Grieving a loss

“breathe in the power of the spirit of God because we are a born again people born again to life that which is of the flesh is flesh fleshly things die and the reason that this church was dying is because it had become a fleshly church so what did Jesus say to the church how did he address address this issue in the church go back to Revelation 3 we talked about observing the autopsy of a Dying church”

“Decay what was true of the city of Sardis had become true of the church at Sardis let's begin to work our way through this passage today and let's start by first observing what I would call the autopsy of a Dying Church let's observe the autopsy of a Dying Church Jesus the great physician Jesus the”

“answer be and would that answer center around the fact that Jesus rose died Rose and conquered death for you and that you have made him Lord and Savior and that his blood has cleansed you from all sin if you if you can't say that today then you don't know Jesus and you don't have saving Faith are you having any particular seasons of deep Delight in the Lord is he teaching you and instructing you are you seeing his faithfulness and”

“through us and outward to the community around us so in light of that let's learn something now from the church at Sardis so we don't ever become the church at Sardis and I think he's not only writing to the church he's also relating to two kind of groups within the church a faithful group and a dying group and for the dying group he's meaning to write this in such a way that it would convict them and it would draw them and it would renew them by his spirit and so the question we got to ask”

“this is a crucial issue for us to consider and for us to understand because we are a church living today and we believe that God has given us a mission that we must be passionate and attentive to and prioritized for in our lives but we cannot Overlook the fact that the loss of churches means the loss of light and witness across Ross the landscape of America and of course we've”

“and something that is in the process of dying it can mean that which is departed it can mean that which is ultimately in the process of moving away and so here he's talking about the ebbing out of the life that that this church is in a a dying State and it's necrotic I love the way way that John MacArthur said it in such a straightforward manner he said the”

“to hear the call to wake up and that was the first thing that Jesus said to this church wake up but then he said step up what does it say there go back to Revelation Chapter 3: 2 again it says wake up and then it says and strengthen what remains and is about to die have you ever noticed how easy it is to set an alarm clock and to wake up but not get up H you hit that snooze”

“church at Sardis was like a museum where stuffed animals are exhibited in their natural habitat everything appears to be normal but nothing is alive what a description of many churches today they're in their habitat everything looks normal but they're dying they're dead there's no power of the spirit they needed Revival they needed new breath”

“today in Revelation 3 because here in this context Jesus speaks to the issue of dying churches and of a dead church and I want us to hear it and then I want us to heed the warning Revelation 3:1 and to the angel of the church in Sardis right the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the Seven Stars I know your works you have a reputation of being”

“or dying faith in light of his urgent alarm to Sardis all of us who tend toward spiritual stuper must turn from stale religious routine and embrace the Abundant Life only Jesus Christ can provide he extends a sincere invitation hear this today he extends a sincere invitation to you right now if you feel the stiffness of spiritual rigor mortise setting in take Christ's words to Heart wake up and declare your”

“would you convict us that you would draw us would you help us to lay down some things and confess our apathy confess our straying from you and would you renew To Us by your word and by your spirit a right understanding of who you are in a right mission for the world father would you help give us a faith a step of obedience in the right direction where we'll get out of the boat of our comfort and experience your”

“alive read the next phrase with me but you are dead you have a reputation of being alive Chestnut Street Church looks like a church on the outside but on the inside it is dead spiritually and so Jesus goes on to say wake up and strengthen what remains and is about to die for I have not found your Works complete in the sight of my”

“step of obedience and then all of a sudden you look behind you and those things that were there that used to be a struggle aren't there anymore because you got a bigger vision for your life and in the same way God's calling us to take a step of obedience like what is that for you as you sit here today that he would aesh speak something in your heart and in your mind to step out and experience his power as you get out of the boat of your comfort zone and take a step of obedience towards him when you hear the word stewardship this is completely kind of we sto there”

“that and so why does he say this where does this go what does this mean Tom rer in his book in 2014 wrote a book called the autopsy of a dead church he used to be the president of LifeWay and they've done all kind of Christian research and his findings were that there are some symptoms that are kind of relative and alike for most churches that started strong but did not end strong and this is what he said he said these churches that are dying they treat their past as”

“ministry of that church and what had happened to this church was that it continued to live out its tradition it continued to practice it religion it continued to walk through its patterns and Pathways but somewhere along the way this church was not living in the spirit it had been broken in the flesh flesh and as a result this church was dying you see ladies and gentlemen it is”

“million-- dooll renovation Grace the restaurant accommodates nearly 200 diners on its ground floor and balconies and still finds room for a gigantic Central circular bar and so as I approach the subject at the church at Sardis this is exactly the same thing that's going on with Sardis how on Earth could a church like this with all these people all this vibrancy all this move of God all these baptisms all this faithfulness within a couple Generations turned into a dying Church to the point”

“in relics on the streets what I see at this Men's Conference is life and at the end of Joseph preaching the third and final message we had a moment where we wanted to give guys the opportunity to respond to the gospel and guys to get right with the Lord and God to shut off their sin and before he could even pray there's about 30 men on their knees confessing their sin giving their lives to Jesus and though there's dying churches around the state of Maine God is always in the business of taking a Remnant and small few in moving in power in Dark Places and so I'm just grateful”

“downtown Portland Maine looks amazing on the outside with it stained glass windows and it's kind of edifice but now today if you walk in the inside of this church in 2009 they came to a place that it had died down so much that they turned it into a restaurant called Grace restaurant in 2009 Portland Food map quoted in saying this if Chestnut Street Church had attracted crowds like this it would still be a church transformed by a”

“preferences and comfort unhealthy churches give half-hearted attention to the conversion of the Lost in contrast living churches devote time and resources and energy to both local evangelism and worldwide missions in the message to Sardis we saw Christ revealed as the lifegiver he alone grants spiritual Vitality to those with a comos”

“reproducing and there should never be a day that if we gather and we walk away and no one walk down this aisle to receive Christ that we're content to let us remain like that we need to go and S and pray and weep and ask that God would bring life to the church by bringing New Birth into the hearts and the lives of people sendall said this and I”

“pattern number two how clear and Vivid is your assurance and your certainty of God's forgiveness and fatherly love for the sins and the things that you struggle with if you died and went to heaven today and Jesus asked you why should I let you into my heaven what would your”

“rejected for he found no chance to repent though he sought it with tears why well it wasn't that the Lord wasn't willing to forgive him it was that his heart was so callous and numb and cold though he wanted to repent he couldn't come and authentically repent before the Lord so we got to wake up number two we've got to step up he says wake up and strengthen what remains and is about to die what does that mean well it means”

“walking you don't want to get up and start walking but if you don't start walking your muscles are going to atrophy if you don't start walking your blood will neglect to to flow to those places that need healing and your flesh will begin to die this is what the Lord's saying you've got to wake up and you've got to step up maybe for some of you it means that you step out in faith again that you risk”

“churches were planted but the fact of the matter is that churches that are dying and closing are outpacing every effort to reestablish to replant and to ultimately Revitalize churches around us today of course Co brought a massive escalation to this trend to this move because many churches found themselves at a place of not being able to survive beyond the pandemic and the crisis but”

“perfect righteousness imputed to us when we by faith surrender Our Lives to him but we run that race to completion by the power of His holy spirit he says I'll never blot your name out of The Book of Life this was particularly comforting because the Jews in that day would call a curse down on the Christians the followers of Jesus and the curse that they would call out to God is that he would blot their name out of the book of life but Jesus says that”