From Spectator to Servant: Serve with Courage

The church was never meant to be a performance to attend. It is a body, a group, where every believer has a role to play. Listen, friends. Spectators fill seats. Disciples carry the mission. You didn't join the body of Christ just as a spectator. You joined it as a servant, a servant of God. The church grows strongest when every believer moves from spectator to servant. Leaders equip, People serve. [01:17:11] (59 seconds)  #SpectatorToServant

The kingdom of God has never been advanced by spectators ever. You won't find it. You won't find it in scripture. You won't find it today. It has always been advanced by disciples who decided to carry their cross and show up. One day, we will all stand before Jesus. And on that day, the question will be not how much we knew. The question will be how faithfully we obeyed. [01:42:17] (43 seconds)  #DisciplesAdvanceTheKingdom

If the enemy can't stop you from going to church, he will try to convince you to stay comfortable once you're there. Excuses are one of the easiest ways to quiet conviction, but here's the truth. God has never called a perfect person. God has always called the willing. Moses did not think he was good enough. Gideon did not think he was strong enough. Jeremiah did not think he was old enough, and yet God used them all. [01:24:08] (45 seconds)  #CalledNotPerfect

Friends, the cross of Jesus Christ was never meant to be admired. It was meant to be carried. If following Jesus has never cost you anything, I'm going to challenge you today that you're probably not following Jesus. Every single person that has made a decision to follow Jesus Christ has paid or will pay a price at some point. [01:32:03] (32 seconds)  #CarryTheCross

God rarely calls his people to comfort. He calls them to courage. Friends, when you step out and you say, God, I want you to use this. I want you to use me to reach the lost in this world. When you say, God, I wanna use this gift. I know you've given me this gift. Perhaps it's a musical gift. Perhaps it's working with kids. Perhaps it's technical, perhaps prayer, all kinds of different gifts, [01:40:43] (36 seconds)  #UseYourGiftForTheLost

Hear me, friends. Sometimes sin is not just doing what's wrong. Sometimes sin is refusing to do what we know is right. If God has called you to the land, if God has given you a gift and you're still in the wilderness, in other words, you're not using that gift for what he has laid on your heart, My friends, this morning, that is not hesitation. That is disobedience. That's sin. [01:40:01] (43 seconds)  #SinOfInaction

Today, we come to the part of the invitation that many people struggle with. You say, well, pastor, I've struggled with the whole thing. Thank you for your honesty. God hears your honesty, and I believe that God will bless you for that honesty. But truthfully, I believe that many of us struggle with what we're gonna talk about today. Because the invitation of Jesus is not just an invitation to believe. It's an invitation to participate. It's an invitation to involvement. [01:14:19] (39 seconds)  #ParticipateDontSpectate

Hear me, friends. This world is trying to turn us into consumers of church. One of the greatest poise, I believe, that the enemy in our North American church especially is the idea of a spectator consumerism church. I want you to hear me clearly this morning. A church full of consumers will eventually become spiritually weak. And that's why it is so tempting to turn into a consumer driven church. [01:19:10] (48 seconds)  #StopChurchConsumerism