How God Builds Great Churches | Pastor Robby Dickerson
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Robby Dickerson preaches from the King James Version of the Bible.
Be sure to SUBSCRIBE & LIKE this channel! When you do, it really
helps spread the Living Word of God to a Dying World.
Find Us On Social Media
https://www.robbydickersonministries.com
mailto:robbydickersonministries@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/luther.dickerson
https://rumble.com/user/RobbyDickersonPreachingMinistries
https://open.spotify.com/show/0MhAcWF8OHqO9lrwLd6lKG
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-robby-dickerson-preaching-131781206/
https://www.audible.com/pd/Robby-Dickerson-Preaching-Ministries-Podcast/B0CP74T9ZZ
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LearningTranscript
00:001 John chapter 4, verse number 1, this morning the Bible says,
00:05Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God,
00:09because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
00:13Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in
00:18the flesh is of God, and every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ has come in
00:24the flesh is not of God, and this is that spirit of Antichrist whereof ye have heard,
00:29that it should come, and even now already is it in the world.
00:34And we see that spirit not only in John's days, we also see that same spirit prevalent in our
00:40day to day. We see that same spirit, we see that same teaching in the world of today.
00:44And I want you to understand when it comes to God, you cannot separate the Son of God from God.
00:49Any religion that teaches that Jesus Christ is not only God the Son, but the Son of God,
00:56any religion that teaches against that is not of God, but it's of men.
01:02And John gives us warning here in 1 John chapter number 4, but if you get to our text,
01:07look at verse number 4. The Bible says in verse number 4,
01:11Year of God, little children, and have overcome them.
01:15In other words, the child of God has received the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit,
01:21and the Holy Spirit has guided all of us that are saved into truth,
01:26and we have overcome the false teaching, we have overcome the false preaching,
01:30we have overcome this false spirit, and he gives us the reason why in verse number 4,
01:35look at this, he says, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
01:42For the next few minutes this morning, I want to preach a message on the subject,
01:47how God built a great church. How God built a great church.
01:55Let's have a word of prayer and we'll get into our message.
01:58Father, we're so thankful this morning again just for the privilege of being able to come
02:03to your house in the works. We thank you, Lord, for those who have come this morning.
02:07Lord, again, they could have done anything that they wanted to do this morning,
02:11but they braved the weather, they came out just because they wanted to hear from heaven.
02:15Lord, I know that you've got the message for us this morning,
02:18and I just ask you that you'd anoint it. I ask you that you'd bless me,
02:22I pray you'd give me power, I pray you'd give me clarity of thought and clarity of speech.
02:26I pray, Lord, that you'd give us all ears to hear, that you'd help us to receive the truth
02:31this morning. Thank you for being so good to us, we pray now that you'd bless us.
02:36In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
02:40How God builds a great church.
02:45This morning I want you to understand that we all have areas in our lives
02:51where we have settled for. Areas where good enough at times is just good enough.
02:58God this morning hasn't called us to merely survive in this world
03:03or to merely go through the routines of life waiting for the day in which he calls us home.
03:10There's much more to our existence than that this morning.
03:13There is much more that God has in store for you and I than to just come to church
03:18and go through the routines of going to church and just come and go to and belong to
03:24an ordinary or yet an average church. I want you to understand God has far more for the child of God
03:31than that this morning. God this morning has called us, his children, his church,
03:39you know, his family to a greater mission in this great life. He has called us this morning to be
03:45great in a world that is not so great. You can look around at this world this morning and you'd
03:50have to agree with me this morning, this world is not a very great place. But yet at the same time
03:56but yet at the same time God has called his children, his believers, to be great in a world
04:03that is not great. This morning God has called each of us to some unique and oftentimes very
04:09different paths in life. It is our calling to God this morning that we read about in 1 John chapter
04:16number 4 that challenges us to follow after God's greatness and to become the great church and the
04:23great individual that he wants us to be. Now it's true this morning in Louisiana especially
04:30that there is a church on every street corner. But this morning the question that I would want
04:38to ask you is even though there might be a church on every street corner in Louisiana,
04:44as God looks inside the churches in Louisiana, how many of those do you think that God would
04:49consider to be great? Probably the answer would be very few. This morning I want us to think about
04:57the subject, how God builds a great church. I believe this morning at Central Baptist Church
05:04there's probably not a better message that I could preach here to you this morning
05:08than on the subject, how God builds a great church. Now as we look at this subject this
05:14morning there are three things that we need to consider when it comes to the fact of God
05:20building a great church. Number one, the first thing that we need to consider this morning is
05:27the truth that it has to be God that builds the church. In other words, if a church is going to
05:35be great, God this morning is the one who has to be the builder. In Matthew chapter number 16 and
05:44verse number 18 the Bible says, Jesus said, and I say also unto thee that thou art Peter. Now
05:49notice this, and upon this rock he says the word, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall
05:57not prevail against it. Notice what Jesus said in Matthew chapter number 16 when he was referring to
06:03his great church. He said, I will build my church. In order for any church to be great this morning,
06:11in order for any church to be more than average, in order for any church to be found great in the
06:17eyes of God this morning, God is the one who has to be the builder. In Acts chapter number two
06:24verses 46 through 47 the Bible says, and they continuing daily with one accord in the temple
06:30and breaking bread from house to house did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
06:36this is praising God and having favor with all the people. Now notice the next statement here,
06:41and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. In Matthew chapter number 16,
06:48Jesus plainly said, I will build my church. In Acts chapter two verse number 47 the Bible says,
06:55and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. Any great church in America
07:02this morning, any great church in our world this morning, any great church in 2014 has to start off
07:10being built by God. I think this morning too often there's too many men and women this morning who
07:17have good intentions, but yet they make the mistake of trying to put the burden of building a church
07:25on themselves instead of simply let God be the builder. How many of you this morning have heard
07:31a preacher or another Christian sometime in your life make the statement from discouragement
07:36and say, you know, I've done everything that I can to build that church and it's just not going to
07:41grow. I believe most of us that are here this morning probably heard someone make that thing.
07:46I can't tell you how many preachers I've seen that are discouraged. I can't tell you how many
07:50Christians I've seen who are discouraged made the statement to me, you know, I've done everything I
07:54know to do. I just can't make that church grow. Well, as we look at the churches in America this
08:00morning, I believe that that's where the problem lies. Listen, we're trying to build a church.
08:06It's not our job to build the church. That's God's job this morning. Listen, if you want to have a
08:12great church this morning, if you want to belong to a great church this morning, something that's
08:17more than average, something that's more than ordinary, you have to understand this morning
08:22that it's God that has to be the builder.
08:27The greatest lesson that I ever learned about building a church
08:32was when I was discouraged quite a few years ago. I was one of those preachers that was probably in
08:36the same category. I said, man, I'm doing everything I know to build this church, but it's just not
08:41growing. I'll never forget, I was talking to a man that I was working with who was a coworker.
08:45He's not a preacher. He wasn't really active in the church, but he was a man that just loved God.
08:50And I'll never forget, I was talking to this man one day and he taught me one of the most
08:54valuable lessons in just one little statement that I ever learned in my life. As I was talking
09:00to him, he said, preacher, he said, you're going about this business all the wrong way. I said,
09:04what do you mean? And this is the statement that he made. I want you to listen real closely.
09:08He said, preacher, he said, if you do your part, he said, then God will do his.
09:17And when he told me that, when he made that statement, it was like a light just went off
09:20in my head. And I said, you know, I've been doing it all wrong. I've been trying to build.
09:24I've been doing this. I've been doing that. Listen, it's God that has to be the one that
09:27builds a great church. If central Baptist church is going to be a great church, a different church,
09:33not an ordinary church in 2014, listen, God has to be the one that builds that church.
09:41What a statement to make right there. If you'll do your part, then God will do his part.
09:49But, you know, as we look at the Christian life this morning, that statement is true,
09:54not only in the area of church growth, but it's also true in every aspect of the Christian life.
10:01Listen, if we'll do our part, God's faithful this morning to do his part. Number one, he is faithful
10:08when it comes to the area of church growth. In first Corinthians chapter number three and verse
10:13number six, I want you to notice the words of the apostle Paul. When he said this, he said,
10:19he said, look at this, but God gave the increase.
10:25Listen, the increase at central Baptist church isn't going to come from you and I.
10:30Our job this morning is simply to plant in the water. Our job this morning is to plant the seed
10:36of the word of God, to plant the seed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, to tell other people how to be
10:40safe. Every so often we're supposed to come back and water that seed. Every so often you're supposed
10:45to come back and invite someone to church. That's what your job is this morning, but it's God's job
10:51to give the increase. I think so many times we get burned, we get tired, we get burned out because
10:58we're not only trying to plant in water, but we're trying to also be the ones that give the increase.
11:02Listen, you do your part, God will do his part. But at the same time, there's something else we
11:08need to understand this morning as well. Brother Bucky, that statement is absolutely true, but
11:13listen to this. As it's our job to plant in water and then to stand back and let God give the
11:19increase, listen to this. If we don't go out and plant in water, then at the same time, God's not
11:25going to give the increase. So listen, central Baptist church, they want to be a great church,
11:30all that she wants to be. But listen, if central Baptist church doesn't do her part,
11:36then God's not obligated to do his.
11:38So we find that truth there when it comes to church growth. You know, I'll tell you something
11:43that's sort of funny concerning the ministry. You know what, I'm not bragging this morning,
11:48I've literally probably knocked on hundreds of doors in my life as a Christian and as a preacher.
11:52I've talked to a lot of different people. There have been some people, Brother Brian, that I have
11:57talked to about the Lord and invited to church, and there have been some throughout the years of
12:02ministry who had gotten saved and who actually had come to church.
12:05But do you know this morning, out of the hundreds of doors I've knocked on,
12:09the ones that actually came to church from knocking on those doors, I could probably
12:13count on my right hand this morning. But see, here's the thing, God didn't tell me that I have
12:20to get everyone to come in that I talked to by knocking on doors. What God told me, he said,
12:24preacher, he said, what your job is to do is to plant in the water.
12:27Listen, throughout the years, I've noticed that as I would go up and spend all day knocking on
12:32doors, perhaps none of those people would ever come to church. But then I'd come to church on
12:37Sunday morning, and then I'd look, and I'd notice that God still gave an increase, and there was a
12:41group over here, or there was a group of people over here that had come to church for the first
12:45time. Listen, what I want you to understand, listen, you might plant in water in one certain
12:51area this morning, but God may not give you increase in that area. But at the same time,
12:57God's going to give the increase, and he might not give you the increase in that area.
13:00God's going to give the increase, and he might go to another area, and he might give the increase
13:04in that area and bring it into your church. What are you saying, preacher? I'm simply saying,
13:08listen, if you and I will be faithful to plant in water, God will be faithful to give the increase.
13:15So we need to understand, so that principle is vitally true when it comes to church growth.
13:20But there are many other areas in the Christian life where that statement is true also.
13:25Not only is it true when it comes to church growth, but listen to this,
13:29it's also true when it comes to things like giving. In Luke chapter 6, verse number 38,
13:34Jesus said, give and it shall be given unto you. Good measure, pressed down and shaken together
13:40and running over, shall men give into your bosom. In other words, the scripture plainly teaches that
13:46if you and I are to give, listen, then God's going to go ahead and give back. Preacher,
13:51if you do your part, God's going to do his part. Church, if you do your part,
13:55God's going to do his part. If you'll give to the work of God, I promise you this morning,
14:00church, God's going to go ahead and give to you in return. So we notice that this morning,
14:07you know, some of the most blessed people in this world this morning are not people who have
14:12great jobs or are not people who have a great source of income, but some of the most blessed
14:16people that you'll ever meet in this life today are people who learn that it's more blessed to
14:22give than to receive. My grandparents, as they were bringing up my dad, were dirt poor.
14:28They had 10 children that they had to feed. And yet at the same time, my grandpa probably made
14:35way back in those days, I don't even want to guess how much he made, but I know that it was bad.
14:40They didn't have any money. They didn't have any kind of a living at all. But at an early age,
14:46years ago, my grandmother learned that it's more blessed to give than to receive.
14:51And listen, my grandparents, though they were dirt poor, raising up 10 children, listen,
14:55they always put God first in their family. They always gave to the church. And I'll tell you what,
15:00as a result of that being dirt poor, bringing up those 10 children, listen, they never met them.
15:05They never went without a meal. They never went without clothes. Listen, God always met the need.
15:11I remember before the Lord ever saved me, we would come down from Michigan to Louisiana.
15:16I remember as a teenager, my dad would get so angry at my grandmother because as poor as they
15:21were, my dad would give them money and say, look, this is designed to help you. And my
15:25grandmother would always turn around and give the majority of that money back to the church.
15:29And my dad would get so upset. He'd say, why are you doing that? This is designed to help you.
15:34And she would always say, now, son, you got to remember, it's more blessed to give than to
15:38receive. And listen, I've watched them throughout the years and I've seen their testimony throughout
15:43the years. Listen, it's touched a lot of people's lives. Listen, they understand the principle that
15:48if they give, then God will give in return. That's a principle I think this morning that
15:53the church needs to understand. Listen, if you'll give to the work of God, he'll bless you and give
15:59in return. But not only in church growth is that true, not only in giving is that true, but listen
16:04to this. It's also true when it comes to prayer. I want you to notice this in Luke chapter number
16:1111 and verse number nine, Jesus said, and I say unto you, ask and it shall be given you seek and
16:17you shall find not. And it shall be open unto you. Listen, there are great things that are waiting
16:25for the Christian who will get on his or her hands and knees and pray. But look what James says in
16:31James chapter four, verse number two and James four, two, James says this. He says, give less
16:36trust and have not. He said, you kill and desire to have and cannot obtain. He said, you fight in
16:43war. Now listen to this. He said, yet you have not because you ask not. I think this morning that
16:52there are a lot of people, a lot of Christians this morning that go through a lot of difficulties
16:59and hardships in life because they just simply don't understand that they need to establish
17:06a prayer line. Listen, Jesus was very plain when he said, listen, he said, if you'll ask,
17:11he said, you'll receive. You ask me, I'll go ahead and supply the need. You ask me, I'll give you
17:16what you need. But yet so few people this morning are willing to get on their hands and knees before
17:21God and ask him for what they need. So we need to understand this morning, even in the life,
17:30the area of prayer, if we'll do our part, then God will do his part. Church, I want you to understand
17:36if central Baptist church this morning wants to be a great church, if you want to be more than
17:40just a mediocre church, listen, it has to be God that's the builder. And as God being the builder
17:46of the church, we, if we do our part, then God will do his part. So number one, as we look at
17:52this message on how God builds a great church, we need to understand that in order for God to build
17:59a great church, God has to be the one that builds it. Number two, the second thing that we need to
18:06notice this morning is not only does God have to be the builder, but number two, listen to this.
18:12God will not build a great church through compromise. I want you to understand that
18:20this morning, God will not build a great church through compromise. In Ephesians chapter number
18:28six and verse number 13, the Bible says, wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may
18:34be able to withstand in the evil day. And having done all the same, God this morning has called
18:42his church, the truly great church to take a stand. In second Timothy chapter number four and
18:49verse number two, the apostle Paul relayed perhaps the greatest message or the greatest lesson that
18:55could have been relayed to any preacher when he told Timothy, he said, preach the word. He said,
19:00be instant in seas and out of seas, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
19:07This morning, I want you to understand God has not called us to compromise to get a crowd
19:13as so many other churches around us are doing. The crowd that you and I would gain this morning
19:19through compromise is not a crowd that we want to have. Listen, God this morning has not called
19:26his church to compromise to be great. God this morning has called a great church to stand strong
19:32against sin and the things of the devil. Now, if you were to talk this morning to the great
19:37doctors and the great theologians on how to build a church, they would tell you, they say, look,
19:41in order for you to build a church, there's some things that central Baptist church needs to do
19:45different. If you were to talk this morning to the great doctors of church building, the very
19:50first thing they would say is they say, well, in order for central Baptist church to be great,
19:54what they would have to do, number one, is you'd have to stop preaching out of that old King James
19:58Bible. They would say, look, in order to get people to come, you need to go ahead and get
20:03rid of that Bible. They would say, in order for you to build a great church, notice how I said
20:08you to build a great church, in order for you to build a great church, you'd have to start,
20:12standing against sin the way you don't ever mention sin anymore. Just talk about the good
20:17thing. I know that sounds real familiar to a lot of you. They might say things like, well,
20:21in order for you to build a good, a great church over there at central Baptist church,
20:25don't call yourself Baptist anymore. Go ahead and call yourself non-denominational and don't call
20:30yourself a church anymore. Call yourself a center. And sadly, as we look at the world of today,
20:36the church today doesn't really have the mind of God today. What they're doing is they're saying,
20:40what can I do to build a great church? And man, this morning is trying to build a great
20:46church through compromise. So yet at the same time, we need to understand number one,
20:53as we talked about this morning, in order to build a great church,
20:56God has to be the one that builds it. And listen to me, church, God will not build a great church
21:02through compromise. You can build a church through compromise. This morning, if we threw
21:10out all of our convictions, all of our standards, and we stopped preaching the truth, listen,
21:14central Baptist church, you pack this building out, you can have hundreds of people in here.
21:19But when God looked inside of this church, he wouldn't see a great church.
21:24He would see a church that was nothing full of a bunch of compromise. What he would see is he
21:29would see the average church out there today. Listen to me, church, what God wants for central
21:33Baptist church is God wants central Baptist church this morning to stand out differently.
21:38Listen, we've got too many ordinary churches in the world today. We've got too many average
21:43churches in the world. Listen, God has more for central Baptist church this morning than just
21:49being another first Baptist church in the state of Louisiana. God has a lot more for central Baptist
21:54church this morning than being just another church on every street corner in Louisiana.
22:00Listen, God has something great for central Baptist church as long as he's the one that
22:05builds it. And we simply do the things that we're supposed to do. But we need to understand this
22:11morning that God is not going to build a great church through compromise. So number one,
22:20concerning God building a great church, we understand and we know this morning, number one,
22:25that in order for God to build a great church, God has to be the one that builds it. Listen,
22:31take the burden off of your shoulders. Listen, stop thinking about how you're going to build
22:35this church. All God wants you and I to do this morning is simply be faithful to him
22:40and just do our part. If we do our part, then he already promised that he'll do his part.
22:46So listen, God has to be the builder. And number two, listen, don't worry about compromising to
22:51get a crowd. I think we're doing pretty good by standing for the King James Bible,
22:55standing for the deity of Jesus Christ, and standing up as one of the few Baptist churches
23:00that are left in America. I think that we're doing pretty good in the eyes of God by standing
23:04the way that we're doing. But then number three, there's a third thing we need to consider when
23:10it comes to God building a great church. Listen to this. If you haven't gotten anything yet this
23:15morning, I really want you to get this third one. Number three, listen to this. God will build a
23:20great church through the perseverance of his saints. You want to know how God's going to make
23:26Central Baptist Church a great church? He's going to make this church a great church through the
23:34perseverance of his saints. In other words, what God is looking for this morning is he's looking
23:39for some men and women that'll stand up and weather the storm. He's looking for some men
23:43and women when things get bad in this world, when things get bad in this church. He's looking for
23:47some men and women to stand up and as the song says, make the statement say, no matter what
23:52happens, I shall, I shall, I shall not be moved. One of Miss Ethel's prime favorite songs. She
23:58likes a lot of those songs like that. But listen to me, that's what God's looking for in Central
24:02Baptist Church. That's how God builds a great church. He builds a great church when he's got
24:07people who will weather the storm. He'll build a great church when he's got people who will
24:12persevere. This morning, if you're faithful to God in coming to church, then he'll be faithful
24:21to bless you. Now, this morning, I want to personally thank the Lord for the fact that
24:27even in times in our lives when we're not faithful to him, he's always been faithful to us.
24:32Thank God for that. The Bible says, God said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.
24:37And as long as I've been saved, as long as I've been a Christian brother,
24:40God's never left me nor forsaken me. There's been times in my life where I failed him.
24:44There's been times where I haven't been faithful. But God's always been faithful to me.
24:49If you're here this morning and you would be honest, you probably look at your life and
24:53there's probably been some times in your life where, you know, you just weren't faithful to
24:56God like you ought to be. But yet at the same time, the same honesty, you would have to say,
25:01well, preacher, I wasn't faithful, but yet God was always faithful. Listen, God's always faithful.
25:07But listen, what God's looking for today in a world full of quitters,
25:11he's looking for the Christians who will persevere. When Christians this morning are dropping out,
25:17when churches are closing all across the country this morning, what God's looking for is he's
25:21looking to build a great church, but he's looking for some Christians that he knows
25:25are going to weather the storm. No matter what happens in the life of your church,
25:29no matter what happens in your life or what happens in society, he's looking for some people
25:34who will persevere and weather the storm. You know, Brother Edgar, I think this morning,
25:41you know, I think if I read it correctly, last year there were like, oh, there were over a
25:44thousand Baptist churches in our country that closed the doors for various different reasons.
25:50And this morning, I think about it this morning, I just wonder how many of those churches,
25:55if they just would have persevered, just would have stayed with it a little while longer,
26:00would have ended up eventually becoming a great church.
26:04Listen, the answer for this morning is not to close the doors or to quit or to give up or stop
26:09standing against sin. Listen, the answer this morning is to persevere. Listen, if you and I'll
26:14persevere, if you and I'll be faithful, listen, you might say, Preacher, I haven't been very
26:18faithful the past few years. Listen, well, today's the day to be faithful. If you and I'll be faithful
26:23to God, listen, he'll be faithful to this work and bring this work to a place where it's never been.
26:30But God this morning is looking for the Christians who will persevere.
26:40So we see three things this morning concerning God building a great church. Number one,
26:46the first thing that we have to realize this morning is the fact that it is God that builds
26:51a great church. Listen, you and I this morning don't have any power to make sense of that.
26:56It's great. But yet again, that responsibility this morning doesn't lie on us. All God wants
27:03you to do is he wants you to live right. He wants you to be faithful and he wants you to plant the
27:09seed and then eventually turn around and water the seed every so often. That's it. That's all
27:13God requires of us. If we'll do that, then he'll start building a great church. But as we saw
27:19number two, God will not build a church to compromise. And one thing I thank God for
27:24this morning, I appreciate Miss Sandra this morning at Sunday School standing up talking
27:28about how this church has always fought for truth. I thank God this morning that we do belong to a
27:33church that hasn't given in and given over and compromised. The easy thing today to do
27:37will be to follow the rest of the crowd, give in, give over and compromise. But yet Central
27:42Baptist Church has made a stand saying that we're going to stand against sin and we're going to
27:46stand for what's right. And I thank God for a church like that this morning, because God will
27:52not build a great church through compromise. But number three, God will build a church
27:59through the perseverance of his saints. I think about Acts chapter number one this morning,
28:06where the disciples went into that upper room after Jesus told them to go and wait for the
28:10promise of the Holy Spirit for at least three days. Those disciples stood up there in that
28:15upper room, sat up there praying and fasting and waiting and expecting a move of God.
28:22But then after at least three days, when the day of Pentecost came, the Holy Spirit came into that
28:26upper room and filled those saints of God. They went out teaching and preaching. And then the
28:31Bible says that's when people started getting saved and the Lord started adding to them. Listen,
28:36God started building a church with saints who persevered. But they were expecting something
28:43great. You might think I'm crazy this morning, and that's fine if you do. But listen, as I look
28:48at Central Baptist Church this morning, I'm expecting something great. I don't expect to
28:54be part of a mediocre church. I don't expect to be part of an average church. Listen, I don't want
28:59to be another First Baptist church. I want God to look at us, Brother Edgar, and I want him to say
29:05that's a great church.
29:09Boy, when God builds a great church.
29:15My picture will close with this. You didn't preach for an hour like you normally would.
29:21That's real simple this morning. When God builds a great church.
29:26Several years ago, when I first got saved and the Lord had called me into ministry,
29:32I had come down here. I went into a church. And as I went into the church, Brother Edgar,
29:36the church was in an old chicken coop. It was in Hama, Louisiana. I'm happy to be
29:41roving this bed. You may even know the church that I'm talking about. But anyways, I went into
29:45that church. And when I went into that church for the first time, I noticed as I looked at the
29:48carpet, all the carpet was wore out. And I looked at the pews. They had those old, hard pews that
29:54nobody could hardly stand sitting on because they were just old and hard. And nobody, everyone wants
29:59these kinds of seats today, which is fine. But anyways, that old church had those old, hard
30:04pews. And I looked at those pews. I looked at that floor and I started looking at the walls.
30:08And I noticed when I looked at those walls, those walls were full of holes. I mean,
30:12the building looked like it was about to fall down.
30:15But I went into that church for the first time and I sat down in one of those old, hard pews.
30:20When the service began to start, I noticed that there was something different about that church.
30:25Listen, the singing was anointed by God. The preaching was anointed by God. Listen,
30:28when the service started in that old chicken house, listen, the power and the presence of God
30:33fell from heaven. Boy, where we were at in that service. And I'll tell you what, I sat there in
30:38that, in those services. And I'll tell you, those were some of the greatest services that I ever had
30:43when it was in an old chicken house. In that old chicken house, they were blessed to have
30:47preachers like Dr. Ron Garris, the former president of the Rock of Ages prison ministry.
30:52Dr. Ron Garris came in, Brother Edgar, I still remember a message he preached. He preached
30:55the message on, leave the stump. And I sat there saying, how could someone preach a message on,
31:00leave the stump? But Brother Edgar, he preached that message in that old chicken house and the
31:05power of God came down. Well, I heard Dr. Carl Hatch come into that old chicken house. One of
31:11the greatest soul winners of our time. He preached with the power of God in that old chicken house.
31:15You say, Brother Robbie, if the world were to look at that old chicken house, there's no way
31:19the world would look at it as being much of anything. But as God looked in that old chicken
31:23house, he saw a great church. Me and my wife, after we were called into ministry, we were
31:29invited to go to a meeting in Lafayette, Louisiana. And I'll never forget, Brother Brian, as we showed
31:34up to that church, we pulled up into the parking lot. We got out of our car. My wife probably
31:38remembers the church. As we got out, we looked at the church. The church was in a double-wide trailer.
31:44And I looked at that church and the first thing we noticed was that the pastor and his wife
31:48lived in that double-wide trailer. That church was actually in their home.
31:52And I'll tell you what, I didn't know what to think at first, but as we got inside that
31:55double-wide trailer, as we sat down and we started listening, the preaching began to happen. The
32:01singing began to start. Listen, and when I got up there to preach, listen, I preached probably
32:05one of the most powerful sermons I've ever preached. And it was in a double-wide trailer.
32:11Listen, as God looked at that church this morning, he didn't see a double-wide trailer.
32:15He saw a great church. When God looked at Central Baptist Church this morning,
32:19he may not see hundreds of people. Now listen, I do expect God to give an increase. You say,
32:24why? Because I tell you what, Central Baptist Church is going to do her part. We're going to
32:28do our part this morning. I do expect God to give an increase. But listen, as God looks into
32:34Central Baptist Church this morning, I don't want him to see a dead church. I don't want him to see
32:39an average church. I don't want him to see a mediocre church. I want God to look at us through
32:43the door and say, that's a church. This morning, the message is how God builds a great church.
32:52We're going to have an invitation there. We'll be done this morning. If you went
32:54out there to stand with your head bowed and your eyes closed,
33:00how God builds a great church. Listen, there's probably thousands of First Baptist Churches
33:06this morning. And I'm not saying anything against First Baptist Church. I know some of them are
33:12pretty good. But listen, there's a lot of average churches today. There's a lot of mediocre churches
33:19this morning. But church, it's time for us to stand up and say, God, we don't want to be mediocre.
33:27We don't want to be average. We want to be great. As we talked about in the introduction of this
33:34message before, there's too many Christians today that are settling for what they've got.
33:39Listen, I'm tired of settling for mediocre Christianity. I'm tired of settling for the
33:44bare minimum. I'm tired of settling just for being average. Church, don't you want to be great?
33:52Don't you want to see God do something great at Central Baptist Church?
33:57Well, as we talked about, number one, God has to build the church. He won't build it through
34:02compromise. But He will build it through perseverance. This morning, if God's people
34:08will come before Him and say, God, I'm tired of where we've been. We've been here long enough.
34:12We've been in the upper room long enough. God, we're expecting a move from God. If His people
34:18this morning will do that, I'm going to say, all right, now I'm going to build a great church.
34:23What about you this morning? Are you tired of seeing the same things you saw in the past
34:28several years? Listen, there comes a time when it's time to get out of the upper room.
34:34Church, that's not how God builds a great church. I'm going to have a word of prayer,
34:40and I'm not going to say anything else. I'm just going to have an invitation.
34:46Father, thank you so much for giving me the message. Thank you for allowing me to preach
34:50it this morning. I pray now that the Holy Spirit of God would just have full control.
34:55Lord, I'm done. I want you to speak to your people only the way that you can.
35:00Help us not to settle for an ordinary church. Help us not to settle for an average church.
35:05I pray you challenge us. I pray you just spur in our heart, God, to be more than average. Help us
35:11just to desire to be great. The only way we can be great, Lord, is to have your power and your
35:17presence in our lives. You have to be the builder. Help us to desire greatness in Jesus. Amen.
35:24If God spoke to your heart this morning, why don't you follow him?
36:54Why don't you come? If you've had a couple come already this morning, what about you?
37:08This church this morning has been through some times,
37:12yet you persevere. You've had some struggles, you've had some tragedies, yet you persevere.
37:17You've weathered the storms.
37:21God wants us to build a great church.
37:26So what you're looking for this morning is people that will say,
37:30Lord, I want to have a great church and I'm willing to do my part.
37:37That truth applies and has applied to my life ever since I've heard that truth.
37:42If you will do our part, Lord, I will do your part. All we could simply have to do is believe
37:49and trust. If you'll go out and invite people to church,
37:54then God will send people. They may not be the ones that you invite, but God will give it anyway.
38:02We talked about giving with no give. Listen, God will give back to you
38:06a hundredfold. Some of the most blessed people in this world are people who just simply love to give.
38:11You know, I'm not a money-monger. I don't put my money on me ever at all,
38:16but I'll be robbing you this morning if I didn't just on gifts
38:19to let you know it is more blessed to give than to receive.
38:24What about the area of the prayer?
38:30You say, Brother Robbie, I've had a lot of difficulties in my life.
38:34Maybe a lot of you just called this morning and I don't know. Maybe a lot of you just called this
38:38morning simply to come because you don't spend any time on your knees before God asking you
38:44for what you need. Maybe God just wanted to challenge you to spend more time in prayer.
38:51Just do whatever you need this morning. We're going to have one more verse.
38:54Go ahead and close your eyes.
39:24All right, thank you so much for coming this morning. I still hope that the message
39:31is a blessing to you. You know, even with the weather outside, I'll tell you what,
39:35I felt blessed today to come in the house of God. You know, I promised you this morning I
39:41wasn't the Christian I was talking about when I gave that story this morning, but I'll tell you
39:45what, it's all in the Spirit. I can't think of a better place to be than being in the Lord's house.
39:50All right, thank you for coming tonight. You know, I regretfully have to announce it,
39:56but when the sin's going to be out, we won't have church tonight. You know,
40:01hopefully that'll change sometime soon. But anyway, before we dismiss this morning,
40:06is there any other words you'd like to say? All right, thank you so much for coming. We're
40:14going to go ahead and close with a word of prayer this morning. I'll go ahead and close the prayer.
40:18Father, we're so thankful just again for the privilege of being able to come to your house
40:22and work and serve you this morning. Thank you so much for your people and their faithfulness.
40:27Lord, I pray this morning that you would take central back this church and that you could
40:31build a great church here, a great work, a work that would honor you. Lord, I'm not even,
40:36I'm not worried about what other people have to say about this church. I'm just worried about
40:40what you think about it. And Lord, I pray that you would raise up a great work too this morning.
40:46Thank you for your people. Thank you for their faithfulness. Again, we pray now that you bless
40:50us, bless everyone as they go their own way. We pray, Lord, for those that couldn't attend here
40:54for various reasons, that you'd bless them and help them. We pray again that you'd give salvation
40:58where salvation is needed, grace where grace is needed. Lord, again, healing where healing is
41:03needed. We ask these things in the precious name of Jesus Christ, amen.