We Need A Bell | Pastor Earl McClellan

I am on location today.

Yes, here at our Dallas campus, I am outside and I am incredibly excited about what God has in store for every one of us.

If you're with us for the first time, you need to know you're already loved, that God has his hand on your life.

But today, for everyone who's in our church, you're brand new or you've been coming for a minute, people in Frisco and San Antonio and Oak Cliff, Bishop Arts, obviously our family in Dallas and Intigua, all over.

We're believing that God is going to meet you today.

And I'm believing that today is going to be a launching pad.

Today's going to be a day that you go from where you are to where God is wanting you to be.

Maybe not even just physically, but mentally and emotionally and definitely spiritually.

I have found we're living in a unique day where all of us, not all of us, but a lot of us seem like we're waiting to be discovered or we're waiting for that big breakthrough.

We're waiting for like that moment when my life kind of makes sense and everything comes together.

And can I tell you, you already had your breakthrough.

And you already have been discovered.

And this is this happened when you came into this world.

And whether you know your mom or not, or whether you have a great relationship or not, you were fashioned and formed by the God of heaven in your mother's womb, and your breakthrough was the day that you were born.

Your breakthrough was the day that you came into this world.

The day you were discovered was the day that God said, I know your name, and I have a plan and a purpose for your life.

So you're not waiting anymore.

You're not sitting back saying, God, I'm waiting for my big moment.

You're in your big moment right now.

Matter of fact, look at this in Acts uh chapter 17.

Uh, we've been in the book of Acts uh for the month of July, and I am loving it.

But in Acts chapter 17, uh verse number 24, it says, The God who made the world and everything in it, it is in it, is the Lord of heaven and earth, and does not live in temples built by human hands, and he is not served by human hands as if he needed anything.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

Man, I love that.

Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.

God is the one that has given you life and breath and everything else.

What's the everything else?

The job that you have, God gave that to you.

The family that you have, God gave that to you.

Some of y'all like, man, I wish God would take that family back.

Hey, but that's the family God gave you, the breath in your lungs, God gave it to you, the strength that you have, God gave it to you.

He did all of these things from one man, he made all the nations that they should inhabit the whole earth, and he marked out their boundaries, he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their land.

The apostle Paul here is telling them God is the one that designed when you would even be born.

He decided when you would be on this earth.

So even there might be some of us that have been battling and dealing with some really dark negative thoughts, maybe about even ending your life.

Can I tell you that God decided for you to be born and we don't want you to make the decision to end your life because God has more life that he wants you to live?

Can I tell you not to throw in the towel because God appointed you for this time, this day, this season, this moment?

And I'm praying today, like I said, it'd be a launching pad for you.

That your eyes would open up, your heart would come alive.

You would know you, you would know you're put on this earth for such a time as this.

I am here on location here at our Dallas campus, and I am underneath a bell tower.

Yes, I'm an actual real bell tower.

On July 1st of this year, I had one of the most important meetings I think I've ever had.

I wasn't the only one in the room.

My beautiful wife was there with me, along with uh all the staff that were 26 years old and under.

I don't know why I picked the age 26.

It just seemed like a good age.

So, all these babies, if you will, for those of us who are unks and aunties, I had them join me in this meeting.

I didn't know that it was going to be as strategic as it was in that moment, but it was a day that has marked my life, and a day that I believe I know marked theirs as well.

Sitting in that room at our Dallas campus, a 93-year-old man came walking in.

He had not a cane, but a walking stick.

Strong, like Moses, like Abraham.

He came into the room and able-bodied, sharp-minded, filled with so much love and faith and grace.

We sat there with him around the table as we all had lunch together.

And this was the man that actually purchased the land that our Dallas campus is on.

He found the land and helped give and provide the money for the building that our Dallas campus currently sits on to not only be purchased, but the building to be built.

93 years old.

Has lived a faithful life towards the Lord, towards his family for all of these years.

It was really quite remarkable.

Uh he's been was married for 65 years.

He talked about his wife.

Uh, she's since passed from this life into the next.

But man, the smile on his face when he talked about her.

It made me love my wife even more.

Uh, the connection that they had.

But but not only that, the meeting ended up happening because his daughter got word from him that he was concerned that the church that he had helped build and fund was no longer existing.

That years and years ago, that church has now moved on.

And there was another church there, and he just was a little bit concerned that the mission and the vision had somehow died.

His daughter, though, watching online and having attended uh Shoreline City a number of times, knew that was not the case.

She knew that Shoreline City was continuing to carry the man to lift up the name of Jesus Christ and to make it on earth as is as it is in heaven.

She knew that.

So she asked, Would you be willing, Earl, to sit with my dad, my 93-year-old dad, and share with him what God is doing through Shoreline City so he can know the sacrifices that he made so many decades ago have not gone in vain.

So we sat there and we talked.

We got to hear his story.

He shared some bars of wisdom with us, things like his grandmother told him, you can't stop the storms from coming, so you just need to learn how to dance in the rain.

How about that?

He also shared some warning signs with us.

He shared that the church that he was a part of began to die off when they stopped making it about Jesus.

When Jesus was no longer the center, the church began to crumble.

But that wasn't the only warning he gave us.

He also said when the church stopped tithing, he said that the blessing and the hand of God began to be removed from the church.

We're sitting there, the 26-year-olds and somebody who's double that age almost.

We're sitting there and we are overwhelmed with awe that this man is sharing with us the behind the scenes of all that God did in him and through him.

It made us stand taller, and at the same time, it also brought us to our knees.

It gave us a sense of awe and wonder, but it also gave us a sense of the fear of the Lord.

There was something in the room that we know was not just designed to be for us.

And as he was talking, he began to share the story about this bell that I'm sitting under.

Matter of fact, I'm gonna play the sound for you real quick.

All right.

So give me a chance.

I don't have remote control to play this bell, but let me see if we can all hear it at all of our locations.

San Antonio, Oak Cliff, Frisco, here in Dallas online.

See if you can hear this.

Hold on.

Do it again.

This this bell.

And the church bells began to ring.

And as the church bells began to ring, he saw the people begin to flood into the churches.

And in that moment, he stood there in the square.

He said to his wife, We need a bell.

The second he said those words, it hit my heart like a locomotive.

It was like Optimus Prime had transformed into the 18-wheeler, and it just hit me in my heart.

We need a bell.

We need a bell.

As he began to say that, I felt like God was saying to me and to us here at Shoreline City in our day, we need a bell.

We need a clear call for a number of things.

And God has dropped some things in my heart that I want to share with you right now, church.

So if you're taking notes and you're wondering what the title of today's message is, it's that simple.

We need a bell.

We need a bell.

Why do we need a bell?

First and foremost, it's to wake up the church.

To wake up the church.

Go with me to Acts chapter 12.

Acts 12 · chapter mention

In verse number four, we're jumping into the middle of the story.

It says, after arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each.

Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.

So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

I love that verse.

Verse number six the night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains.

And sentries stood guard at the entrance.

Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell.

He struck Peter on the side and woke him up.

Quick, get up, he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrist.

Peter here has found himself in jail, imprisoned for really preaching the gospel.

It was a political move by Herod.

He's seeing how putting these people who are following Jesus in prison and hurting them and persecuting them is actually giving him credibility with a whole nother group.

So he puts Peter in prison.

And as Peter is in jail, the good news is the church is still praying for him.

While Peter's in jail, the church is praying.

While Peter's in jail, the church is praying.

While Peter's in jail, the church is praying.

While Peter's in jail, the church is not complaining, the church is not running, the church is not scared.

While Peter is in prison, the church is praying.

And as they are gathered together praying, an angel of the Lord shows up in that cell, and the angel wakes Peter up.

And this is what I feel.

God is speaking to me and speaking to all of us.

Church, wake up.

Wake up, church.

We got our heads down and we're just stuck, and and many of us, it's for for real, really good reasons.

The pressures of this life are real.

The struggles that we're navigating are real.

The doctor's appointments are real.

The tears are real.

The weights that's on our shoulders, it's real.

The confusion about our future, it's real.

We have so many things going on with our kids or in our marriage or in our single lives or with our school or with our jobs.

It's real.

We're trying to figure out what the heck is going on.

No wonder we just want to go to sleep.

No wonder we just want to sit on the couch and just watch Netflix.

No wonder we just want to doom scroll.

No wonder we want to have brain rot and just watch the most random things and laugh for just a second and then scroll to something else to try to amuse us a little bit.

There's so much going on in all of our lives.

But in this day and age that we're living in, it is slowly lulling us to sleep.

And today I felt a call on my heart that we need a bell.

And as we sat there with this amazing 93-year-old man who's been faithful to Jesus and faithful to his wife and faithful to the church for all these years, I felt like he was saying to us, and he's saying to our entire church family, wake up.

I need you not to stay in your slumber.

I need you to say, Jesus, go ahead, poke me if you need to.

I'm in chains right now.

I feel like I can't move.

I'm not in the spot that I want to be in.

But go ahead, God, in the midst of a place I don't want to be in.

Wake me up in the midst of struggles and pains.

Wake me up in the midst of God.

What the heck is going on right now?

Wake me up in the midst of prayers that feel like they're going unanswered.

Wake me up.

I'm asking God that you would ring the bell in my soul that I would not go from my 20s to my 30s to my 40s, and I'd be sleeping that entire time.

I don't want to have to wait till I'm 93 years old to recognize that God's hand, God's hand has been on my life.

I want to know it right now.

So, God, in my teenage years, God, in my young adult years, God, in this single season, God, while I'm engaged, God, while I am married, God, while I'm still fighting through and trying to figure out who you are even in my life.

Wake me up right now.

We need a bell.

Can I say this?

Uh where's my phone?

Toss my phone real quick, please.

Throw it to me.

I can catch you.

Thank you.

Okay, uh we need a bell.

On my phone right here.

You got this too.

I think they have these on Androids too, which is an alarm clock.

Oh, you got one.

So all of us use bells for different reasons, right?

Usually the bells now are used for our uh for alarm clocks.

This is early rising.

Can you hear that?

Okay, um, I got another one here.

What is this one?

Oh, first light.

That's pretty.

This is actually what I use to wake up.

This is this is mine.

Mine is bird songs.

This is how I I wake up most mornings.

Birds chirping.

Onika hates it.

She hates it.

She's like, girl, turn off those birds.

If she even hears it.

Because your girl is out.

She takes that Zertek at night.

She's out.

Um, this one has a lot going on with it.

Bright eyed.

I don't know.

It starts off kind of normal.

This one kind of, I don't know.

Somebody was high when they did this one.

It's got a whole xylophone, and I don't know, I don't know what this one is.

Right now, we tend to use our bells to wake us up.

Alarm clocks, notifications.

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

This is the thing that most of us use to wake up, to set our reminders.

Uh, even with uh Summer Strong that's happening right now.

We've got all these great summer parties that are happening.

If you've not been a part of one, I want you to either lead one or attend one, but don't just sit on the sidelines.

But these group meetings are popping off, and there's so hundreds, thousands of people in the group meetings.

And I was talking to some folks a couple weeks ago, and they were like, man, we had to turn off our notifications.

I I mean, our phone was just buzzing, buzzing, buzzing.

People like, we're meeting here, we're meeting there, we're doing this, we're doing that.

I absolutely loved it.

But with all of these notifications that are happening, the idea is wake up.

I'm trying to get your attention.

I'm trying to let you know it's time not to just stay horizontal.

You gotta get vertical.

You gotta get up.

So the angel comes in and hits Peter on the side and woke him up.

And I was praying that the Holy Spirit would just do that for all of us.

Even those of you who have been in church for a minute and have kind of gotten used to the routine, and you're kind of taking worship team for granted, or kids' ministry team for granted, or host or valet and parking team for granted, and just kind of go, oh ho, hum, whole, hum.

I go, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Listen, listen, don't take it for granted.

Don't take it for granted.

Sweating a little bit out here today.

Don't take it for granted.

Wake up.

Wake up.

But not only do we need a bell for the church to wake up, I think the bell is also an announcement to the world.

Welcome home.

We're open.

We're here, world.

Yes, it's an announcement to the church for sure.

But it's also an announcement saying, hey, everybody who's driving down the highway right now while I'm talking.

People that might not even be thinking about church, Jesus.

They might not even be thinking about anything of consequence, or maybe they're navigating some of the most intense seasons of their life and they're doing it all alone.

These are the people that you're working with, and these are the people that were around in our coffee shops and in our neighborhood.

These are the people that when we ring the bell, we're saying, come on home.

We don't need you to just wander around in life all by yourself.

The church was never designed to be a place that was, uh, as some would say, us for and no more.

That was never our our dream, our desire.

The church was built and designed to be a place that's an oasis for the hurting and the broken.

I'll tell you something I love about our church.

I love that I still hear people cussing in the lobby.

Now, I want to make sure it's not my wife, but she doesn't cuss.

I love that we still have people that they don't quite know what's next.

What do I do next?

What what's what's this song?

Uh do I stand up now?

Do I sit?

W what do I wear?

Am I gonna fit in?

I I'm glad we have these people because these are the people that make us stay on our knees and We are reminded that there was a day that I was that person and I didn't know the songs.

But still somebody came and sat next to me, or they walked up to me and they said, Hey, what's your name?

What's your story?

You want to come to my Connect group?

You want to go out to lunch with us?

There was a day, and the day is now that you and I are the ones that continue to remember the one.

That when when I bring a brand new friend to church, I want to make sure we're not looking at them sideways.

Like, why are you dressed like that?

And why are you talking like that?

And why do you look like that?

And where are you from?

And why are you driving that?

That whether they are the richest of the rich or the poorest of the poor, when they come to Shoreline City Church at any of our locations, we are saying the door is wide open for you.

Welcome home, just as you are.

And then we trust the Spirit of God and the Word of God and the people of God to help that person become who God is calling them to be.

And yes, salvation happens in a moment, but man, the transformation of a mind happens over a lifetime.

We gotta give people grace to keep on growing.

But it's an announcement.

Hey, world, come on home.

I'm just telling you.

We need a bell.

We need a bell.

With all the brokenness and dysfunction and wars and rumors of wars in our world, we need a bell.

Maybe we're living in a day with more perversion and brokenness and dysfunction than any generation has ever had.

We need a bell.

We need a bell that will that will ring louder than porn and ring louder than shame, and ring louder than hate, and ring louder than divisiveness, and ring louder than rage and anger.

We need a bell that will drown out the sound of all of these things that are trying to choke the life of the church and say the church is against the world.

No, we're not in the we're not of the world, but we're still in this world to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

We need a bell.

We need a bell that will go, that will that will ring so loud that when people hear it in the midst of whatever sin they might be in, when they see when they hear this bell, they don't hear shame, they don't hear hate.

What they hear is just a place for me.

What they hear is just a place I can come home.

What they hear is just a place that will roll out the red carpet and love me just how I am, and then love me to whom God is calling me to be.

We need a bell in this generation.

We don't need a bell that's gonna say, hey, leave, hey, get perfect, hey, get everything together before you ever come here.

That's not the way of Jesus when you read the gospels.

You see Jesus sitting with the sinners.

You see Jesus around the broken.

You see Jesus with those who need a doctor because he came to heal the sick.

So, church family, go ahead and invite every single friend you have.

Invite all the ones that think they will make the church cave in on itself.

Invite the ones that used to be in church years and years ago, but they decided to leave because they saw so much brokenness and perversion.

Go ahead and invite them and let them know that it's a place that's not perfect, but we're lifting up the one who is perfect, and his name is Jesus.

And as we lift Jesus up, he's gonna draw men and women unto himself.

We don't have a name here in Earl or Shoreline City or whatever campus you're a part of or your campus pastor.

We're not trying to lift up any of those names.

We are lifting up the name of Jesus.

And as we lift up the name of Jesus, it's the name that demons shudder and flee at.

So go ahead and ring that bell.

Ring that bell and let every demon know, let every devil know that there is a church that is coming after every single lost soul, every person from the east and every person from the west, from the north to the south, from Highland Park to Fair Park, from the custom home to a jail house.

I don't care where they're from or what they have navigated through life.

Let them know we need a bell that will shout all the way to the farest corner of the globe.

Jesus is alive.

He died for you, he rose for you, he's got love for you, and he wants to change you and transform you into who he's called you to be.

We need a bell.

We need a bell.

Come on, say at church, we need a bell.

Come on, we need a bell.

We need a bell.

We need a bell.

Yes, this bell is a is a wake-up call.

But it's also a a welcome home to the world.

Lastly, think of bell is uh is uh a reminder that it's time to go.

Yeah.

It's time to go.

It's time to go.

It's time to go.

Come on.

It's time to go.

What are you waiting for?

It's time to go.

I'm sure we got some UFC fans in our church.

When that bell rings, come on, it's time to go.

Let's go, it's time.

It's time, it's time to go.

I can't I can't sit in the corner any longer.

The bell just rang.

I came here to fight.

Let's go.

Let's go.

It's time to go.

It's time to go.

Now it's time to go.

It's time for me to engage with the call and the purpose of God on my life.

It's time to go.

If God's the one that designed for me to be alive in this day and age, then it's time for me to go.

Why am I just sitting back waiting?

The bell already rang.

Come on.

It's time.

It's time to go.

It's time to go.

Um, don't be mad at me about this.

You ever see uh ever see high school musical?

Yeah.

Sorry.

I've seen it too.

My our daughter has really, I mean, she became a high school musical fan.

I can't remember how this, I think she was with one of her aunties or something.

And one of her aunties just put her on a high school musical.

So now, you know, I've seen them.

I've seen them, and I can't unsee it.

Uh I think it's high school musical too.

And they're getting ready for summer.

Some of y'all are like, oh, you already wrote summer.

Summer.

Summer.

And the clock is ticking, ticking, ticking.

And then that bell rings, and boom, they go into their coordination and all their movements and spinning on desks.

I'm a better dancer than that.

I was just trying to, you know, do it, do a little something for you, but not intimidate you.

But in that moment, they're like, hey, it's time to go.

I want to share this with you from the book of Acts.

Go with me to Acts chapter 28.

Acts 28 · chapter mention

I'll show you something very interesting about this book.

Acts chapter 28.

Acts 28 · chapter mention

Verse number 31.

He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.

With all boldness and without hindrance.

That's the last verse of the book of Acts.

I want you to notice that there is no goodbye at the end of the book of Acts.

I want you to notice that there is no farewell.

There is no it's over.

There is no it's done.

It's as if the gospel writer Luke, when he's ending the book of Acts, is saying to the church, me and you, you're the next chapter.

The story continues on.

If there was no ending in Acts, that means you and I are still in it right now.

Are you living like you're part of this huge epic story?

Are you trying to be the lead actor in your own limited indie film?

You're invited into something bigger.

Something holy.

Something eternal.

We need a bell.

It's time for us as a church.

I'm in.

I'm in with my whole life.

I'm in with my hurt and my pains.

And I'm also in with my gifts and my talents.

I'm in with my time too, God.

I'm not trying to keep it from you.

Because I got my time from you.

So it all goes back to you anyway.

I'm in with my money.

I'm in with my friends.

I'm in with my job.

I'm in with my fears.

It's time to go.

We need a bell.

I'm so glad.

The strong 93-year-old man walked into the room that day.

And what I felt happened spiritually is he passed us a baton.

And as he passed us that baton, I'm holding it now.

We are holding it now.

And we're saying we don't want to drop it on our watch.

We won't be a church that makes us about anyone other than Jesus.

We won't be a church that leads with greed and selfishness.

Instead, we'll be a church that ties and is generous and puts God first.

We'll be a church that keeps on loving on people, everyone that God brings into our walls.

Online and in any location.

The ones we have now, the ones we'll have in the future.

Because it's time to go.

So we're gonna hold this baton like it actually matters.

And there will be a day that all of us will pass from this life into the next.

And before that day comes, maybe we'll be sitting in a room with some other 26-year-olds and we'll be reminding them of the faithfulness of God in our life.

And how we try to stay true to the call of Jesus.

Then we'll pass the baton on to them.

This is what we're in right now.

We need a bell.

I'm gonna invite up our worship teams right now.

And as they make their way up, I want us as a church to actually celebrate communion together.

Bring that over to me, please.

Thanks.

This is the most beautiful communion I've ever seen.

And it oughta be.

I didn't want just emotion today or motivation to be the thing that carries us and sustains us.

I love when God gives us injections of life and power that are inspired by the Holy Spirit.

I love that.

But there'll be a day you'll be tired, just want to sleep.

And I wanted us to be grounded in something much bigger than our emotions.

And that's the finished work of Jesus Christ.

So this bread represents his body.

And these grapes here turn into juice that represent his blood.

And I want us at all of our locations to sing a little bit together.

Then during this song, we'll take communion.

And may it ground us.

May it anchor us.

Not in our own gifts and talents, but in the finished work of Jesus Christ, in his death, burial, and resurrection.

That by grace through faith in Jesus, all of us have been made right.

And the going that we are in right now is not in our own strength.

It's empowered by his spirit.

And we're empowered by his spirit to be the church in the world and to live for the glory of God.

Why don't you bow your heads?

We reflect it on your body broke and we know that it is power in your blood that we are in power to wake up and keep the water that there is still wonderworking power in your blood.

We receive that today.

We believe in your blood today.

Oh, in one can wash, she wash, oh no.

Oh, it bleed on the biggest.

I can see it now, could have only been you say.

I know it was the blood.

Could have only said honey, honey, honey.

How shame is Harley I know it was the blood.

Could have only been we testify how she know it was the blood.

Could have only been your blood.

It's only by his blood.

It's only by his blood, and you might be hearing that today, and you might be like, Thomas, what do you what do you mean?

It's it's when Jesus died on the cross, his blood was spilt for you and for me.

So that all of our sins, all the things that we did that were good, and all the things that we did that were wrong, it covered all of it and washed it white as snow.

It's not about our performance, it's not about perfection, it's not about us striving to be the right person or earning our salvation.

Jesus paid it all on the cross for you and for me.

And as we're singing these words out, as we're talking about, like, there's a bell that we need, we need a bell to be ringing.

Maybe you felt like God was waking something up on the inside of you today, and maybe you feel like you know what?

I I was walking in my own path, but I feel Jesus calling me back home today.

And I want to rededicate my heart, my life to him, or maybe for the very first time, you feel Jesus is asking you to put him first, put him in the driver's seat of your life.

I want to give you an opportunity to let the blood pay for you.

And all you have to do is just say, Jesus, I'm putting you first.

And so with everyone, I just take a moment and close your eyes.

Just bow your heads.

We do this so that there's no distractions, but I just want you in this moment to just focus and fix your eyes on Jesus.

He loves you so much that he gave his life for you.

And so if you want to rededicate your life to Christ today, or you want to put Jesus first, maybe for the very first time, on the count of three, I just want you to boldly raise your hand up in the air.

One of the two three.

Just repeat this prayer out loud after me.

Say, dear Jesus, I ask you to forgive me of all my sins.

I admit I've made mistakes.

But today, I give you my heart, I give you my life.

Give me the power to live for you.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.