Our Mission, Our Vision, Our Values - Part 3

Brother Jim: You know, it's funny how things happen.

Brother Jim: I had the service already came

Brother Jim: up last night to get it

Brother Jim: finalized.

Brother Jim: And guess what happens?

Brother Jim: Not this one, Jim.

Brother Jim: Not this one.

Brother Jim: So I changed things up a little bit.

Brother Jim: The.

Brother Jim: The correct verses are up here on the screen for you.

Brother Jim: Now this goes along.

Brother Jim: This message goes along with the Great Commission, the series we

Brother Jim: started two weeks ago last week.

Brother Jim: You know, Pentecost.

Brother Jim: I don't know about you, but when

Brother Jim: someone comes up and says, would

Brother Jim: you.

Brother Jim: I've got two things for you.

Brother Jim: I've got good news and bad news.

Brother Jim: What do you like to hear first?

Brother Jim: How many like to hear the bad news first?

Brother Jim: Me too.

Brother Jim: How many like to hear the good news first?

Brother Jim: Okay.

Brother Jim: We're pretty much in the same boat with the Great Commission.

Brother Jim: We've been called to do things.

Brother Jim: We've been commanded to do things.

Brother Jim: But there's heavy conviction on my heart, and I believe

Brother Jim: conviction, again, from the Holy Spirit can be a very good thing.

Brother Jim: And I'd rather get this out in the open.

Brother Jim: Now, before we continue our series, because we need to know

Brother Jim: the pitfalls of what can happen to a church.

Brother Jim: True.

Brother Jim: We can't go out and clean

Brother Jim: everybody else else's house is

Brother Jim: up until we got our own house

Brother Jim: cleaned.

Brother Jim: True, because then that big word likes to come into play.

Brother Jim: Let people use all the time a bunch of hypocrites.

Brother Jim: So there are dangers that a church faces, and one of them is

Brother Jim: when a church dies.

Brother Jim: When a church dies.

Brother Jim: Now, we're not dying by any means, but but if we're not

Brother Jim: careful, if we don't keep our eyes open, it can happen.

Brother Jim: And how does it happen?

Brother Jim: As I said, two weeks ago, we

Brother Jim: started a series on the Great

Brother Jim: Commission pertaining to what an

Brother Jim: individual, as well as this

Brother Jim: church is called, commanded to

Brother Jim: do.

Brother Jim: Now we're going to keep Matthew twenty eight eighteen to twenty.

Brother Jim: Keep that in your minds.

Brother Jim: Mark it in your Bibles, the Great Commission, and we started

Brother Jim: off two weeks ago.

Brother Jim: Why Rockford Church exists.

Brother Jim: What is our mission here?

Brother Jim: Thus the title in your bulletin

Brother Jim: our mission, our vision, our

Brother Jim: values.

Brother Jim: But before I go any further this week, as I said, I feel that we,

Brother Jim: you and I need to be aware of the dangers of becoming

Brother Jim: comfortable and complacent.

Brother Jim: Which can be the beginning of the end for a church.

Brother Jim: Now, as a shepherd of this church, as Brother Jim, I have

Brother Jim: an obligation to God, to you, this church, to make sure we do

Brother Jim: not fall into basically.

Brother Jim: A church that is dying And yes, it can happen.

Brother Jim: A church that just becomes

Brother Jim: complacent with what we're

Brother Jim: doing, that ain't going to

Brother Jim: happen.

Brother Jim: We gotta dig deeper, keep things

Brother Jim: fresh, keep things moving

Brother Jim: forward.

Brother Jim: True.

Brother Jim: Because again, right here, my friends, time is ticking.

Brother Jim: One of the saddest sights.

Brother Jim: Before I go there, we laid Ron and Twila together.

Brother Jim: Uh, their ashes outside of Bowerston.

Brother Jim: Now, I grew up right outside of Bowerston.

Brother Jim: So I said, hey, while I'm here,

Brother Jim: I'm going to drive through the

Brother Jim: town.

Brother Jim: Haven't been through Bowerston in a long time.

Brother Jim: And like many old towns, it's changed a lot.

Brother Jim: Buildings falling apart, buildings removed.

Brother Jim: You don't know anybody anymore.

Brother Jim: The businesses are gone.

Brother Jim: That hurts because I have great memories.

Brother Jim: Think of your little hometown that you grew up in or grew,

Brother Jim: grew, was close to.

Brother Jim: Has it changed?

Brother Jim: Those little businesses are gone or just hanging on.

Brother Jim: And one of the saddest sights in

Brother Jim: America is not abandoned

Brother Jim: factories, a closed school or an

Brother Jim: empty store.

Brother Jim: Yes, they are sad, but there's even something worse than that.

Brother Jim: It is an empty church building.

Brother Jim: Empty church building.

Brother Jim: How many churches, even in our

Brother Jim: own area, were once filled with

Brother Jim: worship?

Brother Jim: They were filled with prayer.

Brother Jim: They were filled with laughter and the preaching of God's Word.

Brother Jim: Children ran through the halls, choirs sang, lives were changed,

Brother Jim: missions were sent, and yes, souls were saved.

Brother Jim: But today some of these churches sit empty, sit vacant, or are

Brother Jim: barely hanging on.

Brother Jim: The doors are locked, the lights are off and the ministry has

Brother Jim: ceased to exist.

Brother Jim: The question is not can a church die?

Brother Jim: The question then the question is how does a church die?

Brother Jim: Well, my friends, churches rarely die suddenly.

Brother Jim: They usually die slowly.

Brother Jim: One compromise, one neglected prayer meeting, one missed

Brother Jim: opportunity, one forgotten mission at a time.

Brother Jim: Is it possible?

Brother Jim: Is it possible?

Brother Jim: A church dies when it loses its love for Jesus?

Brother Jim: Thus the question I asked you this morning.

Brother Jim: And a message to the church of Ephesus, an ancient Greek city.

Brother Jim: Jesus prays many things about them.

Brother Jim: These people, they worked hard.

Brother Jim: They defended the truth.

Brother Jim: They endured hardship.

Brother Jim: And yet Jesus said.

Brother Jim: In revelation two four,

Brother Jim: nevertheless, I have this

Brother Jim: against you.

Brother Jim: That you have left your love

Brother Jim: first, that you have left your

Brother Jim: first.

Brother Jim: Excuse me.

Brother Jim: First love.

Brother Jim: Your first love.

Brother Jim: You left it.

Brother Jim: These people had religion without relationships.

Brother Jim: Their schedules were full.

Brother Jim: But their hearts, they were empty.

Brother Jim: Hey, a church can have great programs, nice buildings, sound

Brother Jim: doctrine, and active committees, yet still lose its passion, its

Brother Jim: love for Jesus.

Brother Jim: When the love for Christ fades,

Brother Jim: ministry becomes duty instead of

Brother Jim: delight.

Brother Jim: Now think about things that make you delightful.

Brother Jim: That bring delight to you.

Brother Jim: Puts a smile on your face.

Brother Jim: Makes you happy, right?

Brother Jim: Is there warning signs that you and I need to be aware of before

Brother Jim: we go out into the world?

Brother Jim: Yes, there is, my friends.

Brother Jim: Let's call it signs of lost love this morning.

Brother Jim: Think about this and apply it to

Brother Jim: yourself and our church this

Brother Jim: morning.

Brother Jim: This very morning, worship becomes routine.

Brother Jim: Prayer becomes rare.

Brother Jim: Serving others as well as God becomes burdensome and

Brother Jim: evangelism becomes optional.

Brother Jim: The church that forgets why it exists begins to die.

Brother Jim: Simple.

Brother Jim: There it is.

Brother Jim: So again I ask, why do we exist?

Brother Jim: Rockford Church.

Brother Jim: This is a very true statement.

Brother Jim: A church dies when prayer disappears.

Brother Jim: The early church was built upon prayer.

Brother Jim: In acts, believers prayed before

Brother Jim: decisions were made during

Brother Jim: persecution and while seeking

Brother Jim: God's direction.

Brother Jim: Do you do we as a church, pray for decisions starting with this

Brother Jim: guy right here.

Brother Jim: Many churches today, including our very own church.

Brother Jim: We have business meetings,

Brother Jim: planning meetings and committee

Brother Jim: meetings, which yes, these are

Brother Jim: all very important functions of

Brother Jim: the church.

Brother Jim: And this is where it hurts me because I'm accountable here,

Brother Jim: but very few prayer meetings.

Brother Jim: Is it true at times?

Brother Jim: We often depend on budgets, buildings and strategies.

Brother Jim: Strategies for a church, their day to day operations, as well

Brother Jim: as for the future instead of depending on God.

Brother Jim: Now, I have seen this happen in

Brother Jim: this church when we've depended

Brother Jim: on God.

Brother Jim: And look what happened.

Brother Jim: We were blessed.

Brother Jim: We were blessed.

Brother Jim: But what happens when we get everything we want?

Brother Jim: Do we go back and forget that we need to depend on God?

Brother Jim: A church stops praying.

Brother Jim: A church, a church that stops praying is telling God we can

Brother Jim: handle this on our own.

Brother Jim: From a church to a person, correct?

Brother Jim: You ever try to good on yourself?

Brother Jim: Yeah, I could tell story after story on that one.

Brother Jim: Nothing, my friends, could be further from the truth.

Brother Jim: The church is not powered by human ability.

Brother Jim: The church is powered by the Holy Spirit.

Brother Jim: Remember that from last Sunday Pentecost.

Brother Jim: Remember the Great Commission in Pentecost.

Brother Jim: Go together like peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Brother Jim: We need the Holy Spirit in this church to guide us, direct us,

Brother Jim: to take us to the next level.

Brother Jim: When prayer dies, spiritual power dies.

Brother Jim: Let's take a look at this statement.

Brother Jim: A church dies when it stops reaching the lost.

Brother Jim: Jesus gave the church, as we've discussed the Great Commission,

Brother Jim: which we're on right now.

Brother Jim: And that's what I'm excited to keep going on this.

Brother Jim: And as we learned last week, before ascending into heaven, he

Brother Jim: commanded his followers, Matthew twenty eight nineteen go

Brother Jim: therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them

Brother Jim: in the name of the father and the son and of the Holy Spirit.

Brother Jim: The church.

Brother Jim: This church was never called to simply maintain itself.

Brother Jim: Was it the church?

Brother Jim: This church here was called to reach people.

Brother Jim: A dying church often becomes inward focused.

Brother Jim: Its primary concern becomes protecting traditions,

Brother Jim: preserving comfort, and maintaining the status quo.

Brother Jim: Now, how many of us are simply

Brother Jim: in our own lives just happy with

Brother Jim: status quo?

Brother Jim: And that's fine.

Brother Jim: But when it comes to your spiritual life, we cannot afford

Brother Jim: to be status quo.

Brother Jim: This church cannot afford to be status quo.

Brother Jim: Instead of reaching the community, reaching the lost.

Brother Jim: The moment a church becomes more concerned about keeping saints

Brother Jim: comfortable than reaching sinners, it begins to decline.

Brother Jim: Now, this is where I have to swallow a lot of oh boy, it's

Brother Jim: self-reflection time in the mirror for me.

Brother Jim: A healthy church will ask

Brother Jim: continually, who are we

Brother Jim: reaching?

Brother Jim: Who are we inviting to church?

Brother Jim: And are you and I sharing Christ with people?

Brother Jim: Eternal salvation through Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone.

Brother Jim: Now here's another truth for you this morning.

Brother Jim: A church dies when it resists, changes, but abandons the truth.

Brother Jim: Can we agree this morning that not every change is bad, right?

Brother Jim: How many of us like change?

Brother Jim: I'm not big on change myself, but we change as we grow.

Brother Jim: True, the times change our area and our culture has changed here

Brother Jim: in Tee County.

Brother Jim: How we do our daily tasks have changed technology.

Brother Jim: Oh, Katie, bar the door.

Brother Jim: It's blown wide open, has it not?

Brother Jim: It has changed.

Brother Jim: Now, let me ask you something.

Brother Jim: Has anybody here still using the old rotary phone?

Brother Jim: Anybody?

Brother Jim: Is anyone going down to the creek to wash your clothes on

Brother Jim: the old stone?

Brother Jim: No. So again, I think we can

Brother Jim: agree technology change can be

Brother Jim: good, but change can also be it

Brother Jim: depends on where we're heading

Brother Jim: with this.

Brother Jim: But here's something.

Brother Jim: The message never changes the message.

Brother Jim: The word never changes.

Brother Jim: Some churches die because they try to change the message.

Brother Jim: Some churches die because they

Brother Jim: refuse to change anything at

Brother Jim: all.

Brother Jim: And here is the challenge in our ever changing world today.

Brother Jim: You and I, as well as this

Brother Jim: church, hold firm to biblical

Brother Jim: truth while being willing to

Brother Jim: adapt methods to reach the

Brother Jim: people.

Brother Jim: You talk to that man right up there in the crow's nest.

Brother Jim: It is amazing what technology allows the number of people

Brother Jim: allows us to reach.

Brother Jim: Think about that.

Brother Jim: Isn't that what we're supposed to be doing?

Brother Jim: If they can't join us here, they have an opportunity to join us

Brother Jim: live or go throughout the week and watch us.

Brother Jim: And again, this comes humbly.

Brother Jim: Our little show we do over twenty nations.

Brother Jim: We reach over twenty nations.

Brother Jim: Somebody in Canada, somebody in

Brother Jim: China, someone down in Brazil

Brother Jim: watch this little silly show we

Brother Jim: have.

Brother Jim: We're reaching people.

Brother Jim: And guess what?

Brother Jim: There's enough of Jesus in there to get them thinking.

Brother Jim: And maybe that'll be enough to get them tuned into a Bible, to

Brother Jim: a message, to a Sunday morning service, or somebody else.

Brother Jim: I'm not Rockford Church.

Brother Jim: I'm about the kingdom.

Brother Jim: If you're going to church that's

Brother Jim: preaching the Bible, the word,

Brother Jim: you're happy.

Brother Jim: Good, because we're part of the kingdom.

Brother Jim: I don't care if it's Pentecost, Baptist, Methodist, whatever.

Brother Jim: You're part of the kingdom.

Brother Jim: The goal, again, is not to preserve tradition.

Brother Jim: Keeping everybody happy from the time spent in church to the

Brother Jim: right, music selected.

Brother Jim: And yes, those are all important things.

Brother Jim: They are.

Brother Jim: But here it is.

Brother Jim: My friends, shouldn't our goal

Brother Jim: be and better be proclaiming

Brother Jim: Jesus Christ?

Brother Jim: Proclaiming Jesus Christ?

Brother Jim: That's what we're called to do.

Brother Jim: And we do that through so many things.

Brother Jim: If I asked what your favorite color is, think of how many

Brother Jim: variances we would have, right?

Brother Jim: Are you wrong because I don't

Brother Jim: like your or you know, am I

Brother Jim: wrong?

Brother Jim: Are you right?

Brother Jim: Vice versa.

Brother Jim: No music.

Brother Jim: Oh my goodness, my friends.

Brother Jim: It drives me nuts.

Brother Jim: No wonder I have no hair.

Brother Jim: Everybody likes their own style of music, right?

Brother Jim: Trying to find a blend that keeps everybody happy.

Brother Jim: But you know what?

Brother Jim: Here it is.

Brother Jim: And I'm going to lay it out for you.

Brother Jim: Should it really matter?

Brother Jim: Because each song we should be praising and worshiping Jesus.

Brother Jim: Not oh, I'm not going to sing this one because it's not a hymn

Brother Jim: or I'm not singing this one because it is a hymn.

Brother Jim: Come on.

Brother Jim: How do you think that makes God feel?

Brother Jim: You bake a cake for somebody and they won't eat it.

Brother Jim: How does that make you feel?

Brother Jim: You put all that time, effort, love, sweat, everything into it.

Brother Jim: Now I don't want it.

Brother Jim: Isn't that kind of the same thing we're doing to God?

Brother Jim: We let our own personal

Brother Jim: preference take over instead of

Brother Jim: doing what we're supposed to do,

Brother Jim: praising God.

Brother Jim: A church must never compromise

Brother Jim: scripture, but it also must

Brother Jim: never worship.

Brother Jim: The past are the good old days.

Brother Jim: I love the good old days.

Brother Jim: I love it when I go to visit because guess what?

Brother Jim: Stations on me TV or the new one?

Brother Jim: Mike, what was that?

Brother Jim: Uh, channel your brother listening watches.

Brother Jim: It's changed now it's me TV.

Brother Jim: It's got Gunsmoke.

Brother Jim: It's got all the classics.

Brother Jim: Barney and Andy and the Stooges.

Brother Jim: There we go.

Brother Jim: Yes, classics.

Brother Jim: But again, I'm part of that, too.

Brother Jim: I love the good old days.

Brother Jim: But if we live in the good old days, are we making new days?

Brother Jim: Are we moving forward?

Brother Jim: No. It's like telling fish stories.

Brother Jim: That same fish has grown from this to this.

Brother Jim: But you never went back out to fish again.

Brother Jim: You're satisfied for what you have.

Brother Jim: And we should never be satisfied in our growth, in our spiritual

Brother Jim: journey with God.

Brother Jim: How many churches have closed their doors?

Brother Jim: Closed?

Brother Jim: Here's another one closed to division instead of unity.

Brother Jim: And thank God we are pretty solid here on this unity.

Brother Jim: But think about this.

Brother Jim: If you go to first Corinthians one ten, now I plead with you,

Brother Jim: brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all

Brother Jim: speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you,

Brother Jim: but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in

Brother Jim: the same judgment.

Brother Jim: Nothing destroys a church faster than ongoing conflict.

Brother Jim: Satan.

Brother Jim: Yes, Satan.

Brother Jim: What do you think he loves?

Brother Jim: He loves division because division weakens our ability to

Brother Jim: witness, our ability to love.

Brother Jim: And let's be honest this morning.

Brother Jim: Yeah, a church can survive.

Brother Jim: It can survive financial struggles, building problems,

Brother Jim: and even difficult seasons, but constant fighting and bickering,

Brother Jim: little gossip groups here and there can cripple a at church

Brother Jim: and it is calling its calling.

Brother Jim: Can cripple and destroy its calling.

Brother Jim: Destroying the church's mission.

Brother Jim: Again.

Brother Jim: How many churches have split over personal preferences?

Brother Jim: Leadership disputes, traditions, and yes, even minor issues.

Brother Jim: Oh my goodness.

Brother Jim: Miss Judy puts too many chocolate chips in her cookies.

Brother Jim: Kitten.

Brother Jim: Judy, I love your chocolate chip cookies.

Brother Jim: Meanwhile, there is a

Brother Jim: possibility just maybe people,

Brother Jim: especially new people, for

Brother Jim: example, people from the outside

Brother Jim: are watching and wondering this

Brother Jim: fool go off and raise a hissy

Brother Jim: fit about too many chocolate

Brother Jim: chips.

Brother Jim: Think about it.

Brother Jim: What kind of statement are we making?

Brother Jim: I'm worried about getting the

Brother Jim: word to you, and you understand

Brother Jim: it.

Brother Jim: And someone down here is worried about chocolate chips.

Brother Jim: Now, this is just made up, okay.

Brother Jim: I don't want anybody to think

Brother Jim: who's the, you know, no gossip

Brother Jim: here.

Brother Jim: But again, sometimes we get so petty, do we not?

Brother Jim: Instead of focusing on what we are called to do.

Brother Jim: Paul wrote that believers should

Brother Jim: make every effort to maintain

Brother Jim: unity.

Brother Jim: Unity.

Brother Jim: Now does not mean agreement on everything.

Brother Jim: Like I said, we can have our favorite colors.

Brother Jim: That's fine.

Brother Jim: We can have our favorite songs.

Brother Jim: That's fine.

Brother Jim: But unity agreeing it's for the greater good, for the kingdom.

Brother Jim: It means loving one another despite differences.

Brother Jim: Hey, if you don't like the

Brother Jim: chocolate chip cookies, then

Brother Jim: have a brownie bring your own

Brother Jim: cookies.

Brother Jim: Or better yet, just don't eat them.

Brother Jim: But here we go.

Brother Jim: Smile and be happy because someone Miss Judy cares enough

Brother Jim: loves enough to bring baked goodies for all to enjoy.

Brother Jim: How about that one?

Brother Jim: Judy loves you so.

Brother Jim: Love her back.

Brother Jim: Maybe bring her a cookie for a change.

Brother Jim: Here's a big one for you.

Brother Jim: In our world today, a church

Brother Jim: dies when God's Word is

Brother Jim: neglected.

Brother Jim: A church is built, is not built upon personalities.

Brother Jim: Hear me.

Brother Jim: A church is not built on personalities.

Brother Jim: A church is not built on its programs.

Brother Jim: A church is built upon the Word of God.

Brother Jim: When biblical preaching becomes

Brother Jim: secondary, spiritual weakness

Brother Jim: follows.

Brother Jim: People need more.

Brother Jim: People need.

Brother Jim: Let's be honest here.

Brother Jim: We need motivational talks.

Brother Jim: Think about how many motivational speakers.

Brother Jim: How many motivational books, videos you can buy.

Brother Jim: Positive thinking.

Brother Jim: Okay Marty, Mary, I'm positive thinking for you right now.

Brother Jim: Do you feel it?

Brother Jim: I'm sending you good vibes, everybody.

Brother Jim: Again, explain what good vibes are.

Brother Jim: How do you explain?

Brother Jim: How do I send good vibes?

Brother Jim: I'm sorry.

Brother Jim: Your pet canary died.

Brother Jim: I'm going to send you good vibes.

Brother Jim: And yeah, I am making fun of it because I don't understand.

Brother Jim: I'm more on.

Brother Jim: I'm praying for you versus good vibes.

Brother Jim: And here's a big one we've talked about.

Brother Jim: Entertainment has the church and

Brother Jim: so many ways become

Brother Jim: entertainment for the people and

Brother Jim: the people.

Brother Jim: Are they expecting to be entertained when that happens?

Brother Jim: We got problems.

Brother Jim: People need the truth of God's Word.

Brother Jim: The Bible is the one place you can get it all.

Brother Jim: Your one stop shop for everything.

Brother Jim: It convicts sinners like I was.

Brother Jim: It strengthens believers, which

Brother Jim: I'm trying to be as hard as I

Brother Jim: can be.

Brother Jim: I find strength and from what I hear this morning from

Brother Jim: testimonies, where are you getting your strength from?

Brother Jim: From Jesus and His word.

Brother Jim: Amen.

Brother Jim: Husbands wives can be guided along with their families from

Brother Jim: reading God's Word.

Brother Jim: And best of all, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the

Brother Jim: Bible reveals who Jesus Christ was and why he came and what he

Brother Jim: offers to all.

Brother Jim: The Bible tells the truth and again what he offers to all.

Brother Jim: He does not discriminate like we do.

Brother Jim: Remember that Mount Rushmore sins.

Brother Jim: I was talking about how we like to discriminate.

Brother Jim: The Bible tells the truth.

Brother Jim: A church that abandons God's Word loses its foundation.

Brother Jim: Foundation.

Brother Jim: Very important word right there.

Brother Jim: If you don't believe me.

Brother Jim: Here you go.

Brother Jim: I'm going to back it up with biblical truth right here.

Brother Jim: Matthew seven twenty four to twenty seven.

Brother Jim: And most of us know this story.

Brother Jim: Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will

Brother Jim: be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

Brother Jim: And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and

Brother Jim: beat upon that house.

Brother Jim: But it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock.

Brother Jim: And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do

Brother Jim: them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

Brother Jim: And the rain fell, and the

Brother Jim: floods came, and the winds blew

Brother Jim: and beat against that house, and

Brother Jim: it fell.

Brother Jim: And great was the fall of it.

Brother Jim: Is that not sound advice for you

Brother Jim: and I as well as the whole wide

Brother Jim: world?

Brother Jim: Where are you putting your foundation?

Brother Jim: Where are you building your home

Brother Jim: at if you're putting it in the

Brother Jim: world?

Brother Jim: Oh Yeah, you're in trouble.

Brother Jim: You better have pretty good insurance.

Brother Jim: Put it in God's word.

Brother Jim: Build it on God's word.

Brother Jim: What have you and I built our foundation on.

Brother Jim: What about your kids and your.

Brother Jim: Here we go.

Brother Jim: What about your kids and your grandkids?

Brother Jim: Where is their foundation being built?

Brother Jim: Something to think about.

Brother Jim: Something to think about.

Brother Jim: Because the world wants your kids, your grandkids, to be

Brother Jim: built on it.

Brother Jim: And it's nothing but junk.

Brother Jim: Let's be honest.

Brother Jim: It's sin.

Brother Jim: It's evil.

Brother Jim: It's pollution.

Brother Jim: It is not stable.

Brother Jim: But God's word, God's love, is stable.

Brother Jim: It's solid.

Brother Jim: Now here's another one.

Brother Jim: Good.

Brother Jim: You.

Brother Jim: We're getting there, guys.

Brother Jim: We're getting there.

Brother Jim: Stick with me.

Brother Jim: A church dies becomes it because

Brother Jim: it becomes spiritually

Brother Jim: comfortable.

Brother Jim: One of the greatest dangers for a church is complacency.

Brother Jim: Jesus spoke to the church at Sardis and said in revelations

Brother Jim: three one and to the angel of the church in Sardis the.

Brother Jim: Write the words of him who has

Brother Jim: the seven spirits of God and the

Brother Jim: seven stars.

Brother Jim: I. Here we go.

Brother Jim: I know your works.

Brother Jim: You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

Brother Jim: You are dead.

Brother Jim: From the outside they appeared

Brother Jim: alive, but inside they were

Brother Jim: spiritually dead.

Brother Jim: And a reality check here.

Brother Jim: Many churches have good reputations, beautiful

Brother Jim: facilities, and a long history of doing good things, but have

Brother Jim: minimized spiritual life.

Brother Jim: Hear me on this brothers and sisters.

Brother Jim: Past blessings cannot sustain present ministry.

Brother Jim: Do we understand that what we

Brother Jim: did in the past has nothing

Brother Jim: really to do with us going

Brother Jim: further today?

Brother Jim: Now, yes, we have a foundation, but we can't rely on that.

Brother Jim: We gotta go out there and do our own thing.

Brother Jim: God's thing.

Brother Jim: Every generation must seek God Anew.

Brother Jim: And here lies the problem.

Brother Jim: At times the question is not what God did twenty years ago.

Brother Jim: The question is what is God doing today in your life?

Brother Jim: What is God doing today in our church today?

Brother Jim: The message of revelation is not

Brother Jim: merely a warning, it is also an

Brother Jim: invitation.

Brother Jim: Continuing in what Jesus told the church at Ephesus now we

Brother Jim: looked at revelation two four.

Brother Jim: Let us go to verse two five to finish up here.

Brother Jim: Remember therefore from where

Brother Jim: you have fallen, repent and do

Brother Jim: the first works, or else I will

Brother Jim: come to you quickly and remove

Brother Jim: your lampstand from its place

Brother Jim: unless you.

Brother Jim: What?

Brother Jim: What's that word?

Brother Jim: Repent.

Brother Jim: How often do we hear that now?

Brother Jim: Uh, Dave, you're just as good as you are.

Brother Jim: I love you for who you are.

Brother Jim: It's okay to be you.

Brother Jim: That's sad when pastors are

Brother Jim: preaching that without

Brother Jim: repentance repent.

Brother Jim: Repent.

Brother Jim: So Rockford Church, would it not be wise to make to make sure you

Brother Jim: and I, as individuals as well as the body, make sure we have a

Brother Jim: love for Jesus Christ?

Brother Jim: Again, coming back to that first question, ah, do you love Jesus?

Brother Jim: Or are you in love with Jesus

Brother Jim: that we are committing ourselves

Brother Jim: to prayer?

Brother Jim: This church is reaching the

Brother Jim: lost, that your pastor is

Brother Jim: preaching God's Word faithfully,

Brother Jim: and that accountability falls on

Brother Jim: me and that accountability falls

Brother Jim: on you.

Brother Jim: Call me out if I'm doing

Brother Jim: something wrong, if I'm saying

Brother Jim: something wrong, if I'm not

Brother Jim: using God's Word correctly, or

Brother Jim: if I'm not even using God's

Brother Jim: Word.

Brother Jim: That we as individuals and as a church are pursuing unity.

Brother Jim: Reminder Rockford Church should

Brother Jim: be depending on the Holy Spirit,

Brother Jim: not ourselves.

Brother Jim: Remember this revival.

Brother Jim: Revival begins when God's people humble themselves and seek him.

Brother Jim: Churches do not usually die because they're too small.

Brother Jim: Churches do not usually die because they lack money.

Brother Jim: Churches die when they lose

Brother Jim: sight of Jesus Christ, and the

Brother Jim: church is alive when Christ is

Brother Jim: loved.

Brother Jim: God's word is preached.

Brother Jim: Prayer is practiced and the lost are pursued.

Brother Jim: Not hiding in a church, not going through the motions.

Brother Jim: And here is the grand finale.

Brother Jim: Just like the fourth of July, that's going to be coming up

Brother Jim: with the fireworks.

Brother Jim: The big grand finale.

Brother Jim: The Holy Spirit is welcomed.

Brother Jim: What was our opening song this morning?

Brother Jim: Oh Holy Spirit, thou art.

Brother Jim: Welcome.

Brother Jim: Is he welcome in your life, my friends.

Brother Jim: They made this church never

Brother Jim: become a church that simply

Brother Jim: remembers what God did a long

Brother Jim: time ago.

Brother Jim: May we be a church that is actively participating in what

Brother Jim: God is doing today.

Brother Jim: And God is working, isn't he?

Brother Jim: God is moving and grooving out there.

Brother Jim: But are we?

Brother Jim: Where are we in that moving and grooving?

Brother Jim: Believe it or not, Brother Jim can bust a rhyme or two.

Brother Jim: And I want to do that.

Brother Jim: To be alive.

Brother Jim: To get out there.

Brother Jim: But how many of you are willing to go?

Brother Jim: I leave you with this question this Sunday morning.

Brother Jim: If Jesus were to write a letter

Brother Jim: to our church today, what would

Brother Jim: he say?

Brother Jim: Would he find a church merely existing or a church fully alive

Brother Jim: for his glory?

Brother Jim: Amen.