A long time ago seeds were planted in regard to the formation of this church
Way back in the early 1980s - LeaAnn & I were thinking
-we’d like to be used by the Lord to start a church somewhere
-where there was the need for a Bible teaching & practicing church
Where, or what it would be called was up to God
-we just knew that sometime, later, about 7-8 years later, in the late 1980s
-we’d move somewhere - to work as doctors - we were in medical school
-& at the same time - offer ourselves to the Lord’s service to start a church
-if that’s how the Lord would lead
So, that was our prayer for those 7-8 years while in medical school & residency
-& during that time, God prepared us in varying ways
-& God prepared some people who lived here & elsewhere
-to eventually be a part of this church
-namely, Brian Maxinoski - came to know the Lord
-while he lived near Rhinelander
-before we moved here, the Lord moved him back home
-& God was at work in others
-& through prayer - God directed LeaAnn & I to be accepted to work in Hurley
-through a miracle of God,
-we met Brian as he came to visit our church where we lived
-about 5 months before we actually moved here
-& together & with a few other people God brought us
-we started a Bible study
-& with further help & direction from the Lord
-over a few years, this church was started
-&, very importantly, I’d like us to think - it’s still being built
This is important - churches are really suppose to be like a living body
-the body of a church is not suppose to just grow up & then retire & die
-that seems to happen to a lot of churches
-they get to a point & they sort of get middle aged - like a person
-& stop growing - they do fine for a while
-then they start slowing down
-& after a time of slowing down - it retires - maybe just maintains
-& eventually, the body dies
* In our case, we could say, our church goes from this side of the street
-to the other side of the street
-& there’s likely to be a hospice stage - “Just keep the body comfortable”
-only, with a lot of churches, that “Hospice stage”
-starts even in the middle ages & goes on for a long time
-where the goal of the church is - “Just keep the body comfortable”
I don’t think that’s good
I don’t think that’s what we want for this church - or any true church
-that’s a body of Christ
-the church should be alive & growing
-in this otherwise dead world
-it should be looking to God to build
-& this needs to be passed on from generation to generation
-we shouldn’t just get to middle age, as a church goes & exist until we die
-we want to build & I believe that’s what the Lord wants
-we want to build with the passion that Paul expressed:
Philippians 3:12-14
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to
have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is
ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in
Christ Jesus.
Now, we’ve been considering this process of building
When you think of building - you might think of a building
-a house, a garage, a business, a church, a school, a cabin
-& there maybe times in your life where you’re building something like that
-but also, in a general way, we’re building our lives
-to be like Christ
-to be what God wants our lives
-&, at the same time, we’re also building God’s church
-because, if we’re to build our lives - the church is to be built
-the church is to be built up of believers who are building their lives
We’ve been considering all this process of building our lives
-as we’ve been studying the OT book of Ezra
-they were building the temple of God in Jerusalem
Most of the temple was built
-so, it was ready for being built up now with people
-it was ready to be more occupied
-so that the whole nation of God - Israel, was on the growth chart
-people were coming back to Jerusalem & this is what God was assembling
-His people - in His temple - in His city
-to be a witness to the world
Ezra was returning with a host of God’s people to Jerusalem
-this was progress - this was building & growth
Isn’t this what we want to see for the RCBC?
-growth - building - adding of new people
-to make the church the family of God
So, let’s watch Ezra & how God brought His people back
-when the temple was rebuilt
Last week, we saw how Ezra was devoted to God & God used him
-to influence & be a powerful witness to the king
-& gain approval & support to lead people back to Jerusalem
-from their enslavement in Babylon/Persia
Now, the journey begins - Ezra had the permission & blessings of the king
-so, from Persia to Jerusalem he went
-& chapter 8 starts with a long list of those assembling to go
Ezra 8:1
These are the family heads and those registered with them who came up with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:
& there you see a list in verses 2-14 - it looks like about a few thousand
-when you add the rest of the families
Ezra was to lead a group of people back to Jerusalem (take a look at the map)
This whole group of people banded together
-to leave home & go on this mission
-they would travel from Persia to Jerusalem
Here’s point for us to emphasize:
God works in communities of believers
-Jesus stressed - Matt 18:20
For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
We need to have fellowship with one another
-it’s all a part of the building process
-it’s one of those main foundation blocks of what we need
-as followers of Jesus
-prayer, Bible study, worship, & fellowship
-we need to work together & serve the Lord together
-that’s how the Lord builds the church
-God, of course, works through individuals
-there just seems to be something special with His people working in unity
-it’s not about individuals, as much as the fellowship of God’s people - together
1 Corinthians 3:5-9
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe — as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.
So, the body of Christ must be formed of many different people
-all working together & serving together
Where do these people come from?
Where do people come from who will serve along side of us
-in God’s harvest field?
-God supplies - but here too, we work with God - in finding workers
-we need to pray for workers
-we need to develop fellow workers - as we call it - disciple making
-we need to sometimes recruit fellow workers
-first, we need to pray
-Jesus said it,
Matthew 9:36-38
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
We’ve seen that happen here
-a few years ago,
-we figured we needed a semi-retired or retiring pastor to help out here
-we prayed & were just starting to recruit someone
-& the Palutkes - Pastor John & Jan, move here
-that was a great answer to prayer
-so, we pray for God to send us workers for this harvest field that we’re in
Second, we work with each other - developing each other’s spiritual gifts
-getting new believers involved in serving God
-we’ve stressed the importance of this - as we serve
-bring someone along with you to serve at your side
-have a partner - so they can learn also to do what you do
-& then teach someone else
This is what it’s all about - being a disciple & making disciples
What did Jesus tell us to do? Make disciples
-of course you need to be in the process of being made into a disciple, yourself
-as Paul wrote to Timothy,
2 Timothy 2:1-2
You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.
So, as you grow yourself in the Lord
-make sure you’re helping someone else to grow
-as you serve the Lord, make sure your taking someone else along with you
-to partner with you - to, “show them the ropes” of ministry
So, where to workers to God’s harvest field come from?
1. We pray for them
2. We develop/disciple them
3. And sometimes, we need to go out & recruit someone
-to find someone - even pay them to come here & serve
-as we did over a year ago with the Deppas
And, that’s what Ezra had to do, he went out to find who he needed
vv.15-20
I assembled them at the canal that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there three days. When I checked among the people and the priests, I found no Levites there. 16 So I summoned Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam, who were leaders, and Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of learning, 17 and I sent them to Iddo, the leader in Casiphia. I told them what to say to Iddo and his kinsmen, the temple servants in Casiphia, so that they might bring attendants to us for the house of our God. 18 Because the gracious hand of our God was on us, they brought us Sherebiah, a capable man, from the descendants of Mahli son of Levi, the son of Israel, and Sherebiah's sons and brothers, 18 men; 19 and Hashabiah, together with Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, and his brothers and nephews, 20 men. 20 They also brought 220 of the temple servants — a body that David and the officials had established to assist the Levites. All were registered by name.
Ezra went out & recruited who he needed to help lead the people in worship
-to serve God together in God’s mission
So, if we’re going to build this church - God’s church - any church
We have to organize a fellowship of believers
-who will serve the Lord together
-who continually pray for, & train others - disciples who make disciples
-or we could say - people who are being made into disciples making disciples
Now, not only do we pray for workers for the harvest
-We need to pray for the work of the harvest
-we need to pray for the journey that God has for us
vv.21-23
There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. 22 I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, "The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him." 23 So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.
If we are going to make progress in the building of our church
-if this church is to stay alive & grow
-we will have to humble ourselves before God
-realizing it’s God who adds the increase
-realizing that God is the One who causes the growth & makes us alive!
To fulfill His mission - we need to depend on God!
1. we need to humble ourselves - looking to God for direction
2. we need to pray
3. we need to trust
-that’s what Ezra did with the people there as they got ready for this journey
-to fulfill God’s mission
I’m not so sure what to say about this
-other than, I don’t think we’re doing a very good job of this
-& quite frankly, I think that the RCBC has been sort of
-in the late middle ages of life - sort of on the brink of retiring
-& I’m not referring to my own stage of life
-just that, our church seems to have been sort of stagnant as for growth
-maybe for some years
Could it be, we haven’t really been getting together for prayer?
Have you sensed a lot of enthusiasm for prayer?
-we have a prayer meeting on Tuesday a.m.s - I make it about half the time
-& there’s usually 1-2 others - sometimes 4-5
-there’s a nice prayer meeting once a month on a Saturday a.m.
-that’s about it - as far as I know
-hopefully, most of you are dedicating some good time of prayer
-for the ministries & growth of our church in your home groups
-specifically, for the ministries & growth of our church
-we need to be in prayer - individual prayer & group prayer
-if we’re going to be building
-if not, we’re going to just be getting old & dying - not growing
-& with prayer - we need to move on in trust - trusting God to work
-trusting God to be mighty to save & powerful to move us along
I think it would have been fine for the people
-to avail themselves of the king’s army for protection
-but, it just seemed like the right thing to trust in God to do it differently
-either way - we need to move on - against the dangers - the risks, & trust God
-remember, it’s a real natural tendency to fall into the “Hospice mode”
-& just take care of ourselves - stay safe & comfortable
-growth & building takes steps that come with
risk - courage - sacrifice - some suffering - change!
-& that takes trust on our part to move forward
-with new people
-it’s very easy to stagnate with the old order - the old guard!
How are we doing here at the RCBC?
-are we working with each others?
-helping others become disciples, as we become disciples ourselves?
-are we humbly looking to God for direction?
-are we prayerfully seeking His will
-are we boldly trusting Him to make changes?
So, to build & grow
We need to have Fellowship of Believers - disciples making disciples
We need to have Prayer & Dependence on God
We need to have Faithful Stewardship on our part
-& we’ll take this up further next week
-as we continue to observe Ezra in his march to Jerusalem
-& building of God’s people - God’s nation
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