DNA of being a follower of Christ!

REAL DISCIPLES BECOME PARTICIPATORS!

Psalm 110:3 (NKJV) Your people shall be VOLUNTEERS In the day of Your power; .....

2 Corinthians 8:5 (GW) They did more than we had expected. First, THEY GAVE THEMSELVES to the Lord and TO US, since this was God’s will.

WHEN We give our life to Jesus – WE become a ‘life poured out’ for His purposes!

2. Mandated to a WORK

Ex 36:1-2 “And Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whom the LORD has put wisdom and understanding, to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, shall do according to all that the LORD has commanded.” Then Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, everyone whose heart was stirred, to come and do the work.

They wanted to be a part of the ‘work’ -- It is just that – WORK

To see a VISION fulfilled requires WORK

TO SEE A Church Unified & Grow Requires WORK

To see a CITY TRANSFORMED requires WORK

What is the work of the Lord?

In most people’s mind – that means those who spend their life in vocational ministry (pulpit)

THAT IS Not accurate …

Exodus 35:30-35 (NKJV) And Moses said to the children of Israel, “See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship. And He has put in his heart the ability to teach, in him and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver -- those who do every work and those who design artistic works.

God anointed (filled them) with the ability to do what they do

In God’s kingdom – what you were designed for is a part of the work of the Lord

Ex 36:1 “… shall do according to all that the Lord has commanded”

The KEY to a fulfilling life is to give yourself to what He has COMMANDED you!

Be the best - I.e – football coach, counselor, teacher, nurse or doctor, tailor, law officer, Sales person, stay at home mom, whatever you may do, etc

Don’t RESERVE your ‘gift’ only for those places that reward you financially!

YOU & YOUR FAMILY First belong to – God’s KINGDOM, HIS house and HIS family

1 Chronicles 9:17 (NKJV) And the gatekeepers were Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their brethren. Shallum was the chief.

There are SOME guys in this chapter known as “GATEKEEPERS” -- listed after The Priests and they are listed BY NAME -- I would read it but it gets “Pretty Boring” for some -- BUT GOD TAKES TIME TO DO IT & GOD GOES THRU SOME THINGS THAT THEY DID ....

They Guarded The Church

They Were On A Rotating Schedule -- Being On A Church Schedule Is Biblical

They Watched Over The Giving And Possessions In The Church -- Ushers & Offering Counters

They Opened The Doors To The Church And Served The Worshippers Every Morning

They Made Sure There Were Proper Supplies In The Church For Service -- Clean Up Team, Communion Preparers, Multimedia Team, Etc...

They Even Made Sure There Was Anointing Oil On Hand For Service

They Made Sure That Everything Was Cleaned And Set Up For Service -- Clean Up Teams, Deacons, Greeters, Ushers

They Baked The Bread For Worship -- Communion, Preparing Meals For The Sick, New Moms, Families During A Time Of Loss, Etc...

People Who Handle All These Things Need To Be People Who Care About The Sacrifices That Were Made To Make Sure We Had Microphones, Music Equipment, Computers And Understand We Gave All This To God -- So When It Is Being Handled And Cared For -- It Is God’s Microphone, God’s Computers, Etc...

When You Volunteer to SERVE IN THE CHURCH -- You Are A Gatekeeper In God’s House Of Gathering!

GOD took the time in Holy Scripture -- GOD took the time in His Word TO LIST THEM BY NAME & JOB -- WHAT YOU DO!

In NEHEMIAH 7:39-42 -- GOD lists the Priests - took only 3 verses

In NEHEMIAH 7:43-45 -- GOD lists the Levites -- takes 3 verses

In NEHEMIAH 7:46-56 -- GOD lists the temple SERVANTS -- TAKES 11 VERSES

TAKES 2-3X as long to count the sons of the temple servants -- GOD places a HUGE EMPHASIS ON --SERVANTHOOD -- AND WE DO TOO AT OLC!!

There is NO menial task in the Kingdom of God OR God’s Church

There are NO small jobs in the Kingdom of God OR God’s Church

We are looking for people WHO are WILLING & READY TO FOLLOW GOD’S MANDATE FOR US today -- iWILL SERVE -- iWILL CARE

I WILL

Nehemiah 10:39 (GW) The Israelites and the Levites should bring into the storerooms their contributions ..... We won’t neglect our God’s temple.

LISTEN ... I am closing now ...

In 1 CHRONICLES 26:4 -- there is a man named Obed Edom who is a gate keeper (servant to the house)

NOW -- 1 CHRONICLES 13:14 -- IS WHERE OBED EDOM IS FIRST INTRODUCED IN THE BIBLE -- the ark of the covenant is coming back home, they have a little hiccup and David is trying to bring the ark (represents God’s presence) back to the House of God & had a little problem -- SOOOO -- for 3 months it stayed at the house of Obed Edom & the Bible has this 1 little phrase about it ....

1 Chronicles 13:14 (GW) .... and the Lord blessed Obed Edom’s family and everything he owned.

SO Obed Edom’s chickens started laying more eggs, his refrigerator never broke down, his camels could go farther and carry more stuff, his children started obeying him, EVERYTHING HE HAS IS BLESSED

AND THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE HIM IN CHAPTER 26 -- Some 13 Chapters Later -- Obed Edom & all of his family are the BIGGEST FAMILY listed as the GATEKEEPERS OF GOD –

WHY???? -- Obed Edom said I am NOT going to just stay here tending to me, myself & what’s mine -- I am going to go & SERVE GOD in His House & the legacy I am going to leave is my family -- IF WE ARE NOTHING ELSE -- WEwill be SERVANTS IN GOD’S HOUSE’

I WANT THAT TO BE THE HEART OF OUR CHURCH FAMILIES -- TO BE EXTREMELY BLESSED -- As For Me & My Sons -- We Will Be Known As Those Who Got Here First & Stayed To The End -- We Will Totally Give Ourselves

PASTOR JOHN ARE YOU TRYING TO PUT A GUILT TRIP ON US -- If That Is What You Hear Then You Have Missed My heart In This!

I Am Calling You To The Most Exciting and Fulfilling Life EVER -- SERVING GOD & HIS PEOPLE!

TAKE TIME TO PRAY ABOUT

WHAT DOES GOD WANT ME TO BE DOING TO SERVE