Let’s make much of Jesus
Category: Worship & Praise
Key Passage: Matthew 16
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: December 9, 2024
Book of Matthew chapter number 16. Matthew chapter 16 in God’s Word tonight, Matthew chapter 16.
The ballot up all of our members, 18 and older here tonight. By the way, I had at least four or five—I do not know how many—just said, “Man, if I could be there tonight, you know, put me in and say yes.” And I told them, “We may be able to do that, but we will get hanging chats and get those lawyers here watching.” Man, that is a lawsuit. The vote is 50 yes and one no.
And that is all right. That one is it. So praise the Lord, that is a pass. Amen. There you go. That is a pass. That is a pass. Let me just say that word: that one, they are allowed to do that. That is fine. That is all part of it. But praise the Lord, the vast majority is a yes. So we will be calling tomorrow getting this thing moving forward and excited about that.
How many of you are either here in Sunday school when we talked about that or you watched it online? So the vast majority of you have, and you know the details of it. We will try to get that thing moving forward and ahead. Our goal is to get that thing redesigned so we get the new blueprints to those ministry builders, Coverage for Christ, as soon as we can.
If that were to happen, that would be a huge, huge bonus. So pray. So many different moving parts. We need to bathe this thing in prayer. God could just do so many different things. We have Properties for Christ involved, trying to sell this property here. If we were to get city sewage here, that would be just a deal breaker with up the value of this place—just so many different things.
Selling this, and we do not want to end up without a building, but we can put contingencies in there: “Hey, we will sell it to you if we can rent it back for 18 months,” whatnot. Just a lot of different moving parts, so we need God just kind of greasing all the gears with God’s grace and your prayers. So pray about some different things in that, but I am excited about it. God has led us this far.
He has clearly led us this far. I mean, there is just no doubt about it for us to be able to have that property over there—13 acres—and it is all paid for. I attribute that only to the Lord. And that prime real estate, commercial real estate property were there. I think I have told you this, but at one point I was asking a real estate agent that sold the two acres what he thought we should list this for. I was thinking about this property. He thought I was talking about that property. He came back and said, “I think you ought to list it for,” I think it was $11.6 million. And I said, “Brother, I do not think this is going to sell for that much.” Somewhere in there, I realized he was talking about that over there, you know.
I say all that to say, for us—not me, but us, the church, God’s church—to own that property priced at that amount—that is just God. That is just the Lord. That is all there is to explain it: just God. So let us just praise the Lord. Let us ask Him to continue to let us be clearly led this far. I think about that verse: “Faithful is he who calls you, who also will do it.”
And if He has led, He has called; He will make it happen. And we just follow Him. I am excited about it and just looking forward to seeing what God will do. Glad you are on board. It is not just about that building; it is about the people that get reached in that building. That is what it is all about. When it is all said and done, eternity is what matters. I wonder how many people in Smyrna, as of tonight, are headed for hell.
They are going to burn literally forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever if they do not get Jesus. We are commissioned to get Jesus to them.
We cannot make them get saved, but that is our goal: to put Jesus right in front, try to make Him look as good as we can, and try to get them saved. I think we would have a better opportunity to reach more people for and with Jesus on that new location and in that new building. That is what it is all about: souls and lives being changed. God can just do so much more on that new property. I am excited about that. I want to keep our focus right on Jesus and reaching people, not money and land and all that, but on Jesus and reaching people. I think it would just be a great, great tool for that. At the end of the day, it is very exciting to see God work—just see the hand of God do the work. It is exciting.
Churches—and I was not planning on saying this—there are a lot of churches that are closing their doors. It is a sad, sad thing that happens all across America. Not maybe as much as it was a couple years ago—pray a little for that—but it is still happening. In the midst of that, God is blessing us: we are about to build a new building. Wow. We want to thank the Lord for that. He is very, very good to us. His grace is real to us. I say this often: let us just do our best to stay right, stay humble, stay seeking the Lord, and just see what God will do. A bunch of helpers trying to stay right with the Lord. Amen, you know.
But Matthew chapter 16—just a little bit tonight on this line. I do not know exactly how to put it all together, but I wanted to focus just on this a little bit tonight with the vote, and just a little bit of a milestone looking ahead to the future of Brother Frick County Baptist Church.
Matthew 16 is a very familiar passage in God’s Word. We are going to start in verse number 13 and read down through verse number 18. Verse number 18 will be the first time the word “church” is mentioned in all the Bible—very significant there. Let us stand, if you would, please, for the reading of God’s Word, Matthew 16. Look in verse number 13: “When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi.”
He asked His disciples, saying, “Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” Jesus often referred to Himself by that. It is just a little bit of a humbling term, Son of Man. As He is complete man, complete God, He would use that term about Himself, showing His humility. They said, “Some say that You are John the Baptist.” You stand like John the Baptist. You do not fit in with the world like John the Baptist. You kind of resemble John the Baptist a little bit. Some say Elias—that great prophet of old. You go on Mount Carmel, you just stand like others, Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a weeping prophet, a compassionate man. Some say Jesus, just like Jeremiah reincarnated, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, “But whom say ye that I am?”
Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ.” Now, Christ—that word means the Anointed One, the Messiah, the Savior—the one that all the Old Testament prophets have been prophesying about, the Savior of the world to come. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” That means Your deity, Your God in flesh.
Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”
By the way, if someone truly gets saved, if they truly see Jesus for who and what He is, the Savior of the world, it will not be my little technique or what all I do. It will be God that does that. He said, “Flesh and blood did not reveal that to you.” The Spirit of God works in the heart. Now, He will use us, but do not get too proud. No, no, God used you. God does that. He reveals that.
Look at this, though, verse number 18: “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
Just a little bit tonight. As we look forward to our future, let us just decide inside: let us make much of Jesus. He is the rock. Let us just say, “Hey, you know what we are going to do? We are going to do the best we can to promote Jesus everywhere we go.” God bless us when we get in that building over there. We do not want to promote us—Brother of County Baptist Church, pastor, deacons, or people. We want to promote Jesus. That is what it is all about. Let us just resign to do that: promote Jesus. Let us pray. Father, give us a glimpse, Father, of even more so promoting Your Son, Jesus. Father, I pray that our church, myself, us as members, Lord, would just be more about promoting Jesus.
Father, thank You for Your Spirit, sending Your Spirit that empowers us to do that. Do that tonight in these next few minutes. Father, we thank You for what You do. We ask You for that, Father, in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated. The rock—upon this rock, I will build My church—is Jesus. He is the Rock. He is the Savior, God in flesh.
If a church is built on Jesus, Jesus is the one that builds the church. Can I say this? There are a lot of different ways in our day and time to build a church, and I am using that term a little loosely. You can build a church by letting a lot of people come in and have concerts. I am not saying this is bad, but you can help build a church a little bit by having food sometimes. That is not a bad thing. Food brings them in sometimes. You can do all kinds of different things to build a church.
Some churches, I think, have very good business leaders. They are very talented—CEOs—and they are very good at much, much better than I am. They are just good leaders, and they are good at putting a business together, and they can build a church like that. But here is the thing: if a church is built truly on Jesus, Jesus builds it.
Upon this rock, I will build My church. That is what we want. We do not want a church that is pastor-built or people-built; we want a church that is Jesus-built. Upon this rock, I will build My church. A church that is built upon God, the rock of Jesus, is the church that Jesus says, “Now, that is My church.” Upon this rock, I will build My… It kind of makes you think there are some churches that are not His. But if the church is built on the rock of Jesus, that is when Jesus says, “Upon that rock, I will build My church.”
I would like for us tonight, as we are making this—it is a huge vote for our church, it is a step forward, it is a huge milestone—to just decide in our minds that we are going to do our best to build this thing on the rock of Jesus. I do not know if I ordered that right, because we will not build it; Jesus builds. I should say this: we want to do our best to promote Jesus.
One reason for that is because Jesus is the one that changes life. Look over in Acts chapter 3, if you would please. Acts chapter 3. There are these two preachers, Peter and John, who go to the temple around 3 p.m. in the afternoon. There is this guy there; he was a beggar. He looked at these two preachers and said, “Hey, you got some money?” Preachers always act like they do not have any money, you know, and that is what a preacher does. So the preacher, Peter, says, “Silver and gold have I none. But such as I have give I thee in the name of Jesus Christ.” Let us read it. I am getting ahead of myself. Let us see where we are. Verse number six. Let us start there. Thank you. Verse number six: “Then Peter said, ‘Silver and gold have I none. Such as I have give I thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.’” He took him by the right hand, lifted him up. Immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength, and he, leaping up, stood, and walked and entered with him into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God.
All the people saw him walking and praising God. They knew that it was he who sat for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. They were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. As the lame man, who was healed, held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering. Solomon’s porch is kind of inside the outer wall, only inside the temple, and you could gather several thousand people there in this little square, if you will. They are gathering around Peter and John. Wow, look at this miracle they did! Look at verse number 12: “And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, ‘You men of Israel, why marvel you at this? Or look you so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?’ The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Son, Jesus—whom He delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let Him go. But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you (remember that? Barabbas), and killed the Prince of life, whom God has raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses. And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know.”
Yea, the faith which is by Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all." Let me just stop. In other words, Peter said, “No, do not look at us. There is nothing special about us. We did not change this man’s life. We did not heal this man. It was the name of Jesus that healed this man.” That is what a church has got to get good at. Because as God heals the lame and the blind and changes lives and makes the difference in people’s lives, if we are not careful, people say, “Boy, look at you. That is a great church. That is a great preacher.” A wise preacher here says, “No, do not look at us. We are sinners just like you. It was Jesus. Jesus is the one that changes life.”
If we are going to see truly lives changed in our church, we must be about promoting Jesus Christ. Friend, be very, very careful of thinking that we can change your life. We cannot do that. You take all the psychologists in the world, put them all together, give them all their lectures for about 100 hours, and then take one touch of Jesus Christ—He will change the life much more. Jesus changes life.
Friend, I am saying we must be about promoting Jesus. I forget—I was a young preacher here when we just started the church—and I preached a funeral up in the Ellis Funeral Home. How many know Ellis Funeral Home up in Nashville? It used to be the funeral home back in the day; it does not seem like it so much anymore. Back in the day, it was the funeral home in Nashville. I preached a funeral there, and I cannot remember who it was for, but an older preacher passed around here for years, Milton Hicks. I did not even know Brother Hicks. Brother Hicks, yes, back in the day, he passed. Good, some young. I did not know he was a preacher. I was young, and he was much older than I. He came to me after that service and shook my hand. He was pastoring the First Baptist Church of LaVergne at the time. He could have been condescending to me as a young preacher, but he said this, and I will never forget it: “Hey, good job. Keep preaching the gospel. That is what changes life.”
That is a wise statement: Jesus changes life. I remember in Bible College, we had the bus ministry up in Chicago, and one of our bus captains had grown up in Chicago. He was a bus kid, and God had changed his life. He knew the ropes of Chicago. He got a teenage young man on his route and really invested in that young man so much. He taught that young man how to be polite, how to dress—I mean, pull your pants up, amen! Come on now. This is Chicago, gangland and all the rest of it. He taught him how to be respectful, how to shake someone’s hand, look him in the eye. He taught him all those things, taught him how to work, helped him get a good job. He invested hours and hours in that young man, only to have that young man walk away and break his heart. That was a good lesson for us young preacher boys to realize: you can do all that you want, but at the end of the day, Jesus changes life.
Friend, I am not against all the social programs, but our government has pumped trillions of dollars into social programs, and sometimes they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. I am telling you, Jesus changes life. We want to be about promoting Jesus—everything. I love it when our songs are about Jesus: “Jesus Paid It All,” “All to Him I Owe.” Hey, one of our classic songs, “Victory in Jesus,” yes. Everything ought to be about promoting Jesus—Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. One of our songs in service should be about Jesus.
What are you doing going out campaigning in the fall and spring, knocking on doors, trying to get people in your church? No, that is so minute in comparison. We want to go and tell them about Jesus; that is why we are out there. By the way, if you get busy telling people about Jesus, Jesus can tell them where Brother of the Catholic Church is located at. He is the one who builds the church, not us. Let us get wrapped up in this: we want to promote Jesus the best we can. That is what we are here for. The early church, man, everybody kind of knew what they were about: promoting Jesus.
You are over there in Acts 3, and we read that verse. Let us read it again. Look at verse number 16 again, Acts 3. I love the way they word this verse: “And His name, that is Jesus, through faith in His name, Jesus, has made this man strong whom you see and know. Yea, the faith which is by Him, as Jesus has given him, this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.” Look in the chapter before, where persecution comes. Look in verse number two: Their enemies are talking about them, being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus, a resurrection from the dead. Look in verse number 10 of chapter four: “Be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him does this man stand here before you whole.” Look at verse number 12 right there recorded this morning: “Neither is there salvation in any other; there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” It is Jesus.
Praise the Lord for the election! It was not the results of the election of blessing? Man, I have a conservative president. I am so thankful. Boy, it could have been really depressing, folks. Praise the Lord, we have a conservative president. Praise the Lord, we have a conservative House. We kept that. Praise the Lord, old Mike Johnson is a Christian. I am very thankful for that. The Senate—praise the Lord, we won that. John, was it John Thune? He is a Christian. Praise the Lord for that. I am all about that. I am excited about that. I like it. That is what I was praying for. What a blessing. We may lose one Supreme Court judge that is very conservative. Why? I wanted to put another conservative in there, amen? That is key, friend. That is key. I am for all that, and I am thanking and praising the Lord that… can I say this? You can have the best politicians in all the world, but if you do not have Jesus right in the middle of it, you are not going to have a great America, friend. He is the one that made America great in the first place. A bunch of ragamuffin, 13 colonies—they could have never beaten the strongest military in the world. It was God that gave us the victory. What does America need? Jesus. That is what it means. Just promote Jesus.
Just do the best we can to lift high Jesus. I love this verse, Galatians 6:14: “But God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Be careful of people trying to lower Jesus; let us exalt Jesus. Do not say, just as far as vain or slang, “Oh, Jesus.” No, do not do that. Do not bring Him down to our language, but lift Him high. That is Jesus we are talking about. Can I say this while we are on the subject? We do not know exactly what Jesus looked like, but do not fall for some 15th-century feminist artists that painted Jesus with long hair. The Bible says it is a shame for men to have long hair. Jesus did not have long hair. Do not fall for that. Let Him be high, lifted up—Jesus. Jesus is it. Praise the Lord for Jesus.
Let us lay aside self-promotion and let us promote Jesus. Look over at Philippians chapter number two real quickly. We are not going to be super long tonight. Look over at Philippians two. It was a good day when the Lord spoke to my heart about a little phrase over here in Philippians 2. I am far from where I ought to be in following it, but it speaks to my heart often. I love it. It is found over here in Philippians chapter 2. Look, if you would, please, in verse number 5: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.”
Let me just stop for a second there. In other words, He understood He was God in flesh, and He knew it was not wrong or robbery or false for Him to be equal with God. He was God. He understood that. He comprehended that. I do not know—and we are going to get into some gray area here—but I do not know when He was a boy that He fully grasped everything. He was complete God. Not trying to take away from the deity of Christ, but He was a complete man. The Bible does say He grew in wisdom and favor and stature with God. The Bible does say that. But at this point, man, He fully grasped that it was not robbery to be equal with God. He understood who He was. But watch this next verse, verse number seven: “But made Himself of no reputation.” Wow. Do you ever find yourself telling a story at an angle that makes you look good? Jesus did not do that. Pretty amazing. But made Himself of no reputation.
Sometimes, honestly, I am doing it to look good or to sound good or whatever. And I think of Jesus: He made Himself of no reputation. As far as just Him—now, His office, He was the Savior and He wanted to save the world—but as far as personally, He made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant, who was made in the likeness of men. He made Himself of no reputation.
I am just saying, let us lay aside self-promotion and let us promote Jesus. Every single one of our Sunday school classes, even the nursery, should be centered around Jesus, if they can. All of our classes should be centered around Jesus.
What do we want to do in our song service? Promote Jesus. What do we want to do with our radio station? Promote Jesus. What do we want to do in our Christian school? Promote Jesus. What do we want to do in our activities? Promote Jesus. What do we want to do on Saturday mornings? Promote Jesus. What do we want to do on Thursday soul-winning? Promote Jesus. Everything we do must promote Jesus. He is the one that changes life. It is not going to be me or you or all our programs; it is going to be Jesus. Why do we send missionaries around the world to promote Jesus? Why do we spend so much time and money on printing tracts to promote Jesus? Why do Muslims need Jesus? What do Catholics need? A Jesus in whom we place our faith alone. Why do people around the world and in jail need Jesus? What are we doing going to the jails on Friday night? Promoting Jesus. Everything we do ought to promote Jesus.
Can I ask you: as we are promoting, moving into this new building, and God is doing all that, shall we just set ourselves to the world? What are we going to do in that new building? Promote Jesus. Lift high Jesus. I am going to promote this person and that person—all that is secondary. Maybe that is a little part of the formula, but the overwhelming thing is, no, we are going to go over there to promote Jesus. That is what we are about. Friend, if we lose sight of that, what good is a big church? At the end of the day, that building is going to burn up one day, but Jesus is going to reign forever and ever. It is all about Jesus. Let us resign ourselves: we are going to promote Jesus. Let us not get caught up in ourselves; that leads to fussing and fighting. Only my pride causes contention. It is not about us, me, and “I got this part of my ministry” and all that. It is about Jesus.
Let us just promote Jesus. Let us do our best to be good ambassadors. We want a nice-looking building over there. A lot of people are going to ride by and see that building, but you know why we want a nice-looking building? To make Jesus look good. We are His ambassadors. That building is His. If the Lord tears it down one day—if the Lord tears it down—one day I will be gone, you will be gone, but I hope that building will still be used to promote Jesus. That is what it is all about: promoting Jesus. That is what “Christian” means—little Christ. We are supposed to go around everywhere just being little Jesuses to everybody.
I have been praying this, and I would love it if you would pray it with me. I have been praying this, probably not as much as I ought to, but I am trying to get other people to pray with me. Wouldn’t it be a blessing if the Lord would give us at least just one more life truly changed before the end of the year? Wouldn’t that be neat? I hope y’all do not mind me mentioning names here, but I think about Marla and Stacy—how God has changed your lives, and you are such a blessing to our church. You are awesome. Brother Josh, Ms. Ben, Bill and Tabitha, Brother Robert—here the last year, Jesus has changed lives. I pray, I want to be a blessing if the Lord gives just one more life that is truly changed by Jesus. Only Jesus does that.
It is not going to be because they got in my class and I did all that. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we would just see one more life changed by Jesus? He has changed so many lives around here. It is one of the privileges really just to see Jesus change life. By the way, for most of us, at some point, somewhere, or some church, wherever that may be, Jesus changed your life, and it was Jesus who did it. I love the verse that is in the hallway, a portion of it: Colossians 1:18, “And he 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.”
I do not know how long—many of you have heard this before, but I am going to tell it one more time. About 15 years ago, someone called the church. He was a man from Georgia. We had a secretary at the time, Tommy Bitt—a good lady—and she answered the phone. They asked if the pastor was in North Georgia. This was about 30 years ago, and he might have led a guide to the Lord and began to describe a little bit. Well, that was about 15 years ago. Today I am 45, so that would mean I was 30 then. I am dreaming right there, folks. It was about 15 years ago when they called. They were talking about 30 years ago, so I would have been pretty young. They said, “Well, I do not think it is the pastor. Maybe it was his dad.” So this man called my dad. He said, “Were you in North Georgia about 30-something years ago? Did you go out one day and find a man in a rocking chair with long, hippie hair down to his hips? Did you lead him to the Lord?”
My dad at that point had cancer and whatnot. Dad said, “Well, the timing is probably about right. I cannot remember everything, but probably you are right.” He said, “That man that you led to the Lord 30-something years ago has been my pastor for the last—I think—60 years at that time. His name is Bud Martin. He has preached at that church since then.” He said that man was about to turn—I think he was turning 50, if I remember correctly. We want to have you down. He always talks about this man that led him to Jesus. He really could not pronounce your name very well, and the spelling we could not get right. We have been looking, but he was a younger man, and better at researching on the internet whatnot. He found Dad. That day, Brother Martin was turning, I think, 50, and they had Dad down there at the church. In fact, Dad had stolen that rocking chair out of his shed, had it reworked, and brought it up on the platform. He said, “Brother Martin, you always talk about this man that came by.”
Dad just took him through the Romans Road. In fact, you have heard Brother Martin share this testimony. He said it took him through the Romans Road the first time and asked him if he wanted to get saved, if he wanted to accept Jesus as Savior. Brother Martin said, “Well, I do not think so.” Dad just stuck around, went back down through the Romans Road twice, and went by it again. That time, Brother Martin said, “Yes, I would like to do that.” They brought out that rocking chair and said, “Now, Brother Martin, we want you to sit down there.” They set him down, and then they brought Dad back in through the back door so we could reintroduce you to each other after all those years. It was a special thing, and God completely changed Bud and Jenny Martin’s life.
Miss Martin tells this—and they do not mind me sharing; we have talked about this—this is kind of her side of the story. Their lives were so messed up. They were young, but they had never really been in church and did not know that much. They had worldly things and were messing their lives up with drugs and everything else. She thought, “Well, there is no hope for us, but maybe there is some hope for our kids.” So she was letting the Jehovah’s Witnesses come in and talk with her kids. Bud Martin, though he had not been in church, said, “Man, those people are not right.” They were lying in bed arguing at nighttime. Brother Martin—Bud Martin—said, “No, you are not letting them come around again, not with our kids.” She said, “Well, I have to have some; they need some kind of God in their lives.” Brother Martin says this: He said, “I do not even know if I close my eyes. I do not know how to pray. I do not know anything about that.” But he said, “We are just going to say: If You are up there, You need to show us what the truth is.” By the way, John 7:17 says, “If any man wills to do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself.” That is a promise from God. God says, “You want to know the truth? You are willing to do it? I will share what the truth is.” He said, “I do not even know if I closed my eyes. I just whispered a little prayer with my wife: ‘All right, You need to show us what the truth is so we can stop fighting.’” Brother Martin said he wanted to go back because he had to get up early the next morning to go to work. They whispered that prayer.
The next day or two, that is when my dad and mom went by their house. Can I say this? They did not enroll them in any social program. I am not totally against all those things and psychologists and all that; they have their place every once in a while. But they told them about Jesus. They did come to church that Sunday and got into church. We were moving; we were always moving out when young. We never saw them again all those years. They did get into a good church that promoted Jesus. I want you to see the difference Jesus makes when Jesus steps into a human’s life. Can we get that picture there? That is them before Jesus—back in the day. You can tell it is a little dated, amen? That is their motorcycle. That is a little weekly rental type apartment they were living in. That is before Jesus. Mom and Dad went by there; they did not enroll them in all this other stuff. I am not saying everything about that is bad, but they told them about Jesus, and they did help to enroll them in a church that promotes Jesus. That is the before. And here is the after. That is them about—oh, I do not know—that was probably six, seven, ten years ago. Brother Martin helped me preach my dad’s funeral. So what made the difference there? Jesus.
Why do we want that new building? To promote Jesus. Everywhere, every angle we can, we want to promote Jesus. Upon this rock—what is the rock? Jesus. Upon this rock, I will build. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes, please? Heads are bowed, eyes are closed. Tonight, you say, “You know, I am just going to spend some of this invitation time asking the Lord, would You help us?” When I say us, for the Academy Baptist Church, would You help us to promote Jesus? You know, that main road over there, and God bless us, get a big bill and help us. Lord Jesus, spend some time. Lord, help us to promote Jesus.
Would you ask the Lord tonight: “Lord, help me as a person to be better about promoting Jesus”? Whether that be in your conversation at home, in your marriage, at work, or with a gospel tract, however it may be, Lord, help me personally be better about promoting Him.
I would be remiss if I did not give you this opportunity. Maybe you are here tonight; you do not know Jesus as your personal Savior. We would be thrilled tonight to help you meet Jesus and make Him your Savior. You are here tonight; you do not know that heaven is your home. We would be glad to take a Bible—thrilled—take a Bible, tell you about Jesus so you can go to heaven. If you are a man, we will get a man. If you are a lady, we will get a lady to take the Bible, show you about Jesus so you can say, “I am never going to go to hell for a second; I am going to heaven for all eternity because of Jesus.” Would you give us that privilege? Would you come down? An old-fashioned invitation. Just let me know, and I will get someone to help you. We will tell you about Jesus. Would you please stand? Would you please stand? Be a good night as a church family. Lord, help RCBC to be promoting Jesus.
Help me as a person to be promoting Jesus. Would you ask Him that tonight during the invitation? Father Lord, help us to be focused on that: promoting Jesus everywhere we go. Thank You, Lord, that You gave us a commission: let everybody know about Jesus. Help us to do so. Please work tonight, Father, in Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen. Would you come? Would you come? Just spend some time. Help us as a church to promote Jesus. Help me as an individual to promote Jesus. Do that. Just come. That is good, church family. More just came and prayed. That is good. Help us promote Jesus in every visit, every letter, every phone call—everything we do, we want to be about Jesus. Cut the grass around the church, clean that, make it look good. We want Jesus to look good. Sunday school classroom—we want it to look good so we can reach people in that classroom. Lift high to promote Jesus.
Why would I like to be a Sunday school teacher? Why would I like to be over this ministry? Why would I want to be a deacon? So everyone is able to promote Jesus. That is what we ought to be about—everything, Jesus. He had the preeminence—Jesus.
We were in Florida for Thanksgiving because of my father-in-law and whatnot. I was in an office filling out some things, and that lady said, “Can you give me another phone number?” I said, “Well, let me give my wife’s phone number. I do not have it memorized.” Shame on me. She said, “Well, you probably have your ex-wife’s number memorized.” I said, “No, I have only been married one time—31 years. That is it.” She was a young lady. She said, “Wow, what is the secret?” I said, “The Lord. Jesus—that salvation? What is going to keep you married? Jesus. What is going to keep sanity in a chaotic world? Jesus.”
Just everything, Jesus. It is not just promoting Jesus in salvation; it is Jesus throughout. The more you grow in the Lord, the less it will be about you and more about Jesus, depending on Jesus. I have to quit and let you go home, maybe. Let us just promote Jesus. That is what we are going to be about: Jesus. That is the best thing the world will be about. Good to have you in church on Sunday night. Praise the Lord about the building; that is exciting. And you had a party in. Amen. I appreciate you having a party and being here tonight. Praise the Lord for it. Brother Steve Page would not sing for us tonight. I do not know what the world… I tell you what, maybe he will dismiss us with a word of prayer. Maybe he will do that.
Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar ＂RCBC let’s make much of Jesus＂ - Sunday PM 12⧸8⧸2024 [U4FwXIzqzqw]