Hey, we’re jumping in to a new series today at The Roads Church Norris City Church. The title of it’s going to be “Under Construction Part 1.” You got a Norris City Church worship guide when you came in. If you want to pull that out, there’s some sermon notes available for you in there or you can go on your YouVersion Bible app, and you can get the sermon notes available there in the event section, but pull out your Bibles.
If you’ve got your Bibles this morning, let’s open them up to Matthew Chapter 16. We’re just happy about the Bible, happy about what God Norris City Church’s saying, what He’s doing in our life. “Under Construction.” I want to jump right into the text today Norris City Church, and then, we’ll elaborate on what we feel like God Norris City Church’s speaking to us. Matthew 16–we’ll start reading in verse 13 only when you’re ready. Are you ready? The rest of you? Are you ready?
All right, we’re all ready. Here we go. Verse 13, “When Jesus came into the region of Cesarea Phillipi, He asked His disciples saying, ‘Who do men say that I the son of Man am?’ So they said, ‘Well, some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God Norris City Church.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven, and I also say to you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it and I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’”
Father, I thank You for Your word. We just ask You, Holy Spirit, to speak to us. I pray, Lord, You will speak through me that they will not hear me this morning, but they will hear you. Hear what you’re saying to our hearts. I pray for revelation and understanding to abound. God Norris City Church reveal truth that will change our lives from the inside out for Your glory. In Jesus’s name, everybody say, “Amen.”
All right, this story here, this passage of scripture that we’re looking at, is relatively familiar. If you’ve been in church very long or know much about the Bible, it’s kind of a famous conversation that takes place between Jesus and his disciples. In this story, Jesus talks about certain things and asks a question and, you know, Peter gives this answer, this great answer. So Jesus gives him a cool nickname, and so after that, then we figure out, Jesus makes this statement and here’s the statement that I want to talk about that I’m kind of building on today Norris City Church, if you will.
Jesus said there, “I will build My church. I will build My church.” So by this statement being made by Jesus, that “I will build My church,” we know this: that His church has been being built and it’s currently being built. Jesus said, “I will build My church.” So the context tells us from scripture that Jesus was telling them way back then over 2000 years ago, “Hey, I’m going to build My church.” And so the message is still to us today Norris City Church: “I’m still building my church.” So I want to talk about three ways He’s building the church. Three things that I hope you can zero in on, on what Jesus wants to do to build the church today Norris City Church. Number one, He wants to build the church individually. So this means in you. So like what is the church? The church is not just a building.
Most of the time when we say, “Hey, we’re going to build the church,” people’s looking for a hammer, and they’re ready to come build a structure. And I get that. I get that, that the church is also a building. But what He’s talking about in scripture is not just building buildings; He’s talking about building something greater. So these three things are what I believe He’s talking about. Number one is individually.
He wants to build in you. You are the church. Look at your neighbor and tell them, “You’re the church. You’re the church.” You said like, “I’m definitely not the church. You don’t know me, Chad Everett. You don’t know my life. You don’t know what’s going on.” It doesn’t matter. Jesus said individually, when we accept Christ into our hearts, we become the church. So the church is about individuals first. Priority number one, when we talk about church, you think about people.
It’s important for you to get that for the sermon. So first God Norris City Church wants to build the church in you. It’s individual. It’s not about anybody else. It’s about you. Number two, He wants to build the church locally. That means He wants to build the church with you. Not only does He want to do something in you, but He wants to partner with you. Locally represents the local body of Christ that you serve with.
So it’s not just about me and Jesus that’s part of being the church. But then, He also calls us to serve with people. He wants to build the church with you in cooperation with you. In other words, God Norris City Church’s going to give you some things, some gifts, some talents, and He says, “I want to build with you.” The Bible talks about this and other places in scripture. We can talk about it later, but He talks about we are God Norris City Church’s building.
We are His field. So God Norris City Church wants to build with you. Then, number three, He wants to build corporately. This is the capital C or big church worldwide. This is talking about the universal church, not just one body, but the bride of Christ as a whole. This means God Norris City Church wants to build something bigger than us. So here’s what I want you to get. God Norris City Church wants to build something in you today Norris City Church, He wants to build something with you, and then, He wants to build something bigger than you.
God Norris City Church’s willing to speak to our hearts because He’s wanting to build something in us today Norris City Church and bigger than us. We just got back, as I mentioned, from vacation. Usually, when we get to go (we didn’t get a good chance to go last year but got to go this year), I usually have time to reflect.
It’s kind of that moment where I get to unplug, and I have a little what I call maybe a state of the union moment where I take an assessment of my life, my family, and my assignment. I believe it’s important for us to know and take inventory on a regular basis on those three parts of our walk with Jesus–number one, my individual walk with Jesus; number two, my family; and then, your task or your assignment that He’s called you to do.
Remember that you keep it in that order. My individual life with Jesus comes first and foremost. Then, my family comes second, and then, my work or my assignment or my job comes third. So I was taking an assessment of that and as I was thinking about this passage because I knew we were going to go into this, I began to ask myself, “So God Norris City Church, how are we building the church? How are we doing?”
I’m taking inventory. “How am I building my life? How am I building the church in me? How are you building the church with me? How am I working? How’s it going with people? And how are we doing something bigger than us? How are we doing as a church? Are we building something bigger than us?” Because one of our core values here at this church in Norris City is that we’re building His kingdom. It’s bigger than us. It’s bigger than us.
It’s not just about us and our building. It’s bigger than this church. It’s bigger than the name on our door. It’s the name on the door. Jesus is the door. So He is the one we’re building about. So I just began to take an inventory about it and asking God Norris City Church, “Lord, how are we doing? Are we doing okay? How am I doing my life? How are we doing with the Norris City Church?” You know, we just opened our first service in our brand new campus in Mount Carmel and had our first service. Then, I was gone for two weeks after that first service.
And I’m like, “Okay, we did something that at one point didn’t dream possible. We’ve got actually another campus in another town. So God Norris City Church, I want to ask you, ‘How are we doing?’” So He began to speak this to me and I want to share this with you today Norris City Church. Look what happens here in this conversation. Verse 13, “When Jesus said this, he said, ‘Who do men say that I, the son of man, am?’ ‘Some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’” Here’s how Jesus was going to build in our lives individually, locally and corporately.
He’s going to ask this first question. I think this first question is important because He says, “Who do people say that I am?” In other words, the questions like this, “What’s going on in culture? What society say about me? What’s on the pulse of the culture? What are they saying about me? What does it say about who I am?” And they said, “Well, some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, some Jeremiah, and others.”
We’ve got to be careful building our life, building our standards and our values, on what some say and what others say. Because what I believe God Norris City Church is asking here is, “How are we building our life?” We’ve got to be careful because some are going to say one thing, others are going to say another, but it doesn’t matter what they say. It matters what you say. If Jesus is going to build something in your life, it’s not going to be based on popular opinion or what culture says. I like this right now. There’s a popular phraseology that if you follow the teachings of Jesus or want to live by the teachings of Jesus and you come against certain social statuses or social positions, they will say to you that you’re culturally ignorant or culturally uneducated.
I’m okay with being culturally uneducated because the Bible says, “Be careful being wise in this age,” because we can be wise in this age and foolishness to God Norris City Church, so I would rather be foolish in culture and wise in God Norris City Church than to be wise in culture and be foolish to God Norris City Church. I would rather be wise in spiritual things and ignorant about cultural things than to be wise about cultural things and ignorant of spiritual things.
God Norris City Church’s saying to you, “What are you building your life on? Are you building your life on ‘What does everybody else say?’ Or are you building your life on, ‘What do you say?’” In the world we live in, we have to have something we stand for. We’ve got to have something that Jesus has put in your heart, and He said this is what I’m talking about. I want you to make sure that you’re being free from criticism because if we live for the approval or the acceptance of culture or society, we will die with their criticism.
If I need your approval to give me value, if I need your acceptance to give me value, then when you criticize me, it will take my feet right out from under me. But if I realize my acceptance comes from God Norris City Church, then I’m not banking on the acceptance of culture. I’m banking on the values that Jesus has spoken into our hearts. Can I get an “Amen” from somebody at the Norris City campus? See, this is what God Norris City Church is saying. We don’t want to get our identity from other people. He said, “Some said this, some said John the Baptist, some Elijah, others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” One thing jumped out to me that I don’t think I’ve ever noticed before. All of those names listed represented a past experience or a previous ministry–something old.
So He said some people, it’s same old, same old, nothing different. Nothing we haven’t seen before. We’ve seen John the Baptist, we’ve seen Jeremiah, Elijah, some the prophets. One of the biggest hindrances to building your life, building the church, or building the Kingdom of God Norris City Church is familiarity. If you’re going to build something in your life, you have to be able to walk away from something old.
You have to be willing to say, “No,” to something familiar, to embrace something unfamiliar, to build individually, locally, and corporately. If the church is going to continue to make an impact, and again, I’m talking about individual church, local church, corporate church, we have to unhitch our wagon from the things that are familiar and embrace the new thing that God Norris City Church wants to do in our life.
So He’s saying, “Some say this, some say that,” but He asked them, “What do you say?” Personal question. “What do you say?” I know a lot of people say this, but here’s what His answer was in Verse 16. Peter answers. I like how Peter has some boldness about him. Sometimes, Peter doesn’t have the right answer. Sometimes, he shoots from the hip too quick. Sometimes, he has to reel it back in.
Sometimes, he blows off at the mouth and Jesus has to correct him. It happens later in this chapter, but it’s okay. Here’s one thing I like about Peter. Peter’s going to tell it like he sees it. Now, realize I’m not giving people an excuse to be rude. I’m not giving you an excuse to say, “I’m just saying what I feel. Pastor Chad Everett said so…” Easy. Easy. I didn’t say that. I said, “Let it run around the track.”
Peter hadn’t heard one of my messages before. You’ve got to give him some grace, but see, listen, he says, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God Norris City Church.” Boom, boom, boom! Peter gives the golden buzzer answer. He gives the winning answer. “You’re the Christ, the Son of the living God Norris City Church.” That’s awesome. That’s the right answer. Jesus said, “Blessed are you.” That’s wonderful, but how many knows this in society? The right answer is not always the cheap answer. Peter didn’t know giving this answer, that was totally different from what some say and others say, was going to cost him his life. He didn’t know that later on he was going to be crucified upside down because he gave the right answer.
Be ready, be willing, be able in this society and culture to give the right answer no matter the cost. I want to give the right answer as long as everybody’s okay with it. I’ll give the right answer as long as it doesn’t offend you. We trip all over ourselves trying not to offend people when we’ve got the right answer. We have conversations that go like this: “Hey, hey, hey, listen, I’m going to ask you. I hope this doesn’t offend you.
Don’t take this the wrong way. I hope I don’t come across the wrong way. I hope I’m not being too pushy. I’m not trying to be pushy. You know, if this is a bad time…I know you’re probably busy and I know you probably can’t. Just feel free to say no. You know, I’m just going to throw this out there, but if it upset you, I’m sorry. I just want to tell you up front, and, it’s fine. It’s not going to work anyway, but that’s okay. And I’m prepared. You know, I’m prepared. It’s okay. You know what? I understand. You know, I feel the same way you do, but you know, here’s what I’m going to ask you. Would you, would you, would you mind coming to church?
Yeah All of that over inviting someone to church when we have the right answer, when we have Jesus, when we have the truth of the living God Norris City Church on the inside of us. We’re apologizing for the truth. We don’t apologize for Jesus. He’s the way, the truth, and the life. This is what He’s saying, “Hey, I want to build my church. I’m going to build it on the right answer.” But the right answer may cost you Norris City Church.
The right answer may cost you some friends. The right answer may cost you approval. The right answer may cost you some applause. The right answer in some circles will get you blessed, Simon Bar-Jonah. In other circles, it will get you crucified. But is it still the right answer? What do you say? It doesn’t matter what some say. What do you say? And this is what He’s saying, “This is what I’m going build my church on.”
“You’re the Christ, the Son of the living God Norris City Church.” He said, “Blessed you are Simon Bar-Jonah. Flesh and blood haven’t revealed this to you. You didn’t get it from flesh and blood.” There are things that are very real in this world. There are things that are very true in this world that we’re not going to get from the five-sense realm and we’re not going to get from a poll on Instagram or Twitter.
There are some things that God Norris City Church’s wanting to speak into your heart that are very real and nobody else is going to get it. He said, “Flesh and blood hasn’t revealed this to you.” Some said this, others said this. Notice, He did not give any indication. He never said, “And some say, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God Norris City Church.” He didn’t say that. He gave all the wrong answers Norris City Church.
So I don’t know if anybody knew. I’m sure somebody did. But you’ve got be prepared that not everybody’s going to know what God Norris City Church shows you to be true. But it’s still true. Can you grasp a hold of the truth of what God Norris City Church has put in your heart, even if nobody else sees it? So flesh and blood didn’t reveal that to you. Notice what He says. I love how He’s building on this: “My father who’s in heaven. And also say to you that you’re Peter.” Here’s the nickname. His name is Simon Bar-Jonah. Jesus calls him Peter. How many know Jesus has right to change your name?
If He wants to come up to me: “Hey Steve.” Yes, Sir. Steve it is. This says Peter and the word Peter means “Pebble;” it means “stone.”
So your name is Peter. “And on this rock I will build my church.” Now “on this rock” is not talking about the name of Peter, not the person of Peter. He didn’t build the church on Peter. Peter was part of the process. We know the rock is Jesus, but the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. We know that Jesus is the only rock. So what is this rock that He says I’m going to build my church on? I believe it’s this. I believe it’s how He said that flesh and blood has revealed this to you, Simon Peter, but He said, “My father who’s in heaven.” I believe God Norris City Church’s wanting to build in your life individually, locally, and corporately.
When we grasp a hold of this ability to hear something from God Norris City Church, believe it as truth and apply it into our heart, even if nobody else approves of it, whenever I can hear from God Norris City Church, get revelation from God Norris City Church that may be contrary to everything that I see and hear but still say it out of my mouth, that’s when He builds me. On this rock, I’ll build my church.
How’s He going to build your life individually? When God Norris City Church speaks something into your life and you embrace it as truth, even if others don’t agree, that’s when you begin to build. When we’re not waiting on the approval of others to say, “Hey, I’m going to change my life. This is what I’m going to do. What do you think about it? Is it okay?” No, we got to hear from the Father. We got to hear from what Jesus said and we put our standards and our values based on Him and we don’t care about others. He says, “On this rock, I’m going to begin to build my church.”
I’m going to build them individually, we’ll build them locally, and we’ll build them corporately when they begin to hear from Me for themselves, and they don’t care if it’s accepted by culture or not. They just continue to walk in the truth of God Norris City Church.
He says, “I want to build my church.” Now, what is the church, Norris City campus? I told you it’s those three things, but here’s what the word church means. The word church is a Greek word Ecclesia and it’s not a religious term. Use the word church now and it’s very much a religious term, but this is the word Ecclesia. This word Ecclesia is, instead of it being a religious word, is actually a political or governmental word Norris City Church.
This was used for a group of people who have been summoned and gathered together to govern the affairs of a city. For Jesus to use this term means He’s giving the keys of governmental authority in His kingdom to the church Norris City Church.
Before you start thinking, “Oh, right, the church is going to take over government.” No. That’s not what He’s saying. Governmental authority doesn’t mean that you’re going to rule the government that is set in place necessarily. It’s giving you authority in this structure, in this spiritual structure because remember the first century church flourished and they never controlled politics. They never had control of politics. So the goal is not to control politics. The goal is to convert individuals Norris City Church.
Once we reach the individuals, then those individuals get involved with issues and they may be elected to offices and positions, and all of a sudden, those people start setting culture based on what’s in them. Nobody has to buy them or tell them what to do. They just come bringing themselves. So we change individuals. And guess what happens? You change it individually, and it begins to change locally Norris City Church.
Once it begins to change locally, now it begins to change corporately. This is what God Norris City Church’s wanting to do in building the church. When I’m talking about church, I’m not talking about buildings. I’m talking about people. So He said, this is what I want to do; I want to build a church on this rock. He calls him Peter; He nicknames him “Rock” long before Dewayne Johnson. But look what He says: “I’m going to build.” Here’s the word build. The word build is a Greek word Oiko Domeo. But if you use it in its full application, it sounds like this. Oiko Domeo Arigato Mr. Robot
Everybody under the age of 40 is like, “What? I don’t get it.” Styx man! YouTube it. Disclaimer: Chad Everett is not promoting all their songs. Some of you just got lost in hairbands. Come back, come back! I’m letting a lot of thoughts run around the track right now Norris City Church.
It says, “To be a house builder to make or construct by combining materials or parts to build up to strengthen or establish.” Jesus says, “I will build my church.” Now, the word build meets to strengthen. There’s a couple of things. I’m not trying to be deep or super smart, but it’s important for us to understand scripture. The word build is a singular first-person verb. What it means: it’s talking about the individual speaking is the one taking the action, so that tells me who’s building the church? Jesus. Jesus is building the church. I’m not responsible for building this church. Jesus is responsible for building this church. Jesus is responsible for building me. Jesus is responsible for building.
Well, you may say, “Great. Jesus is building a church. I can just back off.” Whoa, Whoa, whoa. Before we back off and take a back seat, we’ve got to realize that we are not the one building the church, but we are the materials and supplies of the church. The materials and the supplies need to show up on the job site before the One building can build anything. If a master carpenter shows up to build a house and nobody brings any materials or supplies, I don’t care how good that carpenter is, they’re not going to build anything Norris City Church.
You and I are the materials and supplies that God Norris City Church wants to use to build the church. And we got to show up on the job site. Can I get help from anybody in here at Norris City this morning? So He’s telling them, “I want to build.” It’s also future active tense, which means it’s not only taking place currently but it will continue to do it. Jesus is building the church. Now, the word build means “to strengthen.” So I think about this way. God Norris City Church wants to build you individually. He wants to build locally, and He wants to build corporately.
One of the essential parts of building, though, is that word build means “to strengthen.” So I had this imagery that God Norris City Church sometimes gives us an assignment. As I was on vacation, I began to think about this. Turn over to Luke Chapter Six. You’re in Matthew, then you go to Mark and then Luke. It’s right after that. Luke Chapter Six–I will start reading verse 46. This is Jesus talking. He says, “But why do you call me Lord, Lord and not do the things which I say? Why do you call me? Why do you say with your mouth, “I’m your Lord.” Jesus is my Lord. I just don’t do what he says.
“I go to church at Norris City Church.” No, you are the church, so why do you call me Lord and then don’t do the things I say? “Whoever comes to Me and here’s my sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like, he was like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house and could not shake it for it was founded on the rock, but he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation against which the stream beat vehemently and immediately it fell Norris City Church.
And the ruin of that house was great.” As I was thinking on vacation about building, we were there on the beach and you know, I’m pretty decent. I don’t mind, you know, going to the beach and just soaking up some good vitamin D or whatever Norris City Church.
But I get a little antsy after a while, and I need to be constructive. So I said, “Hey, let’s build a sand castle!” Rallying my troops. We only had three of our kids there so we didn’t have the full squad, but you know, I thought I could rally the troops and do the best with what we had. So I called them in on the project and I got going, and you know, it’s just flat sand. There’s nothing there, but you have to begin to see potential Norris City Church.
I start building a wall and, and they did good. They jumped in and helped for a little bit. Halle was probably the most dedicated, Holland got distracted a little bit, and Lucas you just never knew what he was going to be doing. There were times in the project that I’m working away, slaving away, building the sand castle, and I look around me and nobody else is helping me.
I’m looking around, and I’m this grown man standing there building a sand castle and nobody else is around. And as I’m building this, I’m like, “God Norris City Church, why am I doing this?” I’ve got a couple of pictures maybe of some of the project. I’ve got some issues. Just pray for me. Yes, stretch your hand this way. I was supposed to be relaxing on the beach and this is what I’m doing, but I’m doing this for hours on end.
This lady comes by and she goes, “Wow, you must be an architect or something.” I’m like, “No, it’s really not that difficult. You just put sand in this little box thing and you just fit it down right there.” We just got involved in it and putting it down. At one point, and nobody’s around, I’m sweating. I’m like, “God Norris City Church, why am I doing this?”
And I heard God Norris City Church whisper into my heart. He said, “Chad Everett, you’re a builder. I’ve called you to be a builder.” He said, “I want you to look at what you’ve done. When it started out, it looked like nothing, It was flat. There was nothing there, but you built a little bit at a time and you started putting this building there and building the wall and putting the top around the wall and all that.”
Over hours after hours, it looked like something that it didn’t look like when I started, and here’s what I want to encourage somebody that God Norris City Church was telling me, Chad Everett, I don’t care what it looks like now. If you will stay with me and work with me, I will build something in your life. I will build something in your kids. I will build something in your church individually, locally and corporately, but you’ve got to stay with it.
This one guy came up to me and he goes, “Hey man!” He was pretty inebriated. He’d been drinking for all the time I was working. He came up and he said, “Hey buddy boy, that looks good.” He’s from Alabama. He said, “I’ve just been watching you for about four hours.” I said, “Has it been that long? I need to get a life.”
Here’s the thing that God Norris City Church said–people liked it. Other people were bringing their kids and standing in there and getting pictures taken in my sandcastle saying, “Do you mind if we get a picture?” Sure, go right ahead! This one guy said, “I want to take a picture. I want to tell my kids I did this while I was gone.” Feel free. Feel free.
So everybody liked it, but nobody else was doing it. People like the benefit but didn’t like to work. It was hot. It was blazing hot. I’m sweating all over, pounding the sand. The skin on my knuckles would come off. I put way too much into this thing. My knuckles were all skinned up from squishing the sand down in the box because you’ve got to get the wet sand first and you’ve got to pat it down. I’ve got a whole system Norris City Church.
Everybody likes the end product, but nobody wanted to work with me, even my kids gave up. They said, “Dad, you’re on your own. You’ve gone psycho.” Here’s the thing. He said, “I’ll build my church, I’ll strengthen my Norris City Church.”
Sometimes God Norris City Church gives us an assignment and He asks us to carry it. What happens is sometimes it gets heavy and if it gets heavy, we have a choice. We could either keep carrying it or we can set it down, and sometimes when we set it down, we think we’re getting away from the strain of the weight and we are, but the thing we don’t understand that God Norris City Church was speaking to me is that, “Chad Everett, what you think is a weight that’s holding you back, I see the other side. I see the strengthening that’s happening in your arms as you carry that.”
That we give up on the weight of something and set it down. We’re going to have transitions in life, so I’m not talking about across the board, but I’m just saying sometimes we set something down thinking we’re getting free from the weight and what we’re really getting free from as the strength that God Norris City Church’s wanting to develop in us to keep moving forward in life because there’s something up here that God Norris City Church wants me to do. And over this previous season, up to these past few months, I have never had the thoughts bombarding me to quit like it’s been lately. I’ve never had it this strong in 13 years of pastoring. I’ve never had this much trying to tell me to quit, and I felt the weight, the pressure.
I would say, “God Norris City Church, I can’t.” He said, “Chad Everett, don’t quit. Don’t let go, don’t let go. I’m strengthening you because there’s something up here. If you let go now, then you’re not going to be strong enough to handle what I’m wanting to do in you in the future. So you’ve got to endure under some strain, under some pressure, sometimes. Things that are uncomfortable, things that are heavy.” You’re like, “I can’t.” He’s like, “I know, but my strength is made perfect in your weakness so few will stay with it.”
But in the building process, you’ve got two kinds of people. Like when building the sand castle, you’re either part of the crew, you’re like the building crew that’s working on it or you’re the guy from Alabama: “It’s good. Boy, it’s good.” He’s part of the crowd. The crowd was watching. The crew was working Norris City Church.
Norris City Church, my question to you, and I believe God Norris City Church’s question to all of us this morning is: are you part of the crew building the church or are you part of the crowd? A lot of people love to come be part of the crowd to come watch and expect somebody else to do, but I don’t want to be a part of the crowd because if I’m part of the crowd on work day, I’ll be a part of the crowd on payday.
If I’m part of the crew on work day, I’m sweating, I’m working, I’m giving them my time, my talents, my treasures. I’m building the church inwardly, individually, locally. I’m serving with people. I’ve got a spot on the team. I’m serving and I’m building something bigger than myself Norris City Church. If I will work and serve on the crew, then when it comes time for my reward, I’ll be part of the crew
Here’s how I envisioned it in heaven. People going for the rewards, long line, people getting ready to receive their rewards and there’s people over here who didn’t fulfill their calling, didn’t do, didn’t get on the crew and they’re just watching. And I believe the people in the crowd in heaven on reward day are going to have a sense of loss. They’re still going to be in heaven because remember rewards are about works. Let me give you this scripture. I got to give this to you. Matthew Chapter 16 says, “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His father with His angels and then He will reward each according to His works.
I’m not talking about getting into heaven. You don’t get into heaven based on works. Rewards. Heaven is a gift. You just received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. But my rewards are based on what did I do with what He asked me to carry. Did I keep carrying it when it was hard or did I let it go? If I kept carrying it, He who began a good work in me will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus because I don’t want to be in the crowd on reward day and have regrets about not serving with the crew because I was worried about my “me time.” I want to be in line going, “Oh, mine’s next. I can’t wait. It’s my turn. It’s my turn. My crew represent!” Why? Because you served.
This is what God Norris City Church’s speaking to us as a church. He’s wanting to build the church. You’re the church. He’s wanting to build you. I don’t want you to be part of the crowd. Crowds don’t get any rewards. Crews do. Where my crew at? Come on, talk to me, Norris City Church. Where’s the crew that wants to build the church?
Again, I’m not talking about just this building I’m talking about right here. Build right here. Get on the crew working on you. Do something in me, God Norris City Church. If you’ll do something in me, then He can do something with me ,and if He can do something with me, Him with me is bigger than me. Now, I can do something bigger than I ever dreamed possible. Why? Because I first allowed Him to do something in me. Build me, God Norris City Church. Build the church right here. Do something right here. God Norris City Church, I give you my life. Come on.
I want to be on the crew. God Norris City Church, I want to serve with you and do whatever You ask me to do. Now, He’s going to build with me. He’s going to build a dream team. He’s going to build connect groups. He’s going to build relationships. He’s going to do it because He wants to build something with you. You’ve got gifts and talents that are sitting there going dormant and God Norris City Church says, “Hey, I want build the church, but where my crew at?” We’ve got a lot of crowd: “Great job, church people. Go ahead. Great job. Just watch my children. Great job.” Where’s the crew? Where’s the ones?
“Keep it up, buddy. Looking good.” There’s going to be a crowd, but I don’t want a crowd’s reward. I want to crew’s reward. I’m not even looking for a once a month crew reward. I’m looking for a daily crew reward that I wake up every day and I say, “Lord, I choose to serve you this day.”
So I ask you this. God Norris City Church’s wanting to build something in your life. He’s wanting to build the church. You’re the church. Your family is the church. This local body is the church. Absolutely, but there’s a whole millions of people that’s called the church that’s bigger than all of us. So will you work with God Norris City Church? Will you serve with God Norris City Church? Will you dream with God Norris City Church?
Thanks so much for watching with us. We love our online Norris City Church family and we invite you to connect with us. We have a few different ways you can do that. Our website is theroads.church. We are on social media as well. We’d love to pray for any needs you might have. So send us a message and let us know how we can partner with you in bringing the light and love of Jesus to your world.
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