What Kind of Church Do We Want to Be? (Part 3)

Well, today I'm going to finish up this three-part series we began two weeks ago,

and it's been on what kind of church do we want to be.

It's found in 1 Thessalonians 3.

If you have your Bibles, turn there, and we'll begin there this morning

looking at that last verse, the 13th verse,

and then part of chapter 4 and just a verse or 2 in chapter 5.

So go ahead and turn there, and if you're just now joining us,

let me just bring you up to speed in about one minute or less, okay?

Here's what we've seen so far.

The Apostle Paul is on his second missionary journey.

He's had to flee the city of Philippi.

He goes to Thessalonica, the target of this message series

and this letter that we're reading today,

and he preaches there on three consecutive Sabbaths.

A number of people hear the gospel, respond to it favorably,

and then after the third service they have, Paul has to leave town.

Members of the church come and tell him his life's in danger

and he needs to get out of Dodge, so to speak.

So he goes to the next town and he keeps wanting to go back

because he knows why there are folk there who are showing positive signs of believing in Christ.

They're beginning to grow in their faith.

These are babies in the Lord.

They haven't known the Lord very long.

He's taught them everything he can teach them in three weeks,

but he knows that's not a finished work,

and so he worries about them.

Are they going to fall by the wayside?

What's going to happen?

Are they going to get discouraged?

Will persecution cause them to abandon the faith?

So he says in chapter 3, verse 1, and then later in verse 5,

he says,

I've wanted to come back to you any number of times,

but when that wouldn't happen,

when I could stand it no longer is the actual phrase he uses,

I send Timothy back.

Timothy goes back, talks to the folk there in Thessalonica,

hears about what's going on,

comes back and reports to Paul beginning in verse 10.

And what he says to him, or verses 6 to 10, I think it is,

and what he says to him essentially is this,

these people have not fallen by the wayside.

They've not gotten discouraged and given up.

They're still seeking the Lord Jesus.

In fact, they're growing in their love for one another

and for people throughout the region.

They're beginning to be known as a people

with a reputation for loving folk,

and these are people who are walking with God.

So Paul's encouraged by that, obviously,

and he writes back and he gives them a written prayer.

He says, I want you to know, here's what I'm praying for you.

And that's been the focus of this three-week series.

What kind of church do we want to be?

I think we can tell by the prayer that Paul prays

the kind of church we need to be.

This is what he says.

He says, I'm praying that you will be filled with love

and even overflow.

He tells me you're growing in love, keep growing in love,

but be filled and actually overflow with love.

And then last week we saw he said this,

I want you also to walk blameless in holiness.

Now, some folk, the Jews, knew about holiness

because they heard the Pharisees talk,

and the Pharisees wore their religion on their sleeve.

They acted holier than they really were.

So Paul says, I'm not interested in that kind of holiness.

I want you to have the hidden, true holiness,

purity of the heart that's seen in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, he finishes this out with a single phrase.

Look with me to the last portion of this,

found in chapter 3 and verse 13.

This is what he says.

May he make your hearts blameless in holiness

before our God and Father.

And then this phrase,

at the coming of our Lord Jesus,

with all of his saints, amen.

The third part of this to me seems to be

that Paul wants these people in Thessalonica

to be ready for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, I want to tell you, when you read the scriptures,

you see some of these letters that Paul writes,

and you say, now that's a pastor,

that's a church I like to pastor.

And some you see and you say,

no, that's a church I like to not have to pastor

unless God just made me go there,

the Church of Corinth being one of those.

But this church at Thessalonica,

I want to tell you,

most every pastor I know would say,

I would love to be the pastor of the church of Thessalonica.

But it wasn't a church,

and there are hardly any churches,

if any out there,

that don't have occasionally a problem.

And this church was no exception.

As good a church as they were,

as loving as they were,

as pure and holy in their walk as they were,

this was a church that had a few problems.

And it may surprise you,

if you're not familiar with this letter,

what their problem centered around.

Because when I tell you,

some of you, if you don't know this already,

you're going to say,

that's a strange thing to have a problem over.

But you know what their problem was over?

It was over something Paul said in a sermon,

probably several times,

that Jesus is going to soon come again.

Now, it's amazing,

because you've talked to folk a lot of times

about a variety of subjects,

how one person,

when you're talking to them,

hears one thing,

and somebody else hears another.

You ever had that happen?

Four or five family members

accompany a parent to the doctor,

and the doctor gives a report on a health situation,

and you get home and you begin rehearsing,

what did the doctor say?

And one person hears one thing,

and another person hears another thing,

and one person interprets that thing one way,

and another person interprets it yet another way.

Any of you ever had that happen?

So Paul stands and he preaches,

and he says,

Jesus is coming again,

and he's coming soon.

Now, some people heard that,

and they thought,

well, that means one day,

Jesus is going to come again.

Again, probably,

probably,

can't verify this,

there's no documentation of this,

but in all likelihood,

most of those folk thought,

when they heard Paul say it,

Jesus hadn't been gone all that many years,

it's probably going to be in my lifetime.

Wouldn't you agree?

Probably what they thought.

But some of them thought,

well, it may be after my lifetime.

And some may have thought,

well, you know,

it may be next year,

or the year after that.

And some, no doubt,

you know what they did?

They were literalists.

I don't want to ask you

how many of you in this room are literalists,

but sometimes,

some of you might hear something like that,

especially if said by the Apostle Paul,

and you would go,

okay, it's been five minutes,

six minutes,

two hours.

He's not back yet.

When's he coming?

And some of them in the church at Thessalonica,

not nearly all of them,

but some of them in the church,

enough that it was problemsome,

some of them heard that,

and they thought,

why hadn't he come back?

In fact, let me just ask you,

how many of you in this room right now

have ever heard a preacher say,

Jesus is coming,

and I believe it could be soon?

You ever heard that?

Raise your hand.

I know Fred said that.

I've said it.

A lot of folk have said that, right?

I'm 69.

He's not come back yet.

I've been hearing it since I was a little bitty boy.

And I've had folk ask me all the time,

when do you think it could be?

Especially in these times we're living in now,

with a lot that's happening,

I've had any number of people in the last 12 months

come to me and say,

do you think all these things point to the fact

that Jesus is coming again soon, right?

So we've all had questions about that.

And these people were no different.

They wondered,

well, if he's coming,

you said he was coming,

when's he going to come?

Let me share with you three problems

that arose from their misunderstanding

of what Paul said.

First of all,

some, when they heard him say that,

you know their response?

Well, let's just sit down

and wait for him to come.

I mean, let's just sit down

and watch the clouds,

maybe move to the mountains,

don a white robe,

stop what we're doing,

and just wait until he comes

because surely it's going to be tomorrow,

if not today,

and if not tomorrow,

day after tomorrow.

So some of them just said,

we're going to sit down

and we're going to wait.

Do you know that since the Lord left

and we've been awaiting his return,

there have been certain sects

and certain cults

and certain even groups of folk

within the family of God

who have so looked for his coming,

they have done exactly that.

They have gone off to the mountains.

They've donned white robes on occasion.

And they've said,

we're going to stop our jobs.

We're going to just stop living.

And we're going to wait

because we think he's coming on this day.

Some of you can remember

just a few years ago

when one fellow predicted

this particular day,

this particular moment,

Jesus is going to come again.

And so some folk have done that.

I want you to listen

to what Paul says about that.

Go with me if you have your Bibles.

Look with me to the fourth chapter

and let's begin reading in verse nine.

About brotherly love,

you don't need me to write you

because you yourselves

are taught by God to love one another.

They're doing well there.

In fact, you're doing this

toward all the brothers

in the entire region of Macedonia.

But we encourage you, brothers,

to do so even more.

Now, I don't know how many of you

write in your Bibles,

and this is a passage

that some people might consider obscure.

It doesn't say anything

real holy sounding.

But can I admonish you to do something?

If you write in your Bibles,

underscore every word in verse 11

and even verse 12.

Here's what it says.

To seek to lead a quiet life.

Paul said,

let this be your ambition

to seek to lead a quiet life.

Here's a real portion

I want you to underscore.

To mind your own business.

That's a pretty good one, isn't it?

To seek to lead a quiet life,

to mind your own business,

and to work with your own hands

as we commanded you.

In other words,

don't forget,

I told you.

I didn't tell you to sit down.

I told you to work.

I told you to be busy.

So that you may walk properly

in the presence of outsiders,

and this is a big thing,

and not be dependent on anyone.

You know the problem

about just sitting down

and saying,

you know what?

I'm going to be so holy,

I'm just going to sit and wait

and watch on Jesus to come.

I'm going to think about nothing

but His second coming,

and my eyes are going to be focused

on the clouds,

and that way I won't get in trouble,

and I'll be ready when He comes,

and there's nothing better

than I can do that.

You know the problem with that?

When you sit idle very long,

what happens?

Because you don't have anything

to do in your life,

you'll begin to mess

with other folks' lives.

Have you ever said

about somebody you know,

and don't look at them right now,

don't point at them,

have you ever said,

they need to get a life?

Because they just are constantly

meddling in other folks' business

and other folks' lives.

They got too much time

on their hands.

They need to be busier.

You ever thought that?

I know you have.

You don't have to do this right now,

but you know what I'm talking about, right?

Some folks are just idle,

and they're busybodies,

and they meddle in other folks' business,

and it always leads to trouble

in the church,

in the home,

in the community.

And Paul says,

man, don't do that.

And here's another problem with it.

If I sit and just wait on Jesus to come,

how am I going to feed myself?

Because I'm not going to stop eating.

And how am I going to keep a roof

over my head

and over my family's head

and clothes on our backs?

You know what's going to happen?

In the name of holiness and religion,

I'm going to become a burden

to folk around me.

And Paul says,

man, don't do that.

Make it your ambition

to lead a quiet life,

to mind your own business,

to work with your hands

so that you don't become dependent

on other folk.

I'm going to tell you,

work is good for everybody.

Amen?

Everybody ought to work.

And even though you retire,

man, you ought to stay busy.

If your idea of retirement

is to say,

I'm going to just sit down

and let people take care of me

from here on out.

I'm going to let the government

take care of me.

I'm going to let people

take care of me.

I just don't have care in the world.

It's everybody else's responsibility.

Man, I'm going to tell you,

you need to get a life.

You need to get a life.

And that's what Paul says.

There was a second problem.

And the second problem

probably was a greater problem

than even the first problem.

The second problem was

some began worrying

about their loved ones

who had died

before Jesus came back.

Now, think with me.

Paul said,

hey, here's what's going to happen.

Jesus came and he lived

and he died

and he rose from the dead.

And that's the reason

for our hope in the gospel.

You trust in him,

you have eternal life.

And one day he's going to come again

and he's going to take us

all up to be with him, right?

And they all applauded and said,

man, that is great.

Can't wait.

But guess what happened?

Same thing happens

in Pickens and Greer.

Today, as soon as this service is over,

I've got a 2.30 funeral

I've got to be off too.

I'll tell you something.

Folk began to die.

And they die here in Pickens.

And you don't have to wait

years for them to die.

In the 16 weeks or so,

I've been the interim pastor

here at Pickens,

there have been a number of people

in your congregation

who passed

and loved ones related to people

in your congregation

who passed, right?

And Thessalonica was no different.

Somebody's wife died.

Somebody's husband died.

Somebody's best friend died.

Somebody's partner in business died.

And they began saying,

no, wait a second.

You said if we trusted Jesus,

gave my heart,

we'd have eternal life.

Jesus is going to come again.

He's going to take us out of this world

and to be with Him.

But they've died

before He could get back.

So, what's up with these folk?

Listen to what Paul says about that.

Look with me, if you will,

to chapter 4 and verse 13.

We do not want you

to be uninformed brothers

concerning those who are asleep.

Now, that's a metaphor for dead.

He's not talking about

they fall asleep.

He's talking about

they're graveyard dead.

So that you will not grieve

like the rest

who have no hope.

He says, listen,

people of Thessalonica,

I don't want you to be ignorant

about death

and about what happens

to people after death.

Because I don't want you

to grieve like those folk

who have no hope.

Now, I want to tell you,

I've seen believers

through the years,

I don't encounter this often,

but I've seen it on occasion

where believers think

that for me to be

a good Christian,

I dare not show any emotion

if anybody in my family dies.

Especially if they die tragically.

That I'm supposed to suck it up

and put on my game face

and go out there

and just be all smiles and cheery

and stand before everybody.

And a good testimony is,

hey, you know what?

They died,

they've gone to glory

and I'm okay with it.

I'm not hurting,

I'm alright.

God's taking care of me

and I'm alright.

But that's not what

he's saying at all.

He's not saying

that we shouldn't grieve,

we just shouldn't grieve

like people who have no hope.

There's a difference

in how you grieve.

Do you understand that?

I can grieve,

but still have hope.

And that grief looks different

than when I grieve

and I don't have any hope.

When I don't have any hope,

I'm ready to jump out a window

because I'm desperate.

I mean,

there is no tomorrow

when I don't have any hope.

But if I have hope,

it's different.

Let me show you

what I'm talking about.

Our son, Matthew,

he marries a girl

named Carla Smith

five or six,

seven years down the way.

She gets pregnant,

they have a baby, right?

Right before they have the baby,

they move off to St. Louis.

He's managing the store

for Chick-fil-A.

They send him out there

to shut one down.

He stays a few months.

He moves back to Greenville

just before the baby's born.

We were so delighted, right?

The baby's born,

Scout, my firstborn,

I want you to meet her sometime.

Great, beautiful gal,

15 years old now,

little baby then.

I'd go out on Wednesday nights

after I do prayer meeting

and I'd go to their apartment

and I'd say,

can I hold Scout?

And he was working,

his wife was there

and she'd say, sure.

And so I'd sit in the living room

all by myself,

hold that baby in the rocking chair

and rock her

and just talk to her

and sing to her

and tell her how much I loved her

and keep looking for her

to tell me,

I love you too, Papa.

We've all done that, right?

So a few months down the way,

he comes to me,

he says,

Dad,

they're reassigned me

to a store in Williamsburg,

Virginia.

It's a great opportunity,

brand new store,

good community

and I'm going to manage that store

and it's just a great opportunity.

I said, well, I understand that.

He said,

I've got to go do that.

I know you'll be heartbroken

but I just,

I need to tell you,

I've got to go do that.

I understand perfectly.

I said, now,

let me just ask you,

how often will you get to come home

and see Scout

because she's staying with us?

Now, you know,

he can't do that, right?

So I remember just like it was yesterday,

it was about 15 years ago,

we step outside,

we walked out,

we've hugged them,

we put them in the car,

they're only going to be seven hours away.

We put them in the car

and I've put on my game face

and I've hugged them all

and I'm smiling,

wishing them well,

they back out

and they don't hit the curb

going out of my driveway

until tears are just pouring down my face.

I mean, I'm just crying

and I'm just sobbing,

I'm broken hearted.

She's just seven hours away

but I'm broken hearted.

You know what?

Not because I thought,

well, that's so far,

I'll never get to see her again

because I'm going to tell you something,

within about three weeks,

I jumped in my car one Friday,

drove all the way up there

and saw her

and came all the way back.

But the tears were because I love her

and momentarily we're separated

and that's why I'm going to cry

if something happens to my wife

or my dad or my sister or brother

or my children or my friends.

I'm going to be sad

but it's a different kind of sadness.

It's a sadness that's tempered by the fact

this is not the end.

I'm just saying goodbye moment

but it still hurts.

You understand that?

So,

when someone passes you a life,

grieve for them.

Just don't grieve like people

who have no hope.

Listen to what he says,

Since we believe that Jesus died

and rose again,

in the same way God will bring with him

those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.

For we say this to you

by revelation from the Lord,

we who are still alive at the Lord's coming

will certainly have no advantage,

no advantage,

over those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord himself

will descend from heaven with a shout,

with the archangel's voice,

and with the trumpet of God

and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are still alive

will be caught up together

with him in the clouds

to meet the Lord in the air.

And so will we always be with the Lord.

Therefore,

encourage one another

with these words.

And those are encouraging words,

aren't they?

Paul says,

Listen,

you don't need to worry about it.

Here's what's going to happen.

The archangel's going to sound the voice.

The trumpet will blow.

Jesus will come.

Those who have died,

they're going to be raised first.

And they're going to meet all of us

who are living at the time

when the Lord comes

and he's going to take us

to heaven to be with him.

And that's where we'll be forever.

That's an encouraging word,

isn't it?

Amen?

Boy,

I love that word from Paul.

Well,

there's a third problem.

Some became obsessed

with knowing

when he was coming.

I pastored

a number of churches now,

been interim

at a number of places.

Can I tell you something?

In every church

I've ever been

very long at all,

I've met some folk

who almost are obsessed

with when he's coming.

You've known some folk

like that, right?

I mean,

all they can think about

is

when is it going to be?

These signs

we're looking at today

point to the

time of the coming

of the Lord Jesus.

Our country's in trouble.

You know that, right?

I know that.

And a lot of folk

have come

in these troubled times

and said,

do you think

this means

this is

the beginning

of the end?

I'll tell you something.

Everything seems to me

to be pointing to it,

but I want to warn you

about something.

Keep perspective.

Nations

like the United States

of America

have come and gone

throughout history.

And if the Lord

tarries

a thousand years,

there'll be a

string of other nations,

saints,

including this one,

who come and go.

Do the signs

point to the coming?

I believe they do,

but I want to tell you

something.

I don't know

when that's going to be.

And if you ever

meet a preacher,

somebody who says,

man,

I've studied prophecy

all my life

and this is my gig

and this is what I know,

and he says to you,

everything here says,

Jesus is coming

and it's going to be

absolute.

It'll be in the next year.

It'll be in the next

two years.

You know you've met

somebody

who has outpunted

their coverage.

You know you've met

somebody who thinks

they know more

than they know.

And I want to show you

why.

You don't have to take

that on my authority.

Look, if you will,

at chapter 5

and verse 1

about the times

and the seasons,

brothers.

You do not need

anything to be

written to you.

For you yourselves

know very well

that the day of the Lord

will come just like

a thief in the night.

You ever been robbed?

They send you

advance notice.

You're going to be robbed?

No.

And when they say

peace and security,

then suddenly a destruction

comes on them

like labor pains

on a pregnant woman

and they will not

escape.

But you,

brothers,

are not in the dark.

That's what Paul

would say to everybody

here at First Baptist

Pickens

who's struggling

to know

when's he coming.

He says,

But you, brothers,

are not in the dark

so that this day

would overtake you

like a thief.

For you are all

sons of the light

and sons of the day.

We're not of the night

or of the darkness.

So then,

we must not sleep

like the rest,

but we must stay awake

and be sober.

You know what he's saying?

This wasn't a word

that he would have used.

It wasn't a word

in his vernacular.

But if he were living

today in our culture,

you know what I think

he'd say to folk

like that

who are just constantly

saying,

Is it going to be

January the 5th?

Is it going to be

next April?

Will it be in 2025?

You know what he'd say?

Chill.

Just chill.

Just live

for the Lord

Jesus Christ.

I mean,

just chill out

and look for the Lord

to come

and be prepared

for the Lord

to come

and live as though

he's going to come

tomorrow,

but stop worrying

about it

and stop listening

to folk

who tell you

that they can predict

whenever that's going

to be.

So what has Paul

said to us?

What has James

we saw last week

said to us?

These three things.

First of all,

be a church

that's known

for how it loves.

I want to tell you

about every church

I've ever heard

or talked to

or met.

That's what they all

say about themselves.

But you know

a lot of places

that isn't so,

is it?

I want to tell you

more than anything else,

you want the badge

of your discipleship

to be we love

people of every stripe,

those who love

the church

and those who don't,

those in the church

and those out of the church.

Secondly,

we want to walk

the talk.

We want to say

to people out there

in the world,

here's how you should live

and then we live

differently.

We want them

to look at us

and not think

we're oddballs

and nutcases,

peculiar in that sense.

But we want them

to look at us

and say,

you know what?

There's something

just different

about those folks.

They have a level

of character

and a level

of integrity

and honesty

and they just live

by this code

that we don't quite get.

It's not in keeping

with the world.

They talk about

this guy Jesus

and they seem

to have this kingdom

kind of mentality.

They're more worried

about the eternal

than the temporal.

They're more worried

about the spiritual

than they are

the physical.

They're not materialistic.

They're holy

and they're pure

but they don't brag

about it.

They have this

hidden holiness

and righteousness

of which when the world

sees it,

can I tell you something?

They'll be envious of it

because they'll say,

that guy may be

a little naive,

she may be a little naive

but I'm going to tell you something.

That's a good person.

That's a person

who walks with God.

And finally,

be a church,

be a church

that is looking

for the coming

of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Not because your eyes

are fastened on the clouds

and you got your calendar

out and you're marking a day

but because you believe

what he's promised

and therefore you're free

to live your life

with hope

and without fear

because you know

one of these days

he's coming again.

Now,

before this series ends,

can I throw in

a personal note?

Give you a little advice

from somebody

who's passed a long time.

You take it

for what it's worth.

But I want to share

with you three things

as you think about

what kind of church

do we want to be?

Three pieces

of personal advice

I'd give you

as you try to live out

these three things.

Here's the first.

Be driven always

by a sense

of purpose.

Know

exactly

who you are

and what your mission is

and what your reason

for existence is.

Can I ask you this morning,

do you know that already

individually

and collectively

as the people

of the First Baptist Church

are pickings?

Because I've got to be honest

with you,

I go a lot of places

and preach

when I was doing revivals

years and years

and years ago

and I found people

who they were faithful

to their church,

they were actively

involved in their church

but I think I could

look at many of them

and say,

do you know why

your church exists?

And they go,

well we do this

and we do that

and we do the other.

We're involved in this

and that

and we have this program

and that program.

Yeah, but you see

all those are tools.

They're tools

that you use

to accomplish

your objectives

but you understand

what your objective is

and I believe

many of them

their eyes

would have glazed over.

Do you know

what the purpose

of the First Baptist Church

of Pickens is?

When I had pastored

Rushy Creek

about 15 years,

the deacons came

and said,

we want to give you

two months off

and we want you

to just go away

and pray and think.

Just rest

and get refreshed

and come back.

My wife and I

went away for two months

and I thought a whole lot

about what is the purpose

of the church

because we were growing

and seeing people

come to know the Lord

but I just felt like

our purpose

was nebulous.

The written statement

in our church constitution,

it was pretty,

it talked about

kingdom things

and about worship

and it just had

a whole lot of stuff.

It was about

four or five sentences long.

Nobody, nobody

could have quoted

it to anybody.

So when I came back

I said,

you know what we're

going to do?

We're going to

scratch all that

and we're going to

bring it down

to three words

that everybody

can get.

So that everybody

who was a member

at Rushy Creek,

this was required,

you had to know

those three words.

Pretty easy

when you just got

three words, right?

Here are the three

words we chose.

Rescue, grow, and serve.

We're about rescuing

which is evangelism,

reaching out after people.

I love that word rescue.

It's used a number

of times by Paul

in his letters.

We're rescuing people

out of sin

and out of destruction

and bringing them

to life in Christ.

Secondly, we're growing

the idea of discipleship.

We don't see people

become believers

and then just stay there

as they do

in so many churches.

We don't see them

grow up strong.

We devoted a single night.

Wednesday night

was for nothing

but discipleship.

That's all you could do.

Wednesday night

is our discipleship night.

And then the last

was service.

We want to be in missions.

We want to be in ministry

and we want to love people

and serve people

and we believe

that will open the door

for us to share the gospel

and do that first thing

of rescue.

So we said that's our mission

and if it doesn't pertain

to rescue, grow, and serve

we're not going to do it.

That leads to the second thing

I'm going to tell you

but I'm going to hold off

from that for just a moment.

Do you know what

your mission statement,

your printed mission statement

is here at First Baptist Picks?

I hope you do.

What is it?

Do you know?

There's a single word.

What is it?

Somebody say it.

There you go.

Good for you.

You want to be a well church.

You want to be well individuals.

You want to worship.

You want to evangelize.

You want to learn

which is discipleship

and you want to love

which is the idea of service.

It doesn't matter

how you state it,

what your words are.

What matters is

you understand your purpose

and you understand

that's why we're here

at First Baptist Church

Pickens.

That's what we're about.

I want to commend you

on your purpose statement.

I want to ask you

are you moving

in that direction?

Is that really

and truly your purpose

or is that just propaganda?

Is that your real purpose

or is that just something

you say is your purpose

but your purpose

is something secondary?

Only you can answer that.

Second piece of advice

I'd give you is this.

Stay laser focused

as a church on that purpose.

I mean set that as your target

and don't let anything else

interfere with it

because I want to tell you something.

I know from being a pastor

for many, many, many years

your church is going to be asked

the pastor is going to be asked

to be involved

in lots and lots and lots

and lots of good stuff.

But you need to constantly

be asking yourself

is this good thing

we're being asked

to participate in

help us accomplish our mission

or is it take us

off focus of our mission?

Because you know what I found

happening in the 90s especially?

A lot of churches

especially larger churches

they became Walmarts.

They became Walmarts where

you know what I mean by Walmart?

They sell a little bit

of everything, right?

And so churches would say

man we've got a hundred ministries

and we're involved in this

and we're involved in this

and we're involved in this

and we're involved in this

and this and this and this

and those ministries

became ends in themselves

instead of a means

to reaching an end

because they forgot

what their mission was.

And I want to just tell you today

I don't mean to sound an alarm

but church is different

in 2021 than it was

in 1960.

If we're honest

back in 1960

many of us

looked to the church

for not only

spiritual well-being

and help

and guidance

but for social

avenues as well.

But in 2021

folks aren't doing

that any longer.

They're looking

to the church

and still need

the church

for spiritual advice

and help

and guidance

and to work together

to accomplish a mission.

But I'm telling you something

they're doing things

socially

in a lot of different ways

and the church

doesn't have to invent

every wheel.

Do you understand that?

There are good things

that can happen

and the church

not be the leader

in that.

In fact

I think it's a healthier

approach to say this

this is our mission

and this is where

we're going.

We see some good things

out there.

What we're going to do

is instead of

reinventing that wheel

we're going to ask

our ministers

and our members

to go be partners

with people

in the world

doing those good things

and influence people

who are lost

who are involved

in doing those good things

instead of saying

always you come

to the church

or we'll do it

here at the church house.

You understand

what I'm saying

in that?

For instance

and I can say this

instantly

because I don't know

what you got.

Okay?

I know I'm up in

somebody here

and I'm not meaning

to and I don't know

anything about your church

and ask anything

about this

but most churches

have softball teams

right?

And I'm not telling you

to go disband

your softball team

don't hear me say that

but what would be wrong

instead of having

nine guys on the field

who know Jesus

and one guy you invited

who doesn't know Jesus

to come in

to play ball with you

for a couple guys

from the church

to go play ball

with eight or ten

other lost guys

and to influence

those lost guys

rather than say

come here and

play with us.

You understand

what I'm saying?

That's yes.

Infiltrate the world.

Take the gospel

to the world

where people live

and be a part

of their world

instead of always

saying come

and be a part

of ours.

So I would say

to you

know what you're

about

and stay

low

laser focused

on doing

that which you're

about

and not just

doing good stuff

and here's the

third reason

the final piece

of advice

I'm going to give

you and I close

because you need

to always remember

the clock

is running.

Use your time

wisely.

Paul told the

Ephesians

to redeem the time.

Remember that phrase

in the book of Ephesians?

Redeem the time

because the days

are evil.

There was a

version of the

scripture called

the cotton patch version

years and years

and years ago

and it was written

from a southern

perspective

and you know

what the cotton patch

version said

about that verse

it said this

and I loved it

it said

use your time

as though you

had to buy it.

That's a pretty

good idea

isn't it?

In other words

don't waste your

time.

Use your time

as though you

had to buy it

because the

clock is running

out.

I'm going to

speak to everybody

in this room

right now

at least my age

and older.

You're well

aware of that

because there's

hardly a day

passes in my

life that I

don't at some

point in the

time they

think the

clock's running

for me and

it's running

out.

I didn't think

that when I

was 30.

I didn't think

that when I

was 40.

It didn't

cross my mind

even when I

was 50.

But as my

70th birthday

is approaching

I know this

the clock's

running and

time's running

out.

And it's

not just

running out

for us as

individuals.

I want to

tell you

something.

It's running

out for all

of us

collectively as

a church.

We're on

mission.

The Lord

Jesus Christ

is going to

come again

and when

he comes

again the

clock will

have expired.

Our

opportunity to

bring the

loss to

faith in

Christ will

be over.

So I

tell you

this.

I close

with this.

Know your

mission.

Decide as

a church

here's what

we want to

be about.

Here's what

God has

called us

to do.

Get a

laser focus

on that

and don't

let anybody

or anything

get you

off that

mission.

Say no

to good

stuff and

just do

the best

stuff.

Don't try

to do it

all but

I'm going

to do

the best

stuff.

Not just

the good

stuff,

the best

stuff.

Which means

I'm going

to say

no to

some

things that

will upset

some folk

because they'll

say well this

is a good

thing and you

ought to be

doing the

good thing

but it's

not my

purpose.

Individually

and collectively

in life it's

not my

purpose.

I close

with this

illustration,

true illustration

about a

year before I

retired,

maybe two,

I think it

was just a

year before I

retired.

I was

beginning to

be more and

more and

more reflective

and more and

more of the

mindset we've

got to stay

focused because

there were

just so many

demands to

do so many

different things.

There was a

guy I had

discipled when I

first came to

the church,

he was newly

wed,

he had

surrendered to

ministry,

he'd gone off

to seminary,

he'd started

a church out

in Tennessee,

it was

booming,

it was

rocking.

I called

him and I

said,

Todd would

you fly here

to Greenville,

we'd like to

buy some of

your time,

I want you to

talk to our

staff about what

you've done

there at that

church.

He came and

he shared with

our staff,

we met in this

conference room,

and he shared

with our

staff,

here's something

you can do to

impact your

community.

It was a big

Easter egg deal,

right?

I won't go into

great detail

because it's

insignificant to

you and your

purposes,

but we planned

this big event.

I had about

eight staff

members that

said,

you're going to

be in charge

of it and

everybody here

is going to

help,

everybody here

is going to

have responsibility

because a lot

of times you

can have a

good plan but

you don't

execute your

plan.

Sometimes you

execute your

plan but your

plan was a

bad plan.

You don't know

unless you

evaluate so I

was always

big on

evaluation.

So here's

what we do.

You're going to

be in charge

of this.

We're going to

work this up

over about two

months and then

we're going to

do this on

Saturday right

before Easter.

Okay?

Everybody

fulfill their

responsibility to

the nth degree.

2,000 people who

weren't members of

Brushy Creek came

to that event.

First year we

had it.

The next year we

did it.

2,000 people

came to that

event.

The second

year evaluation

was different than

the first year

because the first

year we've just

had it.

But the second

year we've had

it now we've

had it a second

time and we've

had a chance to

see how did this

impact our church.

Right?

I remember we're in

this conference room

and they're all

sitting here around

this conference

table.

I get up from

the conference

table and for

some reason I

just went over

and I'm looking

out this window

and I'm looking

at the streets

there running by

the church and

I'm listening to

all the conversation

and they're telling

me about how

many people

came and what

it cost and

the whole nine

yards.

So I turned to

them and I

said I looked

at the one I'd

made in charge

and I said I

want you to

know you executed

the plan perfectly.

You did a great

great great job.

And every one of

you who participated

in this everybody

you showed up you

did a good good

job and I'm

going to give

you an A plus

an effort and it

couldn't be any

better.

Last time we're

ever going to do

it.

And you could

hear the air

suck out of the

room.

What do you

mean the last

time we were here?

We had 2,000

people there.

You see our

goal is not to

see how many

people we can

bring to an

event.

It's to see how

that event impacts

our church and the

kingdom.

And it had

little if any

impact, lasting

impact.

And so we're not

going to do that

anymore.

In the eyes of the

world they'd

probably call it

success.

success.

We're not doing

it anymore.

Because that's

taken us, our

energy, our

resources, away

from what our

purpose is.

And it makes us

feel good but it's

not accomplishing

our purpose so

we're not going to

do that anymore.

I'm going to tell

you as somebody

who's pastored for

a long time, the

hardest thing to

ever do in a

Baptist church is

not to start

something new.

That's probably

what you think.

To sell people

a new idea.

If you're a pretty

good salesman and

you've got a

pretty good plan,

you can always

sell people a

new idea.

You know what's

hard in a Baptist

church?

To kill something.

To bury it when

it's already dead.

We'll walk by a

stinking, decaying

body of ministry

all the time.

And you'll go,

whew, that stinks.

Let's just do it

again next week.

Maybe it'll be

better next week.

Isn't that so?

Huh?

Got any corpses

around here at

Pickens?

If you want to be

a church that's

doing what God

wants you to do,

you've got to

first of all, get

in the Word and

find out what

He wants us to

do.

And boy, once we

lock in on that,

we're not going to

do other stuff.

We're going to

leave that for

somebody else to

do.

We'll go join

them in doing

good stuff.

Our members,

we're not going

to be afraid.

They don't,

everything you do

for the kingdom

doesn't have to be

through First

Baptist Pickens.

Do you

understand that?

You can go join

some other things.

I'm not talking

about churches.

I'm talking about

joining other

ministries.

Go sing in the

local chorus.

Go play ball on

the softball teams

and baseball teams

here in Pickens.

Be involved in

the PTA.

Do a lot of

stuff and let

your influence

for Christ be

known in those

places.

Let the church

stay on focus

with what the

mission of the

church is.

bringing men to

Christ.

Bringing God

glory.

Let's bow in

prayer.

Father,

you know it's

not my heart

or my desire

to just rock

the boat or

to offend

anyone.

But God,

I pray you'd

help our

churches across

the land

to realize

you've saved

us for a

purpose and

you brought us

together for a

purpose.

purpose.

And if we

can stay

focused,

we can

accomplish that

purpose.

And I pray

that we never

settle for

something that's

easy and

something that's

shiny and

something that

maybe will make

folk applaud us.

But Lord,

we would do that

which you've

called us to do,

which really is

important to love

people,

to live holy,

to look for your

coming,

to bring you

glory.

have your

will and

way in this

service as I

pray in your

name.

For your

sake we pray.

Amen.