The Glory of Love VI, Building A Love That Never Dies

Verse six, are you there? But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us just as we also long to see you. Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution, we were encouraged about you because of your faith. For now, we really live since you are standing firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? Night and day, we pray most earnestly that we might see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. Now, verse 11, now may our God and Father Himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. Flying home this week from a missions retreat that I was invited to attend in the Denver area, we just cleared Chicago and the pilot came on and said, well, we'll be landing at home in Pittsburgh in about 45 minutes. I thought of the poor slobs in the freeway. We had eight and a half hours to ride to get home. What an amazing miracle it seems that flying is. But just after Chicago, we banked to the left, which is north, up over what I come to know as Lake Erie. And the reason was that there was a pretty violent thunderstorm in our path, and so I knew we were avoiding some of that rough weather. And I looked out of my window on the left-hand side at 30,000 feet or whatever it was, and I saw famous Keeley Island, where the elders had recently gone on a fishing retreat. And I knew it because of the maps and Mack's house and Scott's house. And I knew it looked like a coat of arms. I'd never seen it from that high up before. I looked down and I was just recalling some of the things that had happened there a few weeks ago. And the Lord just right at that moment spoke to my heart. And most of you know what that means. The voice didn't come over the intercom, that this is God, it was in my heart. The Lord spoke to my heart that I needed to turn the course of this message that I had been preparing for you and talk about not just love sort of as it would be theoretically, but talk about the perspective of our love. Kind of like from the 30,000 feet perspective, if you will, the perspective of love as I see it in our church at the present time. Because I believe God wants to share with us some things today that are going to propel us through the summer and perhaps on into the future together. And I'm gonna take a little liberty to do some things that I normally only do with elders. I'm gonna have a special elders meeting this Tuesday, but I thought you may want to hear some of these things that I'm gonna report. And you know, one of the things that's kind of interesting about being a believer in Jesus, how long did Jesus serve his people? Practically, how long was his ministry? Three to three and a half years, and then he got out. And I've often wondered why he did that. Well, we know why, we know his mission was completed. But the Bible says in John 13, one, having loved his own, he loved them to the end. Literally means in the Greek, to the uttermost, the full extent, it says in the international version of his love. And I want to share with you where our love is after nine years of ministering together. I'm gonna share with you some highs and some lows. And I trust that the Holy Spirit will make alive some truth to you in the midst of this report today. First of all, I want to share a high, a mountain top, if you will. And that is the incredible number of new people that God has sent to us in this last year. Those of you who pray faithfully here, morning by morning, calling to the Northeast, South and West, the Lord is answering our prayers. I have accurate statistics from Pastor Scott that he handed to me yesterday, that we had 301 new adults go to Discovering the Way last year. That is amazing. 300 adults complete Discovering the Way in one year's time. Plus their children. It's an incredible number of people. God has sent to us, he said, as you all recall, those of you who were here years ago, I will send you all that you have cared for. And the Lord is sending them. That's an amazing thing to me. I was with pastors of larger churches who haven't had that many new people stay with them in a year. And it's exciting. When I get with the new people, I was with a person in a session this week who said to me, he said, I can't wait to tell my friends about this good news. And he used that word, this good news. Not knowing that the gospel is called the good news, but that's what the word means. I can't wait to tell my friends. And I wanna say it's a credit to many of you and your faithfulness of inviting people. Just word of mouth. We have discovered that 80 to 90% of all the visitors and all the people that God sends to us come because you faithfully share an invitation to attend. And that's been so encouraging to me. Organizing the care has been a challenge, but it's been a great experience to see so many new lives touched by the power of God in this last year. And I'm excited about that. Secondly, another mountaintop experience really has been the spiritual growth that's been taking place in the lives of many, many people. Large numbers of people have responded to adult education opportunities that have been made available since we've moved the offices up. People have been joining discipling groups. Many of our elders are currently discipling groups of men all around the city. There's on many occasions, special events, special classes like the missions class that Jerry conducted and network ministry. Lots of people are being trained and educated in how they can grow in Christ. And that's been a real encouragement. Our Wednesday night study in Romans, I thought that was a great achievement. I don't know about you, I have never taught a nine month Bible study. But those of you who jotted it out, for nine months, we went through every chapter and almost every verse of Romans and sought to get that into our spirit. I thought that was a great thing that the Lord did for us. And I wanna tell you, we have a summer series. What's it gonna be called, Scott? Did he come up with a title? The Seven Sleazy Summer Sins or something like that. We're gonna be looking at the sins that pull us down during the summer. And then following that time, I'm committed in the fall. Now listen carefully. I'm committed in the fall to pouring more energy into hearing God and moving together in our Wednesday night gathering. If you weren't here Wednesday night, just past Wednesday night, I don't know if it was just electrical, you're missing part of the diet. It's like you're not putting the meat on your platter. If you're part of this church, you're not getting here Wednesday night. And I know it's difficult. How many people have told me this last year, I get home from work at 6.30 and I'm tired and I don't wanna go out again. But when I get here to church and I begin to praise God, and I hear that so many times. And our attendance has been increasing in the summer. That's been an interesting phenomenon. It must be because of the kids and all, no school, but it's been a blessing. We've had phone calls this week and reports about how the Lord moves Wednesday night. Third thing that's been a great encouragement to me this year has been the emerging creativity and expanded participation in the program ministry of Northwest. We have added about 25 new people in the overall ministry that takes place in this platform. And the result of that has been a great opening up of the gifts and of the blessings in this body of believers. The fruit of it has been phenomenal. Who could ever forget what happened here Easter week. Our Wednesday night service Easter week, the vignettes and the drama that was done just touched my heart. Easter Sunday morning, we had 2,500 adults Saturday night and Sunday morning in worship. God was moving Christmas Eve. You may recall Christmas Eve, a powerful demonstration of Mary and God's wonderful gift to this body. And even though Saturday night has been a little bit disappointing in terms of the support of the church overall in attendance, I've been very encouraged by the way that we've been carving some new ground in our church, presenting the gospel in very visual kinds of ways and in ways that people who aren't familiar with it can come to terms. Jesus did that. Read the gospels and read the parables. The parables were the way he spoke to the non-Christians, the non-believers. And we're seeing a lot of fruit from that. And I know that you know that there's a lot of changes that need to happen. We're praying about that. We believe that the Lord is raising up a new vision for that that's gonna carry on in the fall. Number four, I've been greatly blessed this year by what's happening in our world mission deficit. One of the highlights of my 15 years of full-time ministry, now 16 years, was our mission homecoming last summer. If you weren't here for that, it was a great moment in the life of this church. And just in case you're new to us, look up here at the overhead as the gals show us. These are our full-time missionaries from your church, from this congregation on the field today. In China, we have four couples, that Sam and Rushak will be leaving the end of next month, four couples, full-time in the mainland of China serving Christ. In India, now our Eastern Europe next, we have the Christian church in Riga, and we'll be sending, along with others, Phil and Linda Gottschalk, to serve in that opening, promising land where the gospel is gaining new freedom. Then in India, of course, we've already talked about the powerful testimony we have in India. And I believe that the most effective way to win India is through Indians. In fact, folks, white missionaries really don't hack it in India. That's the truth. And as you know, my recent visit, I saw that firsthand. And so we're on the right track in supporting godly men like this. Next. We also are supporting full-time on the field in the Muslim countries, very, very difficult land, the hunters, the rites, the huggabuggas. And let's just open them all up there. Other parts of the world, in Costa Rica, Grenada, Honduras. Folks, I think that's marvelous. We have almost 30 people full-time in the mission field. There are churches that are much larger than this church that don't have a fraction. And when we had those people stand up here, I felt bonded last summer with the whole world. I really did. And it was a great moment. And we were believing God to raise up more of you to go out and touch the world for Christ. Why not get a little excited? Encourage me some. Does this make you happy? It should, all right? A lot of people talk about missions and talk about the world, but we're putting the best efforts we can into fulfilling that great mission. And finally, the other mountaintop I wanna share with you was obviously one that we have just received. And that is the acquisition of the property next door. Mainly, this is exciting to me because so many people said it would never happen. How many of you love it when someone says it'll never happen? I mean, we love to give God a challenge. And the most difficult challenge we thought was gonna be the zoning process, which ended last November successfully, as you recall. And then when we thought things were ready, well, another obstacle came up and we've had to go through that hurdle over the last several months. But dear ones, I don't really think that most of us have an inkling of an idea as to what God wants to do through this church in this area in the years ahead. I don't think he's really fully grasped. That's why that song and that psalm is so important to me. His steadfast love extends to the heavens. It doesn't just end what we can see. It extends beyond what we can see. And I'm convinced that God wants to continue to grow this church. There's thousands of people yet to come to Christ through this ministry, thousands of people. I really believe that. Have you read about the Wonder Mall that's coming? Up here, right at the corner of 910 and 19. One of the three largest outlet malls in the whole world, I don't know, some huge thing. See, commerce has big vision, folks. I ain't got vision for the people. We're part of it. We're privileged to be part of it. And this property, imagine what it'd be like if you didn't have to run out of here in 20 minutes, get in your cars and wait in line. Imagine if you could go out and linger for a while and sit down and have some coffee and talk with some people and fellowship. Imagine if we had places for our kids. Pastor Tom has had a desperate time finding a place for his ministries to grow. There's no real, no schools will open to him, no facilities are available to him. There's not a gym in the North Hills that he can get into. We need to make a different functional facility for our young people. So these are all ways in which I've been greatly encouraged this year. And I could go on, I could talk about the outstanding leadership of our elders. Our district eldering has really worked well to bring personal care to people. I could talk about our single parent ministry that's coming along, More Than Conquerors. The fact that this year we've had our highest number of baptisms. Those are great things. I think God's pretty happy about that. And I wanna hold you in high regard because of your participation. I believe it's your faith and your participation. The fact that you're not gonna stand out there and just watch it happen. That's why these things are taking place. But there have been some valleys, and if you'll permit me in the last minutes today, I wanna talk about these valleys. You know, Paul writes so frequently about his struggles. I was reading in preparation for today about how he felt in Corinth, and he said this, that indeed in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves, but God who raises the dead. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, but we trusted in God. In some ways, this year has been the most difficult year of our ministry. Every inch of spiritual territory that we have taken has been only by significant emotional and physical energy being expended on the part of many people. Too often I felt like we'd secure one piece of territory and then lose another one. You know, as Chuck Swindoll said, three steps forward, two steps back. And it was a struggle. It's been a battle. I felt the enemy resisting us in many ways. I hadn't felt it until this year. This surfaced by lots of different kinds of attacks I'd see the enemy bring. Physical attacks. Some of our staff were seriously injured this year. The Smalls almost lost their baby. A couple of our elders leaving, those kinds of things. Things where there was real tension because the enemy was at work to divide us and oppose us. Family crisis, these kinds of things. If I ever doubted the reality of spiritual warfare, I don't doubt it anymore. If I ever doubted that Satan could come in and rip up an individual family, I don't doubt it anymore. I know he can do it. See, some of my friends go through their crises. It's been difficult. Rick Hatch, others that you know. That's why Paul said, we wrestle not. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. And I've been wrestling this year. And those of you who know what's going on, you've been helped here that way. Another major issue here has been the difficulty that hundreds of you have had in embracing the transition to a vision that's more outward than inward, of reaching out to the lost and the unchurched. Now, a number of you have done this marvelously well, but some of you still haven't been able to accept that. I want to just back up a moment. On February, I believe it was the 18th, 1988, I gave a message that I think is one of the most important in my nine years here. And that was the Sunday after Jimmy Swaggart had announced that he was leaving the ministry and had fallen into sin. And the Lord spoke to me more powerfully that week than almost any time I can remember. He said that we were to stop all the stuff that was external and just kind of going through motion, and to do three things, to be real and relevant to the world around us, to be real and open and honest, to be relevant to the world around us, and to be related to each other. To embrace integrity at the highest levels of spirituality, rather than just going on from one degree of intensity in a certain style or a certain focus. I've come to realize, church, that many of us here, including some of our leaders, have not made that transition. That you're still looking backwards instead of forward. And that's been difficult. Some prefer to see the church in terms of just what's happening on the platform, in worship styles and charismatic expressions, instead of seeing a broader picture that that's part of things. But the real issue, the real issue that the Bible talks about is the integrity of our hearts in relationship to one another. And here's heart for the lost. As long as I'm the pastor of this church, we're gonna be a mission-oriented church. We're not gonna be a church that just tries to get holier than the one down the street. Because I think holiness will follow a church that's pouring itself under. And it's not that those things aren't important. They are important. The gifts of the Spirit, the expression of the presence of the Lord as we experience Wednesday night, and continue to pursue those. But it's been hurtful. People have left the church this year over this issue. I mean, it's been cordial. It's not been a big battle. But because they didn't own the vision, you see, they didn't really catch hold of it. They couldn't see beyond what was happening immediately. Another valley or struggle of this year for me has been difficulty in engaging a number of you in very simple ministries. Somehow we have a feeling when there's this many people in a church, times three, that someone's gonna be doing everything. Everything's covered. And that is just not the case. If you didn't notice today, the elders and pastors were in the parking lot directing traffic. And that's okay. They're willing to serve if that's where you feel they're best used. And it's been a real disappointment that so few of you are willing to say, hey, I'll give an hour on a Sunday morning. Especially when you won't miss worship. We struggle with that. And I think it's just because we kind of feel like someone else will take care of it. The serving ministries of our church need to grow to accommodate all that God's sending us. Greeters and ushers. We've had a hard time getting greeters and ushers. Simple things. Non-exhausting kinds of ministry. I mean, how much energy does it take to greet somebody? But it seems if we don't pursue and plead that people say, well, no, I'm busy. I've got my own agenda. And folks, we can't go on that way. You see? You need to see that those ministries are bridges that people walk upon to come to Christ. You need to see that that's part of the call. I heard a person say to me a few months ago, and was greeted and saw the friendliness of the people and came to the door and someone reached out their hand and smiled at me. I'd never seen that in the church. And I knew something different was about. Those are little things, but they add up. We need to see that if we work together here, the impact, folks, will be immeasurable. And if you've just been thinking about it and you don't know what to do, all you have to do is put your name on anything and put it in the offing basket and one of our leaders will contact you and help fit you in. We're not gonna give you the whole burden. And that really leads me to my own personal weights of this last ministry season from July till now. You see, this was a year when in lots of ways I faced some of my own limitations like I'd not known them before. Folks, to be honest with you, I've not done this before, have you? I mean, I'm learning kind of as I go, like many of you are. And it's not been easy for me to cross some of the hurdles. And it's been kind of stretching at times emotionally. Preaching four times a week is not easy. To preach Wednesday night, Saturday night and two times Sunday is very, very challenging. And I have able people around me who can fill in here and there, but it's an important ministry in this church that I feel called to, but it has drawn me away from some of the relationships and some of the important leadership functions that I've wanted to serve in. It's also pulled me away a bit from the kinds of times that I like to spend with the Lord to hear from him. The administration of ministry has become a major hurdle and I have to say that it's caused some frustration and there's been some disappointment. People haven't gotten on like they'd like. And that's not been easy to accept. Those things that went unresolved for so many months, the property issues and staff changes, some, this whole thing I shared about the outward focus and inward and all, some friends going through crises, these kinds of things added up. And I have to say, it's been a tough year emotionally. What's kept me going are two things. Your prayers, I wanna thank you for your prayers. I know you pray for me, many of you tell me that. It really kept me going. And the second thing is I have an uncanny gift from God that when I go home and go to bed, I go to sleep. I don't just carry it over through the night and I just wake up the next morning with fresh faith and say, well, Lord, the problem is still there, but today I'm believing you again. And that's what's kept me going, is we've praised and prayed our way through and it's been okay. That's one reason I'm taking some time off after today, after this week, I should say, to get away with the Lord and just to just be soaking in some restful environment and just kind of refuel. I need that. And I trust you'll grant me that grace to be away for just a bit. And we have capable men who will be filling in in the pulpit and we have capable leadership going on. Lots happening, but I won't be there to lead the charge. I need that. And I trust you'll grant me that grace. I appreciate the elders giving me that time to be away and to just get before the Lord and get things back in some perspectives. The last thing is this, the fourth and final valley, the fifth valley, I should say, and that has to do with you. Because I've discovered something in talking with all these 300 new people and some of our new staff people like Henry Yoder and so on, being around the city folks, this last thing isn't an event. This last valley is sort of a mindset. And the mindset is that I'm pretty convinced that most of us here have somehow allowed ourselves to not fully appreciate all that God is doing. Somehow we've either learned to take it for granted or we've turned a corner and kind of found more things to find fault about than to affirm. I want you to know, people who watch this ministry marvel at what God does through you. People who come in here from other cities and other areas, and not to say that everything's right, it's not, but they see the good things that God's using you to do. Those things jump out at them. Those are the things that they celebrate and affirm. And I want you to ask God to give you a fresh perception, perspective from the 30,000 feet of all the good that he's using you to do. If you haven't noticed, folks, we're seeing marvelous things happen. We've had 150 to 200 people in that range come to Christ since January of this year. We've fed nearly 4,000 people at a Christmas banquet. We have 50 active vital home groups happening in our church. We have people getting healed and people getting delivered, and we have people being restored who've been disillusioned in other places. God is using you. I want you to look at something. I want us to begin to expect that the year ahead is gonna be filled with the evidence that we know it's just the potential in us, that God's love's gonna overflow through us, because it's going to, that we believe and trust and pray together. What city's gonna have a Wonder Mall? It's gonna be interesting. 14 million people a year will visit that mall. I'll take 10% of it. Give us the time for the sake of Jesus. And let me end with this scripture. For this reason, I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and earth derives its name, and I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep, and to know this love that surpasses no. That's the love we've been talking about these last six weeks. That you may be filled to the measure. Whatever struggle you're facing personally, there's a God who loves you. And his love is not gonna let you go. Ellen's gonna come sing for us now. A song that was written 150 years ago by George Matheson. The story goes that he was a boy that was born with partial blindness. And when he started college, his vision rapidly deteriorated, and he lost his vision entirely. During that time, he continued his studies. But as the story goes, his fiance couldn't bear the thought of being married to a blind person, and she left him. In the midst of that moment of crisis, that moment of wondering, how am I gonna make it? How am I gonna go on? The Lord gave him this song, and he writes in the story, the whole song came to him in five minutes. Never wrote another one. The only song he ever wrote. A powerful expression. It's called a love that will not let me go.