Matthew, Chapter 16 we’re on our series called under construction. We are under construction. God’s got some great things. I’m pumped about what he’s going to share with us today. I want to get right to it. We’re going to talk about things that are hindering the building process today. So that’s our theme. That’s the subtitle, if you will, building hindrances. So let’s look at Matthew 16 verse 13 says, when Jesus came to the region of Cesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples saying, who do men say that I the son of Man am? So they said, some say John The baptist, some Elijah, others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He said to them, but, um, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, you’re the Christ, the son of the living God. You, 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’s in heaven, and also say that you are Peter Mt. Carmel Church.
And on this rock, I’ll build my church and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it. I want to pray right there. Father, I just thank you for your words. I welcome your Holy Spirit to come and teach us the heart of heaven. I pray, God, that we will open to your voice and the voice of the enemy, the voice of the stranger. We will not follow today, but I thank you that your sheep know your voice. So we thank you for leading us out into what you have for us today. We give you praise ahead of time and Jesus, awesome names. Somebody say, man, all right, where do we see here? In verse 18 Jesus said that you’re Peter on this rock, I will build my church. So were build. There means to be a house builder means to make our construct by combining materials or parts together to strengthen, to establish the top Mt. Carmel Church.
So God wants to build and establish his church. We talked about being a part of the crew versus being part of the crowd and how we don’t want to just be a part of the crowd in church. We want to be on the crew and doing something to build his church and we want to see, we want to see how God wants to build the church three ways individually in you realizing you and I, we have abilities from God. He wants to build a church in you. You have abilities in you with Mt. Carmel Church. Then secondly, he wants to build locally. That’s what your local church, the local church you attend, and that’s about availability. That means is God, is God’s abilities that he’s given you. Are they available to him when he wants them?
Just a question I know is a couple of weeks since I spoke, but here’s a question for you that are, are the gifts that he’s given you, are they available to him at his Beck and call? Not at our comfort, not at our convenience. It’s not a good time for me. God, I’m Kinda busy. Right? Availability. I’ll move on. Third one. Third One’s about sustainability. Wants to build the church corporately and it’s than us. Sustainability, our energy and efforts. The more we pour out, the more he pours in. God wants to build through you something bigger than you, but you got cue. We have to think bigger than ourselves. Sustainability, it’s not about the task I’m doing right now. It’s about the big picture of what God is doing in the body of Christ universally and how he wants to impact this world through you. The sustainability of our energy and efforts is not by pulling back and withdrawing Mt. Carmel Church.
It’s by keeping our foot on the gas and keeping serving. Keep going, keep giving God our gifts and talents. The more we give out, the more he pours it, the less we pour out, the less he has to pour in. So this is what he’s telling us about how to build the local church. So I want to talk about three hindrances today because Jesus said, I will build my church in the gates of hades shall not prevail against it or will not be victorious. Your something important. We need to know what it says about the gates of hades will not prevail against the church. It doesn’t mean they won’t resist Mt. Carmel Church.
Yeah. Yeah.It doesn’t mean there won’t be opposition. It’s like from a sports analogy, I’d use it this way. It’s that you’re going to be victorious in this game, in this match, but it doesn’t necessarily guarantee the other team’s not going to score. There’s times we’re in the game and they may score, and how you handle that score determines how you’re gonna be able to move forward in that game. If every time they score you get defeated, then you’re going to be defeated before the clock ever runs out. Just because they score doesn’t mean you’re done. Just because they put a number up on the board doesn’t mean you don’t get an that back. If you’re playing baseball or softball, it’s about being the home team. Why did you get last step back? You have the final say, well, guess what? As believers, we get the last at bat Mt. Carmel Church.
It doesn’t matter what the enemy’s thrown at you this week. You still have a turn. You still have a say, so get up and say, hey, it’s my turn to back. We going to score eight and the bottom of the night. Then when this game talking about the cubs relievers right now we’re losing like that Mt. Carmel Church. But anyway, I’ll move on. Genesis chapter 11 let me give you, let me give you the three hindrances to building the church. Three hindrances. Go to genesis chapter 11 go to the very beginning. The first hindrance to building the church is self promotion.
Three hundredths is going to keep us from allowing God to build the church in us with us and bigger than us. Self-Promotion. Look in genesis chapter one you may be familiar with this story. This is about the Tower of Babel context for the story while you’re turning there or flipping there or pushing there. This is right after the flood, after Noah saw and it says here in verse one Genesis Chapter 11 verse one now whole Earth had one language and one speech. You’re like, how in the world did that happen? That the whole earth has one language and one speech. It’s because the whole earth was one family, one family, that Noah had three sons who had three wives and they also all went on to the arc. So as they went out of the art, Noah’s sons and wives started having children and so in chapter 10 it talks about the genealogy of the family after Noah and it lists that I could find up to Noah’s great, great, great grandchildren as we move into chapter 11 that Noah had not only kids, not only grandkids, not only great grandkids, only great great-grandkids, but great, great, great grandkids on the earth and that’s who the whole earth was Mt. Carmel Church.
So that’s context for verse one of Chapter 11 but it says they all had one language and one speech. That word one means they were single, United or all together and it came to pass as they journeyed from the east that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, calm, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly. They had brick for stone and they had asphalt for mortar and they said, here’s what they said with one language and one speech. Listen to this part Mt. Carmel Church. This is really important. This is what one language in one speak. The whole earth, one huge family. Having a big family room reunion here at shiner. So they said, come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top is in the heavens. Let us make a name for ourselves lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the earth. Notice what they said. One language, one voice, one speech. They said, let’s build ourselves a city. Build ourselves. That word ourselves means two four towards. It’s talking about, let us build it to ourself. So the one speech and the one language that everybody had, let’s build something to ourselves. Hey, we got a nice flat place here in the land. Let’s come out here. Let’s build something to ourselves for ourselves. All about us. This was the one language. This was the one speech that everybody had. We’re building to ourselves.
Let’s build for ourselves. Build in regard to us. Build something that’s just for us that goes on to say and let us make a name for ourselves. That word make means to manufacture. Make a name. And just talking about recognition. Position, reputation, renown or fame. So how many times are we trying to manufacture a name for ourselves? One hindrance to God building something. Our life is self promotion. When we start building towards ourselves, focusing on ourselves, focusing on our reputation, focusing on our fame, focus, focusing on pushing our agenda, manufacturing our own promotion. Here’s what I want to help you Mt. Carmel Church. We’re going to grow in our walk with God when we don’t try and promote ourselves, but we let God promote us. When we get in the south promotion business and build towards ourselves, when am I going to get ahead? When am I going to get that raise?
How about myself? I’ll kick fellow employees out of the way so I can get to the top. I’ll be mean. I’ll do whatever I take. It’s cut throat, baby. I’m self-promoting. Building to ourselves is never going to be the heart of God. We don’t need to promote ourselves. We don’t need to exalt ourselves. We don’t need to push ourselves ahead. We just need to let God promote us. The Bible says, promotion comes from God that he will make a place for your gift and make room for you and bring you before great men Mt. Carmel Church. So at your job, you don’t have to promote yourself and plug yourself. You just need to keep serving God wherever you are. Whatever you’re doing, be faithful, be faithful, be faithful and watch God promotes you. We’re not going to have the church built on the inside of us. We’re not going to have the local body church built if we’re all just wanting to promote selves who they think they are making them lead of that team. I’ve been serving on this team longer than them. I should be the team lead.
Why they put them over snacks. Why are they doing that? Just cause I ate a few last week doesn’t mean I’m done self-promotion and we, and it’s tough because we’re in this world of, of the, you know, social media and all this stuff and, and the temptation is to promote ourselves. But God says if you want the church to be built in, you do not promote yourself that me take care of promoting you. Then B. C, we’re not making a name for ourself. We’re making a name for him. He has a name that is above every name Mt. Carmel Church. His name’s above Chad’s name. It’s not about building mining. It’s about building Jesus’s name. It’s not about building the roads church name. It’s about building Jesus’s name. We’re not manufacturing our own dealer. We’re not promoting ourselves. Do Everything as unto the Lord, not to ourselves. That’s the first one.
Here’s the second hindrance I’ll give you. It’s called self-preservation, self-preservation, so we got self-promotion. We don’t want that. Now we’ve got self preservation. Look on verse five but the Lord came down to see the city. I just the language of this, the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. He said, I’m just going to take, I’m going to come on down and see what these guys are doing. Let me just check it out. Verse six and the Lord said, indeed, the people are one and they all have one language and this is what they begin to do. Now. Nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them Mt. Carmel Church. Notice what they said in verse four. They said, let’s make a name for ourselves less. We be scattered abroad over the face of the earth.
Here’s what that word scattered means that we’re scattered means to break or dash into pieces or be dispersed apart. They had, here’s their wisdom. Their wisdom was let’s focus on ourselves. Let’s focus on our lives and that will prevent us from being scattered or that will prevent our lives from falling apart. So their ideology was, their wisdom was, hey, let’s just focus on ourselves and that will hold our life together. That will keep us from falling apart. That will keep things from, from falling through the cracks. Let’s just focus on me, self-preservation, take care of me. I know what’s best for my life. I know what decisions I need to make. I’ll take care of me. I’ll pull back and preserve my free time Mt. Carmel Church. I need to watch out. I can’t serve too much. I just got to serve a little bit, preserve myself, and that’s going to help me hold my life together. Here’s what the enemy wants to get you to do that once things start going wrong or opposition comes, remember just because the Church said the gates of hell will not prevail against the church, it doesn’t mean the gates of hell will not oppose the church and here’s what he wants to do. When opposition comes into our life, his temptation is to get you and I to withdraw and pull back.
I need to pull back. I need to get my life together a little bit. Chad, I’m gonna take a little season off, need to get my life together before I get back in. Pull back, preserve self preserve. See, when we’re going into struggles, going into difficulties, we don’t need to pull back. We need to press in. We need to press in more. Okay? You’re going to come at me like that. Okay, I’ll serve extra this week. I’ll put me on another week. I’ll serve one and attend one. I’m not looking for once a month blessing. I need every Sunday blessing. See this? What he’s saying, don’t preserve self. They said, listen, if we’ll focus on ourselves, keep us from being scattered Mt. Carmel Church. That was their thought. That’ll, that’ll hold our life together. My life will go a lot better if I’ll just attend church now and not serve at all self-preservation. I need my time. You know, I’ll be just, I can’t be coming. [inaudible] come for one service and attended another. That’s like three hours at church, three hours out of a week. I want to encourage slash I’m going to say, I’m just going to use the word encourage how you take, it’s up to you. There was a time back in the old days, some you been here while long enough. You may remember we had what they called Sunday night church. Right. And then, then we, then we used to have Wednesday night church. Yeah. Yeah. And I remember when you came to all three. Yeah. And now some of you down to the hour and 20 minutes a week.
Crickets. I’m not looking for a big shout because God said I’m wanting to build the church in you and your withdrawing back and preserving yourself. When Jesus said, I want to build my church in this kingdom, there are people lost going to hell. What are you doing? How are you giving up your life to build his cause and not our own? Whoo. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Lord God, I just praise you for that word. Thank you for speaking into my hearts. Sometimes you got to encourage yourself, but look what happens. So self preservation, self preservation is not going to build the church in you. Looking out for number one will not bless you Mt. Carmel Church. Looking out, trying to hold back and hold yourself back. So you know what? I’m going to give more. I’m to, I’m gonna give more to you. You know, whenever God spoke to us about opening up this other campus, I said, God, I’m fine. My schedule’s good. He said, I need you to, I need you to. I got people I want to reach. Yeah, but Lord, I’m going to miss my Sunday afternoon. Pool time is kind of important to me. You said souls are important to me.
Okay, well maybe I should go with your agenda over mine. So I’m not doing that to bring condemnation to anybody. I’m just telling you the heart of heaven is the clock is ticking and Jesus sees people that are dying and going to hell. And he says, will you help build my church? What kind of church do we want to have? What kind of church do we want to have? Do we want to have the kind of church that we just have events? I was thinking about this while we were gone and I’ve gotta get to my points, but we’ll get to my point in just a moment. So I was thinking about this while we’re going, what kind of church do we want to have Mt. Carmel Church? Do we want to have the kind of church where we, people just come and go, wow, good sermon, good sermon. I thought, I’ve been pastoring here 13 years. I wanted to try and calculate how many sermons I’ve given over 13 years. I’ve actually been preaching here at this church. Some of you’ve been around well over 20 years now.
21 to be exact. So in all that time, how many sermons I as I came, I came here in the church five 30 this morning and I was walking around and I said, God, I’ve been speaking and praying in this room for over 20 years. I said, God, what kind of church do you want to build? I don’t want a church where people just come and listen to a sermon and go home and by Thursday you can’t remember what I said. I want a church that’s built on the development of people Mt. Carmel Church. I told them, told the staff this week said, we are not in the service producing business. We’re in the disciple producing business. That if you’re not growing in your relationship with God, then we’re not getting the success that we need to get. It’s not about did I come and attend check, see you next Sunday.
No, we’re building the Church of the living God. I need to be in a connect group. I need to be serving on a team. Why? Because God’s building something in me and using their buildings to get me to touch other people. This is what he’s asking the church to do to build one another Mt. Carmel Church. It’s not about this event this day. It’s about the people sitting around you. It’s about your life and your relationship with Jesus. There’s people sitting beside you that are hurting, going through desperate situations and do you care? That’s what matters. You’re going through desperate situations. You’re going through struggles and do people care about you? Yes. This is the kind of church that Jesus wants. People that say, I’m in, but I’m not just trying to come to my seat and slip out. I’m looking for people that God might use me to bless while I’m here.
Self preservation. Are you ready for 0.3? You like 0.2 so well, let’s go to the 0.3 let’s bring Greg back. Hey Greg. Greg, point number three look at the power. Look what happens with unity. Lo. Look in verse six and the Lord said, indeed, the people are one and they all have one language and this is what they be again to do. They start building this city to themselves. This name for themselves. Yeah. Now. Nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Notice the power of unity, even in a negative situation, even in a negative, because they were all in one language, all in one heart. He said, God comes down and say, look, look what’s going to happen? Nothing Mt. Carmel Church. Nothing they propose to do will be with help from them. What happens when a body of believers gets one heart in one language under the purpose of heaven, nothing will be impossible to this group. Nothing will be impossible. Why? We have one heart, Jesus, your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth just as it is in heaven. And Use me one hard one language. Nothing will be impossible to this group.
Yeah, nothing’s impossible. Even in a negative situation. God himself came down and look what’s gonna happen. We better break this up cause I’m telling you when they all start speaking the same language, nothing’s going to be withheld from them. You can’t stop them. You can’t stop them. You can only hope to contain them. So Luke, what he does, verse seven come let us go down and they’re confused their language that they may not understand one another. So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth and they ceased building the city. Why did, why did God come down and confuse their language? What was their language? The language was one language. Build ourselves, make a name for ourselves. God says, I’m going to come down and confuse that language. I’m going to come down and confuse that selfish language Mt. Carmel Church. That what about me? Language that look out for number one language. [inaudible] I’m going to come down and confuse that because I don’t want anything built on that word, on that language. I want to build something that’s not about themselves. It’s about somebody else. So he confused that selfish language and he wanted to provide some no.
Look what happens. They start building. That’s the power of unity. They shut down the building. They confused what they were doing and begin to move into something else. Their lives and plants liquid. He says in verse eight so the Lord scattered them abroad over there. They’re over the face of the earth and they cease building the city. What was their intent? Remember, let’s build ourselves a city. Let’s make a name for ourselves so that we won’t be scattered. Look what ended up happening because they built a city under themselves and a name unto themselves. They ended up being scattered what they thought they would do. When they focus on themselves Mt. Carmel Church, it will hold my life together. The opposite actually happen when we focus on ourselves. Our lives fall apart when we make it about ourselves. What happens when we focus on our problems? The enemy just rubs him in our noses so much that depression ends up coming on us and our life gets a total mess.
Why? Because we’re thinking about us instead of thinking about others. What they thought would keep them from falling apart was the thing that actually caused them to fall apart. Some encouraging you. If you feel like your life’s falling apart right now, go help somebody. Go serve somebody, go get in a connect group, go lead a connect group. Get on a team and start serving people, pour out into other people and watch God hold your life together Mt. Carmel Church. We can hold our life together, but when we give our life to Jesus, he can our life together. We give you the last point. Let’s go to Hagi AI, chapter one Haggai, you’re like hag. I were in the world is that. Go to Matthew and turn left just a couple of books. First Book the New Testament Matthew and then go left. Malakai’s, Zachariah Hag, Hagia however you want to pronounce it.
Here’s the number three thing that will prevent us hindrances to building the church in us with us and through US bigger than us. It is self satisfaction, self satisfaction. Notice the theme, self promotion, self preservation, self satisfaction. Look in verse two Haggai Chapter One verse two thus speaks the Lord of hosts saying this. People says, look what these people say. Context. Let me give you context. As you’re reading the Bible, it’s important to have context Mt. Carmel Church. This is right after Babylonian captivity. They’ve been held captive in a foreign country. The now Persia comes in overthrows Babylon and releases the Jews to go back to their homeland. So they go back to the homeland and as they go back, the Lord tells them, start rebuilding the temple because the temple had been destroyed. So they come back to their homeland and they’re suppose supposed to be doing it.
But 16 years after the process has begun, people have yet to finish the project because their personal affairs have interfered with God’s plans. So that’s where we find ourselves thus speaks the Lord. This people says, the time has not come. The time that the Lord’s house should be built, the time hasn’t come, that the Lord’s House, the word built means to be restored to its usable functional condition to its function. It’s time for the Lord’s House to be built. I believe it’s time for the church, whether it’s this church, the body of Christ is a hall for the Church to make sure and be restored to its proper function. Our proper function is not to perform services for you to be released. Our proper function is to bring people into a relationship and discipleship with the Jesus Christ. That is the function, to be freedom, to bring salvation, to bring healing, bring deliverance for people, to empower the living God. Not Say, well, as a good sermon, see you next week. Chet. No is to encounter Jesus on a personal level and walk with him and talk with him and release his glory into other people’s lives. That’s the proper function. And people were saying back here and said, it’s not time for the Lord’s House to be built then the word the lord came to Haggai, the prophet saying, is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses?
And this temple to lie in ruins. Here’s what happened. People came back and they started building their own house. They’re still building the house of God. There were focusing on remodeling their house and they let the House of God lay in ruins Mt. Carmel Church. And God’s saying to us, he’s saying, listen, uh, is it time to focus on your world or focus on my world? And when I, when I was asking, you know, I was preparing this this week, I was like, Oh God, can I have something a little more uh, upbeat and encouraging for the people I’ve been gone a week said, listen, this is the reality of where it is in my, my, you know, church, the body of Christ as a whole. Too many people are a part of the crowd in the church and they’re not on the crew. Too many people are watching the house of God being built and they’re not building.
They’re focused on their own lives, their own house, their own agendas, their own priorities, and they’re not building the house of God. I’m not talking about the house of God, just literally this building I’m talking about people, the people in the house, in the church, your responsibility, my responsibility is for each of us to get involved so that we will build the people of the House of God to build the church means to pour into people’s lives, not to pull back and take care of ourselves. I’m mean, I’m telling you, we will get discouraged. The more we focus on ourselves, the more discouraged we will we’ll be, but he said, is it time? Well, well, my house lays in ruins. That word ruins there just means decay or to lay waste are their gifts and talents in our lives that are laying waste that we’re wasting because we’re focusing on ourselves. There’s people around what can this church do Mt. Carmel Church? The limits of what this church can accomplish and the effectiveness we can have in the community in this region is 100% determined on the level of activity by the people, a part of that church, because you have the gifts and talents that God wants to use to touch people that I can’t touch. It’s not about one God given sermons and that will grow. I thought, you know, if I can just preach better, if I just preach better, okay, then people will keep good.
Then the church will just keep rolling. That’s not what it’s about because most people can’t even remember what I said after a week. So it’s not about excellent sermons. It’s about a living body of living organisms that loves other people, pours into other people. Use your gifts and talents to allow God to flow through you to build the charge. I don’t want it to be about the event like, okay, was Sunday good? Was it not good? Look what he says now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts. Consider your ways. You have sown much and you bring in little you eat, but you do not have enough notice. Here’s the self satisfaction. You drink, but you’re not filled with drink. You clothed yourself, but no one is warm. He earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes. Notice what’s happening. We’re trying to satisfy ourselves. We’re trying to meet our needs. We’re trying, we’re sowing, we’re working, but we still don’t have much. We’re eating, but we’re still not full. We’re drinking, but we’re still first thirsty. We’re closing ourselves, but we’re still not work. We’re earning our wages. We’re getting our job, but it’s going into a bag withhold. As soon as I put money into it, it’s going out. Every time I try and save money goes out. God’s saying because you’re not building my house. I can’t help you build your house.
He may be speaking to you about your time, but your your stopped honoring the Lord with your time. You’re saying, well, I’ve got too many things going on right now in this season of my life. I’m trying to take care of this and take care of that. That’s the bag with holes. When I’m not honoring God and giving God what belongs to him, he can’t help me take care of my stuff because I’m taking his, God’s not con condemning us. He’s encouraging these people Mt. Carmel Church. Say, Hey, here’s your problem. You guys will know what your problem is right there and why things aren’t going well. It’s because you’re letting my temple lay in ruins and you’re building yourself. God says, if you’ll focus on me the now I can get involved in, I can help you.
Yes. Yeah, so I encourage Jonah where you’re at, whether it’s a financial situation, whether it’s a serving situation. Just like Theresa said on the video, she was like, I don’t get it. I will give my time to people. All those drama people dealing with all their problems and issues. I ain’t got time for that, but God changed her perspective, chased her heart to see that it’s not about your preference, it’s about what does God want to do and them what does he want to reach them and in so doing now you get [inaudible] liquid goes on to say, thus says the Lord of hosts. Consider your ways, roads, church. I added that case. You didn’t know. [inaudible] says, go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified. Says the Lord. You looked for much, but indeed it came too little and when you brought it home Mt. Carmel Church, I blew it away.
Why says the Lord of hosts? Because of my house that is in ruins while every one of you runs to his own house. Therefore, the heavens above you withhold the dew and the earth withholds its fruit for I called for a drought on the land and the mountains and on the grain and on the new wine and on the oil and whatever the ground brings forth on men in livestock, on, on all the labor of your hands, self satisfaction. This will hinder if the church being built in our lives. We take care of us looking out for number one, not we’ll get involved in other people’s problems. I don’t wanna get involved in other people’s issues. I got my own things to take care of. As long as we focus on self self satisfaction, I’m going to try and take care of my knees Mt. Carmel Church. I’m going to try and look after mine.
God’s saying, listen, I want you to be a giver. I want you to be a sower. I want you to pour into others and watch what I can do through you. Look at verse 12 then survivable the son of Shealtiel and Joshua, the son of Jozadak. The high priest with all the remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord. There’s where we are. Road searches US crew up day, we all obey the voice of the Lord, their God and the words of Haggai, the Prophet as the Lord their God had sent them and the people fear the presence of the Lord. They didn’t fear the presence of Chad. They didn’t fear the presence. It’s not for me to come up and hammer and manipulate and try and condemn people into working and serving in the chart, but I want God to do something. Look what happens then Haggai, the Lord’s messengers, folk to the Lord’s message spoke the Lord’s message to the people, to the roadster saying, I am with you, says the Lord. So the Lord stirred up the spirit observable, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Jozadak, the high priest and the spirit of all the Rehmann of the people and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God. Here’s what I’m believing for, that the Holy Spirit’s going to stir up the body of Christ Mt. Carmel Church.
Some people only get stirred up if it’s an event or a service that’s going to bless them all for that. I want us to continue that happening. I want, I want more of them, but we also got a gift. Sir, get geared up and stirred up when we’re serving coffee. When we got to come early and get the kids room ready, we got to get stirred up. That’s the storing of the Holy Spirit. Just as much as be laying hands on someone and receiving a powerful impartation right now, the same spirit can stir you up to help check in a parent that’s not knowing that that’s not spiritual. When I begin to examine one of the things as I was asking God about, you know, what kind of church are we building? It’s been a few weeks ago. First Service was great. It was awesome, and I was standing up here in praise and worship at Mt. Carmel Church.
If you’re feeling good about going into sex services, someone came up to me and said, hey pastor, uh, just want you to know that we had to close one of the kid’s rooms this morning cause some people didn’t show up to serve and some people declined at the last minute. So we had to put a sign on the door that’s closed and some parents are going to have to deal with their kids themselves. Why walk out, go down to see what’s going on. I’m out. I’m like okay, this is really nice. I can really worship now cause my mind is totally. So I go out and I see literally parents with little kids that would be in that age group. Some of them walking out the door, some of them trying to bring their two and three year old kids in here to the Mt. Carmel Church. And I said, I came up and you’ll be proud.
None of you knew how I felt that day cause I preached that sermon and none of you knew a thing. I wanted to come up and just light a fire because I said, Lord, what are we building that a church, that crowd crowd gathers of 900 people and we have to close the kids classroom because people won’t serve. What are we building? What’s the purpose? What’s the point? I don’t want to crowd this says sad. You’re great ted. I don’t care. I want someone to pour into a kid that needs Jesus. I want someone to pour into a child while that parent comes into here and God can speak to them, I want that to happen. I want people to say, you know what? I didn’t come. Jesus said the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many say, God, I don’t want a church filled with a bunch of crowd and if that’s all we got, let’s thin the herd. Jesus did at one time. All the crowd was gathering after the FTEs feeding all the people and Jesus said, all right, let’s see how many disciples I really have. Alright, everybody listen to me. Anybody wants to be my got to eat my flesh and drink my blood Mt. Carmel Church.
Not really a warm, fuzzy message. The Bible says that multitudes left him so much, so he even turns to the disciples said, you guys gotta go too. So I said, God, I don’t want to lose anybody, but I want our hearts to be one. I want one language, one speech. It’s not about me, it’s about Jesus. It’s not about my schedule. It’s not about me preciously getting home by noon, one day a week I’ll give up food to see a soul say for Jesus to see a life changed for a parent to be able to come in as big brought their kid and I just need where you will. You pour them out. Get that kid. Never hears about Jesus all week long, but they brought him and you get them. It’s like, yes. Let me pour the gospel into this two years. Let me love on him Mt. Carmel Church.
Let me serve up. Where are we at rose? Let’s time to crew up. It’s time to crew up. Not just from a guilt standpoint, because listen, I say, God, I’m not. I’m not coming with hype because hyper, we’re off in a week. I’ve been here 13 years. You know how many times a children’s leader has come to me and said, pastor, we don’t have enough kids. Workers. I can’t count how many times over the 13 years, that conversation has been brought to me. How many times? Well, people didn’t show up to serve then come to the door or not there at the door. We’re not here. We’re not gonna have banked welcome center. Yeah, we’re, we’re struggling. Can’t get by in the cafe. Everybody wants donuts and coffee. No one wants to serve in there Mt. Carmel Church.
Everybody wants to have a great children’s ministry, but nobody wants to serve in their, what kind of church are we building? I pray that we’re building his church. It’s based on people that say, Jesus, I’ll do whatever you want me to do. I’ve got gifts and talents. It’s time for me to use them. I’m a leader connect group because God has poured into me. I’ve known Jesus for 40 years and there’s more word in me than I’m ever using. I’ve got to pour into someone else. I want to open up a group of people’s going to come into my house and I’m going to start pouring into them. I’m going to accept some of their drama. I’m going to put up with it, but I’m going to see God change their lives and in the god changing their life. He’s going to change my life. He’s going to impact me. This is what God’s saying to the road, sir, will you do your part? Not For me. Don’t do anything for me. I’m not looking at, I’m not looking at multiple campuses cause I’m bored. [inaudible] couldn’t move cause I can’t sleep cause he says head will you do it for me? Oh my God, I’ve got five kids. I’ve got three volleyball at one time. If it’s what you do it for me, none of it’s to guilt you. Guilt won’t move us. Guilt won’t move you past next week but I pray as it said here it says the Lord stirred spirit and the people came and worked on the House of God Mt. Carmel Church.
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