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Greater Things
Pastor Floyd's message about Greater Things coming for Cross Church and Northwest Arkansas.
$6.00 — $12.00
In the early 1900s, 16-year-old William Borden graduated from high school located in the city of Chicago. He was an heir to the wealthy Borden fortune. Before he began his Ivy League education at Yale University, his parents gifted him with his high school graduation present, which was a trip around the world. So those of you that are seniors in high school, that’s a good idea to give your parents.
Earlier in William Borden’s life, he had come to Christ through the ministry of the great Dwight L. Moody. When he experienced his trip around the world, something happened that people did not expect to happen, because you see, when he went through the countries and the continents like of China, of Asia, of the Middle East, and then of course to Europe, he had a growing burden for the world’s hurting people.
He wrote a letter to his parents and he informed his parents that he wanted to give his life to being a missionary. When one of his close friends heard about his decision, he told him you are throwing away your life being a missionary. Upon his return, he went to Yale University and graduated. Following his time at Yale, he went to Princeton Theological Seminary, and graduated from there as well. Upon completing his elite Ivy League education, he boarded a ship to give his life to reaching China for Jesus Christ.
Now due to his enormous passion for the Muslim people, he stopped over in Egypt so that he could learn the Arabic language before he ended up going to China. While he was in Egypt, 25-year-old William Whiting Borden contracted spinal meningitis. Within in a month Borden was dead.
When the news of William Borden’s death was cabled back to the United States, because of the elite status of his parents in the United States, almost every major newspaper carried his phenomenal story. As stated in his biography, “A wave of sorrow went around the world. He not only gave up his fortune, but himself to be a missionary.” Borden has walked away from his wealthy fortune for one purpose, to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the nations of the world.
Most regarded it as a tragedy, however, God took the tragedy and God did something that was far greater than Borden could ever do himself. When thousands of young men and women read the stories in the newspapers of America, it inspired them so greatly that they gave their own lives to reaching the nations of the world. When his parents were handed his Bible upon his death, they noted several things they discovered in his Bible. At the point in his life that he renounced his fortune to give his life to missions, he wrote the words, “No reserve.”
At a later point in his life when his father had already told him he will always a job in the family business, but after his father saw such resolve in his heart, his father told him, “You will never have a job in the family business,” and he noted that moment, and he did it with two words in his Bible: “No retreat.” And then just moments before his death, they found another note consisting of two words: “No regret.”
Think about that: No reserve. No retreat. And no regret. Was his life a waste? Oh, I’m sure many thought his life was a waste, but not in God’s perspective. You see God used the life and the death of William Borden to call thousands and thousands of young men and women to leave all they had, and to give their lives to the reaching of the nations for the gospel. God did more through Borden’s story than he may have ever done through is life in China.
He did greater things, and that’s what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about greater things. In the gospel of John, the Apostle John records in 3 specific verses Jesus using that very phrase, “Greater Things,” sometimes translated, “Greater Works.” We see it in John 1:50. We see it in John 5:20, and we see it in John 14, verse 12.
I want us to begin today by:
1. Looking at what Jesus was teaching. In order to look at what Jesus was teaching, I want you to look with me into John chapter 1. Let’s begin there, verse number 50. The Bible says, “Jesus responded to him, ‘Do you believe only because I told you I saw you under the fig tree.’ And then Jesus said, ‘You will see greater things than this.” You will see greater things than this.
Now in this dialogue Nathaniel was highly impressed. In fact, verse 43 begins the story, but he was highly impressed that Jesus told him that even before Phillip challenged him to follow Christ, He said when you were under that fig tree, Nathaniel, I saw you. Well, Nathaniel was impressed with that. And Jesus told him, He said, “You will see greater things than this.”
And then contextually it came into reality in verse number 51 because in that verse it refers back to a moment that took place in the 28th chapter of the book of Genesis. Do you remember the story when the ladder came down to Jacob from heaven? And all of a sudden angels were descending and ascending on the ladder? Jesus was telling him because of what I will do through the cross and the resurrection; you will have direct access to God. I will be your ladder to God. I will give you access to God directly. And Jesus told him this. Now listen very carefully. He said, “You will see this.”
What you will see is greater than the vision that Jacob saw of a ladder coming down from heaven here to this earth. Why? Because I am the Son of man, meaning what? Meaning that I am fully God, and fully Man, and My purpose on this earth is to bring redemption to every person who has ever lived, and who will ever live; redemption from their sin for all eternity. Greater things you will see.
Then John chapter 5, verse number 20 is the second area we’re going to look at briefly today. The Bible says these words, “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him everything He is doing, and He will show Him greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.”
Jesus is dialoguing with His disciples, His followers, about how He was equal with God the Father. He was telling them that He would only do what on earth what He would see the Father do in heaven. Of course when He was talking about equality with the Father, the religious people were going nuts. But Jesus said I am equal with the Father. What I see Him do, I do.
And then Jesus declares, “He the Father will show Him, that is me, greater works than these, and when He shows you these greater works through Me, listen to what He said, I, or you, will be amazed. Now in the next several verses you’ve got to contextually always look at the Bible, or else you will do what? You will misinterpret the Scripture.
Jesus tells us in the gospel of John that the Father has the power to raise the dead back to life. And He said that same life I can give to anyone. Jesus proves this by what occurred in John chapter 11, when He walked into the tomb of Lazarus after 4 days of death, and He called the death back to life. And He declared Himself, “I am the Resurrection, and I am the Life.”
However, even greater than this, even when the people were amazed, Jesus told them I’m telling you guys that, that, that one day I will die, and the Father will raise Me from the dead! And I will die for the sins of all the world. And therefore, on Jesus’ death, and His subsequent resurrection from the dead, allows Jesus to not only be Lord, but allows Him to be judge. Jesus is both the Lord and the Judge of the living, and of the dead. Now what did Jesus say in John 5? “Greater works I will show you.”
And then in John chapter 14, verse number 12, the Bible says these words, what a powerful verse, “Jesus said, ‘I assure you,” I like that, “I assure you the one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do.” In other words, if you believe in Me, what you, what you have seen me do, I’m going to let you do. In fact, “In he,” that is the one who believes in Me, “will do even greater works, greater things than these because I am going to the Father.” How can you do greater works if Jesus is no longer here?
Again, when you look at John 14 through John 17 that is what we call the Final Discourse of Jesus. It’s like Jesus is writing us a farewell letter. He is informing His disciples that soon He will die, therefore, Jesus talks to them about these things, listen, Jesus talks to them about heaven. He talks to them about Christ Alone salvation. And He talks to them about the coming promise of the Holy Spirit that will come once He has gone to be with the Father in Heaven, following His death and resurrection. Therefore, Jesus is telling them in John 14:12, He is telling them would you just simply believe Me? Would you trust Me? And He is indicating that when we trust Him, His disciples, He is saying that, that we will see God do greater works through us.
Now again, you’ve got to look at the Bible and it’s context in order to interpret it correctly, otherwise, you are going to misinterpret the Scripture. So which one is Jesus referring to? In 21st Century America, we hang out hat on, on the miraculous side of that, “Oh certainly Jesus was talking about the miracles or raising the dead back to life, and, and, and healing people.” Oh boy, you can have a ministry if you can do that. But that’s not was Jesus was talking about. He is talking about salvation to a lost, sinful world by taking His message to them.
Therefore, within the context of John 1:50, John 5:20, and John 14:12, what Jesus has in mind is that He is referring to us as His disciples, and that He wants us to join Him in taking His redemptive message of salvation to the nations, meaning to every people group in the world. You say are you sure about that? Absolutely, I’m sure about that. All you have to do is look at the book of Acts, because the whole book of Acts, that is the acts not of the apostles, but the acts of the Holy Spirit through the apostles, meaning that God is working through them greater things, greater works. Those greater works can influence a generation.
It’s interesting that when you note while Jesus was on earth He’s just like any of us in that relationship; He can influence only one person at a time, but Jesus knew that if He left, and He gave His salvation to the millions of people, that if millions of the people turn onto Him as Savior and Lord, and they took His message, and they shared it individually, then perhaps billions could one day be influenced for the cause of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, when you look at these three Scriptures, what do you see? John 1:50, what’s the promise? You will see greater things. In John 5:20, you will be shown greater things. And then beyond John 5:20, you find John 14:12, you will do greater things. Did you get it? You will see greater things, you will be shown greater things, and you will do greater things.
So what does greater things mean? Here’s what it means: Jesus hands off the torch to each of us to fulfill His Great Commission by taking the gospel to every person in the world, and to make disciples of all the nations. You see, what we must understand, He is handing off the torch! He is giving us the message, and it’s our role as His followers to go, and to share His message of redemption with the world that is sinful, and desperately needs the Savior.
You have been charged with this responsibility. I have been charged with this responsibility. We, as a church, we are charged with this responsibility! Therefore, sometime when we’re defining what something is that is important to define what something’s not, so what is it not? Can I talk about that for a moment?
It is not the Great Option, but the Great Commission; therefore, it can no longer be the Great Omission in our lives. It is not the Great Option; God doesn’t give you an option whether or not you’re going to join in His redemptive purpose. God does not give you the option whether or not you’re going to buy in. It is a Commandment. It is His will. It is His intention. We call it the Great Commission. Therefore, it can no longer be the Great Option in our lives. I have no choice; I have got to receive the torch! The torch has been handed to me, but the torch has been handed to you. And it’s not an option, it is a command. And it has nothing to do with what I’m going to do with my life in relationship to vocation, but whatever the vocation is that God calls me with, I am to understand the torch has been given to me to declare even through my vocation.
Therefore, last week I shared with you several things about how we need to remember what God has done among us. I listed many of those things, many were encouraging, some where obviously God-sized, and may God get all of the glory. But rather than me highlighting those again, I would rather not spend my time doing that today. All I’m going to do is tell you is God wants to do greater things than what He’s done in the past. I’m convinced of that. And I want to encourage each one of you that did not, or you were not here last week, go to the website, watch the message, listen to the message, or go to the bookstores today, one of our bookstores, and get a copy of the message, and listen to it, because we need to learn what it means to remember what God has done. But I assure you today; God wants to do greater things.
In my time with the Lord on September the 29th of this year, the Lord really breathed strongly into my heart a Scripture that I really believe He wants me to pray everyday of my life now. The Scripture’s found, and I want to encourage you to use this Scripture if you ever pray for me, why don’t you pray this in my life. John 42, excuse me, Job 42, verse number 12. In Job 42, verse number 12 the Bible says, “So the Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the earlier.” This is what I’m trusting God for in my life. When I really sensed that God was speaking that in my heart in a fresh, new way, quite honestly, I told God I don’t see how you can do that. I mean, God has been so good to me. I mean God has given me opportunities that I have, I would have never dreamt to have had, but I’m telling you I believe with all my heart God wants to do more at the latter half of my life, the second half of my life, than the first half of my life. And as long as we’re connected together as a church, and a pastor, we’ve got to believe that all of has ramification, and implementations for your life, or implications for your life, and for mine together.
So now that we have been looking at what Jesus was teaching, I want to move to a brand new area today, and I want to talk about:
2. Launching a vision for greater things. Over the next several minutes I want to urge you to listen closer than you’ve listened in a long, long time. I’m announcing to you today that in the first quarter of 2011, we are entering into a major fundraising ministry above our ministry budget giving, and it will last for a 3-year period of time. We are doing it for one purpose alone: for us to be able to position ourselves to do greater things that will help us win Northwest Arkansas, America, and the World to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
We ended our last fundraising campaign on March the 31st, 2007. Months before that occurred, the economy began to plummet right here in Northwest Arkansas. We have waited. We have been patient, and we have been wise in the way we have handled matters, but I want to assure you today, no longer can we sidestep the needs of a world that is lost simply because of certain economic conditions that may exist in certain people’s lives.
We are under the mandate of Jesus that we must be willing to leverage our life and resources of making Christ known to the nations. And now is the time for us to have no reserve, no retreat, and no regret. This is not about the economy, but the gospel. This is not about the economy, but your place on God’s team, and doing what God’s called you to do in Great Commission matters. This is not about the economy, but it’s about seeing God doing greater things through our church.
The church is a body, the Scripture says, and therefore, as Christ leads His church, the body, I want you to imagine with me two arms that reach out through the body, the arm of the Great Commission, and the arm of the compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore the theme of what we’re going to do will be called GREATER THINGS. Because we believe the heartbeat of Jesus is through greater things through us.
For the next several minutes I’m going to begin to launch this long-term vision over the next 3 years for our church. I’m going to hang the vision on three words. I’m going to begin with our priority, and that is the:
(1) Church. The church. Our church must be strengthened in order to do greater things together. This is why we are introducing to you a major challenge to raise funds above our ministry budget in the early part of 2011. Here’s what we’re going to ask our people to do: we are going to ask our church to give over a three year period of time, at least the amount we did in our last major campaign 6 years ago, which was $20 million dollars. We can do this. We have done this before. We are bigger, deeper, wider, and stronger than we were before. And with massive participation, coupled with great sacrifice, this will be done. Therefore, in March of 2011, we will ask each member, and encourage each attender to our church, regular attender, to make a commitment to greater things.
Between now and then, we ask each of you, including your family, to begin to pray, to begin to listen to God, to begin to put your vision glasses on so you can see what we see for our future. And it will come down to what each family does, each person does, so that we as a church can do what we believe God is calling us to do.
So what is our vision for our church? Let me talk about that for a brief moment. While we are meeting our adjusted financial plan, we want to see this plan advanced dramatically so that we can have more margin, and fluidity for the long-term future in order to see more dollars to go to fulfill the Great Commission. We want to advance our financial plan dramatically to give us more margin, more fluidity, so we can do more for the Great Commission. And when we are doing more, and becoming a church more involved in Great Commission matters, and great compassion matters, then God will make us a much better Cross Church.
As well, it is no longer a secret; we are expanding our ministry to reach Fayetteville by creating a new campus to that city, in that city. No city in Northwest Arkansas is more unreached, and more lost spiritually than the city of Fayetteville. Can we not let other churches do it? Let’s think about that for a moment. In 2008, there were 19 Southern Baptist Churches, and they together, those 19 churches, baptized 111 people. In 2009, the 18 Southern Baptist Churches baptized a total of 82 people. In 2010, the 17 Southern Baptist Churches baptized a total of 70 people. So in the course of time when Fayetteville is exploding, the number of churches has gone down from 19 to 18 to 17, and the baptisms of those churches collectively has also gone down from 111, 82 to 70 people. And I’m telling you today we cannot sit still. We must go! We must go to strengthen those churches, but we must go and take the gospel to that city that is so in need of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
We also want to continue expansion by living, or by having multiple sites throughout Northwest Arkansas. We are multi-site church. We believe God’s going to raise up other sites in the future. We want to be ready to go when He does it.
We are also a church that believes in investing in next generation Christian leaders through a major intern ministry. We’ve done this for years, but I’m talking about doing something on spiritual steroids. I mean is it valuable? Well let me ask you a few questions. Is it valuable that years ago we hired Ryan Blackwell as an intern at our campus, and all of a sudden today Ryan is the pastor of the First Baptist Church of San Francisco, California? Do you think that was a worthy investment? What about Brad Graves who was hired as an intern, and today he is at Cross Church in San Diego, California in a brand-new church start that is seeing many positive things happen? Was it, was it, was it a good investment when we hired an intern named Brad Jurkovich who today is pastor of a fast-growing church in Lubbock, Texas at Victory Life Church? Was it, was it, was it a good investment when we hired Keith Harmon as an intern, and all he did was simply take care of toilets, take care of a building, and invest in a few teenagers for 4 years that today after serving at a church in Orlando, he came back home to be our Minister of Students at our Springdale Campus?
Was it worth the investment when Shawn Smith was nothing more than an intern going to the University of Arkansas, and we invested in him and today he has major global influence over our ministry? Was it important to invest in other young leaders that were not interns, but men who were with me in early days like a John Cope, who was our student pastor, and who today has now built a church that started the same time Pinnacle Hills in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He’s reaching over 1200 people a week to the glory of God. Or Alex Himaya, who was our student pastor as well there and now Alex is pastoring one of the fastest growing churches in all of Oklahoma there in the city of Tulsa?
Or a Jeff Crawford who was also a young assistant with us, and today is pastoring a great church in Fort Smith, Arkansas that is really beginning to take off, and see many great things happen for the glory of God, at Grand Church there in Fort Smith?
I mean I could on and on and on. You think those were worthy of investment? You see, we’ve got to create a spiritual farm club so that we can do what God wants us to do locally, nationally, and globally to the glory of God. Can I get an amen from somebody?
Then we need to also understand ministry opportunities for the future. We need to be prepared for opportunities for over the next 3 years that God is going to give to us. We also want to build a ministry support of our church. We believe that in this 3-year ministry we can create stronger ministries in our church as a result, and a stronger church, which will accomplish greater things.
Also there may be a few campus improvements we want to make. We’re not going to build buildings over the next 3 years. That’s not our goal, that’s not our will, not our drive. But I’m telling you, we might have to do a few things to improve our campus, but I want to make it real clear to every one of you, less is more of that for me. That is no longer important to me in relationship. And I want to challenge you while we must take care of that which God has given to us, I’m talking about something far deeper than a building, far better than a tree being planted; I’m talking about lives being changed in places where the gospel has never been before.
And I’m talking about also preparing a church for the next generation. I told you last week that two weeks ago both of our campuses together had 2483 preschoolers, children, and students involved in our Small Group Ministry. We need to provide them with a strong ministry filled with freedom, and sustainability for the long-term future of our church. We need to get this church ready to hand off to them. This church is no longer about Ronnie and Jeana Floyd. It’s about their kids. It’s about their grandkids. It’s no longer about all of you that are 45 and above, it’s about your kids, and one day your future grandkids. You say what do you mean Pastor? Does it mean we’re not going to have our needs met? No, you’re going to have your needs met. You know, some of us that’s all we care about. We’re going to get deeper than that though. We’re going to get wider than that. We’re going to go broader than that. We want to get you off of who we are, and onto Jesus, and what Jesus has called you to be for the rest of your life.
Well, as the church we’re a body, but then we reach out to what I call the arm of the:
(2) Commission. Let’s talk about that second word, commission. The Commission is our assignment. It is our mission. It is our responsibility. It is our marching orders from Jesus Christ to present the gospel to every person in the world, and to make disciples of all the nations! I’m speaking of Matthew 28:18 through 20; speaking of Acts chapter 1, verse 8.
I believe firmly that our last great hope here in Northwest Arkansas, America and the world is to see an awakening of the Great Commission in your life, my life, every church here in North America, and even including around the world. You see, we really have to ask ourselves the hard questions that I’m not sure we really believe anymore as a church! Do we really believe Jesus is the only way to salvation? Do we really believe that people who do not receive Him are lost and headed for an eternity without Him in a place called hell? Is the gospel of Jesus Christ really the answer for their lives, and for their eternity or not? Is it all real or is it a fairy tale? I’m telling you it’s past time we back up what we say we believe! We need to be on fire more today like never before! And taking the gospel of Jesus Christ to every nation in the world, to every people group in the world beginning right here, and I’m telling you church, we need to exhaust our energy, and exhaust our resources to see it happen!
Therefore, here’s what I believe God wants us to do. I want to see us raise our financial support of missionaries around the world. As a Southern Baptist Church, we join 50,000 other churches and congregations to fund the world’s largest missionary force in the world. Do you know that our International Mission Board is cutting back on sending people, and reducing the number of missionaries due to the economy? 3 years in a row this has now happened. You may say out there well you know it’s reasonable. The economy’s been bad. That’s the way it happens. I’m telling you it is not reasonable. It is unacceptable. It is not the will of God to cut back on the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. The Church of Jesus Christ in America, including our church, needs to get our act together and we need to wake up to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. Our missionary force of our 5000, 500 international missionaries, and 5000 missionaries nationally, we don’t need to see that reduced. It needs to grow! We’re not there yet, seeing numerous people, numerous people penetrated for the gospel of Jesus Christ. We must do better!
Also, we want to see the gospel advanced to the unreached people groups of the world. Do you realize we have just less than 7 billion people in the world of which less than 1 billion of those would ever even identify with Jesus Christ, our Savior, and our Lord? We have 6,426 unreached people groups in the world! Nations in the world that have never been reached for the gospel! 2% or less of them have any association with Jesus. It’s not a, many of them do not have any association with Jesus at all. Greater things is about advancing the gospel to places where the gospel has never been before.
It’s also about penetrating lostness in Northwest Arkansas. That it must be addressed in many ways, whether it be through dynamic impact ministries, conducting worship venues out here in our community, or seeing our Fayetteville expansion occur; we must understand that 65% of Northwest Arkansas does not believe they have a faith and a trust in Jesus Christ, and Him alone for their salvation. Yes, oh conservative Arkansas, 65% do not know Christ.
We also need to be about strengthening our churches and their leaders. We want to create ministries that come alongside of churches that already exist, strengthening them, strengthening their leaders. Stronger pastoral leadership will lead to stronger churches long term.
And then the Commission part of this vision has three specific highlights that I want you to see today. They’re priorities of what we’re going to call us to do:
(1) To pray for and present the gospel of Jesus Christ in various ways to every home in Northwest Arkansas. I believe it’s God’s will for this 2 county region to receive a gospel witness, and a gospel prayer from this church. We’re accountable. We are accountable. Anybody believe that besides me? We are under a mandate by Jesus to do it.
(2) I want to see us invest in, and plant at least 50 new churches regionally, nationally, and internationally. Last week I told you that we have planted 55 churches since 1992. I want us to plant at least 50 churches the next 3 years. We will do this in cities like Denver, San Francisco, the West Coast, listen, New York City, the Northeast, Indianapolis, and other cities and regions in our own nation, but with major emphasis on international church planting.
(3) And I want you to dial in like never before. I’m about to challenge your socks off. If you’re not wearing socks, I’ll leave it right there. In 2012, I want to mobilize 1000 of our people in a cross-cultural missions experience outside of Northwest Arkansas, occurring somewhere in North America, and around the world.
What does that mean? Cross-cultural means it will happen in a very lost culture,
much different than the one we have here. People that will not look like you, they may not even speak the language you speak, but my friend, if you can give us 4 days, we want them. If you can give us 7 days, we want them. If you can give us 10 days, we want them. IF you can give us 14 days, we want them. And we will design trips built around those segments of time that will involve every one of you, at least 1000 of our people who will step up and say, count me in! Count me in!
Greater Things will help subsidize some of that, but each one of us will also be accountable, and responsible for own resources to see it happen. God always provides the need. Understand, just think for a moment, if it leads to a thousand of you will join in a cross-cultural mission experience in 2012, Cross Church will never be the same! Will you go with me? Can we do this? Not on our own. We won’t do it without a mighty move of God among us.
I’ve shared with you that first word is church, I’ve shared with that second word is commission, now we’re going to wrap it up, tie it in a bow, and the third word is:
(3) Compassion. What a great, great word. The church is a body; it reaches out with the arm of commission, and with the arm of compassion of Jesus. What does all this mean? Beyond what we’re already doing in compassion ministries, what do we want to see us do? We want to support world relief addressing hunger, the need for clean water, medical needs, and educational opportunities.
I read this past week that 925 million people are undernourished in the world. Parents, listen to this, Senior Adults, listen to this, children, students, listen to this, 16000 children a day die from hunger in this world. 1 child every 5 seconds. We must do something about the hunger crisis in the world.
Also, we want to support adoption and orphan care. In some small way, we want to come alongside of families who want to adopt children and care for orphans. Did you know that there are 163 million children living somewhere in the world today? Somewhere in the world today a child loses a parent ever 2.2 seconds. You may have never thought about it like this, but adoption can be one of the most effective ways to fulfill the Great Commission than we’ve ever known before.
Orphan care is not just a global problem; it’s a problem here in Northwest Arkansas. In our 2 county region we have 250 children in foster care, and have only 84 foster care homes right now. We have 30 children in Northwest Arkansas whose parents have handed them over to the State, and are needing adoption now. Due to the State being ___, a local adoption is minimal, the cost of that and very affordable. But I’m telling you, it’s time the church stands up and addresses the orphan crisis locally, nationally, and internationally. We can change a child’s life forever, giving them Jesus, and the opportunity to serve Him all the days of their lives.
The members of Cross Church need to have a goal in the future, not one foster care home needed in our region, and not one child needing adoption. Then when the need comes up, because they’ve seen Cross Church stand up, they’ll call us, and they’ll say we’ve got a new child, and we’ll have a group ready to go, and take that child in their home, and love that child to Jesus, and care for that child’s need as long as they have the privilege to do it.
You see the young adult crowd is very passionate about this today. They see it as the way to fulfill the Great Commission. They’re not like my generation! They’re not like the generation before me! They’re not like the generation behind me by the way who basically have looked the other way, and acted like it hasn’t existed! God forgive us! We need to repent!
Families adopting today, they don’t have $20000, or $30000 dollars sitting around the bank today, and they say well you know I think I’m going to adopt me a kid. None of them have that kind of money. But under the compelling Spirit of God, they see the opportunities here to make a difference in a child’s life for the, for the, reaching them for the gospel, and they trust God, and somehow God provides in ways that they’ve never seen God provide. Some of us will say, how can that happen? I’ll tell you how it can happen! Look at James chapter 1, verse 27. “Real religion is caring for the orphans, and the widows.” God blesses in a powerful way.
Community engagement is another way. We need to engage our community, rebuild it where it needs to be rebuilt for the glory of God, and keeping Jesus the center of why we do it. A major highlight of the compassion side of this I want you to understand: We want to create within the next 3 years an open, what I’m calling, a compassion center in Northwest Arkansas. From this center we will provide benevolence to our community. We will distribute food. We will teach life skills. We will start churches, and we will provide a resale shop for this demographic of people. Men, listen very carefully, this means that you will never have to do a garage sale again. [LAUGHTER] You donate clothing. You donate other items to the compassion center, and we will use it to help the community, and to extend the gospel to places where the gospel has never been before. Greater Things is about having a great commitment to our commission, having a greater compassion, and having a greater Cross Church.
Oh there is so much more I could share with you today, but I want you to listen to this: Jesus did not save you to make your wildest dreams come true, but rather to leverage your life, your influence, and your resources for His name, and for His great fame. It’s not about you imagining and seeing real your wildest dreams, but God has given you what He’s given you to leverage it for the gospel, to leverage it for the glory of God so that all will know!
I close with this story. Earlier in our worship we sang the song God of This City. Many of us know that it was Chris Tomlin who made that song famous in America, and perhaps even in most places around the world. But in reality, it was a group from Ireland called Blue Tree that wrote the song. It’s an incredible story. Listen.
Blue Tree was on a mission trip to Thailand. They accidentally stumbled into a section of a city they were in that was overrun with major grotesque sin. It was filled with everything imaginable. It was so in your face, they stated we had to walk with our heads down just to keep our minds straight. It was a pathetic representation of the most degenerate things imaginable all the way from childhood prostitution to old men walking down the street with young girls, or boys, from children all the way to old men and women.
As Christians their hearts became raging over the power of sin that dominated that major section of the city. However, God used this lost condition they found themselves in geographically in a providential manner. An owner of a bar came up to them, and, and one of the clubs, and they told him that they were a band, and they just stumbled into this tough region of the city. For some reason, he asked them, for no reason in the world, he asked them, why don’t ya’ll play in my bar tonight? They told him well we’re a Christian band. But he told them, hey, come on and play for 2 hours. I don’t mind.
Well, the deal they made with the guy was how did they walk away from that opportunity for the gospel, but he said you’ve got to bring other people with you. Which obviously meant to enjoy the moment there in a bar. But when the band went in, most of the people could not even understand English. They went and found them some of the people that were a part of their group and they brought 20 Christians with them to this bar to hear the music. The owner of the bar, which was basically a strip club, did not sell any alcohol to any of those Christians. In fact, he said he had never sold so much coke before in all of his life.
As they had witnessed walking on the street that sounds like Bourbon Street on steroids, the leader of the band just felt led to start singing words like “Greater things.” As he thought about the dire sinfulness of their city, and their desperate need for Christ, he just began singing greater things over and over again. He said it was like he was prophesying over the city. That Jesus has greater things for them that would penetrate their lostness, and the darkness of their sin. He said he got in the groove musically, and when they walked out of the setting that night, the song God of This City was born. He said it was one of the most powerful experiences that he’d ever been in in worship there in the bar. He said we would look out and see down the alley way of the streets, we would look down and we would see in the streets the incredible sinfulness, and he said there were 50 to 60 British people in the bar who were looking at us, and they didn’t have a clue what we were singing about! But they said God was real, and God was powerful, and they sang those prophetic words over that city, talking about how their future no longer had to be filled with darkness, but He was the God even of their city.
Wow. Cross Church family we need to begin to prophesy over our own city called Northwest Arkansas. We need to prophesy that Jesus wants to do greater things among us. He wants to set the captive free. He wants to take away the darkness and give to us light. I realize today that some of us might ask the question now can we do all this pastor? Listen, let me tell you what I’ve become convinced of, here’s what I’ve become convinced of, it’s a conviction I now have. You can call it a spiritual conviction. If we are comfortable with a vision, it is a probably an insult to God. I mean if it’s something I can handle, and I can manage, and I can get done, I mean, it’s probably an insult to God.
Let’s envision something today that only God can do through us! Something that only God can get glory for! Greater Things is about what you do, and what I do, it’s about what each of our families will do, it’s about us personalizing, it’s about asking God what He wants to do. It’s about, about us seeing the opportunity, I’m telling you church I believe that every one of us, we can make history, we can leave a legacy that will far outlive our lives. I declare to you today in the name of Jesus that it’s God’s will for us to see Greater Things, and I prophesy to you today, and over this city, greater things are yet to come. Greater things are still to be done in our city, Northwest Arkansas.
- SKU:
- MP3:
- http://www.ronniefloyd.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/2Z246L-Greater-Things.mp3
- Vimeo:
- 16855658