This is the Day for Extending Your Boundary

(Pastor hums Deep and Wide). Who knows what that tune is? What does this song have to do with extending your boundary? Not only is God's fountain of grace deep and wide, God's church is also deep and wide. The deeper we go with God, the further into the fields we go. Churches that are an inch wide and a mile deep do not cut it. Neither do churches that are a mile wide and an inch deep. God not only desires His church to grow spiritually, He also desires His church to grow numerically. We as Christians are to grow in breadth as well as in depth. We are to first build our walls through strengthening ourselves in devotion and commitment to our Lord and then we are to extend our boundary through stretching ourselves in ministry and service (Mic. 7: 11; Mt. 4: 19; Mk. 3: 14; Is. 37:31; Acts 9:31).

Today we will focus on extending our boundary. The word of God says that there will be no end to the government upon Jesus' shoulder (Is. 9:7). The Bible says that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14). Jesus prophesies that the gates of hell will not withstand the onslaught of the church (Mt. 16:18). Jesus commands us to pray, "Thy kingdom come" (Mt. 6: 1 0) which means we not only pray that His kingdom will be established in depth, but that it will be extended in breadth.

Almost everything needs to grow to be healthy-families, businesses, ministries, and of course churches. One exception should be our waistlines-that is one boundary most of us do not want to see extended any more than it already is.

How do we extend our boundary? A church's atmosphere determines its influence. A church's attitude determines its altitude. A church's belief in the Lord (and in themselves to accomplish the Lord's plan for them) determines its boundary. A church's prayer determines its power. A church's giving determines its growth. To the extent we believe, pray, and give of ourselves, our church's boundary or influence will be extended here and around the world.

A great New Testament church that extended its boundaries was the church at Thessalonica whose influence was "sounded forth" from there (I Thess. 1:8). How did that church's boundary get extended in such a great way? The answer is found in verse 3 where we find three core values of the church and ingredients to a church that extends its boundaries. As we apply these same three principles, our church's boundary will be extended like a rock thrown into a pond with concentric circles of influence ringing out.

 I. OUR CHURCH'S BOUNDARY IS EXTENDED THROUGH FAITH THAT WORKS (V. 3A).

Folks, I am here to tell you that faith works! Theirs was a faith that made a difference in not only the way they thought, but also the way they acted. We call Christianity the Christian faith. We got in through faith; do we continue in faith? Remember that the Christian walk is first and foremost a walk of faith. Jesus says, "When I come (again), will I find faith on the earth?" Will He find it in your life; your family; your church?

God blesses His people at one of three levels: 1) because we are saved; 2) because we ask; 3) but He saves His greatest blessings upon those who believe great and mighty things of Him (Heb. II :6).

                 

There have been plenty of Christians and churches who lacked faith an have not believed enough and missed out on God's blessings, but I have never heard of an individual or church who had too much faith and out-believed God. God didn't come to them and say, 'I can't do that-it's beyond Me!"

Are we going to be a Matthew 13:58 church-"and He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief' or a Matthew 9:29 church-"Be it done unto you according to your faith?" Two large churches were pastured by two of my friends within three miles of one another in a growth corridor of Ft. Worth and one of them was even on the interstate. One church had a difficult time believing they could do anything great for God because they were too embroiled in their own internal problems. The other believed in their great God and in themselves as a people and church of destiny. They both were right. Guess which one grew and which one stagnated?

What extends a church's boundary more than anything else? Why do some churches grow and others do not? The key is the attitude of the people and the atmosphere of the church.

Prestonwood Baptist of Dallas has always been a model church for me. Since its beginning in 1978, they have always believed they were a people of destiny. God has rewarded their faith with phenomenal growth. They also are characterized by a faith that works. They have the largest group of volunteers of any church I know of. These people of destiny were also people of dogged determination and volunteerism.

A young pastor was complaining to his older pastor/mentor because nothing was happening in his church. The older pastor asked, "Well, what did you expect?" "Nothing really" was the reply. The older pastor then said, "Then why are you surprised when not much is really happening. Your problem is your lack of faith, not the people's lack of responsiveness."

Join me in believing God for great and mighty things at FBCBF. I am believing God for phenomenal spiritual and numerical growth here. I am believing God for an outpouring of His power among us. What are you believing God for right now for your life, family, business, ministry and church? "According to your faith be it done unto you."

Abraham's boundaries were extended because of his faith (Rom. 4:20-21). He simply believed God; would we follow in his steps. Faith sees the invisible; seizes the impossible; and speaks the incredible. How great is your faith? Our boundary and influence will be extended through our faith that works.

Faith works. Our faith is expressed through specific, concrete, practical works. When John Wesley was six-years old the parsonage in which he lived with his family caught fire. The alarm was given and the parents thought everyone was out of the house safely. But when they started counting, they discovered that one of the children was missing. And, to their horror, they saw young John Wesley at an upper story window, caught in the burning building. The father, a devout, scholarly Anglican minister, immediately dropped to his knees, praying that God would save the boy. His mother, who not only was a person of great faith but also a very practical women, immediately ran next door, got a neighbor with a ladder and, working with the neighbor, rescued her son from the flaming house. There are times when the best way to express your faith is to get off your knees, go get a neighbor with a ladder, and do what has to be done in a given situation. Apart from works of love, your faith is dead - as "lifeless as a corpse." Does your faith work?

This church knew how that love is an active verb and their love translated into action. Paul refers to himself using feminine language in chapter 2:7-9 modeling love that labored. It is interesting that we use the word labor and appropriately so for a mother in birth pains before the birth of her child.

A mother-to-be in labor could certainly be described as a labor of love, for love gives (In. 3: 16). A mother's love does not stop there; it continues for the sake of her child or children. I can remember my mother always waiting until the last for her dessert if there was any left. She was always serving her family and leaving her self last. She did so not because she had to dutifully, but because she wanted to devotedly. We should have this same attitude toward our Lord. A lack of giving is not a giving issue; it is a love issue, because love gives.

Realizing that on 9/11 our world was changed because of 19 men filled with hate that steals, could we work on changing our world filled with love that gives? Love labors in giving of our time. Love labors in giving of our talents. Love labors in giving of our tithes (I In. 3: 17).

Moses becomes a biblical example of one who extended his boundi1ries through love for his people by giving up the riches of Egypt to suffer with God's people. He also with it received God's honor in leading God's people out of slavery into the extended boundary of the Promised Land. Would you follow his example and extend our church's boundary through the giving of your time, talents, and tithes?

A father was trying to read a serious book and his little boy kept interrupting him. He would lean against his knees and say, "Daddy, I love you." The father would give him a pat and say rather absently, "Yes, son, I love you too" and he would king of give him a little push away so he could keep on reading. But this didn't satisfy the boy and finally he ran to his father and said "I love you Daddy," and he jumped up on his lap and threw his arms around him and gave him a big squeeze, explaining, "And I've just got to DO something about it." Does your love labor or "do something about it!"

That's it, as we grow in love, we aren't content with "small talk love," or "pat on the head" love, we want to get involved and "do something about it."

 

Notice that verse three ends with "in the presence of God our Father." While all three values are referred to by this phrase, most importantly is this third one of hope. It is only in the presence of our Heavenly Father that hope is fed and that through prayer. Romans 5:5 and 15:13 refer to our hope being kept strong by the power of the Holy Spirit. We all know that the power of the Holy Spirit that fosters hope can only be fed through prayer. Hope is confident expectation. Hope, like faith, lays hold of what we know is already headed our way in Christ.

Joseph is a wonderful Old Testament example of hope that persevered and was fed by prayer ­"for the Lord was with Joseph." Joseph's name, by the way, means increase. As we follow his example in hope persevering through prayer, we too will see an increase. Hope keeps us going as in the case of Joseph.

You may remember the story of the long and rough Atlantic crossing where the seasick passenger was leaning over the rail of the ocean liner and had turned several shades of bilious green. A steward came along and tried to cheer him up by saying, "Don't be discouraged, sir! You know, no one's ever died of seasickness yet!" The nauseous passenger looked up at the steward with baleful eyes and replied: "Oh, don't say that! It's only the hope of dying that's kept me alive this long!"

Church ministries I have been apart of that have been greatly used of God had prayer as the foundation to its growing influence. This was true whether it was five of us meeting every week early for prayer for God to invade a high school which He did in Oklahoma City; or whether it was a church at prayer around the clock in the prayer room in Bartlesville, Ok. for the growth and health of His church, which He was faithful to answer; or whether it was in a church with a 6:00 am prayer and praise

rally every Thursday morning in Austin, TX. praying for God's supernatural presence to invade us which He did as we were on the verge of revival.

God is calling us to extend our boundary through persevering in prayer. Our prayer ministry is moving into a new phase called, "Watchman on the Wall" from Isaiah 62:6-7. This verse not only refers to angels who watch over us, and to pastors who do so as well, but also to the people. We are all to become watchmen on the wall.

A physical watchman obviously was placed upon the wall to protect the people from marauding enemies. He waited, watched and warned. We are to see our role as spiritual watchman as those who wait before the Lord, watch and be willing to warn.

Spiritually, our responsibility is to "remind the Lord." In prayer, we are to faithfully remind God of His people and His promises. As we continue to cry out to God in prayer, He remembers His people and His promises to them. I confess to you that I do not know how it works, but I do know that churches that seek the Lord in fervent prayer are blessed beyond measure with the power and presence of their God (Lu. 24:49).

In prayer, we are to faithfully remind God's people of their God. We seek God out of desire to see spiritual awakening in our time so our boundary will be extended to the extent the Lord desires. As we seek His face continually, we are reminded that we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. We seek His face on behalf of one another-the lost, the least and the lonely.

I am asking at least 50 of us to sign up for a 30 minute spot on the wall. Would you join us and become a watchman on the wall and part of our prayer team so that our boundary would be extended around the world through prayer? We will fill up the wall as each one of us takes a specific time completing the wall with intercessors who cry out to God for revival and other special needs of our church body. I believe if we do, we will look back to our desire to take seriously our responsibility and opportunity to seek God in prayer as a turning point in our church's endeavor to extend our boundaries for the glory of God and the good of His people.

"My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name." Folks, we are not to trust the sweet frames of our location, leadership, giving, programs or whatever; we are to build our hope and confident expectation on Christ alone as we seek Him in prayer.

May our church be mirrored in these verses in I Thessalonians-as we experience our own work of faith (faith that works in believing God for great things), our own labor of love (love that labors in giving of out time, talents and tithes) and hope that perseveres in prayer. Will you be among that number so that your own personal boundary will be extended as well.

I am simply challenging you to extend your boundary in your life, family, ministry, business and church. We all need stretched from time to time. That time is now in your life and in our church.