Unleashing the Church: Pray, Serve, Go to Neighbors

We need to be asked praying for those people around us who don't know Christ. I've talked about this a while back. I gave you cards to write down names that you know people that don't know Christ. We need to be praying for those people every day. We need to be praying for our community every day. We need to be prayer walking the best we can. If you can't walk up and down your street, get in your car, your golf cart, whatever you got, and just ride up and down your street and pray for those people around you. Do that at your workplace. If you're a teacher at school, pray over those desks on those God would open up a door for those families to reach them. Let's start this with prayer. Why? Because I truly believe a prayerless church is a prideful church. [00:45:41] (32 seconds)  #PrayYourNeighborhood

He pulled out of his pocket the piece of paper that Sarah had left by the vase that previous Sunday. Holding it out to me handing it out to me, he said, you you better keep this. It may help you in your line of work. He said, I opened the folded paper and read it in pink crayon. Here's what Sarah had written. Dear God, this fit this vase has been the biggest honor of my life, Sarah. He said, Sarah's note and her vase have helped me to understand. I now realize in a new way that life is an opportunity to serve God by serving people. And as Sarah put it, that's the biggest honor of all. [00:54:05] (48 seconds)  #ServeToHonor

and he was right outside the door, and the guy was on the pay phone because we didn't have phones, cell phones back then, Harley. And he he he he was on the cell payphone and he peeks around the corner and he looks back there and says, oh, it must be that church again. And it was talking about Steve's church. And here's what I thought to myself. I thought, man, wouldn't it be great if we loved and served so much that every time something good happened in our community, they'll have to go, oh, wouldn't that must be Highland Heights Baptist Church because they love us so much. That's our call. That's why we're building the center. That's what we exist for. That's what this is all about. I'm gonna ask you all to stand up with me right now. [01:01:57] (38 seconds)  #KnownForLove

So the wise, so that we can feed those who are hungry, that we can touch those that are hurting, so that we can be there for them because that's what the church needs to be. I'm convinced. I've been convinced for years have the church done what the church was supposed to have done in the first place. We wouldn't have needed social programs to our government because the church needed to be doing that. We as the church need to be doing that. We need to be caring for people. We need be loving people. We need to be reaching out to them. That's what we need to be doing. We need to be asking the question, how can we serve? [00:49:29] (32 seconds)  #ChurchInAction

And there was just a small community there, and they went from none meeting in a school and taking care of themselves and and setting up every week and stuff. And they found 10 acres of land. They went from zero to 75 to a 100, started baptizing people, went went to a 150 to 200 people. And finally, they when they they got their church built, they bought this land, they got their church built. And the first day they walked in, they went, wow. Look what we did. Six months later, they were they were running 75. Six months after that, they're running 50. Guys, we cannot be a prayerless church. [00:46:44] (33 seconds)  #PrayerSustains

Our deacons are called to do that, to serve, but we are also called to do that with them and to help them. Listen, I'm learning more and more right now. They moved up Debbie's surgery to the March 25 that man, I can't do all this alone. I've learned over the years that I can't carry every burden. I can't do all that. I I need other people holding my arms up and our deacons are the same. We need to bear each other's weaknesses, each other's burdens. Number two, says, it's not to please ourselves. It's not about us. It's not about us. It's about Jesus. We gave ourselves up. We gave ourselves to Christ. Number three, [01:08:46] (33 seconds)  #BearEachOthersBurdens

I have a a man in the church who has been talking to me over the last couple months, and one day he was just making a statement. He said, was set up he's was sitting at the top one day and I looked around and I thought to myself, I thought, what if God unleashed this whole church on this community? What if he unleashed every family, every person in this church on this community? What if he unleashed all of us to start picking up a towel and washing feet just like we talked about last week? What would that look like if all of us begin to ask the question, not what I can get from God, but what can I give to him? How can I serve? What can I do? How can I feed those around me? What does that look like? [00:43:33] (39 seconds)  #UnleashTheChurch

I'm a tell you something. We need to lift each other's arms up. Come on. Come on. Just lift your arms up for me real quick. Okay? If you didn't have deodorant, put your arms back down. I'm just joking with you. Okay? We gotta lift each other's arms up. We gotta hold each other's arms up. We gotta do that. I'm telling you, it can wear you out sometimes. It really can. It can wear you out, but we need we God gave us the body of the church hold each other's arms. That's what the deacons do. That's what your pastors do. That's what Jackson's gonna be up for a minute and make a charge to the to the deacons, the new deacons. [01:10:23] (31 seconds)  #LiftEachOtherUp