Sermon Series Begins

We started our new sermon series entitled "The Importance of Supporting the Local Church". In the opening sermon I tried to argue that the church needs the support of its members to be effectively successful. Here is the sermon outline:

Topic: The Importance of Supporting the Local Church
Text: Various Scriptures

The book Nehemiah tells of Nehemiah’s desire to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. News was delivered to him by his brother and fellow countrymen that the place they called home was destroyed, demolished, gone, trashed, no more. Nehemiah starts to weep and pray to God on the behalf of Israel.

He continues on with his daily duties as a cupbearer for king Artaxeras. The king notices that Nehemiah is not the same Nehemiah on this particular day so he asks Nehemiah what’s wrong with you. Nehemiah proceeds to tell him of his desire to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the city and ask the king for his permission and blessing. The king consents and Nehemiah is on his way to rebuild the city of Jerusalem.

Nehemiah organizes work on the wall, assigning sections to families, neighborhoods, and even guilds of tradesmen. But in verse 5 of chapter 3 something interesting is mentioned in the chapter. The text says; “Next to them the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord”.

This verse makes an interesting claim that there will be people in the church who will not support the church no matter how worth while the efforts of church may be.

The answers to the question as to why people will not support the church are too many to list. However, one thing can be said here is that the church suffers because of a lack of support from it’s members. People don’t support the church like they used to. That is not to say that the church has always had 100% support from the membership. But it is to say that support for the local church growing to almost non-existent.

Pastors, leaders, and workers have to come up with administrative strategies to get people to support the church. Some pastors settle for what they can get creating ministerial frustration and stress that ultimately causes that pastor to suffer burn-out to the point of quitting the ministry.

There are some members in the church who will not support the church simply because of personal prejudices, traditions, rituals, habits, and comfort. Some members are waiting for the church to fail because the leader(s) did not do it the way they thought it should be done.

And if the church fails, a building project fails, a ministry program fails, and/or membership drops off it’s never the members fault. It’s the leaders (specifically, the pastor).
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I’m convinced that this topic is one requiring immediate attention in our church as well as churches across this land and here’s why:

I believe the success of the local church is dependant on how much you invest into the local church. I believe the effectiveness of the local church is dependant on how much you support it.

Thesis Statement: The successful effectiveness of the local church is dependant on you, membership support.

Matthew 6:19-21

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth not rust destroys and where thieves cannot break in and steal. For where treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Here’s the point I want to make here with this verse, if God doesn’t have your heart the church will not have your support.

So, how do we get people to become active supporters of the church? My answer, base your support on biblical principles not personal prejudices.

Here are three (3) Biblical Reasons the Local church is in need of you support:

1. The Mission of the Local Church - Matthew 28:18-20
Point: Supporting the local church is committing to fulfilling the Great Commission

2. The Message of the Local Church - John 5:39-40; Ephesians 4:4-6; Jude 3
Point: Supporting the local church helps carry the gospel message across the world

3. The Ministry of the Local Church - 2 Timothy 1:13-14; 2 Timothy 2:15; Matthew 7:24-29
Point: Supporting the local church enables the church to build a firm biblical foundation of sound doctrine.
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There is a fourth point I wanted to make in the opening sermon but thought it deserves a lesson by itself to stress it's importance. So, this coming Sunday, in part 2 of this message, we will study the biblical principle of The Membership of the Local Church. I've most the research but need more and then formulate my thoughts to drive the point home.

I pray this sermon series increases FGMBC's membership to greater support of the church's efforts. Please keep us in your prayers.