Today I am simply noting some thought from the message yesterday. NorthStar is crazy, fanatical, extreme and passionate. In our culture, normal means broke, living from pay check to paycheck, depression, bad marriage, stressed, worried and freaked out, overwhelmed, bad relationship with parents….We are not normal! God has called us to be different. Normal is not working. Today I want to talk about what it means to be a crazy church.
We believe
church is not supposed to be same group of people staying the same but reaching
people far from God. The vision of many churches is keeping church people
happy. If we are
going to be a crazy church I am going to share four things we can focus on
today.
>>Jesus Loved And Is Committed To This Church
We have
members/owners, we have guest and we have people dating this church.
Some say I
am searching for a church where my kids can get something good, I am searching
for a place to belong….The number one question should be: “Is the presence of God in
this place?”
That should
be the difference maker. It makes me crazy when people say “I love God I just
don’t need church.
Matthew
16:18 The church belongs to Jesus so the
church is important.
Ephesians
1:22 The church was not mans idea but God’s so it has a divine purpose.
Ephesians
3:10 In other words God wants to use his
church to proclaim the gospel to the world.
Ephesians
3:20-21
You cannot
separate Jesus and the church. Jesus loves and committed to this church. I am
focused on this church, I am sure he loves others too.
We love new.
When something new comes out at a restaurant or store everybody goes crazy. But
the new wears off. The condition of the church in America is not in the best
shape because many church leaders love new and the new has worn off. People will try a church for a while and then
move on to another church.
There is a
difference in church attendance and walking with Jesus. If we will walk with Jesus
we do not become more judgmental, arrogant and self righteous. If we walk with Jesus
we become more humble, desperate and compassionate.
The worship
leader in our life changes us. As we
walk with Jesus we don’t become people sitting on top of the cross but rather people
kneeling at the cross because we are changing. Please read Psalm
139:23-24 This prayer will
revolutionize your life. I have to do
things in my life that will set me up for success and the church for success.
>>I Am Asking You To Love and Be Committed
To This Church
Ephesians
2:19-22
At the end
of the day we are called to belong to the local church. We need the church. Often the first step people take away from
God is away from the church. For those of
you who are messing around and not plugging in to the church get plugged in. Half
hearted men do not change the world.
Ephesians 4:
11-14
We will
never attain spiritual maturity until we use the spiritual gifts God has given
us in the context of the local church. If you want
to mature, you need to understand maturity is not information. Maturity is allowing information
to produce transformation in our lives.
Saved people serve people so that served people can become saved people. If we are
going to be like Jesus we are going to have to serve. He said I am
come to serve not be served. I am asking
you to commit your life to something that matters. Pick a church and plug in. Take off your referee shirt and whistle and
get involved in the game.
>>We Need To See Others Commit Their Lives
To Christ and His Church
I want to be
like Jesus so I look at how He did ministry. Matthew
9:9-13 Jesus went to Levi and to his
house because his friends needed Jesus.
There are
people outside this walls that need Jesus and Jesus has called this church to
reach them. We don’t
need to be comfortable and inward focused but rather go outside the walls of
this church to bring the message of Jesus to the world. People
matter to God
Posts
