What direction is Lakeside heading?
We'll continue our Genesis series next week. This morning I want to talk about Lakeside. This past week, I saw this verse in Amos 3:3 (NIV) where God asks, "Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?" If this is important for two people, how much more important must it be for a whole church?
On a given Sunday, Lakeside averages between 300 - 350 people strong. That is just our attendance. We easily minister to two or three times that many people over the course of a year. But suppose we were heading in 350 different directions?
In Luke 11:17 (NIV) Jesus warns that, "...a house divided against itself will fall." We are at a critical juncture as a church. You may be surprised to learn that only 5 percent of churches are able to grow beyond the size of Lakeside. It's so important that we agree on the direction Lakeside is headed.
But who sets the direction? You may be surprised to hear that Lakeside isn't a democracy. In a democracy, everyone has an equal say on the direction of the church. The church isn't a democracy. It's a theocracy. Jesus Christ himself sets the direction. He is the head of his body, the Church. The job of our elders then, is to pray, listen to God's word, and discern his will for our Church. So long as we keep our eyes on Jesus and keep following him, Lakeside will keep growing!
God's will is for us to lift up the name of Jesus.
God's will for Lakeside is simple, but not easy. In John 12:32 (NIV) Jesus promises, "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." It doesn't get any more simple than that! Our job is to simply lift up the name of Jesus, and he will draw all men to himself. I saw a report lately describing how denominational churches are dying at a record pace. Seventy churches a week close their doors. That's 3500 churches a year! There aren't any mosques in the United States closing their doors! Mosques are popping up everywhere. What is going on? It's simple! Churches have stopped lifting up Jesus.
Instead, you have churches preaching recycling, world hunger, poverty, racial reconciliation, financial peace, right to life, habitat for humanity, and Darfur. We all agree that these are good causes! But the cause above all causes is lifting the name of Jesus. Apart from Jesus, none of these other things matter. Jesus is the cure! He is the resurrection and the life. He is our salvation, our hope of redemption. Lifting up Jesus can never take a back seat to any other purpose. Do we agree that lifting up Jesus is something that must never change about Lakeside?
God's will is for us walk by faith, not by sight.
Lifting up the name of Jesus-- simple. Now here comes the hard part. As we lift up the name of Jesus, God starts drawing people to himself. This is both exciting and daunting. As Jesus draws all men unto himself, there are a lot of things we have to figure out. No church is ever exempt from having to resolve a whole host of practical matters. We see this in Jesus' ministry. Jesus would preach, and 5000 people would show up, and Jesus would look at his disciples and say, "Feed them." The disciples would freak out. "How can we feed so many people? Send them away!"
My first sermons were to a church of 10 people, on a good Sunday. It was a breeze to pastor 10 people. But then I began preaching in a church of 30 - 40 people. And that church grew to 50, then 60, then 80, and then 120. And then I began preaching at Lakeside with 140 people, and we grew to 200, then 220, then 300, and now 350. Lifting up the name of Jesus is easy, but feeding the crowd takes tremendous faith. To keep growing, we have to trust God far beyond anything comfortable, or even reasonable.
With the increase God provides, come practical challenges that must be met with faith. How do we care for people? How do we follow up on guests? What should we build? How much building is enough? How do we raise funds? How do we budget wisely? How much debt is appropriate?
One of the Bible passages we talked about in a recent elder's meeting was about Jesus' birth. We talked about how Jesus was born into poverty, and how it wasn't until two years after Jesus was born that the magi showed up with gold. For two years Mary and Joseph struggled in faith, wondering how God would provide for their needs. Two years! And God provided for them in a way that they could have never imagined!
Dying churches don't have to worry about building projects, stewardship campaigns, walking by faith, or trusting God. If you are interested in that kind of church, there are hundreds of dying churches in Sangamon County. Do we agree that so long as we keep lifting up the name of Jesus, we'll always have to walk by faith? Do we agree that so long as Jesus keeps drawing people unto himself, we'll always have to walk by faith and trust God to provide?
God's will is for Lakeside to be a large church.
If you look into our community, you will notice several churches much larger than Lakeside. I mentioned earlier that size wise, Lakeside is moving into the top 5 percent of the largest congregations in United States. Think about that for a moment.
Over the past few weeks, we've been enjoying March madness. Well, at least until Duke lost! But other than that, it's been a great tournament! But one thing you'll notice in these tournaments is that size matters. A player's height matters, his strength and speed matters, and his vertical leap matters. Be assured of this-- Satan doesn't want our church to have size! He wants to divide us and splinter us so that he can conquer us. With size comes greater opportunity, but with size comes greater danger.
As we grow, one of the greatest dangers will be division. This is why in John 17:21 Jesus prays that all of us would be one. Satan wants to distracts us, and divide us, and send us off on politically correct detours. The very last thing Satan wants is us dunking the name of Jesus in his face and shattering the gates of hell to the applause of God's angels.
Lakeside is becoming a large church. It's because we are lifting up the name of Jesus. It's because our leaders are willing to walk by faith. It's because God is fulfilling his promise to draw all men to himself. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus promises that he will build his church. Growth is good. Our growth is from God. Growth is inevitable, and with growth comes change.
In the next few years, you are going to see exciting things unfolding at Lakeside. We will be building buildings, encouraging faithful stewardship, and hiring more staff and personnel. We will be adapting the way we organize ministry teams, do pastoral care, do outreach, communicate, and administrate church matters. The temptation will be to let Satan divide us. The temptation will be to armchair quarterback the elders, even after they have labored so hard in prayer to discern God's will for our church. As we become a large church, do we agree that we must remain united and not let Satan divide our church?
At the end of this service, we want to put two pieces of literature into your hands. The first is our annual report. We're not going to read it to you. You can read it at home. This report captures the momentum that God is giving our church as we grow. You can read the testimonies. You can celebrate the good. I hope when you read it, you will offer a prayer of thanks for this church and all you have done to lift up the name of Jesus through your sacrifice, your service, and your generosity.
The second thing you will receive is a copy of our master site plan. The goal this morning is to get this plan into your hands. Next Sunday night, at 6:00 pm, we'll gather as a church to pray over this plan and allow the elders and Building Advisory Team to answer your questions. You will hear more on this later.
One thing I hope you will notice is how this plan reflects our utter confidence that Christ will build his church. We have confidence that Jesus will keep drawing all men unto himself. You should know that our elders have in mind to become a very large church. But you should know that they also have the mind of Christ. Jesus wants Lakeside to flourish, to grow, and to multiply!
As we build, our goal is to build big! We serve a big God. We have every confidence that God is going to show up in a big way when we step out in faith. We don't need to be afraid of anything in these plans. I have consulted with countless pastors. Our elders have consulted with other churches. Our building plans are very modest compared to what other churches our size are doing. But we believe these plans represent God's will for us at this present time. Do we all agree to commit these plans to God in prayer before we gather next Sunday night? Please be in prayer for our elders, and for our Building Advisory Team, and for the work they are doing. They are good men, they are godly men, and they have my total confidence.
God's will is for Lakeside to be an intentional church.
As we become a large church, we want to be healthy. There are a lot of very large, unhealthy churches. If our church had one mission statement, it would simply be to lift up the name of Jesus. Nothing is more important. But beyond this, Lakeside has four purposes.
Our first purpose is to believe just like Jesus.
Our passionate pursuit is the full embrace of Christ's beliefs concerning his own divinity, his humanity, and his unique relationship to the Father and the Holy Spirit. We want to embrace Christ's views of scripture, the Church, creation, the resurrection, Satan and his demons, our sinful nature, righteousness, faith, repentance, confession, baptism, obedience, the coming judgment, the afterlife, and even Christ's return. It is our deep embrace of Christ's life-giving words, infallibly recorded in scripture, that ultimately matters for life and salvation. It is enough that the Bible says for us to be Christian only, and for us to have no creed but Jesus Christ himself. The purpose of Lakeside is the exaltation of Jesus Christ in every area of our lives. We are also committed to the education of people everywhere about his words and works, which are sufficient for the salvation of all who believe. Do we agree to believe just like Jesus believed?
Our second purpose is to become totally like Jesus.
Our passionate pursuit is to be imitators of God. We want to be holy. This is the only kind of excellence that matters to God. Not whether we sing a wrong note, miss a typo, stutter when we preach, or spill coffee on the carpet. God wants us to be excellent inwardly and outwardly. He wants us to be holy. But we don't attain holiness by our own effort. We attain it by seeking the empowerment of God's Holy Spirit. We attain holiness by submitting our will to the lordship of Jesus Christ, by letting God's Holy Spirit crush our spirit of rebellion and awaken our faith through prayer, Bible study, fasting, worship, and surrender. This is what Lakeside is about! Do we agree to become totally like Jesus?
Our third purpose is to belong to Jesus' family.
Christ wants us to draw encouragement from being together. The only way we truly grow as Christians is in proximity to one another. We grow through worship, through weekend groups, through community groups, as well as by being together as families around the dinner table, by praying together as husband and wife, and by serving together. Part of belonging to Jesus' family is being equipped for ministry. I hope your greatest desire is not to be served, but to serve, and to give of your time, talents, and resources. I hope you have an owner mentality at Lakeside when it comes to serving. Owners own things, and they don't abdicate their responsibilities. Do we agree to belong to Jesus' family?
Our fourth purpose is to be sent on a mission.
I hope you didn't misunderstand me earlier. We should be all over the world expressing God's love to people. Lakeside is a church that doesn't pass people by. We do our very best to love people. Our ministries are not inwardly focused. We love Springfield. We love Illinois. We love people to the ends of the earth. But here is something else we do. We evangelize. We lift up the name of Jesus as we express Christ's love, so the world will know Jesus. Do we agree to be sent on this mission?
In Amos 3:3 (NIV) God asks, "Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?" We agree to lift up the name of Jesus. We agree to walk by faith. We agree to become a large church. We agree to be intentional, believing as Jesus believed, becoming like Jesus, belonging to Jesus, and being sent on Jesus' mission.