FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS.
Notes
Transcript
For such a time as this!
Introduction
I want to welcome you and thank you for inviting us to this great church , with a great Pastor and His amazing wife with amazing children, full of Amazing people with an Amazing vision.
What a great church AMEN
a Little History
Started Nov 2004 - with an outreach
No congregation- Completely stripped - even toilets were off there bases
Sewer System was plugged
Roof leaked
We had green chairs green carpet and a couple of microphones
God provided for everything ( when I say everything I mean it.
Kitchen - tiles - paint- labor all of it
Outreaches every week - Bus Ministry
Weekends in the summer with Inner varsity
Countless trips to the Dream Center in LA -
Veterans/ Teen Challenge projects with Home Depot
But let me say this - all of that was good but today is the day we mobilize again. AMEN
This Sunday is a very important Sunday. Not only for Pastor Alex but for the world. Every time we get together it is a blessed Sunday.AMEN
Every time we preach the Gospel, pray for our brothers and sisters, pray for the church’s , give out food and clothes, etc - it brings hope to a hopeless world
Think about the people in Ukraine, in the matter of one week they are in the midst of fleeing, or finding an underground bunker to worship together today.
Lets pray for them!
I have a scripture when you look at it at face value can make you feel very depressed. But for such a time as this, I think you will be encouraged.
The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war.”
2 Chronicles 16:9 (The Message)
God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him.
The context is found in verses 7-8
7-9 Just after that, Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said, “Because you went for help to the king of Aram and didn’t ask God for help, you’ve lost a victory over the army of the king of Aram. Didn’t the Ethiopians and Libyans come against you with superior forces, completely outclassing you with their chariots and cavalry? But you asked God for help and he gave you the victory. God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him. You were foolish to go for human help when you could have had God’s help. Now you’re in trouble—one round of war after another.” Message
If there was ever a time for the church to step up to the plate it is today
If there is ever a time for you to make a difference it is today.
If there ever was a time for leaders to step out and step up it is today.
When I was in YWAM I had three months of training, then that day came. It was time to get on the bus.
Showing up for the DTS school didn’t change the world much – It is like showing up for church- Its nice – it pays the bills – but doesn’t change the world much.
You change the world by getting in the game or in this case getting on the bus.
Today we have approximately 350,000 churches so there is approximately 350,000 church services happening.
With all of us Christians getting together are we making a difference?
Today God is calling some of you to get on the bus.
A shift is happening in the world , The world system of finance will change forever. The stage is being set for an end time show down. People around us are feeling lost and discouraged. Stress is at an all time high ( as well as gas prices)
My prayer today is some of you will get off your seats and get on the bus.
You we made for such a time as this.
We have some people today getting on the Bus
I want to take a quick look at some of our leaders
Moses - Son of a Hebrew - raised in Pharoahs household
He see’s the plight of His people and in anger kills an Egyptian
He really becomes nothing more than a sheep herder - feeling lost in the desert.
Just when you think this is all I will ever be- God calls you like He did Moses
Says go tell Pharoah to let my people go.
Moses says are you taking to me- I stutter and I am a man of no authority anymore.
God says I will give you Aaron to talk and I will go before you
So Get on the Bus
In the end He is a Hebrew Hall of Famer
Gideon
Hiding in the wine press from the Midianites hammering out a meal. Not knowing what was going to happen to him with these Midianite raids - they ruined all the crops and killed all the livestock
Also a man who says - Im a nobody - What can I do
God says Hey mighty man of God
Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites.
The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!”
“Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”
Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”
“But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”
The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”
Gideon ends up in the Hebrews Hall of fame
How about Jonah, How about David
David the Goliath killer - what a story- and it actually happened.
How about Peter?
I love what the book of Acts says
But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”
But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.
For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.
But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
“ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;
even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
NIV says - Peter Stood up.
God moves man from insignificance to significance
He qualifies the chosen
God is the God who restores Dreams and Renews Hope and Rebuilds Lives AMEN
Get on the Bus - and if you don;t have a bus buy one.
We made 24 trips to Mexico - to help a Pastor get a church started and also an orphanage so they could get Christmas gifts, and food and supplies
We had the favor of God to feed thousands of people
When we started the Dream Center we had no people, a beat up building and we were given 90 days before we had to start making the mortgage payments
We had 200 people give there lives to Jesus the first Sunday Outreach. The churh has been open every since.
My wife and I didn’t start this ministry God did.
You are in the perfect church for you, in the perfect place and the perfect time.
All God wants from you is to get on the bus.
Why - Because for such a time as this.
Matt 28:16
Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. NKJV
Point – Getting on the bus- says Lord you had better be with me in this. If your not I am in deep (blank)
Point - Getting on the Bus - requires that you understand authority
o We forget even in the church there is a structure of authority
o Sometimes I wonder about counseling – It seems as a Pastor you pour into people during a session and they look at you like you have got to be kidding me ( you want me to do what) Pastor I don’t want you to tell me what to do just listen and agree with me.
Getting on the Bus requires – a change of heart – A heart change comes with going- have you ever thought of that. It was not until I steeped onto the bus did my heart really change.
It wasn’t until Peter got out of the boat that he was able to walk on water
Getting on the Bus requires - getting out of your comfort zone- you will do things you do not normally do and you will have results
Getting on the Bus brings peace– Peace will be with you- This peace comes via the Holy Spirt
It is the kind of peace that is bigger than your understanding
It is peace that allows you to function when you are a dollar short and a day late
Getting on the Bus requires us to say the hard things – Repentance and remission of sins
This church has a heritage of Blessing. It is to be passed down generation to generation. Also Leader to leader. Lets pass it on.
If we are going to change we need to get on the bus, if we are going to change this nation we are going to have to get on the bus.
Let the blessing s of God take you some where!!!