Well, today I'm going to finish up this three-part series we began two weeks ago,
and it's been on what kind of church do we want to be.
It's found in 1 Thessalonians 3.
If you have your Bibles, turn there, and we'll begin there this morning
looking at that last verse, the 13th verse,
and then part of chapter 4 and just a verse or 2 in chapter 5.
So go ahead and turn there, and if you're just now joining us,
let me just bring you up to speed in about one minute or less, okay?
Here's what we've seen so far.
The Apostle Paul is on his second missionary journey.
He's had to flee the city of Philippi.
He goes to Thessalonica, the target of this message series
and this letter that we're reading today,
and he preaches there on three consecutive Sabbaths.
A number of people hear the gospel, respond to it favorably,
and then after the third service they have, Paul has to leave town.
Members of the church come and tell him his life's in danger
and he needs to get out of Dodge, so to speak.
So he goes to the next town and he keeps wanting to go back
because he knows why there are folk there who are showing positive signs of believing in Christ.
They're beginning to grow in their faith.
These are babies in the Lord.
They haven't known the Lord very long.
He's taught them everything he can teach them in three weeks,
but he knows that's not a finished work,
and so he worries about them.
Are they going to fall by the wayside?
What's going to happen?
Are they going to get discouraged?
Will persecution cause them to abandon the faith?
So he says in chapter 3, verse 1, and then later in verse 5,
he says,
I've wanted to come back to you any number of times,
but when that wouldn't happen,
when I could stand it no longer is the actual phrase he uses,
I send Timothy back.
Timothy goes back, talks to the folk there in Thessalonica,
hears about what's going on,
comes back and reports to Paul beginning in verse 10.
And what he says to him, or verses 6 to 10, I think it is,
and what he says to him essentially is this,
these people have not fallen by the wayside.
They've not gotten discouraged and given up.
They're still seeking the Lord Jesus.
In fact, they're growing in their love for one another
and for people throughout the region.
They're beginning to be known as a people
with a reputation for loving folk,
and these are people who are walking with God.
So Paul's encouraged by that, obviously,
and he writes back and he gives them a written prayer.
He says, I want you to know, here's what I'm praying for you.
And that's been the focus of this three-week series.
What kind of church do we want to be?
I think we can tell by the prayer that Paul prays
the kind of church we need to be.
This is what he says.
He says, I'm praying that you will be filled with love
and even overflow.
He tells me you're growing in love, keep growing in love,
but be filled and actually overflow with love.
And then last week we saw he said this,
I want you also to walk blameless in holiness.
Now, some folk, the Jews, knew about holiness
because they heard the Pharisees talk,
and the Pharisees wore their religion on their sleeve.
They acted holier than they really were.
So Paul says, I'm not interested in that kind of holiness.
I want you to have the hidden, true holiness,
purity of the heart that's seen in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, he finishes this out with a single phrase.
Look with me to the last portion of this,
found in chapter 3 and verse 13.
This is what he says.
May he make your hearts blameless in holiness
before our God and Father.
And then this phrase,
at the coming of our Lord Jesus,
with all of his saints, amen.
The third part of this to me seems to be
that Paul wants these people in Thessalonica
to be ready for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, I want to tell you, when you read the scriptures,
you see some of these letters that Paul writes,
and you say, now that's a pastor,
that's a church I like to pastor.
And some you see and you say,
no, that's a church I like to not have to pastor
unless God just made me go there,
the Church of Corinth being one of those.
But this church at Thessalonica,
I want to tell you,
most every pastor I know would say,
I would love to be the pastor of the church of Thessalonica.
But it wasn't a church,
and there are hardly any churches,
if any out there,
that don't have occasionally a problem.
And this church was no exception.
As good a church as they were,
as loving as they were,
as pure and holy in their walk as they were,
this was a church that had a few problems.
And it may surprise you,
if you're not familiar with this letter,
what their problem centered around.
Because when I tell you,
some of you, if you don't know this already,
you're going to say,
that's a strange thing to have a problem over.
But you know what their problem was over?
It was over something Paul said in a sermon,
probably several times,
that Jesus is going to soon come again.
Now, it's amazing,
because you've talked to folk a lot of times
about a variety of subjects,
how one person,
when you're talking to them,
hears one thing,
and somebody else hears another.
You ever had that happen?
Four or five family members
accompany a parent to the doctor,
and the doctor gives a report on a health situation,
and you get home and you begin rehearsing,
what did the doctor say?
And one person hears one thing,
and another person hears another thing,
and one person interprets that thing one way,
and another person interprets it yet another way.
Any of you ever had that happen?
So Paul stands and he preaches,
and he says,
Jesus is coming again,
and he's coming soon.
Now, some people heard that,
and they thought,
well, that means one day,
Jesus is going to come again.
Again, probably,
probably,
can't verify this,
there's no documentation of this,
but in all likelihood,
most of those folk thought,
when they heard Paul say it,
Jesus hadn't been gone all that many years,
it's probably going to be in my lifetime.
Wouldn't you agree?
Probably what they thought.
But some of them thought,
well, it may be after my lifetime.
And some may have thought,
well, you know,
it may be next year,
or the year after that.
And some, no doubt,
you know what they did?
They were literalists.
I don't want to ask you
how many of you in this room are literalists,
but sometimes,
some of you might hear something like that,
especially if said by the Apostle Paul,
and you would go,
okay, it's been five minutes,
six minutes,
two hours.
He's not back yet.
When's he coming?
And some of them in the church at Thessalonica,
not nearly all of them,
but some of them in the church,
enough that it was problemsome,
some of them heard that,
and they thought,
why hadn't he come back?
In fact, let me just ask you,
how many of you in this room right now
have ever heard a preacher say,
Jesus is coming,
and I believe it could be soon?
You ever heard that?
Raise your hand.
I know Fred said that.
I've said it.
A lot of folk have said that, right?
I'm 69.
He's not come back yet.
I've been hearing it since I was a little bitty boy.
And I've had folk ask me all the time,
when do you think it could be?
Especially in these times we're living in now,
with a lot that's happening,
I've had any number of people in the last 12 months
come to me and say,
do you think all these things point to the fact
that Jesus is coming again soon, right?
So we've all had questions about that.
And these people were no different.
They wondered,
well, if he's coming,
you said he was coming,
when's he going to come?
Let me share with you three problems
that arose from their misunderstanding
of what Paul said.
First of all,
some, when they heard him say that,
you know their response?
Well, let's just sit down
and wait for him to come.
I mean, let's just sit down
and watch the clouds,
maybe move to the mountains,
don a white robe,
stop what we're doing,
and just wait until he comes
because surely it's going to be tomorrow,
if not today,
and if not tomorrow,
day after tomorrow.
So some of them just said,
we're going to sit down
and we're going to wait.
Do you know that since the Lord left
and we've been awaiting his return,
there have been certain sects
and certain cults
and certain even groups of folk
within the family of God
who have so looked for his coming,
they have done exactly that.
They have gone off to the mountains.
They've donned white robes on occasion.
And they've said,
we're going to stop our jobs.
We're going to just stop living.
And we're going to wait
because we think he's coming on this day.
Some of you can remember
just a few years ago
when one fellow predicted
this particular day,
this particular moment,
Jesus is going to come again.
And so some folk have done that.
I want you to listen
to what Paul says about that.
Go with me if you have your Bibles.
Look with me to the fourth chapter
and let's begin reading in verse nine.
About brotherly love,
you don't need me to write you
because you yourselves
are taught by God to love one another.
They're doing well there.
In fact, you're doing this
toward all the brothers
in the entire region of Macedonia.
But we encourage you, brothers,
to do so even more.
Now, I don't know how many of you
write in your Bibles,
and this is a passage
that some people might consider obscure.
It doesn't say anything
real holy sounding.
But can I admonish you to do something?
If you write in your Bibles,
underscore every word in verse 11
and even verse 12.
Here's what it says.
To seek to lead a quiet life.
Paul said,
let this be your ambition
to seek to lead a quiet life.
Here's a real portion
I want you to underscore.
To mind your own business.
That's a pretty good one, isn't it?
To seek to lead a quiet life,
to mind your own business,
and to work with your own hands
as we commanded you.
In other words,
don't forget,
I told you.
I didn't tell you to sit down.
I told you to work.
I told you to be busy.
So that you may walk properly
in the presence of outsiders,
and this is a big thing,
and not be dependent on anyone.
You know the problem
about just sitting down
and saying,
you know what?
I'm going to be so holy,
I'm just going to sit and wait
and watch on Jesus to come.
I'm going to think about nothing
but His second coming,
and my eyes are going to be focused
on the clouds,
and that way I won't get in trouble,
and I'll be ready when He comes,
and there's nothing better
than I can do that.
You know the problem with that?
When you sit idle very long,
what happens?
Because you don't have anything
to do in your life,
you'll begin to mess
with other folks' lives.
Have you ever said
about somebody you know,
and don't look at them right now,
don't point at them,
have you ever said,
they need to get a life?
Because they just are constantly
meddling in other folks' business
and other folks' lives.
They got too much time
on their hands.
They need to be busier.
You ever thought that?
I know you have.
You don't have to do this right now,
but you know what I'm talking about, right?
Some folks are just idle,
and they're busybodies,
and they meddle in other folks' business,
and it always leads to trouble
in the church,
in the home,
in the community.
And Paul says,
man, don't do that.
And here's another problem with it.
If I sit and just wait on Jesus to come,
how am I going to feed myself?
Because I'm not going to stop eating.
And how am I going to keep a roof
over my head
and over my family's head
and clothes on our backs?
You know what's going to happen?
In the name of holiness and religion,
I'm going to become a burden
to folk around me.
And Paul says,
man, don't do that.
Make it your ambition
to lead a quiet life,
to mind your own business,
to work with your hands
so that you don't become dependent
on other folk.
I'm going to tell you,
work is good for everybody.
Amen?
Everybody ought to work.
And even though you retire,
man, you ought to stay busy.
If your idea of retirement
is to say,
I'm going to just sit down
and let people take care of me
from here on out.
I'm going to let the government
take care of me.
I'm going to let people
take care of me.
I just don't have care in the world.
It's everybody else's responsibility.
Man, I'm going to tell you,
you need to get a life.
You need to get a life.
And that's what Paul says.
There was a second problem.
And the second problem
probably was a greater problem
than even the first problem.
The second problem was
some began worrying
about their loved ones
who had died
before Jesus came back.
Now, think with me.
Paul said,
hey, here's what's going to happen.
Jesus came and he lived
and he died
and he rose from the dead.
And that's the reason
for our hope in the gospel.
You trust in him,
you have eternal life.
And one day he's going to come again
and he's going to take us
all up to be with him, right?
And they all applauded and said,
man, that is great.
Can't wait.
But guess what happened?
Same thing happens
in Pickens and Greer.
Today, as soon as this service is over,
I've got a 2.30 funeral
I've got to be off too.
I'll tell you something.
Folk began to die.
And they die here in Pickens.
And you don't have to wait
years for them to die.
In the 16 weeks or so,
I've been the interim pastor
here at Pickens,
there have been a number of people
in your congregation
who passed
and loved ones related to people
in your congregation
who passed, right?
And Thessalonica was no different.
Somebody's wife died.
Somebody's husband died.
Somebody's best friend died.
Somebody's partner in business died.
And they began saying,
no, wait a second.
You said if we trusted Jesus,
gave my heart,
we'd have eternal life.
Jesus is going to come again.
He's going to take us out of this world
and to be with Him.
But they've died
before He could get back.
So, what's up with these folk?
Listen to what Paul says about that.
Look with me, if you will,
to chapter 4 and verse 13.
We do not want you
to be uninformed brothers
concerning those who are asleep.
Now, that's a metaphor for dead.
He's not talking about
they fall asleep.
He's talking about
they're graveyard dead.
So that you will not grieve
like the rest
who have no hope.
He says, listen,
people of Thessalonica,
I don't want you to be ignorant
about death
and about what happens
to people after death.
Because I don't want you
to grieve like those folk
who have no hope.
Now, I want to tell you,
I've seen believers
through the years,
I don't encounter this often,
but I've seen it on occasion
where believers think
that for me to be
a good Christian,
I dare not show any emotion
if anybody in my family dies.
Especially if they die tragically.
That I'm supposed to suck it up
and put on my game face
and go out there
and just be all smiles and cheery
and stand before everybody.
And a good testimony is,
hey, you know what?
They died,
they've gone to glory
and I'm okay with it.
I'm not hurting,
I'm alright.
God's taking care of me
and I'm alright.
But that's not what
he's saying at all.
He's not saying
that we shouldn't grieve,
we just shouldn't grieve
like people who have no hope.
There's a difference
in how you grieve.
Do you understand that?
I can grieve,
but still have hope.
And that grief looks different
than when I grieve
and I don't have any hope.
When I don't have any hope,
I'm ready to jump out a window
because I'm desperate.
I mean,
there is no tomorrow
when I don't have any hope.
But if I have hope,
it's different.
Let me show you
what I'm talking about.
Our son, Matthew,
he marries a girl
named Carla Smith
five or six,
seven years down the way.
She gets pregnant,
they have a baby, right?
Right before they have the baby,
they move off to St. Louis.
He's managing the store
for Chick-fil-A.
They send him out there
to shut one down.
He stays a few months.
He moves back to Greenville
just before the baby's born.
We were so delighted, right?
The baby's born,
Scout, my firstborn,
I want you to meet her sometime.
Great, beautiful gal,
15 years old now,
little baby then.
I'd go out on Wednesday nights
after I do prayer meeting
and I'd go to their apartment
and I'd say,
can I hold Scout?
And he was working,
his wife was there
and she'd say, sure.
And so I'd sit in the living room
all by myself,
hold that baby in the rocking chair
and rock her
and just talk to her
and sing to her
and tell her how much I loved her
and keep looking for her
to tell me,
I love you too, Papa.
We've all done that, right?
So a few months down the way,
he comes to me,
he says,
Dad,
they're reassigned me
to a store in Williamsburg,
Virginia.
It's a great opportunity,
brand new store,
good community
and I'm going to manage that store
and it's just a great opportunity.
I said, well, I understand that.
He said,
I've got to go do that.
I know you'll be heartbroken
but I just,
I need to tell you,
I've got to go do that.
I understand perfectly.
I said, now,
let me just ask you,
how often will you get to come home
and see Scout
because she's staying with us?
Now, you know,
he can't do that, right?
So I remember just like it was yesterday,
it was about 15 years ago,
we step outside,
we walked out,
we've hugged them,
we put them in the car,
they're only going to be seven hours away.
We put them in the car
and I've put on my game face
and I've hugged them all
and I'm smiling,
wishing them well,
they back out
and they don't hit the curb
going out of my driveway
until tears are just pouring down my face.
I mean, I'm just crying
and I'm just sobbing,
I'm broken hearted.
She's just seven hours away
but I'm broken hearted.
You know what?
Not because I thought,
well, that's so far,
I'll never get to see her again
because I'm going to tell you something,
within about three weeks,
I jumped in my car one Friday,
drove all the way up there
and saw her
and came all the way back.
But the tears were because I love her
and momentarily we're separated
and that's why I'm going to cry
if something happens to my wife
or my dad or my sister or brother
or my children or my friends.
I'm going to be sad
but it's a different kind of sadness.
It's a sadness that's tempered by the fact
this is not the end.
I'm just saying goodbye moment
but it still hurts.
You understand that?
So,
when someone passes you a life,
grieve for them.
Just don't grieve like people
who have no hope.
Listen to what he says,
Since we believe that Jesus died
and rose again,
in the same way God will bring with him
those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.
For we say this to you
by revelation from the Lord,
we who are still alive at the Lord's coming
will certainly have no advantage,
no advantage,
over those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself
will descend from heaven with a shout,
with the archangel's voice,
and with the trumpet of God
and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are still alive
will be caught up together
with him in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air.
And so will we always be with the Lord.
Therefore,
encourage one another
with these words.
And those are encouraging words,
aren't they?
Paul says,
Listen,
you don't need to worry about it.
Here's what's going to happen.
The archangel's going to sound the voice.
The trumpet will blow.
Jesus will come.
Those who have died,
they're going to be raised first.
And they're going to meet all of us
who are living at the time
when the Lord comes
and he's going to take us
to heaven to be with him.
And that's where we'll be forever.
That's an encouraging word,
isn't it?
Amen?
Boy,
I love that word from Paul.
Well,
there's a third problem.
Some became obsessed
with knowing
when he was coming.
I pastored
a number of churches now,
been interim
at a number of places.
Can I tell you something?
In every church
I've ever been
very long at all,
I've met some folk
who almost are obsessed
with when he's coming.
You've known some folk
like that, right?
I mean,
all they can think about
is
when is it going to be?
These signs
we're looking at today
point to the
time of the coming
of the Lord Jesus.
Our country's in trouble.
You know that, right?
I know that.
And a lot of folk
have come
in these troubled times
and said,
do you think
this means
this is
the beginning
of the end?
I'll tell you something.
Everything seems to me
to be pointing to it,
but I want to warn you
about something.
Keep perspective.
Nations
like the United States
of America
have come and gone
throughout history.
And if the Lord
tarries
a thousand years,
there'll be a
string of other nations,
saints,
including this one,
who come and go.
Do the signs
point to the coming?
I believe they do,
but I want to tell you
something.
I don't know
when that's going to be.
And if you ever
meet a preacher,
somebody who says,
man,
I've studied prophecy
all my life
and this is my gig
and this is what I know,
and he says to you,
everything here says,
Jesus is coming
and it's going to be
absolute.
It'll be in the next year.
It'll be in the next
two years.
You know you've met
somebody
who has outpunted
their coverage.
You know you've met
somebody who thinks
they know more
than they know.
And I want to show you
why.
You don't have to take
that on my authority.
Look, if you will,
at chapter 5
and verse 1
about the times
and the seasons,
brothers.
You do not need
anything to be
written to you.
For you yourselves
know very well
that the day of the Lord
will come just like
a thief in the night.
You ever been robbed?
They send you
advance notice.
You're going to be robbed?
No.
And when they say
peace and security,
then suddenly a destruction
comes on them
like labor pains
on a pregnant woman
and they will not
escape.
But you,
brothers,
are not in the dark.
That's what Paul
would say to everybody
here at First Baptist
Pickens
who's struggling
to know
when's he coming.
He says,
But you, brothers,
are not in the dark
so that this day
would overtake you
like a thief.
For you are all
sons of the light
and sons of the day.
We're not of the night
or of the darkness.
So then,
we must not sleep
like the rest,
but we must stay awake
and be sober.
You know what he's saying?
This wasn't a word
that he would have used.
It wasn't a word
in his vernacular.
But if he were living
today in our culture,
you know what I think
he'd say to folk
like that
who are just constantly
saying,
Is it going to be
January the 5th?
Is it going to be
next April?
Will it be in 2025?
You know what he'd say?
Chill.
Just chill.
Just live
for the Lord
Jesus Christ.
I mean,
just chill out
and look for the Lord
to come
and be prepared
for the Lord
to come
and live as though
he's going to come
tomorrow,
but stop worrying
about it
and stop listening
to folk
who tell you
that they can predict
whenever that's going
to be.
So what has Paul
said to us?
What has James
we saw last week
said to us?
These three things.
First of all,
be a church
that's known
for how it loves.
I want to tell you
about every church
I've ever heard
or talked to
or met.
That's what they all
say about themselves.
But you know
a lot of places
that isn't so,
is it?
I want to tell you
more than anything else,
you want the badge
of your discipleship
to be we love
people of every stripe,
those who love
the church
and those who don't,
those in the church
and those out of the church.
Secondly,
we want to walk
the talk.
We want to say
to people out there
in the world,
here's how you should live
and then we live
differently.
We want them
to look at us
and not think
we're oddballs
and nutcases,
peculiar in that sense.
But we want them
to look at us
and say,
you know what?
There's something
just different
about those folks.
They have a level
of character
and a level
of integrity
and honesty
and they just live
by this code
that we don't quite get.
It's not in keeping
with the world.
They talk about
this guy Jesus
and they seem
to have this kingdom
kind of mentality.
They're more worried
about the eternal
than the temporal.
They're more worried
about the spiritual
than they are
the physical.
They're not materialistic.
They're holy
and they're pure
but they don't brag
about it.
They have this
hidden holiness
and righteousness
of which when the world
sees it,
can I tell you something?
They'll be envious of it
because they'll say,
that guy may be
a little naive,
she may be a little naive
but I'm going to tell you something.
That's a good person.
That's a person
who walks with God.
And finally,
be a church,
be a church
that is looking
for the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Not because your eyes
are fastened on the clouds
and you got your calendar
out and you're marking a day
but because you believe
what he's promised
and therefore you're free
to live your life
with hope
and without fear
because you know
one of these days
he's coming again.
Now,
before this series ends,
can I throw in
a personal note?
Give you a little advice
from somebody
who's passed a long time.
You take it
for what it's worth.
But I want to share
with you three things
as you think about
what kind of church
do we want to be?
Three pieces
of personal advice
I'd give you
as you try to live out
these three things.
Here's the first.
Be driven always
by a sense
of purpose.
Know
exactly
who you are
and what your mission is
and what your reason
for existence is.
Can I ask you this morning,
do you know that already
individually
and collectively
as the people
of the First Baptist Church
are pickings?
Because I've got to be honest
with you,
I go a lot of places
and preach
when I was doing revivals
years and years
and years ago
and I found people
who they were faithful
to their church,
they were actively
involved in their church
but I think I could
look at many of them
and say,
do you know why
your church exists?
And they go,
well we do this
and we do that
and we do the other.
We're involved in this
and that
and we have this program
and that program.
Yeah, but you see
all those are tools.
They're tools
that you use
to accomplish
your objectives
but you understand
what your objective is
and I believe
many of them
their eyes
would have glazed over.
Do you know
what the purpose
of the First Baptist Church
of Pickens is?
When I had pastored
Rushy Creek
about 15 years,
the deacons came
and said,
we want to give you
two months off
and we want you
to just go away
and pray and think.
Just rest
and get refreshed
and come back.
My wife and I
went away for two months
and I thought a whole lot
about what is the purpose
of the church
because we were growing
and seeing people
come to know the Lord
but I just felt like
our purpose
was nebulous.
The written statement
in our church constitution,
it was pretty,
it talked about
kingdom things
and about worship
and it just had
a whole lot of stuff.
It was about
four or five sentences long.
Nobody, nobody
could have quoted
it to anybody.
So when I came back
I said,
you know what we're
going to do?
We're going to
scratch all that
and we're going to
bring it down
to three words
that everybody
can get.
So that everybody
who was a member
at Rushy Creek,
this was required,
you had to know
those three words.
Pretty easy
when you just got
three words, right?
Here are the three
words we chose.
Rescue, grow, and serve.
We're about rescuing
which is evangelism,
reaching out after people.
I love that word rescue.
It's used a number
of times by Paul
in his letters.
We're rescuing people
out of sin
and out of destruction
and bringing them
to life in Christ.
Secondly, we're growing
the idea of discipleship.
We don't see people
become believers
and then just stay there
as they do
in so many churches.
We don't see them
grow up strong.
We devoted a single night.
Wednesday night
was for nothing
but discipleship.
That's all you could do.
Wednesday night
is our discipleship night.
And then the last
was service.
We want to be in missions.
We want to be in ministry
and we want to love people
and serve people
and we believe
that will open the door
for us to share the gospel
and do that first thing
of rescue.
So we said that's our mission
and if it doesn't pertain
to rescue, grow, and serve
we're not going to do it.
That leads to the second thing
I'm going to tell you
but I'm going to hold off
from that for just a moment.
Do you know what
your mission statement,
your printed mission statement
is here at First Baptist Picks?
I hope you do.
What is it?
Do you know?
There's a single word.
What is it?
Somebody say it.
There you go.
Good for you.
You want to be a well church.
You want to be well individuals.
You want to worship.
You want to evangelize.
You want to learn
which is discipleship
and you want to love
which is the idea of service.
It doesn't matter
how you state it,
what your words are.
What matters is
you understand your purpose
and you understand
that's why we're here
at First Baptist Church
Pickens.
That's what we're about.
I want to commend you
on your purpose statement.
I want to ask you
are you moving
in that direction?
Is that really
and truly your purpose
or is that just propaganda?
Is that your real purpose
or is that just something
you say is your purpose
but your purpose
is something secondary?
Only you can answer that.
Second piece of advice
I'd give you is this.
Stay laser focused
as a church on that purpose.
I mean set that as your target
and don't let anything else
interfere with it
because I want to tell you something.
I know from being a pastor
for many, many, many years
your church is going to be asked
the pastor is going to be asked
to be involved
in lots and lots and lots
and lots of good stuff.
But you need to constantly
be asking yourself
is this good thing
we're being asked
to participate in
help us accomplish our mission
or is it take us
off focus of our mission?
Because you know what I found
happening in the 90s especially?
A lot of churches
especially larger churches
they became Walmarts.
They became Walmarts where
you know what I mean by Walmart?
They sell a little bit
of everything, right?
And so churches would say
man we've got a hundred ministries
and we're involved in this
and this and this and this
and those ministries
became ends in themselves
instead of a means
to reaching an end
because they forgot
what their mission was.
And I want to just tell you today
I don't mean to sound an alarm
but church is different
in 2021 than it was
in 1960.
If we're honest
back in 1960
many of us
looked to the church
for not only
spiritual well-being
and help
and guidance
but for social
avenues as well.
But in 2021
folks aren't doing
that any longer.
They're looking
to the church
and still need
the church
for spiritual advice
and help
and guidance
and to work together
to accomplish a mission.
But I'm telling you something
they're doing things
socially
in a lot of different ways
and the church
doesn't have to invent
every wheel.
Do you understand that?
There are good things
that can happen
and the church
not be the leader
in that.
In fact
I think it's a healthier
approach to say this
this is our mission
and this is where
we're going.
We see some good things
out there.
What we're going to do
is instead of
reinventing that wheel
we're going to ask
our ministers
and our members
to go be partners
with people
in the world
doing those good things
and influence people
who are lost
who are involved
in doing those good things
instead of saying
always you come
to the church
or we'll do it
here at the church house.
You understand
what I'm saying
in that?
For instance
and I can say this
instantly
because I don't know
what you got.
Okay?
I know I'm up in
somebody here
and I'm not meaning
to and I don't know
anything about your church
and ask anything
about this
but most churches
have softball teams
right?
And I'm not telling you
to go disband
your softball team
don't hear me say that
but what would be wrong
instead of having
nine guys on the field
who know Jesus
and one guy you invited
who doesn't know Jesus
to come in
to play ball with you
for a couple guys
from the church
to go play ball
with eight or ten
other lost guys
and to influence
those lost guys
rather than say
come here and
play with us.
You understand
what I'm saying?
That's yes.
Infiltrate the world.
Take the gospel
to the world
where people live
and be a part
of their world
instead of always
saying come
and be a part
of ours.
So I would say
to you
know what you're
about
and stay
low
laser focused
on doing
that which you're
about
and not just
doing good stuff
and here's the
third reason
the final piece
of advice
I'm going to give
you and I close
because you need
to always remember
the clock
is running.
Use your time
wisely.
Paul told the
Ephesians
to redeem the time.
Remember that phrase
in the book of Ephesians?
Redeem the time
because the days
are evil.
There was a
version of the
scripture called
the cotton patch version
years and years
and years ago
and it was written
from a southern
perspective
and you know
what the cotton patch
version said
about that verse
it said this
and I loved it
it said
use your time
as though you
had to buy it.
That's a pretty
good idea
isn't it?
In other words
don't waste your
time.
Use your time
as though you
had to buy it
because the
clock is running
out.
I'm going to
speak to everybody
in this room
right now
at least my age
and older.
You're well
aware of that
because there's
hardly a day
passes in my
life that I
don't at some
point in the
time they
think the
clock's running
for me and
it's running
out.
I didn't think
that when I
was 30.
I didn't think
that when I
was 40.
It didn't
cross my mind
even when I
was 50.
But as my
70th birthday
is approaching
I know this
the clock's
running and
time's running
out.
And it's
not just
running out
for us as
individuals.
I want to
tell you
something.
It's running
out for all
of us
collectively as
a church.
We're on
mission.
The Lord
Jesus Christ
is going to
come again
and when
he comes
again the
clock will
have expired.
Our
opportunity to
bring the
loss to
faith in
Christ will
be over.
So I
tell you
this.
I close
with this.
Know your
mission.
Decide as
a church
here's what
we want to
be about.
Here's what
God has
called us
to do.
Get a
laser focus
on that
and don't
let anybody
or anything
get you
off that
mission.
Say no
to good
stuff and
just do
the best
stuff.
Don't try
to do it
all but
I'm going
to do
the best
stuff.
Not just
the good
stuff,
the best
stuff.
Which means
I'm going
to say
no to
some
things that
will upset
some folk
because they'll
say well this
is a good
thing and you
ought to be
doing the
good thing
but it's
not my
purpose.
Individually
and collectively
in life it's
not my
purpose.
I close
with this
illustration,
true illustration
about a
year before I
retired,
maybe two,
I think it
was just a
year before I
retired.
I was
beginning to
be more and
more and
more reflective
and more and
more of the
mindset we've
got to stay
focused because
there were
just so many
demands to
do so many
different things.
There was a
guy I had
discipled when I
first came to
the church,
he was newly
wed,
he had
surrendered to
ministry,
he'd gone off
to seminary,
he'd started
a church out
in Tennessee,
it was
booming,
it was
rocking.
I called
him and I
said,
Todd would
you fly here
to Greenville,
we'd like to
buy some of
your time,
I want you to
talk to our
staff about what
you've done
there at that
church.
He came and
he shared with
our staff,
we met in this
conference room,
and he shared
with our
staff,
here's something
you can do to
impact your
community.
It was a big
Easter egg deal,
right?
I won't go into
great detail
because it's
insignificant to
you and your
purposes,
but we planned
this big event.
I had about
eight staff
members that
said,
you're going to
be in charge
of it and
everybody here
is going to
help,
everybody here
is going to
have responsibility
because a lot
of times you
can have a
good plan but
you don't
execute your
plan.
Sometimes you
execute your
plan but your
plan was a
bad plan.
You don't know
unless you
evaluate so I
was always
big on
evaluation.
So here's
what we do.
You're going to
be in charge
of this.
We're going to
work this up
over about two
months and then
we're going to
do this on
Saturday right
before Easter.
Okay?
Everybody
fulfill their
responsibility to
the nth degree.
2,000 people who
weren't members of
Brushy Creek came
to that event.
First year we
had it.
The next year we
did it.
2,000 people
came to that
event.
The second
year evaluation
was different than
the first year
because the first
year we've just
had it.
But the second
year we've had
it now we've
had it a second
time and we've
had a chance to
see how did this
impact our church.
Right?
I remember we're in
this conference room
and they're all
sitting here around
this conference
table.
I get up from
the conference
table and for
some reason I
just went over
and I'm looking
out this window
and I'm looking
at the streets
there running by
the church and
I'm listening to
all the conversation
and they're telling
me about how
many people
came and what
it cost and
the whole nine
yards.
So I turned to
them and I
said I looked
at the one I'd
made in charge
and I said I
want you to
know you executed
the plan perfectly.
You did a great
great great job.
And every one of
you who participated
in this everybody
you showed up you
did a good good
job and I'm
going to give
you an A plus
an effort and it
couldn't be any
better.
Last time we're
ever going to do
it.
And you could
hear the air
suck out of the
room.
What do you
mean the last
time we were here?
We had 2,000
people there.
You see our
goal is not to
see how many
people we can
bring to an
event.
It's to see how
that event impacts
our church and the
kingdom.
And it had
little if any
impact, lasting
impact.
And so we're not
going to do that
anymore.
In the eyes of the
world they'd
probably call it
success.
We're not doing
it anymore.
Because that's
taken us, our
energy, our
resources, away
from what our
purpose is.
And it makes us
feel good but it's
not accomplishing
our purpose so
we're not going to
do that anymore.
I'm going to tell
you as somebody
who's pastored for
a long time, the
hardest thing to
ever do in a
Baptist church is
not to start
something new.
That's probably
what you think.
To sell people
a new idea.
If you're a pretty
good salesman and
you've got a
pretty good plan,
you can always
sell people a
new idea.
You know what's
hard in a Baptist
church?
To kill something.
To bury it when
it's already dead.
We'll walk by a
stinking, decaying
body of ministry
all the time.
And you'll go,
whew, that stinks.
Let's just do it
again next week.
Maybe it'll be
better next week.
Isn't that so?
Huh?
Got any corpses
around here at
Pickens?
If you want to be
a church that's
doing what God
wants you to do,
you've got to
first of all, get
in the Word and
find out what
He wants us to
do.
And boy, once we
lock in on that,
we're not going to
do other stuff.
We're going to
leave that for
somebody else to
do.
We'll go join
them in doing
good stuff.
Our members,
we're not going
to be afraid.
They don't,
everything you do
for the kingdom
doesn't have to be
through First
Baptist Pickens.
Do you
understand that?
You can go join
some other things.
I'm not talking
about churches.
I'm talking about
joining other
ministries.
Go sing in the
local chorus.
Go play ball on
the softball teams
and baseball teams
here in Pickens.
Be involved in
the PTA.
Do a lot of
stuff and let
your influence
for Christ be
known in those
places.
Let the church
stay on focus
with what the
mission of the
church is.
bringing men to
Christ.
Bringing God
glory.
Let's bow in
prayer.
Father,
you know it's
not my heart
or my desire
to just rock
the boat or
to offend
anyone.
But God,
I pray you'd
help our
churches across
the land
to realize
you've saved
us for a
purpose and
you brought us
together for a
purpose.
And if we
can stay
focused,
we can
accomplish that
purpose.
And I pray
that we never
settle for
something that's
easy and
something that's
shiny and
something that
maybe will make
folk applaud us.
But Lord,
we would do that
which you've
called us to do,
which really is
important to love
people,
to live holy,
to look for your
coming,
to bring you
glory.
have your
will and
way in this
service as I
pray in your
name.
For your
sake we pray.
Amen.