Good Morning Beloved Family,
I'm so thankful for all of you joining us today..
Before we begin, I want you all to know that I love you, value and appreciate you. You All Matter!
Heavenly Father,
When we join together as one people, Your children
with joyful hearts, in the midst of a world of chaos
we come together, here in this place, to pause ...
to worship You united in many voices, praying together, as one
Your creation, is such a part of all of us
as the new headlines read, homeless man beaten
a mother of two abducted
a teenager walking home from school, still missing
The disabled student, who was not accommodated, and the bomb threat at the Jewish child-care center, racial profiling at the border and the Muslim woman, still on of Your children, is to "go home"
In this world, we experience fullness of Your beauty
amazing sights, sounds, tastes, fragrances and yet a world, that lays heavy on our hearts
we are a people that are wanting to feel loved, and valued in a world that desperately needs Your experience peace
Father, we come to You with many prayers,
and to ask Your forgiveness, for times, we too have neglected others
the times when we have disturbed or even destroyed
the peace of another person
the times when we have disturbed or even destroyed
the peace of another person
to pray for someone
who we may not even know
who we may not even know
someone, who is on our hearts,
who we know is in need of Your joy
who we know is in need of Your joy
Loving and merciful Father,
We thank You for Your grace,
and forgiveness, for hearing our prayers
and forgiveness, for hearing our prayers
both collectively, and the ones of silence, in our own hearts
In Jesus' name
Amen
Today's message I've entitled: Seven Principles That Changed My Life
effectiveness of ministry, where more souls are saved, where saints receive greater light and where they are better equipped to tackle the unique problems and challenges we face in our society, God has guided me to seven principles in scripture that have literally revolutionized the results when I preach.
The first thing I discovered, is that God is more interested in a prepared vessel than in a prepared message.
In God’s economy the most important factor is the condition of one’s heart. Ministry is a matter of both the renewed spirit and the renewed mind, working together, in harmony, to produce God’s purpose.
I also discovered, that you can be at your lowest or at your coldest and God will still give you the victory.
You must learn to master your emotions. Whether you feel high or low does not change the power of God to deliver His message, to His people.
Because faith is not a feeling - it’s an acceptance of truth in the face of adverse circumstances.
Whether you are on the mountain top or in the valley, or even in the pit!
You will find over and over and over, in scripture that God’s power proved to be unequaled, and sufficient for whatever, the task at hand.
This means we must learn to do your part, create our own atmosphere. We do this by having the right attitude about our crisis. Our motives have to be reexamined and we must align them with God’s purposes, plans and values.
When leaders learn this, we determine that they will no longer preach just to do a good job but we will minister to help save someone else from the destructive jaws of lion, from sin. Even when, you are having a difficult day, you haven't slept all night, because you've sat in an emergency room at the bedside of someone who has just lost a loved one or faces a life threatening surgery, yet you will not stop believing that God is able to deliver on His promises!
Because I Believe In A God Who Never Fails!
This type of perseverance will pay off in the long run.
Every one of you, has their pits in life, that contain roaring lions, ready to devour their breakfast, their lunch, their dinner, and have them for dessert.
As a worship leader, we face opposition to one’s ministry and we should be expected from both the human and demonic world. As many of you know, both evil spirits and the flesh war in unison, against God’s purposes.
Our God is consistent, Our God is faithful and you should never judge what God can do by how you feel emotionally, or even how others come against you, but by what you know the Bible says is true
of God!
One day, someone, I will never forget, but I won't name here, sharply pointed a finger in my face and firmly said,
“Brian, your problem is, you are still fighting but no longer enjoy the battle!
You must make up in your mind that every day, every morning when you wake up, you are going to have to unsheathe your sword and prepare yourself for war against Satan, and be willing to never give up.
And no matter, how bad things look, understand, it's only the deceptive illusion of the enemy. The victory has already been won, all you have to do is speak God's truth and boldly walk in that victory.
Because satan will never ever cease in trying to take you down. And when you make it to heaven and as you begin walk through those pearly gates, listen ever so carefully as they start to close behind you.
Because you will in all certainly, hear the sound of his arrows as the enemy, makes his last ditch effort to stop you from realizing God’s perfect will.
But remember this, as God begin to elevate you, for every new level of power and success you achieve, you must also face a new set of enemies, even more sophisticated than the last. But also remember this, that the same God that brought you here, and defeated him before will indeed defeat him again and again.
It's the consistency of God!
The same name, of Jesus, the same blood of the sinless, perfect Lamb of God, and the same Word of God, works over and over again.”
Today, even as I emotionally recall those loving words,
I have never forgotten those words...
From Samson’s encounter with the lion on his way to Timnath when he refused to discuss the conflict with his father and mother,
I have learned that there are some battles you must learn how to fight in secret. Instead of discussing the battle he decided to extract honey from the carcass of the lion and share that honey with his family.
You don’t have to reveal every detail of every battle with the Lion. Just remember to carry plenty of honey with you wherever you go.
Learn to celebrate the small victories. Learn to celebrate other peoples’ victories. Yes, even those you don’t particularly like.
And yes, I do know, that’s a tough one! But it’s very necessary if you are going to continue to grow in the Lord. If you are going to preach and struggle with the disappointments that come with ministry, then please be sure to carry your honey with you for it’s through the joy that we draw water from the well, and through joy that we gain strength to overcome.
It's finding His joy in the midst of our battle!
You don’t have to have a majority to have revival. “Where two agree touching any one thing, God will do it.” All you need is one other person besides yourself to create the proper atmosphere in a church service for effective ministry. One will put a thousand to flight, two shall put ten thousand to flight. That can be your wife, a prayer partner, the pastor, the evangelist or just someone in the congregation that possesses a kindred spirit. It doesn’t make any difference who it is as long as you connect.
Over the years, I have heard preachers say, “When everyone starts worshiping the Lord and praying around here, we will have revival”. Consequently, they never experience consistent revival. At best it is sporadic and more often seasonal.
This gospel, we preach, has a built in provision!
One that it works in season and out of season!
When you feel like it and when you don’t, when the atmosphere is right and when it isn’t, when people applaud it and when they don't, God can and does still work.
Andrew and the little boy, with his five loaves and two fishes created miracle territory when everyone else was distraught at the Master’s command, “You give them something to eat.”
Notice they didn’t try to take their meal to the crowd - they gave their lunch to Jesus. And God multiplied it!
Another thing I have learned, don’t ever try to give what you have to the crowd.
It will never be enough! Always give it to Jesus and He will make it enough.
That's the power of agreement!
Beloved, we as a people, as a society, as a church have underestimated the power of our words for too long. Proverbs 18:21, teaches us that "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit." We eventually become exactly what we think and talk about the most.We, all being God's children, must seek to end hate speech, including antisemitism, racial and religious slurs, thus speaking life not death into the world.
We are intelligent beings, therefore, we can most certainly learn to agree to disagree without hate!
If you do not have a faith buddy that you can talk to about your dreams, about the Word and about faith, then you need to pray that God will connect you with someone who is not intimidated by your desire to do more.
It’s not always good to share your faith with someone who does not have like-minded vision or similar goals. It can be very counterproductive. You need to always be sure that you link up with people who will help challenge your faith and give you the inspiration you need to continue the journey, no matter how difficult, until you achieve the promised victory.
Notice that God wouldn’t allow Israel to say a single word the entire time they encircled Jericho. The reason for this unusual request can be easily understood when you look back on Israel’s history of murmuring and complaining. Forty years earlier they allowed the 10 spies with an evil report to persuade them to speak against God’s promise. They slandered the land and thereby canceled their ticket to enter into God’s promise that flowed with milk and honey. Therefore, God made sure this time they wouldn’t even get the opportunity to talk their way out of the victory. He, in essence, told them to keep their mouths shut until they heard the ram’s horn and then shout for the Lord has given them the city.
Let me be clear on something, I have never regretted a single word that I have not spoken!
Unfortunately, we all know how difficult it is to control your tongue. You must learn this early in your ministry. The earlier you gain the mastery of your tongue the easier your life is going to be. Watch how you speak to your husband or wife, to your children, your parents and to the people you preach to...
It is said that 90% of all domestic fights are started not by just the words spoken, but by the tone of voice one uses in speaking. Don’t allow your frustrations to master your pulpit presentation. If you have a Word from God, then speak it in a spirit of meekness and humility, so those who hear it will receive the grace to acknowledge the truth and experience true repentance. Always use your anointing for redemptive purposes and leave the vengeance to God. That's the power of words.
Someone once said, “Destiny cannot be realized without direction; direction cannot be determined without defining what’s important.” We must discover what our focus will be not that we have moved forward to the turn of a new century and the beginning of a new decade. What we emphasize and reward will be what we will become.
Our focus must be on evangelism. A sense of destiny can only be developed as we turn outward to the world to change them into what we are, disciples of Christ.
Focus can mean the difference between success and failure, it is the sign of determination and perseverance. People become what they think of themselves.
It is paramount that we affect our generation and define our values from a spiritual perspective. But first our direction must be determined. Oftentimes we attempt to change others before we ourselves are changed. Gandhi once said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
And although Gandhi wasn’t a Christian, he did understand the fundamental principles needed to make a positive impact on the world around him. No other law governs ministry and its effect any more than this one does. One must become the example they anticipate in others.
Direction is absolutely vital to your success in God’s kingdom.
You must do more than just use the methods you see that are working for other people. You must also understand the principle behind the method. “Methods always change but principles never do” (Wiersbe). Dream big dreams, set goals for your ministry of what you want the Lord to do for you because He can do it all. That's the importance of setting goals.
“I AM THAT I AM,” is a term referring to the redemptive name of God, “Jehovah.” God revealed this name to Moses in order to empower him to deliver His people Israel - from Egyptian bondage. It was in the authority of this new revelation that Moses was able to demand of Pharaoh the release of God’s people.
Unfortunately, the name meant nothing to Pharaoh at the time. Not until the plagues and miracles were performed in that name was he convinced that there might be a little more to this God than he had originally thought. When the release of the Israelites was demanded by Moses, Pharaoh asked the question, Who is the Lord that I should obey him? That was the wrong thing to say. Now God proved by the power use of His new name that Israel would be delivered and that meant bad news for the Egyptians.
Note that Moses was the first to receive this redemptive name. It clearly states this truth in
Exodus 6:3. The name was a new revelation. But then God surprised Moses with His use of the word, “moreover.” “Better yet” or “more importantly”, “Tell them that I am the God of your fathers - the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
In essence, God was telling Moses that He would rather be known as the God of those with whom He had a relationship. These three men built a relationship with God so special that He was not at all hesitant to be named as their God.
A special covenant relationship involves commitment. Commitment is important. These three men illustrate the principles and testimonies that God desires to be identified with. God’s ultimate purpose is to bring men and women into fellowship with Himself - a daily walk that is established, similar to what Adam and Eve experienced in the cool of the evening. It is a fact that every major character in both the Old and New Testaments who has ever been used of God has employed these attributes. To be sure, these principles are most prevalent in the life of Jesus Christ who is the supreme role model for all Christian behavior.
Isn’t it ironic that in the daily walk of Christ as seen in the report of the gospels He accomplishes everything God ever asked of any Old Testament character? It’s no surprise to the people who know Him as Lord and Savior.
In Deuteronomy 6:23 Moses told the people that God’s purpose for deliverance from Egypt was, ...he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers. We have already covered what it takes to be delivered from sin. Now what does it take to get into God’s purpose?
First, we must learn that before we can experience the glory of God, we must learn the ways of God. God has a plan for our lives but He also has a certain path we must take in order to see it. I learned this truth from Ephesians 1:8, Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. Wisdom is the eternal purpose of God and prudence is the daily discipline or knowledge that must be applied to your life if the eternal purpose is going to be realized.
Moses, as a leader, was given greater insight into how God did things than the Israelites. He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel, Psalm 103.7
Therefore, our prayer should be the prayer of the Psalmist David in Psalms 25:4, Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. When we learn the ways of God, the natural result will be the conversion of sinners. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Now we will learn how to step into God’s purpose and walk in harmony and in relationship with Him.
We must learn from Abraham. He was the father of the faithful and a friend of God. This is where we begin our journey into the life that God wants to give us. No one can walk together except they agree. Can two walk together, except they be agreed?,
Amos 3:3
It was Abraham who believed God. His faith was strong enough to conquer great enemies. His faith was great enough that he left this testimony - that God is someone you can build your whole life around. Daily devotion can help bring you into agreement with God’s word and plans for your life. Israel was commanded to listen to the Bible read every seven years. The King was to read through the law every year.
We need to proceed further into this journey. Isaac became a willing sacrifice. We must learn to get together. Agreement can not happen unless there is an open line of communication. Joy cannot happen unless there is willingness. We must go to church and learn to give our encouragement.
Jacob reveals the necessity of desire. This is when you learn to live for God, not based on your feelings, but on your will. Even though Jacob had failures and faults it did not disqualify him from having a covenant relationship with his God. Jacob illustrates the power of learning to wait on God. He took his spiritual passion and focused his prayer until he prevailed over the angel. He learned how to seek the face of God and determine his place and ministry in the kingdom. God dances over people who seek to know Him as Father. God rejoices in relationship!
“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will react in a certain way, we cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play the one thing we do have and that’s our attitude. I am convinced that it is 10% what happens to me and 90% how you react to it. And so it is with you - We are in charge of our attitude” - Chuck Swindoll
Our attitudes and perspectives are vital!
The Coca-Cola bottling company has a very unique strategy for the advancement of their product; very simply they want everyone in the world to buy a coke, hence the slogan, A Coke in the Hand of Every Man. If Coca-Cola can have a strategy, so can we. If we don’t have one, we need to develop one because every major religion and denomination have one. Our agenda should always and ever be to evangelize the world. If your church doesn’t have a clear and concise mission statement and or evangelistic strategy please, by all means, take a few weeks or plan a meeting with your leaders and develop one. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. ”
Acts 1:8.
The goal of the Coca Cola Company International is to place a coke in the hand of every person on earth in the new millennium. If reaching the entire world with a soft drink is not too ambitious for a business corporation, how much more should Christ's own church be committed to reaching that same world in the same time frame with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A spiritual awakening must take precedent over everything. We must seek God's priorities and His initiative. Always, the next move is God's. But a strategy is required. The Coca Cola Company must have a strategy for achieving this goal. What will our strategy be? The wisdom of the ages is to determine in which direction God is moving and move with Him.
What will we do? Is it Survival or Strategy! Do we lead the way or just survive? Is it survival or conquest? We are here to talk about the possible, not the impossible. Jesus said, “. . . unto all the world . . . every creature.”
What kind of God would call us to a place and then not equip and empower us to take it?
One officer of the Coca-Cola company said, “A good defense is needed but when defensive tactics become primary, then you are in a survival mode, which means you are trying to protect your position rather than advance your front.” Survival mode means we will decline as a spiritual force and our mission will be smothered by layer upon layer of institutional procedure and empty ritual. The danger of a survival mentality is that we live by perceived expectations rather than accountable priorities.
Beloved, our perspective is important!
Do we perceive that it can be done?
Coca Cola believes it can be done.
Do we as a church believe it can be done?
Perspective is everything.
About a century or two ago, the Pope decided that all the Jews had to leave Rome. Naturally there was a big uproar from the Jewish community. So the Pope made a deal. He would have a religious debate with a member of the Jewish community. If the Jew won, the Jews could stay. If the Pope won, the Jews would leave.
The Jews realized they had no choice. They looked around for a champion who could defend their faith, but no one wanted to volunteer. It was too risky. So they finally picked an old man named Moishe who spent his life sweeping up after people to represent them. Being old and poor, he had less to lose, so he agreed. He asked only for one addition to the debate. Not being used to saying very much as he cleaned up around the settlement, he asked that neither side be allowed to talk. The Pope agreed.
The day of the great debate came. Moishe and the Pope sat opposite each other for a full minute before the Pope raised his hand and showed three fingers. Moishe looked back at him and raised one finger. The Pope waved his fingers in a circle around his head. Moishe pointed to the ground where he sat. The Pope pulled out a wafer and a glass of wine. Moishe pulled out an apple.
The Pope stood up and said, “I give up. This man is too good. The Jews can stay.” An hour later, the cardinals were all around the Pope asking him what happened. The Pope said: “First, I held up three fingers to represent the Trinity. He responded by holding up one finger to remind me that there was still one God common to both our religions. Then I waved my finger around me to show him that God was all around us. He responded by pointing to the ground, showing that God was also right here with us. I pulled out the wine and wafer to show that God absolves us from our sins. He pulled out an apple to remind me of original sin. He had an answer for everything. What could I do?”
Meanwhile, the Jewish community had crowded around Moishe, amazed that this old, almost feeble-minded man had done what all their scholars had insisted was impossible! “What happened?” they asked.
“Well,” said Moishe, “First he said to me that the Jews had three days to get out of here. I told him that not one of us was leaving. Then he told me that this whole city would be cleared of Jews. I let him know we were staying right here.”
“And then?” asked a woman.
“I don't know,” said Moishe. “He took out his lunch and I took out mine.”
Jesus never said, “Come and hear it.” He told the church to go and tell it. We labor from that perspective. We do not labor from a political perspective which is numbers conscious. It is not a numerical perspective. The question is not, “What kind of crowd did you get?” but “
What did the crowd get?”
There is a need for a John the Baptist Mentality –
“He must increase; I just decrease;”, the need for a servant's heart!
This Is The Strategy For Building The Kingdom
What will we take from this meeting? Will we take a strategy for world evangelization? If we leave here with our heads filled but our hearts untouched we've come in vain. There is no time to set up personal kingdoms under flag of Christianity to conquer the world for the sake of our own ambitions.
How are we going to build the local church? It may not be the right question. How are we finally going to get behind God's work of Kingdom building? Jesus said, “...I will build my church....” He said, “Seek my face...” but we seek His hand.
Will there be a Gospel available for every creature in the new millennium? Impossible? Within the space of two years, all of Asia heard the Word.
The Apostolic pattern was to preach in the synagogue and from house to house; from Jerusalem - your city; Judea - your state or province; Samaria - your nation; and then the uttermost part. We need a strategy for world evangelization. We need the power of evangelism - that is apostolic.
They went everywhere, God working with them, confirming the Word with signs following. John the Baptist preached in the wilderness. It was a bad location but people emptied the cities to come because he was anointed. Different cultures were represented. What works best in your culture?
Are we more interested in maintenance or production? The greatest revival is in third world countries and our slowest growth is in Europe and North America.
Do you have a plan for sending missionaries?
Not equal giving, but equal sacrifice.
We Must Develop Our Own Strategy
In Closing...
Let’s all leave this place to put the church on the course for which it was birthed and empowered. Strategizing about the future is an act of faith. “Strategy is an attempt to anticipate the future. It is our statement of faith as to what we believe the future should be like and how we should go about reaching that future” - John D. Robb.
Seek divine direction. Pray first and then plan. The first administrative decision of church was to give itself to prayer and the Word of God.
Recognize our different giftings and make places for them for them to be used. Life is controlled by one master motive. The purpose of life is to find your master - not your freedom.
David could find no rest for himself because the ark was absent. He had to develop a strategy to keep the glory.
The old tent was at Gibeon where Zadok ministered as High Priest. David built a new tent but it was for an old ark. The new and the old are thus happily associated in progress. Only the tent is new; the ark is the historical symbol of the Eternal One God.
Therefore beloved, our strategy, as Christ's church, must be in these days of new tents to always make a place for the old ark.
When David prepared the place he appointed brethren to be singers with instruments, music, psalteries, harps, cymbals, sounding by lifting up of the voice with joy.
The doorkeepers were even mentioned. We are entitled to reason from these arrangements that all instruments, facilities, faculties, and degrees of service are to be utilized in the unfolding and propagation of the Kingdom of God. The man that plays the harp may not be able to use the cymbals, nor teach a song, nor be a good doorkeeper.
We must make a place in our strategy for all the giftings of the Holy Spirit. I have seen prophecy go awry and I have also seen some sermons do the same but I haven't quit preaching. All ministries must be brought together. All varieties of intellectual energy must come together before we can get God's view of the operation of the end time. There is no division in the field, just division of our labors.
We must assess, define and describe:
What is the philosophy of ministry behind the outreach ministry? What is it that this ministry intends to do? How is it doing this? As Dr. James Engel states in, Averting the Financial Crisis in Christian Organizations, “One of the problems faced in the Christian world is that the mission or purpose of an organization is usually defined so generally that there is no objective way to evaluate the extent to which it is being achieved. The outcome is that a ministry can exist indefinitely with little or no productivity as long as it can promote funds from a Christian clientele.”
What is the need for this type of ministry? Who is the audience intended to be reached? What resources are available to do this? How is it being carried out? What media and methods are being used? How effective is it? As we develop a communication strategy it is of utmost importance to understand who the audience is, where they are, and what their needs are, so that we can know how we can be used to help meet those needs effectively. Dr. Angel says, “All the creative finesse and media muscle in the world will go for naught if we are not speaking to the audience where they are. People cannot be understood if the communicator remains in his or her armchair safely protected from the world out there.”
There are at lease four key resources to any successful organization:
Capital
Physical assets
Time
Knowledge of skill sets of those involved
Our resources on those things which most contribute to our mission and which is being done well.
Define, Design and Plan:
We must define first:
Why are we here..
What is our purpose?
What is our goal?
What is our objective?
What methods can best we use to implement them?
We then must develop a plan, and fine tune the plan. This involves the crucial aspect of delegation and accountability. Roles and responsibilities need to be assigned. The leaders need to be able to discern their own talents as well as others' natural talents and spiritual gifts in order to assign tasks accordingly. This is place for the tactics, the when, where, who, to meet the objective, the how, and the goal, what, and then become serious about doing it!. It is a time to gather and develop resources such as training, networking, and advertising etc.
And begin carrying out the mission. But not before there has been much praying, planning, and sweating, the ministry takes its first steps to carry out the goals that have been established.
Then trust the Holy Spirit to direct us through each phase of transforming the vision into a reality.
In reality, the church needs a few more "burial services"! Burying some of the old ways of doing things, and developing new ideas and strategies, to reach more people, while remaining true to our purpose,and objective, delivering the Unchanging Word of God to a constantly changing world!
"And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen."
Matthew 28:18-20
We need to be objective in our evaluations and ask the penetrating questions and document successes and failures as we attempt to carry out our purpose and objectives. Seeking the wisdom of God, asking Him to reveal and correct our plans and heeding His voice, praising and praying Him
And should the results of our evaluation be less than we had hoped, we need to pray and ask Him to refine our objectives and then change our strategy. Identify a tool that can be used for measuring the growth of the ministry that can be objective to see if it has remained true to the original purpose. A danger in any ministry, is that it can become an end in itself instead of a means to an end. Be able discern if this is the case. This last step of the evaluation process in reality, can become the first step to growing a vibrant, effective life-changing ministry, exceeding the expectations of those we serve.
If Coca Cola, Apple, Amazon to name a few can dream and accomplish it, most certainly the Christ's church can do it!
And now
may the Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Brian Monzon Ministries