New Life Church On The Rock, Vidor
10 Year Anniversary
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Thank Pastor Woolf for his exemplary leadership and vision.
Thank the Church Elders, Staff & Leadership for their example & support.
Encourage the Church to continue to have courage for the future.
Message: Determination
No matter your age and without regard as to how long you will live, you only have one life - One life, one story, one message, one faith, one family and one eternal purpose.
I remember being introduced to a Christian song in the 80’s written by a man named Tim Shepherd. The lyrics go something like this:
I am determined to be invincible
Till He has finished His purpose in me
And nothing shall shake me
For He’ll never forsake me
I am determined, to live for the King
We have but one life and one eternal purpose. If we are going to fulfill God’s eternal purpose we are going to have to be determined.
1 Corinthians 2:2 “I have determined to know nothing among you except Christ and Him crucified.”
You see, Success is more than a one step process and Success most often belongs to those who are willing to take the first step and able to endure the process. Success will require determination.
Determination is the ingredient which will hold us true to course when the winds of life and time blow contrary to our chosen path.
As I said, many times success demands we be willing to take the first step.
We are going to look at a New Testament account of some Believers who were definitely determined. Turn with me to the book of Mark, chapter 2.
Mark 2 NKJV
1 ¶ And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.
2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them.
3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.
4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."
I would say that these four men were pretty determined that they were going to bring their friend to Jesus. They took initiative and found a way around every obstacle, without making excuses. They acted like people with a purpose … willing to take the first step and able to endure the process.
What were these four men determined to do? What was their demonstrated purpose for that day? To bring someone in need to the Only One who could meet that need … they worked hard and they worked together to bring their friend to Jesus.
Don’t you know these guys could have gotten into a lot of trouble! Perhaps they did! Not everyone at Jesus’ meetings agreed that He was the Messiah. Who knows, it is possible that these men could have faced community ridicule or public trial and it would have been reasonable for them to have been forced to pay for any repairs to the rooftop they destroyed.
Believe me when I tell you that their actions were not without some potential personal costs. Nonetheless, they were determined.
There is another account I want to look at this morning which comes from the New Testament book of John, chapter 4.
John 4 records Jesus and His disciples on a journey northward from Jerusalem to the Galilee. As they traveled through the region known as Samaria, they came to the city of Sychar, known in the Old Testament as Shechem, which is the current city of Nabulus in the Palestinian Territories, 2 days walk from Jerusalem.
Sychar, Shechem, or Nabulus as it is now known, is the city Abraham first came and built his first altar to God when he initially entered the land of Canaan. This is also the city in which Jacob lived after spending 20 years with his Uncle Laban in Syria. Here, Jacob dug a well, and the well still existed in Jesus’ days, and even until today. Just a few months ago I stood at that well and spoke to people who still come to be blessed by its fresh, cool waters.
When Jesus and His disciples arrived at Jacob’s well that day it was already about 3 in the afternoon, no one else was there. Since they were tired and hungry, Jesus sent the disciples into the city, perhaps a mile away, to get something to eat while He remained at the well.
The story continues that a Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water and Jesus asked her for a drink. She recognized Him as a Jew and questioned Him as to why He even talked to her since the Jews would have nothing to do with the Samaritans.
You can read the whole account from John 4, but basically Jesus responded to the woman and told her that if she knew who He really was that she would be the one asking for a drink from Him and, if she did ask, He would give her living water and she would never thirst again.
What was Jesus saying? … “I am the promised Messiah!”
Then Jesus told her about her life - The fact that she had been married 5 times and was currently living with a man who was not her own husband. She was amazed and convicted, she left her water pot, went into the city, and immediately began to tell others that she had found the Messiah.
John 4:29 "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"
Jesus’ disciples were amazed that He would talk to this woman however, Jesus had but one life, one opportunity, and one eternal purpose while upon the earth. Jesus was busy about His purpose … He was determined without regard to the personal costs. Jesus knew that His success would often require Him to take the first step. And, so He did with this woman.
What was Jesus’ purpose? – To bring sinners into a relationship with the Father God through them believing upon Him as Messiah.
Each Believer, including you and me, has that same purpose. We are responsible to bring others into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, Messiah of the Jews and Savior of the World.
This is what the four men did when they realized Jesus was Messiah … they brought their friend to Him that day in the city of Capernaum. And, this is what the Samaritan woman did when she realized Jesus was Messiah, the answer to all of their problems … she left her water pot, went into the city and began testifying that Messiah had come.
No doubt the people of that city knew the reputation of this woman and she stood to receive some ridicule and personal costs if she began claiming that she had found the answer to what everyone had been waiting for … but … she took the first step and hung with it until …
John 4:39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did."
Some will believe because of your testimony, while others need to be brought closer so that they can hear Jesus for themselves.
John 4:41 And many more believed because of His own word.
Remember I told you that success is more than a one step process and that success most often belongs to those who are:
1. Willing to take the first step
2. Able to endure the process – basic determination - obedience
Isaiah 1:19 If you are willing and obedient, You shall …
Well, this is exactly the place your pastor, his family and this Church is today. All have a purpose and souls hang in the balance, waiting just on the other side of our obedience.
Our success will be more than a one step process and we must be willing to take that next step. There could be some potential personal costs and not everyone is going to believe our word about what we have heard. Nonetheless, we must be determined.
Pastor Woolf & Family – Thanks again for the tremendous vision and leadership for these past ten years. You have been exactly what this church and community needed. Soon you will leave this place for a new adventure in God’s ever expanding Kingdom. We know you will be stretched and be fulfilled. God chooses aggressive, decisive and determined individuals to lead the defining battles of life, and you are one. Be willing, be determined and be blessed, in Jesus’ name.
Church Elders, Staff and Leadership – We are facing this next season together as a team. Although we don’t have all the answers right now, we nonetheless have the faith and courage required to lead this congregation to a greater day because we know our purpose. Our purpose is souls!
Congregation – Be confident that the windshield is bigger than the rear view mirror and that our greatest day is yet ahead. We have but one life, one story, one message, one faith, one family and one eternal purpose. Together we will continue to be the church God is pleased with, a church filled with the love, kindness, courage & strength of Christ, a Word church with solid doctrine based on the one story God is telling, a famiy church with healthy growing relationships at home, in our communities and communities like ours and around the world.
