The
Opportunities of the Church
Matthew
16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I
will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Intro: We live in exciting
times. Never before has the church of
the living God had the opportunity to impact civilization like it does
today. It is crucial that we adopt the
correct mindset in these last days.
There are three basic approaches to the challenges that we face today.
1. The Defensive Mindset – spending
our time and efforts trying to avoid the enemy onslaught
2. The Maintain Mindset – picture a
turtle; pulling its head in its shell and trying to remain neutral
3. The Offensive Mindset – taking the
battle to the enemy and using our God-given power to make a difference
Today, the wickedness and the depravity is increasing at an
unbelievable pace.
However, it would be a mistake for us to think that it’s worse now than
it has ever been.
It would be a horrible tragedy for the church to believe that we are at
a disadvantage.
Notice the conditions in the day of Noah:
·
Genesis
6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of
his heart was only evil continually…The earth also was corrupt before God, and
the earth was filled with violence. And
God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had
corrupted his way upon the earth.
Notice the conditions in the day of the prophet Samuel
·
Judges
21:25 In those days there was no king
in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Notice the conditions in the day of Elijah
·
I Kings
19:14 And he said, I have been very
jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken
thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword;
and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. NOTICE
GOD’S REPLY: Yet I have left me seven
thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every
mouth which hath not kissed him.
There has always been wicked times; discouraging times; overwhelming
times for the believer.
But to think that because God’s people are outnumbered means we can’t
be overcomers is a huge mistake!
God has us in a place where we can make an eternal contribution to the
kingdom of God.
Jesus said – THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT.
I. The Opportunity to Shine
The darker the hour, the brighter the light.
·
Romans
13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of
sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far
spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and
let us put on the armour of light.
·
Philippians
2:15 That ye may be blameless and
harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and
perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may
rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in
vain.
II. The Opportunity to Sow
·
Psalm
126:5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and
weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
bringing his sheaves with him.
In the 17 square miles of Dundalk, there are over 64,000 residents.
In a 7 mile radius of this church there are over 400,000 people.
There’s more souls in a 7 mile radius of this church than there is in
some countries.
NOTE: There’s over 50
countries with less population than Baltimore MD!
The population of Baltimore is 625,000 souls.
The cost of printing tracts is cheaper than ever before.
The opportunities we have to spread the gospel is unparalleled in our
generation.
We have:
·
Printed page
·
Scriptures – John/Romans, Bibles
·
Bus Ministry – these busses will seat about 40
kids each. They should be full every Sunday!
·
Liberty to knock doors and walk the streets
·
Opportunities to put ads in the
paper/magazines/etc.
·
Website/Livestream (482 views of Life, Liberty
and the Pursuit of Happiness)
·
Radio stations
·
Write books/pamplets/articles/etc.
There are thousands of people looking for answers; looking for the
truth; looking for help; looking for relief.
We have what they need. ARE WE SOWING THE SEED?
We are setting aside
SEPTEMBER for OPERATION SATURATION MONTH.
We will pray and trust God to allow our church to distribute 25,000
packets in the month of September.
We will need volunteers to help put packets together and distribute
gospel tracts and literature.
III. The Opportunity to Send Missionaries
·
Mark
16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel
to every creature.
In centuries past, travel and navigation was a massive challenge.
It wasn’t until 1492 that civilization learned that the earth was
round.
Today, we can put a missionary anywhere in the world in less than 24
hours.
God is calling men to preach and He is calling families to serve in
foreign lands.
The church is more equipped to help them than ever before.
Missionaries are traveling thousands of miles and visiting hundreds of
churches trying to raise the money to reach the lost with the Gospel while God’s
people blow their money on entertainment, sports, hobbies, fun, food, and other
temporal things.
Let’s reach the world while we still have the chance!!
Conclusion:
ILLUSTRATION: Coach Bear Bryant had an old scout that was
approached by a young man wanting to become a scout to recruit players for the
University of Alabama football team. He told him, “If you see a player that
gets knocked down and doesn’t get back up, that’s not the guy we want. If you
see a guy get knocked down and he gets back up and then he gets knocked down
and stays down, that is not the guy we want.
If you see a guy get knocked down and he gets back up and then he gets
knocked down and he gets back up and then he gets knocked down and he doesn’t
have the heart to get back up, that is not the guy we want. If you see a guy
get knocked down and he gets back up and then he gets knocked down and he gets
back up and then he gets knocked down and he doesn’t have the heart to get back
up…” The young scout interrupted him excitedly and said, “That’s not the guy we
want, right??” NO!! shouted the old scout. “We want the guy who’s knocking
everybody down!!”
It is high time for the church to go on the OFFENSIVE. We need to stop
hiding in the corner! We need to stop trying to fly under the radar! We need to
charge the gate of hell and rescue the perishing and care for the dying.
