The Church’s Journey to New Heights

Our eighth anniversary celebration emphasizes the importance of community in our faith journey and the necessity of local church membership. We draw parallels between Noah's Ark and the church, reminding listeners that true safety and salvation are found within the community of believers. 

• Reflecting on the church as God's divine idea 
• Lessons from Noah's Ark about community and salvation 
• The urgency of being ready for Jesus’ return 
• The need for unity amidst imperfections in church life 
• The significance of commitment as we transition to the ninth year 
• Invitation to connect deeply with the local church

PRAYER
We are here to pray for you - with you. Please share your prayer request or praise report here - https://hopeucindia.churchcenter.com/people/forms/3009, and someone from our team will pray for your need through the week.

NEXT STEPS
If you would like to give your heart to Jesus, it's the best decision you could ever make. We want to celebrate with you, provide you with resources and get you the support you need on this journey. Please fill the form - https://hopeucindia.churchcenter.com/people/forms/297739, and someone from our team will contact you soon.

ABOUT HOPEUC INDIA
Hope Unlimited Church is an independent, Spirit-filled church with multiple campuses in India, serving young professionals and families from all parts of India in a modern, dynamic metropolitan church setting.
More about us - https://hopeuc.in/

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Transcript

Speaker 1 0:12

so I've titled my message is the church's journey to new heights. Today is a very special day, as we gather to celebrate our church eighth anniversary. As we reflect on the years past, we also look forward to what God has in store for us in the future. This is a time to give thanks to God for all that he's doing for his love and faithfulness. Our part is renewing our commitment. Renewing our passions, renewing our vision should be our commitment. Let's open our hearts to hear God's word. What is God's plan? To establish the church, everybody. Please pay attention to what God has for us. The church is God's idea right. The sermon notes are available on the YouVersion app. You are welcome to download, save and follow right. And the church is God's idea. Right From the very beginning, god envisioned a community of believers who would come together and worship. Right from the first story to the last story, church is a central focus of the word of God. Amen. Matthew, chapter 16, verse 18. These are the words of Jesus, right. And he's telling Peter Peter, you are the rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overpower it. Right from the day one when God created, he's establishing the church, and when Peter came into the scene and he had the revelation. It's not something he was about to start. That day, peter had the revelation and then Peter declares it and Jesus tells him today, right, you have this revelation. What is it? I, jesus says I will build my church. The verse is very clear I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. My friend, I want you to know, god is very keen on building his church and that's the reason why we are all gathering together, and I'm talking about the body of Christ. We at Hope Unlimited Church in Secunderabad, we gather here, but the body of Christ gathers at various locations and that's what Jesus is building. Amen. And he's not talking about a physical building, and you have heard right here from the stage throughout this service that we are not talking about a building, but it's talking about people coming together worshipping the Lord. The question you need to answer is why you need to be a part of local church, why Today, I'm sure you will get some keys to unlock something very interesting, and it's like God will open a door for you if you have ears to hear why you need to be a part of a local church. Being part of a local church allows you to experience true Christian fellowship, where you can encourage and be encouraged, share your joys, your struggles and you grow in faith together. Amen. What is the significance of being part of a local church? Being part of a local church? Why does being part of a local church matters?

Speaker 1 3:51

I want you to picturize this and I want to go to the Old Testament. All right, there's a man called Noah. Noah was preaching for 100 years. That's what the Bible says. What was he preaching? What was the message Right? He was just saying rain is coming. Everybody say rain is coming Next day. What was he preaching? Rain is coming the third day. What was he preaching? Rain is coming. Everybody thought what a fool are you, man? There's nothing called rain. Nobody has ever seen what you're declaring as rain. We haven't seen it, we haven't heard it, we don't know about it, but you're talking about it.

Speaker 1 4:40

It's exactly the same what churches are doing today, what the preachers are doing today, what the ministers of God are doing today. They stand up and declare the word of God, and some of the things they challenge you, some of the things they question you, some of the things they make you very uncomfortable. We want to be inclusive of everything the Bible doesn't talk about. Some of the things has to be inclusive and then, when it comes to you, you are troubled. I don't believe this. Come on, be realistic. We are in the 21st century, we are going to the 22nd century. You don't know how to be inclusive. The Bible doesn't talk. So the Bible has a different kind of understanding why you need to be a part of a local church. My friend, I want you to question yourself and understand the reason why Jesus is building the church, and I want you to know that you need to be a part of a local church and the type, the church that we are talking about in the Old Testament, that Noah was preaching for 100 years and as he was preaching, he was building an ark.

Speaker 1 5:50

That's called the Noah's Ark. Right, he was preaching and the message was just rain is coming, rain is coming. It didn't make sense to anybody, but yet he kept on preaching. He kept on preaching, he never got discouraged. And then Noah's Ark is a type of church. He kept on preaching, he kept on preaching, he never got discouraged, and then it's a. Noah's Ark is a type of church. So the message is people who were in the ark. They were saved. Who always saved? Come on church. Who always saved? Huh, including animals. Hello, there were seven people in the ark, right, but there were many animals. They always saved.

Speaker 1 6:40

I want you to know something, my friend If you're not in church, you may not be saved. If you have a problem with church, you may not be saved. You can be the top of this world, you can be excellent in whatever you do, but if you don't belong to a church, if you're not in a church, I'm telling you, my friend, the people who were in the ark, they were the only ones who were saved. They were intellectuals when Noah was around, but yet they could not understand, perceive the purpose of Noah's ark. And when the rain came right, destruction came on. Everybody who were saved? People in the church, right, only people in the church. It's very important for you and I to be and belong to a church. Hallelujah, we all know the very first verse in the Bible. But before I say that, right, noah's Ark is a type of church.

Speaker 1 7:50

At that time, so God was revealing that I'm going to build my church, and he did it through Noah at that time. He's not talking about a physical building. He's talking about people. You have to be saved, my friend. You have to. You have a purpose from God. I have a plan for you, god says.

Speaker 1 8:08

But how is going to be established? It's going to be established through a church. You got to be in Noah's ark. If you have to feed the next generation, you better be in Noah's ark. If you want to influence the next generation, better find yourself in Noah's ark. If you're outside Noah's Ark, my friend, you may be a millionaire, you may be a whatever air, I'm telling you, maybe the top on the social media. You are of no influence in the kingdom of God, because one day the wind will come, one day the rains will come, one day the storm will come and you're liable to fall. My friend, the story, what God is talking about, the type of Noah, is that you please be in the church in the Noah's Ark if you want to be saved.

Speaker 1 8:52

It's a type of church and everybody knows Genesis, chapter 1, verse 1. How many of you know? Everybody knows Genesis, chapter 1, verse 1. In the ending, in the ending, oh, you all know. In the beginning, Genesis 1.1. So what about the ending?

Speaker 1 9:18

What does the last verse in the Bible tell. Nobody has a clue. Nobody has a clue. What is?

Speaker 1 9:28

There is a last verse in the Bible, that is a New Testament, revelations, chapter 22, I think 21. What does it say? Huh, revelations, chapter 22, verse 20. This is the verse before the last verse. It's a declaration. He who testifies to these things, saying yes, I am coming, amen, come Lord Jesus.

Speaker 1 9:57

Church, I'm telling you, jesus is coming back. He came and he will come back, just like Noah was doing the same thing. Destruction is coming. Better find yourself in the Noah's Ark. Jesus is coming. What does it mean to you? What it should mean to the world? My friend, if you're not in Jesus, then you are liable for destruction. You are liable to fall one day and be away from the Lord Jesus. Amen, jesus is coming back. For whom? Ask your neighbor. For whom? Ask your neighbor for whom You're all very serious. Ask your neighbor, for whom is he coming? Everybody say for me. No, he's not coming for you, he's coming for a bride. He's coming for a bride. Okay, very good, church.

Speaker 1 10:55

What does the scripture say? Revelation, chapter, verse 7. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory, for the wedding of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready. So the time that you have on this earth is a time to prepare yourself. Where will you prepare yourself? You go to the best makeup studio to make yourself. Where will you prepare yourself? You go to the best makeup studio to make yourself up. Hello, to go to where the Lord wants you to be. You go to church to make yourself up. If you don't find your place in your church. Some of you belong to Hope. You See, praise God. I'm addressing you, but some of you belong to hope. You see, praise god. I'm addressing you, but some of you may not belong to hope. You see, I'm even addressing you, whichever church you belong to or you don't belong to a church.

Speaker 1 11:49

This message is all of us, for all of us, my friend, on the eighth anniversary, as we move into the ninth year, my friend, the bible is saying one day, jesus will come back. When Jesus comes back, will he find you in the church? Will he find you in the church? Huh? Will he find you praying? Will he find you worshipping, or will he find you in some other place? You got to answer that question, my friend. Amen.

Speaker 1 12:29

Hebrews, chapter 10, verse 24 and 25. This is for people who have different kind of ideologies about church and gathering, you know, coming together, together, maybe live group, small group, big group, church setting. What does the scripture say? I want everybody to please read one, two, three. Let's read what does it say? Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds.

Speaker 1 12:58

Encourage. The bible say encourage one another for love. You know, towards love and good deeds. Encourage. The Bible says encourage one another for love, you know, towards love and good deeds. Verse 25, not giving up, some are in habit of doing, but encouraging one another, and all the more. You see, the day is approaching.

Speaker 1 13:20

So what does the scripture say? Don't miss the fellowship. Church is not an option. That's what the Bible is saying. Church is not a man's idea. Church is God's idea and he is preparing you so that you become a bride one day. That when he comes, you are prepared and ready so that he will take you to be with him.

Unity and Support in the Church

Speaker 1 13:46

Amen, as we journey from the eighth year to the ninth year.

Speaker 1 13:50

It's my encouragement for all of us. Are you in the church? I'm going to come to some critical thing right now. Are you in the church or are you outside the church. You answer that to yourself Amen. The thing is flaws. Everybody say flaws. The flaws are present in every aspect of life. Systems are unjust, relationships that are strained, institutions that can be corrupt or inefficient, and even imperfection. Within people, we face division, disappointment, dissatisfaction, but that does not mean we are called to stay back. We are called to fly together even when things are hard, even when there are imperfections in the systems and people around us.

Speaker 1 14:45

I want you to watch this video. The reason why people in church suffer, struggle right, and sometimes people are outside church and they struggle. Do you really want to win in life? Do you really want to prosper in life? Do you really want to be in the purposes of God? This is the key for you, this is the key for me. Every word, I want you to read what's going to come up in this video. Let's watch this video. Thank you, so, so, so, thank you. The End, thank you.

Speaker 1 18:07

We often dream of soaring high, achieving greater things and reaching new heights. However, it's easy to forget that we were never meant to race ahead on our own. The journey is not about leaving others behind, but moving forward together, while we may feel the urge to leave those who are weak or struggling behind. We must remember that we need one another to truly reach our destiny. Church do you want to reach your destiny? Do you want to reach and see the plan of God? It is linked to somebody else. In the church, it is linked to somebody else. You can't do it by yourself. When God saw man was alone, he knew he will suffer. He cannot do it by himself. He needed a partner, and you. For you, as an individual, to reach your destiny, you need somebody else, and that's why the church exists. To reach your destiny, be in the church. Amen. When we support each other, we rise together. Hallelujah. Every person has unique strengths. By working as one, we can overcome challenges, reach our destination more effectively. The power of unity allows us to lift one another up, helping each other grow stronger and achieve more than what we alone can do.

Speaker 1 19:53

Church somebody say the ninth year, somebody say the ninth year. The church's journey to new height is you have to be in your church. If you're a butterfly Christian, then don't be. Go and belong to a church. If you are not churched anywhere, please come to hope. You see there is a place for you. But if you already belong to a church. Go and be in your church, but every time you are finding a flaw, you will find flaws, because nobody is perfect in this world. You will find situations and many times this is not there, that is not there. This person, that, oh my, this person is coming. I am not going to church today. Baba, jesus is coming. Please go to church. Jesus is the one. Jesus is the head. Jesus is the head. Stop looking at the flaws, start looking at the face of Jesus and go belong to a church, because your destiny is linked to your church.

Speaker 1 21:08

As we journey from the 8th year to the ninth year, I challenge you if you belong to hope, you see, get connected, get plugged in, because somebody's miracle is lying in your hand. My friend, somebody's miracle is lying in your hand and you choose not to come to church. That person will suffer, that person will struggle. Because we are so self-dominated society, so selfish in our ideologies. Why do I care for others, my friend, you have to care for? Do you know in the New Testament, how many scriptures are there talks about one another, one another, one another, one another? Why? Because it's linked to you and to me. One another, one another, one another, one another. Why? Because it's linked to you and to me.