Oct. 30, 2005

Pentecost 24

 

Micah 3:5-12 (NLT)  

This is what the Lord says to you false prophets: "You are leading my people astray! You promise peace for those who give you food, but you declare war on anyone who refuses to pay you. 6Now the night will close around you, cutting off all your visions. Darkness will cover you, making it impossible for you to predict the future. The sun will set for you prophets, and your day will come to an end. 7Then you seers will cover your faces in shame, and you diviners will be disgraced. And you will admit that your messages were not from God."

8But as for me, I am filled with power and the Spirit of the Lord. I am filled with justice and might, fearlessly pointing out Israel's sin and rebellion. 9Listen to me, you leaders of Israel! You hate justice and twist all that is right. 10You are building Jerusalem on a foundation of murder and corruption. 11You rulers govern for the bribes you can get; you priests teach God's laws only for a price; you prophets won't prophesy unless you are paid. Yet all of you claim you are depending on the Lord. "No harm can come to us," you say, "for the Lord is here among us."

12So because of you, Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field; Jerusalem will be reduced to rubble! A great forest will grow on the hilltop, where the Temple now stands.

 

Ps. 43 

 

Matthew 23:1-12 (NLT)  

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2"The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. 3So practice and obey what they say to you, but don't follow their example. For they don't practice what they teach. 4They crush you with impossible religious demands and never lift a finger to help ease the burden.

5"Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear extra long tassels on their robes. 6And how they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the most prominent seats in the synagogue! 7They enjoy the attention they get on the streets, and they enjoy being called 'Rabbi.' 8Don't ever let anyone call you 'Rabbi,' for you have only one teacher, and all of you are on the same level as brothers and sisters. 9And don't address anyone here on earth as 'Father,' for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father. 10And don't let anyone call you 'Master,' for there is only one master, the Messiah. 11The greatest among you must be a servant. 12But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

 

Sermon:

            After a Gospel reading like this one there couldn’t be a better time to share with you something I found on the internet.  As I prepare for this trip to Nigeria my attention is being constantly drawn to the big picture of the church.  There is SO MUCH MORE going on than what we see right here. 

 

 

 

Question:  What is the fastest-growing religion on Earth?

 

Most news reports suggest it is Islam.  But a new book makes a compelling case it is biblically inspired evangelical Christianity that is sweeping through places like China, Africa, India and Southeast Asia.

 

"IS CHRISTIANITY TAKING OVER PLANET?"

[© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com]

 

In Megashift, author Jim Rutz coins a new phrase to define this fast-growing segment of the population.  He calls them "core apostolics" – or "the new saints who are at the heart of the mushrooming kingdom of God."

 

Rutz makes the point that Christianity is overlooked as the fastest-growing faith in the world because most surveys look only at the traditional Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic Church while ignoring a huge movement of Christian believers who have no part of either.

 

He says there are 707 million "switched-on disciples" who fit into this new category and that this "church" is exploding in growth, increasing by 8 percent a year," he says.

 

So fast is this group growing that, under current trends, according to Rutz, the entire world will be composed of such believers by the year 2032.

 

"There are now more missionaries sent from non-Western nations than from Western nations," he writes.

 

This trend, says Rutz, has been missed by Westerners because the explosive growth is elsewhere. (we still think we’re the center of the universe)

 

Hundreds of millions of these Christians are simply not associated with the institutional churches at all. They meet in homes. They meet underground. They meet in caves. They meet, he says, in secret.

 

And what is driving this movement?  Miracles, he says.

 

"Megashift" attempts to document myriad healings and other powerful answers to the sincere prayers of this new category of believer, including, believe it or not, hundreds of dramatic cases of resurrections – not near-death experiences, but real Lazarus-style resurrections of actual corpses.

 

Jesus said, “The things that I have done you will do also, and even greater things will you do because I go to the Father.”  Who could possibly imagine doing even greater things than Jesus did?  But consider this:  In His three year long ministry on earth Jesus called only 12 who were called Apostles, and perhaps 120 others who were called disciples.  A few hundred more were “followers”, the curious who gathered when something exciting was happening.  But on the day of Pentecost 3000 new disciples were added to the church in a matter of hours.  And that was just the beginning.  In that time since the Apostles lived, that 3000 has become almost 2 billion.  And the momentum continues to move forward in truly miraculous proportions. 

 

Jim Rutz writes, "When I was a kid in Sunday school, I was really impressed that 3,000 people were saved on the Day of Pentecost.  I thought, Wow, that'll never happen again!"

 

But, Rutz says, it now happens around the globe every 25 minutes.  Before this service is over the miracle of Pentecost will have happened four more times around the world.  And by this time tomorrow, there will be 175,000 more Christians than there are today.

 

Christianity is not only the fastest growing religion in the world, it is also the most persecuted.  Of those 175,000 who will join the church in the next 24 hours, 440 will die for their new-found faith. 

 

The essence of Rutz's book is about how Western Christians can tap into what he sees as a mighty work of God on Earth.

 

"Very few people realize the nature of life on Earth is going through a major change," he writes.  "We are seeing a megashift in the basic direction of human history.  Until our time, the ancient war between good and evil was hardly better than a stalemate.  Now all has changed.  The Creator whose epic story flows through the pages of Scripture has begun to dissolve the strongholds of evil.  This new drama is being played out every hour around the globe, accompanied sometimes by mind-bending miracles."

 

And what about Christianity on the American scene? 

 

            Dr. George Barna is the most quoted Christian authority in America.   He has released a brief bombshell of a book titled "Revolution" (Tyndale House), that announces the impending arrival of a world you will hardly recognize.

            The scenario Barna foresees is briefly this:

            By 2025, traditional, churchgoing Christians will comprise only 30 percent of all U.S. Christians.  The other 70 percent will be a wild, improbable mix of fire-breathing, activist Christians who are unwilling to settle for anything less than  close-friendship networks of deeply committed believers.  These people may seldom or never darken the doors of steeple-topped buildings.  Barna calls them the Revolutionaries.

            First, let's get the "bad" news over with: If you grew up in the same grand old Protestant church I did, brace yourself.  It's all fading away, my friend: our quaint but glory-filled hymns played on that heart-warming organ, our stately building with its changeless atmosphere from another era, our carefully crafted sermons that no one quite remembers, our Sunday bulletins announcing the 99 percent predictable programs – it's all going to change.  

The church of the Revolutionaries

            Now the good news.  The traditional church is being replaced by something much better.  A church on steroids, if you will.  A church that looks much more like the church in the book of Acts.  It will be a highly complex, non-centralized mixture of various types of small groups, such as:

  • House church networks (which includes those meeting in offices, shops, schools and Starbucks), all of them simple and organic, with no programs, paid staff or owned buildings;
  • Microchurch teams launched by large, well-known Christian ministries that till now have avoided doing anything that might be too competitive with local churches;
  • A myriad of relational networks spawned out of Christian music festivals, Internet connections and outreach missions.

            Who will run this seeming mishmash?  The Holy Spirit of God himself – ably assisted by millions of nameless, faceless nobodies who want neither glory nor recognition, just an honest role in the high adventure of transforming this troubled land into the free, sensible, Christian nation it was meant to be.  

            Among the attitudes George Barna is hearing from Revolutionaries here are some quotes that will help you understand just who these “Revolutionaries” are:

QUOTE:

"The proof of my status as a Revolutionary Christian is the love I show to God and people."

"Every breath I take is a declaration of war against Satan."

"God does not need me to fight His fight.  He invites me to allow Him to fight through me.  I anticipate and will gladly endure various hardships; for this is the price of participation in winning the spiritual war."

"I am not called to attend or join a church.  I am called to be the Church."

"I do not give away 10 percent of my resources.  I surrender 100 percent."

"I am bound at a heart and soul level to other Revolutionaries (Christians), and I will bless other believers whenever I have the chance."

"The world is desperately seeking meaning and purpose.  I will respond to that need with the Good News of Jesus Christ and meaningful service."

            George Barna concludes:  “When these attitudes become the norm among our young people – and they will – America will be a very different country.”

            Simply put, the revival that is taking place all over the rest of the world must also come to these shores.  It will be accompanied by signs, wonders, and miracles of healing.  That’s the key.  It always was.  I missed it for a long time, but I know now that God is calling us to return, to trust in only Him for power to overcome all the work of evil that comes against us. 

Here's a prayer Jack Sheffield prayed for us at Shrinemont.

"Lord Jesus, you are so wonderful.  You are so wonderfully here.  We don't have to pray you down, we don't have to cajole, we don't have to coax.  You said, 'How much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to them that ask.'  It's His pleasure to give us the kingdom.  Lord, manifest Your presence.  Dance all over this room.  Pour out on us Your gifts of healing, gifts of faith.  Birth new faith in us.  Thank You Father that it doesn't depend on us.  It depends completely on You.  Let us become receivers, and out of our receiving, let us do and speak just the way Jesus did it.  We don't ask You to bless what we're doing, but to take us into the work that You are blessing.  Open our eyes.  Open our ears.  Open our hearts, for it is with our heart that we believe.  Thank you Jesus."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Music: Oct. 30

Praise songs: Shine Jesus Shine

Processional: 546
Gradual: Have Thine Own Way
Offertory: 383
Doxology

Sanctus  S125

Lord’s Prayer

During Communion: 325, He Is Our Peace

Recessional: 690