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Corporate Prayer Pleases God
67 Plays5 months ago
Series: Managing the Ministry of the Local Church
1 Tim. 2:1-7
Recommended
Transcript
Origins of the Life-Saving Station
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Speaker
On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur, there once stood a very small, crude, little life-saving station. It was simply just a little hut, and it only had one little boat. But there were a few devoted members who kept constant watch over the seas. And with little thought of their own safety and for themselves, they went out day and night tirelessly searching for those who were lost.
00:00:31
Speaker
Some of those who were saved and various other members of the community found value in this small life-saving effort and they started to put their time and their money and their support behind it. This small tiny one boat life-saving effort started growing. They bought more boats.
00:00:59
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more experienced crews. And they started training these crews to save lives even better.
Transformation into a Social Club
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Speaker
Some of the members of this life-saving station, when they came back, said, you know what, this station is just too small. It's too crude. I would feel guilty saving somebody and bringing them back here.
00:01:27
Speaker
so they built a bigger facility. They took the emergency cots and they bought plush beds. They went from emergency meals to full-on table settings. This relatively once small, obscure life-saving station gathered popularity and became quite the meeting place for its members.
00:01:55
Speaker
It became a country club. About this time, a large ship wrecked off the coast, and the crews brought boatloads of survivors back to the lifesaving station. They were wet and dirty and sick, and they were bringing them back to this beautiful lifesaving station.
00:02:26
Speaker
In response, the property committee immediately met, said we can't have this. We gotta build a shower outside so that we can clean these people up before we bring them in to our beautiful new facility. Mr. Pease is pausing right now. Don't worry John, it's not about you.
Cycle of Growth and Mission Drift
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Speaker
As a matter of fact, most of the members
00:02:54
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wanted to stop the life-saving efforts. They'd rather simply gather and chat about the good old days, how they used to save lives as this had become the normal social life of the club. Some members, however, said this is not right. We used to be a life-saving club. What happened to us?
00:03:23
Speaker
And at the next meeting, there was a vote. And they were told politely, if you'd like to continue saving lives, you simply need to move down the coast and start your own little life-saving hut. And friends, that's exactly what they did. They moved down the coast and they set up shop and they started saving lives. And as the years passed, they too became tired of that small little station.
00:03:54
Speaker
And so they gathered support, and they gathered money, and they built a bigger place. And the cycle continued. Sadly, shipwrecks still occur in those waters. And most people are lost.
Paul's Concerns on Mission Drift
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Speaker
This is called the life-saving station parable. It's by Theodore Waddell. And friends, it has deep, historical roots that reach all the way back to the coast of Ephesus.
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Speaker
It was Paul's great fear that this vibrant life-saving station that God ordained and that Paul planted would soon forget its mission. And that mission was to save lives. That mission was to proclaim the gospel. It's the same mission that you and I have today here in Cameron. To further God's economy,
00:04:54
Speaker
to proclaim the gospel, which was rightly handed to us, which we will do starting again tomorrow morning to a bunch of kids that show up, proclaiming the gospel. This week, friends, as we look at these passages in 1 Timothy, I want you to search yourself as I have this week. Are we furthering the gospel?
00:05:23
Speaker
are we actively partaking in that life-saving mission? This is what the Apostle Paul is going to tell us today. We're going to see three things today. We're going to see that it is God's desire or His passion or His pleasure that all people be saved and come to the saving knowledge of truth. Second, you and I get to play an integral part in that process. I like to use this word, cooperation.
00:05:54
Speaker
You and I get to cooperate along with the Holy Spirit in the proclaiming of the Gospel. We do this through prayer and full dependence on God. I'll just put as a side note here, this is a great privilege. You should see that as a great privilege.
00:06:15
Speaker
We're gonna see, third, that the church models something for us, and it's through prayer, corporate prayer or public prayer, and we're gonna see how you and I can actively participate in that. If you will, and you're able, if you'll stand for the reading of the word today, 1 Timothy chapter two, verses one through seven, and I'll be reading from the New Living Translation.
The True Gospel Message and Threats
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Speaker
It says, I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people.
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ask God to help them, intercede on their behalf and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.
00:07:13
Speaker
For there is one God and one mediator who can reconcile God and humanity, the man, Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time. And I have been chosen as a preacher and an apostle to teach the Gentiles this message about faith and truth. I'm not exaggerating, I'm just telling the truth.
00:07:42
Speaker
This is God's word. You may be seated. It is essential for you and I and it is essential for the church in Ephesus to understand what Paul is saying here. You'll remember over the last couple weeks we talked about Paul planning this church and handing it over to Timothy, but these false teachers had come in. Started to throw a wrench in the program.
00:08:09
Speaker
trying to teach a false gospel. We had said a couple weeks ago anything other than the true gospel is the false gospel. What is the true gospel? Well, it's something we're going to teach the kids here Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. It is simply this is that we are saved by, we're going to try that again, we're saved by, alone,
00:08:39
Speaker
And I'll explain that here in a minute. By faith in, right, the object of our faith, always Christ. We can believe in a lot of things. The true gospel is that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ. Paul is telling these people in Ephesus, watch out for these false teachers. They're gonna turn you astray. They're gonna take you away from your mission
00:09:09
Speaker
your life-saving mission and that is to preach the great gospel message. What these false teachers were doing all is they would come in and they would either add to or subtract from that very basic gospel message. It is a practice that false teachers have been doing ever since the true gospel came out. And it's something that you and I can easily identify.
00:09:41
Speaker
If we're saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, if we remove any of those elements, it's the false gospel. Or if we add to any of those statements, it's a false gospel. Let me give you an example, if you will indulge me just for a second.
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Speaker
If we simply say we're not quite all sinful, it negates the fact that we need God's grace in the first place. If somebody simply says you have the ability to come to a recognition that you need to be saved, they're adding to the gospel because it's no longer grace alone.
00:10:38
Speaker
The entire saving process that you and I undergo initiates with God. It is by God's grace that He reaches down and opens your eyes and opens my eyes to just how sinful we are and the fact that we need a Savior. If you remove from or add to grace, it is no longer grace alone.
00:11:01
Speaker
It's no longer a free gift. That's what that word grace means, by the way. We just talked about grace a couple weeks ago. It's getting something you don't deserve, right? Grace. If we do anything to it, it's no longer a free gift. It would be like, here I'm gonna give you my keys to my car. It's free, take them. Oh, by the way, that'll cost you $5,000. You understand? That's not a free gift anymore.
00:11:31
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I've just changed that. It's no longer grace, it's something else. If we're saved by grace through faith, faith, if we remove something from faith or we add something to faith, which other denominations will do, they'll say, you need to not only have faith, but you also need to work out your salvation. And they'll take what James has said
00:12:02
Speaker
which is supposed to be on the other side of the gospel message, why we live out of holy life and says you need to start living a holy life now so that God will accept you. Friends, that is a false gospel. It is purely by God's grace that we are saved and it is only and solely by faith in Christ alone. Christ alone meaning the full picture of who Christ is.
00:12:32
Speaker
the second member of the Trinity. He's not just a man. He's not just a good man. He's not just a great teacher. And if somebody tells you that, they are robbing you of that simple truth that we are saved by faith and the object of our faith is Christ Jesus.
Teaching the Core Gospel Message
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Are we clear on that? That's the adult version of kind of what we're gonna be teaching the kids this next couple of days. Why is this a problem for the early church?
00:13:02
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What's happened is these false teachers were coming in and ruining the program that Paul had set up, this life-saving mission that Paul had set up, and they were saying, you can be saved, you can even believe what Paul said. But you know what? Your lineage and your genealogy really matters too.
00:13:24
Speaker
Your Jewishness really matters and it adds to your validity of why you need to get saved. See how they're adding to the gospel message right there? They're turning what Paul initially had set up as a life-saving mission, turning it into some country club of elitism. Friends, this is the great problem of the American church today.
00:13:53
Speaker
How do I know that you say? How do I make a general comment like that? You simply just need to walk outside these doors here in Camry. Pay attention. I'm going to say something that's not going to be very pleasant. We have a black church right across the street. We have the white church right here. We have two Mexican churches on either side.
00:14:24
Speaker
Oh, we have a black church right across the street. Maybe y'all didn't hear me. The white church is here and the Mexican churches are there. And I lovingly say this, friends, but you just need to look around today. We're sitting among people who look like ourselves, who are roughly in the same socioeconomic category.
00:14:49
Speaker
We're easy to fall into groups that feel comfortable to us, don't we? We had the VBS set up just the other night here. I noticed something and I kind of chuckled to myself. As we sat and had pizza together, the First Baptist people sat together. The Grace people sat together. Oh friends, we're guilty of it too.
00:15:18
Speaker
And I say this in a loving way so that it pricks something within you to go, you know, this is not what the gospel message is meant for. It's not so we all consider around like-minded peoples and tell each other how well we know the gospel and how well we know the Bible. We're not saving anybody like that.
00:15:45
Speaker
What we've done is we've taken that life-saving mission that we were defined for, and we've said, you know what? We're going to start this all-white country club here in Cameron. And I apologize if you're not all white. Guess what? We're not all all white. Paul says, beware of this elitism mentality.
00:16:15
Speaker
He says, God our savior is the title he uses here in verses three. He uses this same title just four more times in 1 and 2 Timothy. He says, it is in our God's nature to reach out and save those who were far from him. In fact, verse four says, he desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth.
Essential Gospel Truths
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But friends, not all people will be saved.
00:16:44
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This is a very important part that you don't want to miss today. Universalism says God is going to save everybody. And they'll point to a verse like this and they'll say, well, it says right there, God's desire is that he's going to save everybody. Friends, there's a whole chock full of people in hell right now that rejected Jesus.
00:17:15
Speaker
If God is gonna save everybody, why are those people in hell? Universalism says God will save everybody. We don't believe that. Matter of fact, Paul says right here, they must have a saving knowledge, a knowledge of truth. John 3, 16, for God so loved the world, he what?
00:17:47
Speaker
Christ died for the whole world, 1 John, 1 John 12, 1 John 2, 12. He died on the cross and he might draw all men. When we had our study in Ephesians, I brought this theological discussion up, if you all remember. Did God come to save all people? So why isn't everybody saved? Because you have to what? You have to believe.
00:18:17
Speaker
There's an act of cooperation. One says God's gonna save everybody. That's universalism. The gospel message says you are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. This gospel message that Paul is saying here, he's not saying that all people without exception will be saved, he's saying
00:18:47
Speaker
all people without distinction, meaning Jew or Gentile, rich or poor, religious or non-religious, it's God's desire to save all those people, but it can't happen without a knowledge of truth. And he tells us here two simple points here, verse five and six. Look with me real quick. He says there's one God, y'all say one God,
00:19:15
Speaker
And there's one mediator. Say, one mediator. One God. He's drawing on Deuteronomy 6.4, right? This is the great Shema. Here, Israel, the Lord, our God is one. Every Jewish kid knows this, right? I always tell Kim, this is the one easy Hebrew word we had to learn. We had to learn this entire sentence when we were in school.
00:19:46
Speaker
Here, O Lord, our God is one. He's reminding this group of people right here, there's only one God. It's an essential truth to the gospel message. Why is that an essential truth, you ask me? Because the Latter-day Saints will tell you
00:20:09
Speaker
We believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They'll use the exact same words, and the exact same terminology. And if you don't know your Bible, or you don't know their history, or our history, you may very well think they're Christian. Let me reassure you, they are not. Because they believe the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three individual gods. Not one god. The truth is, there's only one god.
00:20:40
Speaker
Here, O Israel, the Lord our God is one." As a matter of fact, when I met with these two sweet Latter-day Saint girls that came to the church, that was the very first place I turned to them. We're going to have some very different foundational problems. If you say you're Christian, well, this is what we believe as Christians. One God. Do you believe in one God?
00:21:06
Speaker
Amen. When I asked those girls, they looked at each other and then they looked down because they couldn't confess the very basic truth of the gospel message. There's one God, and he says here to this Ephesian church, not only is there one God, but I think he goes one step further and he says, since there's only one God, there's only a need for one mediator.
00:21:36
Speaker
And that mediator is Jesus Christ. And I thought about this this week as a mediator. Do you understand this concept of mediation? What a mediator does? He takes two people, groups, if you will, or two individuals, and he brings them together and establishes a relationship that would not have existed without this person.
00:22:03
Speaker
Paul's reminding the Ephesian church of the very basis of the gospel message. There's only one God and there's only one mediator and that mediator is Jesus. And the only reason he can be that mediator is because he's the only person qualified to do that. What qualifies him to do that? That was a question I put to myself this week. I think it's a very important truth that we must take home today with us.
00:22:34
Speaker
because he can represent both parties. He can represent humanity because he was fully human and he can represent divinity because he was fully God. There's one mediator and his name is Jesus. He is God in flesh who stepped down out of heaven and it says that he gave himself, verse 6, as a, I love this word, ransom.
00:23:05
Speaker
I have a special place in my heart for this word. It's our last name. This word, ransom, securing the freedom by paying a price. I love that definition. Securing the freedom
00:23:25
Speaker
a slave's freedom, somebody who's in bondage. It is a fee that is paid for that person's freedom. It's a powerful picture of what Jesus did at the cross. It's a price that had to be paid because God must punish sin. Otherwise, He would not be holy, nor would He be true to His own character. See, there had to be a payment for that sin that you committed and that I committed.
00:23:55
Speaker
Jesus took that punishment upon himself and he paid the debt that you and I were never able to pay. And he brought forgiveness for sin and the freedom from the power of that. And friends, it's for this reason it says he is the mediator.
00:24:13
Speaker
Hebrews 9 and 15, if you have it and you want to flip there, says this, it says, for this very reason, meaning Jesus coming and dying at the cross, it says, he is the mediator of the new covenant. So that since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called
00:24:35
Speaker
may receive the promise of eternal inheritance. Three basic truths of the gospel message Paul is telling us here. There's one God. That God can only be approached through one man. It's important to know that, friends, because what society will tell you is there's many ways to God. If you doubt me, just turn on Oprah Winfrey. She'll enlighten you.
00:25:05
Speaker
Oh, don't pick on Oprah. That's what I've heard before. Some things you just don't approach. Friends, she said on national TV there are more ways to God when the Bible says there's one way, and it's through Jesus. I got to pause here because I could get off topic real quick talking about Oprah.
00:25:40
Speaker
There's one God, there's one mediator, and that's Jesus who paid ransom for all mankind. There's one atonement for sin. And Paul goes on here and says, basically, there's also one mission or one purpose. And he's gonna tell you what his purpose is in verse seven. Look at me here in verse seven. He says, and I have been chosen as a preacher and an apostle to teach the Gentiles this message about faith in truth.
00:26:07
Speaker
He's been appointed a, your version may say, a herald. I like that translation. A herald is, you know, an evangelizer, right? We get this word from the Greek euangelion. Somebody who would go in front of a battle. If a battle was won on the battlefield, they would go ahead back to their home country and they would herald the good news. They would herald the gospel. That's what that euangelion means.
00:26:35
Speaker
He's saying, I have literally been commissioned. I have been appointed a herald to teach the truth.
00:26:50
Speaker
And I just put a note, this same appointment is applicable to you and I today. Just as Paul was appointed to proclaim the gospel, you and I are under that same appointment, that same privilege I wrote down. I don't know if you understand how preparation for sermons go. Sometimes I get stuck days on just a word or two
00:27:16
Speaker
And I can't get beyond it. And I just pray, Lord, give me something else. Why am I stuck? And I just kept getting stuck on this word privilege, honor, opportunity to proclaim. That's what you and I are called to. We have this great privilege to proclaim the gospel message. Do you know the gospel message?
00:27:40
Speaker
At our old church, we used to do 10 words, right? I'll never put Kim right on the spot, but she knows these 10 words, 10 basic gospel word message you can do on your hands, right? Christ died for
00:27:53
Speaker
I was going to put Kim on the spot. Sorry. Died for our sins and rose from the grave, right? Those basic ten words you can expound and get the entirety of the gospel message. But it's so simple that you can give it in ten words. Christ died for our sins and rose from the grave. And you can tell it to kids and explain that. And that's our goal here these next couple days as these kids come to let them know exactly the true gospel message. That it's nothing they themselves can earn or do.
00:28:26
Speaker
Paul says he's appointed to do it. You and I are appointed to do it. And I just put a note to myself. How are we doing doing it? How are we doing proclaiming the gospel?
00:28:39
Speaker
In our last church, we had a sub pastor come in one time. And those ones are always the interesting ones, because it's not your normal guy, and you're kind of looking at, hey, how's this guy gonna, you know, is he different, is he energetic? And I remember, I don't even know if you remember this, this guy had said, how is your evangelizing doing in your pews at this church? And everybody just kind of sat and thought about that for a second.
00:29:08
Speaker
He said, how are you proclaiming the gospel to the person sitting next to you in that pew? They're already Christians. Most of you guys are. He said, your field that you're going out trying to plow for new souls has already been plowed here. If you're going to evangelize, you've got to get out of these pews here and go out and seek the lost. You're not saving anybody on the shore. You're saving them out in the sea.
00:29:39
Speaker
You and I are appointed. How are we doing that? And I just put a note, in our communities, in our workplace, in our school, in our colleges, man, the colleges need. They need you. They need the gospel. Because we're fighting a battle and a system that says anything but God there.
00:30:05
Speaker
And friends, what you're doing is you're building up your kids and you're launching them into a college. And I'm all for college. Don't get me wrong. Don't send me emails on Monday saying he's anti-college. But friends, understand where you're sending your kids. You're sending them to the enemy. They're not teaching God at the college. And if they're not teaching the gospel, they're teaching a false gospel.
00:30:34
Speaker
He tells us here, Paul, the most important thing we could possibly do. Look at verse one, I love this. My translation doesn't even necessarily do it justice. This word urge is like I plead, I'm pleading with you. Like if I were to get down on my knees and crawl down the center aisle here and plead with you and grab onto your pant leg, please! This is the word picture he's giving us here with these words.
The Role of Prayer in Gospel Mission
00:31:04
Speaker
Please, the thing that's the most important, the thing I need you to do is, verse 1, pray. Everybody say pray. For all people, not some people, everyone.
00:31:22
Speaker
And he gives us the manner in which we do it. He says, your translation may say supplication or intercessions or thanksgiving, right? These words are grouped together in a list. It's like saying I like Ford, Chevy, and Toyotas. He's saying I like cars. He's saying you need to have all kinds of prayer for all kinds of people. If we're to be effective in spreading the gospel message, it starts here with prayer.
00:31:53
Speaker
Corporate prayer, all prayer for all people. And he says, by the way, the way you can start is with your king or your president or your mayor or your governor. Why is that important that Paul would just kind of slide that in there? Friends, because it's difficult sometimes to pray for those guys, especially if you didn't
00:32:23
Speaker
pick that guy that got put in that spot. By the way, you know, and I love my mom, but I told her this last time because she is a, she's a fan of a certain candidate. I'll just put it that way. That rhymes with rump. And when he didn't get picked, I said, mom, calm down.
00:32:48
Speaker
You do realize that whoever got appointed in that position was appointed by, do you believe that? Because if you have to and you must, then you must pray for them. This is why Paul is saying that.
00:33:07
Speaker
It may not be the person you went to the ballot and put in the box that's in office, but God knows that person's in office. God allowed that person to be in office, so we must pray for them. He's saying prayer is that important, that you need to pray for people that, frankly, you didn't put in that position. But he says, why do we do that? He says, so that we might what?
00:33:36
Speaker
Live a life of peace and quiet. Peace is inner peace and quiet is an external thing. He's saying if you're in prayer for those type of people and all people, your life will be displayed as one who is quiet and peaceful and I dare say calm.
00:34:05
Speaker
That is the Christian demeanor. It's not one with the picket sign out front shaking your hand saying, we need big change. Now, I'm not saying that there's not a time and a place for some of that kind of stuff, but generally characterized, the Christian life was one of calmness, not these huge ups and these huge lows.
00:34:29
Speaker
Boy, those, you know, and I love all kinds of people, but have you ever met people like that? They drain you because they're so high and they're so low and then they're high again and then they're low and then there's like a quiet period of a couple of months where nothing's happening and you're like, what's going on with those people?
00:34:50
Speaker
You know how many people go, hey, how was your week? It was steady. It was calm. I like calm weeks. I like calm months. In fact, I'd like to be characterized as somebody whose life has lived calmly. He's saying, friends, we can do this through prayer. He's saying the consequence, if you will, or the result of that prayer is that we will be, I like these two words, will be found characteristically godly and holy.
00:35:21
Speaker
Godliness meaning this right standing or this right worshiping between us and God and holiness or honesty or my translation says dignity. It's good conduct towards all men. And if you're living a life of prayer and you're praying for all people and you're furthering God's economy through the preaching of the gospel, you're living a very calm life and the result of that is it says you're basically summed up in two words.
00:35:48
Speaker
You're right-worshipping before God, and you have good conduct towards men. Man, what two great things would that be said on my headstone? Patrick Rancell lived one year in Cameron, died at the pulpit. He lived a life rightly-worshipping God. I would love that it would say that. And a matter of fact, below that, maybe in smaller letters, and he had good conduct towards men.
00:36:19
Speaker
He lived a calm life. Can that be said for you and I? So what does this mean for you and I today? What do we take away from this passage? What is, I'll put, if you see the top of your notes there, corporate prayer is pleasing to God. That's the title today. Corporate prayer is the opposite of private prayer. Corporate prayer is what we do together. Out loud, corporate prayer.
00:36:48
Speaker
When we get together and engage in corporate prayer, it says that pleases God. So I just have three quick things that make up, if you will, corporate prayer. The first is one focus. If you're taking notes, just write one focus. Corporate prayer is a focused prayer. What do I mean by that? So when you're in your Bible study class,
00:37:16
Speaker
And I only know this because I've sat in most of your Bible study classes. Don't get offended. There's nothing wrong with going around and asking for prayer requests. But I think this is the great disservice that we see in the American church. We've made that type of corporate prayer about us. How do we fix us when really that corporate prayer should be about God?
00:37:43
Speaker
A focused corporate prayer says, I'm going to take one thing and I'm going to pray about that as a collective body. So in your Bible study class next Sunday, it would start something like this. Hey, we're gathered today and we're now going to pray for salvation at Bible school. It'll be too late then. Don't start praying next week because we need it now.
00:38:06
Speaker
But do you see what I'm saying? It's a shift in going around praying for each individual person in kind of a split effort. If we have one focused corporate prayer, it says we're praying together in one mind, in one focus on this one particular thing. And Pastor Daniel Henderson, he says this, he says, if we make it about us and not about God, he says prayer becomes horizontal instead of vertical.
00:38:35
Speaker
And I like this. He says, frankly, that kind of prayer is dull. Have you ever been in a prayer group where everybody just kind of praying about other people and you're just standing around and what do you think of yourself? I can't wait till it gets to me where I get to pray something, right? Or you're thinking to yourself, man, how long is this guy or this lady going to go on? She just keeps praying. When we make it about God, everybody can join in on that one topic and pray corporately.
00:39:03
Speaker
How do we advance the kingdom? It's a great question to ask ourselves anytime we get together as a body of believers. What is that one thing we can do that we can pray about today that would advance the kingdom effort? One focus, one voice. One voice, if you're taking notes, write that. Now let's put this. This doesn't mean five people in a room on Wednesday night praying.
00:39:30
Speaker
All right, it's your turn. Now, when you finish, it's my turn. And when I'm done, it's Henry's. It's Sally's job. After that, we're just gonna keep moving around. Friends, this is one person that's designated that's gonna pray for one specific thing corporately. This is why all church prayer, if you ever, you know, we don't do that here and I'll be culpable. I'm the one responsible for this because it starts up here with me.
00:39:59
Speaker
We need to be gathering together. If I were to call out during the week and say we're having potluck on Sunday after church, I would get a fantastic response. I would. If I'd say, oh, by the way, Wednesday we're meeting for corporate prayer, how many people would we have for that? I would like to think we'd have a lot. And I might just do that. Because it's that important, corporate prayer.
00:40:31
Speaker
one focus, one voice, one goal. The ultimate goal here, y'all, is to glorify God. Period. Glorify God and to please Him. And if we're praying corporately like that with one voice, with one mind, and we're bringing before Him one kingdom purpose, that allows God, when He answers that, to get all the glory.
00:41:01
Speaker
You know we don't do enough here? We don't tell each other when God answers prayer. I get a lot of prayer requests. I get very few prayer praises. Praise God for filling the blank. How much more encouraging is it to hear something like that? Oh my God, God's still answering prayer.
00:41:23
Speaker
And he's doing it at First Baptist Church, Cameron. And he's doing it this past week. And he not only did it in this person's life, but he did it two or three other people's lives. God gets the glory. I'll just end with this.
The Church's True Purpose
00:41:41
Speaker
We come here Sunday after Sunday to worship right here. This is not the church. You do realize that, right?
00:41:52
Speaker
The church is right there as I look at each one of you. You guys are the church. You guys are the life-saving station, if you will. The God has chosen, the God has appointed, the God has planted right here along the seacoast of Cameron and for some of y'all Rockdale. May we never become
00:42:23
Speaker
a country club. Rather would we be found a people who knows the gospel, who proclaims the gospel,