Sunday Recap @ da Chapel
Pastor Joshua Goodin
Matthew 21:12-17 (NRSV)
“Getting the House in Order” Pt. 2
*God will allow you to outlive some things you inherit or move them out the way, either way, it’s God. The church of today is not full of stockholders but filled with lots of consumers. Stockholders are people that are invested, who have a determination that they will not move until the Lord says so. Stockholders will keep coming to church even when they don’t agree with or like you. They make investments into the church and not just come to take away from the church. They invest with their treasure, time, and talent. For the church to continue to succeed there need to be more stockholders. Part of discipleship is good stewardship. If you were to be assigned a new member, what kind of disciple would they be 5 years from now, after walking with you? When new members come into the church they should be partnered with an already existing disciple. In reality, some people don’t want to be assigned new members, because they know they would walk away from God. What kind of disciple are you right now? What kind of disciple are you attempting to become through the perfecting work of Jesus Christ? It’s time to change your mindset about how you view being a part of the body of Christ. Stop living as if you have no Savior. The church has to stand up and stand together, regardless of what anyone else says. Stop letting people come to you with anything, and bring anything to you and you believe it.
**When Jesus sees a mess he cleanses the house. There are some things that you count on in church to survive off of. You count on people to show up every Sunday, so you don’t have to be there. When people count on certain things that don’t have substance you have to create and develop systems. If you can’t count on one group to show up, then you have to call on another group to take their place. When you can’t count on people to faithfully give their tithes and offerings, then you have to put fundraisers and pledge systems in place. Some of you keep thinking it’s ok to keep giving God a tip every Sunday. He didn’t ask for a tip, he asked for a tenth. You want to give God a tip and expect him to bless you with overflow. Change your mindset and stop thinking you are doing God a favor when you do what God has called you to do. God doesn’t need you to do him any favors, because What you won’t do someone else will do.
***How do blind people and lame people get to Jesus? They work together, the blind person can help the lame person walk and the lame person will guide the blind person to Jesus. How many people have you seen or stepped over and stayed connected to knowing they need help getting to Jesus, but you did not work together? If you are going to get people to Jesus you have to be willing to connect with people and partner with them to get to your healing together. You are not concerned with what other people need, you are just concerned with getting what you need. If the curing and healing is to take place you need people around you that are strong in the areas where you are weak. When you don’t have proper boundaries in place you will expose yourself to exhaustion and fatigue, because you keep trying to do all these things and show up for everybody to the point that it is killing you. You need people around you that are strong at saying no when you always say yes. You need them around you to build you up, so that you can say no. When you are not strong you don’t have to pray for overnight strength, but partner with someone that is strong in that area.
****What’s blocking healing is the chaos, mess, and confusion of the house as well as the spirits of the people who show up to the house. Sometimes you position yourself in the wrong places, and you wonder why you can’t get what you need from the Lord. When was the last time you changed your seat in church? Don’t let people be a distraction and get in the way of what you need to get from God. Come to church so you can feel the move of God in your situation. There are two reasons Jesus will step in and do what you are supposed to be doing. You’re doing it but you are not doing it to the best of your ability, or God has called you to do it and you aren’t doing it at all. The reason you have been replaced is because you’re not doing anything. What would your situations look like if you learned how to respond with the word of God?