Meeting Expectations: God's Will for a Successful Church

2. Factories Make Products Successful Products Always Meet Expectations

3. Quality Products From the Past • Ford: Quality is Job One • Zenith: Quality goes in before the name goes on. • Maytag: The very lonely Service Tech. • Pepsi: Taste that beats the others cold. • Each Product makes a claim then makes a product that must backup that claim!

4. Reel to Reel 8 Track Black & White TV HDTV VCR Station Wagon The Customer Cassette CD Color TV Plasma TV DVD SUV Is always right Quality Products Evolveas Expectations Change

5. Similarities in the Church • Eph 2:10 Parable • We are His Workmanship (Product) • Created in Christ Jesus (Factory) • For Good Works (Expectations) • God prepared beforehand (Engineering) • That we should walk in them. (Quality)

6. A Successful Church • Walks in the good works God Prepared! • Evangelism – Mk 16:15-16; Col 4:5-6 • Edification – Eph 4:11-16; Acts 2-4; 19 • Benevolence to Needy Saints I Cor 16:1-2; II Cor 8-9; Rom 15:25-33 • These Reflect God’s Wisdom Eph 3:10-11 • When a Church fulfills the will of God it is meeting God’s expectations! • God’s Will must be done!

7. A Successful Church • The Problem: In our changing world these works no longer meet the expectations of some. • The Scriptures reveal: • Evangelism Edification Benevolence • There is a strong push to change them. • Many already have.

8. A Successful Church? • Churches are now involved in secular education of children, day care, recreation, entertainment, etc. • Churches are no more than institutions to fulfill all the wishes and desires of man. • Churches operate hospitals; orphan homes and old folks homes. • They build gymnasiums and weight rooms, offer baseball, scouting & sports activities; They have banquets and parties;

9. A Successful Church • Has reasons to resist these changes. • We will consider two men tonight. • One who dedicated his entire life to doing God’s will even if no one else agreed. • The second who changed his plans to accomplish what seemed the best at the time.

10. Jesus came to do God’s Will • when He comes into the world, He says, “I have come to do Thy will, O God.’” Heb 10:5,7 • My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to accomplish his work. Jn 4:34 • I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. Jn 5:30 • I am come down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 6:38 • whosoever shall do the will of my Father he is my brother, and sister, and mother Mt 12:50 • Not every one that calls me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. Mt 7:21

11. King Saul • God’s Will: • I will utterly blot out the memory of Amelek Ex 17:8-16 • You shall blot out the memory don’t forget Dt 25:17-19 • Go utterly destroy Amelek II Sam 15:1-3 • What would Jesus have done with this command? • I have come to do thy will! • Not My Will but thine be done • Did not come to do my will but will of him that sent me • What did Saul do? • Saul & People spared King Agag • Spared the best of the sheep oxen, fatlings lambs and all that was good. 15:9

12. God regrets he made Saul King 15:10-11 He has turned back from following Me He has not carried out my commands. How Saul feels about his efforts 15:13 Saul: I have carried out the command. 15:13 Samuel: Why do I hear bleating & lowing 15:14 Saul: People spared the best to sacrifice. 15:15 Can you see the parallel today in the church? Many today serve God as Saul did.

13. Samuel explained God’s feelings to Saul I S. 15:16-19 • God told you to utterly destroy the Amelekites. • Why did you not obey the voice of Jehovah? • You did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah. • Saul’s Defense: I Sam 15:20-21 • I have obeyed the voice of Jehovah • I brought Agag the king of Amalek • The people took the spoil to sacrifice unto Jehovah • Can you see this same reasoning in the changes made to the work, worship and mission of the Lord’s church? • We liked it so we thought God would like it.

14. Samuel’s Final Revelation: I Sam 15:22-23 • Jehovah’s delight is in obedience • To obey is better than sacrifice. • Rebellion is as witchcraft. • Stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. • You have rejected the word of Jehovah. • He has rejected you from being king. • God’s Ways are not our Ways Isa 55:10-11 • It is not possible for us to guess what God might want. He thoughts and ways are not ours.

15. Who are we really following? • If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. John 15:10 • This people honors me with their lips; But their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain do they worship me, teaching (as their) doctrines the precepts of men. Mt 15:8-9 • If the church today does what it did in the first century it is the Lord’s church if is does what Saul would lead it to do then it is a church of men.

16. Christians are God’s Product • Eph 2:10 • We are His Workmanship (Product) • Created in Christ Jesus (Factory) • For Good Works (Claim) • God prepared beforehand (Expectations) • That we should walk in them. (Quality)

17. A Successful Church • Walks in the good works God Prepared! • Evangelism – Mk 16:15-16; Col 4:5-6 • Edification – Eph 4:11-16; Acts 2-4; 19 • Benevolence to Needy Saints I Cor 16:1-2; II Cor 8-9; Rom 15:25-33 • Reflects God’s Wisdom Eph 3:10-11 • Only when a Church is fulfilling the will of God is it meeting God’s expectations! • God’s Will must be done!