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It’s Go Time!
Luke 14:16 I thought about titling
this message “It’s Time to Go” but I was afraid you’d get up and leave.
But one thing is for sure:
We have reached a great crossroads as a church…we have come to the
STOP sign and paused for the cause.
We have looked right and left and considered God’s will, and now we
must not just sit and idle but we should rather put the pedal to the metal
and say it’s go time!
Isn't that the missionaries' job?
Yes, and we were left here to be missionaries.
I hope you'll go: across
the street, around the world, short term, long term.
Missions is a trip, and in our conference next week God is going to
call us all to go somewhere! Matthew 28:19
Go ye
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Mark
And he said unto
them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every
creature.
What are the first 2
letters of the gospel? GO! Psalm 126:6
He that goeth
forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with
rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
Nothing happens until we go!
Acts 5:20
Go, stand and speak in the
temple to the people all the words of this life.
Jesus said it, and
Jesus did it! Mark 1:38
And he said unto
them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also:
for therefore came I forth. Mark
Go home to
thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and
hath had compassion on thee. Matthew 13:3
And he spake many
things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to
sow;
Let’s went!
Many used to be in the habit of witnessing, but your get up
and go done got up and went!
I heard about a football
game being played on the home field. The home team was being smeared by the
visiting squad. Someone on the sidelines kept yelling, "Give the ball to
Calhoun! Give the ball to Calhoun!'' They tried another play, and again the
home team was smashed to the ground, losing valuable yardage. Again came the
cry, "Give the ball to Calhoun!'' After this happened two or three times
more, the familiar cry rang out again, "Give the ball to Calhoun!''
Then a tall man raised up from the
pile of human bodies on the field after the next play and responded,
"Calhoun don't want the ball!'' I am afraid this is true of many Christians
today. They do not want to carry the ball of evangelism.
They need to hear the cry of the
crowd in heaven cheering them on…that great cloud of witnesses in the
grandstands of glory urging us to run the race before we leave this earth.
They need to hear the voice of the coach as He calls the plays…the
coach is Jesus Christ—can you hear him: Luke 10:1
The Lord … sent
them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he
himself would come. [2] Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is
great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest,
that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. [3] Go your
ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. John 15:16
Ye have not chosen
me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and
bring forth fruit…
Luke 15:4
What man of you,
having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety
and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he
find it? Romans 15:25
But now I go
unto Galatians 2:9
… we should go
unto the heathen…
Acts 28:26
Go unto this
people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear… Acts
Then the Spirit
said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. Finally, look at our text: Luke 14:21 21 So that servant came,
and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry
said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the
city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the
blind. 22 And the servant
said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.
23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the
highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be
filled. In most cases the word
translated go is in what’s called the present, progressive tense…it means
literally: “as you
are going” But we need help, we need
structure, we need a plan! And
that’s what the church is now giving to you! Why did God leave us here
instead of whisking us away at salvation?
In order to take as many with us as possible! It’s go time!
It’s time to stop sitting still and go to work! The first phase of our plan
will take place in our Sunday School hour at 9:30 AM each Sunday. Each can
have a job: writing, making a
call or a visit, or being a greeter.
This is easy…it’s entry level, and it’s the least we can do. Now you’ll have to be
present to be a part of this first phase.
Don’t miss out on the excitement!
It’s hard enough to get many to come, or come regularly, much
less to go! We’ve got a great thing
going here as a church, and it’s high time we share it with our community.
Let me ask you: Is the
purpose of the fire company to put out fires, or to keep the fire truck
shiny and the fireman's uniform neat? There
is surely a need for both. There must be a balance between reaching souls
and caring for the saints, but to forsake one for the other must be
displeasing to the Lord. It's go time! Back to our text: v. 16 A certain man made a great
supper, and bade (invited) many''. Let's
go get them! Let's go out where they are and bring them in where we are.
But, whom shall we get? vv. 12, 13, 21b Maybe the poor people like
Bartimaeus; the rich people like Zacchaeus; religious people like Nicodemus;
sick people like the impotent man; wicked people like the woman at the well;
black people like the Ethiopian eunuch; working people like James and John
who were mending their nets; political leaders like Cornelius; the social
people like Lydia; and the little people like the children Jesus spoke of in
Matthew 19:14. The very occasion of this
parable is Jesus eating with sinners. joke Nowhere does the Bible
command the lost to come to church.
We are to go and bring them in. Where should we go to invite them?
Jesus said, "Into all the world.'' He also said, "Into the streets and
lanes'' (Luke 14:21), and "into the highways and hedges'' (Luke 14:23).
God is leading us to the thirsty, the
seeking, and the interested, and there are many…the fields are white unto
harvest!
II.
LET'S GO and INSTRUCT THEM
Jesus said, "Teaching them
to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you'' (Matt. 28:20). After
inviting folk, we must then instruct them. Phase 2 of our plan is all about
discipleship…training and teaching the ones we have invited in. This is one on one
mentoring, not just classes and preaching sessions in a crowd.
This means many of you will need to become disciplers, and there are
many who need to be discipled.
III.
LET'S GO and INSPIRE THEM
There is a need for
Christians to be alive, alert and awake, because the world is watching for
something real. There is a tremendous need for zeal and inspiration. The
message is exciting. The gospel is life changing and eternity altering!
And a great church such as this is rare and precious. “THERE IS This is the greatest
business in the entire world…God’s business!
So many people will enter here like a cold fish Our evangelism team is
going out…some handing out tracts, and some face to face witnessing boldly
for Christ! Would you join us?
These will lead the way in inspiring many more to become disciples,
to get more serious in their faith, and I believe it will all snowball on us
from there!
IV.
LET'S GO and INVOLVE THEM
Once people are invited to
come to Christ, instructed in the ways of the Lord, and inspired to do the
work of God, it is time to involve them. “You will be assimilated!” We have to be ready for
what is coming. There’s one
department that is not ready for the big things which lie ahead for us,
because that department is just barely keeping its head above water right
now. It’s the area of our church
which is already booming—our children’s department.
We have to fortify that whole department and grow that team before we
can handle the new ones which this outreach program will bring in. It’s a great problem to
have, but we have to work on it now, and it will take many of you stepping
up to the plate to do it right.
With so many young families comes many children and babies, and our current
staff is stretched to the max.
They are excellent, skilled, and well trained, but they are overextended,
overworked, and underappreciated! God has brought us a lot of
new people…many of you are already experienced and skilled at this, and we
will teach and train everyone to do their part.
We have some already asking to get ‘plugged in’ where they are needed
on a rotating basis…and the more we get involved the better—which means all
will be less stressed and more blessed! We will be approaching many
of you about opportunities.
She’ll show you several different options and you’ll find us to be very
helpful in your decision. The
whole department is quite organized, and you will not have to be in
charge…only your assistance is needed.
Some may become leaders if they want over time, but really we have
the greatest need for more helpers. Isn’t this exciting?
Be praying about where God could use you in our new outreach program,
and be expecting the great things God has in store.
No more church as usual…it’s go time! Ill.
It is quite obvious that Satan has had
great success in getting Christians to be perfectly satisfied with the
humdrum routine of going to church, taking part in the formalities of
the services, carrying on the functions of a social ministry, and
thinking they are pleasing God; but they are really dead
spiritually...starving their souls of the Great Commission. Surely the
only answer is to get back to the basics of going after people,
and carrying out God's command. It’s
Go Time!
It’s go time!
Isn't that the
missionaries' job? Yes, and we
were left here to be missionaries.
I hope you'll go: across
the street, around the world, short term, long term.
Missions is a trip, and in our conference next week God is going to
call us all to go somewhere!
Some here don’t need to go
until you come! Come to the Lord
if you need to be saved, come back to the Lord if you’ve gotten away, and
come back to God’s house tonight.
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