Make Room For More 5/17

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

And so if you're thinking, well, I I would like to hear a few more, we're gonna bring you a few more. So um, but we sure do appreciate them and we appreciate all of you joining us today here at Family Worship Center. And uh we have been blessed this morning just to be able to not only worship together, but be in God's house together, and I hope that you feel that way as well. I want to open up in prayer before we get into uh the word of God today, and um I want us to just remember the different needs we have in our church. We have a lot of people who are sick or fighting illness or disease and so on. And so if we could, real quick, could you mind standing to your feet? And if there's someone next to you that you know you're comfortable with, maybe grab them by the hand or put your arm around them. And I want us to just, as the body of Christ, if we could just agree together, you know, the the word of God says there's a lot of great things to happen when believers are in unity. Amen. Unity. And so um I want us to remember the different needs, okay? I want us to remember um the Dinwiddie family, and I want us to remember uh brother Donnie Hibden. I want us to remember Hazel and her family. I want us to pray for uh the Comstocks, okay, and and and and they're uh back here, but they um are mourning the loss of their daughter, and um pray for Donna Gaines, pray for Larry Riggs, pray for Brian and Laura, and and pray for Bud and Janice, and there's just so many people. If I were to name them all off, uh I would probably forget somebody, but we want to remember the Bradleys, and we want to remember Tara and Lonnie and Ray and Kay and the Hilgers. So there's just a lot of different things going on. We want to remember our military, men and women, amen. Um, we also want to pray for our country today. Um you may not even know this, but coming up on the 250th anniversary of our beautiful country, today was a day they set aside, they're calling it, we're rededicating the United States of America to God. And so um there in Washington, D.C. There and they have a whole thing set up. I was looking at uh a live stream of it this morning. There's worship going on, there's preaching going on, and so um we want to pray for our country. And so uh grab the hand of the person next to you or put your put your arm around them or whatever uh you're comfortable doing, and let's just let's lift our voices together because the Lord wants unity, and as we come together and we lift our voices together, we glorify him. So let's just lift up all these needs, Father. I thank you right now for your presence and I thank you for your goodness, Father. And we just lift up all of these needs, the ones we have spoken, the ones that we maybe haven't spoken, God, and we know, God, you love us for God so loved the world that he gave his only son. God, we know because of your scripture and because of your word that you love us, and your word says, cast our cares upon you because you care for us. And so we lift these things up to you, each and every person and situation and family that is represented here today, God. We ask that your Holy Spirit would go with them and be with them and touch and heal, God, and comfort and give peace, Father. We pray for our military men and women, God. We pray for our country, we pray for our leadership, we pray for our president, God. We pray, God, that we would truly turn back to you and repent, Father God, of the sins that we have committed in our country and in this world, Father God. And we pray that you would truly be the Lord and Savior and God of our country today, Father God. We give it all to you. We trust you because you are a good, good Father. And we thank you today. In Jesus' name we pray. And the church said, the church said, Amen. You may be seated. Now, I'm not gonna preach to you for a long time, but I do have a word that God has put on my heart that I want to encourage some of you with today. And so um, we're going to try to get through this as quick as we can and get back to singing. Um, and so today's sermon is titled, Make Room for More. Make Room for More. And uh, if you need uh the sermon notes, you can find that on the Bible app. You can find printouts out there at the information booth. And uh normally I don't really do subtitles for a sermon, but today's subtitle is God is increasing your capacity. Okay, and so we're going to go to scripture in Isaiah chapter 54, and we're gonna read verses two and three, and this is what it says in Isaiah 54, verses two and three. It says, Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out. Do not hold back, lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes, for you will spread abroad to the right and to the left. Now there's a new thing in Christianity, and and for the most part I agree with it, but um people like to try to call out pastors or call out churches and claim hey, they're not using that scripture in context. I want to know what is actually going on. And so I try to think about those things that I've heard, things that I hear people say, and I want to answer those things as best as I can in a sermon. So let me give you a little context with this scripture as we get into this word today. And I want you to understand what is going on. So Isaiah chapter 54 comes right after one of the most powerful and prophetic chapters in Scripture. It give that gives us the picture and the prophecy of Jesus and Jesus' suffering, his rejection, his crucifixion and sacrifice. Isaiah 53 talks about the servant who suffers and is persecuted, and by his stripes we are healed. A lot of us recognize that scripture when we say that right there. And so Isaiah 54 is essentially a chapter that's following right up after this, and it's talking about restoration. It's talking about enlargement, it's talking about covenant love, future hope, rebuilding after devastation. And as this happens during a season where Israel, God's people, doesn't have it together. It's actually kind of a shameful season for God's people in exile and loss and brokenness. God's people have rebelled and broken covenant with God, and Jerusalem would soon be devastated by Babylon, the temple would be destroyed, families would be separated, and once again God's people, the Jewish people, the Israelites, were about to find themselves in captivity and as slaves again. Okay, so in context, this chapter is for God's people who are feeling abandoned and barren and ashamed and small and little and defeated and forgotten. Yet in the middle of all of this, God speaks in Isaiah 54 a chapter, the complete opposite future of what they're about to experience. And the same is for someone listening today. God is saying, your current condition is not your final condition. The current situation you find yourself in is not your final situation. That's for somebody today. You see, this chapter is about making room for what God is going to do expansion, restoration, renewed covenant, future fruitfulness. And so God tells them to prepare for growth before they experience growth. And what this usually meant, especially during that time, you need to understand in Israel, their houses were actually tents. And so as their families grew and they needed more room for people, the process was to get out and begin to stretch their tents. Take those stakes and broaden them to be stretched and to be lengthened so the capacity could increase. You see, God is not just trying to give you more or give us more. It's already been promised. But first, He has to prepare us for more. Sometimes the stretching, the discomfort, you can maybe even say the pruning, the transition you feel is not punishment, it's preparation for what God is going to do. Sometimes, in order to prepare for what's next, we have to get a little uncomfortable. How many of you are like me, and you can raise your hand to this? How many of you don't necessarily love change? Anybody? Amen. We don't love change as people. And I didn't say that I didn't love it because I know sometimes change is from God, but I said I don't like it. Okay? But how many of you know sometimes you gotta love before you like something? Eventually you'll like it too. I think about cats. I don't know if you're a cat person. We have any cat people in here this morning. Oh man. See, I'm a dog person, and so when I started dating my wife and she had a cat, it was something that had to be stretched in my mind and in my heart. Because I don't like cats, and I didn't like this particular cat that she had. But because I loved her, I learned to like the cat. Amen. And to tolerate it. What's the point? We don't like change. We like to know what we can count on, we like to know what we can expect, what we can rely on. But listen to this, because for some of you, God is trying to prepare you for where he's taking you, for what's next. Maybe you're not quite sure what he is doing. I want you to listen to this. The old version of you cannot sustain where God is taking you. And the same is true even for our church. If God keeps bringing more and more people and more salvations and more families and more growth, then we must make room spiritually, emotionally, physically, and even practically. Here's a question for you today. Have you ever tried to pour something from a larger container into a smaller container? I immediately think about from pouring a gallon of milk into a cup for cereal or a bowl for cereal, a vacation worth of clothes into a suitcase. Okay, a birthday party full of people trying to get into a small kitchen to sing happy birthday and cut the cake. You see, the issue isn't the supply, the issue is the capacity. And sometimes we pray as Christians, and I'm guilty of this too. God bless me. And God says, I'm trying to prepare you first. And so that leads us into the first point with this message God stretches what he intends to fill. Maybe you've been feeling like you've been stretched. Maybe you've been feeling like God is doing something in your life and you're just not exactly sure what it is. You can't put your thumb on it. In Isaiah 54, 2 through 3, we just read it, but it said, Enlarge the place of your tent. Let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out. God told them to make room before the increase arrived. Faith prepares us before it sees results. Stretching is uncomfortable because growth is always uncomfortable. It makes me think about being a kid growing up, and even my daughter sometimes I think has this going on. But anybody ever have growing pains before? It's a scientifically doctor-proven thing that as your body begins to grow and begin to stretch and your bones begin to fully develop. There's something uncomfortable about it. It can even bring pain, it can even hurt. See, sometimes God stretches us and he's stretching our patience, he's stretching our faith, he's stretching our leadership, he's stretching our generosity, he's stretching maybe your schedule, he's stretching your comfort zone. Not to destroy you or to discourage you, which unfortunately a lot of us sometimes take it that way, but to enlarge your capacity. If you'll think about pouring water from a big pitcher into a tiny cup, you have to pour it slowly. If you don't, not only are you going to make a mess, but it will overflow. See, the problem isn't what God wants to pour out, the problem is whether we've made room to hold it. Sometimes that means taking things out of our life so there's more room for Him. Maybe personal things, maybe preferences, maybe sin, maybe personal sin or secret sin that no one else even sees or knows about. So point two is this God removes what no longer fits in your future. John 15, 2 says this. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. If you've ever pruned a garden or a plant before, pruning is painful. And and if you're looking at someone's life, if you're looking at your life, and maybe there's been some pruning going on, sometimes it's painful because it feels like you're losing something. But pruning is needed for growth and for life. Some things fit who you were, but not who you are becoming. That's why old habits sometimes feel empty, or certain environments feel dead, or old mindsets feel heavy, and compromise feels uncomfortable, and and all of these things, distractions feeling exhausting, because God is making room by removing excuses and removing excess. You don't need more of what drains you, you need less of what no longer gives life. As people grow spiritually, they outgrow complacency, they outgrow shallow Christianity, they outgrow consumer Christianity. See, God begins shifting us from this mentality as a Christian to, well, I go to church to be fed the word of God, and that's good. Amen. I I hear you. But He wants to shift us to how can I be used by God? Point three is this new wine requires new wineskins. Matthew chapter 9, 17 says, No one puts new wine into old wineskins, for the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved. You see, new wine expands as it ferments. If the wineskin is old, dry and rigid, it can't stretch anymore. And so when the new wine expands, it causes the old wine wineskin to burst. Jesus was teaching that when God does something new on the inside of us, when he's wanting to make us a new creation, we can't always contain uh what he's doing with old mindsets or old habits or old systems or old levels of faith. Jesus is the perfect example. The religious leaders followed the old laws and the old teachings, and they thought they were doing what was right. They thought they knew what the Messiah was gonna look like, what he was going to do, how he was going to act. But when Jesus showed up and showed a different side of God, they resisted it. The problem is not the new wine, the problem is the container. So when God begins increasing our capacity in our life and our family and our personal walk with him or even with our church, he also begins stretching and changing us and preparing us to carry what he wants to pour out. For as a church, if if God is bringing new people and new families and new salvations and new opportunities, then we have to ask questions like this are we willing to become more flexible enough to make room for what God is doing? That may mean different styles and more leadership and different systems and new sacrifices and even new ways of thinking in our hearts and in our minds. Not because there was anything wrong with what we were doing, but in order to have new wine, it requires new wine skin. So I want you to listen to this. The methods may change, but the message never changes. Can I get a good amen right there? I want you to receive this. I want you to listen to this. I want you to think about this. When I was a little boy, we had a family car, and we thought it was perfect. My mom drove it while my dad was at work, while my brother was at work, my older sister sat in the front, my sister who's just a couple years older than me, sat next to me in the back seat, and I sat in the back seat. But then my mom got pregnant with my younger sister, and no longer that car could meet the needs of our family. So, you know what we had to do? We bought a minivan. Any minivan owners out there, all right? You know what I'm talking about. We've got lots of room. Not because the old car was breaking down or not working, but because we required more room. We don't and we won't change the gospel, but sometimes you have to change structure and style or even how things look. God is not asking us to abandon who we are, he's not asking us to stop being family worship center. He's asking us to stretch our tents so our family, his family, can get bigger. Can I get an amen right there? And so that's what we mean when you hear us say something about we're just trying to make heaven more crowded. Man, my heart is to reach as many for Christ as possible. I don't want anyone to die and go to hell. I want to talk honestly and gratefully about what God is doing at Family Worship Center. And even the last seven or eight weeks here, we've seen salvations and baptisms and growth and services that have been full, and kids and youth ministry that's growing, and all this great momentum and excitement and energy, and we're so excited about that. We prayed for growth in this church a year ago. And can I tell you God has answered those prayers? But now the question becomes will we continue to make room for what we prayed for? Or are we content? See, on a personal level, when God is stretching us and he isn't asking us to just volunteer. You see, a volunteer, anyone can do that. It fills a gap, it fills a need. But God is asking us to serve, which means using our calling. See, we aren't looking for people to use them as tools and to fill a gap to accomplish the mission. People are the mission. Serving isn't just working in ministry in the church, it's serving outside the church, within your home, at your job, helping your friends and neighbors. God isn't looking for volunteers, he's looking for servants. So that was on a personal level, and the next is on the church level. Point four is this enlarge your territory. I don't know if you've ever read or heard the prayer of Jabez. Anybody remember the book of Jabez that came out probably 20 years ago and is very popular in Christian culture? I want to read this to you. First Chronicles chapter 4, verse 9 and 10. There was a man named Jabez who was more honorable than any of his brothers. His mother named him Jabez because his birth had been so painful. And he was the one who prayed to God of Israel, Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory. Please be with me in all that I do and keep me from all trouble and pain. And God granted him his request. How many of you know, how many of you can just step out on a limb in faith this morning and say, God, I need that for myself? How many of you can step out on a limb this morning and say, God, that's my prayer? Not only would you expand my territory, but be with me and all that I do, keep me from all my all the trouble and pain. See, Jabez wasn't praying for comfort. He wasn't praying for influence. Territory is not just bigger buildings or bigger crowds or bigger budgets or bigger parking lots. It's bigger impact. Let me just go a step further than that. It's a bigger impact on eternity. My heart is not to just entertain people, my heart is to connect people to Jesus so that they have eternal hope. And I need you to hear my heart. The goal is not to build a bigger church, the goal is to see Jesus save more people. If heaven is growing, the church will be growing. So how do we enlarge our territory? How do we stretch out our tents? How do we make room for more? How do we increase our capacity? This is point five today. Where God is taking us is bigger than where we've ever been before. Ephesians 3.20, it's our theme verse for the year. Now all glory to God who is able, come on, church, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. See, the future God has planned requires more. God is not trying return us to what was where we were prepared, where He where we were prepared. Where we were, prepared us for where we are going. Ecclesiastes says it's not wise to long for the good old days, because God wants us to be healthy, which means we are continually growing. I don't know about you, but if you're continually growing, that means you're continually transforming and changing, not staying in the same one place. So growth requires transformation. If you know me, you know that you know I try to be a pretty realistic person and pretty down-to-earth person. I don't usually do a lot of things like this, but God told me one of the reasons I wanted to speak this message today while we have the singing and the different things going on, is because God said there's something prophetic that I want you to release. There's something prophetic that I want you to speak over the church, over individuals, over families. And so I believe that this is from God this morning. And I've been praying about it. And I can tell you, even this morning, I was asking God, God, are you sure this is what we're supposed to do today? But I believe that God is preparing individuals to take the next step in their journey and their faith. If that's by serving, if that's by witnessing, if that's by sharing the love of Christ with strangers. I believe God is calling you out of your comfort zone. That he is ready to expand your territory, to prepare you for what's next, to prepare you for blessings, to prepare you for what he's gonna do in your family, to prepare you for what he's gonna do with your finances, your impact on this world, your favor. He's ready to bless you. He's ready for you to get out of debt, he's ready to heal your sickness, he's ready to restore that relationship, he's ready for that prodigal to come home. If you want to believe that and accept that, can we give the Lord a good hand clap of praise right there? Amen. But it doesn't just stop with us on an individual level, it also continues with us as we're preparing family worship center for more of what God wants to do, for more souls and more baptisms and more impact, more leadership, more outreach. I believe he's gonna bless us financially. I believe he's gonna bless us with wisdom. I believe that we're going to make a dent on this side of eternity for God. So we're gonna mention some things of what that might look like in the future. More people means more parking spaces. How many of you know that we're pretty out of parking spaces out there on a normal Sunday? Amen. And more families mean we need more helpers with kids' ministry and nursery and different areas. More people means we need more discipleship, more teachers, more different groups going on and classes. See, growth is exciting, but growth also requires maturity. In the last seven weeks, our church has been more than 80% full. I've been a pastor now for youth pastor and a pastor over 16 years, and when you get into people what they call professionals, people who study churches and trends and attendance and how to do things the most comfortable ways. They say when the church gets 75% full, people get uncomfortable because there's not enough space, there's not enough parking, there's not enough room around them and their families, and they get uncomfortable. And and I've been watching it week to week as different families have to sit in different areas of the congregation because they can't sit together. And uh something that broke our hearts, but also showed us where the church was three times since Easter. We've had people who have tried to come to our church and there was nowhere for them to park, and the line was so big for them coming into the door, they decided they're not even going to attend church. And they went home. Even one of our church board members, some of their family, tried to come on Easter, and there was nowhere to park, nowhere to get into the building, and so they turned around and went home. And so we're seeing that God is stretching us, and we're seeing that God needs us to do more and figure out how to reach more people and how to do that. My own family was here for Easter from Springfield, and they don't have necessarily a home church. They visit different places, and and they told us we've gone to churches before that when there was nowhere to park, we just went home. And so I know several individuals who have been parking at Pizza Hut and walking over to church. See, when there's a move of God and and people want to see what's going on, it causes stretching to happen. It causes growth, but sometimes growth isn't comfortable. And so when there's a move of God, people want to see what's going on. And and can I just tell you that in the last year our church has been in revival? Maybe it's not the revival that you traditionally think of, with an evangelist preaching, with people um showing emotion and hype. But can I tell you, rest assured, that there's been revival going on in our church with salvation, with baptisms, with families being restored, families that were broken apart, God bringing back together. Maybe we haven't seen it in a traditional way, but God is bringing revival to family worship centers. So make no mistake, don't miss out on what God is doing here. Acts 2 47 says, And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. God brings brings the increase, but the church must do their part and make room. And so something I want to talk to you about today, and something we want to ask you to pray with us about. When we had a church board meeting here a few weeks ago, we talked about these same different things, how God is stretching us and doing more, and we talked about some different options we have, and one of them was maybe we need to raise another $50,000 and create a new parking lot. And the other option was maybe we need to start praying about and considering having two Sunday morning services. And of course, we kind of like the two Sunday services because it's free. And so listen, I don't want you to leave the day building and being like, oh, we're starting two services. We're not we're not doing that just yet. Okay, it's not official, but we want you to pray with us. Would you raise your hand if you agree to pray with us about that? And here's why, because we have to make more room to reach more people. And so when we when we do something like that, you know, there'd be two services. We wouldn't expect you to show up to both of them, pick one and be faithful to it. But it creates more space if you need bubble around you, you know, they call it your privacy, your bubble, you know, you don't want people in your bubble. If you and your family need a little more space, and and and maybe you've been reluctant because the crowds have been bigger and things like that. This would create space for everybody. And so we're asking you to pray about this. We don't want, we don't want to do something like this unless it's God, amen. And if God is in it, then He's gonna provide the way to do it. But we need your thoughts, we need your opinions, not right now, but after church, this week, you know, call us, text us, email us, come by and talk to us. But we want we want to know your opinion on that because not only is it personal, but it's for the church too. God is asking us to do more. He's wanting us to reach even more people. And here's my heart. And and our youth pastor, Matt, who shared this with me last week, he he sent this to me, and when I heard this, it really captured my heart. And I appreciate him sending this to me. I want you to listen to this, and then we're gonna we're gonna close this part of the service, and we're gonna ask anointed desire to come back and minister to us, and we'll receive our offering and do all of that. Um, but this is one of the most important parts of the whole sermon. So if you can listen in, tune in on this. Um and this was a video, I'm not gonna play the video, I'm just gonna read it to you. But I want you to listen in on this. There was the situation, one of the most significant people in our time. And his name was Mordecai Ham. Okay, how many of y'all would like your mom to name you that? Mordecai, okay? Nothing against it, just different. Mordecai Ham. And so he was a tent revivalist in 1934. And he would go around, if you don't know what that is, throwing up big tents, inviting the whole community, and they would have church in these tents, they'd have revival, they'd go around, they'd preach everywhere, all over the country. In 1934, they were doing this in North Carolina while this tent revival was going on. These two 14-year-old boys walked by the tent and they heard this loud, exciting preaching, talking about the love of God. And these two 14-year-old boys, they came close and they wanted to attend, but they looked around and the tent was so full there was nowhere to sit. And so there was nowhere to sit, nowhere to go. And so they started to leave. And meanwhile, an usher who was serving at this tent revival saw these two boys and stopped them and asked them, Are you wanting to attend the service? And they said, Yes, we were, but there's nowhere to sit. And so the usher grabbed them and brought them into the tent, and he asked people to move over to make more room. And he was able to find them a place to sit. And those two 14-year-old boys attended that service and they gave their heart to Christ, and they felt the calling of God on their life. Those two 14-year-old boys, their names were Grady Wilson and Billy Graham. And Billy Graham. Grady Wilson, his friend, helped him organize and put on all these events. And it's estimated tens of millions of people have received Christ over the last 60 years, 70 years because of the Billy Graham ministry. But listen, he changed the world. Not Billy Graham, not Grady Wilson, not Mordecai Ham, the Usher. The one who saw those two 14-year-old boys who couldn't find a place to sit, and he asked someone to move over and to make room for them. He said, Not on my watch. Our job is to change somebody's world. So our job is to do whatever we can do to make room to reach more. So here's the thing. Here's what God said to me. What if someone as impactful as Billy Graham wants to come to your church and there's nowhere to park and there's nowhere to sit and they're turned away. There's no room in the parking lot, there's no room to sit in the sanctuary. So, church, we've already had people who have turned away and done that. We have to make room. We don't want to miss anybody. We don't want to turn people away. We want to make room. And so pray with us as God is expanding our tent, as God is making room for even more people to be in relationship with Him. Would you please bow your heads and close your eyes? We're going to ask anointed desire to come back up and to get ready to sing some more songs for us. And I want us to pray before we turn it over to them. And I want to encourage you with your heads bowed and your eyes closed today. If you need to accept Christ as your Savior here today and you're far from him, we would love to pray with you. We would love to introduce you to Christ. We would love to be that encouragement for you and help you invite him into your heart and your life. If this message is speaking to you and God is talking to you about growing and God is talking to you about expanding your tent, and I'm talking about your life, your personal life, maybe your outreach, maybe what you're doing for God, maybe, maybe something to do with your family, maybe it's something to do with your finances. We're praying for you today. And then also for this service and for this church and for this congregation, for every family that's represented here, we want to pray that God would continue to speak and continue to lead us. So we're going to pray, and then they're going to come back up and sing. And I do want to let you know that we do have our offering baskets up here. If you would please give like you normally do and tithe and offering, uh, we would appreciate that this morning. So the brown baskets that are up here, that's what they're for. Also, um, you can give online. And so uh if you have any questions about giving, just see us after service. But let's pray right now. Father, I'm so thankful for you today, God. I'm thankful for what you're doing in this church. God, I pray right now that you would continue to use us to reach more people for you, God. Continue to use us to speak into lives and to speak, God, what this is that you're doing. God, we want more of you. We want more of your will. We want more of what you are doing in this world today, Father God. Use us. Help us not just be volunteers, but help us be servants, serving you, God. We thank you and we praise you today, God. We ask that you'd bless our tithe and our offering as we receive it today. God, that you would bless anointed desire, God, as they have stepped out in faith to minister to us today, God. And as they sing a few more songs, God, that we'd have patience and we'd be excited and we'd worship you, God. And we wouldn't get in a hurry, God, but we would just allow you to bless us and to speak to us this morning. In Jesus' name we pray. And the church said, Amen. Let's stand to our feet. And if you're giving, you can do that, and they're going to come back and sing a few more songs.