”Final Words to a Flourishing Church—Part 1” | Sun AM | Acts 20

[Music]

Take your Bibles and join me in the book

of Acts, chapter 20. This morning, I

Acts 20 · chapter mention

want to talk to you for just a few

minutes on what I believe will be part

one of final words to a flourishing

church. Final words to a flourishing

church. The church of Ephesus is doing

amazing. Paul spent three years at the

church of Ephesus pouring into these

people. He he spent a large num amount

of time making these relationships and

building friendships and really building

a church. And the city of Ephesus, this

city that could have ranged from 300,000

to 500,000 people living in the city of

Ephesus, this diverse population of

people. Paul spends a large amount of

time, three years in Acts chapter 19 is

Acts 19 · chapter mention

summarizes those three years or chapter

18. Paul is pouring into these

people and then Paul

leaves. God tells him it's time to go,

Paul. And so Paul leaves the church of

Ephesus and he travels in chapter 20,

the first few verses, Paul is traveling

some 750 miles. Obviously, that's taking

some time. as Paul's journeying, he's

admonishing, he's exhorting, he's

preaching the gospel everywhere he goes.

And now Paul's desire, I believe, would

be to go back to

Ephesus. But Paul's on his way back

home. His missionary trip is ended. He's

on his way back home. He's going back to

Jerusalem.

And if I was Paul, I'd want to go by

Ephesus. His route goes right near

Ephesus. It seems like a perfect place

for Paul to just hop off and visit with

some friends and visit with the family

of God that was there. This church since

Paul has left been doing wonderful

things, growing uh just exponential

growth, a flourishing church. Just God

is just blessing this church at Ephesus

and people are getting saved and people

are getting baptized and people want to

be discipled and they're having to hire

additional pastoral staff. They have m

multiple elders now coming into the

because they just can't keep up with all

the growth that God's giving this

flourishing church at Ephesus. If I'm

Paul, I'd want to go visit

Ephesus. But for some reason, God said,

"Paul, I don't want you to waste time in

Ephesus. I want you to go to Jerusalem.

Go straight to

Jerusalem." And so Paul is going to go

around Ephesus.

But while he's nearby, he's going to ask

that the pastoral staff, the elders of

the church of Ephesus, come meet him.

Here's what I kind of think of it like.

A few months ago, uh there was a

missionary, Brother Ken Fielder, was

coming through town. I had met Brother

Ken Fielder one time. I had texted him a

handful of times since that meeting. It

was a Saturday morning. I got a text

message from Brother Ken Fielder. He's

the director of a mission board. He

said, "Hey, Brother Tilly, I'm coming

through Hillsville this afternoon on my

way to a meeting and I have got a few

minutes extra time. Would you like to

get coffee with me and just let me

encourage you?" I said, "Absolutely."

And so he got here Saturday afternoon. I

went and we got coffee together, me and

Brother Ken and his wife, and we sat

there for a good hour, maybe hour and a

half, and we just talked and I poured my

heart out to him and he encouraged me

and we just had a good conversation. He

bought me a drink and just encouraged my

heart. He prayed over me. He prayed for

our church. He He said, "I don't have

time to go to service with you tomorrow.

I've got somewhere I've got to be, but

I'll take just a little while and I'll

pour into you a little bit." And then

before he left, he gave me money to buy

Esther a coffee and buy the kids ice

cream. And so I bought them stuff and

brought it all home. And he was just

there to be an encouragement, just there

to be a blessing. He didn't have a whole

lot of time, but he said, "I'll stop for

just a little bit." and minister to this

pastor. That's what I envision when I

read what we're getting ready to read in

Acts chapter 20. Paul says, "I've got to

Acts 20 · chapter mention

get to Jerusalem. I don't have time,

church of Ephesus, to come and minister

to you. I don't have time to do a

revival meeting. I I've got to get to

Jerusalem. The spirit has told me God

has led me. I'm on my way to Jerusalem,

but I've got I can get lunch with you.

Would you pastors come to Mileus and

meet me for a cup of coffee this

afternoon and let me give you some final

words?" Now, Paul understands this will

be the last time. I don't know why Paul

thought this would be the last time, but

he clearly indicates in the passage that

we're getting ready to read that this

would be the last time he ever comes to

the church of Ephesus. And from the

Bible, we have no record that he ever

returned. This was the last time he ever

spoke to this church. This was the last

time, last things he ever said to this

church, a flourishing church. Paul, what

are you going to tell them? The last

chance you have to talk to this

flourishing church. Paul, what are you

going to tell them? Paul, what are you

going to say to them?

Final words to a flourishing church.

This morning we've gathered together as

a flourishing church. We've seen the

evidence of that this morning as we've

sang the praises of God and we see the

baptisms and we add the new members and

we see all that God is doing in our

little country church. We don't have

500,000 people in Hillsville. We've got

about 5,000 people in Hillsville. But

God is still building a church even

right here. This is a flourishing little

church that God has established, that

God is building. I wonder if the Apostle

Paul had just a little bit of time and

he could come to this church and give us

some final words, what would he say?

What would he say to Bethl Baptist

Church in Hillsville? I don't know for

sure, but I kind of think it would be

similar to what he told the church of

Ephesus. I want to show you Paul's final

words to a flourishing church. I've got

five or six points this morning. I'm

think I'm just going to give you the

first three or four and we'll come back

next week and do part two. There's a lot

of powerful uh meaning and application

behind

Paul's sermon to the church leaders of

Ephesus. And he's giving them this

sermon. He said, "Take it back to the

church. Teach it to the church. This is

the kind of church." Final words to a

flourishing church. Paul, what are you

going to tell us? If Paul's message was

important to the flourishing church in

Ephesus, it's an important message for

the flourishing church in Hillsville. We

need to apply these things, take these

things to heart. Listen to what the

Paul, Apostle Paul has to say. I've

split Paul's sermon into two sections.

The first half is Paul's example. The

second half is Paul's exhortation. I'm

not going to get to exhortation this

week. I can already tell you, but I want

to look at the example and I'll just

give you a few things. How Paul, what's

your words? Final words of flourishing

church. Paul, what are you gonna say?

Write down number one. He said, "Be

servant-minded." Be servant-minded. Look

at the text in verse

number 16. I'll begin reading. For Paul

had determined to sell by Ephesus

because he would not spend time in Asia.

For he hasted if it were possible for

him to be at Jerusalem the day of

Pentecost. And from Mileus he sent to

Ephesus and called the elders of the

church. And when they were come to him,

he said unto them, "Ye know from the

first day that I came into Asia, and

what manner I have been with you at all

seasons." Now, help me here. What's the

first word of verse number 19?

All right, let's try again. Wake up.

Here we go. First word of verse number

19. What's the word? Serving.

Serving the Lord.

Paul said, 'You know, from my example,

when I came to Ephesus for the first

time, from the first day that I showed

up, my mission was to serve the Lord. My

mission was to serve you. I had an

attitude of

servantmindedness. Church of Ephesus, if

you want to continue to flourish, if you

want to continue to see God bless, if

you want to continue to grow, you have

got to adopt

servantmindedness. If our church desires

to continue to flourish, we must be

faithful to serve God first and one

another second. We are here to serve

each other. Here's the problem with a

lot of churches in America and around

the world today. We have in our modern

culture, in our modern church culture,

we have adopted the idea of consumer

church. meaning I come to church, I sit

on the pew if it's not comfortable, if

the coffee is not right, if the music's

not the right uh loudness, if the if the

seats aren't the perfect uh if the seats

aren't comfortable, if the temperature

is not just right, then I am going to

file my complaint because I'm here to

just enjoy myself. Consumerism church,

it's rampant all across our nation. It's

rampant around the world. I'm going to

come to church to be served. What we

need in churches is not so much

consumerism. What we need is people who

will be contributors. We don't need more

consumers in the church. We need

contributors in the church. What do I

mean by that? I mean people who will

show up to church on Sunday morning

looking for some way to bless the

church. Looking for some way to bless

one another. Looking for some way to

serve God who is worthy of our service.

Paul said, "You see my example. I came

to the to Asia. I came to the city of

Ephesus and from the first day that I

got there, I began to pour into the

city. I served each one of you. I served

the Lord. I was there to serve. I wasn't

there for myself. I wasn't there because

I had an agenda. I wasn't there to make

money. I wasn't there to get rich. I

wasn't there to get famous. I was there

to serve. And if we want to have a

church that flourishes today, we have

got to be a church that serves serves

God first and serves one another. We've

got to be a a people who will serve the

Lord. Now, look at the text. How do you

serve the Lord? Well, Paul tells him

exactly how he did it. And I think it's

a great example. Verse number 19,

serving the Lord. What's he say? With

all humility of mind. How are we

supposed to do this? Okay, I'm supposed

to serve. How am I supposed to serve?

Paul said, first of all, you serve with

humility. It's not about you this

morning. It's not about me this morning.

It's not about what I want. It's not

about what I feel. It's not about

Listen, a lot of people don't feel like

being in church this morning. You know

why I'm here this morning? Listen, there

as pastor, there are mornings when I

don't feel like coming to church. You

might not believe that, but it's true.

But you know what I do anyways? I go to

church. Partly because I have no choice.

If I don't show up, nothing's going to

happen. So, I have to be here. But also,

even if I didn't, you know, I'd still be

here. Why? Because I want to serve the

Lord. It's not about Pastor John. I'm

not here to make Pastor John feel good.

And I hope you're not here to make

Pastor John feel good. I hope you're

here today in a humble mind just waiting

to serve the Lord. Lord, I just want to

serve you. I I just want to come before

you humbly in humility. Oh, we get up

here and we sing and God's blessing our

music and and I love the songs that

we're learning and the songs that we're

singing and how we worship God and

praise the name of the Lord. It's

wonderful. But listen, we don't get up

here and sing so that you can applaud

us. We We don't get up here and sing so

that you can say, "Man, that church

really knows how to sing." Or maybe you

leave and say, "Man, they really don't

know how to sing." Whatever you leave

saying, it really doesn't matter to me

because it's not about me. You know why

we sing? Humbleness of mind. Just want

to praise him. I just want to worship

him. I just want you to get a glimpse of

him for a little bit. Humility of mind.

Notice the second thing though. How do

we serve? Serving the Lord.

Servant-minded. How do we be a

flourishing church? Serve. Serve. Serve.

Okay. How do we do it? Humility of mind.

And then Paul says with many tears. He

served with humility. And then he serves

with

compassion. He served with humility and

now he serves with compassion. And Paul

says, "I wept over the city of

Ephesus." Many

tears. Look down if you would at verse

number

31. Therefore, watch and remember, Paul

is still speaking. Therefore, watch and

remember that by the space of three

years, I ceased not to warn everyone

night and day with

tears.

Tears. Where are the tears in our

churches today?

Where are the tears for our families?

Where are the tears for our community?

We we have this idea that church is all

about me and we come to church and if we

focus on me and when when will we start

focusing on church being about them? One

of the things I'm trying to do in our

church is let our community know that

our church is there for them. I can't

tell you the amount of times I've

invited someone to church to come to

church here and they say, "I'm so glad

that you're doing that. That's such a

wonderful thing. I'm so glad you're

pastor in that church. I'll be praying

for you. If you need anything, let me

know. And I'm thankful that they say

that. Oh, don't don't don't get me

wrong. I'm thankful that they say that,

and I'm sure they're well-meaning, but

they don't

understand. It's not about them helping

the church. The church is here to help

them. I don't want them to come to

church so I can boost my ego and feel

good about myself. I want them to come

to church so that I have an opportunity

to open the word of God and pour into

their

life.

Compassion. Compassion. We've we've

corrupted what church is meant to be. If

we're going to be a flourishing church,

if we're going to continue to see God

bless, we've got to be a church that's

willing to weep for lost

souls. Have you ever woke up with tears

on your pillow?

fall fall asleep crying. Cry yourself to

sleep. We've got little toddlers. They

do this from time to time. Mom and dad

ignoring them. They just sit in there

and cry and cry and

cry. We're not bad parents, okay?

They've got to

learn. It seems like we outgrow

that. Little Tucker, little Callie in

their room. Tucker's pretty much

outgrown it now. But Callie, she she

does it from time to time. She'll be in

there and just tucked up in her little

bed just crying and crying and she'll

start calling mama da da

mama da. And as earthly parents, we

ignore her because she has to go to

sleep. But you know what I'm thankful

for tonight? You lay your head on your

pillow

tonight and you cry out,

"Father, father, my

kids, they're not right with

you." Guess who's going to come? Comfort

your heart. Maybe even minister to your

child.

Father, I don't know how to reach this

community. I I don't know how to reach

my co-workers.

Lord, I know that there are people that

are unsaved and they need the gospel. I

don't know how to share it. Father,

help. Guess what? Your heavenly father,

he won't ignore

you. He comforts your heart. He gives

you

wisdom. And he might just open the door

for you to share the gospel with

someone. Paul said, "I ministered to you

with tears, compassion." Do we have

compassion for our community? Look at

verse

19. There is humility. There is

compassion. And then he says, "Serving

the Lord with all humility of mine, with

many tears and temptations which befell

me by the lying and weight of the Jews."

There were

temptations there. There were trials.

Did you know that the Apostle Paul had

some 195 scars on his body from the

beatings that he has taken? They they

killed him outside of

Lististra. They thought he was dead.

They stoned him to death. And it was

only by the miracle power working of God

that Paul was able to continue his

ministry over and over. We don't know

how many times Paul was shipwrecked. He

just said it was a lot of times I was

shipwrecked. There were people waiting

on him just before this just before

coming through Mileus. There were people

Jews waiting for Paul to get on a boat

so that they could throw him overboard

when they got in the middle of the

Mediterranean Sea because they want to

kill the Apostle Paul for him preaching.

Paul said, 'There have been many trials,

but I served with

dedication. I didn't give up when the

going got tough. I didn't quit just

because it wasn't comfortable anymore. I

kept on serving God. I kept on praying

over you. I kept pouring into you. I

kept ministering to you. Yes, there was

tough times. And guess what, Paul? It's

going to get tough again when Paul gets

to Jerusalem. Those same dudes who were

on the boat and wanted to throw him

overboard, they're waiting on him when

he gets to Jerusalem. He's going to end

up getting beaten. He's going to be in

prison. It's not going to end. But Paul

says, "Fellas, if I can tell you

anything, church leaders, if I can tell

you anything, go back to Ephesus and

don't give up. You just keep on praying.

You keep on preaching. You keep on

serving the Lord with all humility of

mind." He said, "That's what I've done,

and God has blessed the ministry."

Number one, if we're going to be a

flourishing church, we must be

servantminded. Number two, be salvation

focused. Salvation focused. Look at

verse number

21. Paul says to these men, this

pastoral team, he said, testifying both

to the Jews and also to the

Greeks, repentance toward God and faith

toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said,

'You can take from my example that if

you want to be a flourishing church, you

have got to be a gospel preaching

church. When I came to Ephesus, I

preached to everyone. What people does

Paul clarify that he preached to? Just

the Jews? It's not what he said. Just

the Gentiles. It's not what he said. He

said to the Jews and the Gentiles.

Everybody I came in contact with,

everybody I communicated with, I was

preaching the gospel. I didn't

discriminate on nationality. I didn't

discriminate on the way they looked or

how much money they made. I just shared

the gospel. The gospel is good for all

people. And a church that wants to be a

flourishing church must be a church that

preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ. If

we want to see God continue to do what

we got to praise him for doing this

morning, we have got to continue

preaching Jesus saves. Jesus saves.

Jesus saves. Well, we've got to preach

it not just from the pull pit, but

you've got to preach it in the

workplace. You've got to share the

gospel with people through your life,

through the way that you live, through

your testimony. Share the gospel. Paul

said, "I told everybody." What did he

tell them? He said, "I I preached

repentance." If you understand

repentance, you understand that with

repentance comes an

accusation, right? You can't repent from

something you didn't do.

So when Paul says, "I preached

repentance to them," what Paul is saying

is, "I told them they were all a bunch

of sinners and they needed to get right

with God." Paul said, "I I explained to

them that the first Adam sinned and by

one man now death has passed upon all

men in that all have sinned and come

short of the glory of God." Paul said,

"I explained to them that they would

never be able to measure up. That they

would never be able to pay their own

penalty. That they would never be able

to have eternal life. That they were

destined and doomed to an eternity in

hell paying for the sin that they had

done.

Unless they turned and placed their

faith and trust in Jesus Christ, unless

they repented of the wrongs that they

had done." He said, "I preach

repentance." But then he also said, "I

preached and faith toward our Lord Jesus

Christ." That's it. That's the gospel.

Repent of your sin. Place your faith in

Jesus Christ. Recognize you're a sinner.

Place your faith in Jesus Christ. Y'all

pray for

Tucker.

Tucker believes in Jesus. He knows the

gospel story. He knows the creation

story. He knows all the details. But if

you ask Tucker if he's a bad boy or if

he's a sinner, he says,

"Nope." I think Tucker wants to get

baptized so bad. I I mean this morning

and and last night we're getting every I

mean he wants to get baptized so bad.

And I say, "Tucker, you've got to get

saved. Do you want to get saved?" No. I

mean, he he understands it. He knows it,

but he's not a sinner in his mind. You

recognize repentance and faith work

together. You have to realize you're a

sinner. Recognize that you are sinful to

your core and that your only hope is the

finished work of Jesus Christ. And when

you come to that recognition and you

place your faith in Jesus and you say,

"Oh Lord, I just want you. I can't take

care of my sin, but I know you can. I

know you did on Calvary, so I'm coming

to

you." Salvation, gospel focused,

salvation preaching. Okay, we've got to

be servant-minded. We've got to be

salvation focused. Number three, I've

got time for two more. Number three, be

surrendered. Paul says, "Be

surrendered." You guys, final words.

This is what I got to tell you. You want

to keep being a flourishing church, you

want to keep being a church that God

blesses, you have got to be surrendered.

Paul said, "Take it from me." Look at

the text. Verse 22.

Paul said, "And now, presently, right

now, behold, I go bound in the spirit to

Jerusalem, not knowing the things that

shall befall me

there, say that the Holy Ghost

witnesseth in every city, saying that

the bonds and afflictions abide me."

Now, watch what he says in verse 24. But

none none of these things move me,

neither count I my life deared unto

myself, so that I might finish my course

with joy. and the ministry which I have

received of the Lord Jesus to testify

the gospel of the grace of God. Here's

what Paul tells these gentlemen, this

pastoral team. He said, final words to

the flourishing church of Ephesus. He

said, "Right now, guys, I can't come to

Ephesus today. I can't preach in your

church tomorrow because I'm bound in the

spirit to go to to

Jerusalem." Paul says, "The Holy Spirit

has led me to go to Jerusalem so I can

be there for Pentecost."

Paul said, 'I don't completely

understand it, and I've kind of got a

bad feeling about it. I I don't know

what's going to happen to me when I get

there. I don't understand, oh, all the

bad things that may come to happen. They

may come to pass. He said, "But even if

I

die, I have to go because that's what

God told me to do." You see, from the

example of Paul, Paul was surrendered to

whatever God wanted from him. It wasn't

Paul's idea. Paul's ideas didn't matter

anymore. But Paul's agenda didn't matter

anymore. Paul's schedule didn't matter

anymore. All that mattered for the

Apostle Paul was that he obeyed where

God had told him to

go. And he said, "Guys, this is my final

words." I think from the text and

looking at the the language of Paul,

Paul probably thinks he's going to die

when he gets to

Jerusalem. I mean, he probably thinks

this is

it. Now, Paul doesn't die when he gets

to Jerusalem. God's going to spare his

life. He's going to end up going to

Rome. But Paul Paul thinks this is it.

I'm walking into a trap. And in the

coming chapters, we're going to read

where there were some good Christian

people who gave Paul some good advice

and said, "Paul, don't go to Jerusalem.

It's not going to end well for you.

Don't go, Paul." And Paul will tell them

the same thing he tells these boys at

Ephesus. I got to go because I'm

surrendered to whatever God wants me to

do. A church, if we want to be a

flourishing church, we've got to be

surrendered to God's leading and God's

directing.

Can I tell you something? It's not about

what Pastor John

wants. It's not about what you

want. I get people telling me what they

would like to see in the church all the

time. Well, I we we should do this or we

should try that or you should start this

ministry. Not I don't know that I've

ever got a bad idea, but it just not

might not be God's

idea. It's not about what you want to

see. It's not about what you like or

what you feel like. It's not about what

I like or what I feel like. It's about

what Jesus tells us to do. The

ministries we start, we start because we

feel that God is leading us to start

that

ministry. The messages I preach, I

preach because I believe this is where

God wants us to be in the word of

God. I hope you're here today because

you're surrendered and you said, "Lord,

I want to be in church today." And I

know that's where you would have me

be. Are we surrendered to do whatever

God wants us to do? It's not about what

we want. It's not about what we like or

don't like. We get so hung up on style,

don't we? We get so hung up on style.

Can I just tell you, whenever somebody

says, "Pastor John, I like your style."

I just say, "What do you like about it?"

Because I'm getting rid of it,

right? I I despise the idea of being in

a box. I am not in a box. I'm in a book.

Whatever the Bible tells, that's what

we're going to do. I don't care what the

church across town's doing. I don't care

what the mega churches are doing. I

don't care what the popular churches are

doing. I want to do what God tells us to

do as a church. And if we're going to be

a flourishing church, we're going to

have to just stick to the book, stick to

sound doctrine, and be surrendered to go

whatever direction God leads us to go.

Otherwise, we will not have the blessing

of God on this place. Be surrendered.

Hey, what about you in your personal

life? Are you surrendered? Are you, as

Paul said, bound in the

spirit? Are you a slave to the Holy

Spirit? Meaning, whatever he lays on

your heart to do, you do

it. I don't know what the Holy Spirit

might be leading you to do. It's

probably different for every single

person and every single family in here.

Maybe God's laid on your heart a

ministry and you say, "I could serve in

this way, and I could do this to help

the local church." But you've been

fighting against that Holy Spirit,

saying, "I'm not ready yet. I don't I

don't know if it's time yet. I I just

would I God, I'm not against it, but I'm

scared to do it. And just follow the

Holy Spirit. Be surrendered. Do what

God's asking you to do. Be surrendered.

How about this? I'm going to step right

on your toes. Can I get real personal

for a

minute? You pull up to a McDonald's

drive-thru or whatever restaurant you

like, and the Holy Spirit touches your

heart and says, "Hey, you've got a track

in your door. You've got a church invite

in your door. You ought to give it to

the lady at the window. That thought is

not out of nowhere. You understand

that? Holy Spirit says, "You ought to

give it to her." And you say, "She don't

look very

nice. I don't think she'd like

it." And we begin to make every excuse

in the book why we can't be

surrendered. You think You think we're

good Christians. We can't even give the

lady in the window an invite to church

and a gospel track. Paul says, "I have

no choice but to go die. I'm going to

Jerusalem to die, but I will go because

that's what God told me to do." Oh, that

we would have the surrenderedness of the

Apostle Paul. And God will go wherever

you want. God will do whatever you want.

Bound in the spirit. Let me give you one

more and I'm done.

From Paul's example, Paul said, "I was

servant-minded. I was salvation focused.

Be surrendered." And then number four,

he said, "Be scripture

centered." Be scripture

centered. If your church is going to

flourish, you have to be scripture

centered. Look at the text. Verse

26. Wherefore, Paul said, "Wherefore, I

take you to record this day that I am

pure from the blood of all men." Paul,

why are you pure from the blood of all

men? For I have not shunned to declare

unto you all the counsel of God. Take

heed therefore unto yourselves and 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. Paul said, "Boys, you want your

church to keep flourishing, you better

get in the book. You better preach the

word of God. You better just stick to

what the Bible says. You don't need to

preach opinions. You don't need to

preach uh ideas. You don't need to

preach your own agendas. Just preach the

Bible. You don't need to preach

self-help. Just preach the Bible. You

don't need to make up sermons. Just

preach the Bible. Preach the Bible.

Preach the Bible. Preach the Bible.

Preach the Bible. Be

scripture

centered. May your church be a church.

May the church of Ephesus be a church

that loves the Bible, that gets into the

word of God every week and and you begin

to expound and exposit just what the

Bible says. You don't have to write

sermons. You just preach

sermons,

right? Just get in the

word. Pastor John, why is it every week

I'm done. We're finished. Pastor John,

why is it every week that you get up

here and you begin talking on the same

topic? I feel like every service, every

sermon you've preached in the last two

months, you've hounded on preach the

word of God. Preach the word of God.

Preach. Why are you doing that?

As I've studied through the book of

Acts, now I was convinced of this before

Acts, but as I've studied through the

book of Acts, I've become most

definitely convinced of this truth that

if there is any power in a

church, if God is doing anything in a

church, it is in the word of God

alone. Listen, did you know that the

devil can build churches, too?

You know that that

Satan can make a church big and give a

church money and and make a church

prominent and give a church TV time.

Satan has the power to do all of those

things. I'm not interested in any of

those things from

Satan. You look around the country

though and you see dotted across our

country little churches like ours that

God is blessing in his way and in his

time and they're flourishing. And as I

look at these churches, I find a common

theme through all of them. And it's the

same theme that I find all the way

through the early church in the book of

Acts. And it is this. They are preaching

the Bible. They are expositionally

walking through passages of scripture

every single

week. Our church is flourishing, I

believe, because of two things. The

prayers of God's people and the

preaching of God's word. That's

it. That's it. And if we can hold on to

those two

things, you keep praying and I'll keep

preaching and I believe God will

continue to flourish this

place. I'm passionate about preaching

the word of God as the word of God. I'm

passionate about preaching the word of

God for what it means and what it says,

not for what I want it to say. I try

really hard, and I'm not perfect. I've

done this, no doubt, and I will no doubt

do it again. But I try very hard to

never take a verse and just make it a

verse for me, take it out of its context

and make it say what I want it to say to

make me feel good that day. Friends,

it's not about what I want to feel. The

word of God is supposed to make me feel

uncomfortable. It's supposed to convict

of sin and righteousness. It's supposed

to show me what's true and not true.

And I get up here every single week and

I open the word of God and I begin to

preach the word of God because I am

convinced of this. It is this book that

will make the difference in people's

lives. If I can convince you of

something right now in this service, the

devil can use somebody to convince you

something else once you walk out of this

service. But if I take the word of God

and I preach truth to you as truth and

truth alone and you hold on to truth, it

doesn't matter what the devil does. It

doesn't matter what trials come. Doesn't

matter what persecutions come. It

doesn't matter what anybody's saying to

you. Doesn't matter what the world's

telling you. If you've got truth, you've

got something to hold on to. You've got

something to dig your roots

into when life gets tough and you need

some peace. You've got something that'll

give you peace. When you need comfort,

you've got something that'll give you

comfort. It's the word of

God. Paul said, "I've preached unto you

the whole

council. I I didn't pick and choose what

I wanted. I just preached the Bible and

I let the Bible do the work." The Bible

promises that it won't return void. This

precious, perfect, holy, righteous book,

it it ain't going to return void. If we

will preach the book, God will bless the

book. If we just preach it, God will

bless it. It's a

promise. So, you may like this, you may

not, but in this church, we're going to

stick to the

book. I'm not interested in in

entertaining you on a Sunday morning. As

much as I would love to be some dynamic

speaker who could get up here and make

jokes and just engage the fire out of

you and just make all of you laugh and

feel so good and happy on the inside. I

mean, there's part of me that would love

to do

that, but there's another part of

me, says, "John, that's a

trap." What they need on a Sunday

morning, on a Sunday night, on a

Wednesday night, what they need is the

truth of the word of God. It's the only

thing that'll change their life. It's

the only thing that'll help

them. So, I'm just going to preach the

book.

And if you ever get bored of Bible

preaching, I feel sorry for your

soul. I feel so sorry for

you. The Bible is never

boring. It's not a boring book. It's an

active and engaging book. It's full of

life. It's lifegiving. It's

motivational. It's helpful. It's

encouraging. It's convicting. But it's

never boring. Here's my heart and I'm

[Music]

done. I watch our church. I've seen God

work in our church. I see God growing

our church. I see people uh that God is

working in their lives.

And the half hasn't been told what God

can do in this place or what God will do

in this place. This right here is a

flourishing church. This morning, you're

here a part of a flourishing church. I'm

not just saying that because it's my

church. It's not my church. It's God's

church. But I am partial to this place.

Okay, maybe I'm a little partial. But I

promise you, God's doing something here.

It's a flourishing

church. But you know what keeps me up at

night is Lord, I don't want it to

stop. I don't want to be a flash in the

pan. I don't want you to bless this

place for just a couple months and give

us a good six months or a good year and

then and then we just fizzle out.

I want this place to keep

flourishing. I want this to just be the

beginning of what God is doing. I want

God to continue to bless and pour out

his spirit. And I want to continue to

see people get saved and get right and

join the church and be discipled. Not so

I can boast, but so that God could get

all the glory and the praise. Because

only God could do something like that.

But if we're going to be a church that

flourishes, we've got to stick to the

book. Here's what I want to do this

morning. Janet is going to go, you can

go ahead and go on back and get

ready. I

want before we end the service and we

celebrate once more, we're going to

baptize Miss Janet and it's going to be

wonderful. It's I'm so excited about it.

But before we do that, I want you to

take just a few moments and I wonder if

you would share the burden of this

pastor this

morning and pray for just a few moments

while she plays on the piano. Dear God,

keep flourishing this

place. Keep blessing this

place. Maybe you call this your home

church. Maybe you don't. It doesn't

matter to me. You can pray. I say, "Oh,

God, would you bless little Bethl

Baptist Church?" You know what Bethl

means? It means the place of the

presence of God. Oh, that we would live

up to our name. That the presence of God

would dwell

here. I want to be a church that's

flourishing. It doesn't have to be

numerical

growth, but I want to see some

growth, spiritual growth.

There's got to be some fruit. I want to

see people get saved. The only way that

happens is if God's people pray and we

preach the

[Music]

word. You take just a few moments today

and just pray for this place. If you

need to get saved, you can definitely do

that right now. Say, "Oh God, I need to

repent. I need to put my faith in

you." Absolutely. Why don't you do that

today? Get saved today.

If you don't remember a moment in your

life when you've ever called on the name

of Jesus, today could be that moment for

you. If you are saved, would you just

ask God to bless this

place cuz we need him.

[Music]