”Final Words to a Flourishing Church—Part 2” | Sun AM | Acts 20

[Music]

Have you ever

wished that you could have one more

conversation with

someone? Uh maybe a a loved one that

they passed away and you weren't ready

for them to pass yet. And you've

probably said to yourself while thinking

about them, "I wish I could have just

one more conversation with them. I wish

I could talk to him one more time. I

think we all probably are there. But but

let me ask you another question. Have

you ever talked to someone for the last

time and you knew it was the last time

you would talk to them? You're having a

conversation and you know this is the

last time. Now probably more often we

talk to a person for the last time. We

don't know it's the last time we're

talking to them. Something happens,

events happen, accidents happen, things

happen. The Lord takes someone's life

and we often say their life was taken

too soon. I wish I could have one more

conversation with them. But occasionally

you and I will have a conversation with

someone and we know it's the last time

we're going to talk to this person in

our life. This is the final

conversation. These are the final words

that we're going to speak. What would

you say to them? What did you say? Maybe

you've had that. What did you say to

that person? The the parting words, the

final words. This is it. What would you

say? When we come to Acts chapter 20,

Acts 20 · chapter mention

and you can take your Bibles and go

there with me this morning. We come to

the Apostle Paul giving what he knows

will be his final words to the church of

Ephesus. He's not going to talk to him

again. He He's not going to visit

Ephesus again. Nowhere in the Bible do

we find Paul ever going back to Ephesus

after Acts chapter 20. This is his last

Acts 20 · chapter mention

time. Paul can't even go to Ephesus. In

Acts chapter 20, he's not even in the

Acts 20 · chapter mention

city of Ephesus. He's not at the church

of Ephesus. God has told him, Paul, I

don't want you to go to Ephesus. I want

you to go straight to Jerusalem so you

can be there in time for Pentecost. And

so Paul is on his way to Jerusalem. He

he can't take the time to stop in

Ephesus. He can't take the time to

preach to the church of Ephesus. He

can't take the time to disciple the

church of Ephesus, a place where Paul

had spent three years of his ministry

building and cultivating disciples and

building churches. And now just a couple

chapters later, he's passing back by,

but God said, "Don't go into

Ephesus." So Paul, though he no doubt

wanted to go into Ephesus, refrains and

instead he stops for lunch in a little

town called Maltus. And he asks the

pastoral staff of the church of Ephesus

to come have lunch with him. I don't

know if it was lunch or dinner. I'm

making that part up. But come meet him.

And he's going to give them some final

words. He said, 'I got I got some things

I've got to tell

you, but but I can't come to you. You've

got to come to me. I'm on my way to

Jerusalem. I don't know why I've got to

go to Jerusalem. God wants me to go to

Jerusalem. I'm on my way. Paul even says

in Acts chapter 20, I I don't know

Acts 20 · chapter mention

what's going to happen to me. Paul

thinks he's going to die when he gets to

Jerusalem. Now, he's not. He's going to

be put in prison, but he's not going to

die. But Paul thinks he's going to die.

He said, I don't know why I've got to go

to Jerusalem. I don't know why God is

doing this, but I've got to go.

But I will take just a few moments and

if you'll meet me in Maltus, I'll give

you some final words. We started this

message last week. We're going to finish

it this morning. Here's the title. Final

words to a flourishing church. Final

words to a flourishing church. The

church of Ephesus is doing very well.

Paul had spent three years there. Not so

long ago. He's not been gone a terribly

long time. a couple years since he was

there, but he spent three years of his

ministry building this church and

establishing this church and and working

in this church and working with the

people of Ephesus. And now there is a

thriving church. They have a pastor. I'm

not sure who the pastor is at this time.

We know that Timothy would pastor the

church of Ephesus. We know that the

Apostle John would pastor the church of

Ephesus. And and maybe one of them is

already more likely Apostle John if

either of them, but maybe one of them

are already pastoring this church. But

they have have such a large church in

Ephesus. Thousands and thousands of

people large. They have a whole staff.

They have several pastors. You can see

if you want the Bible for that, there's

uh in one of these verses 15 or 16,

let's see, where's it at? 17 is where

it's at. Uh there's the word there

called it's elders is the word. It's in

the plural. There's multiple of them and

they had to be. The church is

flourishing. The church is doing well.

The church they one pastor can't keep

up. So they they hire more staff. They

they bring more people in. The church is

flourishing. No doubt Paul on his way to

Jerusalem, Paul wants to visit Ephesus.

No doubt Paul wants to go see how the

church is. He planted the church. He

started the church. He wants to go visit

the church. And God said, "No, Paul, I

need you to go to Jerusalem, but you can

take just a little bit and give them

some final words." And so in Acts

Acts 20 · chapter mention

chapter 20, we have recorded for us

Paul's message to the church of Ephesus.

these final words to a flourishing

church. I want us to take notice of it,

the last part of it this morning,

because if Paul's message was important

for the flourishing church in Ephesus,

it's important for a flourishing church

in Hillsville. If go if Paul's message

was so important for the church of

Ephesus that not only did God allow him

to take the time, stop off, and give

them this message, he also recorded it

for us in the book of Acts. Not every

message Paul preached is recorded for

us. But this one is. Not every speech

Paul gave is recorded for us. But this

one is. Why? Because it's important for

the church today. Just as important

today as it was for the church of

Ephesus then. I want us to take a look

at it. Last week we started with four

applications from Paul's example. Paul

spends a great deal of time talking

about his example of ministry and how he

ministered when he was in Ephesus.

Here's review. Here's the four points.

Paul said, "Be servant-minded." In verse

19, Paul said, "Be salvation focused."

In verse

21, Paul says, "Be surrendered." In

verse 22 and verse

24, and then in verse number or in verse

number 26 and 27, Paul says, "Be

scripture centered. Stay on the Bible."

Now, Paul is going to shift in verse

number 28 to a more commanding tone. And

I think you'll recognize that

immediately. And I want us this morning

to consider just two more applications

from Paul's not not so much his example,

though he's still going to talk about

himself, but now he's giving

exhortation. He's going to shift from

his example to exhortation. He's going

to give us two more applications to look

at. Final words for flourishing church.

What do you tell a church the last time

you talk to them? What do you tell God's

people if you don't want them to forget

anything? What do you want them to take

with them? What do you want them to

know? Number one, Paul said, "Be

steadfast.

Be steadfast. Look at verse

28. Take heed. Paul says, "Take heed,

therefore." Now, notice the therefore.

Whenever you find the word therefore in

the Bible, you want to look and see what

it's there for. Okay? It's all it's

usually, most likely, it's a connection.

It's connecting the context to the text.

It's connecting what is being said to

what has been said. So Paul is saying in

light of what I've already told you for

us today, in light of what we preached

last week, take heed. Take heed

therefore unto

yourselves and to all the flock over

which the Holy Ghost hath made you

overseers to feed the church of God,

which he hath purchased with his own

blood. For I know this, that after my

departing shall grievous wolves enter in

among you, not sparing the flock. also

of your own selves shall men arise

speaking perverse things to draw away

disciples after them. What a shame. Paul

said, "Therefore," again, there's the

word, "Therefore, watch and remember

that by the space of three years, I

cease not to warn everyone night and day

with tears." Paul begins his

exhortation, "Church, here's what I want

you to know. Be steadfast. Church,

here's what I want you to know. Don't

quit on God. Don't quit keeping yourself

pure. Don't quit protecting the church.

Don't quit preaching the word. You have

got to be steadfast. You remember for

three years I labored night and day with

tears. For what purpose? To keep you

steadfast. To ground you in the faith.

To help you understand what was

important. Now you have got to hold on

to those things which I've taught you.

be steadfast. Now, I understand that in

the context and and in the most literal

sense, Paul is speaking not to church

members, not to lay people. He's talking

to the pastoral

staff. He's talking to the

elders. This admonition, this

exhortation comes first to me. This

exhortation goes first to the pastors

that are in standing in pull pits all

across America this morning. This

exhortation went to the

elders, but I think we'd be foolish to

assume it wasn't applicable to the lay

people as well. You see, I'm not the

church. And really, you're not the

church, but together we make up the

church. We are the church when we are

together. The church is not the

building. The church is not the pews.

The church is not the carpet. The church

is the people. It's you and it's me. And

so we have to be steadfast together. And

if we come together and heed the

exhortation of the apostle Paul and say

I will be

steadfast then God will bless and

continue to flourish a church. Let me

give you a few things. How can we be

steadfast? How are we to be steadfast?

Let me give you a couple of ways. Number

one, purify

yourself. He said in verse 28, take heed

therefore therefore unto what's the next

word? Take heed therefore to the person

across the aisle from you. Take heed

therefore unto the person sitting in

front of you. Take heed therefore to the

person who isn't here any longer. Take

heed therefore. What's he say? He

doesn't say any of that. What's he say?

Take heed to

yourselves. Hey. Hey church, you got to

pay attention to you. You ain't got to

worry about their faults. You ain't got

to worry about their problems. You ain't

got to worry about what they've been up

to all week. You ain't got to worry

about where they're at. you worry about

you. We don't need people gossiping

about what they did. We don't need

people murmuring about what she did.

What we need is church people who will

examine their own heart. Take heed to

yourself. Take a look inside of your own

heart. How's your relationship with

Christ? Not how's Pastor John's

relationship. How's your relationship

with God? Not how's their relationship.

How's your relationship with? How's your

fellowship this morning? Have you spent

time praying for today's service? Have

you spent time making sure your heart

was clean and your heart was pure? Have

you made sure that there's the old hymn,

Nothing Between My Soul and the Savior.

I'm clean. I'm pure. I have taken heed

to myself. Paul said, "Gentlemen, if

you're going to continue to be a

flourishing church, it starts with the

pastors, right? It has to start at my

level. I'll take responsibility for

that. It has to start at my level, but

it has to continue to your

level. We have to purify

ourselves. Are we clean? Are we pure? Is

there sin in our life? Bible tells us in

first Peter chapter 5 and verse number

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

eight, "Be

sober. Be vigilant because your

adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion,

walketh about seeking whom he may

devour." There's an enemy that is after

your life. He's after your family. He's

after your emotions. He's after you.

He's after this church. He's after this

pastor. He's after every single person

who wants to do good and he's trying to

do good in their life. We were talking

this morning in prayer meeting. There

was a couple who were supposed to be

here this morning. They woke up sick

today and I said, you know, I don't know

how many times I've heard the same thing

or similar things. Somebody finally

decides I'm going to go to church.

Somebody finally decides I'm going to do

what's right. Somebody finally decides

I'm going to try and and live for the

Lord. And guess what? They wake up and

they're sick. Their water heater's

broken. Their car's broke down.

Something always happens. Why? Because

there's an adversary. There's an enemy.

There's somebody out to destroy this.

Paul wouldn't have looked at these

church leaders and said, "Take heed to

yourselves if there was nobody out there

trying to destroy them. But there is an

enemy. There is someone who wants to

destroy everything about God and

everything about the gospel and

everything about the church. And so, we

must take heed. We've got to be on

guard." That's what that word means.

Take heed means on guard against the

vices of the devil. The devil wants to

distract you, discourage you, defeat

you, and eventually he will destroy you

if you allow him to. He will use your

flesh, your faults, your failures, and

even your family at times to get you off

course. So, we've got to put up some

guards. We've got to put up some

barriers and say, "Devil, you're not

going to get to me. Devil, you're not

going to get to my family. Devil, you're

not going to get me out of church.

Devil, you're not going to get me to act

out of the spirit. Devil, I am going to

put up some boundaries. I'm going to

guard against. I'm going to take heed to

myself. Give no place to the

devil. Don't be angry. Just don't do it.

Can I Can I meddle for just a moment

this morning? Don't be angry. Take heed

to yourself. Don't be bitter. Take heed

to yourself. Guard against it. Don't be

envious. Guard against envy. Don't be

prideful. Put up some barriers. Pray for

humility. Don't be immoral. We've got so

much lust and sexuality and immorality

in our country. Don't do it. Put up some

barriers. Put up some guards. Devil,

you're not going to get me cuz I know

you're trying. Don't be lustful. Don't

be selfish. Don't be self-centered.

Don't be lazy. Don't be mean-spirited.

Put up some guards and say, "I'm going

to guard myself." Take heed to yourself.

Take heed to yourself. Guard your

spirit. Feed the spirit of God. Don't

feed the flesh. Feed the spirit. Paul

talks about that in the epistles. Feed

yourself. Guard against the attacks of

Satan. Okay. What am I supposed to do?

How can I be steadfast? Paul, you're

saying be steadfast. Take heed to

yourself. How can I do it? Number one,

purify yourself. Number two, Paul said,

protect the

church. Purify yourself. Number two,

protect the church. Look at verse 28.

Look at the

text. He said, "Take heed unto

yourselves." And then look at the next

phrase. "And to all the

flock over which the Holy Ghost hath

made you

overseers to feed the church of God

which he hath purchased with his own

blood. You and I are to protect the

church." Now again in context, who are

we talking to? Paul directly is talking

to pastoral leaders. He's talking to

pastors. He's talking to elders.

This responsibility falls on myself and

other pastors around the country first

and foremost. And sadly, we've got a lot

of pastors not doing a very good job of

it. Thankfully, we have a lot of pastors

who are doing a very good job of it. But

we it it's our responsibility. Protect

the church. Protect the church first.

But there's application for you, too.

Why would we protect the church? Let me

give you three reasons why we ought to

protect the church. Number one, the

church is valuable.

The church is valuable. In verse number

28, the last line of the verse, the

Bible says, which talking about the

church, which he hath purchased with his

own

blood. Now, my study this week, and I I

may have overlooked something, but in my

study, I don't find anywhere in the

Bible where the Bible talks about God's

blood.

You'll find the Bible talk about the

blood of Christ, the blood of Jesus.

Except in this passage, the Bible says

his own blood, God's

blood. Well, how did God bleed? He bled

through Jesus

Christ. There are doctrines and there

are false doctrines that will try to

teach that Jesus was not God. Jesus was

only half God. Or Jesus was not at all

God. And I want to tell you this

morning, we believe Jesus was God. Jesus

is God. I heard a statement this morning

watching a a preacher preach. I I heard

this statement. He said, "Jesus is not a

reflection of God. Jesus is the

revelation of God. Jesus is God. When

Jesus died on the cross, it was almighty

God shedding his blood on your and mine

behalf." So when we read the text this

morning and it says the church of God

which he hath purchased with his own

blood who bled who died Jesus Christ the

revelation of God in the flesh bled and

died on Calvar's tree why for you and me

he bought the church he bought this

place he bled on Calvary so that we

could belong to him we are valuable this

morning not because of who we are but

because of who who we belong to. John F.

Kennedy had a rocking chair. Just a

normal rocking

chair. It was a a golden corral or a

Cracker Barrel rocking chair, right?

Y'all like those rocking chairs if you

sit outside and wait on your food to get

ready. So we John F. Kennedy had a

rocking chair. Normal rocking chair,

plain rocking chair, not an expensive

rocking chair. When he died, they

auctioned off the chair. The chair sold

for nearly half a million dollars.

Why? Not because of the chair, but

because of who the chair belonged to.

You see, ownership gives you value. This

morning, we are nothing in and of

ourselves. This little white church,

these pews, this pastor, these people,

we are nothing without belonging to

Jesus Christ. But Almighty God looked

through time and he saw a little white

church in Hillsville, Virginia in the

year 2025 and he said, "I want those

people. So, I'm going to shed my blood.

I'm going to give my life. I'm going to

make the sacrifice so that I can

purchase them with my life so that they

can have value." What a glorious truth.

The church is valuable. We've got to

protect it because it's valuable. Not

only because it's valuable, but it's

also

vulnerable. Look at verse 29 and verse

30. For I know this, Paul says, that

after my departing shall grievous wolves

come in among you, not sparing the

flock. Also of your own selves shall men

arise, speaking perverse things to draw

away disciples after them. Verse 29,

Paul says there's going to be attacks

from without. Verse 30, Paul says

there's going to be attacks from within.

But Paul said, "Hey, you've got to

protect the church because it's

vulnerable." There are people who will

try to come in from the outside and they

will distort doctrine. They will

distract from good preaching. They will

try to get people out of church. They

will do everything they can to destroy

the work. You've got to protect the

church. You got to protect it because

it's vulnerable. We live in the social

media age and I don't think that

Christians are any more vulnerable than

they have ever been right now because of

how accessible false doctrine is. You

get on there and you start watching

YouTube preachers and Tik Tok preachers,

and there's some good ones out there. I

can give you some recommendations.

They're not all bad. I don't mean to say

that, but a lot of them are. And they

just get on there and they post

something so that they can get more

people to click. They post something

that's not Bible. It's not truth. It's

false teaching. Here's what happens.

People begin to watch that. They like

this guy's personality. They think he's

interesting to listen to. Oh, yeah. This

list looks pretty good. That actually

makes sense. Well, it makes sense

because you don't know your Bible. And

so, yeah, that that seems pretty good.

And so, they lock it away in their mind.

They come to church on Sunday. They

begin to talk to their pastor about it.

Do you believe this? The pastor says,

"No, that's uh we got a good Greek word

for that. Baloney. It's hogwash. It no,

get it out of here. It's not true." And

then they get mad at their pastor who

loves and cares and provides for them

and tries to protect them and they leave

the church because of somebody they've

never even met. attacks from without,

false doctrines that'll creep in and

destroy the work that God's doing. But

then Paul does, he doesn't stop there.

That's verse 29. In verse 30, he said

there's also attacks from

within. There's going to be some of you.

I I just got to picture this in my mind.

I don't know how many of them were

there. It just says elders, maybe three

or four of them, maybe more. They're

sitting at a table.

And Paul looks at them and says, "And

some of

you, some of the men sitting right here

with me are going to get distracted by

false teaching. Some of you are going to

get corrupted and distracted and the

devil is going to get your mind and the

devil's going to get you off on some

tangent and you are going to disrupt the

church of God." I bet you could have

heard a pin drop in that room as those

pastors said to me, "Me me? Well, I'm

serving the Lord. I'm I'm on staff at

the great church of Ephesus. I mean, not

me. Paul said, "Oh, yeah. Some of some

of you men right here are going to allow

false doctrine to creep into your mind

and into your heart, and you're going to

destroy the work of

God." We've got to be on guard. Protect

the church. It's valuable. It's

vulnerable. Number three, I'll mention

this one quickly, and we'll move along.

The church is victorious. Why do we

protect the church? We're We're still

remaining steadfast. Be steadfast.

Purify yourselves. Protect the church.

Why protect the church? It's valuable.

It's vulnerable. Number three, it's

victorious. Look at verse

32. Paul said, "And now, brethren, I

commend you to God." He said, "I'm

giving you over to God. God's going to

take care of you. All we need is God."

He said, "I commend you to God and to

the word of his grace, which is able to

build you up to give you an inheritance

among all them which are sanctified."

Paul said, "Men, there is coming a day

when God is going to give you the

inheritance that he's promised. When the

church is going to be victorious, so be

steadfast. You stand strong. You protect

the church. You purify yourself because

there's an inheritance promised. There's

coming a day when you will get to

heaven. And if you fought a good fight,

if you finished your course, if you've

kept the faith, you'll be rewarded

crowns of righteousness, which you will

then be able to take in your arms and

humbly lay at the feet of King Jesus and

give him all the glory and all the

majesty and all the wonder that he

deserves. Paul said, "It's worth it to

stay steadfast because the church is

victorious." The church is victorious. I

want to notice just one thing, and I'm

moving on. But in verse number 32, we

could we could preach a whole sermon on

verse 32. I want you to just notice one

thing.

He said, "And now, brethren, I commend

you to God and to the

word." The what? The word of his grace

which is able to build you up. What

builds the church? What strengthens the

church? What allows the church to grow?

It's not a preacher. It's not a style.

It's not a song. It's the word of grace.

That brings me to number three. Purify

yourselves. Protect the church. Paul

said, "Preach the word."

Preach the word. You want to stay

steadfast, stay in the book. You want to

remain faithful, stay true to the word

of God. Just preach Jesus. He said in

verse 28, "Feed them the whole council

of God." Or in verse number 27, I'm

sorry, in verse 27, Paul said, "By my

example, I've not shunn to declare unto

you all the council of God." What do we

preach? We preach the whole council of

God. We preach all of it. Every word is

profitable for doctrine, for reprove,

for correction, for instruction in

righteousness, that the man of God might

be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto

all good works. The word of God, all of

it is good. I hear preachers sometimes

stand up and they say, "Take your Bible,

open it to anywhere you want because

it's all good." That's a good statement.

It is all good. You can preach any verse

you want. You can preach from any part

you want. It's all good. So, we preach

all the council. In verse 29, we feed

the church through compassion of spirit.

Paul said, 'I know this uh verse 31, I'm

sorry, I got my verses confused here.

31, therefore, watch and remember that

by the space of three years, I cease not

to warn everyone night and day with

tears. He said, I preached I preached

all the word. I preached the whole

council of God, and I preached it with

compassion. I preached it with tears.

And then you feed them uh the the

courageous hope of the gospel. And

that's verse 32. We will have an

inheritance. Paul's just saying, be be

steadfast, men. Stay

true. Purify yourselves. Protect the

church. Preach the word. Be steadfast.

Final words to flourishing church. What

does Paul

say? Paul says, "Purify

yourself. Protect the

church. Preach the word. Be steadfast."

Let me give you a second one. Final

words to a flourishing church. Paul

says, "Not just be steadfast." He says,

"Be sacrificial."

Now, I don't mean to say what I'm

getting ready to preach to you. I do not

mean to preach to you in anger. I am not

mad at anybody in here, but I just want

to show you what the word of God says,

and I want to let the word of God

convict your heart. Okay, y'all allow me

to do that? All right. Paul says, "Be

sacrificial." Look at verse 35. Paul

said, "I have showed you all things how

that so laboring ye ought to support the

weak and to remember the words of the

Lord Jesus." how he said it is more

blessed to give than to

receive. Now, what's interesting about

that phrase is that it's never found in

the

gospels. Nowhere in the gospels does

Jesus say it is more blessed to give

than to receive. But apparently at some

point in the life and ministry of Jesus

Christ, he said it's more blessed to

give than to receive. Because Paul tells

us in Acts chapter 20 that Jesus said

Acts 20 · chapter mention

it's more blessed to give than to

receive. And in my Bible, it's written

in red words, which means Jesus spoke

it. So Jesus is giving a truth. Paul is

repeating the truth that Jesus stated.

It's more blessed to give than to

receive. It is more blessed to sacrifice

than to take. There's two examples that

we find in our text and in the scripture

of sacrificial service to the local

church. Sacrificially giving of

yourself. I'm not talking about just

money. You can apply this to money. Uh

money, time, energy. Sacrificing. It's

more blessed to give. Give what? Give of

yourself. Give of what God has given

you. It's more blessed to give than to

receive. Let me show you two examples of

that. Number one, the Apostle

Paul, Paul lived his life in just these

previous verses, this same message, this

exact context. Paul is telling these

church leaders how he has sacrificed for

the church of Ephesus. I spent three

years there. I poured out my life. I

gave you everything I had. I wept over

you. I preached the word to you. I

discipled you. I did everything I had. I

gave sacrificially gave to the ministry

of the local church at Ephesus. But Paul

gave everything he had in his life. At

times Paul was supported by other

churches. At times Paul had to work as a

tent maker to make his ends meet and

just provide for himself. He was never

there to take from others. He was there

to serve others. He was there to

sacrificially give of himself to the

local church. Second example is Jesus

Christ.

We find that this verses we just

mentioned it a minute ago. Jesus bought

the church with his own blood. Jesus

gave his physical life up on Calvary in

order to purchase the church with his

own blood. Jesus hung on Calvar's tree

to buy you to purchase this place to

make this his church a great

sacrifice. Ephesians chapter 5 and verse

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

25 says husbands love your wives. How

are husbands supposed to love their

wives? Even as Christ loved the church

and gave himself for it, that he might

sanctify it and cleanse it with the

washing of water by the word, that he

might present it to himself a glorious

church, not having spot or wrinkle or

any such thing, but that should be named

holy and without blemish. Christ

sacrificed himself for the local church.

I'm done. I give you I'm going to give

you an application. We're going to pray.

All right, you ready? Here we go. Paul

spent his life, endured hardships,

survived shipwrecks, placed his life in

jeopardy, did without necessities of

life, spent time in prison, was stoned,

was beaten, nearly died, all for the

sake of the local church. Jesus Christ

gave his life, was mocked, was

ridiculed, was laughed at, was spit

upon, was beaten, was humiliated, was

nailed to a cross, was pierced through

his side, and was killed. All for the

sake of the local church. And Christians

today are the most self-centered,

selfish, bitter, lazy people on the

planet. Well, you want me to tell you

what that church did to me? I don't

care. Jesus died for it. forgive

somebody like Jesus forgave you. Well,

you you'll never understand how they

made me feel. It don't matter. How do

you think Jesus felt on the cross when

he thought about all the things you and

I would do to hurt him? The physical

pain, the emotional pain, the spiritual

pain. He gave everything he had for the

church. And we can't get people to show

up on a Sunday

night. And we wonder why our churches

are dying. Listen, Paul and Jesus and

the apostles all died for the church.

And now today, churches are dying. Why?

What makes a difference? They were

willing to sacrifice everything to see

the church go forward. And Christians

today want nothing. They don't want to

sacrifice anything. They want everything

to be handed to them. The church has got

to be comfortable. The church has got to

be the right temperature. It's got to be

just everything just perfect. It's got

to be my style. It's got to have my

preferences. It's got to sing my music.

It It's got to have pads on the pews.

It's got to, you know, whatever your

list is, if it don't check all the

boxes, it don't matter if it checks your

boxes. Jesus died for it. Paul died for

it. The apostles died for. Don't you

realize there's value in the local

church? Anyone who tells you that they

just can't go to church, they're saved,

but they can't go to church anymore

because of what the church did for them,

have an improper view of how much God

loves the church. Because if you loved

God, you would know how much he loves

his church. And you'd be there on

Sundays. Not just be there, but you

wouldn't just show up and walk in and

sit down and and and say, "Feed me

something, make my coffee hot, you know,

make sure everything's just right." No,

you'd come to church and you'd say,

"What can I do to help this place go

forward?

What can I do to make the gospel go

forward out of this place? Paul said,

Jesus said, "It's more blessed to give

than to receive." You walk into church

on a Sunday morning, on a Sunday night,

on a Wednesday night, on a Saturday

morning for outreach, on a on a Monday

night or a Tuesday night, or a Wednesday

night for revival. When you walk in,

what are you thinking about? Is it,

"Lord, I'm here to make myself feel

good." Or is it, "Oh, God, this is your

bride. This is the the one you died for.

This is what you gave everything for.

Oh, I'm so thankful that I just get to

be here. I'm so thankful that I just get

to have a place to go. God's blessed the

American church so so so much. He's

given us so many blessings. He He has

given us so many opportunities to share

the gospel. And sadly, a lot of them

never happen because the church is so

self-centered and self-focused and

selfish that we never think about

expanding the church once we get outside

those

doors. As a pastor, I say this as

lovingly as I know how. Getting church

people to do things at the church is

like pulling

teeth. Whoa. Whoa. The church is the

church is this there. I'll go on Sunday.

I'll be there on Sunday. As long as I

don't stub my toe Friday night. As long

as everything's good. I don't wake up

with stuffy nose. As long as uh you make

sure the temperature's good in the

building. And we go through our little

list and make sure everything's going to

be just right. And then as long as

nothing else comes up, then I'll I'll

show up on a

Sunday. But you better not ask for

anything

else. I'm not mad at nobody this

morning. I love you people. I love this

church. You know why? God loves it. And

I think if we realize how valuable this

place

is. We go all

in. It's going to be tiring. We've got

vacation Bible school two weeks. We're

going to be here every night till 9,

9:30, 10:00. We're going to be tired

out. We're going to have family fun

night. We're going to have God and

country Sunday. We've got so many things

coming up.

If you're getting involved and you're

serving in this church, you you already

understand. You've already felt it. You

say, "Pastor John, please take something

off the calendar. Slow down. I'm

tired. It's hard

work." Jesus gave everything he

had. If we gain one family from vacation

bible

school, every drop of sweat that we do

that whole week is worth it. If we see

one child truly get saved at vacation

Bible school, every ounce of labor that

we put in, every cent that we spend is

worth it.

Why? We're just giving what we have to

see what God will

do. This is his church. It's not my

church. It's not your church. You're not

going to like everything. I don't even

like everything. And I'm the pastor.

Just fall in love with Jesus and you'll

realize just how valuable his bride is.

It's not valuable because of you. It's

valuable because of

him. I think we're we're done. I don't

think I need to say anything else. I'm

going to let the Holy Spirit touch your

heart this morning. She's going to play.

While she plays, why don't you just pray

and say, "Lord, what would you have me

to

do?" I promise you this church, it's

more blessed to give than to

receive. It's more blessed to sacrifice

than to seek something for yourself.

Say, "Oh God, what would you have me to

do? How would you have me to serve?" It

doesn't have to be in a ministry. Sure,

maybe that's a possibility. It doesn't

have to be in a ministry. You can serve

when you leave today. Where are you

going to go to lunch at? Lord, what

would you have me to do at lunch? How

can I get the gospel to somebody

today? You're going to go out and about

on Monday and Tuesday. You're going to

be at the workplace on Wednesday. Lord,

what would you have me to do? I want to

give something to the church.

I want to give everything I

have because it's worth

it. Jesus owns it. He paid for it in

full with his blood. The least we can do

is serve him. If you need to come and

pray at an altar, you're free to do

that. She's going to play for a minute.

Let's talk to the Lord this morning.

[Music]