July 22, 2007- "Being a Church with a Grande Passion"

July22’07
Being a Church with a Grande Passion!
Luke 9:32

TOP TEN RESPONSES IF YOU ARE CAUGHT SLEEPING ON THE JOB

10. "They told me at the blood bank this might happen."
9. "This is just a 15 minute power-nap as described in that time management course you sent me."
8. "Whew! Guess I left the top off the White-Out. You probably got here just in time!"
7. "I wasn't sleeping! I was meditating on the mission statement and envisioning a new paradigm."
6. "I was testing my keyboard for drool resistance."
5. "I was doing Yoga exercises to relieve work-related stress."
4. "Why did you interrupt me? I had almost figured out a solution to our biggest problem."
3. "The coffee machine is broken..."
2. "Someone must've put decaf in the wrong pot..."
1. " ... in Jesus' name. Amen."

If we are going to be a church with a grande passion then we need to be a church that is fully awake and fully engaged with the mission God has called us to.

If we are to be a church with a grande passion then we need Christians who have a grande passion.

What does this mean? There is something that happens when the Church is fully awake. We become a church of passion. We are fervent in our prayers, ardent in our worship and zealous in our outreach. Why? We have passion for God and his ministry.

On the contrary, our enemy works hard to lull us to sleep. Too many Christians and too many churches suffer from a slumbering spirit that keeps them from being all that God wants them to be.

One of the great joys of coffee is that the caffeine generally keeps people awake and makes their thinking sharper. Of course, for a small few coffee has no affect on their sleep habits and causes other issues. But by and large, people have used coffee as a way to stay awake during a sleepy afternoon or a long over-night drive somewhere. Obviously, too much dependence on coffee can create a whole host of other problems.

However, what we as the church need most is not a good dose of caffeine but the filling of the Holy Spirit. We need God the Holy Spirit to wake us up so that we can see the glory of Christ at work in our everyday lives and at work in the ministry of his church. We desperately need to wake up and be the church we are called to be.

What is this supposed to look like?
A Church with a Grande Passion is…

1. A Church that Looks with Eyes Wide Open.

There is an unusual illness that is called narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder caused by the brain's inability to regulate sleep-wake cycles normally. At various times throughout the day, people with narcolepsy, experience fleeting urges to sleep. If the urge becomes overwhelming, individuals will fall asleep for periods lasting from a few seconds to several minutes. In rare cases, some people may remain asleep for an hour or longer. Other symptoms that go with this are hallucinations during sleep, temporary paralysis and loss of voluntary muscle use. (Narcolepsy Information Page) Some contributing factors to narcolepsy would be sleep apnea, shift workers who oftentimes do not have consistent sleeping habits and drugs or excessive caffeine- especially before bedtime.

I had someone recently tell me of a teacher they once had who would literally fall asleep for about 45 seconds during her lectures. And then pick right up where she left off without missing a beat.

To be a church with a grande passion means being a church that is fully awake. In order to truly see the world around us and for us to truly see the needs that our community has means for us to have the eyes of our heart wide open.

In 1 Chronicles 12:32, the sons of Issachar understood the times and knew what the nation of Israel should do. In the same sense, we as a Church need to have a fresh vision of our times so that we can have better understanding of what we should do.

There are three crucial factors that we need to be aware of:

a. We need to be Aware of our Surroundings.

What works in the inner-city of Grand Rapids or Chicago may not be the thing that works for us. And what worked for the cornfield church that I came from may not be the thing that works here. The point is that we need to be aware of the changing culture that is all around us. We need to be aware of the changing needs of the people of our church and neighborhood.

b. We need to be Aware of our Enemy.

Satan does not desire to see this church impact this community or any other part of the world. He goes “to and fro like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” When we face battles and frustrations we have to be aware that our enemy is not people but the devil and his forces of darkness.

c. We must always be Aware of our Power.

The devil cannot touch us as long as we trust in our Lord. He cannot thwart our plans or undermine our efforts so long as we are walking after the Spirit in all we do. Jesus said that “he will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail.” In other words, hell itself cannot hold us back as a Church from achieving what God calls you and I to achieve.

Our worst enemy to evangelism, to outreach, to growing in numbers and seeing people’s lives change is us. We are our worst enemy. But the church with a grande passion for God, for God’s people and for those who need Jesus is going to be a church whose eyes are wide open and sees what needs to be done.

Furthermore, the church with a grande passion is a…

2. A Church that Loves to Love.

How do we keeping on loving even when we don’t feel like it?

Everyone gets sleepy from time to time, but if sleepiness of spirit is keeping you from loving others on a daily basis, you may be suffering from a slumbering spirit. A few years ago I spoke about this issue and challenged us to be awake in the Spirit. To do so means that we eliminate issues in our life that blocks the work of God. It’s like a river where the water is blocked by a dam of some kind. Too often our love for others cannot flow into their lives because we are asleep in spirit.

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What does it mean for us to be awake and fully engaged as a loving Church? Somehow I cannot help but believe that when we are awakened we will see the full glory of Christ at work in our lives and the ministry. Obstacles will not be seen as barriers to what God desires to do.

a. You will Love God with ALL of your Heart.

A fully awake Christian is one whose heart is totally and completely devoted to God. There is no holding back of anything. We have surrendered our hopes and dreams to our heavenly Father who has better hopes and dreams for us.

b. You will Love others as yourself.

Of course, it helps if you have the proper self-esteem that is drawn from Christ in order to truly love others as you should. A person who loves their neighbor as them self is one who is not intimidated by what they have, do or receive. We aren’t jealous of them or covet their things.

A person who loves their neighbor as them self is one who confidently walks by faith in their own salvation. They are not engaging in behaviors that undermines their position in Christ Jesus. They know that they are not their own- they’ve been bought with a price.

Get a church full of Christians like this and you have a “Bath Bomb” waiting to happen. And the result?

 Shelby Wesleyan Church Loves its community more than its status.

 Shelby Wesleyan Church Loves each other more than self.

 Shelby Wesleyan Church Loves anyone even when it hurts to Love them.

Are you a loving Christian? If not, then I challenge you to allow the Holy Spirit to fill your heart with love to over-flowing. Let God strip you down to where all you have is his love in your heart.

Are we a truly loving church? If not, then it’s high time we became one. Not because we are so determined to be a loving church but because we have opened our heart and soul to the revival fires of the Holy Spirit.

Let’s be the church that loves just because it’s the way we are.

The third important aspect of being a church with a grande passion is…

3. Church that Longs to see the glory of Jesus.

Like a lot of Americans, when I wake up in the morning I love a good cup of coffee. Even when its decaf, I still enjoy the warmth of the coffee mug on my cold hands and the taste of fresh brew on my tongue. And on especially cold fall mornings, there is nothing I long for more than to get my deer blind in the dark and pour a hot cup of joe and wait for the big one to show up and join me.

As a church, we should have a longing for something more and something better than what we enjoy here on earth. We should be a church that longs to see the glory of God.

“When they became fully awake they saw the glory his glory.”

Not only do we see with open eyes the needs of the community around us and we respond with a heart of love, but when we are fully awake we will see the glory of our Savior Jesus Christ. What might his glory of look like for us?

a. We will thirst for more of God.

It’s easy enough to sing such songs as we have today: “Lord, lift me up and let stand on heaven’s tableland.” This song relates what it is live a life fully awake. In each verse, the Christian is testifying to new steps of faith, and a thirst for more of what God has for him or her. This Christian longs to catch a glimpse of “glory bright.” We can sing such things but can we truly live such things?

Is there a thirst in your life for more of God? If there is then your life will reflect a desire for what matters to God most. What is it that matters to God more than anything else in all of the world?

People. And so the result is that…

b. We pray to see others come to Jesus.

A longing church is a church that longs to see others come to Jesus Christ. It’s wonderful to talk about missions and missionaries and the need for people’s lives to be changed. But it’s quite another to get on our knees in prayer and fasting to see people experience the transforming power of Jesus Christ in their life. It’s wonderful to hear you sing of when Jesus came into your heart. But it’s quite another to pray that others sing with us of when Jesus came into their heart. How urgent is your prayer for those lost in sin?

Not only do we pray for others to come to Christ but we come alongside of those around us and…

c. We urge others towards heaven.

Within this very congregation there are all sorts of personalities and with that comes personality conflicts. In our community we at least ten different churches- two of them Wesleyan. There are certainly differences between each one.

Even though these things are going to exist, one thing we must do is heed Hebrews 10:24- “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” The writer prods us as Christians to look at ways that we can help each other along life’s journey.

He (or she) goes on to write that famous verse 25- “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another- and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Conclusion:

Somehow in the mix of these things, we will see heaven come down to earth. You see, to believe in Jesus Christ, to follow his ways and to participate in his ministry means that I am going to witness his glory taking place through the ministry of the Church.

Peter, James and John saw the glory of Christ. And when they did, they wanted to build monuments and stay in that place. But what did Jesus do? He urged them to move on; in much the same way that when experience the presence of Christ in ministry we move on to share what we saw.

As we begin to celebrate the Lord’s supper this morning I want to challenge us to be a church that looks at our world with our eyes wide open, to love loving God, one another and others and being a church longs to see the glory of Christ.