Dream Builders IV, How to Secure A Dream

I should have grabbed your outline, it's in your notes right now. You know, as most of you are aware, we're in the final stretch of really what I believe is a defining season of our life as a church. And I say that about Dream Builders not because of the property or not because of the finances. That's not really why it's defining. It's defining because we're in a season when faith is being challenged in all of us. The Bible says in Hebrews 11, 6 that without faith it's pretty tough to please God. Is that what it says? No, it says without faith it's impossible. Everyone say, impossible. You cannot please, it doesn't matter how hard you work at doing things. It doesn't matter what you feel you're contributing. But without faith you've not made it because God responds to a heart that trusts Him. That's why James goes on to say, welcome trials, call them friends, which seems to be kind of wild. Why? Because they help you to grow your faith. That's why Peter, when he stepped out of the boat, walked on water and God commended his faith. And then when his faith drifted away, when he looked at the wind and the waves, Jesus said, you have little faith. Faith is important to God. That's why this season is important to us. We should be grateful that we have an opportunity to grow in faith. In about a week, I personally and we corporately are going to culminate a year of focused attention on this project. The project is going to go on, but our focused attention is going to return to the most important thing we're called to do, which is the ministry. It's been a difficult year because of this double focus it has, but I want you to know, just keep this in mind, in this last year, since last May 6th when we first prayer walked, 350 people have joined this church family. About 750 people have responded to the invitation to receive Jesus Christ. We've started new ministries in this last year, like Alive Again, which is touching people at the deepest core of their need. And a number of other ministries were launched this last year. We established a new ministry paradigm that's enabled many of you to figure out how to grow spiritually in the things of God. As you go through the discovery classes. In the midst of all we've been doing, God's been blessing what's most important. And I can't wait, you see. Next week's going to make an enormous difference about our future. Here's why. Listen now. Either next week when we go together up in that property, we're either going to say corporately, God, we're ready. We're ready for your next wave of blessing. Or we're going to kind of fumble our way into it, and here's what's going to happen. The next two or three years, we're going to be having to manage our way into the future. We're going to have to divert our energies back into just managing. I don't want to go there. I want to be able to go up in that property. Have the Lord provide through us what we need to secure our future, however that works out. And then give ourselves to prayer. Give ourselves to evangelism. Give ourselves to helping those in need. Give ourselves to counseling. Give ourselves to building small groups and disciples. That's what we're called to do. That's why this is a defining moment. Let's not allow ourselves to do anything less than this. And by the way, this has become the theme for this campaign. In years past, we've done other campaigns, the theme is normally something like not equal gifts but equal sacrifice, which is a great principle. But here's the theme of this campaign, and it's emerged over the weeks. It's probably not even anything in print, but I think it's the theme. The theme came out of the little clip in the video that you saw last week when Arthur Blessed said this about that missionary that so inspired him. That missionary in China who spent years in prison and saw those that he loved killed for the gospel. He said this, Jesus Christ is worthy of your very best, or give him nothing at all. That's the theme of this campaign. Let's give Jesus our very best, or don't give him anything. Don't just tip him. Don't just, all right, let's get him off our back. Let's just give him, you know, let's give him something so they get off our back. No, that's, don't do that. When Jesus looked at you, he didn't withhold anything. He laid down his life for you. Now he comes to you and says, will you give so that others can know? This isn't really about us. There's enough here for us. As Dennis said, we're not called to keep the aquarium. It's about fishing for men. It's about reaching. It's about where are we going to be in three years, in five years. That's what this is about. And I'm excited about it because I know the Lord's in it. I want you to stand with me. I want you to pray with me. Lord, I would ask you to hear us as we together say thank you for your blessing. Thank you for your provision. And thank you for the fact that you're already stirring in many people's lives. And Lord, you're causing us to embrace this climate of faith. Help us, Lord, to go on now and give you our best, every single one of us, so that you'd be glorified in Jesus' name. And I want to tell you before you're seated what our leaders have done. We met on Thursday evening. It was a difficult night to get everyone together. It's just that way in this culture anymore and during the week. So a portion of our leaders were able to be here. And those leaders, they are so on board with the vision. I want you to just celebrate this with me. Just a portion of our leaders to this date so far have committed of the $4.5 million we're trusting God for over the next two years. That's our goal. They've already committed $1.8 million to that goal. Isn't that awesome? I think it's an awesome thing. I won't even tell you. It's amazing to me that proportionally how few number of people of our church family that really is, how much they've committed. I am so honored to be the pastor of the kind of people that these folks are, that you are. Because I believe you're going to wrestle with this and you're going to obey the Lord. That's what I believe is going to happen. And next week is going to be a history-making moment in the life of this church. So don't miss it. Don't miss it. Be part of it. All right? Now, while you're standing, we're going to read God's word together in Luke chapter 19. I'm going to read it out of the Message Bible. And I'm going to have it up here on the screen. But I'd like you to stand just so you can focus on this. It's the story called the Ten Minas in Luke or the Talents, the parable of the Talents in the book of Matthew. And it's in the Message because I like the way the story reads. Let's follow along. And if you'll read it out loud with me, let's declare the word. There was once a man descended from a royal house who needed to make a long trip back to headquarters to get authorization for his rule and then return. But first he called ten servants together, gave them each a sum of money, and instructed them, Operate with this until I return. But the citizens there hated him. So they sent a commission with a signed petition to oppose his rule. We don't want this man to rule us. When he came back, bringing the authorization of his rule, he called those ten servants to whom he had given the money to find out how they had done. The first said, Master, I doubled your money. He said, Good, sir. Great work. Because you've been trustworthy in this small job, I'm making you governor of ten towns. The second said, Master, I made a 50% profit on your money. He said, I'm putting you in charge of five towns. The next said, Master, here's your money, safe and sound. I kept it hidden in the cellar. To tell you the truth, I was a little afraid. I know you have high standards and hate sloppiness and don't suffer fools gladly. He said, You're right that I don't suffer fools gladly and you've acted the fool. Why didn't you at least invest the money in security so I would have gotten a little interest on it? Then he said to those standing there, Take the money from him and give it to the servant who doubled my stake. They said, But Master, he already has doubled. He said, That's what I mean. Look at this now. Risk your life and get more than you've ever dreamed of. Play it safe and end up holding the bag. That's God's Word. Let's be seated. Over these last weeks, I've been sharing things that I have learned in the 20 years that we've been committed here at North Way to changing lives together. And this passage captures several of the principles that have most affected my life and our ministry. Take your notes and let's look at these four lessons I've learned here. Number one, in this passage we see it and throughout the Bible we see it. Where God guides, write it down, He provides. Where God guides, He provides. In this story, it was the Lord who provided the resource that the servants needed to steward. It all came from Him. He just said, Do business with this until I return. Operate with this until I come back. The Lord always provides when He guides us. Twenty years ago, a group of nine couples, uninitiated in church planting, had a dream. And God said to these nine couples, All right, it's the nine of you, operate with this. I want you to know we didn't have much of anything in the way of resource. He said to us, I'll make you a light on a hill so you can shine the hope of the message of the gospel to a city in need. And I'll make you a place of promise. I'll make you a place that touches the nations. Imagine that, nine couples, thinking, who's he talking to? It was quite a word to a rookie pastor and a group of people who had no church, no property, no buildings, no backing, just a dream. But do you see how God's been doing this? Do you see how it's happening? Do you see what the next step is going to mean? When He guided, He provided. At the end of the first month of our life as a church, we received $2,000 of support. It was enough to pay our bills for the things that we needed, and we were on our way. We were led to a location to minister. It was the Bradley House. We also had a place, a little house where we could go to pray together every morning at 6 o'clock in the morning. We didn't have much as a church, but we had what we needed, and God was with us. And by the way, Carol and I didn't have much either. We just launched out on faith. In fact, our three kids shared a bedroom, three kids in one bedroom for five years. A little bunk bed and a little crib when Jonathan came along. So one day, when Amy was about nine, she started asking some plumbing questions. Not about the house either. And we decided, well, I guess it's time for us to start making some serious plans about making some change as our family was growing up. Again, when God guided, He provided. And as we grew, He provided more and more connections and opportunities for ministry and resources to fulfill our calling. He did what Joshua discovered. Look on your outline. That every promise that He gave us, He fulfilled. Not one of them failed. Joshua 21, 23, 14. That's the kind of God we serve. So He moved us. He provided the Bradley House and then St. Therese. I told this story a few weeks ago. And then for years, we were there and we were growing. And the Lord just, He put us sort of in a mode of trusting Him. We couldn't find any place to grow from there. We tried to build around that property. Couldn't do it. And eventually, this land opened up. We were able to purchase this land in 30 days. Then moved out to Marshall Middle School for a while. And then finally into this building. And the Lord has watched us at each phase. And He said, I can trust them with this. I can trust. They've been faithful at that level. And now, He's saying, they've been faithful at this level. And now, He's saying, and now I'm going to make them faithful at the next level. See, faithful in small things, faithful in large things. Where God guides, provides. Now, that's true of your life. It's true for you. If you'll be faithful with what He gives you, He'll give you more. Second thing I've discovered is this. When God says, do this, He means it. I know how else to say that. When He says, do something, they're not called the ten suggestions. They're called the ten commandments. See, in this story, when He told these servants to minister, to operate with His resources, obviously, a little later on, He came back and held them accountable. Do you see that? God has given you all gifts, given all of us gifts and ministries and resources, and He's going to come back and say one day, what did you do with what I gave you? There is a day coming of accounting. Unfortunately for so many of us, we think it's so far off. At some point down the line, we'll get our act together. How sorrowful will we be on that day, if we realize how much God gave us, and we just kind of cruised along in our own life and didn't listen to His directives to us. When the Lord says, do it, He means do it now. And I'm talking about ministry things and all other kinds of opportunities. About ten years ago, the Lord said, it's time to do some things for the city people that really need some help. And so we launched this Christmas banquet. And I want you to know, when you go down to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and say, we want to have a banquet for 4,000 people, well, the first thing they ask you, how much money do you have? It costs $68,000. And I wanted to say, well, I'm not ready to do that right now. I want to put that on hold. But the Lord says, do it now. Here's what happened. Drop the lights, please, Jeff. Here's what happened, in case you didn't see this. Live from Television Hill, this is Channel 11 News. Nightbeat with Hank Bachman, Marissa Morris, Kevin Benson with weather, and Derek Gunn with sports. Now, Channel 11 News Nightbeat. Good evening, I'm Hank Bachman. Marissa Morris has the night off. Our top story tonight, the giving spirit of the holiday season overflows in Pittsburgh. 4,000 homeless and needy Pittsburghers were treated to a holiday feast at the convention center tonight, all thanks to the North Way Christian community. Attendance at tonight's dinner more than doubled last year's, making this the largest meal ever served at the convention center. A lot of time and hard work went into making tonight's dinner a success. Stuart Brown has more on the people who made it all possible. What a great night. That was a night I'll never forget. I didn't share this in other services, but let me tell you something about that night. When I stood up on the platform at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, the Lord spoke into my heart that one day, I would be preaching on a regular basis to 4,000 people at a sitting. At that time, we were maybe 1,000 people. I never forgot. I had no idea what he meant by that. I remember that so clearly like it happened yesterday. Have I doubted that in the last 10 years? You bet. When we built this building, I thought this was it. Go figure. What kind of God do we serve? Faithful in small things? I'll provide more. When he says do it, he means it. Let's not find ourselves like the children of Israel who just hear from God and then mutter and complain and grumble and say, well, I don't think I want to. What did God say to them after a couple of years of hearing their complaining? He said, I've had it. You're going to die here. Don't let that happen. Don't let that happen to your heart. When he says something, do it. The blessing far outweighs the struggle. In America today, 80% of churches are dying or plateaued. That's four out of five. Why has that happened? They have the same gospel we have. They have the same Bible. My own observation is that most of them will not obey God. They get caught up in their own thing. And God has left them. And my heart pleads with God that that would never happen to us. My goal is that none of you will ever hear God say, take their gift and give it to someone else. I don't want to ever hear that. Third thing the Lord says, turn your outline over. I've learned in this story that what God has given, he multiplies. If you give him your time, he multiplies it. If you give him your talents, they grow. If you give him your money, he blesses it. Luke 19.16, the servant just didn't get his ten minas back. The servant was given ten cities to manage. What an amazing multiplication that was. In the context of Paul's writings, and many of you talk to me about how much you love to read the Apostle Paul's epistles, Romans and Ephesians and Galatians. He was the greatest biblical writer of all time. And we read his theology about atonement and eschatology and ecclesiology and all those ologies that we can't even pronounce but think are important. Oh, he was a great theologian. But Paul wrote some powerful stuff about giving. You read 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. I just challenge you to go home and read that today. And Paul writes about the Macedonian churches that he was serving who in their great poverty, it says in 2 Corinthians 8.1, pleaded with him for the opportunity to give an offering for the churches in Jerusalem. And he said, now you need to read that whole thing, but he says to them, you should have this same spirit in you writing to the Corinthians. The grace of God that responds with a hunger, a desire to give. And Paul writes, if you look in your outline, here's what he says. God gives seed to the farmer. He'll also give you seed and multiply it in your lives. He'll increase the things you do that have his approval. Now, I'm not a farmer. Pastor Scott, he's a bit of a farmer by background. He's shown me some things about farming. But I know this. If I take one kernel of corn and put it in the ground, am I going to get back one kernel of corn? Some of you are shaking your head. No, come on. What do you get back? You get a stock. And what's on that stock? Three, four, five years of corn, maybe a couple thousand kernels. It's the principle of sowing and reaping. But listen, if you don't sow, if you don't put something in the ground, you won't get anything back. Some of us have never experienced anything of a God intervention in our finances because we've never had the courage to sow. A farmer knows if he keeps the seed in the bag, he won't ever get a crop. He'll never receive a harvest. I've discovered, Carol and I, over the years, we don't always get it when we want it. It doesn't always come the way we hoped it would. But he's always provided. And he will for you as well. But you have to sow. You have to sow. Some of you have been saying to me over the last month, you know, Jay, we've been doing this for a number of years and we keep having these times of challenge. And, you know, are other people getting on board? And I want you to hear testimony today from someone who's new, relatively new to North Way, who's come into this place and been captured by what's happened. And I'm encouraged by the way God's been moving in his heart. Give a warm welcome to Doug Kittenbrink as he comes to the show this morning. Come on, give him a good welcome. Thanks, Doug. You almost lost me there coming up the stairs. Thank you very much. I am truly blessed to have the opportunity to share here. Let me start by telling you a little bit about who I am. I am the fortunate, most fortunate husband of a woman by the name of Leslie Kittenbrink, who is the greatest blessing God has ever placed on my life. We have a son, Brad, who's a sophomore at Harvard, and a daughter, Rachel, who's here today, who's a junior at Fox Chapel Area High School and is the absolute joy of my life. And me, I guess I can best be described as a workaholic in denial. I'm an engineer by education, and in my work I serve as the president of Allegheny Ludlam Corporation, which is one of the largest stainless steel companies and specialty metals companies in North America. I've been president for about 12 months, a detail that may prove more relevant in a moment. Although I'm not a particularly touchy-feely guy, as I prepared for this testimony, I decided that what I needed to do was try to tell you how I feel about two things, North Way and Dream Builders. So let me start first with North Way. My family and I have been coming to North Way since December of 1999, and we were introduced here by our daughter, who was then 16. That story is a miracle in and of itself, but I'll leave that for another day. As I thought about what I wanted to say about North Way, I realized that even in that short 17-month period, I have come to take North Way for granted. I think those of us who are lucky enough to have found North Way and made it our Christian home can too easily forget just how special, how gloriously special this place really is. We are blessed with fantastic worship. We are blessed with a dedicated, committed staff. We are blessed with a tremendous kids' ministry that we heard about last week. We are blessed with wonderful small groups and Christian fellowship. We are blessed with missions that we support all around the world. We are blessed to witness how this place has changed lives, 750 of them in the last year alone. And we are blessed because the Holy Spirit works overtime in this place. And I must say we are blessed with a senior pastor that is among the greatest Christian leaders of our time. Amen. I know personally this is a man who has a driven passion to lead people toward a most personal relationship with their Savior. I could go on and on, but the point is the rest of the world is not like this place, and we must always remember how special North Way truly is. But let me take this back on a more personal level. Most people who know me would say that my life has been easy. It's a life that's been filled with undeserved blessings. I have a great family. I have good health. I have a great job. I truly have been blessed indeed. You could describe my life as a downhill ride with a pothole or two here and there, but God has never really put any great obstacles in front of me. For the last 10 years, I've personally struggled with why that is. Why am I so blessed? I've done nothing to deserve this. There must be some reason why I've been so blessed. In the last few months through my journey here at North Way, I've begun to understand why. I now know that God has brought me to this place at this time to be part of his plan. North Way has changed my life. No longer is my Christian journey a comfortable walk on level ground. Today, thanks to North Way, my journey is a daily mountain climb, a daily adventure to reach higher for a more personal relationship with Christ. And each time I reach higher, he pulls me up. I now know why God has blessed me so abundantly and why he has multiplied those blessings over the last 17 months since I first stepped foot in this place. It is so that I can use those talents and treasures to make a difference right here, right now. Which brings me... Thank you. Thank you. Which brings me to Dream Builders. From the very first time I stepped foot in this building, literally that very first Sunday in December of 1999, I've had a strong personal sense that I needed to be a part of the growth of this place. And I must tell you, that's a unique experience for me. I am not one who is tuned in to those signals or at least not famous for being sensitive to those types of things. So when the opportunity came, I got on the Dream Builders bus early. I agreed to be a part of the committee. And last September, Leslie and I pledged what we thought at that time was a huge stretch, faith commitment towards the campaign, and we've been giving faithfully ever since. I thought back in September that I had really reached for him. But guess what? Each time I reached, he pulled me up. Each time I sowed a seed, he multiplied my blessings. So last Thursday night, Leslie and I had the chance to reach further for Dream Builders. I will remember that night for the rest of my life. We sat right down there. We prayed. We cried. And then we reached again. God has put it on my heart to share with you our commitment. And I must tell you, this is where I am most uncomfortable with this testimony because I do not want to sound boastful. But I do want you to know how strongly I feel about this thing. On Thursday night, we more than doubled our commitment to Dream Builders. It is a total faith commitment. I have no idea how we're going to do it. As I stand here today, we are committed to giving 22% of our income to the Dream Builders campaign. That's a little bit of the engineer in me. I calculate things. I didn't take it to the fourth decimal, but trust me, 22% is pretty close. And all the while, as I struggled with this commitment, there was a little voice in my head saying, Are you nuts? A year from now, you're going to have two kids in college. Are you crazy? I must tell you, that voice has now gone quiet because I know that he will do it. God will take the seeds that we sow, and he will multiply them. And as we reach for them, he will pull us up. Last week, Mark said that for this thing to happen, it was going to take some fools for Christ. Well, count me in. For I know, we know, that he is truly worthy of our very best. Last night, I had affirmation of that. After I gave this testimony after the service, a woman stopped me out in the lobby. And she thanked me for my testimony, but then she went on to talk about what North Way has meant to her life. She had tears in her eyes. Her daughter came up, and it was obvious that her daughter had been crying. And I think she would be okay with me sharing this with you. She felt guilty that she couldn't do more. She was destitute. But she told me that that night, and I swear to you this story is true, that night she had put her last $10 in the basket as we passed it around last night. Now, if she can do that, how can I do anything less than my very best? So let me close with one last thought. Friends, I want you to know that I am as certain of this as anything I have ever known in my life. God is in this thing. He truly is. And I tell you, I am living proof. Thank you. Thanks, Doug, for being transparent. It's not an easy thing to do. If you haven't had your opportunity up here yet, trust me. And pray for Doug. Actually, everyone who gives a testimony, pray for them the week after. If I took the time to tell you the number of things that people go through after they give their testimony, that little voice isn't going to want to come back up. And weird things. The devil hates it when you take a stand for Christ. And that's what those folks do. That's what Doug did today when you come up here. But the great news is, greater is he that's in us than he that's in the world. Let me just end with this. The fourth thing I've learned is this. Who God is changes everything. Our story, the real problem for the fearful servant wasn't his stinginess or selfishness. His real problem was he didn't truly know God. You see, he said, I knew you to be a hard man. It says in the NIV. Do you know God to be a hard God? Is that the God you know? I've come to know Him as a compassionate, merciful, long-suffering God. A God who astonishes me with His graciousness toward me. Over the last 20 years, we've talked about changing lives. I asked myself the other day as I was preparing this message, how has my life changed in the last 20 years? And the number one thing that kept coming up was this. I have come into a new experience of the fullness of His grace that I didn't know 20 years ago. I am less concerned about striving and more concerned about resting. Because I have come to know God as a God of all grace. That's the God that I know. And so, because of that, I can trust Him. I can trust Him with the things that I need, He'll supply. You know, God looks around and He sees you and He sees me and we ask ourselves, why would God use us? Why would God want us to be involved? And God looks at us and says, why not you? My spirit's in you. My life's in you. And I want to use you now in ways you haven't imagined. That's Doug's testimony. And that can be the testimony of everyone who steps forward and obeys Him. But there's one thing, you've got to do that. You've got to step forward. Listen, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 10, I would not have the grace of God to be in vain in my life. You can receive from God and it can be in vain. And if that becomes the case, if it just sits dormant, God will take it from you and give it to someone else. Let me ask you a question. How many of you are here in this church now? Because the church you were in didn't identify your gifts, didn't identify your blessings, didn't identify your talents, and you sat dormant and you just finally gave up and finally came somewhere. God, in essence, took your blessing and put it here. We've got to respond. My own humble opinion is that we are a ten-talent church. Look around us, loved ones. So it comes down to this. Will we take our ten talents and hide them, keep them to ourselves, or will we invest them in the kingdom of God? Will we give comfortably and casually or will we give, as Arthur Blessed said, give Him our very best? I know it seems impossible. It does to me. But I know that God's in it and He will take us, if we trust Him, to the place where He'll receive all the glory because we'll be able to say this. Without Him, it never would have happened. But with Him, an amazing thing has taken place. Who God is changes everything. I want you to stand with me, would you please? I want us to close the service today by worshipping this God. Do you know Him that way? Do you know Him as a God who's more than enough? Do you know Him as a God of perfect character? He is so gracious to us. Jean, do you want to come and share? Thursday of this week, the Lord awakened me with a word that He was about to do a new thing in our church. And it was a new birthing that had never been before. And I was to call Pastor Jay and give him part of what God had given me. And I did, but he was too busy and whatever happened. And so I forgot about it. And so this morning, sitting there, and the Lord said, you're to give this morning the birthing that I'm about to do in this church. The first campaign that we ever had, it was opening our doors. Yes. It was opening our doors. The Lord spoke to me and said, our doors will never be shut again for any reason. There will never be a lack because of finances. There will never be a lack because of ministry. There will never be a lack because of the moving of the Holy Spirit. Because the supernatural thing that God is going to do is, He is going to give us a baptism of love, of Father's love like we've never known before. And how you will recognize it is this. First of all, the scripture tells us, His banner over us is love. We're going to understand what the love of the Father is like we've never known before. We're going to see people healed and delivered and set free, not because of who we are, but because of God's presence of love in this church. And so, when we begin to understand that this is not all about us, but it's all about Him and what He wants to do for a dying world. How many people even sitting here today have needs and need a deliverance and haven't been able to get it? Have prayed and struggled and struggled trying to get the deliverance that they need. And yet seemingly it hasn't happened. But it's God's appointed time now for a great visitation to come to this church. A visitation like has never been before. We've just only even just scratched the surface of what God wants to do. I'm shaking so bad I can't stand it. Because I know what God's going to do. And so, you know, you may be discouraged because, is that all they talk about? The money, the money, the money. That's the least thing. Just stop and think about what God's going to do. And He's going to use you as the means and the methods to do it. Whether you're the instrument that gives, whether you're the instrument that prays, or whether you're just the instrument of being here. All people, just realize this, that God's banner over you this morning is love. So whatever you do, do it for the love of the Father. Amen. If you have a little bit of a deficiency of that love, we're just going to worship God. Spend a few moments worshiping Him. We're going to learn a new song. Jesus, after He was resurrected, when the disciples were gathered, the Bible says that He breathed on them, and they received the H