Introduction:

A. The Church Should Represent Christ To The World.

B. What Kind of Picture of Christ Do We Present To The World?

C. The Church of My Dreams, And My Dream For Our Church Is That It Will Be:

A. This comes about by have a Regenerated Membership.

Col. 1:26-27, "Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:"

B. We are Not an Entertainment Center but rather a Worship Center.

Col. 1:18-19, "And he (Jesus) is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. 19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;"

1. Does Christ Have The Preeminence In Our Services?

2. Who Do We Acknowledge, Recognize, Applaud, Praise?

3. After The Service is over, who/what do we talk about?

a. How we enjoyed the services (entertainment) --- or the One we should have been worshipping?

b. The preacher --- or the message of God's Word applied to our own hearts.

c. The talent of the singers --- or praise to the God we were singing about --- Was there even a message in the song, or did it merely demonstrate the talents of the singers.

d. The talent of our youth --- or how God is working in their lives.

4. Does Christ Have The Preeminence? --- If Not, Upon Who Is The Focus of Our Services?

C. The more you know the Lord, The More You Want To Know Him --- Paul .....

Phil. 3:10, "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;"

D. How Do We Build A Strong Relationship With God --- Pray Daily --- Without Ceasing .....

Acts 12:5, "Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him."

E. How Do We Build A Strong Relationship With God --- Study God Word Daily --- Ask Questions .....

Acts 17:11, "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so."

F. How Do We Build A Strong Relationship With God --- Talk about God in a Positive Way --- Witnessing .....

Acts 5:42, "And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."

A. This is a Problem that has been with us Since The Beginning of The Church.

Paul --- 2 Tim. 4:16, "At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge."

B. Today, instead of Upholding The Preacher's Hands, many churches would Break their arms or Tie Their Hands and then Criticize them for their Weakness.

Exodus 17:8-12, "Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim." --- V. 11, "And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12, "But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun."

C. Freeman House --- for Discouraged and Heartsick Preachers.

I Thank God For The Vision of Our Church .....

A. Loves To Talk About Jesus --- Visitation --- Friends --- On The Job ---

B. Brings People To Church --- even Relatives and Friends ...

Luke 14:23, "And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled."

C. Not Selfish --- Always Taking In --- but Never Giving Out --- like the Dead Sea ...

D. Great Desire and Enthusiastic about Teaching A Sunday School Class.

A. Local Missions ---

B. National Missions ---

C. Foreign Missions ---

We Should Have A Greater Desire And Determination To Go Into All The World And Preach The Gospel Than The Pharisees And Hypocrites Do.

Matt. 23:15, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves."

D. The Deadest Thing In The World Is A Dead Church --- Not On Fire For God.

E. We Are Either A Missionary --- Or We Need One!

A. 2 Chron. 7:14, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

B. Not Self - Righteous ...

Not Too Proud And Self-Righteous To Admit Their Weakness And Rededicate Their Lives To God.

1 John 1:8, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."

C. Not Lukewarm ...

Rev. 3:16, "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."

D. Not Tolerant of Sin ...

Heb. 5:12-14, "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."

It Takes A Mature Church To Be Able To Discern Between Good And Evil.

A. You shouldn't have to go the Happy Hour at the Bar in order to find Fellowship, Understand, and An Encouraging Word.

John 13:34-35, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

B. The World Love Those Who Love Them.

Matthew 5:46, "For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

C. It should Not matter What Side of The Tracks they live on.

Pro. 22:2, "The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all."

If Any Member of Our Church Does Not Feel That S/He Is As Important As Any Other Member --- We Are Failing Somewhere --- In Our Love.

D. United We Stand --- Divided We Fall.

Mark 3:25, "And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand."

A. We should be Optimistic --- Not Negative Nor Pessimistic.

B. Phil. 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice."

"Thou Shalt Rejoice" is stated in the Bible, no less than a dozen times, as a Command.

C. Are You A Happy Rejoicing Christian --- If Not, Why Not?

Matthew 6:33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

So far as is known, no Bird ever tried to build more nests than its neighbor.

No Fox ever fretted because he had only one hole in the earth in which to live and hide.

No Squirrel ever died in anxiety lest he should not lay up enough nuts for two winters instead of one.

And no Dog ever lost sleep over the fact that he did not have enough bones buried in the ground for his declining years.

So many People put the emphasis on the wrong things.

J - Jesus First

O - Others Second

Y - Yourself Last