All right, you know, from where from where I stand, I can see
your you guys are facing this way.
I'm facing that way and I could see out the doors and it's
snowing outside Looks so pretty out there.
So I celebrate. You know, if you live in
Gaylord, you got to fall in love with the snow, right?
You got to just enjoy it. So looking out there, it looks
Christmassy and really, really lovely.
All right. Hey, wanted to take a moment and
say if you're watching online this morning, welcome to you.
Join us in person sometime. This is your invitation.
We invite you to come be with us in person at 115 E Main Street,
right in the old historic part of downtown Gaylord, 115 E Main
St. Our services are 9 and 10:30,
except for the weekend between Christmas and New Year's.
We'll have one service that we will be at 10 AM and we will
look to see you then. Hey, it's such an honor.
I'm really, really grateful this morning to get to introduce to
some of you. Many of you are very familiar
with Pastor Steve, but for some of you who are new to our
church, he will. You'll be hearing him for the
first time. Pastor Steven Cheryl came to
gathered in 1980 and have such a legacy of pastoring and leading
and discipling people here in Gaylord.
And Pastor Steve is the founding pastor of our church.
In 2011, he founded Life Church, which became N Life.
And I got to come and Jason, I came in 2018 and got to serve
with him four years before he went on to a really thriving new
season ministry working with the Sun, Ross and Big Rapids.
He'll tell you a little bit about their church there and how
it's growing and doing great things.
But Steve and Cheryl together had such a legacy of impact in
our community, in the in our church and personally in Jason
my life. So we're very grateful for them.
Would you please welcome Pastor Steve here as he comes to share
the message with us this morning?
Well, good morning, everybody. Hey, it's great to be with you
this morning. Yeah, it's true what he said.
When Cheryl and I moved here, I think I was 28 years old and in
Gaylord, MI and and we are here for quite a long time.
But it's it's great to be with you here.
Yeah, it's snowing. What's new How how many of you
are new to Gaylord in the last three years?
Raise your hand up I quite a few of you.
Have you gotten a four wheel drive yet Because you should
have a four wheel drive in our our first year.
We learned that when we had four blizzards in a row as I was
first pastor here and it was miserable.
It's a long story and I won't bore you with details, but we
bought a four wheel drive and we learned that that's northern
Michigan and we have a lot of stories about that.
But it's funny, even though we live in Northern Michigan, when
it snows, we, we always still saw the attendance go down a
little bit that even though we're snowbirds and it's easy
for us compared to those city slickers that we used to be,
some of you, but but it just becomes a different thing.
So but we found out the hard way to have a four wheel drive.
So really why I'm here today is to check up on you and I come a
couple times a year and, and I know some of you don't know who
I am. How many do have never met me or
know who I am. Raise your hand.
I well, it's good to meet you today.
Yeah, this is my wife, Cheryl. Cheryl, stand up and say I'm in
it. We raised our kids here and in
the all of the Lord and I. We now pastor down in Big
Rapids. My son is the lead pastor of the
Res Life Church in Big Rapids and when we moved down three
years ago we had 700 people in attendance. 2 weeks ago we had
1700 in attendance. We have three services, a Sunday
morning, and we sit 417 people, so we usually fit.
Do the math. We usually have 70 people in the
foyer to 100 each service. And we have a so if you come
late, you're in trouble. So we have TV sets out there and
they watch it from there. So we're in a building program
there and it's just a very exciting time.
I'm one of seven pastors and I'm the oldest.
Go figure. And Cheryl's and my job is we do
marriage counseling, which we developed here and it's very
successful and we've done 47 couples or 57 in three years.
And then I do a lot of teaching down there.
But anyways, we're having a great time because I have 13
grandchildren that live down there, 11 grandsons and some of
them play football. So we were going to 4 football
games a week this fall and they play each other and several of
them and music concerts. So we're we're having a ball
down there. But we have fond and great
memories of Gaylord, MI And so do you have your Bibles today?
Now I'm going to try to read from the NIV.
My my wife is my greatest critic when I preach and I endure it.
Years ago, I learned that between services, staff asked my
wife if I did anything wrong and so she sure to let me know.
So first service, I had the wrong version that I was using,
but I'll have it right and you'll have it right on the
screen today. So let's see your Bibles raise
my great. Always bring the word.
I know we have it on our phone. I have it on my phone, but I
tell you, there's something about the written word and you
can underline it. You should underline your Bibles
right in them. Kurt, I don't care what you say,
you should write it right in them.
All right, all right, let's pray.
Father God, we thank you so much for this morning and the
opportunity to hear your word. Lord, I pray that that you would
be present in this room and people would hear you and they
wouldn't hear me and father, they would grow in faith and
knowledge through what we're going to talk about today in
Jesus name. And everyone said, you know,
it's Christmas time. And and Kurt told me that the
the theme that he's been thinking about and wanting to
share is the Christmas theme of Christmas on Main Street.
And I like the idea because this church buildings on Main Street.
Amen. It's it's kind of a cool
thought. And and you know, when we
purchased this building 13 years ago, we were, we were dirt poor.
We didn't have two quarters to rub together.
We were struggling. And I, and I'll tell you the
story a little bit in a minute. So some of you new, new ones
know how significant I think this church is and what God is
doing here. But God just made an amazing way
for our new church to be here on Main Street.
And there's a reason for that. So we're going to talk about a
little bit today. But my, my most famous Bible
prophecy, a Bible prophecy is something that's been written
way before it's going to happen. And, and there were a lot of
prophecies about the coming of Jesus Christ as the Christ
child, but as the Messiah. Most of you know that, don't
you? And one of them in the Old
Testament was written 800 years before Jesus was born.
And it's maybe my favorite verse.
And it's found in Isaiah Chapter 9, verse 2, where it says the
people walking in darkness have seen a great light on those
living in the land of deep darkness.
The light has dawned, and then if you jump to verse 6, it says
for unto us or to us a child is born, and to us a son is given.
And the government will be on his shoulders, and he'll be
called wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace, of the greatness of his government
and peace, there will be no end. Now a lot of you have heard this
if you've ever heard Messiah's handle OK 4 unto us a child is
given, you know, and if you heard that whole big thing often
sing at Christmas time, high schools do it and and in musical
events they do this. But it's all this verse about
this king is going to come and that there's it's going to be an
incredible government. And then it goes on to say he
will reign on David's throne and over his Kingdom, establishing
and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time
on, whenever that time is and forever, the zeal of the Lord
Almighty will accomplish this. So I just want you to keep that
or your finger in it or your little ribbon in that, because
we're going to refer back to that in just a minute.
This verse is a Main Street verse.
And so when we're thinking of Christmas on Main Street or this
church, the I just want to talk about it a little bit.
You know, it's kind of interesting being on Main
Street. Parking can be a little tough in
the winter, can't it? We used to always park over
here, but it's not plowed out all the way.
So we're going to park in there today and it's a little tough.
But you know, when we were looking at this building, I
walked around and there's actually room for 700 cars
within about two blocks. And sometimes you have to walk a
little ways. But you know, we're from
northern Michigan and and, and that's OK.
But do you know for you new people, when this church began,
we had a group of about 6080 of us and we first met at the AT
Siegel Club, the ski hill. Now there's some really benefits
in that because we were the only church in the United States to
have a world champion golf course and a swimming pool and
and a Olympic halfpipe because it was during the Vancouver
Olympics. And all the Olympic teams are,
many of them, New Zealand, Japan, Australia.
Let's see, I think it's Germany and Denmark.
They came and they practice at that Siegel Club because there
was only one other Olympic halfpipe in the United States
and that was in Aspen, Co. So we would have church in the
ballroom and we'd set it up every Sunday morning and some of
these skiers would come in and have church with us.
It was so cool. And then we had the champagne
brunch after that. Yeah, I'll tell you, it was
great. But then they kicked us out in
that year and a half a little bit because because of different
events going on there, like snowmobile races and stuff.
So then we had to go to the Eagles Hall with a Budweiser
sign and awe. And you know, in that time
there, 19 people got saved out of that barn.
They would come out of the bar on Sunday mornings while we're
doing praise and worship. And isn't it interesting that
God can meet people on Main Street?
Isn't it interesting that when you let your light shine before
other people, a great light has come that lives can be affected
so dramatically? It's kind of funny.
I just wanted to do this because this church has grown so much
and I know it's a snowy morning and effects people and I did a
first service. But how many of you just again
moved to Gaylord just in the last couple years?
Cool. And you moved, you moved up here
and you got jobs up here and you know, you know, you better like
the outdoors. I learned that moving up here.
I really for the first year and a half, I didn't like Gaylord,
MI at all. And somebody said you have to
take up trout fishing and, and deer hunting.
So I did both. And I had a lot of great, great
memories in the Jordan River and, and, and, and deer hunting
around here. And and, but, but you who are
new to this community, you bring in a great new fresh air to
Gaylord MI God has a purpose for you being here, whether you know
it or not, and you bring in a freshness, A newness.
When Cheryl and I came in here in 1980, we were from downstate
with and gospel singers and, and we were one of the first
churches or the first church that did praise and worship like
what was done today. Now our songs are really silly
and you think they're really stupid, but, but those were the
songs of the day And I played my guitar and we did those that
kind of music and, and we really wanted to make a change in
Gaylord, Michigan and help them to grow.
And you, God has you here for that kind of a purpose.
And again, I'm going to talk a little bit more about that.
But first today I want to talk about, about, Oh, I know what I
want to tell you. So for about two years, we
didn't have hardly any money and we're looking for a place to
purchase and, and to get. And so this building came
available and they wanted $650,000.
We offer them 75,000 bucks. We settled at 175,000.
That's how we got into this building.
I personally painted the black on this ceiling myself with one
other person. But, but do you know that two
weeks after we bought it, we are offered $1 million from this
building and I turned it down. Do you know a month later we are
offered $2,000,000 for this building and I turned it down.
I was pretty stupid, wasn't I? There was a reason and I'm going
to talk about that in just a minute, a minute in the message.
First of all, I want to talk about we've all heard this, that
Jesus is our prophet, priest, and king.
You've heard that, right? He's our prophet, priest, and
king. Well, I want to talk today and
continuing, but I first want to talk about him being our king.
And that's the verse, the prophetic verse that I read to
you that the Bible says that he's the our king of kings and
Lords of Lords, right? And I want to, I want to ask you
a question today. Now most of you in this room
have, have, have done a sinner's prayer, an altar call prayer
where you said, I believe Jesus died of the cross for my sins
and I believe that he rose again and, and, and Lord, I want you
to be, I want you to be the Lord of my life.
But you know, a lot of people have have said, I believe in
Jesus and I've made that declaration, but an awful lot of
people I found out in ministry have never made Jesus the King,
the Lord of their life. Do you know what I mean?
I mean that you really in this day and age and in our culture,
your heart's desire, your motivation day-to-day is for
your life to be transformed, to live like Jesus wants you to
live it. Where, where not only you make
the declaration, but you, you are allowing God's Word to
change you into the person that the Bible says you can be.
And you're applying those scriptures in your life from
God's Kingdom to do what Jesus said initially he wanted to come
and do John 10/10. He was asked why have you come?
And he says the thief has come to kill, steal and destroy.
That's Satan. But I've come to give you, you
know, the verse life and life more abundantly.
That life he's talking about is is here on earth and and
applying those scriptures in your life.
Some of you people that are here that knew us years ago, years
ago, you might not have liked me very much because I had a lot of
learning to do. I had a lot of grown to do.
I had a lot of change that I need to go through and over the
years there were many things in my life.
For instance, some of the old people know this a suicidal
depressive for four years when I first started being a pastor
here. How would you have liked to
heard those sermons you know, and and so I had to look at
Scripture and Lord, how do I get out of this?
What do I apply in my life and so I have keynote scriptures.
Don't you that God has shown you that where you applied those
things. For instance, Psalms 51 created
me a clean heart. O God renewer, a right spirit
within me. I mean I have I stood on those
scriptures or Philippians chapter 4 be anxious for
nothing. The whole area of anxiety, but
make all your needs known unto God with Thanksgiving.
So after you come before the Lord with all your crap and all
your struggles, your inner struggles and your shortcomings
and your insecurity or whatever it is you're going through,
where you ask the Lord Jesus to take over in your life and you
begin to praise him and thank him in advance for what he's
going to do. And then it goes on to say, and
the peace of God that passes understanding will not mind will
come into your hearts and mind. Why don't we do that?
And then it goes on to say whatsoever things are pure and
honest and I'm good report, think on those things.
Instead of watching Fox News, why don't we do that?
See, there's application in the word of God, in the Kingdom of
God that can transform your life if you're willing.
In John chapter 18, verse 37 at the end of this whole passage,
starting with 33, but we're going to jump right down to 37.
That pilot is questioning Jesus in his last week of life and
saying, are you really the king of the Jews?
What what kind of Kingdom are you doing?
He's kind of mocking him, but maybe he's serious too.
And and Jesus said my Kingdom is not of this world.
If it were, my servants would fight to keep me from being
arrested and all this stuff. But but he said everyone on the
side of truth. In other words, everyone in my
Kingdom listens to me. So do you listen to Him?
Have you really made Him not only your Savior, but is He the
Lord of your earthly life? And if he is, He will change you
from glory to glory and grace to grace.
Now, even though the Bible says we go from glory to glory and
grace to grace, you know, between each glory it can be a
real valley. You know what I mean?
There can be struggles. We've had struggles which I
won't go into today, but but if you want the benefits of the
Kingdom of God on this side of heaven, you have to make him
your King. So let me ask you a question
today. Is he is Jesus the one you
follow and submit to even in our culture?
Is is his word the governing guide for your life?
Good question to ask. Well, then it says that he's a
priest. What does that mean?
Well, if you want to grab your Bibles and we're going to look
into the book of Hebrews, I'll give you a minute to turn there
and we're going to go to Chapter 9, verse 11, Hebrews 9/11.
I'm reading from the NIV version, and this is talking
about the priesthood. Now, if you don't know what the
priesthood is, this isn't like a Catholic priest, all right?
This is a Jewish priest. And in the Jewish temple, they
had one temple, or Tabernacle, they called it, where they would
offer sacrifices. Most of you know what I'm
talking about. And you would bring in a calf or
a dove or whatever, and you'd bring it in to sacrifice it for
your sins or for your family. And you'd have a priest
represent you before the Lord. And, and the reason you couldn't
go before the Lord is you're too sinful.
You're just bad to the bone and, and God wanted to have a
relationship with his people. So the only way to do this was
through a priest and, and the, the, the lambs that were slain
or the calves represented the Messiah who's going to come
Jesus Christ. Well, the Bible says that Jesus
is our priest. Well, it's and and in the book
of Hebrews he is this is written to Hebrew Christians so they
understand this and I'm going to try to help you understand it.
Let's look at verse 11. Hebrews 9 says Ben, when when
Christ came as high priest of the good things that now we're
experiencing are now already here.
He went through the greater and more perfect Tabernacle that is
not made with human hands. That, it is is to say, is not
part of this creation. He did not enter by the means of
goats, the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the most
Holy Place, that's the Holy of Holies, once for all by His own
blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.
In other words, that He bought us back from sin.
OK, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer
sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean, sanctify
them so that they're outwardly clean.
How much more than will the blood of Christ, who through the
eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse
their consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may
serve the living God. For this reason, Christ is the
mediator of a new covenant that that those who are called may
receive the promised eternal inheritance now that he has died
as a ransom to set us free from the sins committed under the
first covenant. In other words, what Jesus did
as priest, he made a way so God can have relationship with you
once again and so that you can have relationship with him.
So and then Hebrews, it also says that he stands as the
mediator between God and man. So think about in Revelation,
John has a vision of Jesus as the king in heaven, but the
marks are still in his hands and his side.
So when you come before the Lord in prayer, Father God and you
say, Father God, I need help with my finances or I need help
with my faith or I'm, I'm really depressed today.
Lord, I need some healing in my life.
Jesus is there, and Father God sees you through Jesus to the
scars in his hand and his side, the blood that was slain.
And the Bible says even though your sins be read as scarlet,
they're white as well. So Paul writes about this to the
Romans and says, you and I now can boldly go before Father God,
the throne of grace, to find help in our time of need.
The Bible says to pray at all times, in all situations, in all
circumstances about anything and when it when it is part of God's
plan for your life, then anything will become everything.
It's transforming in your life when you depend on him and, and
you see the great things that God does and people that live
for him. Coming back and having been here
for so many years, it's fun talking to the Vooks and, and
Bonnie and Catherine and Jan and the people that have been here
for years and to see what God has done, to see how you have
stood in faith and see what the things that God has done.
But it also can wound our heart when we know people who walked
away from the Lord as well and gave up on it.
And I'm telling you, God has a better plan.
Jesus is your priest and he made a way for you to have an amazing
relationship with Father God as your priest.
And it's a priesthood that that will never die.
So you can go before the Lord even in our weaknesses that
Father God loves you. Well, we have a big movement at
the church we're in now that about the prodigal son.
You know the story and that how the sun ran away from from his
father and then he came back after being in the pigpen.
I've been in the pig bend before.
How about you? And what a wonderful thing that
even though you might have screwed up in your life and
maybe you are still today, you can come to the Lord and he
embraces you as a loving father and welcomes you to be a first
born child of God. The Bible says you're a joint
heir with Christ. I like that inheritance, don't
you? God's got great plans for you.
If you think you're all done, you're not done yet.
He's got a great plan for your life.
And so Jesus is our priest. Well, the third thing it says is
that he's our prophet, prophet, priest and king.
Well, prophet is somebody that gives people God's guidance for
them. And sometimes it includes the
past, sometimes it forecasts the future.
And, and but it, it, it, it guides us on the path to take.
In fact, in Matthew chapter 2111, that that when Jesus was
ministering, it says the crowd screamed out, this is Jesus, the
prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.
And and so it's the voice of God speaking from God.
And this is what Jesus did. Well, Jesus prophesied all kind
of things, even about the church today and what was going to
happen in the last days. He prophesied what was going to
happen in Jerusalem, that the temple was going to be destroyed
and it was destroyed just 30 years after he died and that
that in the last days that Israel would be regathered.
He prophesied about what God was going to do in the church and
when when he was going to come back.
He prophesied what God can do in your life even today.
You know the book of John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John,
everybody says if the first book you should read is the book of
John because it tells you about who Jesus was.
You know it begins, it says in the beginning was the the word
and the word was God and the word was with God and nothing
was made that was made without him and it was Jesus.
Did you know that Jesus was preexistent before he was born?
He was the Son of God before and there's many different
appearances in the Old Testament.
They call them Theophanies, where who we know as Jesus the
Christ actually appeared like to Abraham and Sarah the Lord and
two angels above Sodom and Gomorrah.
That was probably Jesus who he became known as Jesus once he
was born of God and man and that that that he was this amazing
prophet who prophesied what he was going to do in our life.
For instance, he said I have come to seek and save those who
are lost. He forecasted the future.
He said unless you are born again, you can't enter the
Kingdom of God. He was forecasting he would talk
about what the Kingdom of heaven is like.
He was prophesying. He said given, it shall be given
unto you. Press down, shaken together and
running over. He was prophesying and there's
verse after verse where he is prophesying.
The words of Jesus always give hope for your future for you as
his Father, God's child. But he's also fulfilling
fulfilling prophecies that were given 3000 years ago and 2000
years ago still today in the Old Testament.
Prophetically, God promised blessings for those who followed
him and that his people would be cursed if they didn't.
You can read books like Deuteronomy chapters 26 and 28
and learn about the blessings in cursings and Joshua said choose
this day who you will serve in Joshua chapter 1 and and because
God will bless you when you do life his way and you can expect
God's empowerment. Do you know the second book I
think you ought to read after the book of John is the book of
Ephesians because it's only 6 chapters long.
But in the first 3 chapters it tells you the power that a
Christian can have if you buy in the presence of God, the Holy
Spirit of you. Ephesians 117 says the
incomparable great power for those of us who believe we
experienced it here in Gaylord. We experienced it with getting
this building for a song and being offered $2,000,000 a month
later. We experienced God's prophetic
call upon N Life Church those few years ago.
And, and you know, I had an associate 25 years ago who had
next door in the tattoo parlor right through this wall.
He had a, he had a place called his place and it was a skate
park. Were any of you at an age where
you skated in that little skate park?
Did you know that he walked around this building and it was
empty? This had been a movie theater
and then a furniture place and he claimed this for Jesus Christ
as a church and he came to me out out there and on church row
and said, pastor, we need to sell our property in the
building. God wants us to be at the movie
theater. I know it's God.
It's a word from the Lord and we need to move there.
I thought it was crazy. Well, guess where we are today.
God made way. Do you know that under this
floor there are movie seats? This used to be sloping and that
there's like 150 movie seats under this floor.
Do you know that? And God got us in here.
It was prophetic for North Life Church to be here.
The word was spoken and God just did it another way.
I was too stubborn to move. God just made it happen.
So I really believe the church is here and you're here for such
a time as this. There was a purpose for North
Life to be here. So I'm going to ask you a
question today. So what are you going to do with
it? I mean, this is a saying we have
at our new church where we're at now.
A church is not a building you go to, it's a family you belong
to. Why don't you hear it again?
A church is not a building you go to, it's a family you belong
to. I've been watching today, my
wife's been watching. And between the two services,
man family's happening. Wow, there's a lot of fellowship
going on. There's a lot of there's a
wonderful feeling and synergy. Can you feel it?
And the group between services, I mean, that's, that's Koinonia.
That's the spirit of God moving in people and, and, and there's
a purpose and a reason that you're here.
God's placed you here for such a time as this and, and I'm going
to ask you another difficult question.
I know some of you are new, but if N Life Church disappeared
from Otsego County, would it be missed?
You're on Main Street for a reason.
This is not an accident. God has you on Main Street to
have an effect in the biggest and about the only town in this
county. I mean, there's some other
little towns, but you know what I mean?
And, and you're a part of that and you're an active part of
this family. And, and if you want to be and
God has a call on each and every one of your lives and to be part
of this family. Ephesians 117 through 18 talks
about the incredible empowerment, the empower, the
power that's in your life. If you follow him and his way of
life, it's been prophesied. And as you apply that and let
your light shine, you can have an amazing effect.
We're at our church down downstate.
We're right across from Menards if you go by Big Rapids, and
we're about a mile from Ferris College.
And I don't know if you follow Ferris football, but Ferris just
won their third playoff game and a large portion of the team
comes to our church and they're getting saved in droves.
They're running back three weeks ago was crying in church.
My my son Ross used to came from Gaylord soaked my son's shirt
before the 3rd service is just covered with tears and he was
crying because he wasn't getting many yards in the football game.
The next game he got 12 yards of carry.
He was a lot more excited. But they had a playoff game last
week and they couldn't go home from Thanksgiving.
So our church provided Thanksgiving, 20 turkeys for the
team. We're there, our church, and
this is not what I've done. This is what they established is
taking Jesus to their community and they're, they're involved
and they're helping and they're assisting and they're letting
their light shine and all kind of different ways they do the
police giveaway at our Church of Christmas gifts they do to needy
families. There's so many things that you
can do as individuals, but as a church family.
You know why? Because you're on Main Street
and have a tremendous effect. God has placed you here.
See, Christmas is so much more than just a baby in a Manger.
It, it changed the possibilities for you, for mankind, for all
eternity. As a prophet, he offers you a
future, now and forever. As a priest, he offers the
perfect sacrifice. So God is not separated from you
anymore and you're not separated from him.
And as your king, he's offering you a better way of life, so
much better than what our crazy culture and world is
experiencing. You know, it's really
interesting that the college and fairs is experiencing spiritual
revival. I don't know if you saw the
Indiana game last night. Woo Hoo.
Sorry you from Ohio, but the quarterback and their leading
receiver gave all glory to Jesus Christ.
There's revival happening the the at Ferris College.
People are coming to Christ in droves.
One of the big fraternities there, they're all getting saved
and their goal is to get their whole frat saved.
And we had 15 first time salvations 2 weeks ago.
I run the salvation room. I call it the cry room and they
come in and I share the next steps for somebody when they
accept Christ. The college kids are getting
saved like crazy that there was a girl in there that was 6 foot
4 that was getting saved. I said to you, are you are you
going to fair? She said, yeah, I said you must
play on the basketball or volleyball team.
She said, yeah, I play in the volleyball team and she received
Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Revivals happening at one of our
colleges. Isn't that cool?
And they're coming to Christ in droves.
It's so much fun. It can happen here in Gaylord
too. Because I want to share some
statistics with you about Gaylord, MI.
According to the Association of Religion Data Archives, there
are now 25,000 people who live in this county. 7000 are
Christians. Let that sink in.
There's 25,000 people and only 7000 claim to be Christians.
There's 24 churches. That means if you averaged it
out, each church has 291 people regularly attending.
Not you know that's not true. This is probably and and and I
research it is probably the third or fourth largest
attendance in the county this morning.
This church with both services at least that means that at
least 3/4 of this county are not part of a church family and we
can assume that there's some that stay home.
That's why we broadcast this over the Internet, but that
there's at least 1/2 do not follow Jesus in any way.
What a mission field. Guess why you're on Main Street?
To let your light so shine among men that they too will come to
Christ. Because don't you know they need
it today? Amen.
Studies that are recently been done.
It's all over the news that that young people are having a
spiritual revival, that they are coming to Christ in droves on
college campuses. Actually, Ohio State's football
team for the last two years have led over 2000 college kids from
Ohio State to the Lord. They've had great revival on
their team. There's amazing things that are
happening in the sports world but also in the schools because
people are hungry for the truth. Guess what?
You're on Main Street and you get to have that effect.
It's fun for us to see. And I know it's a snowy morning,
but you have kids throughout the building.
The church has grown a lot since Cheryl and I left.
People are hungry, you know. And, and you know what's really
fascinating? I don't know if a lot of you
young people know this who are new, but you've got the greatest
pastor and his wife. I knew them a long time ago.
And Kurt didn't have Gray hair. And then and we were blown away
seven years ago when God brought him into our our life.
I was looking for an associate and that I, I couldn't believe
it when I got a phone call from my son downstate and said, hey,
guess who's coming to see if you need an associate.
I never thought Gaylord would be so blessed to have Kurt and Jace
here. And here they are God that is
prophetic. You are you are here as such a
time as this and you have a great opportunity to have an
amazing impact in Northern Michigan and Michigan.
And Gaylord and you folks that have been here for a long time,
thanks for thanks for all that you've done, your great
leadership in the past and your support in the past and your
support today. There's a great future for this
church. So I want you to think about
this today. What can you do as part of this
family to proclaim Jesus where you work, where you live in this
community? Where can you proclaim to people
you know here? For unto us a child is born, and
unto us a son is given. And if you follow him, your life
will never be the same, and it will change in such a positive,
awesome way. I want to encourage you to do
that because Jesus said I've come to seek and to save those
who are lost. And according to statistics,
well over half this county is lost.
And you work with them. You teach them.
You fill their gas tanks, you clean their houses, you paint
their rooms, you work in their businesses, and they're
searching too. Let's pray.
Father God, we thank you so much for what you came to do, that
you had such a love for people, no matter what walk of life, no
matter how bad they were, no matter how good they were.
You want to have a relationship with your greatest creation man.
And so you sent your Son Jesus to die in our place so that we
can have what we have here and today, and so our life could
continually go from glory to glory and grace to grace.
That if we're open to you to follow you and, and make you the
Lord of our life and apply it in our lives, that we can come out
of bad stuff and difficult situations and we can become
better for it and we can grow by it and we can, we can have
deeper understanding and our life will take on a joy that we
never knew was possible. But Father, I pray that you put
a call on each individual. There's a call on this church on
Main Street, but that each one of us would be a part and that
would not be afraid to share Christ and and wherever we're at
and invite people to be a part of the family of God, a place
where you can grow and be nurtured in advance in faith and
hope in healing. Father, I pray that you guide
Curtin Jason, the leadership here to be the people of God
that you've called them to be and that they would teach wisely
and train up all these people and the kids and how they should
go. And Father, also, I lift up
anybody in this room who not only do not know you as Lord and
Savior, and there might be a couple in a in a group this
large, but Lord, if they've walked away from you being the
Lord of their life, maybe they've asked you to be their
savior, but they've walked away or they've never really said,
Lord, I want you to be my king. I want to follow you.
It's time I change my life and follow your word.
Lord, change me. This is you.
Here's an easy prayer. Lord, change me and make me into
the person that you know I can be.
And I surrender my life to you, not only as my Savior, but I ask
you to be my king and my Lord, and lead and guide me.
And if that's you today, just so I can see with every eye closed,
just raise a hand. There's a hand, there's a hand.
Anybody else, there's a hand. Father God, you saw those hands.
And Lord, I pray that you'd guide and direct them that as
they read the book of Ephesians, it's only 6 short chapters that
you'd speak to them in it. Lord, guide them and direct them
in their conscience and in the moves they make each and every
day of their life. Remind them of the Bible verses
that will encourage them and change them.
And we give you praise Lord, for our future because it's been
prophesied. We thank you for this church.
We give you praise in Jesus name.
And everyone said Amen. Thank you for letting me share
with you today. Wonderful.
OK, let's all stand together. Pastor Steve, again, thank you
so much for being here with us. And Cheryl, thank you.
It's such a great. I always look forward to having
our founding pastor back. It's just such a healthy church
that continues to honor those who've sown so greatly.
And so again, thank you for being here.
It's so wonderful. All right, before you go, I want
to say a blessing over you to send you into your week.
So if you would prepare your heart to receive this blessing
before you go. And now may the Lord bless you
and keep you, and may He make his face to shine upon you.
And may the joy of the Lord that is unspeakable and full of glory
made a bound to you. And may the peace of God that
passes all understanding, may it surprise you in the midst of all
of the challenges that life brings.
And then may the mercies of the Lord, in other words, the
forgiveness of God, that is new every morning.
May it be especially new to you now and your mornings to come.
And now, may the Lord Jesus Christ guard your heart and your
mind. You are salt and you are light.
Go now and be salt and light into the world.
You are blessed. We'll see you again soon.
Merry Christmas.