Intentional Ministry Genesis 6:1 Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. 3 And the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." 4 There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. 5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 So the LORD said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 "Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. 15 "And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 "You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 "And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 "But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark; you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. 19 "And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 "Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. 21 "And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them." So Noah began to build an ark. But the tools that he needed had to be made by hand, so Noah went to the land to Zon to find the iron needed to make the tools. When he returned to the ark, the inhabitants of the land were excited about the iron that Noah had and said unto Noah, "Give us some of your iron, and we will pay you handsomely." So Noah sold the iron to the inhabitants of the land and took the profits and set up a nice little trade in iron. And the work on the ark proceeded slowly. And a hundred years went by, and Noah collected wealth to help him build the ark, so that it could be done rapidly. After 115 years Noah happened to figure up the requirements of the animals during the year they would be in the ark and began planting and harvesting food for the animals. But the storage bins in the ark were not ready, and much of the food began to spoil. So Noah decided that perhaps they should just buy a boat already made, and went down to the local marina, and was completely overcome by a sleek schooner, with a new paint job and fresh sails. It would not hold all of the animals, but probably would accommodate most of them. So on the day that the flood began, Noah and his family were in their schooner with their pets and farm animals, and the residents of the local yacht club got in their boats also. And a storm arose more fierce that anyone one had ever imagined possible. And Noah and his family and all of the sailors from the yacht club went to the bottom of the waters. Fortunately that is not the way it happened. 22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did. 7:5 And Noah did according to all that the LORD commanded him. 6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth. 7 So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. Noah had an intentional ministry. A goal. An end in mind. I want to make a confession to you today. I know that I may be doing that too much, but most people like to see a preacher squirm. I need to confess that I have spent much too much time in my ministry waiting for things to happen and not nearly enough time making things happen. I tend to lose focus and get distracted by the problem of the moment, and lose site of the bigger picture. Now I am told that the church tends to reflect the attitudes and characteristics of their preacher. So today I am going to preach to all of us, O.K.? Today I want to talk about developing an attitude of intentional ministry in our church. I want to move from having evangelistic meetings to being an evangelistic church. I dream of us changing from a group of people who are faithful in church to a family who is faithful wherever we are. I envision a body of people who come to church and then take their church out to the community. I imagine a church with an intentional plan of ministry that goes not one year or two years, but five and ten years. A church that sets its course by the word of God and with the Spirit of Faith asks God to do, in us, greater things than we can possibly imagine. And this does not come from floating downstream. It takes an intentional ministry. Let's talk about the negatives first. I can imagine in your minds that you might be saying, " Batesville is a small community, and most people go to church already. It is difficult to reach out." Maybe you are thinking to yourself, "I am not a highly educated person, and have nothing to offer to anyone." Or perhaps you look back at the history of the church here and say, "But pastor, we have never been more than.........." Let me share with you some things. Batesville is a small community. Many of the people around here already attend a church. But, what if we could reach 1/10 of the non-church-attending public for Jesus Christ. How many churches would we have to build in this town? Have you ever thought of that? What about the young people who are drifting? What about the Spanish speaking people around us? What are we doing for them? About your doubts regarding yourself. You are in good company. Moses thought he couldn't talk after herding sheep for 40 years. Gideon thought he couldn't fight with tens of thousands, so God gave him 300. Peter was a coarse bumbling fisherman with foot in mouth disease. Matthew was a cheating IRS man. Simon the Zealot was part of a group who specialized in assassinations. James and John were conniving sneaky mother's boys. We could go on. But then through the Holy Spirit they got a vision. When their lives became intentional, the gospel went to the whole world in a matter of years. And about our church..... Over time this church has had to grow to be where it is now. What happened? Did we become comfortable with our nice church home? Did we lose the vision of doing great things for the Lord? Have we begun to believe the lie that God cannot do great things in America, Arkansas, Batesville, at 30 Gap road? Brothers and sisters, I want to develop an intentional ministry. I want to see our church in an intentional ministry. Praying, planning, permitting the Spirit to work, projecting the gospel, and praising God for the harvest. Paul developed an intentional ministry. Mars hill. 2 or 3 converted. Went to Jews, stoned him. But his ministry became even more powerful when he made the decision that he refers to in: 1 Cor 22 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. God does not want strong men standing for Him. Ecc 9:5 For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, God wants men and women who have died to self and know nothing except what he fills them with. He wants weak men and women filled with the Holy Spirit of God standing for him. Men and women who have the intentional ministry of determining to know nothing among you except Christ and Him crucified. Jesus himself had an intentional ministry. John 4:34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. He called his followers to an intentional ministry. Matthew 8:21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." 22 But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead." Jesus called for single mindedness. John 8:28 Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. 29 "And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him." Jesus lived to glorify and please God. John 10:30 "I and My Father are one." How can we possibly do this? 1. Prayer, prayer, prayer. Pray that the Lord will give you a ministry. Pray that the Lord will empower your spiritual gifts. Pray that the Lord will change your life. 2. Daily devotions. This is a worship time. This tells God and you what really important in your life. 3. Get a vision of what God wants to do through you. We need to stop looking at ourselves as weak, frail human beings and get a vision of the power that God has that he wants us to be using. We live with so many miracles that we cannot see them anymore. 200 years ago to get somewhere you walked,rode a horse, or rode in a horse powered conveyance. Today we cruise at 70 with A/C and Stereo, and re clining seats,and cruise control. Yet our spiritual experience has seemed to have gone just the other way. From having many powerful in prayer, to card carrying 1Christians that hardly know what Christian means. Higher than the highest human thought can reach is God's ideal for His children. He wants our minds to be clear, our tempers sweet, our love unbounding. Then the peace that passeth knowledge will flow from us to bless all with whom we come in contact. The atmosphere surrounding our souls will be refreshing. . . . {SD 348.5}4. 4. Get a vision of that God wants to do in you. We cannotchange ourselves, but God can change us. And He will if we let Him. God's ideal for His children is higher than the highest human thought can reach. . . . The plan of redemption contemplates our complete recovery from the power of Satan. Christ always separates the contrite soul from sin. He came to destroy the works of the devil, and He has made provision that the Holy Spirit shall be imparted to every repentant soul, to keep him from sinning. {FLB 44.3} 5. Get a vision of what this church, your church, can do for God. In 3 years our attendance here has more than doubled. I rejoice. Then I think, "We ought to be ashamed. Do we think that is all that God wants for us?" We exist to let God's presence work through us in this community. Do we believe that? Are we responding to the impulses of the Spirit when he nudges us to witness? Are we even aware when we are given the opportunity of service for God. 6. Finally, believe that God wants to work through us here. Not a floating fish ministry, but a fight the waterfalls and get to our des tination intentional ministry. And thank Him daily for what He is doing and what he will do. In us. In our church. In our communities. And let's remember that song that we all have sung so many times. This little light of mine. Shine all over the neighborhood... Are you willing to let God work through in your home? Hide it under a bushel Are you willing to let it shine? Won't let Satan blow it out Are you going to let the Flame of the Spirit keep you shining for the Lord? Let it shine till Jesus comes Do you realize that you have been called to shine until the Lord comes? Brother, Sister, God wants your little light. Dale, He want's yours. David, he wants yours. Charles, he wants yours. No matter how feeble or bright, little bit of His light that shines through can lighten someone's path. Are you willing to show the Spirit's light? Are you willing to publicly dedicate your light to the Lord today. Just hold your hand up like you are holding a candle.