Sun Am Worship You
cannot be on Mission sitting in the window seat
Text: Acts 20:7-12 (King James Version)
"Father, I am your servant, willing and desiring to be used to bless your people."
The Fields are white and the laborers are
few!
2. C.H. Spurgeon said, "If God does not save a man by truth he certainly
will not save them by lies, and if the old gospel is not competent to work a
revival, then we will do without the revival;
Acts 20:7
And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to
break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and
continued his speech until midnight.
Acts 20:8
And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered
together.
Acts 20:9
And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being
fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with
sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up
dead.
Acts 20:10
And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not
yourselves; for his life is in him.
Acts 20:11
When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and
talked a long while, even till break of day, so he
departed.
Acts 20:12
And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little
comforted.
I'm for the most part a very positive person, and I
always try to speak a word that will lift people up and encourage them and help
them to possess all the promises of God.
But along the way sometimes in order
to get the blessings we have to be
corrected, or we might have to make some adjustments.
I feel this morning that this word is critical for
somebody. For somebody what you do with this word is going to open a door of
blessing to you, or it's going to open a door of opportunity to the enemy.
My
aim this morning is: that by the time this message is finished that not one person will find themselves in
the window seat.
Mt 18:11 For the Son of man is come to save that which
was lost.
12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be
gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the
mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
13 And if so be that he
find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the
ninety and nine which went not astray.14 Even so it is not the will of your
Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should
perish.
(KJV)
Look at your neighbor this morning and tell them "Were
on a mission from God"
Every so often I come across a story that touches
my heart and hits close to home, and a loving and compassionate God affords me
the opportunity to come back to the Heart Of Worship. Church we all need to come
back to the Heart Of God.
As a Christian; its so easy to get caught up in
the work of the ministry or the "Call" so much so that we can become out of
touch with the "Caller" We can become so focused and driven to build the
"Church" that we become desensitized to
the Purpose and the Will of God.
Church growth campaigns, district
meetings, conferences, church services, worship services, Sunday school, pot
lucks, staff meetings, and so on and so on and before you know it "The Work" of
Christianity clouds the purpose and will of God in our lives! At least that's
how its happens for this Pastor, who is here, by the way, but by the grace and
mercy of God!
You see I am ok with admitting that I don't have it all figured
out yet, I have come to understand the scripture where it says working out my
own salvation with fear and trembling. I have personally been in the window seat
more than once!
And If I am still working it out that means I am no expert
yet,
I have a long way to go and a lot to learn.
Is it ok if we can
just be real for a while this morning? What do you say?
Lets put our pride on the shelf, and lets believe That
He is and He is a rewarded of those who diligently seek, Hallelujah I feel like
seeking Him this morning, I want to
experience Him today in Power and in Signs and Wonders.
I want to
taste of Revival, I am tired of Playing Church I am ready to be the Church. Oh and if us Pastors could just lead by
example and stop trying to be superstars and start being real!
If we
could just be real it would allow the Spirit of God room in our pulpits! And I
don't know how you feel, but I would
much rather have the Holy Spirit preach a message THROUGH me then me try to
preach a message ABOUT Him. Can I get an Amen?
I am surrounded all
the time by people talking "About" Him.
We hear all "about Him" but I want to "EXPERIENCE" Him. Church it's time we
get back to the basics, its time to refocus. Its time to get rid of all the
busyness and the church stuff and get back to heart of God. It's time to mopve away from the window
seat!
The way that God reels me in from time to time, the way in which He
gets my attention and gets me refocused is usually through a story of courage
and love. If I could I would like to talk with you this morning about
"A
Letter Of Intent"
I want to share with you today a story about a young
boy who was picked on and made fun of because of his appearance. This young boy
grew up an outsider with next to no friends, but the one or two friends that he
did have were also outsiders and outcasts. The kind of kids that everyone poked
and made fun of and pointed their fingers at because they didn't fit in or look
like everyone else.
Kids can be cruel. And the people that say sticks and
stone can break my bones but names can never hurt me, were full of it. Names do
hurt and the hurt sticks with you and I am not sure it ever really goes away.
This young boy makes it to his senior year in High
School and one day at the end of his rope and with no hope in sight he comes to
school with a gun and proceeds to take his life. But right before the horrible
tragedy unfolds another young man approaches him.
This boy
had been one of the only childhood friends of the young man who commits suicide.
Right before he takes his life the young man tries to reach out to him but the
Boy says to his one time childhood friend "Its too late, you didn't
care"
That my friends is why I am a pastor today. Because I never
want to hear the words, "Its too late, you didn't care"
The fact remains
that I too have lost friends over the years, to overdose to suicide, many
friends to be exact but it wasn't because I didn't care and that's what keeps me
going that's what keeps me doing the will of the Father, because I don't want to
see another one of His little ones perish!
Because the truth is; its not
too late and God does care.
And there are people out here that care too.
The problem is we are so busy doing the work of the Church that we miss
the Heart of God and miss out doing His will. God help us Church. Lets get back to the
Heart of Worship and lets get busy saving some lives.
God cares so
much that He sent His only begotten son to die on a cross for us, to take the
place and to pay for the sin in our lives and to remove that pain of the words
that people have spoken against us. And that whosoever will believe in Him will
not die but will have everlasting life.
Remember the Gospel Church? Why
have we tried to make it so complex? We have tried to pretty it up and make it
palatable. It's the Gospel that saves lives. It's the Gospel that brings people
back from death's door and the gates of hell and we need to be preaching and
sharing this Gospel, the Gospel that saves lives!
A Jesus
that Saves people from death and hell. A Jesus that gives us life and life more
abundantly. A God that has a plan for our lives and a plan for good not a plan
to harm us but one of prosperity a hope and a future. Its time we get back to
the basics church. Get back to the
Highways and the Hedges and the street corners and shout it out loud the Gospel
of Christ.
Why? Because right now as you are hearing this message there
is a young boy, with a gun pointed to his head, that has no hope, has no friends
and He's going to take his life because he thinks it's too late and nobody cares
and were not there to help.
Are you on a Mission from God or are you in a
window seat as a spectator?
The window Sea is not made for a Christian to
be sitting in,
Nevertheless in a spiritual sense there are many in the
church today like this young man, that are sitting in this most precarious and
dangerous place called the window seat.
We could assume any number of
reasons that he finds himself in this place
* The place was crowded and there
was no place to sit
* It was hot and stuffy and he wanted some fresh
air
But I come closer to believing that he had begun to become
disinterested in what was taking place inside, he had lost his desire for the things of
God, The word of God was no longer exciting to him, he slipped farther and
farther away from the presence of the Spirit and Word.
The window is the Place where you can be
inside and still see what's going on outside.
In this context then
the window represents that condition of drawing back.
Heb 10:39 But we are
not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving
of the soul.
Draw back = To shrink, to shun, to keep back
to render
useless, to put out of the way entirely, abolish, put an end to ruin, to
kill.
Perdition means) destroying, utter destruction
a perishing,
ruin, destruction, the destruction which consists of eternal misery in
hell
There is today in our churches a very obvious draw back spirit, It
is the spirit that wants all the blessings of God, healing, miracles,
prosperity, all without a commitment.
If it's the
blessing line they're first to the front, but if it's commitment, and
dedication, and consecration, That's when for some strange reason, the bladder
goes to acting up, or they have to step out and make a phone call.
This
spiritual condition is what We call the window seat:
(a) From the
window seat: it seems that you have such a good view, (People in the window seat can see all the
problems in the church, They hear every sour note, they can see how
everything should be done, they know right away what kind of praise we should
have, they know when the preacher
preaches a dud, they can see all the weaknesses, and faults of others, (It's
amazing the view you have from the window seat).
(b) From the window
seat: things that you had left outside are easy to see, Things that God delivered you from come back into
view, things that you had shut the door on and left outside, things that you
knew were destroying your life, hurting your body, causing division in your
family, all of a sudden they become visible again, and from the window seat they become
attractive.
The window seat is a very dangerous place, But like
Eutychus There are so many that are deceived into believing that they can look
at those things and it won't have any affect on them,
They believe they can think about it as
long as they don't do it.
I'm
strong I won't fall.
So they start flirting with thoughts of how much fun
it would be just one more time to watch one of those x rated movies, or to call
up that old worldly friend, to drink one more beer, smoke that last joint, (the
list goes on and on) Of course They think (I would never do that, I'm just
looking around, just thinking).
Window = Opportunity (a window of time)
Eph 4:27 Neither
give place = (window = opportunity) to the devil.
Eutychus never intended
to fall:
Heb 2:3 How shall we escape,
if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by
the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard [him];
You have to
nurture, protect, cultivate, your salvation, It's a life you have to sustain,
Just as a baby is dependent on it's mother for life, So is the life of Christ in
you dependent upon your faithfulness, commitment, obedience.
Eutychus
means: Fortunate, well, good, Just like Eutychus we have been called, fortunate
favored of the Lord, but if we do not maintain our salvation we can fall.
He
fell from 3 stories up: This tells me
that even the most spiritual have to be watchful and diligent lest they
fall.
Why did Eutychus fall to his death?
*He lost his passion for
the things of God
*He was more out than he was in
At midnight he fell
from his window seat: all through the scripture midnight is a very critical
time
It was midnight when the death angel passed through Egypt and smote the
first born
It was midnight When the cry was made that woke the sleeping
virgins
It was midnight when Paul and Silas turned the corner and turned
their pain into praise.
Midnight = The halfway point,
Midnight is where it
can go either way, Midnight speaks of decision time
Certainly this
window seat could not be comfortable: at first these thoughts of the things of
the world, are painful, we think shame on me for even thinking about those
things, but the more you allow yourself to think about it the more comfortable,
it becomes, until suddenly it seems without any warning your falling, falling
into that lust, falling into those old associations, falling back into those old
ways of talking, falling back into those desires that you thought were dead,
falling back into those flirtatious ways, falling back into those habits that
you had been delivered from.
And it
all started with where you were sitting = The window Seat
Somebody
this morning, You need to change seats, you need to get up out of the window
seat, somebody else this morning, You're
not sitting there but you've been drifting that way.
Eutychus; This
young man whose name means fortunate, was indeed fortunate (in fact he was twice
fortunate)
First because he was in the house, and secondly because
the Apostle Paul went down to the street where he had fallen and raised him back
to life.
So I'm closing here this morning: I want to speak to those fortunate
ones, who have known the goodness of the Lord, but for one reason or another you
have found yourself in the window seat, and now you're more out than you are
in.
Or maybe you have already fallen, and people around you just don't know
it yet. Maybe you have already given
into those old desires, and you're just going through the
motions.
But somebody this morning maybe you're here and you have
never really known Jesus Christ, you have never had the joy of knowing that
you're sins are forgiven.
Then you are also fortunate this morning because
you are hearing the Gospel, the good news that Jesus loves you and he died for
you, and he will forgive you of your sins and he will come and live in your
heart if you'll just ask him to.
It doesn't matter which category you're
in this morning, the good news is: Jesus loves you, and he will pick you up, and
he will put his life in you and he will make you an example of his love his
mercy and his grace.
Something amazing happened at that high school, and it's
the same thing that happens every time we get serious about God,
REVIVAL
broke out.
A move of God broke at that high school. And if you will get
serious about the Heart and the will of God revival will break out in your life,
and you will begin to live with a purpose and a destiny and a burning desire
will be birthed inside of you not too see one more of Gods precious little ones
perish and fall prey to enemy of our souls.
Prayer circles, prayer
meetings, young people getting saved, and young people feeling like there was
hope and all because one boy made up in his mind that he would live for God and
more importantly he would live the rest of his life with the purpose of never
hearing those words again "Its too late you didn't care"