SERMON: BEING MARY IN A MARTHA WORLD

                                 [image source: deborahsdescendants.com/tag/mary-and-martha/]

25 June 2017

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Luke 10:38-42

38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

            -- for the last several weeks, we have been discussing the Holy Spirit and how we need to recognize and focus our attention on His presence in our lives -- how we should stop focusing our attention on church attendance or programs or outreach or the things of this world, but learn to hear and see and experience God in our lives first

            -- it reminded me of the story of a child who sought God’s presence

"The little child whispered, "God, speak to me." and a meadowlark sang; but the child did not hear.

So the child yelled, "God, speak to me!" And the thunder rolled across the sky, but the child did not listen.

The child looked around and said, "God let me see you," and a star shone brightly.  But the child did not notice.

And the child shouted, "God show me a miracle!" And a life was born.  But the child did not know.

So the child cried out in despair, "Touch me God, and let me know you are here!"
Whereupon God reached down and touched the child. But the child brushed the butterfly away and walked away unknowingly.

            -- this story points out a poignant truth -- God is always there -- He is always around us -- His presence permeates all things of life -- but we have to be open to Him -- we have to listen for His knock and open the door to experience His presence in a real way -- otherwise, we’ll miss seeing and hearing and knowing Him just as this child did

II.  The Presence of God

            -- when we’re talking about seeking the presence of God, we need to understand that the Bible speaks of two different understandings of His presence

            -- first, there is His omnipresence -- God present everywhere around us -- this is the providential presence of God -- this is the hand of God on both the sinner and the saint -- on those who believe and those who don’t -- the presence of God that calls to us in the night and that keeps us safe and provides for our need -- it is the omnipresence of God that caused Jesus to point out that God causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous -- God is here and God is always at work in this land -- He is a present God

            -- the second type of presence that the Bible mentions is God’s manifest presence -- this is God making His presence directly known to us -- God revealing Himself to us in ways that we can see or hear or experience -- in ways that leave us knowing that we are or have been in His presence

            -- God would make His presence manifest in various ways throughout Scripture -- He spoke to Jacob in a dream -- He spoke to Moses face-to-face and allowed Moses to see His glory passing by -- He spoke to Elijah in a whisper -- He communed with David’s heart to inspire the Psalms

            -- other ways were more dramatic -- the parting of the Red Sea -- the miracles of healing -- the pillars of cloud and fire that led the Israelites through the wilderness -- and, of course, the Shekinah glory of God -- the cloud of His presence that settled in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle and Temple

            -- as you move to the New Testament, you see the manifest presence of God taking human form as the Word became flesh and made His dwelling place among us -- God’s presence was manifest through Jesus, and all who came into contact with Him knew they had been in the presence of God

            -- now, in our lives, we have the Holy Spirit who manifests the presence of God in our lives -- through spiritual gifts -- through wisdom and scriptural insights -- through intercession -- through protection and sanctification -- the Bible tells us that our bodies are now the temple of God, so in a very real way, the presence of the Holy Spirit indwelling believers is akin to the Shekinah glory filling the temple

            -- the problem is that we have closed the door on the presence of God and instead focus our attentions on the more material things of the world -- the things we can see and touch and feel and count

            -- so what do we do about that? -- how can we experience the revealed presence of God in our lives? -- how can we hear Jesus’ knock on the door so we can open it?

            -- the Christian singer Matt Redman shared that there was a time when his church had forgotten the presence of God -- the pastor sensed their worship services were flat -- the people were just going through the motions -- worship wasn’t flowing through the heart as it must -- also, when you’ve got a worship leader like Matt Redman, it is easy to get lost in the entertaining presence of the band and focus on them rather than the One that should be worshiped -- so the pastor knew something needed to change

            -- he stripped the sanctuary of all the extras that were diverting the focus of the worshipers -- he removed the sound system -- he removed the band -- he took away the instruments -- he made them gather and worship with their voices alone -- as Redman later said, “His point was that we’d lost our way in worship, and the way to get back to the heart was to strip everything away.”

            -- the pastor challenged the congregation to be participants in worship, not consumers -- to bring themselves as active worshipers and not passive observers -- to engage their hearts and seek God through their worship -- as the people’s focus changed -- as their worship and hearts changed -- as they began to experience God’s manifest presence again -- it was only then that the pastor allowed the reintroduction of the sound system and the band, piece by piece -- so that it would not distract from worship, but add to it

            -- Redman’s song, “The Heart of Worship,” is his reflection on the process of finding God’s manifest presence again, the very thing we have committed to doing ourselves¹

III.  Scripture Lesson (Luke 10:38-42)

            -- with that in mind, let’s look now at this familiar story of Martha and Mary -- probably one of the most familiar passages in the New Testament, although it only occurs here in the Gospel of Luke

            -- when we’re considering what we can learn about seeking the presence of God in our lives, it’s important to note the context of this passage -- we find the story of Martha and Mary immediately after the sending out of the seventy-two disciples and the parable of the good Samaritan -- both stories of action -- of mission -- of doing

            -- but then we see the story of Martha and Mary, which reminds us of the importance of seeking the presence of God in the midst of that busyness -- let’s look at this story now

            -- look back at Luke 10:38-42

38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

            -- Martha and Mary are not strangers to us -- they appear several times in the Gospel narratives, along with their brother Lazarus -- Martha seems to be the older sister -- the head of the household -- in fact, her name is the feminine form of the word Master -- she was the lady of the house -- the mistress in charge of the home -- the one responsible for all of the day-to-day operations of the household

            -- now one thing we need to realize here is that Martha loved Jesus and He loved her -- this isn’t the story of someone who didn’t know Jesus -- of someone who was not part of His circle of friends -- no, Jesus knew and loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus and they, He -- He spent time in their home -- they invited Him in and cared for Him during His travels -- Martha knew Jesus and served Him and supported Him -- along with Mary and Lazarus, she was one of His earliest disciples

            -- notice it says in verse 38 that Martha opened her home to Him -- that says a lot -- she welcomed Him into her home -- she invited Him in -- He was not a stranger to her -- she knew Him

            -- when someone visited your home in that day, there were certain standards of hospitality and comfort that were expected -- water to wash their feet -- food and drink to satisfy their hunger and thirst -- a place to sit and rest -- and Martha obviously took her position as the head of the household serious, especially given who her guest was

            -- she immediately began making preparations and doing what needed to be done to make Jesus welcome and comfortable in her home -- but we read that Mary did not help -- instead of pitching in to help Martha, Mary took a seat at the Lord’s feet and began to listen to what He said -- and this didn’t set well with Martha

            -- I’m sure Martha tried to get Mary’s attention so she would come and help with the preparations -- I’ve know what ya’ll do in the kitchen when it’s a big meal like Thanksgiving or Christmas and you need help getting ready -- the sound of dishes clanging together gets a little louder -- the spoon on the side of the pot makes more noise than normal -- there’s throat-clearing and all kinds of other stuff trying to get someone’s attention so they’ll get up and help -- dropping ice and slamming the oven door closed -- I’ve seen it and you have, too -- and I guarantee you that Martha did all of that trying to get Mary to come into the kitchen and help

            -- but Mary wouldn’t have any of it -- she just continued to sit at Jesus’ feet while poor old Martha did all the work -- finally, Martha had enough -- she went into the room where Jesus was and interrupted Him in the midst of His message and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? -- Tell her to help me!”

            -- Martha played the trump card -- she told on Mary to Jesus -- you know you’ve crossed the line when someone tattles to Jesus about what you’re doing, or not doing, as the case may be -- but can you imagine Martha’s surprise when Jesus gently rebuked her -- “Martha, Martha -- you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed -- Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her”

            -- Martha’s focus and attention were not where they should be -- she allowed the doing of things -- service for Jesus -- to get in the way of communing with Jesus -- the action became more important than the experience

            -- reflecting on the context of this passage following the action of the sending out of the seventy-two disciples and the ministry of the good Samaritan, Warren Wiersbe wrote, “It is important that we be busy ambassadors, taking the message of the gospel to lost souls -- it is also essential to be merciful Samaritans, seeking to help exploited and hurting people who need God’s mercy -- but before we can represent Christ as we should, or imitate Him in our caring ministry, we must spent time with Him and learn from Him -- we must take time to be holy”

            -- there was nothing wrong with what Martha was doing -- she was honestly trying to serve Jesus -- to take care of His needs -- to minister to Him -- but the doing became more important than anything else -- in the midst of the preparations, she forgot who she was trying to serve

            -- we can get lost like that so easy as Christians and as a church -- you see this in congregations where the programs take precedence over the presence -- where people just go through the motions and are active, for action’s sake rather than for Jesus’ sake

            -- ministry and action and outreach must be balanced with worship and renewal in the presence of God -- it is the presence of God that empowers our action and ministry, not vice versa

            -- Martha had gotten so worked up over the preparations, that she missed seeing and hearing Jesus in her very own home -- it is inconceivable of us to imagine that someone would ignore Jesus sitting on the couch to go into the kitchen to make Him a meal -- but we do the same thing every single day and every single worship service

            -- rather than sit at His feet and enjoy His presence, we busy ourselves doing things just for the sake of doing -- a lot of times, we leave Jesus sitting alone while we busy ourselves doing things for Him

            -- Jesus tells Martha here that she was worried about many things, when the one thing that was the most important she didn’t even consider -- sitting in His presence as Mary was doing -- Jesus didn’t care as much about the conventions of hospitality as He did enjoying the presence and company of those He came to see

            -- Luke’s account of this story ends abruptly here, but I can’t help but picture Jesus taking Martha by the hand after gently rebuking her and guiding her to an empty spot on the floor by His feet so she could listen as He continued to teach

IV.  Closing

            -- how like Martha are we? -- without a doubt, we are people of activity -- we like to be doing things -- we like to be active and moving and doing at all times -- we have a hard time with relaxation, and even when we take time off from our labors, our recreation is often a whirlwind of activity -- we work at work -- we work at being relaxed -- we work at church -- and we work in our personal spiritual lives, as well

            -- the message of this passage is that work for the Lord is good, but it’s not the end-all, be-all, of our relationship with Jesus -- Jesus didn’t come and die on the cross so that we would just work for Him -- He didn’t die on the cross to add a new level of busyness to our lives

            -- He came and died on the cross so that we might be forgiven of our sins and be restored in our relationship with the Father -- He came so that we might know Him and love Him and experience Him just as Mary was doing in this passage

            -- serving God -- working for God -- reaching others for God is important -- it’s a natural outgrowth of a thriving relationship with God -- but it’s not the most important thing -- the relationship with God is more important than anything else -- remember this: God doesn’t want our activity -- He wants our hearts

            -- there is a reason why God gave us the Sabbath -- one day to cease all activity -- one day to stop doing and start being -- to rest in His presence -- to bask in His grace -- to experience His love -- to know Him

            -- He knew what we were like -- He knew how we busy ourselves doing things, even spiritual things -- and He knew that we could lose focus and replace the relationship with the doing, just like Martha did in this passage

            -- I do not know a single person who ever takes a Sabbath day -- whether we’re talking pastors or lay people or whoever -- I don’t know anyone who really takes a day off to just be with God -- to sit at His feet -- to bask in His presence -- to renew and recharge their lives

            -- let me close by sharing with you some thoughts on the Sabbath -- too many people think that a Sabbath is supposed to just be a day when you spend all your time at church or all your time reading the Bible and praying -- others think it's just supposed to be a day off of work where you have fun all day

            -- both groups are right, but only partly right -- to be a true Sabbath means that you have both -- you need praying and playing to do it right

            -- praying without playing results in a day of legalistic and religious monotony

            -- playing without praying results in a day of hedonistic pleasure without meaning -- and neither are what God had in mind when He commanded us to remember the Sabbath

            -- John Calvin taught that the "right observance of the Sabbath does not consist in idleness...but in the celebration of the Divine name" -- in other words, the Sabbath is a day of celebration that is expressed through our praying and through our playing

            -- to pray on the Sabbath means that we reflect and praise God for His promises -- for His faithfulness -- for His creation

            -- to play on the Sabbath means that we enjoy all that He has provided -- that we accept His gift of creation and of life and that we take a day away from work and from the toil of everyday life and just spend time with our family and friends by enjoying God's creation together

            -- the Sabbath is meant to be a time when we cease from our labors and enjoy God's providence and His grace -- when we just relax and praise God for all that He has done for us -- when we allow God's grace to restore us and renew us and our relationship with Him

            -- the first step back to truly experiencing God’s presence in our lives and in our church again is to take a Sabbath -- to sit at His feet and listen to His teaching -- to just be in the His presence without doing -- to worship from the heart and not just with our hands

            -- this week, I want to challenge you to take a Sabbath -- even a mini-Sabbath -- take time this week to just be with the Lord -- not studying the Bible where you’re trying to get everything out of Scripture -- but just reading His word to find Him there -- listening for His voice -- looking for His presence -- sitting at His feet

            -- even if it’s only ten minutes, try to seek Him in this way this week

            -- let us pray

If worship is just one thing we do, everything becomes mundane. If worship is the one thing we do, everything takes on eternal significance. —Timothy J. Christenson

1 http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/back-to-the-heart-of-worship

SERMON: THE CHURCH WITHOUT JESUS

18 June 2017

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Revelation 3:14-22

    14“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

      The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:

      15‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 16‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 17‘Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, 18I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. 20‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. 21‘He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

            -- I just finished reading John Bevere’s book, Drawing Near, and as I was reflecting on the overall purpose of this text -- to help Christians to draw near to God again -- to honestly seek a better relationship with Jesus -- I couldn’t help but think of the trip we took a couple of years ago out west to Arizona

            -- if you remember, we stopped in San Antonio to look around, and I made a point of carrying Kim and Brooke to see the Alamo -- we had come all the way to San Antonio, and I couldn’t let them leave without seeing it -- I felt it was something that everyone should see because it’s part of our history and an important part of the history of Texas -- and there’s a lot that you can learn about life and courage and faith from visiting the site

            -- to be honest, though, the first time I saw the Alamo myself, I was disappointed -- I had gone to San Antonio for a work trip, and one of the first things I wanted to do was to go see the Alamo -- I grabbed a brochure and a walking map from the motel lobby -- and right there on the cover was a picture of the Alamo that was just like it looked in the John Wayne movie -- so I headed out, following the map to find it

            -- I walked and walked and walked, but I could nothing that looked like the pictures from the movie -- nothing that looked like the picture on the brochure

            -- after a couple of hours of searching, I finally found it -- the Alamo is about the size of this building and is surrounded by modern, high-rise office buildings -- you can't even see it unless you are standing right in front of it -- the only thing left on the site is the mission building, tucked into a small alcove near a busy main street in downtown San Antonio -- it looked nothing like the movie -- it looked nothing like what I remembered from watching John Wayne fight those Mexicans years ago

            -- after my disappointing visit to the Alamo, I did some internet research -- it turns out, the movie wasn't actually shot in San Antonio at the site of the Alamo -- it was shot at Alamo Village, which is about two hours outside of town

            -- I also found out the whole town is fake -- it is nothing but a movie set -- if you go there, it looks like an abandoned wild west town -- you can see a street lined with store fronts and you can see the Alamo, looking just like I remembered it from the movie, but it's all fake -- there's no real buildings here -- there's only the fronts of the buildings

            -- if you walk through the entrances of the buildings -- in just two or three steps -- you'll find yourself standing outside again -- there's not building there -- it may look like the real thing on the outside, but there's nothing on the inside -- it's fake -- it's all a facade

II.  Scripture Lesson -- Revelation 3:14-22

            -- that remembrance came to my mind as I was reading Bevere’s thoughts on this passage from Revelation -- just to remind you of the context of this passage, the Apostle John was on the island of Patmos on the Lord’s Day when the heavens were opened and he was given a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ -- Jesus came to him with messages for the seven churches of Asia Minor, in what is now modern-day Turkey -- here in this passage, Jesus gives John the message for the church at Laodicea

            -- look at verse 14 again

    14“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

      The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:

      15‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 16‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 17‘Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, 18I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

            -- the church at Laodicea had problems -- Jesus said it was a lukewarm church -- it was neither hot nor cold, and it left a bad taste in His mouth -- He says here that He was about to spit them out of His mouth -- in other words, Jesus was ready to just give up on these people -- He was fed up with them and their indifference to Jesus and His commands

            -- Jesus said that He wished they were either hot or cold -- one or the other -- because then they might know who they were -- as it was, the church was fooling itself into believing it was something it was not -- the church was nothing more than a facade -- a church in name only -- as Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:5, a people having a form of godliness, but denying its power -- they acted religious, but were not living in the power or presence of God

            -- if the church at Laodicea had been a “hot” church, then their faith and their reliance on Jesus would have been obvious to all -- they would have been alive -- full of good works -- basing their actions and their deeds on true doctrine -- the presence of Jesus would have been felt by all who came near -- it’s the presence of Jesus that makes a church hot

            -- I have a Christian friend who worked at the University of Georgia -- and every day at lunch, he would meet with a couple more Christians -- they would read the Bible together and share about their faith and their walk with Jesus -- they didn’t advertise what they were doing -- they didn’t put out a sign that said, “church meeting”

            -- one day, they were in the room where they met for lunch, and someone knocked on the door -- when they opened it, the guy said, “Look, I don’t know what you are doing in here for lunch every day, but it’s obvious there’s something different about you -- and I want it in my life, too” -- that’s what a hot church looks like -- without even saying a word, others can sense the presence of Jesus in such a tangible way that it draws them in

            -- and I think we all know what a “cold” church looks like -- you may have visited one of those in the past -- lifeless -- dead -- no works -- it’s just there in name only -- and there’s no power, no presence, no passion

            -- the reason Jesus told the Laodiceans that He could even wish they were a cold church was because it would have been easy for them to see how far they had fallen if they had just looked with honest and open eyes -- people know when Jesus is not there -- they know when they’re just going through the motions -- and if the Laodiceans had been cold, it would have been easy for Jesus to reach them

            -- but they were lukewarm -- not hot -- but not cold -- just a spark of life to them -- just enough warmth to keep them alive, but not enough to warm anyone or to spread out into a raging fire -- kind of like those old gas heaters we used to have in the house -- they’d keep the house warm -- they’d keep the chill off -- but they wouldn’t make it hot, no matter how high you turned it up -- the only way you could get truly warm was to stand right in front of them -- and people on the other side of the room didn’t really benefit

            -- that’s what this church was like -- it was lukewarm -- it wasn’t cold enough that everyone knew there was a problem -- and it wasn’t hot enough so that others were drawn to the presence of Jesus -- it just kind of existed in a self-serving fashion, with the church living mostly on their own power and in their own presence

            -- so Jesus tells them they need to open their eyes -- they need to see what is going on, because they are in very real danger of their fire totally burning out -- He tells them they need to quit depending on themselves and to stop thinking they had everything they needed, because they were missing the one thing they desperately required -- His presence

            -- verse 19

19‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. 20‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. 21‘He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

            -- here’s where God spoke to me about Koinonia and our church this week -- we all know Revelation 3:20 -- “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

            -- we’ve all heard that verse before -- we’ve heard it preached -- we’ve heard it taught -- I’ve even preached on it myself -- and, more often than not, the focus of the message around that verse is evangelistic -- we make that verse about salvation, and we tell unbelievers, “Jesus is right there, knocking at the door to your heart -- and all you have to do is believe in Him and ask Him to forgive you and He will come into your heart and you’ll have a relationship with Him” -- am I right?

            -- but remember who Jesus is talking to here -- it’s not unbelievers -- it’s the church -- it’s His people this verse is spoken for

            -- look at verse 19 again -- Jesus doesn’t call unbelievers to salvation -- no, He’s calling believers to be earnest -- to be passionate -- to be real in their faith -- to repent of their self-sufficiency -- to repent of just doing church and not being the church -- to turn back from who they are and what they are doing -- turn back to what? -- turn back to Who? -- yeah, turn back to Jesus

            -- somewhere along the way, this church lost its focus -- it stopped focusing on Jesus and started looking inward -- it stopped relying on Jesus and started relying on itself -- there was merely a form of godliness, but no power or presence

            -- and so Jesus speaks to this church and tells them, “I love you -- I want you back -- be earnest and repent -- I am here knocking -- hear my knock -- hear my call -- open the door, and let me back in -- put me on the throne of your heart again”

III.  Closing

            -- God spoke to me through this passage this week -- you know we’ve been struggling over what to do with Koinonia -- over the direction we should go -- and what’s the one thing we’ve said over and over? -- we need to get more people in here -- we need to go out and invite people to come -- we need to have events to tell people about our church

            -- so let me ask you this -- What are we seeking when we pray for Koinonia? -- what are we saying when we say that we need more people? -- are we seeking Jesus or are we seeking people? -- where is our focus?

            -- every church and every pastor wants their church to grow -- we certainly want to have more people join us -- but why? -- Why do we want Koinonia to grow? -- Is it for us or for God?

            -- if I’m honest -- and God showed me that this week -- I’ve been wanting Koinonia to grow for selfish reasons -- I’ve been wanting it to grow out of pride -- to be able to point to how many people are coming -- to justify myself and this church

            -- Kyle Idlemann, who wrote the book, “Not a Fan,” said recently in Outreach Magazine, “When I know myself better, I realize even the good I do is oftentimes motivated by my selfishness, my pride, and my desire to impress other people.”

            -- I’m afraid I’ve been there, too -- I’m afraid we’ve all been there

            -- so God showed me in this passage the true purpose of a church -- a church doesn’t exist for itself -- a church doesn’t exist to draw people in and grow larger -- a church exists for the sole purpose of seeking and glorifying Christ

            -- any growth that follows is a result of the presence of Christ and nothing more -- any growth that follows is the grace of God drawing seeking hearts to Him

            -- churches are defined by the presence of Christ and not by the number of people on the church roll or the amount of money in the bank

            -- the church at Laodicea was a large church -- a rich church -- a famous and well-known church in the community -- it had a lot of people -- a lot of power -- but it had ceased to be a real church -- and Jesus was going to spit them out of His mouth unless they repented and turned back to Him

            -- the message God gave me this week was that if His presence is there, others will come -- it is His presence that should draw people to gather as a church -- not a fancy building or prestige in the community -- not even good works -- God’s grace is the catalyst for growth

            -- God told me that we need to seek Him and not people -- we need to turn back to the One who gives our lives meaning and purpose

            -- that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t reach out to others -- that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t invite others to come and join us -- that’s what the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 is all about

            -- but we need to make sure we are inviting others out of the right motives, not out of selfish desires -- we need to make sure we are inviting others to join us because we want them to experience the presence of God and not just because we want more people

            -- I want to leave you with the story of a woman who was given a beautiful plant for a birthday gift from the local florist -- she loved plants and the house was filled with them, and the one she received this day was just beautiful -- it was so green and vibrant -- it was a “Bird of Paradise” plant with gorgeous flowers already in bloom.

            -- She took that plant, and placed in just the right spot so that it would get the right amount of light -- she watered it with care, and kept it fertilized with just the right amount, keeping watch over it like a mother hen

            -- but there was a little problem -- it never seemed to get any bigger, no matter how much she tried -- it was only after fretting over that plant for several weeks that she realized it was made of silk -- it was mighty pretty, but it wasn’t real -- she became so frustrated and angry at living a lie that she cast the plant into the wastebasket and never looked back.

            -- unless a church is built on Christ and Christ alone, it will never be alive -- it will never be real -- it will never be hot -- it may persist, but it will persist as a lukewarm congregation -- a church in name only

            -- let’s commit this week to refocusing our efforts on seeking God and on drawing near to Him with our lives and our hearts and our whole being

            -- let’s pray