You Make the Call

That we're forced to go through the wilderness, were we? In Exodus 13, there's an interesting verse that tells about God's purposes in times of delay. Exodus 13, let me just read it for you if you haven't turned there. Exodus 13 and verse 17. Verse 17. When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not leave them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. It was the shorter, quicker way to go. For God said, if they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt. So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. And how many know how long that journey took to get to the promised land? 40 years. 30 miles, 40 years. And anytime there's a delay in your life between what God's promised, what you're believing for, and where you are, and you feel like you're in the wilderness, there's two things happening. God is, number one, testing your faith, and number two, building your character. And I've discovered I don't like either one of those. But that's what God's doing. He's testing your faith, and He's building your character. And I want to say, when you're in the wilderness, you know, some people just don't make it with you. And please listen. There have been a number of folks over the last 7, 8, 9 months who have chosen to no longer worship at North Way. And you need to understand that we're aware of that. As pastors, we always grieve when someone chooses to go and leave North Way. But we don't ever say to someone. We never go and somehow challenge their decision as if they don't know how to make a decision before the Lord. We would always seek to talk to them and communicate our love to them. But listen, anyone who's gone, we've blessed. We've blessed them. This hasn't been easy to do. We've blessed them, and they've chosen to go elsewhere. But can I say something about how excited I am? Look at all the people that have stayed. We have endured a long time of tough transition. And I am deeply excited about what it means to have this many people who survived the wilderness are now ready to take the land. Aren't you excited about that? It's a real statement, absolutely. So, this isn't fluff. I mean, you know, you people are the committed people. And I wanted to share five things I've learned in this wilderness, just real quickly. I'm just going to reduce this down to just little sound bites. But if you're in a personal wilderness right now, I'm looking at some of you making eye contact with me. Some of you are in a job wilderness. You're between positions, and you're kind of roaming. You're saying, God, why don't you just move me into my promised place? But he's saying, no, I'm taking you a different way. Some of you are in a relational wilderness right now. You're between relationships, as it were. Some of you are in a very deep time of introspection, personally, spiritually. Five things I've learned about the wilderness and how to survive it. Lessons learned, if we could please, number one. Always maintain the vision of your future. I did a little blank insert there. You can write these down if you want to keep them. You see, vision is so powerful that it can sustain you in times in the wilderness when you might want to give up. Remember, vision simply is a clear mental image of a preferable future imparted by God. Let me say it again. Vision is simply a clear mental image of a preferable future imparted by God. For the Israelites, it was the promised land. You're going to take the promised land. For the North Way Christian community, it's not just a building that's our vision, but it's the vision that we've always had to help see lives changed and transformed for eternity. In fact, we brought a vision statement. David, if you'll put that up, please. Read this with me. Just that first paragraph. This is our vision statement. This is what sustained us. Read it with me. To raise up the local body disciples of Jesus Christ, beloved, nurtured, and equipped to minister to God, one another, and the lost of the world in the power of the Holy Spirit. Just leave it up a second. That's our vision. We want to see a local body of disciples. Not just members, but committed people who are loved, nurtured, and equipped to minister. That is to serve God, one another, and the lost of the world in the power of the Holy Spirit. That's been our vision for about ten years. David, just that way. And that sustained us through this time in the wilderness. Dear ones, if you're in the wilderness right now, get a vision. See where it is you're supposed to go. Because that wilderness can start to take you in circles. And you'll find you're at the same place six months from now where you are today, and that's not a good thing. There's lots of vision killers out there, aren't there? Some things that almost killed our vision. Negative people. Get enough negative people carping, and vision can die out. Another thing that's almost killed vision is fatigue. How many of you know you just get kind of tired doing this stuff, and you sometimes want to give up? If you're in between something right now, and you're weary, ask God to be your strength, because fatigue can choke off your vision. Another thing is fear. How many times do you think I've heard you're never going to make it? You're going to die at Marshall Middle School. And I always answer back, yeah, I almost did. I know what you're talking about. It could be. But that voice isn't from God. Fear is never from God. But it'll kill vision. And another one is complacency. You know, vision doesn't come to pass just by waiting for it. One of the things that people have failed to understand about prophetic words, prophecy doesn't just happen. When God speaks a word about what's going to take place, it comes to pass because you engage it with your faith and with your effort. And say, God, I believe your word. Now I'm going to receive it. And I'm going to embrace it. I'm going to act on it. So without a vision, the Bible says, the people perish. If you're in the wilderness right now, get a vision. Seek God for a vision. It will sustain you. Number two, partnership is indispensable. In the wilderness, you've got to have someone to look out for you. And those people, listen carefully, who have flourished over the last number of months here at North Way have been the people who have been connected in partnership. The ones who've drifted away are the ones normally who have not been in home groups or ministry support groups. The ones who are flourishing have been connected. If you're in the wilderness, get a partner. Find someone to work with you. And by the way, without the teams we've had in place, we never could have made this. We've made it because teams have stepped up to help. They've mobilized into ministry together. People like the ones I've described and we've already thanked. And I want to also mention, there have been churches that have partnered with us. Our friends at North Park Church have been gracious in letting us use their facility. And on and on I could go. You need partners in the wilderness. You won't make it on your own. Number three, you discover, because stuff isn't really yours anymore, you discover that it's the intangible things that really count and not the external blessings. You know what? People have never mattered more to me than they do now. Because identity hasn't been about a building. It's been about people. And how many of you discovered that when things are difficult, when you're in the wilderness, that you realize who your real friends are? You realize what really matters to you? That it's family and God and friends and that's about it? Because stuff doesn't matter anymore. I've learned that in the wilderness. Number four, praise keeps you going. What do you tend to do in the wilderness when it's not going the way you want it to do? What do the Israelites do real badly? They mumbled, grumbled, and complained. I've done a couple of messages on the power, the death-dealing power of complaining. About two months ago, when Merlin Caruthers was here, the author of Prisoner of Praise, I said, what do you sense God is saying right now? He said, He is rooting out a complaining spirit around the body of Christ. And can I tell you what I believe has happened at North Way? There was a prophetic word that over these nine months, some people would be weaned away. They would drift away from North Way. And you know what I think God did over the last months, by and large? Those people who've left, by and large, grumbled their way out. And I look around here and I think all the grumblers are gone. Look at someone and say, are you a grumbler? No. I think most all the grumblers are gone. I'm praying for the churches they went to. That they'll be able to help turn this ship around. But I am grateful because I believe that who we have here are expectant and positive and praiseful. And there's so many scriptures I could quote, just jot down. For example, Deuteronomy 8 verse 10, let me read it to you. Here's what the Bible says about praise. When you've eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land He's given you. You see, next week when we rise together in that new facility, we're going to begin with praise. We're going to tell God, thank you. We exalt you for what you've provided. And then we're going to live in that. You see, because praise has carried us through the wilderness and it will carry us into tomorrow. Be a praising people. And number five, I've also learned this, probably more than anything else. God is faithful. God is faithful. Throughout the sojourn of the Israelites, God always took care of them. He rained down manna and quail to feed them. Water came from a rock to refresh them. He defeated their enemies when they were outnumbered and overpowered. God stepped in. The Bible says that God even protected their clothes. This suit is 20 years old. No, I'm just kidding. It may look like it, but actually... God protected even the clothing of the Israelites. Why? Because He cared about them and was faithful to provide. And I believe this. God has enabled us to maintain and in some cases even to grow some of our ministries over the last eight months. He has provided. He has been faithful. And dear one, if you're in the wilderness right now, if the devil is saying to you you're going to fail, you're going to die in the wilderness, I want you to stand up with me right now and say, That's not so. I'm going to come through. I'm going to receive the promise of God. Would you stand and tell him that? I'm going to make it because God is faithful. And we have made it together. And so let's exalt Him. Let's come before Him and lift our voice and give Him praise. If you're in the middle of a tough time right now, this little chorus means an awful lot. It says, God will make a way where there seems to be no way. He works in ways we cannot see. He'll make a way for me. Let's sing it. Wide range of spiritual needs on the continuum when we gather here every week. I mean, folks, we have people here. You may not know this. We have one person that's been a Pentecostal minister for 45 years. I mean, we have that extreme all the way to some folks who've come here for the first time, addicted to drugs or alcohol and searching for answers. I mean, that's the range, okay? Now, given that kind of spiritual need and everything in between, here's the question, please, Dave. How would you meet the need for growth, feeding, and maturity in the believer's life while fulfilling the mission to make disciples of the Lord Jesus out of unchurched or lost people? How do you do those things? How do you meet that range of needs in a given week in a church like this? What do you do? How would you do it? For some people, I mean, it's just pull out the stops and go all the way to the throne of God. And for other people, it's like, what is this all about? How would you do it, okay? I see some of you are already answering the question. Answer the question. Find someone and say, well, here's my best shot. Now, if you don't have a clue, just say, I don't have a clue. I just show up here. What's the deal? But I do want everyone, even the kids in the back, I want you to say, well, here's how I do that. Here's what I would do. So move around. Take about two minutes in groups of three or four. If you really don't feel comfortable with that, just say, well, I'd like to listen to your answer. Go ahead. We'll call you back in a minute. Tell someone that. Tell someone that. You'd be praying in the Spirit. My experience is in these things, you expect it to go just like the last service, and it never does. Somebody's going to throw away your answer. Thanks, troops. Okay. Okay, when you think you have the answer, you can be seated. Great. I'd like all of you who are seated to come up and tell me what it is. No, just kidding. You can be seated when you need to be, as soon as you've completed your conversation. Okay. All right, just another 30 seconds or so. I want to get some feedback here. All right. All right. Well, this is great interaction. Everybody's still kind of processing this? Thank you for being willing to participate. I appreciate that. How many of you would agree this is a challenge? This is something that we have prayed and talked a lot about as a staff and elders and leaders, and many of you have commented. Here's what I'd like to just suggest. Why don't I share with you kind of where we have landed, and then I'm going to open up the microphone here, and if you'd like to challenge that or make a suggestion or raise a question of your own, we'll be more than happy to do that. You see, I am very convinced, dear ones, that God is about to surprise us with the magnitude of His plan for this church. And, you know, back in the days when Jesus was on the planet walking in the flesh, the incarnated Son of God, He very clearly had different strategies for different groups. Just maybe make a mental note or jot down Mark 4 in verse 10, when He had just told the parable of the sower. And here's what He says. When He was alone, the twelve of the others around Him asked Him about the parable. Why are you using these parables, Jesus? What's the deal? And here's what He told them, verse 11, Mark 4. Write it down. The secrets of the kingdom of God have been given to you, but to those on the outside, everything is said in parables. That says to me that Jesus had strategies of communication with those who were committed and a different strategy with those who were searching. And there's lots of other scriptures. We have arrived at this conclusion. People in our culture today want to know if God is real. Would you agree with that? I mean, if God is real, they want to know it. And not everybody is interested. Look, you could try to share with a guy down the hall from you in another office who could care less. I mean, everything is going his way. I mean, all the deals are coming in, and the contracts, and he's happy, and his investments are going up, and his family is healthy. But can I tell you something? I have yet to meet a person who at some point in their life hasn't faced the issue of their own finiteness, their own inability to cope with everything. I had a wonderful conversation with a person who I really can't... If I told you who it was, most of you would recognize the person who is affiliated in a professional way with our church. He's not a member of our church. Who after months and years of successes has fallen down the drain in these last few months. And I never thought I'd have the conversation I did with him on Thursday when he came into my office and said for the first time in my life, I feel like I'm out of control. Forty-year-old professional guy, highly motivated, very successful. And he went down and with tears in his eyes was revealing his heart to me. And he said this. Remember last week's message? He said, Jay, I feel, for the first time in my life, I feel lost. Remember what I said? It's not bad people. They just, they lose their compass in life. And that's when God's saying, he's screaming to them. Look, so what we believe in every service when we gather, we want to have moments when people can touch God. Powerful moments when people can say, there's something here that I didn't experience at North Park Lounge on Friday night. There's something here that I don't know that I really understand. We want to have those moments in every service when we gather. But we want to also not go to the point where everything is so overpowering that that individual can't interpret it. That that person has this reaction, which I've heard numerous times as your pastor. I hear people say, well, you know, when I came to North Way, I felt, and here's the word they used, they said, I felt like I didn't belong there. Now, they weren't judging us or saying that we were weird or that somehow they weren't felt, they didn't feel loved. They were saying, I saw people acting in ways that I never, I have no frame of reference for. Therefore, I must not belong there. I had that conversation within the last two weeks with several people. And I knew deep in my heart, they desperately needed to be here, but they were by external judgment saying, I don't belong there. And what we need to do is find that certain place where God is honored and lifted up, that people know, without a shadow of a doubt, that they belong. Wherever they are in the continuum. That God will meet them there and then bring them where He wants to be. I appreciate it. Dave and I were talking about this a couple days ago. And he used an analogy I want to carry over for. It's kind of like when you have a family meal and you invite some neighbors over. Now, help me out here moms, especially the ladies, because you do most of the work. When you have guests over to your house for dinner, do you do the same thing for that that you do on a normal night? Come on now ladies, loosen up, what? Yeah, be honest, there's absolutely no way, right? I mean, don't you make a little more effort to set the table a little more nicely? Better stuff comes out. How about the menu? Is the menu the same, you know, for guests over on Friday night as it is Monday night? No, actually, usually it's Monday night when you have Friday night, right? Just microwaves. So it's different. And Dave was making a point, I think he's right, that we as a family, on Sunday mornings, are going to invite people over for dinner. We're going to have guests. And I think Scott's right, a lot of them. Folks, people are noticing. Yesterday, in the middle of the work day, I'm up in the upstairs, I had these nylon shorts on, this old Grove City, well actually, nice clean Grove City T-shirt. And this gal came up with a satchel. Someone brought her up and said, well here's Pastor Jay, he can help you. And she said, gave me your name, she said, I'm the coordinator of volunteers in Pine Township. And she said, and I drive by your building every Saturday. And we're looking for some volunteers next Saturday to plant some trees. And she said, one thing I know about your people, you know how to get volunteers out to plant trees, don't you? And then we had some laughs about that, and I assured her that Scott was available from 9 to 1. But then she said this, she said, you know, we just live up here, and she named a plan right up the street, about a mile from us. She said, and my husband and I, we don't have a church. We don't go to church. Would we be allowed to come? And I had the thrill of being able to say, we would love that. I said, that's why we built this building, so that you would feel welcome to come. And so I gave her some information, and wrote down her number, and told her, and I think she's going to be there. And you see, when she comes for dinner, I want her to experience God, I want her to know the presence of God, but I don't want her to say, I don't belong here. Now, what does that mean? I don't know. It means something like what's happening right now, doesn't it? Because many of you are hearing this. Now, that's kind of where we are. Other nights the family meets, and we can just pile on this stuff, and we can bring out the old goodies, and just really go out. You know, our Wednesday nights, we're going to crank up the heat on Wednesday nights, and be before the Lord, and like we were this last Wednesday, really, because we can linger. Here we've had limitations. I mean, the clock's running, the money's going out the door. But in our new building, we can adjust. We can have longer times. Those of you who wrote and said, well, are we going to have times when we can just wait on God? Yes. But you need to be flexible enough to say, well, it may not be when I want it, but I'm going to come anyhow, because I need to be there. And I urge you to do that. So that's where we are. I mean, that's just a nutshell of many, many, many conversations and weeks of wrestling. But I wonder, maybe some of you have a question about that, or maybe you have a comment. So Scott's going to come to the microphone, and if you're willing to come down and just grab the mic and ask a question on this particular issue, I'd like you to do that. If you feel like you'd like to make a comment, please do. I know it can look intimidating, but actually, you can't ask a bad question. I don't think I'm afraid of anything going crazy here. Anyone would like to come and ask a question like this? Rob, are you a plant? Tell them. Yeah, did we ask you to stand up in that front row? No, no. Go ahead. At that point, when we were talking about wrestling, I don't know if it was the need for small groups getting together and very quickly expressing that need for being able to administer drugs. And I was kind of reminded of something that one of the speakers said at Promise Keepers, that there are two seas in the area of Israel where there is the Sea of Galilee, which is fed by the various tributaries and the mountains coming down. It's beautiful water that is clean and crystal. There's beautiful fish that grow and live in that sea. And out of the Sea of Galilee comes the Jordan River, and that feeds into the Dead Sea, which has no outlet. The water comes into it and never goes back out. It's never able to feed anything else. And that sea is absolutely dead. And I think that's really a very clear picture of what happens in small groups. And I think that is a way that we are going to be able to minister to each other and be careful for so many people. Excellent point. Very, very clear. Thanks, Rob. I appreciate that. Thank you. All right, good. One more. Therese Dawson. I got it right. I just married him. That's why I know. Okay. Hi. I have actually a comment and kind of a question. We actually, part of my seamstress for my wedding, I had to get in touch with her after the wedding for a seamstress job. And she lives in Cranberry. And when I mentioned to her, just in conversation that this was our church that was being built, her eyes lit up and she got all excited. And she said, Oh my gosh, we've been waiting for that church to open for a really long time. And she was really excited. And of course I was too. And it was right after you talked about evangelism. And I know that I have that gift and I've really sort of left it on the shelf for a while. And it was like God said, Well, here they are. And they're right there. And they're right in our neighborhoods. And while we were talking, she started to ask, well, she shared that her children go to a Catholic church, I mean, a Catholic school. So therefore they belong to a Catholic church. And her question was, would I be allowed to come? She said, and I said, sure. She said, well, I really want to still belong to my church, but I sure would like to come there. Because years ago she was prayed for, for her little girl. Her womb was not producing. And she came to North Way and was prayed for. And she had her baby. So she calls it her miracle baby. So it was really exciting for me to see that. And then over the next several weeks, her husband actually was so excited about the church opening. One day when he was off of work, he went during the week and asked the construction guys if he could help volunteer. He wanted to help build the building. So it was just really exciting for me. And I wanted to encourage everyone that they're out there in right near neighborhoods, and they're waiting to come to dinner. But I guess my question is, for those people who do want to continue to go to their churches, how can we better, I guess, reach out to them to, aside from just being involved in the groups that we have, you know, the classes and all that sort of thing, is there any way that we can, I guess, corporately know how is the best way to invite them to those sort of things, aside from just inviting them? I mean, will we ever put things in the paper or, you know? Yes, why don't let Scott answer that question, because that really is an area he has a heart for. We will be, we're going to be doing a lot of things, very creatively over the months, hopefully over the years, just a couple of illustrations of this. Next weekend, as we worship together, we're going to be giving you all a little calling card size invitation, just something very simple with a little map and a way to invite people just to help break down the barriers, to make it easier for you to bring a guest. A month from now, a month from the 16th, actually three and a half weeks after we move in, we're going to have a whole open house weekend. An open house. An open house. Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon. Not a worship service, but a chance for you to bring friends into your house to see, feel, touch, observe, sense, perhaps, even the presence of God, even without a worship service. I want to just say too, be sensitive with people who go to other churches. You know, my heart about this, I never want to attract someone who's already come into another church. We'll come here, it's better. Don't ever say that. It may not be right for them, and so let's not do that. But on the other hand, it's okay if a person is floundering and dead in a church situation, to say, come and see. That's fine. Just say, come and see. We never discourage families. People will have multiple church homes. And it's okay for people to come and worship with us, even if they have another church home, and learn our language. For a season. That's right. Second question. You come on up here and we'll get your comments. Second question, okay? Cover up just a second, let me give a little background. Based on last week, when we talked about becoming a church that heals, and the fact that, folks, we are filled in our culture with broken people. Divorced. Shattered in many respects. Addictions. Alienation. Rebellious kids. The whole thing. If we're going to be a church that heals, here's the question, okay, please. What would you do to send the message to others that we are open and accepting of people no matter what their current spiritual, relational, or emotional condition. In other words, how can we let the community know that it's okay to come and not have your act altogether. You see, again, I've heard, I've had conversations in the last few weeks, people said, well, I came there, but, you know, if they knew that I was addicted, or that I was an alcoholic, or that I was in the middle of going through an affair right then, they wouldn't want me there. And you know what? I think it's out of a pure heart. They say to me, all those people seem so right with God, you know, they lift their hands. They're not criticizing, they're just saying, I'd be hypocritical if I went there. And how many of you know it's never hypocritical if you come humbly and say, God, help me, I'm a sinner. Help me, I need help. How would you send that message? How would you let the people know that they can come in whatever spiritual, emotional, relational condition they're in and that they'd be accepted? What could you say or do to help them? Just turn to one person on either side of you and tell them, well, here's what I'd do to let people know they're welcome, even if they don't have their act altogether. Go ahead, share with somebody. Tell them what you'd tell. How would you make them feel welcome? Excuse me, would you like to share? Take a second. Do you have a question? She has a comment. She has a comment, okay. Susie Zumwalt? I just wanted to say that I'm involved in Third Base and we had a meeting this morning and one of the things that continues to come up is trying to get people involved. And it's whether you're in a home group, whether you're working in the parking lot, whether you're planting trees. Through the whole paradigm, whether you've been here a long time or whether you're new, you have to get plugged in somewhere and start. And when you go through the basis and the paradigm, whether you're new or old here, everything's going to be changed a little bit and you're going to learn something from it. But the only way you're going to grow is to get connected. Okay, good. Absolutely right. Let's thank her for coming forward. I appreciate that. All right. How do we reach out to people and let them know... Okay, go ahead. Sure. One of the things that I hear a lot of comments from churches are the way our attitudes are and how can we be Christian when we still see people as they are right now and we're not closing our eyes to our prejudices and how we really see people. And I think what God has been impressing upon me these last few months is that we really need to become blind in the physical sense and to open our spiritual eyes to be able to really meet people then. I mean, I've never been addicted to drugs. I have no idea what that lifestyle is. But the Bible says that give no thought to what you need to say when that time needs to approach because God will give you those words to say. And I believe we need to start closing our eyes more and opening up our hearts more in the Spirit. And I believe that's the only way we're going to be able to meet people in lifestyles that we have no idea what they're about. Very good. Excellent. Thank you. Very good. It has everything to do with having the mentality of bringing and including. Remember that word from last week? Bringing and including. Every time we meet, how could you bring and include others? Because, you see, that becomes something that... If it becomes subconscious, that accepting attitude that you were describing of having glasses that see spiritually, not physically, that gets communicated. And it has to do with simple things like when you go down for your coffee break, that you don't just talk to the little group that you're with every week, but you turn around and see the guy standing there by himself. And you say, Hey, would you come join with us? We'd like to meet you. Are you new? And he says, No, I've been here 10 years and I know. I've had all those conversations, but it's okay. Better to have him say, No, I've been here 10 years, than for him to say, Well, I guess no one here really cares about me. And I know that's a stretch. But we need to be able to see people as God sees them, not according to the flesh, as 2 Corinthians 5.16 says, but according to the Spirit. Now, if the ushers will come forward right away, I want to give you something very important. We're going to review in closing today. Come on, ushers. I need you to do this. What you're going to get in your hand, and every family take one, please, is a document that will help.