I Love My Church! | Week Three

“I Love My Church.” Do you?

Last week, I announced that we are now translating our 9:45am service into Spanish.  Also, we are adopting the Village of Las Joyas in Guatemala and will be giving an offering in December towards a new well and school facilities.  We are taking 2 mission trips in 2016 to Mexico and Guatemala. Get more details on our website or The Hub! EXCITING! 

Life is about more than “me”. Life is about “we”.

November is when the weather begins to chill down quite a bit, but for me it’s a very emotionally warm month. I love the change of season. The family time. Hanging out with family, eating, sharing stories of the year, loving on one another, a break from work.  We are taking some time this month to think about the value of our church family. Life is about more than “me”. Life becomes much more rewarding and fulfilling when you remember that God created “we”.

Ephesians 2:19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. 20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.  22 Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

PromiseLand San Marcos is a healthy “We”. What a great place to connect with others.  Many of you have not heard the story, but this “we” started 12 years ago in 2003.

There were about 30 of us gathering on Friday nights. We knew that God was in it and that he had great plans, but I want to be real honest with you. I had no idea that it would be like this.

A first, I remember thinking, “man it would be amazing if we had our own building.” That would be so amazing!

Then I remember thinking, “we will have arrived if we get our own building and we have like 500 people gathering on a Sunday. Wow! We would have arrived.”

Little did we know all of what God would have in store for us.  When we were faithful to the message and not stuck in our ways, God produced growth!

I Love My Church Because it Will Never Change its Message but it is Not Afraid of CHANGE its Methods.

Our message is Jesus. Our message is not about rituals or statues or superstitious. Our message is that you can trust the ancient manuscript of the Bible. We stand on the Bible as the Word of life!

The Word of God is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path. memorize it and store it.

In the Bible is the mind of God. In the Bible is the state of man, the doom of sin, the way of salvation, the happiness of the believers.

The bible’s doctrine is Holy, its precepts are binding, and its history is true  You can read it and be wise, believe it and be saved, practice it and be holy.  It contains light to direct. It has food to sustain you. It can comfort you.  It can cheer you.

It’s the travelers mount. the pilgrim’s staff. the Christian’s charter

There is nothing like the Word of God! There Heaven is open, the gates of Hell closed, Jesus is the Grand subject, and the Glory of God is its end.

It shall fill the memory. It should rule the heart. It should guide the feet  You read it slowly. you read it frequently. you read it prayerfully.

It is the mind of Wealth. the river of pleasure. It is given to you here in this life. it will be open to us in judgment. it is forever settled in heaven. it involves the highest responsibility. it condemns all who trifle with it pages.

This book is supernatural in origin, eternal in duration, divine in authorship, inexhaustible in meaning, perfect in precept, universal in readership, personal in application, powerful in effect.

It is sharpen than a 2 edged sword. it cuts both ways. No blade equals it

It has survived every attack. there is no book to equal it.  It is life, a hammer, a seed, it penetrates darkness, it breaks opposition. It will melt, and consume. Its incorruptible, it uplifts, upholds, builds, sustains, orders your steps, gives hope, it shows us his will.

The Word of God: produces fruit, convicts sin, converts souls, cleanses the conscience, corrects the wrong, supports the right, conquers all foes.  Read it, heed it, desire it, and preach it, Rightly divide it, live it, suffer for it, use it  and if need be die for it.

Know it in your head, store it in your heart, show it in your life, and sew it in the world

No wonder the devil and Hell hates the Bible.

At PromiseLand San Marcos, we are always going to stand on the word of God. Believe in the Word of God, preach the Word of God. That is our Message!

The literal parts, the prophetic parts, the parables. Most of all the core message of:

John 10:7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

We will never change our stance on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. 17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

At the same time, I Love My Church Because of its willingness to change any method necessary to reach more people.

We have been called to be fishers of men and we are not afraid to change hooks and bait at any point.  Our Sunday Celebration schedule, location, music, creative elements, preaching style, use of technology, social media, advertising, outreach events, small groups, leadership team, new membership process, office hours…

All of these things change over time.

We have bought property, added a service, added another service. Started streaming online, started a weekly podcast, Built a new $2million building, added another service.

We are looking forward to the next 5 years… to 2020. We have been asking God what might be the next step for our church. What is our 2020 vision?

(2020 Vision Video)

My pastor always said, I have built churches without money, but I have never built a church without people. During this sermon series, I want to convey the rich and robust culture of PromiseLand, give you an insight on how things happen, and also inspire you to jump in at a deeper level.

Things don’t just happen. Growth, development, and progress are a direct result of a planting seed, working the farm, and then relying on God to produce supernatural growth with what we have sown in the ground, THEN we go back to work and exert a lot of labor to bring in the harvest.

The same is the case with your personal life. Your life is the result of the seeds you have  drought. However, over the term of many years, you will reap exponentially more than what you have sown.

Let’s start sowing good seed in your life. Let’s start a new cycle. A new growth track.

PromiseLand San Marcos is here to walk with you through the planting seasons of life. The difficult parts when you don’t enjoy the fruit of your labor yet. We know how it is. We have been there. In fact, some people in our church that have been in the family of God for years are in a planting season right now. Nothing to show of it right now. In fact, looking at soil with seed in it looks boring, barren and discouraging.