I’m actually going to preach this message sometime in the upcoming months…
But it has been BURNING on my heart, and honestly…I can’t wait…I titled it..Six Things We need to have, to be a Church On Fire…(Get it? Burning on my heart…Church on Fire? Ha!)
It’s a little long…and if you read this all the way to the end more power to you!
So Consider this a little preview of a sermon you’re going to hear me preach one day. 😂
Because I’ve been thinking a LOT about our church.
Not just where we are… …but where God is taking us.
What kind of church are we becoming?
What REALLY matters?
What do we absolutely refuse to lose as we grow?
I don’t want Dream City to just be a church that has good services…
I don’t want us to JUST have good music.
Good preaching… Good kids ministry…
A full parking lot… A packed building…
Because….you can have ALL OF THAT… …and still miss JESUS.
The goal isn’t to build a church people are impressed by.
The goal is for us to be a church where PEOPLE ACTUALLY ENCOUNTER JESUS..
John 2 gives us a picture of what happens when Jesus gets involved…
Jesus shows up at a wedding.
They run out of wine.
There’s a problem nobody knows how to fix.
And Jesus turns the PROBLEM into a MIRACLE.
So what do we need if we’re going to be a church that is absolutely ON FIRE for Jesus?
#1-AN AWARENESS OF HIS PRESENCE John 2:1–2
Jesus was INVITED to the wedding.
Don’t miss that.
Before there was ever a miracle… JESUS WAS IN THE HOUSE.
Jesus never showed up somewhere and made the place MORE BORING!
When Jesus is in the room… ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN.
Lives can change!!!
Marriages can be restored. Lost people can be saved. Sick people can be healed.
People who walked in HOPELESS can walk out believing again.
Because wherever the presence of Jesus is…
There is the potential for a MIRACLE.
That’s why we don’t want to learn how to do church WITHOUT HIM.
I don’t care how good we get at lights.
Music. Systems. Preaching. Programming.
None of it can replace the PRESENCE OF JESUS!!!!
And when you become aware of His presence…
you become FEARLESS.
Why are we terrified of something so SMALL…when our God is so BIG?
Dream City…
WE DON’T WANT TO DO CHURCH WITHOUT JESUS.
#2 - A DESPERATION FOR HIS VOICE John 2:3–5
They run out of wine. Mary comes to Jesus.
Then she turns to the servants and gives them one of the greatest instructions in Scripture…
“DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU.”
That’s IT…That’s the strategy.
That’s the church-growth conference and the leadership book.
That’s the five-year plan.
JUST DO WHATEVER JESUS TELLS YOU.
Sometimes we’re more desperate for a CODE…
a FORMULA…and a strategy…
than we are desperate to hear from GOD…
There are moments when we need to spend LESS TIME asking…
“What are other churches doing?” …and more time on our faces asking…
“JESUS, WHAT DO YOU WANT OUR CHURCH TO DO?”
Because I don’t want somebody else’s instructions. I want HIS!!!
#3-A REALIZATION OF WHAT HE HAS ALREADY GIVEN US John 2:6
Jesus is about to perform a miracle. And notice something…
The vessels for the miracle were ALREADY in the house.
Six stone water jars.
They didn’t have to order something.
They didn’t have to wait until they had more money.
They didn’t need a bigger building.
They didn’t need somebody else’s resources.
What Jesus was going to use…WAS ALREADY THERE…
We spend WAY TOO MUCH TIME focusing on what we DON’T HAVE.
If we had more… money… more people… a bigger building… better equipment… more volunteers…
And Jesus is just asking for what is already in your house?
Use WHATCH’A got!
Be faithful with what He’s already put in your hands…
Because somewhere in what God has already given you…
HE MAY HAVE ALREADY PLANTED THE POTENTIAL FOR YOUR NEXT MIRACLE.
4. A DESIRE TO WORK HARD John 2:7–10 (This is SO IMPORTANT)
Jesus told the servants…
“FILL THE JARS WITH WATER.”
We read that in about three seconds. They didn’t DO IT in three seconds.
These were HUGE stone jars. Dozens and dozens of gallons.
By the way there was no such thing as a garden hose in Israel at the time..
No faucet. No water truck.
They had to go get the water…from a well bring it back…
pour it in…
go get MORE…
bring it back…
pour it in…
AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN…
We love talking about miracles.
We don’t always like talking about the WORK surrounding them…
Sometimes we’re praying…
“GOD, DO A MIRACLE!”
And God says…
“GRAB A BUCKET.”
There are some things God will do that ONLY GOD CAN DO.
But that doesn’t mean we sit around doing NOTHING.
Ministry takes work. Leadership takes work.
Building a church takes work. Sometimes you have to perspire.
Sometimes you have to show up tired and stay late.
Sometimes you have to make the difficult decision.
Sometimes you have to have the conversation you’ve been avoiding.
Sometimes you have to do the thing nobody sees.
The servants didn’t CREATE the miracle.
JESUS DID.
But they were willing to do the work…and because of THAT WORK…they positioned themselves to participate in the miracle.
ONE MORE THING about hard work.
Jesus will NOT use lazy, serve me first people to perform miracles for desperate people…because they will ALWAYS value their comfort more than someone else’s breakthrough.
Meaning the moment the miracle requires WORK, they’ll decide it costs too much.
Lazy people are one of my pet peeves!!!!
5. A DESIRE FOR PEOPLE TO SEE JESUS CLEARLY John 2:11
Why did Jesus perform the miracle?
John tells us, “He revealed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.”
THAT’S THE POINT.
The miracle wasn’t really about wine. It was about JESUS.
The provision wasn’t the destination. JESUS WAS.
Everything we do at Dream City has to eventually point back to HIM.
NOT… the Pastors…our worship team… our buildings…or our programs…
IT IS ALL ABOUT JESUS.
Because we are temporary containers.
Life is a gift. Eternity is reality.
And when somebody walks through the doors of Dream City Church…
I want them to encounter something they can’t explain away.
Not because we’re impressive. But because JESUS IS HERE.
The question isn’t…
“Did they like church?”
The question is…
“DID THEY SEE JESUS?”
Can somebody walk into our church…
broken…
hurting…
far from God…
…and walk out saying…“I SAW JESUS.”
#6- A WILLINGNESS TO HAVE CRAZY FAITH-2 Corinthians 5:13
And there’s one more thing.
If we’re going to become everything God has called us to become…
We’re going to need some CRAZY FAITH.
Jud Wilhite once put it this way:
“STAY A LITTLE CRAZY FOR GOD.”
Paul said:
“If we are ‘out of our mind,’ as some say, it is for God…” — 2 Corinthians 5:13
There are moments when following Jesus is going to make you look CRAZY.
Think about those servants.
The problem is…WE NEED WINE.
Jesus says…”FILL THE JARS WITH WATER.”
WHAT?!?
That doesn’t make sense. Water isn’t wine.
HOWEVER… they filled them anyway.
Then Jesus tells them to take some to the master of the banquet.
Now imagine being THAT GUY. You know what you just put in there.
WATER.
And Jesus says “Take it to him.”
At some point…Faith has to MOVE.
Some of us want God to explain everything before we’ll obey anything.
But if God has to explain the entire process before you’ll take the first step…
THAT ISN’T FAITH.
Faith says…“JESUS SAID IT…I’M DOING IT.”
Sometimes God is going to call you to do something that’s BIGGER THAN YOU.
Something you cannot afford. Something you cannot accomplish. Something you cannot explain.
Something that honestly scares you. (In fact if you’re going to be used by God, you will always be here…otherwise it probably isn’t God.)
And everybody around you may look at you and say…”YOU’RE CRAZY.”
Maybe…But if God said GO…
I’d rather look crazy obeying God than look like everyone else, disobeying Him…
If everything we attempt as a church can be accomplished with the money we already have…
the people we already have… the resources we already have and the ability we already have…
then tell me…WHERE IS THE FAITH?
Dream City…I believe God has called us to DREAM BIG.
PRAY BIG.
GIVE BIG.
SERVE BIG.
LOVE PEOPLE BIG.
And when Jesus tells us to fill the jars…WE FILL THE JARS.
Even when we don’t understand it.
Even when we can’t see how it’s going to work.
Even when somebody thinks we’ve lost our minds.
Because maybe every once in a while…
the people of God SHOULD look a little crazy.
SO LET’S reserve A LITTLE CRAZY FOR GOD.
And let’s build a church where…
JESUS IS IN THE HOUSE.
WE HEAR HIS VOICE.
WE USE WHAT HE’S GIVEN US.
WE’RE WILLING TO WORK.
PEOPLE SEE JESUS CLEARLY.
…and when He calls us beyond what makes sense…
WE HAVE THE CRAZY FAITH TO GO ANYWAY.
Because at the end of the day…
I want people to walk through the doors of Dream City and be able to say one thing:
“THE LORD IS THERE.” Ezekiel 48:35
Pastor Z