Birthday Celebration

Jay was talking about the Pennsylvania Family Institute. It's amazing what God has done in 20 short years, and I wanted to mention just a few of the ways that being planted in this local church, as Jay talked about in those comments, had an impact on our lives. Jay married us. We have—we prayed at our wedding that we'd have a full quiver. We have five. I don't know if six feet is—that's a quiver. And my kids are here, but they probably don't want to be recognized. When Susan was nine months pregnant with Christopher, our oldest, the church had a shower, a baby shower for her and for us, a couple of men and women were at the shower, and Susan fell down a flight of stairs at Scott McCabe's house and had a concussion, taken away by ambulance. And the church prayed, and she was just commenting to somebody here this morning that she, in the hospital room, felt the prayers of people in this church, and how this church has moved in fulfilling dreams in our lives. Susan had a dream to be more involved and see God work in the pro-life movement here in the Pittsburgh area. She went to the elders of this church and professed her dream, told their dream to them, told her dream to them, and they sent her to a conference in Florida. She came back, and with the help of a number of couples here at North Way and some other churches—the Dawsons and others—founded the North Pittsburgh Crisis Pregnancy Center, which is the first crisis pregnancy center in the Pittsburgh area, flourishing ministry. Around that same time, I was suddenly stricken with a very severe case of rheumatoid arthritis. It was very severe. I was out of work for more than four months, was at the point where I wondered if I'd ever be able to pick up my own children. The pain was so severe, and the disease was progressing so rapidly. And I was a member of the worship team at that time. I wish I still was, and I'd love to play with them. And it was a praying home group. The worship team had a home group, and they committed to pray for me and pray and fast over a two-week period as I was to enter the hospital and start some radical chemotherapy treatments and injections. They prayed and fasted that God would heal me, and as I was lying in the hospital bed, I felt a warmth go through my body. The doctor came in the next morning to examine me, and he said, You have recovered so much, I see no reason to go through with this treatment. And I've had a full recovery from rheumatoid arthritis by the prayer of the saints and by God's grace. And the other thing, and I tell this story everywhere I go, I have people come to me and say, How did you get to do what you do? Or you seem to be doing what God's called you to do. And I can tell you, as Jay said up there, it's through relationship. I was in a relationship in Bible study with Jay and others in my home group and a Bible study here at the church, and I felt God speak to me that He wanted me to get involved in public policy and politics. I don't know if He had it out for me or what it was, but I shared that with the Bible study, and they committed to pray, and God moved, and in short order, I was off getting a master's degree in public policy, and shortly after that, again through a grapevine that started with Pastor Jay, knowing some other folks who knew what was going on in the state, we founded Pennsylvania Family Institute. We now have more than 30,000 members across the state having significant impact on public policy. And it all started with a dream here in this congregation, and it's amazing what God is going to do here in the future. Thank you. Thanks for coming. I really appreciate it. Love you guys. Thank you so much. Thanks for bringing your kids. Thanks, kids, for putting up with that for three days. You know, I've always had a dream in my heart to be a place where students and kids love to come and discover their life's destiny, and I hooked up at least 12 years ago now. I've been told it's longer than that with two guys, two little guys who are kind of wandering by, needed some help with their workout routine, and so Keith Kraft and Ted Tomaszewski came by. I gave them some help. Come on up, guys. Let's welcome them as they come to share. And really, we shared the passion to win kids for Christ, and our first time together when Strike Force came here to North, we were in the old building, and we told some stories the other day how they almost, you know, destroyed the entire place in order to accelerate church expansion. But we, in that first effort at bringing kids into the ministry, 700 kids in that experience gave their lives to Christ. And we've since had Strike Force back, and they're going to have them again sometime in the future. Ted? We've got a few more good years left, so we better do it while we can do it, you know? I mean, all these years later, Ted, wait just a minute, Ted has become our youth pastor or our teen pastor or our pastor of teens at our church celebration, Covenant Church in Frisco, Texas, which is in North Dallas now. So, when all of you get transferred to where God is moving, this couple right behind us, they've only been here for a year, Ted, they're back there, hallelujah, amen, glory to God. I said, they need to be down where we are. I mean, break out in a little dance or something, I'll tell you what, but anyway, it's great to be here, great to be with you. Some of you are sitting here and you're going, who is this guy? Let me just tell you, it's my honor to be your pastor's friend, that's why I'm here. Twenty years we celebrate with you. I feel like that I've got a word for you from the Lord in relationship to these 20 years, but it is my distinct honor and privilege to be a friend of your pastor and his wife. Everything is about relationship. God wants us to understand that. I'm going to talk a little bit about that. I want to just honor them in this respect. You know, when you've traveled like I have for the last 15 years, of course, a year ago, 15 months ago, we started our church and I'm still traveling some, but not as much. You get to see a lot of different environments. You get to be in a lot of different denominations. And there's a couple of significant things that I want to just bring to your to your attention that I'm sure you're aware of, but I want to reiterate it. And that is, first of all, it's very rare for the same pastor to be at one church for 20 years. And if you're from some kind of denominational structure, you understand that. In fact, the most recent statistics tell us that now in America that we live in such a transient society where jobs are changing, situations are changing. Recently, I was speaking with a little known company called IBM, and they were telling me that they used to be able to launch something six months in advance. They would market it for six months and then launch the technology. The vice president of IBM told me, he said, now technology is not changing every six months. It's changing every six minutes. And so when you when you come into a house like this and you come into a church like this and a pastor has been here for 20 years, you need to understand what the real statistics are. Baptist, Nazarene, Methodist, Church of Christ, Presbyterian, every denomination you could name across the board. The average day for a senior pastor now in the United States of America is 18 months. So what we celebrate today is not just longevity, but we celebrate stability and what God is doing right here in Wexford, Pennsylvania. And in this region, it's a model for America. This church is becoming a model for what God is raising up in America and for the new thing that he's doing. And it's very significant. The other thing that's significant. And again, if you've walked where I've walked and you've been in some of the greatest churches in America and some that are aspiring to greatness, you know that for a couple to be married for 30 years is another rarity in the United States of America. And many people whom I have known, some who I've been in relationship with, I'm still friends with. They don't have the same wife today. And how great it is to be in a church where you find the stability of a pastor that's been here 20 years and his family has been here 20 years and he's still with his first wife and no condescension intended for anybody that's on your second, third or fourth. But I'm just telling you, it's better if you only have to take one lap because wherever you go, there you are. So some people get it on the first try and your pastors have. And so I'm excited about that. I want to give you a brief word. And again, just let you know how honored that we are to be here today. I don't say that lightly. It is a great honor and a privilege for us to be connected in some small way to this church. Isaiah, the second chapter and the second verse. Go there with me. If you would. The Bible says in the book of Isaiah, page number 682. If you have the right Bible, if you don't, that's okay. I have the right one. Isaiah, the second chapter, beginning with the second verse. The Bible says this, and it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow into it. Verse three. And many people shall go and say, come ye, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. And then two very significant things here. And he will teach us his ways and we will walk in his paths for out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. A couple of things here. First of all, there's a little progression behind this building that's being developed in the dream and in the future of this church that you're going to be a part of establishing. That's going to oversee the hills in this area. It's very exciting about what God's doing. This scripture is a now word, a rhema word for this church, because God is raising you to a new place. You need to understand, typically when you're looking at biblical interpretation, there's a couple of things that I want to bring out that relate very specifically to where you are today. First of all, any time mountains is mentioned in scripture, it always denotes authority. So you can look at that and read that scripture and just think, well, what does that mean? The mountain of the Lord's house should be established in the top of the mountains. What does that mean? That means that God is bringing his church in this day and age to a new place of authority in the last days. There's going to be a divine impartation of God's authority on the earth like there's never been before. And that's happening in this house. You're moving into a season that God is going to give you more authority than you've ever had. And when there's more authority in the church, guess what? There's more authority in your family. There's more authority in your business. In other words, when the authority comes, God says, now my kingdom can advance two things about this particular passage that are very significant. First of all, again, in the science and art of biblical interpretation, which is hermeneutics, we see that any time something is mentioned in a progression and he will teach us his ways and we will walk in his paths. You do not get to walk in his paths until you learn his ways. And so when you look at the significance of 20 years, you say, what does that relate to in the time frame of history that God has established North Way Community Church in this region of the United States and more specifically in the world, not just to be a regional church, not just to be a national church, but to have a worldwide influence. What does it mean at 20 years? You look at the number two and you look at the number 10, two times 10 is any time in scripture, there is a number mentioned. It's mentioned very specifically for a reason. First of all, two in scripture is the number of the kingdom. You say, what does that mean? That means that wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, I'm there. And even more specifically in Matthew, the 18th chapter, the Bible says, if any two of you agree as touching anything, it shall be done. So two in scripture denotes the power of the kingdom. Jesus said in John 17, 22, he said, God, you've given me your glory. Now I give my glory to them. And God says, the reason I give them my glory through Jesus is so that they will be one. So the world might know that you've sent me. So this church is moving prophetically in a sense into a new place of authority. And out of that authority is going to be birth a new level of agreement. And just like these pins that you're wearing, God's saying, I want you to come in to agreement on this new level because I'm taking you to a higher place. I'm taking you to a new place. I'm taking you to a better place. And it's to enlarge your territory. And then specifically look at this and he will teach us his ways. What are the ways of God? His ways, the Bible says in Isaiah 55 are higher than our ways. And his ways are the ways of agreement. So he will teach us his ways of agreement. Now, what does 10 mean in Scripture? Well, we have 10 commandments. We understand there wasn't 11, there wasn't 9, there was 10. We also look at Scripture and we understand the tithe. Tithe literally interpreted means 10. What does that mean? Why does God use the number 10? Why does he call it a tithe? Because 10 in Scripture and in hermeneutics and in biblical interpretation means governmental rule or order. So when you combine 20, when you combine 2 with 10, what you see is first of all agreement as it relates to order. Now look at this. And he will teach us his ways and we will walk in his paths. What are his ways? His ways are the ways of agreement. What are his paths? A path is something that is ordered. If you go by a bike path, if you go by a road path, if you go by a road map, it denotes order. The Bible says in Psalms 37 that the steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord and he delights in his way and though he fall, he will not be utterly cast down but the Lord upholds him with his right hand. So what I want to give you as a church and what I want to challenge you with to understand on this very special, special one-time occasion in this 20th year of your existence is understand God's bringing you to a new place, not just to the mountain but to the top of the mountains. He's bringing a new authority. The second thing, he's bringing a new level of agreement. He's going to teach you his ways like he's never taught you before. That's what the buttons mean. We're going to agree on the dream. The third thing that he wants you to understand is that there is a new order that is coming to this house. There's a new order that's coming to your family. There's a new order that's coming to your business. It's like going to a restaurant and putting your order in. What you order is what you get. That's what's going to happen in this church. The order is coming and you're going to get what you have ordered and what you've dreamed about. And then finally, the exciting thing is there's a blessing and the blessing that's coming is a blessing that God wants you to understand that this is a day and this is an hour when God is bringing enlargement to his kingdom and are you ready to go to the next level because that's where North Way is going. God bless you. Thank you for allowing us to be with you. It's a great day. Amen. One thing that we have learned over the years, whether it's a sermon, a teaching message, or a word that's delivered under a prophetic unction, the word is received as you open your heart by faith to it. It doesn't just happen because you hear it. Faith has to come to it. And I want us to do that together. I want us to stand and we're going to honor God's presence here. You know, six and a half years ago, folks, it's been six and a half years since we moved in this building. And we began our very first service, the very first thing that we did when we moved in this building before we even said a word, John Walton came out and we began and we sang this chorus to establish God's order then. Now let's sing this song and this chorus once again in anticipation of seeing that order go to the next level. The Lord reigns. The Lord reigns. He is a mighty God. The Lord God reigns. The Lord reigns. He is a mighty God. The Lord God he reigns. Great is the Lord Almighty. He is Lord, He is God indeed. Great is the Lord Almighty. He is God's Supreme. Great is the Lord Almighty. He is Lord, He is God indeed. Sing children. Put your hands together. Everybody, the Lord reigns. The Lord reigns. He is. He is. The Lord God reigns. The Lord reigns. He is. He is. The Lord God reigns. When the children of Israel came to the reign, the God-man pruned and in ferocity, the children of Israel came to the reign, the God-man pruned and in ferocity, the God-man pruned and in ferocity, the children of Israel came to the reign, the God-man pruned and in ferocity, the children of Israel came to the reign, the God-man pruned and in ferocity, the God-man pruned and in ferocity, the children of Israel came to the reign, the God-man pruned and in ferocity, the God-man pruned and in ferocity, The Lord reigns. The Lord reigns. He is. The Lord God reigns. The Lord reigns. The Lord God reigns. When the children of God came up to Jericho town, The Lord said, children must watch for us So far standing, oh deep, they watched around them with one Till the Lord said, shout and watch him march in again Oh, the city of God in Israel The people of God Oh, the Lord said, shout and watch him march in again Oh, how many he is, what he's got in him Oh, how many he is, what he's got in him When the children are dying, I ask Him to save me. My God died and He rose again. I've been rejoiced since He took my pain. I thank You, Jesus, praise Your name. Thank You, Lord, Almighty, for Your love and grace. Well, I knew when we started this adventure of the birthday weekend, there'd be no way to possibly get everything in that we wanted to talk about, and so I was the sacrificial lamb. But I also knew this, we have six weeks of celebrating, and if you didn't get one of these little dream flyers in the mail, or you weren't here last weekend, please be sure to pick one up. It tells you what's going to happen over the next six weeks, and I'm going to have an opportunity to come back around and really kind of share some things that are on my heart about this time. And then we end, remember, May the 6th. Part of the dream is we're going to gather up in the new property and say, Lord, by your spirit, by your mighty power, bring it to pass, and it's going to be an awesome, I mean, keep talking about this being historic, that day, that's a forward-looking day, and that's going to, it's not even going to snow. I'll just go ahead and say that. It may do some other things, but we'll be ready for it. I had two things I wanted to leave you with today, just to kind of choose two points out of my message that I wanted to leave you with. The value that we have cherished the most at North Way from the very beginning, from the time that we prayed, and we've had to leave out necessarily so much of the story, I mean, much of what happened in this church was the outgrowth of ongoing prayer meetings. It is accurate to say that this church was birthed in prayer. And prayer led us to the understanding, and here it is, that the presence of Jesus is the pearl of great price. It's the presence of Jesus that's worth leaving everything else to discover. The parable in Matthew 13 where it talks about the farmer that went out and he found this pearl and he left everything to go get it. And you say, well, what's that have to do? You see, Jesus said that when he showed up on the scene that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, meaning that his presence was the rule of God. His presence was the authority of God incarnated in a human being. So wherever he went, the kingdom was. He is the king of the kingdom. And so his presence then, you see, becomes the most important cherished thing that we could ever experience. And it has been our goal, if you will, over the last 20 years in our gatherings here all together on weekends and in our small groups every time that people come together, two or more of us, to bring the presence of Jesus. Why? Because the presence of Jesus can do more to transform negativity into faith, to change fear into overcoming love, to change poverty and lack into provision and abundance, to change sickness into health. The presence of Jesus does all those things. And if you're new today, and I know a number of you are here visiting for the first time and you're thinking, there's just a lot to absorb here. Let me explain just one thing about that, the reason why we've made a commitment. And by the way, you don't have to put your brain on the shelf. In fact, if you engage your brain in this, you'll discover that it's all in there. The more you study the Bible, the more intellectual you are with an open mind toward the Bible, the more you'll realize that what we're sharing with you today is absolutely, this is what people have pushed aside. And here's why. They've pushed it aside because you have to be out of control. God has to have control. And you see, the intellectual giants of the world, by and large, who've taken over so many of our churches and denominations, have decided they'd rather keep control of things, therefore they've limited what they've allowed God to do. I'm here to tell you, when the presence of Jesus is welcomed into place through praise and worship, God shows up and does miracles. And may it be His portion to us as we go into the next 20 years that we'll always have that as a value. Would you agree with that? The last thing I want to say is this. There is no experience on the planet like community, true community. The kind of community that you read about in the book of Acts in chapters 2 and 4 just spells out this amazing dynamic, how the people held everything in common and they met together regularly and they opened up their hearts and lives together. That experience of community is the most amazing thing. And I've been privileged to share that for actually more than 20 years with some of you. But those of you who are new need to understand, that doesn't come casually. That comes when you decide to make an investment of your life. One of the driving reasons why Carol and I have chosen to stay here, there's a lot nicer places to live. I don't want to break anyone's bubble. Dallas isn't one of them, but there's some really nice places. There's some really nice places to live. But you know what? This is my community. This is where I am called to be in relationship. And when I look into the eyes of some of you, I know that we share something that's going to last beyond our lifetimes. And the reason I know community is so important is because Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and God the Father live in community. It's called the Trinity. It's the mystery that we can't really explain with our heads. But God lives in this dynamic community and he's calling a bride, a church, to rise up with him and live eternally in community. So you know, if you have a hard time getting along with a person two seats down, get over it because they're going to be with you for eternity. And I just pray that those of us who struggled with this, on my outline I say it's that community that's far too easily forsaken. I just want to say to you, if you pull out of the community for the wrong reason, you're abandoning God's destiny and the very tools that he would use to bring about your dream. So I want to say, again, I want to say what an amazing thing God's done here to allow us to share together these years. And those of you who are young and kind of figuring out where am I going, wherever you're going, go in community. Don't venture out as a lone ranger. Be linked with people of like spirit and like heart because it will change you forever. So this, God has a love for you, a love that he wants to demonstrate to you. It comes through his instruments, his people, but his love has your name on it. And when you doubt that, when you struggle with it, remember as John comes to sing this song, you got to know this, that he loves you, that he died for you, and he's going to take you in his arms and carry you even when the times get really difficult. Let's allow our spirits to minister to you as John comes to sing and as some of the banners that we have come to cherish as reminders of God's faithfulness are presented to us this morning. All I know is that he loves me. John. You redeem my soul in peace. All I know you died to save me. That's the reason I believe. All I know can take my eyes off of you. Not for a minute or a day. Last attempt to rest his hold on me. Won't let my heart turn away. All I know is that you're God. You're ruler of my heart and soul. To praise eternal is preserved inside my heart. But should it pass unto tomorrow that you love my tears are bottled in your case. Your mercy blots out my transgressions. My heart takes the comfort there. And it's the truth for all the ages. Let your God rule my heart and soul. Eternal is preserved inside my heart. But should it pass unto tomorrow that you love my tears are bottled in your case. Let your God rule my heart and soul. Eternal is preserved inside my heart. But should it pass unto tomorrow that you love my tears are bottled in your case. To leave the center aisle open, I'd like everyone else to join hands. Banners are going to process back out. I'd like us to pray together and agree. Lord, as we have come to the conclusion of this very special day, we exalt you and thank you for that steadfast love that endures forever. That covenant love that never changes. And we thank you, Lord, that in community we've discovered just how that love can be lived out in a way that stretches and changes and expands our boundaries and allows us, Lord, to share with others, to include them in your dream. Lord, we pray for grace as we go forward to share the dream with thousands more. That one day heaven will be populated with people who we will see that unbeknownst to us it was our sacrifice, our commitment, our confidence in your goodness that opened the door for them to share eternity. And thank you for these that we join hands with today, the plans, the purposes, the dreams that you have for us. Bring them to pass in Jesus' name. And every Wednesday.