The State of the Church part 2

I know you noticed that was a repeat that we just sung from last week. I asked Brother Keith to sing that. It's very fitting with where we are going this morning. I will put the chorus back up for us. I really want us to see what we've just sung. She is treasured and prized, treasured and prized for her he died. Who is this? The body of Christ, his church, our church. I love that verse because I think it beautifully describes his church, this church, the work of the church. I hope and pray that that verse that we've just sung resonated with your heart and blessed you and enabled you to worship Him as it did me.

I appreciate you singing that for us Brother Keith. Take your Bible and turn back with me to those two places that I referenced earlier. We will be in Matthew 28 and we will be in Ephesians 6. We read those verses earlier in our scripture reading and we will read them along the way in our message. Like I said earlier, we will transition from Ephesians 6 to Matthew 28, about halfway through the message. So just have your Bible open to Ephesians 6 and follow along over in Matthew 28 as we progress through the message. Now last week we started what I'm calling the state of the church.

This is a part one from last week and a part two this morning. Now when I say the state of the church, I'm referring to what we do here. I'm referring to why we do what we do here and how we are doing in this work. That's really a mouthful and a basketful in and of itself. Last Sunday morning I called us to examine our congregational worship services as well as our adult small group ministry that we have enjoyed. Using our wheel illustration, I reminded us that Word of God centered congregational worship, it is at the center of all that we do. It's the hub of the wheel.

If you look at your handout, this is the most important thing that we do on a weekly basis and you need to write that down. The hub of the wheel, word centered, congregational worship is the most important thing that we do on a weekly basis. There are a lot of things we can cancel, even put on hold in the life of the church, but that is not one of them. Now when we say word centered adult small group ministry, what we're talking about is a ministry that flows out of this congregational worship. I like how that is beautifully illustrated there in our wheel illustration as well.

It's one of the spokes of the wheel and I think that those of you who were here last week see how this all fits together. Not only did I restate the biblical premise for what we are doing, I also shared with you the direction of what I'm calling our fall semester. I know in South Mississippi this is not fall yet, it's still summer. We're all starting, our children are starting back in school and we're starting here in the life of the church what I'm calling our fall semester. Starting next Sunday morning we will start a new expositional series and I'm titling this series, The Extraordinary Christian Life.

This is a study through the Sermon on the Mount and that is found in Matthew chapter five, six and seven. I would encourage you to be studying ahead in those chapters. And starting next Sunday evening we'll start a new Bible study and our adult small group Bible studies and the title of that study is What Would Jesus Say About Our Church. It's out of a book by an author named Richard Mayhew. This author will help us examine 12 churches within the New Testament and we will evaluate our church according to their examples. I think this will be very, very encouraging for all of us.

And then starting this coming up Wednesday evening we'll start a new Wednesday night series that I'm calling Wisdom for Christian Living. We'll start a study through the book of Proverbs. And then our children and our teenagers, they will restart their Bible study classes as well. I really love their curriculum that they've been in for quite some time. They're in a three year cycle that takes them through the Bible. Now why do I share with you our new direction for the fall? Why do I take that time?

It is very important for all of us to see our total commitment to Word of God centered congregation or worship, for our Sunday morning services and our Wednesday night services. It is very important for us to see our total commitment to Word centered adult small group ministry which takes place on Sunday nights in our homes. Now all of this is prayed through. The elders in the life of the church have prayed and planned and all of this has purpose. Now let's just continue on in our message again. This is a part two. This is what I'm calling the state of the church part two. And we will continue to examine this will illustration.

Now personally I like how this illustration helps us see how the church functions. We will see this morning. And the end goal is for the glory of God that the glory of God would be made known through the local church. And there are two major truths that we will examine this morning. I'm numbering them number three and number four because these are a continuation of last week's truths. We will look at number three family discipleship in the home and then number four personal strategic world missions. These are the spokes within the wheel you see them that are before you. We will move into what I'm calling two goals at the end of the message.

These are on the outside of the wheel illustration and that is becoming a pattern for other churches being a glory of God local church. Now I'm not going to read our verses. We read them earlier in our scripture reading. We will refer to them as we progress through the message. So let's look at our third major truth in our message and that is family discipleship in the home family discipleship in the home. Now like I said earlier this is one of the spokes in our wheel illustration and here in Ephesians six we have four verses. Now truthfully these four verses are pulled from a lengthy portion of scripture pertaining to family relationships.

In Ephesians chapter five starting in verse twenty two to verse thirty three Paul explains proper relationships between the husband and the wife in the home. And then in chapter six verses one to four Paul moves into proper relationships between children and parents and Paul gives special attention to the father. Truthfully these verses are packed with truth. There is enough truth in these verses Ephesians six verses one to four to God parents and children down a biblically healthy path in the home. These verses can revolutionize your family spiritually.

Now I want to make two observations out of these verses verses one to four and I'm going to bring out some details here out of these verses as well. So let's notice our first observation we have parental authority. Our first observation is parental authority. Go back to the verses verse one two and three children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with a promise that it may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth. Now right here in these verses Paul is addressing the children within the Ephesian church.

Now there are two words in this address that we need to notice. The word obey in verse one may be underline that word or highlight that word and then the word honor out of verse two. Paul is telling children within the life of the church this Ephesian church to obey their parents just as they would obey God himself. They were to see their parents authority as God's authority. Also they were to honor their parents. Now this is a direct quotation from the 10 commandments that is found in Exodus chapter 20 verse 12. But notice what Paul is doing here with the children. He is addressing their actions and their attitudes.

Maybe write those two words down. Dishes and attitudes this obedience to their parents speaks about their actions and this honoring their parents speaks of the attitude of their hearts and minds. So Paul is elevating parental authority within the home and he is calling children to submit to their authority. So that's the first observation. Our second observation parental responsibility. This parental responsibility. Look at verse four there's a transition and fathers what does he say do not provoke your children to anger but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Here Paul takes the next step.

He turns to the parents or the father's responsibility. Now this word fathers in the original it refers to the earthly father but it is used at times to refer to both parents. Some of the commentators that I refer to this week feel that Paul had both parents in mind because he is speaking to both parents earlier in verse 1 and 2. Now for me I feel that Paul is addressing the one who had the authority in the home who was the head of the family that would have been the father. Paul elevated the husband as head of the home in chapter 5 verses 22 to 33. Now there are four specifics here in verse 4 that need to be seen.

There is a lot here that speaks to the father's responsibilities. Notice fathers must not provoke their children. Fathers must not provoke their children. Go back to verse 4 and fathers do not provoke your children to anger. Now this commandment was in stark contrast to the culture in Paul's day. Most pagans and even Jewish fathers rule their wives and children in a very very harsh manner. Most of the time the needs and the desires of wives and children were not considered. So this command was in stark contrast to the culture. But what is Paul saying here?

Paul is commanding Christian fathers within the church not to parrot with unreasonable demands or an unreasonable strictness. Paul is commanding Christian fathers not to parrot with a domineering, harsh or even angry spirit. Paul is showing Christian fathers that unreasonable demands and strictness coming from a domineering, harsh, even angry spirit will provoke their children to anger.

As one commentator said, and I enjoyed how he expressed this, he said this type of parenting and I'm quoting, "sours the child's temper and causes the spirit of the child to become irritated and discouraged." Another commentator described this behavior as driving the children to anger, despair and resentment. So Paul is calling Christian fathers to parrot not as the culture parents but to parrot with a loving and a caring and a kind disposition not to provoke their children to anger. And then notice the second specific, fathers must bring up their children.

We see this again in the verse, "and fathers do not provoke your children to anger but bring them up." Now all of the translations that we use, use this phrase, "bring them up." Now this phrase has a single meaning. It means to nourish. Paul used this same word earlier in chapter 5 when he was talking of one caring for his own body. So Paul is calling Christian fathers to bring up children, to nourish their children. Now how is the father to do this in a loving, caring manner as we noted earlier? And then notice this third specific, notice fathers must discipline their children.

Go back again to the verse, "fathers do not provoke your children to anger but bring them up in discipline." Now hear this word instruction or discipline. It speaks of training the child. They are to be educated. They are to be given instruction or discipline. Now in the Old Testament when it is spoken of, this instruction and discipline is spoken of, it refers to verbal instruction as well as illustrating that instruction through example. So Paul is calling Christian fathers to instruct their children, to discipline their children both in word and in deed. Now again the question how, this is to be done in a loving, caring manner.

And then notice this last specific, notice fathers must instruct their children. And fathers do not provoke their children to anger but bring them up in discipline and instruction of the Lord. Now the King James uses the word admonition. Now this word instruct here, it means to put into the mind. The idea here is that fathers would put in their children's mind the things of God. Now this would be God's law or God's word. This would be God's ways and God's purposes. So Paul is calling Christian fathers to instruct their children in God's word, in God's ways and in God's purposes. Again the question how.

Yes the father is the one in authority in the home but this is done in a loving and in a caring way. Of the kind, disposition. So what do we see here in these four verses? Paul is setting the pattern for the home. Children are to submit to the authority of their parents in their hearts attitude and in their lived out actions. But that is not where Paul stops. Paul seems to zero in on the responsibility of the fathers here. He commands Christian fathers not to provoke their children to frustration, to despair, and to anger through unreasonable demands and unreasonable strictness.

He commands Christian fathers not to parrot out of a domineering harsh or even angry spirit. He calls on Christian fathers to bring up their children as they would their own body to nourish them and he calls on them to train and instruct them in the ways of God, in the word of God and in the purposes of God. All of this is done in a loving authority not out of a domineering authority. Now honestly this is an area in our family lives that some need to do better. Let's be honest. I know there's some of you men here. You put forth an effort with your family but there are some of you.

You need to adjust your lives to Ephesians chapter 6 verses 1 to 4. You really do. Now this must be what we do as a church. This must be what we do as Christian people. Again look back at our will illustration. This is one of the spokes of the will and listen men, it starts with us. It starts with you, it starts with me. Now all week I have meditated on some much needed pastoral application here and I want to take the time to share with you some mistakes that I have seen in some people's lives and in Christianity today. And I want to give some pastoral advice here. Now truthfully we will revisit this subject of family discipleship soon.

There's a lot more that needs to be said here. First the mistakes. These are many mistakes that I have seen people make in leading their family. First mistake. Nothing. Right down the word nothing. There's some fathers and some mothers who do absolutely nothing to train and to discipline and to nurture their children in the things of God. At best they just relegate spiritual influence and education to the life of the church. Much terribly unbiblical. But then there's the opposite. You might write down the opposite. There's some who have moved to the other extreme. There are many that feel that no one should teach their children.

It is strictly the parent's responsibility. And as a matter of fact the past few years there's been an entire movement that has been formed through and in this overreaction. Books have been written, conferences have been held and still are being held and people have been made famous through this erroneous teaching. This is an error. This is an overcorrection. This is going beyond where the Scriptures go. And so we must guard against these extremes. Those who do nothing and then those who move to the other extreme that feel like no one, even anyone in the life of the church should influence their children.

The third mistake, there are some believe that if they work hard, some believe that if they train, some believe that if they teach and they form their children, well this automatically makes them a Christian. Listen, Bible knowledge does not equal salvation. It never does and it never will. You can educate your children. They can know the Word of God. They can do every Bible drill and know every Bible study and still be lost and headed towards a devil's hell. I've said this to you a thousand times and I'll continue to say it, education without salvation leads to damnation.

We educate and we train and we nurture our children in the ways of God but we always stop and say, "Listen, Johnny, listen, Susie, if you're not born again you're still not right with God." I've seen so many people do that. I've even had parents come to me with great grief in their voice and grief on their face and say, "I really thought that if I just taught my children thoroughly it would automatically produce a Christian." No, it never will. Fifth mistake, some parents believe that they can do all of this outside of the work of the church. They believe that they do not need a strong local church. Some of you need to hear this.

There are more scriptures. There are more examples. There are more references. There are more commands about Christians being connected and pouring their lives into the local church all throughout the New Testament. There are more passages of scripture that command us to bring our families and to have our lives plugged into the life of the local church than scriptures that talk about training up our children. Now I'm not saying we do one at the expense of the other. That's the mistake that some make here. They think that they can do all of this outside of the local church. No, you cannot.

We're all supposed to plug our lives into the life of the local church. It's called the body of Christ. And what happens if I sever my arm from the body, it is useless and the body is hindered. And there are people to do that. And look, I don't care how spiritual someone may sound. I don't care what great excuses they have. I don't care what terminology and verbiage they use. If they're living a life disconnected from a local church, they are wrong. They are wrong. They are wrong. But let's move on to some of my pastoral advice here. Pastoral advice.

And I start off, number one, by saying to parents, by saying to dads, especially you dads, you must be living a true Christian life if you are going to train and encourage and admonish and nurture your children. You cannot bring up and discipline and instruct if you are a contradiction. If you have a life with a deer camp or a fish camp that contradicts your church life, you can't do this. If you live one way at work and at home and then live another way at church, you can't do this. That is a contradiction. And now let me point out the worst contradiction. A religious contradiction is the worst.

Oh yes, a religious contradiction is the worst. So we must not do this if we're living a contradictory life. Number two in this pastoral advice, make sure you teach as you live. Listen, you can just teach as you live your life. Use real life circumstances as biblical teaching moments. Use everyday life as teaching moments. Use family problems and crisis as teaching moments. Use your own failures and mistakes as teaching moments. Use everything that comes along. Mistakes, success, and failure. Use everyday life as a teaching moment. Sit down with your sons and daughters. Read the Word. Point to what they see going on around them.

And just use everyday life. That's what Deuteronomy 6 says. And then the third point of application here, yes, have times when you sit down and instruct and teach. Have times. Now make this your own. Everyone might do this different. Some call these times family devotion or family Bible study or family worship. Whatever fits for you. And I've heard some of you talk about how you do this. Now here's my encouragement. If you're not doing it every day and you only do it one hour or one thirty minutes or one fifteen minutes a night, listen, you'll have a contradiction. You must do both. You live it out every day.

Use everyday life experiences as teaching moments. Have sit down times, yes. But what am I showing you? We must train and teach and pour in the lives of our young people. Now let me give you a warning here. Let me give you a warning. This is a grievous mistake many people make. Do not simply teach information. It's not information, folks. Listen, teach what God is teaching you. Explain how God is working this out in your life. And when you do that and you don't live that contradictory lifestyle, your sons and your daughters will look up and say, "Yes, Dad, I see that going on in your life." Yes, I see that teaching.

It was going on in your life last weekend today. And listen, look for more guidance in this area in the future. Like I said, we need to revisit this spoke of the wheel soon and we will be coming back to this subject. But I wanted us to see that this is part of what we do in the life of the church. It comes out of congregational worship and this is family discipleship within the home. Let's move on to truth number four. I want us to see personal strategic war omissions. And here we will turn over to our Matthew chapter 28 passage. Now this is the third spoke in our wheel.

We have before us in Matthew chapter 28, we have before us what Bible scholars and commentators call the Great Commission. Chances are the heading above verse 16 in your Bible reads the Great Commission. And most all of us know this Bible passage, these scriptures. We've seen this passage in Sunday school lessons, maybe in pikes in churches. We've heard many sermons from these passages from missionaries and pastors alike. I went back and looked at some of my information. I taught extensively on being a missions minded churches back in March of 2017. Not just from this passage, but quite a few passages.

Now right out of these verses, I want to make three observations. Now the first observation, there is authority in this commission. There is authority in this commission. Go back and look at verse 18. What is Jesus saying to his disciples? All authority or power has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Now this is a key word here. You need to underline this word authority. The King James reads authority or excuse me, the King James reads power, but it's best understood as authority. Here we see Jesus giving a command to his disciples, but we must see how the command is given. His command comes from his supreme authority as Lord.

Jesus possesses absolute sovereign authority and he is commanding his disciples. I like how John MacArthur describes this authority. It's really accurate, I think, and I'm quoting. Jesus was saying, I have both the authority to command you to be my witnesses and the power to enable you and to obey that command. So what do we see? Jesus commands these disciples to go through his absolute sovereign, divine authority. The second observation I want us to see, there is action in this commission. There is action in this great commission.

Verse 19, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Now this word make here, it is the dominant command in these verses. Maybe note that verse in your copy of God's word. Meaning make the assumption that go is the primary command here, but that's not the case if you understand the language. Go here is better translated as as you are going. Meaning have made the mistake of emphasizing go above and beyond this dominant command of make or making disciples.

It is vitally important to see here that at the heart of this making is true saving faith or true believing in Christ. We must understand disciples are born into the kingdom and then they can be formed into the people that Christ wants them to be. Salvation always comes before sanctification. Now look at how powerless these disciples were. Think about it. Jesus is commanding these disciples, is he not? There is authority in this command and this commission, but notice Christ was calling them to action to do what they could not do. But He promises to give them the power to do what they cannot do and that is to make disciples.

So Jesus was calling these disciples to action. And then the third observation, there is work in this commission. So there is authority, there is action and then there is work in the commission. What does He say? Go there for and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son of the Holy Spirit, verse 20, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Now at the center of this make is lost people being born into the kingdom. I have already stated that. Then after the miracle of the new birth takes place, then the work begins. Here Christ commands that they be baptized and then taught.

What does He say? Teaching them to observe all things. Now this teaching is work. This is not a quick or easy task. This takes years. It takes a commitment of all of the life. So Jesus is calling these disciples to the lifelong work of making disciples after they are born into the kingdom. Now question, what is the purpose of this commission? This great commission. What is the purpose? The purpose is that the church might fulfill this goal. The church is to fulfill this goal, but we must be careful. We must see the goal of the church properly. The goal of the church is not just to reach people.

The goal of the church is not just to preach the gospel all around the world. The goal of the church is not just to build strong families like we talked about earlier. The goal of the church is to fulfill this great commission and make disciples for the glory of God. All of these other goals and many more are behind this one preeminent goal of bringing glory to God through the fulfillment of this commission. And I will see more about this glory of God as we close the message. But another question, who is this commission of this task given to? Who is this call, this commission given to? This commission was given to the disciples.

And this commission was given to the church throughout all of the age. And this commission is given to us here at Nola Baptist Church. Yes us. Now an application for you and for me. And for us today, I am very excited about our partnership with Anchored in Truth, which is the mission's arm of Grace Life Church of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Listen folks, this is a godsend. This is kingdom work being fleshed out in your life and in our church. And I will call you to and give you their mission statement with world evangelization. You know what their mission statement is? It's very simple. Three words. Churches starting churches.

Oh, that's all they do all around the world. Churches starting churches. You know, that was the New Testament model and that was the Apostle Paul's model all throughout the book of acts and then continuing throughout the New Testament. It was churches starting churches and you can boil down everything that Anchored in Truth missions does. Their strategy is churches starting churches. Now I did not hand out one of the newest Anchored in Truth brochures. They're on that table. I would encourage every one of you to pick one up as you leave. There are plenty. But if you open up to the inside, you'll see the list of missionaries and church plans.

And listen folks, when you take their mission strategy and you look at where they are all around the world, it's churches starting churches all around the world. Not just in the hardest reaches or the hardest places to reach, but yes, in the United States. And listen, I would encourage you to take this and look where they are around the world as we seek to partner with them. Churches starting churches. And oh, if you turn over and you look at their monies and their accountability with their monies, these monies are going to that work. Which is what? Churches starting churches.

I was sharing with Brother Keith Wednesday night as I picked up one of the brochures and I opened it up in my personal prayer time in the last couple of weeks. I was gripped afresh in the new when I saw all of the missionaries in church plants all around the world. And what are they doing? It's churches starting churches and encouraging the church and pouring into the church. Now let me quickly share with you where we are in our partnership with Anchored in Truth. As most of you know, they are helping us here at NOLA. It's not just churches starting churches. They're about helping churches and encouraging churches.

And that's what they're doing. They're helping us here at NOLA Baptist Church. They give encouragement and they give advice and they give assistance in areas in the life of the church in which you might not see. They're a Paul to a Timothy relationship to us. And we will be more involved in their world missions and endeavors in the future. Some of our immediate needs and decisions concerning growth that are before us. They have advised us elders and some of the key men in the life of our church to hold off in getting more involved in the mission's arm of Anchored in Truth. Why? Because they see our needs and they want to help. Why?

As a Paul to a Timothy. And I'm very excited about that. Now as I move away from the body of the message, as I move away from the spokes, now I call your attention back to the wheel illustration. Last week we looked at what? Word centered congregational worship and everything flows out of that. Our small group ministries, family discipleship, and yes, our participation and world evangelization. Yes. But I want to move away from the body of the message. I want to move to the goals that I mentioned earlier. Now if you look at your wheel illustration, these are on the outside. They go around. And what do we see in these goals?

First, a church that God uses as a pattern for others. And then our second goal, a God glorifying local church. These are our goals. These are what we yearn for in the life of Nola Baptist Church. Listen, as your pastor talking to you, I ask you to take these goals and put them at the top of your prayer list for Nola Baptist Church. Now I want to take a few moments, make a few comments about these goals, and then we'll wrap up the message. Our first goal. We must seek to be a church that God uses as a pattern for others. That question, legitimate question. What does that mean? Listen people, listen to your pastor.

There are Southern Baptist churches all around us, yes, all around us that are dying. They're on the verge of dying and they will die. This is a fact. The Southern Baptist statistics tell us that this is a fact. A couple of years ago, I had a conversation with the gentleman that's part of the North American Mission Board. That's a ministry of the Southern Baptist Convention. This gentleman was over the arm of the North American Mission Board that emphasizes church revitalization. Through a few emails, I ended up on the phone with him and I told him the story of Nola Baptist Church. He said, "You guys are a picture.

You are an example of what we want to do through the North American Mission Board and that is revitalize churches that are closing and on the verge of closing." In our conversation, he echoed what I said. He said, "Yes, if you look at the statistics all around the convention, there are churches that are closing and they will close." A couple of years ago, I was speaking with the gentleman in our Brookhaven area. He's involved with a business that keeps him connected with local churches. I was telling him that I see many churches closing, many churches dying.

He perked up with great seriousness and he said, "Listen, I talk to pastors and I'm in and out of their churches and you are right. There are many that are hurting. There are many that are declining." He said, "I'm not like you, but I see that reality." A couple of years ago, I was having a conversation with a Lincoln County pastor. He's been in the Lincoln County area a lot longer than I have and I was sharing with him my heart and my concern and I was being very generous and I said, "I believe in the next 10 years we're going to see lots of these churches close." He interrupted me. He cut me off and he said, "No, you're wrong.

It's going to happen in the next five years." I believe God is going to raise up Nola Baptist Church as a pattern for others and an instrument of God to adopt dying churches, maybe to acquire dying and dead churches to do what? To father the work of the church. I was encouraged the last week or so in a conversation with one of the men of our church and I'll summarize something that he said. It really fits in with what I'm sharing here. He told me this. He said, "I'm never leaving Nola Baptist Church. God's called me to plant my life here. I'm here. I'm here to serve.

I'm here to be used of God." He said, "There's only one way I would like to leave is if one day Nola Baptist Church planted a church or adopted a church and I need you to be sent out." Yes, that's the heart. That's the mindset. We must seek to be a church that God uses as a pattern for others. I call you to put that goal. Put that prayer at the top of your prayer list. Ask God to burn that on your heart and that is what God did through the church, the little church in Acts 13, the church in Antioch. They just did that. Our second goal. We must seek to be a God glorifying local church. Now, a question. What does that mean?

To help you understand what this means, I want to ask you a few rhetorical questions. Now a rhetorical question is one that you don't answer, but I want you to answer in your mind and your heart and I want you to listen and be close, listen to your pastor. First question. Is the way you're living bringing glory and honor to God and His Word? Is the life that you are living on a day-to-day basis bringing glory and honor to God and His Word? Would your family say so, those who know you the best? Will the lost around you say so? Would those who are the closest to you say so?

Are you living a life that is truly bringing glory and honor to God and His Word? Is the way you're living bringing honor to His local church? Yes. Honor to His local church is the way you're living bringing glory and honor to this work, His church, the local church. Would your family say so? Would those who are the closest to you say so? Oh, but here's another question there. Would the leadership of this church say so? Oh, we're not God. No, but we're the leaders that God has pointed over this church is the way you're living bringing glory and honor to this church.

Here at NOLA, we'll have to ask ourselves that question more and more in the future as we progress in many different ways. If you're not bringing glory and honor to God and His Word, then you are not bringing glory and honor to His church. This statement, the third statement, if you're not bringing glory and honor to God and His Word, then you are not bringing glory and honor to His church. And if you're not bringing glory and honor to His church, this church, then you are bringing dishonor to His church. And let me tell you, folks, that's a very, very dangerous position, especially if you are a member here.

You see, this is Christ's church, not my church, not your church. He purchased this work, this people with His own blood. And He desires to work in and through NOLA Baptist Church according to His will and His plans as seen in His Word, not man's plans, not mine. The only way God gets glory in His church is when the church is fully obedient to His will and His plan. That's why we're called the Body of Christ. Now, as your pastor, I'm showing you something. I'm going to show you something with vision. I'm going to crack the door for you. NOLA Baptist Church cannot stay the way she is now and fulfill these goals. There's no way.

We have many big decisions that are before us. There are changes that must be made. And the elders of the church are diligently praying and seeking God's will and working with the men and the life of the church. Why? So that NOLA Baptist Church can be the church that is a God-glorifying local church. And listen, folks, there is a great big work of God that God wants to do through us, a greater work that He has been doing. Why? He wants to make His church a trophy, a greater trophy to His glory, and that is the local church. Now, bring the title of the message back up for you. In closing, I want to add to the title.

You know that I'm bad about doing that, altering or adding to or changing the title at the end of the message. What have we looked at the past two weeks? The state of the church. We've looked at the state of the church today. I've showed you with this will illustration and going through the word, what are we doing? This is the state of the church. Listen, we're doing a good job. Oh, look, there are areas we need to improve. We're always going to need to improve. There are areas where we want to change. And Brother Keith and I are praying to get better in some of these areas, but today we're doing a good job. This is biblical. This is healthy.

And we're doing a good job. But what about tomorrow? Oh, tomorrow we'll just keep doing what's before us better. And what about the future? God wants to grow the church and reach folks and reach more people just like you and me, more children, more teenagers, more families. So we're doing the work of the church biblical today. We're going to do it tomorrow and God's going to do our grand work in the future. What do we have? State of the church. Now, I'll bring up a phrase that I haven't mentioned lately. On purpose.

This summer we've looked at a series of messages that we believe are monumental messages for a monumental work, for a monumental future. Yes. All of these messages come together to speak to a monumental work that God wants to do in our lives for a monumental future. And I call you, I ask you to take this wheel illustration, take these messages, see how we're doing the work of the church biblically and healthy, and look for God to do a greater work. Take these goals, put them on the top of your prayer list, and listen. Ask God to give you faith to see a great work that is before us. Let's pray.

And then we'll sing and close out our worship service.