It's Time To Act by David Bernard

I believe we have been called by God and we've been chosen for this hour we are no better than anyone else we're no better than any other denomination except we have been called by his name and I heard I've heard about the wonderful revival you had with what twenty eight people or so receiving the Holy Ghost there's a momentum there's an excitement God is demonstrating what he wants to do God is showing that he's doing his part but it's up to us to do our part and so I want to turn to the text as I was reading some time ago this passage just leapt out at me and of course you know I don't I haven't read the Bible every year for my whole life but for a number of years I've tried to read the Bible through every year and I like to use different translations so over the years I worked through a number of different translations and each time it brings a little new insight and even if you've read the Bible many times the Word of God can speak to you afresh and so as I was reading in first chronicles some time earlier this year this particular passage just leapt out at me it's talking about the building of the temple the King David wanted to build a temple for God while when the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness and when they entered the promised land and through the time of the judges and time of their first King Saul they simply had a tent as their place of worship they had the tabernacle where the priest would go and offer the sacrifices the people would be outside and the priests would offer the sacrifice and then would enter into this tent and so David wanted to establish a permanent place for the presence of God to dwell and a focal point for the whole nation as the center of worship and he began to make the plans he gathered the materia but God stopped him and said wait a minute I don't want you to build the temple you you've been a man of war you shed much blood I want a leader to come after you who's a man of peace and he will be the right person it will be your son Solomon so at the close of David's reign he realized that he did not have much longer to live and that his son would succeed him and it's on David's mind he said the most important thing is you've got to complete the work that God has called us to do you've got to build a temple and it's interesting to me that this temple would set the standard of worship for about 400 years until the fall of the city of Jerusalem so what was what David was admonishing his son Solomon was something that wasn't just for their day it wasn't just for their lifetime but it was all the way for the next 400 years until the Lord came in judgment upon the wicked nation and in first chronicles chapter 28 if you just look at the surrounding passage of Scripture if you go back to verse 5 6 & 7 David said God has called you for this purpose God has chosen you for this purpose it's not an accident that you're born and you're living at this time but God has a purpose in your life as I relate this story I think God is a God of principle and God is a God of character he operates in the same way with his people today as he did in ancient times so we can see that God has a plan and a purpose for us just as much as he did for ancient Israel and it's up to us to find our place in the will of God and I believe it's fair to say that God has chosen this church for a reason and we can see already in the conversation the discussions we've had the last few minutes how God has enabled us to start a number of daughter works and even new preaching points under brother Shaw there have been several new works established and then several ministers have gone out of our church to become pastor of exist teamworks we probably have about 20 or so such churches in this area that are direct result of the ministry of new life and so right here we have a constituency of you know I don't know how many people would call this their church home but on Easter Sunday a thousand people will show up we have probably that many people that will say this is my home Church if they have a need of prayer this is where they come and and all those daughter works and former daughter works and other churches that I've just mentioned there's probably at least another thousand people so we can see God's hand over the years in using this church as a lighthouse to reach many souls in Austin and Central Texas so we can say without being braggadocious but just honestly we can say God has called us to do a work in Austin God has called us to win souls God has called us to establish churches we're not just here to get a blessing every Sunday we're here to do the will of God we're here to be an example we're here to be a witness I read an article recently that said only 10 percent of the population of Austin is considered evangelical Christian that's far different from the rest of Texas in places like Houston and Dallas you will have mega churches of 10,000 or 20,000 because it's the Bible Belt people move to town they're already Baptists or nondenominational they're looking for a church they they find something with a good reputation and good programs a well-known speaker and so churches can just grow well our goal is not just to grow by and also these megachurches studies show that 90% of their growth is transfer growth that means people are already in churches that consider themselves Christian but they're just transferring to a bigger church because it's more exciting got better programs well that's not what we're trying to do we're not trying to give people a salary we're not trying to build a church for our name there's no point in building a churches to transfer people from other churches we want to win souls and so praise God that's our mission we're called for that purpose and so in places like Dallas and Houston it's nothing really to have a church of 10,000 people I'm sure they're doing a great job I'm not saying it's trivial but you have Baptist churches non-denominational churches charismatic churches that will be 5 and 10 and maybe even a few approached 20,000 because there's a Bible base but if you think about it here in Austin on a Sunday morning if you have 2,000 people that's a mega church in Austin that's probably about as large as it gets I'm sure some would would claim more than that but as far as people to actually show up I believe that's probably a huge Church and if you look at it New Life Church even though we're we are you know we weren't we're not a historic congregation it so started in 1992 and we went through a huge transition of moving to this new building changing pastors things that would have stunted the growth of a church for many years but yet we've been able to move on and and keep moving forward and seeing great revival and seeing God bless and we are influencing thousands of people and so what I'm saying is we are fulfilling a mission but it's not just a generic church it's an apostolic church a spirit-filled Church a church that preaches the importance of the name of Jesus Christ the Almighty God revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ the importance of baptism in Jesus name the importance of laying hands on the sick in the name of Jesus casting out demons in the name of Jesus we're a beacon for the name of Jesus we're church that preaches worship that preaches prayer that preaches holiness these are things that we're bearing witness we're not the only Church in town doing this but God has indeed raised us up to proclaim this message in Austin Texas and around the world we're called we're chosen and I believe any church and any child of God should have a calling and a purpose a ministry a place of service and a if I what that is and so as a church we're trying to identify who we are in what God has called us to do what God has called us to be and so you fill in the blanks pastor Saul can fill in the blanks of what God wants us to do in 2016 and 2017 you can fill in the blanks of what God wants your family to do and what God wants you personally do I'm not here to come tell you what to do I'm here just to share with a word from the Lord and so he after David reminds his son you're called you're chosen you're here for a reason then he begins to admonish him in verse 8 9 and 10 in the sight of all of Israel he says verse 9 Solomon my son know thou the God of thy father serve him with a perfect heart and with a perfect and with a willing mind for the Lord searches all hearts understands all the imaginations of thoughts if thou seek him he will be found of thee but if thou forsake him he will cast the off forever take heed now for the LORD hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary be strong and do it and so he says the first thing when God has put his hand upon your life it's not just to do things the first thing is relationship the first thing God wants you to serve him with a perfect heart what does that word perfect mean does it mean you never make a mistake there's never any flaws you never sinned know what a perfect heart means a complete heart completely dedicated totally committed to the Lord if you do sin you repent if you do see that there some flaws you work on those and ask God to help you to bear the fruit of the Spirit and grow in the spirit but the point is you've got to make a commitment to follow the Lord with all of your heart amen you've got to surrender to him and there's a wonderful promise if you seek Him you will find him actually God has been seeking for us far before we ever sought him but he waits for us to respond and so we have the promise that if we seek Him we will find him because that's the whole point that's the purpose that's why Christ died for us so that we could find him we can have a relationship with God we can serve Him with all of our heart we can be completely dedicated to his will and so relationship must come first but then after that he says you've got to take heed and you've got to take action the new American Standard Bible says consider now for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary be courageous and act the New Living Translation says so take this seriously the Lord has chosen you to build a temple as his sanctuary be strong and do the work so take it seriously why are you here you're here because God brought you here whether you weren't really serving God and you came to this church you've repented of your sins you put your faith in Jesus or whether you have already had already started serving the Lord but you'd never receive the Holy Ghost and you came here and God filled you with the spirit or whether you were from another area and you moved here and you chose this as your church you could have chosen lots of other churches in fact I used to have conversations and some of you no doubt had that conversation with me and I would say if you've moved here to town I can't tell you the will of God for you if you're not serving the Lord it's God's will to come to this church but since you're already serving the Lord I can't tell you where to go to church you need to seek God you need to hear from God because this church has a unique mission and a unique character and if it's not a fit for you then we wouldn't want it wouldn't be good for you to come here you need to hear from God so that if you decide to come here it's not just because somebody told you had to somebody Kurt coerced you are persuaded you against your better judgment but you sought God for yourself and God led you here he said it was his will and so I'm presuming everybody here tonight you're here because God led you here because God orchestrated your life so that you would be here and so we need to ask ourselves individually and collectively what is God's purpose and once we see that then we need to act of course we have an individual purpose within the congregation but we also have a purpose as a congregation and we should ask ourselves when the pastor cast vision when the pastor announces direction when we do this and when we do that will we support missions and daughter works and so what is my role in bringing it to pass what is my job and seeing this church to be strong what is my role every one of us should have a ministry that doesn't mean a preaching ministry but a place of service in the body of Christ I'm glad if you're coming to church that's wonderful I'm glad when you worship that's wonderful I'm glad when you give that's wonderful but what is your role in the body it's not just showing up but you are to be a prayer warrior you are to be a soul winner you are to be a worshiper of course everyone is supposed to be that but God calls certain people in certain areas who can do more than others so what has God specially chosen you to do in this assembly what is your role what is your purpose it might be an office or a job or position or the choir or Sunday School or something like that but it might be not a defined position but someone who is very faithful in coming early to church to pray for the service or someone who is very faithful in teaching Bible studies and bringing people to church we all do it and should to an extent but God needs some people that they specialize in certain things that God can count on them and the pastor can count on them that they will fulfill the role so I'm challenging us tonight what is our purpose what are we supposed to do the Lord says take it seriously be strong and do the work now when God says be strong that's a positive command but think about it there's an implication that you're gonna have a struggle that you're gonna have a battle that you're gonna face a trial because if you never have a struggle you wouldn't have to be strong right so in a very nice way God is saying prepare yourself for some hard work prepare yourself for the attack of the devil prepare yourself for some opposition be strong be courageous and do the work praise God so when you make your be mind okay I'm gonna step out by faith I'm gonna commit some extra time I'm gonna commit some extra money I'm gonna start praying more faithfully I'm gonna reach out and try to win a soul bring someone to church teach a Bible study and then a trial comes and you say wait a minute I'm just trying to do God's will I'm just doing this because I felt that's what God said you know brother Bernard preach and so I went home and I got all excited and I decided to do this oh I shouldn't face the trial that's not fear God's supposed to make it easy for me now that I'm finally doing his will why should it be hard all of a sudden but remember he said be strong he knew you had faced a struggle he knew you had faced a trial but he says don't give up if you'll keep on keeping on you will win the victory it's time to be strong it's time to be courageous it's time to act it's time to do what God has called us to do now we're supposed to act strategically not just haphazardly we're supposed to have a plan if you read the whole chapter of 28 that David had a lot of detailed plans for how the temple would be built in fact verse 19 it says all the details the NASB he had he had the whole plans even to the details and he said he's heard from God and then if you reach after 29 he made all the financial and material preparation that is he got together the gold the silver the various types of materials that will be used and the finances that would be used to acquire more things and to do the labor and so I'm not saying we just each act just on our own just randomly on the spur of the moment as we think from moment to moment no there's a coordinated effort there's a plan that's why we have a church that's why we have a structure that's why I have a leadership team a church board a pastoral team because all of it requires some type of planning and structure so we're not minimizing that or ignoring that but we're saying all the structure in the world does not give you victory some at the end of the day plans are good structure is good but at the end of the day somebody's got act somebody's got a parade somebody's got a preach somebody's got to teach a Bible study somebody's got a witness somebody has got to reach a soul somebody's got to serve someone else somebody's got to act and then if you notice in chapter 29 there was also spiritual preparation more than just the physical and financial preparation but if you read that King David began to pray in chapter 29 verse 10 he blessed the Lord and then in chapter 29 10 and 11 thine O Lord is the greatness the power the glory the victory the majesty for all it is in heaven and the earth is dine dine is the kingdom Oh Lord and thou art exalted his head above all that reminds us of what we say at the end of the Lord's Prayer it comes from here and the verse 12 both riches and honor come from the DAO rainiest overall in dine Hannah's power and might in thine hand it is make great to give strengthen to all now therefore our God we thank thee and praise thy glorious name notice a big part of that preparation was worship and that's why I'm glad about the worship we had a few minutes ago because we cannot do God's will just mechanically it's got to be in a spirit of worship it's got to be in a spirit of praise giving glory to the name of the Lord exalting his name praise God verse 14 but Who am I what is my people that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort for all things come a V and a vine own have we given thee for we are strangers before these sojourners as we're all our fathers our days on earth as a shadow there is none abiding O Lord our God all this store that we have prepared to build the in-house for that Holy Name cometh of thine hand it is all thine own and so there's no room for arrogance when I say we're called we're chosen I don't mean for us to be arrogant and think we're better than anybody else that our church is better than any other Church and so forth and so on that's not the point because what we have comes from God if we're able to have a great revival it's not because we're better than anybody else it because God is moving in our midst it's because we're seeking after God and worshiping him and he is doing the work so we can recognize that extraordinary things are happening at new life that God is enabling us to do amazing things because it's really by God's grace we're just the vessels we're just the tools we're just allowing ourselves to be used we don't know glory should go to us we simply want to do the job that God has asked us to do so that one day he'll say well done good and faithful servant so when it comes to exalting the name it should be the name of Jesus when it comes to glory it should all glory should go to the Lord when it comes to worship it goes to all God alone all we want to be as faithful servants and we do want him to say well done good and faithful servant praise the Lord praise the Lord and so if you continue reading you will see in the in the press Pyrrha chiral preparation there was a prayer there were sacrifice there was worship I say sacrifice because they gave of themselves he he mentions this here that we've prepared all these things and and not only just the offerings but there was a physical sacrifice because in verse 20 after all the congregation bowed their heads and worship and then in verse 21 they sacrifice sacrifices and the Lord offered burnt offerings and then verse 22 they had a feast they ate and drank before the Lord with great gladness so notice the spiritual preparation after the prayer after the worship there was sacrifice made and there was fellowship it's not just an individual thing but they had fellowship one with another they sat down and they ate and they drank together they encouraged one another they rejoiced together we need to pray individually and privately but we also need to pray collectively we should have a relationship with God every day so sometimes you're praying in your home all by yourself sometimes you're singing worship to God all by yourself maybe you're going to or from work and you sing or you listen to music and you're worshipping all by yourself we need to have that kind of relationship but that's not enough we also need to come together with brothers and sisters and we need to worship the Lord together we need to pray together we need to sing together yes we need to have fellowship and have food sometimes together it's very biblical for us to have jalapeno sauce and together not only by ourselves but together the Apostles didn't know about that they didn't have that opportunity we have greater blessings than they do praise God but if you look at Acts chapter 2 the early church you'll find the same pattern a prayer of worship of unity of sacrificial giving the only thing I see different when I read the end of Acts 2 it talks about how the early church operates all the same except in the case of the New Testament church there were miracles signs and wonders and while God did miracles on occasion in the Old Testament the average people the body of believers were not able to enter into the fullness of the Spirit but we as the New Testament church we received the gift of the Holy Ghost God's Spirit to dwell in US which Old Testament believers did not have and every time we come together the presence the Lord is in our myths in the Old Testament they depended on the priests to represent them to God and occasionally there would be a prophet who would hear from God he would be anointed by the Spirit the king the priest the prophet they had a special relationship with God but the average person really had to depend on those intermediaries too to help them follow the will of God but today every single one of us has the opportunity to enter into God's presence every one of us has the opportunity to be filled with God's Spirit every one of us can see miracles take place in our church and in our families we can see people healed and we ourselves can receive God's healing we can see the gifts of the Spirit and operation from tongues to prophesy to discerning of spirits to healings and miracles God is doing these things and our myths praise God so we have the same spiritual preparation but we have greater benefits and privileges so I'm just trying to show us that there is a unique opportunity at new life and I think every year brings its own opportunity its own challenge but we're not just here static just to coast from here on we've got a beautiful building but we've got room to fill and on Sunday morning I think probably who are running out of classroom space but we have some empty classrooms that we could finish out and no doubt we've got room for a chapel that could be finished it would be a great blessing for many things we've got room for a gym to be finished it would be a great blessing for many things and we knew it would be a phase over the years you want to get everything under roof we wanted to get all the codes taken care of so we didn't want the City of Austin to come back and say you know what you're planning to build another building here but we're not gonna let you do that so we wanted to build the whole thing up front so they couldn't do that so that's why we have a big building with extra space so that we know our future is secure for many years but I believe it's the will of God and of course I'm not here to tell you when or how or all that that's why you have a pastor and that's why you have a church board that's why you have a leadership team but it just seems in my heart and of course pastor Shaw and I've been talking over over the past few years that we know it's God's will to keep finishing out the building we know it's God's will to grow we just have to make sure it's the right time and the right resources the right plan and so we might be in this situation like King David but sooner or later we're gonna be like King Solomon so when you hear the pastor say it's time to act did you know it's time to act when the church board votes and says it's time to move forward then it's time to move forward when the leadership team says here's what we've come up with well it's time to move forward so I'm rallying the troops I don't know what you're supposed to do next week or next month or next year that's not for me to say I'm part of you I want to see what's going on I want to be part of it but I'm just saying like the old spiritual says when the Lord gets ready you got to move when God says go you go if the Lord says stay you stay but if the Lord says go you go and I'm telling new Life Church I feel in my spirit it's time to act we've been preparing for a long time we made a pastor transition we moved into a new building we've been securing our finances now we're having great spiritual revival with many new souls being baptized in Jesus name and feel what the Holy Ghost I feel a stirring in the air I feel the Lord saying we're going to the next level we've spent several years consolidating our gains and making our transitions all that was in the will of God but that's not the end of the will of God something is stirring in the atmosphere something is stirring in the spirit and God is telling he who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the church God is saying new life it's time to start moving it's time to start acting it's time to get up and do something can I count on you the Lord says can I count on you the pastor says can I count on you it's time to act let's stand together right now hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah now action requires a little risk but it's a calculated risk the way we handle risk is by faith not an unreasonable risk not jumping off the cliff because that's where planning comes in but with all the planning I've learned you have to have a plan if you don't have a plan you'll have a disaster but if you do have a plan it's still not gonna work the way you think you're gonna still need the Lord to intervene and so there's a little risk but it's a calculated risk it's not blind faith its eyes wide open faith yeah I'm not gonna jump off the cliff but if the Lord says jump off of this I'm not gonna close my eyes and back into it I'm gonna look and then I'm gonna jump and a 59 year old almost six year old man there's a little risk there but I did it by faith so action requires faith not a blind faith but a bold and strong faith that says I can do more than I think I can do I can do more than I used to do I can do what God calls me to do and I just have a feeling that new life is stirring and you can do more than you think you could do you can do more than you've ever done before I was a pastor for the first 18 years but my legacy is not secured by hoping the best days were the first 18 years by hoping the greatest revivals are the first 18 years know my my goal is to say look new life can do more than it ever did in those first 18 years you can have a greater revival than you ever had when I was pastoring that's what I regard is the will of God something is stirring in the atmosphere something is stirring a new life God has been confirming the past few weeks of service our confirmation it's time to act it's tied to move forward in the will of God hallelujah hallelujah I believe the last few services are just a confirmation of God saying you can do more than you thought you could do you can have a greater revival than you thought you could have don't live in the past don't idolize the past but what is God telling you now it's time to act would you close your eyes with me now if there's anybody here tonight although this has not been a service trying to push for repentance it is pushing for commitment if there's someone here tonight you're not fully committed to the Lord Jesus Christ well obviously that comes first remember I said relationship comes before any other action so if you need to invite the Lord into your life would you come and kneel here at the front or stand here at the front if you need to repent of your sins please come if you need to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost speaking in tongues why don't you come right now don't don't delay as you are in prayer if you feel led to invite someone just go ahead and do that right now invite someone to come pray with you do that right now but while I'm making this appeal I'm appealing to some people I'm not asking for your pledge I'm not asking you to do certain amount of physical labor I'm not gonna ask you to commit to be to a certain position none of that's my role you have a pastor that helps you with that but I'm asking for somebody to be available I'm not saying the whole church has to come I'm not saying you're backslidden if you don't but if you feel like God has been personally telling you it's time for a change I want you to come if this is a confirmation to you of something God's been dealing with you about I want you to say yes to the Lord I want you to come if you feel like the Lord has been stirring your spirit about moving forward and upward I want you to come if you feel like maybe you know what you're supposed to do come maybe you don't know what it is but you just feel there's a stirring and you feel like God is challenging you and you're eager to find out what he wants I want you to come to would you come if the Lord is speaking to you I want you to come now if you don't come that's okay but maybe you'd like to pray on behalf of those who are coming pray on behalf of the church or maybe you just like to come behind them and find someone to pray with across the building I finished early so we've got plenty of time to pray across the building let's pray I'm challenging new life it's time to act you

Channel: Called, Chosen and Faithful

Views: 1,683

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Jesus Christ (Deity), Holy Spirit (Deity), God (Deity), Holy Ghost (Deity), Christianity (Religion), Oneness Pentecostalism (Religion), Pentecostalism (Religion), Apostolic (Religion), Religion (Literary Genre), The Bible (Religious Text), New Testament (Religious Text), Old Testament (Religious Text), salvation (belief), prayer (quotation subject), united pentecostal church international (relion), Monotheism (Belief), Monotheism (Religion)

Id: iRqkckNwzEU

Length: 34min 56sec (2096 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 11 2016