9/14/14 YEAR OF EQUIPPING TO SERVE

LIVE IT!!  Alive - Not Dull!!

What is the Church?
    Believers in Jesus live in a power world.  God does things that can’t be explained any way other than the supernatural intervention that goes far beyond anything we can grasp.  Can you say MIRACLES???  Listen to this true story.
    It was Christmas in 1968.  Missionary Ron Hittenberger looked through the Christmas cards he and his wife, Carolyn, had received.  One caught his eye.  “What happened to you last February?  One day I was returning from work and the Lord impressed me to pray for you.  I felt that you were in mortal danger.”
    Ron turned the card.  It came from a man in Arizona.  The Hittenbergers had been to his church for a service.  Ron had not met the man nor corresponded with him. But he certainly remembered what had happened the preceding February!
    Along with Pastor Theagene, Ron had gone to minister in a remote region of southwest Haiti.  They had started very early and traveled on horseback for hours to reach a mountain village in time for a service.  When the arrived, the mud and thatch church was full of people, many of whom had walked for hours to attend.
    After the service, a pastor from another village asked Ron to travel two hours farther into the mountains for a service at his church.  Because of the town’s remote location, this pastor seldom received visits.  They knew they could not disappoint him by refusing his request.
    When they reached the church, they found it filled with people. Many of them had walked over some of Haiti’s roughest terrain to be in the service.  They ministered there and God gave a gracious outpouring of His Spirit.
    It was very late in the afternoon when the two men started for Belle Rivere, the town where they planned to stay for the night.  Soon the sun faded into pitch-black darkness.  They cautiosly picked their way along a rock-strewn trail at the edge of a ravine some 500 feet below.
    Without warning, Ron’s horse suddenly took off running. Ron desperately tried to rein him in, but it was impossible.  He could only cling to the saddle and cry out “Jesus, Jesus!!”.
    For nearly two hours the horse ran full speed through the darkness down the dangerous trail.  Pastor Theagene hurried to keep up but was unable to do anything to help.  Finally the men reached Belle Rivere and the horses stopped. They were exhausted and trembling, but safe.  This, they knew, was a miracle.
    The extent of the miracle was not clear until Ron read the message on the Christmas card. Impressed by the Holy Spirit that Ron was in danger, a man far away in Arizona had fallen on his knees and prayed for nearly two hours – the very same time that Ron’s horse had been racing madly through the night.
    We can find countless stories like this that show:
□    the concern of God for His people
□    the power of prayer
□    the importance of listening to God’s voice
□    living with and for Jesus is living in the miraculous, the supernatural
    As we continue to talk about our life in Jesus, that we must LIVE IT, that we are alive and not dull, we want to look at the living fellowship that is what we call the church.
    In a discussion with His disciples, Jesus was asking them who people said He was.  And, a followup question, who do YOU say that I am.  This is making the question personal.  Peter’s response -   Matthew 16:16 NIV
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said in verse 18 . . . and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
    Jesus said He would build his church on Himself and the bold confession of His disciples.  They declared that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God”.  Jesus used a play on words.  For Peter He used a term meaning a small stone.  Describing Himself He used a term meaning a massive rock.  He said He would build His church on this solid foundation.
    Jesus is the Rock, the steady and solid foundation of the church.  1 Corinthians 3:11 NIV says 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
    The foundation of the church is only Jesus.  No human could ever hold that position.  Jesus is the foundation and He is the head of the church.
    We need this solid foundation for the church because there is a strong and wicked battle to destroy it.  Jesus gives us a great word of encouragement here.  The gates of Hell will not prevail against it, will not overcome it.  The powers of death, Satan and all his evil forces that oppose Jesus and His kingdom will not overcome the church.
    A very important picture for us to get here.  This leads to a question: are gates an offensive or defensive weapon?
    They are defensive.  They keep an enemy out but are never used for an attack.  The church is not in a defensive position, as if we are simply surviving under the attack of the enemy.  These verses describe the church being on the offense, actively coming against the strong spiritual walls of Satan’s kingdom.  The gates of areas under evil control will not hold back or stand up against the church as it reaches out to people to rescue them for Jesus.
    Yes, the battle is strong. But something even more important, God is stronger.  This is why we must be:
seeking God
focusing on living in and using God’s power against the enemy
This is why we cannot become spiritually lazy.
    We must demonstrate God’s power over the forces of evil.  We must recognize the evil powers and expect to overcome them with God’s power.

    What is the church?  Believers are the “called-out ones”.  One of the early terms used was followers of Jesus were people of “The Way”.  So, Christians are called out of the world and are walking in the way that Jesus taught.  Separate!!  Different!!  The church is not an organization, it is people.  People who have made Jesus their Lord and Savior.
1 Corinthians 1:2 NIV
2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ--their Lord and ours:
    We are in the process of being made holy.  We are being separated from the world and separated unto Jesus.  He is working in us.  We are saved and God continues the process of spiritual growth in our lives.
II Corinthians 6:16-17 NLT
16 And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 17 Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.
    What agreement is there with evil?  None!!  God calls for His people to separate themselves from active participation in sin.  The church is called out of the world to proclaim Jesus as Lord and defeat the forces of evil.  This is who we are.
    We are to live in God’s power.  Living in God’s power is not dull and boring, but awesome.  It is not just a once in a while thing, but a continual growing life with Jesus.  It is not just for some other place, it is for HERE.
    God’s power and Word equip the saints to live the life God wants us to live.  Let me share a story about one of my father’s good friends, Calvin Olson.  He has passed away now.  He spoke here many years ago.
    In 1971, missionaries Calvin and Marian Olson were living in Dhaka, East Pakistan, holding nightly prayer meetings for a group of Christians.  Tension between East and West Pakistan was strained, and war seemed inevitable.
    One evening in March, some believers reported having a vision of East Pakistan going up in flames.  A prophetic message warned that a time of intense turmoil was coming, followed by a time of unprecedented opportunity for the church.
    A few days later, Calvin and Marian were awakened by the sounds of police dragging wooden roadblocks into place.  Soon a deluge of automatic gunfire announced the beginning of war.  In minutes the city of Dhaka was ablaze.
    As the battle raged, soldiers indiscriminately killed everything in sight.  Calvin and Marian often wept with the people who came to them.  The death, suffering and mourning were overwhelming.  Yet they were determined to stay.
    When the Indian army joined East Pakistan forces, the war quickly drew to a close.  East Pakistan became an independent nation, later to be named Bangladesh.  Change became the order of the day as the government shifted from martial law to a secular state.  About this time God set a plan in motion to provide land for a church in Dhaka.
    The caretaker of an empty lot next to the Olsons’ home was seriously ill with bleeding ulcers.  Doctors gave him no hope of recovery.  He had heard Christians praying regularly during services at the Olsons’ home. Desperate, he sent word to Calvin, asking him to come.
    Calvin was reluctant.  What if I pray and the man is not healed?  He wondered.  Surely this would serve only to discredit the work.  But if the man was healed, the result would make a major impact on the area.
    Cautiously, Calvin and another Christian man went to pray. The dying man lay on a board bed, his family gathered around him  Suddenly, the power of God came upon Calvin.  Taking the dying man by the hand, he said, “In the name of Jesus, get up!”
    Immediately the man stood.  A few minutes later he was eating spicy curry, a dish that would have killed him only a few minutes earlier.  When the man returned to work the next day, his boss asked, “What happened to you?”
    The man told him of the Christians’ prayers and how the power of Jesus had healed him.  The boss insisted on meeting Calvin and hearing more about the gospel. The Olsons then learned that the man Calvin prayed for was the personal driver for the president of Bangladesh!
    Eventually, the Olsons asked the president for first option to buy land next to their home should he choose to sell it. Their request was granted.
    Through a series of miracles, all permits were approved and supplies purchased to complete the building.  Today Dhaka AG stands as the largest Pentecostal church in the nation.
    Living in and expecting the miraculous supernatural power of God.  This is the church.  Let’s talk about this.
QUESTIONS
A question often asked is this: why do we hear the stories of miracles in other places and yet seldom hear of them around here?
What will it take for the church in this area to be a powerful force for the Lord?
What will it cost?  (Don’t just think money) The question of cost will help us answer the first question about why do we hear the stories from other places of God’s power.
How will western Wisconsin be impacted when the power and presence of Jesus is actively and consistently felt?

PRAYER
Please respond with the answer to the question of how we should pray right now.