(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

All right, we are in 2 Thessalonians chapter number 1 look down at your Bibles verse number 1 it says Paul and Savanis and Timotheus unto the church of the Thessalonians and God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ grace unto you in peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ we are bound to thank God always for you brethren as it is me because that your faith groweth exceedingly and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure and the title of this sermon this morning is taking advantage of good momentum taking advantage of good momentum now what is momentum what does that word mean well in physics this is not this is church we're not I'm not teaching a physics class but I'm just gonna define for you what this is in physics there's what's called impulse and momentum momentum is basically in basic terms is when you start gaining traction it's that constant force that propels you in a direction that you want to go right for example let me give you just a rough illustration when a ball rolls down a hill okay it starts gaining what's called momentum right and the longer it's in that state the faster it's gonna go and the faster it goes and the more the longer it stays in that state of momentum the harder it is to stop it you understand so as a ball goes down a hill it gathers momentum the velocity increases and forces the force of gravity moves it down to the bottom of the hill and it's hard to really stop that object when it has that much momentum and that's for everything in life right the heavier the object the faster it's moving the more difficult will be to stop it this is known as impulse and momentum now you say what does that have to do with what we just read what does that have to do with the Christian life well this applies to basically every area of life but especially when it comes to the things of God especially when it comes to a Christian especially when it comes to the lifespan of a church and momentum is very much an important aspect of our lives look at 2nd Thessalonians verse 3 chapter 1 it says we are bound to give to thank God always for you brethren as it is me because that your faith groweth exceedingly you see we as Christians should be growing in our faith right but what we should desire is that it grows exceedingly not just grows from day to day but we want it to grow exceedingly thank God when we grow thank God when we just take the necessary steps on a day to day basis whether it's reading your Bible it's praying it's coming to church but you know how much better how much more greater when we actually start growing exceedingly okay look what it says in the charity of every one of you all toward each other abounded so here we see that the brothers in the church of Thessalonica their love is growing it's not just growing it's abounding what does that mean their faith is growing exceedingly this is what spiritual momentum looks like go to 1st Thessalonians chapter 1 if you would and look at verse number 8 I'm going to read to you from 1st Corinthians chapter 15 verse 58 says therefore my beloved brethren be steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord you see there's churches and there's Christians that grow you know there's Christians that maybe they do so in a little bit or maybe they read their Bible a little bit but there are those who are always abounding in the work of the Lord this is the above and beyond of that which is required this is above and beyond what you would normally grow this is abounding in the work of the Lord look at 1st Thessalonians 1 8 it says for from you sounding out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia but also in every place your faith to God word is spread abroad so that we need not to speak anything so this church in Thessalonica was not only influential in Macedonia but also in Achaia and everywhere their faith to God were to spread abroad so they weren't just subject to one location right their faith their influence their work was actually spreading abroad everywhere and this is before vehicles this is before airplanes this is before Facebook this is before you know social media whatever may be they're growing exceedingly what does that mean they got a lot of momentum in that church and I think it's a church that actually took advantage of that momentum they didn't just put it on cruise control they're actually putting in the work and they are growing exceedingly because of it go to Acts chapter number 5 if you would Acts chapter number 5 Acts chapter number 5 now look this is applicable to a marriage this is applicable to you growing as a Christian and primarily what I'm focusing on today is it's applicable to our church why is that because First Works or not First Works yet Faithful Word Baptist Church of LA has good momentum you know and by the way if that offended you you're not gonna like it in two weeks then okay because that's actually when the name changes all right but we have good momentum and we had good momentum over the last two years let's use it look once we go independent and we become autonomous that's not a time to put it on cruise control that's not a time to hit the brakes that's not a time to let off the gas that's the time to take advantage of the good momentum that we have to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or even think amen so we can grow our faith can grow exceedingly so we could abound in the work of the Lord amen look at Acts chapter 5 verse 41 it says and they departed from the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name and daily in the temple and every house they cease not to preach to teach and preach Jesus Christ what do we see here we see that the apostles were being persecuted for preaching the Word of God right and when they departed from the presence of that council who was persecuting them they just went about and they just kept doing what they were doing before but they were doing a lot more of it they were teaching and preaching Jesus Christ go to chapter 6 and verse number 1 it says and in those days after the persecution right after they were going from house to house when the number of the disciples was multiplied there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews because their wives were neglected in the daily ministration so what happened in those days the disciples multiplied what does that mean they took advantage of that momentum and they grew exceedingly because of it you see when you take advantage of good momentum disciples multiply people start growing people start the church begins to grow the Sony more is done through Sony brothers and sisters in Christ they start growing in their faith you know men become better husbands singles become holier right they become more responsible they begin to grow exceedingly they're taking advantage of the momentum there go to verse number 7 of Acts chapter 6 it says in the Word of God increased and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith so what was the byproduct of that persecution and that determination to go through that persecution the Word of God increased more people started hearing the Word of God more disciples multiplied in Jerusalem a great company of priests were obedient to the faith and look what it says in verse 8 and Stephen full of faith and power did great wonders and miracles among the people you see when you take advantage of good momentum great things are done abundantly above what you can ask or even think oh I don't see myself really doing anything great because you're not taking advantage of the good momentum we got you know this is not a church where you just want to remain static and stagnant and just I'm just gonna go along with the crowd and not put in my my work and not do my part no you need to be like Stephen and take advantage of everything that's going on and let that get you to the next level spiritually speaking okay go to Acts chapter 9 we have good momentum let's take advantage of it okay this church is moving forward amen the Christians here are moving forward people are growing and I can honestly if I were to just sit down and observe and think about the people in our church from when they first came to church until now there's a big difference and I'm thankful for that people have grown exceedingly in our church and I'm thankful for that because it shows that we as a unit we as a church we have good momentum but you know what the individuals within this church have taken advantage of that okay look at Acts chapter 9 verse 26 and when Saul was come to Jerusalem he has saved to join himself to the disciples but they were all afraid of him and believe not that he was a disciple but Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way and that he had spoken to him and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus and he was with them coming in and going out of Jerusalem and he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Gratians but they went about to slay him which when the brethren knew they brought him down to Sisera and sent him forth to Tarsus then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria and were edified and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost were multiplied you see Paul here obviously he's still new to the Lord but you know what when you get someone who is new in the Lord and they're on fire for God they kind of encourage others to kind of step up their game right you know the old-timers whether it's old-timers as far as age is concerned or even old-timers as far as just being in the Lord is concerned when you see a brand new Christian walk into the church they get involved in sowing to start cleaning up their life you know what that does to the old-timers man you know I guess I'm a little cold in the Lord and I need to start ramping up my Christian life I need to start doing some sowing I need to start cleaning up my life because this guy is like passing me up he's lapping me is what he's doing you know what Paul lapped all the apostles right they did not lap all the apostles wasn't he one born out of due time yet the grace of God was upon him and he was able to do exceedingly abundantly above even what they could do because of the grace of God that was with him and you know what I want to keep reaching new Christians amen I'm for reaching second generation third generation if they want to get on the program and come to church and and get with the program amen to that but you know what I like I like a clean slate a Christian with the clean slate who's just zealous for the things of God you can preach them the Word of God and it can't be too hot for them they take it they love it they grow exceedingly because of it you know what happens the churches the disciples they multiply that's what we want we never want to be this church where it's just us four and no more right you know we never want to be a church that if someone comes here and they're a pre-tribber you know what I mean maybe they're they they're a second generation Christian but they're new to this kind of church that we just say well you have to fall in line to exactly how we are and if you're not you're not right with God they're gonna learn that pre-trib is nonsense they're gonna learn about the Jews they're gonna learn about the reprobate doctrine but you know what once they grasp those concepts and other concepts of just Christian growth we're gonna grow a exceedingly and that was the problem with the old IFP if you think about it you have to be in lock step with who they were everything had to be in lock step you have to be exactly like them and that's why many of those churches not all of them many of them are dying you know why because they lost momentum they didn't take advantage of the momentum they had it oh hold on a sec I know all that happy churches are like a thousand people yeah but you know what they've been a thousand people for a long time they stayed like that for a long time and you know what some of them are 800 and don't let the number confuse you because just because you're 800 and just because you have a name that you're living you're probably still dead right because most of these churches they run 800 or whatever 900 but what they do is they stop soul winning they stop taking advantage of the momentum and they just implement all kinds of programs that take their focus away from soul-winning and take their takes their focus away from the Great Commission away from discipling members away from the preaching so it just looks like that church is busy right but they're busy doing a whole lot of nothing they're in their car and they think they're going forward but they actually have the car in park and they're just revving the car it's like that sounds the engine sounds great but you're not going anywhere we never want to be the Christians who rev their engines flex that engine but you're not going anywhere you're just stagnant you're just showing off how great of an engine you have by the way if someone has like a race car here you know I don't know so no one told me that you did we don't want to just rev our engines spiritually speaking we want to look if we're revving our engine which is to clear it up right and as soon as you clear up the what is it Marcos what am I talking about here where's yeah he knows what I'm talking about where is he he hid right now he got offended Oh what is where are we trying to clear when we rev it the gaskets what injectors whatever once you rev it you put that thing in drive and you haul some rear-end to get to where you need to be churches today are just revving the gas they're just showing off their engine but they're not going anywhere and in fact these churches have a really nice looking car don't they they have a fancy schmancy looking car with nice paint everything is just just beautiful you know on the outside hey a car is meant to get me from point A to point B that's what it's meant to do and look if your car is fast amen that means you get to your destination faster so we see here that the Apostle Paul when he came he threw him a lot was done was it not you know these these old apostles they were stuck in Jerusalem doing you know trying to reach the Jews whereas you have the Apostle Paul mainly focusing on the Gentiles and actually growing churches because of it go to Acts chapter 12 Acts chapter 12 can I get a drink of water can someone bring me a cup of water please Acts chapter 12 verse 21 says and upon a set day Herod a raid in royal peril sat upon his throne and made an oration unto them and the people gave a shout set and saying it is the voice of a God and not of man and immediately the angel of the Lord smote him because he gave not God the glory and he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost but the Word of God grew and multiplied and Barnabas and Saul returned to from Jerusalem thank you when they had fulfilled their ministry and took with them John whose surname was Mark now we see here that after smile after God smites this wicked person the Word of God grows and it multiplies in like manner you know when we begin to cast down imaginations and we begin to destroy false ideologies and we do our part to call out the names we do our part to expose false doctrine the Word of God will multiply and it will grow because of it amen Paul said I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God which is in Christ Jesus hey so the the main aspect of the sermon is this our church has momentum and we need to take advantage of that and I'm gonna talk about how it is we can maintain momentum I'm gonna show you how it momentum starts but we've already started the momentum is there we got to show how we can maintain it how we can reach higher ground hey I'm pressing on the upward way new heights I'm gaining every day still pressing on as I'm onward band Lord press Lord plant me on higher ground amen we want to keep going higher and higher and higher well you know I just like the little church feeling though you know just I like darling it's cozy we all know each other small dreams move no man's soul small dreams move no man's soul well I came from a big church and it just wasn't you know I just didn't like it yeah but you know what this is a different kind of a church though you're gonna like it you'll like it okay just trust me momentum is when a family an individual and a church begin to gain good traction towards success being a better spouse we ought to desire that amen we come to church to become better Christians a part of being a better Christian is being a better spouse yes it's learning doctrine yes it's learning how to sown but it's being a better spouse hey it's bringing your spouse to church oh man but that means I got to be a leader or something you got it you get you got good momentum on that thought run with that momentum you know winning people to Christ we want to have it take advantage of the good momentum when it comes to winning people to Christ we've seen approximately over two two thousand five hundred souls saved since we started the church you know let's multiply that make that grow so how are we gonna do that through the teams and look don't despise the team the the the implementation of these teams well I just do my own thing and I know how to so when I don't need no one teaching me how to go so in then you go so winning when you raise your hand for salvation I'll act like I count your number oh how can you do that well how do I know that you're doing it right right unless you're on a team or a team leader observes your sowing he says well this guy's legit he knows how to sowing I don't like that control well you know you have to have control if you want to be effective in our gospel presentation and winning people to Christ I don't think this is an unwise thing to do I think this is a very wise thing Glenn is an example of that we want more people more teams amen but to get more teams we need more people to step it up to the plate and actually be willing to take in some criticism and no one likes to be criticized right like well no this is the way I've always done it then if you're successful that you wouldn't have a problem with someone observing your soul in here I don't know you can watch me so anytime you want if you wanted to say I want to observe your soul in English do it I'm not ashamed of my soul in presentation and look if you have a way to make it better amen because I want to be a better soul in here that's the kind of attitude we need to have as a church and I don't know of anybody who's like buck the system or anything like that but this is preventative amen growing the church we have good momentum let's continue to grow the church now I don't know how we're gonna do it in here you know we'll put people outsider I don't know we'll figure something out we'll make it happen amen doing great exploits one exploit at a time hey the velocity begins to increase why is spiritual momentum important what's important because the more momentum we have as a church the harder it is to stop us the more momentum in velocity spiritual velocity that we have the more harder it will be to actually try to stop us so our enemies Satan the world the flesh whoever it is out there they can try to stop us but they better try to do it quick because the longer you allow us to exist the harder it is it's gonna be to actually stop us because the momentum only increases the longer we're in motion the more momentum we have as a church the more we will abound the more we will increase the more souls we will see saved the more Christians will be discipled we need Christians to be discipled amen and trained the more ground we can cover hey we're going to San Bernardino next Saturday if you want to go soul winning with us you know that might bring out some more soldiers on a Saturday amen we're going to San Bernardino we're paying the bill we're driving out there we're eating lunch out there we're gonna do something is it a mega marathon no it's just so any we're covering more ground okay the more you will grow as an individual and the more momentum the harder it is like I mentioned to stop us who well this kind of sounds like burnout for them here sounds like you're trying to burn us out no burnout is when one person is doing all the work that's how you get burnout but when every individual does their part it creates this momentum and every individual within the organization benefits from that momentum okay FWBCLA has good momentum right now we need to take advantage of it now go with me if you would to go to Acts chapter 4 if you would Acts chapter 4 how does momentum get started well obviously get started when an outside force begins to move a specific object right and if you think about it as I assess our church and how we got this good momentum there's a lot of factors there's many of them obviously FWBC Tempe played a large part a role in helping us gain momentum but you know what we have to do our part too though because if Pastor Anderson invested all that time and money into our church you know we're just like oh we're just putting on cruise control that wouldn't help anything I believe the momentum of our church was due to three elements persecution visible results and unapologetic Bible preaching this church was basically built on persecution persecution for me persecution towards you persecution towards people who didn't like people in our movement and we banded together the motley crew amen David's mighty men Jesus mighty men banded together and we have this fighting spirit is just like man we're getting it from every side we need to plow through this we need to do a great work we need to make sure that we're doing God's work we need God's favor and persecution United us but you would also cause that momentum other than the persecution visible results what does that mean talk to talk but we walk the walk as well souls are being saved they were being saved and are still getting saved so winning is implemented here a lot of still being done here people are growing and guess what it's a visible result you can add it's a tangible thing you can see where people are getting saved hey people are getting baptized we see a lot of baptisms oh man sounds like you're boasting of the church no you know it's God obviously who's doing it through us but we're not gonna do all these baptisms and say we never done baptism well you know just everyone said well you know just once a year no we're seeing baptisms quite often thankful for that discipleship we see the results the new group that's a result of the visible results that we see in our church of the work that's being done unapologetic distinct Bible preaching amen what does that mean hard preaching that's what's causing a lot of momentum that's why there's a lot of young people in our church that's why there's a lot of from the demographic of 25 to 35 years of age in our church they're sick and tired of the week preaching out there they're sick and tired of the cotton candy tofu 99 cent jack taco preaching they're like can we get a steak can we get some mashed potatoes and some steamed vegetables no one said amen on that part that's good you know can we get an actual meal here and look I said before and I'll say it again I'm not the best cook but you know I'm the best cook in this place and get in these cities right here you know I'm not the best chef and I'm not the best a griller of steaks but you know what no one else is grilling steaks oh yeah you posted no I just I'm using a good cookbook here if you use the directions in the cookbook you'll make yourself a good meal but here's the thing pastors today are not using the cookbook they're going to the drive-through yeah Mike they're not even doing the microwave they're going through Jack in the Box drive-through and just quickly just you know getting some recycled meat plastic meat or whatever into the stomachs spiritual stomachs of their people and then they wonder why their church members are so sick they're malnourished they don't know any Bible for me it's like take the steak man protein it's good eat the salmon eat the cauliflower eat the spinach eat the cabbage it's good for preventing cancer amen so we have things that taste good but we also have things that don't taste good but you know what they're good for you whereas drive-through food never good for you no matter how good it tastes or how bad it tastes it's still not good for you at least you know the things that may not taste good they're still good for you these are the things that have caused the momentum in our church I'm a read to you from 2nd Corinthians one you have to turn there so I mentioned persecution the Bible says for as the sufferings of Christ abound in us so our consolation also abounded by Christ the Bible says in 2nd Corinthians 8 verse 2 how then in great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality verse 6 says therefore as he abound in everything in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all diligence and in your love to us see thee abound in this grace also so what is the pattern do we see in the Bible more persecution the more you abound more sufferings the more you abound that's why our church has had good momentum because there's a lot of persecution initially to begin with there's a lot of people who didn't want this church to start a lot of people trying to discourage you from coming to this church try to discourage me from even being a part of starting the church it was just day after day week after week month after month but you know what it is it just made us stronger look at Acts chapter 4 and this is always gonna happen in verse 13 and when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men they marveled and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus and beholding the man which was healed standing with them they could say nothing against it but when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council they conferred among themselves saying what shall we do to these men for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all that all of them that dwell in Jerusalem and we cannot deny it you know this reminds me of it's just like what are we gonna do about this church in Omani it's like obviously it's notable that they're seeing people say obviously it's notable that they're growing spiritually we can't deny it but you know their attitude is but we still got to stop it because they don't want the second generation to know that you can be like us and grow right verse 17 but that it spread no further but that it spread no further among the people let us straightly threaten them that they speak henceforth to no man in this name so it's like let's stop them let's go ahead and just threaten them and let me just do a public service announcement threatenings only causes us to go deeper when Hophni and Phinehas threatened us yeah he just like made the guys more excited when these reprobates that we threw out started threatening they're gonna come oh by the way the new one is they're coming on August 9th for the ordination we're gonna see what you guys are gonna do an August 9th when we come down there soon that just makes us stronger that just gets the heart racing a little faster he said what do you mean by that it causes us to pray more to depend on God more you know what it bands us together more as well it draws us closer to one another because we were backing each other up amen amen for we cannot but speak the things or I'm sorry what verse am I in verse 18 and they called him and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus but Peter and John answered and sent it to them whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God judge ye for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard so this church's momentum was built on persecution but also visible results when people begin to see the works that are done it encourages you when you see the people are being baptized you know what that does that encourages you like wow people are getting baptized that's great it's like amen this is a church amen where you baptize people well you see you guys see all these people saved yeah that's that's a church that's what we're supposed to do and that's like wow this actually this is real this actually exists an unapologetic distinct preaching skip some verses here so what can we do or excuse me what can hinder momentum we got good momentum but what can hinder it because we got to be realistic about this right we're not just invincible unstoppable we're not like the the best church has ever you know shown the face of the planet in Los Angeles you know we're not like something special in that regard because of the fact that things can still hinder us we're still susceptible to hindrances we still have enemies and look one of them is pride don't ever allow pride to creep into you as an individual or us as a church where you begin to think that you're better than any other churches let's say in our movement don't ever let that come out of your mouth and I've heard that you know sneakily done every once in a while that stops today we're not in competition with any of the churches in our movement the churches in our movement are our friends they're helping us to grow and we're helping them there you say how do you do that by recommending the churches amen recommending their preaching and we never want to have this attitude that we're just like now look I think this is the best church on the face of the planet because I have a bias towards it because this is my church but you know there's the greatest church in the world isn't all is all over the United States as well though and the people who are up north at Verity at Tempe at Mountain Baptist Church to them that's the greatest church and it should be the greatest church pride can derail us outside forces can hinder the momentum you know if you are driving a car you say how do I how do I slow down the momentum of a vehicle well you crash there you go you hit a wall then you don't go anywhere right so that's one way or so that's something on the outside right a wall that you hit on the outside will hinder you and can stop the momentum of a church of a vehicle for example but you know what else stops or slows down the momentum is someone on the inside hitting the brakes and sometimes the force on the outside can just stop it immediately but you know what the person or the individual within the vehicle can slow it down gradually you just tap on the brakes every little little by little and to be quite honest with you there's nothing on the outside as far as our enemies are concerned that can actually hinder us because that draws us closer right I'm gonna talk about a different one a little bit but people on the inside can hinder our church the way a church can be destroyed the way a church can be slowed down is by the individuals found within the church this is one reason why we practice Church discipline this is one reason why we practice 1st Corinthians chapter 5 this is one reason why we practice Matthew 18 why because we don't want anybody to hinder the work of God when Miriam in the Old Testament decided to talk trash against Moses she had leprosy she had to go outside of the camp for seven days and they could not move until she was cleansed in like manner if you're in here and you know you're doing something to hinder the work of the Lord you hinder the rest of the church you know how do you can you hinder the rest of the church by criticizing the leadership you hinder the church oh you know I just don't agree with you on some things then here are your two options leave or leave and the third option would be just keep your opinions to yourself when it comes to that because we want to make sure that the church keeps that momentum going and if you attack the leadership it's gonna slow down the momentum you know false doctrine could slow down if no one says anything about it infiltrators that go unnoticed can sometimes hinder it criticizing anything of the church can hinder the momentum of the church so here's the thing don't hit the brakes I think we're going too fast don't worry about it we're gonna don't you're not in the driver's seat just enjoy the ride and take advantage of that momentum I'm a little scared are you gonna are you gonna drift well you know if you take if we have to take a right turn yeah then I want to slow down I'll just trip around that corner and do it that just seems to you know I like it us four no more that's not then you're you're in the wrong church you know enjoy the church now so when it grows and I believe it's gonna keep growing I think it's gonna grow beyond our expectations and when it does you need to be ready for that oh I just think the church has gotten too big and I just you know there's too many people I don't know any everybody and just I just don't know what to do well typically when that happens it's because you're actually not going out of your way to meet new people in the church that's what it is you're not you're expecting everyone to come to you whereas what you need to do is actually go out and meet somebody in the church say hi get to know them etc so in the spiritual realm it's often that which is on the inside that actually hinders us go to Galatians chapter number five I'll read to you from Hebrews chapter number 12 it says wherefore seeing we are also compassed about what so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us so the Bible tells us we have to lay aside every weight right we got to lay aside the sin that does so easily besets us it it basically it hinders us it's it compasses us in order to be effective these are the things that we need to do look at Galatians chapter 5 verse 6 for in Christ in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision but faith which worketh by love ye did run well who did hinder you hinder you that ye should not obey the truth this persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you so what do we see there we see that the church ain't those churches in Galatia had good momentum how do we know that because it says ye did run well and then he said who did hinder you he said whatever they said there's only people on the inside yeah well these Judaizing false teachers were infiltrating the church and slowing them down and look that this is gonna this is gonna be a constant thing throughout the lifespan of our church infiltrators are gonna come bozos are gonna come idiots are gonna come and we just need our do our due diligence to make sure that when we're lapping the water right there were vigilant to look out for these things and come let me know if there's an infiltrate of the church we'll deal with it right go with me if you would to go to 2nd Corinthians chapter number 8 2nd Corinthians chapter number 8 momentum we have good momentum we don't have good AC but we have good momentum you're like well I knew you didn't have good AC we're working on the AC all right everyone like we're about to fly away because there's so many people like fanning themselves we need to take advantage of good momentum and look if you're new in our church a new family take advantage of the good momentum that we have you know take advantage to be faithful to church hey why don't you go outside of what you typically do and start coming to all the services here's a good one you know a lot of you individuals got good momentum you know when at the red-hot preaching conference you see the red hot preaching conference is not just for entertainment right it's to hit you where it hurts to get you to move to give you some momentum to say man I got some decisions I need to make amen you said what sermon are you talking about hey how about going to church with all that might by pastor Shelley that was a good sermon that was my favorite sermon that was that was every pastor's favorite right there amen hey you had some good momentum at the red-hot preaching conference don't just say hey that was entertaining say all right that propelled me forward it's time to make some good decisions and implement them and stick with them let conferences like that make you a better Christian why not right preaching is enjoyable yes it's entertaining but it's edifying as well and that edification is meant to build you up to propel you forward to help you to go forward that's good momentum don't just put it on cruise control right now and say well we'll wait in like three months you know or we'll wait till 2020 and at January 1st we're going to just make all the right decisions and implement everything no do it now if you don't do it now you'll never do it you'll never do it so how do we maintain momentum we have momentum in our church how do we maintain it let me give you a couple things here and I'm done number one by recognizing a lid is not a stop sign but a growth sign now you say what do you mean by a lid well we have a couple guys here that lift right raise your hand if you lift okay all right there's something called when you when you lift for a certain amount of time and you what plateau right it's like there's a time when you couldn't lift a certain amount but now you can and the the temptation is just to stick to that right but you know what happens when you just stick to that you plateau and you no longer grow right so what do you have to do so that's almost like a it's like you're doing it you're still sweating you're working your muscles but you go home and you still look scraggly like man my chest is not getting bigger my biceps are not big and my traps and blah blah blah blah blah blah I just don't look the way I wanted to look because you've plateaued now here are your two options stop working out because you think it doesn't work right or you actually have to put more weight right because the way you get out of plateauing is by putting on more weight more plates right so well I can't even lift it well that's the point you have to try to lift things that you can't lift in order to grow in that area right now here's the thing as a church or as an individual well let's say as a church first as a church we will hit we will plateau we will hit a lid we will reach a point where it's just like hey brother here it doesn't seem like we're growing anymore what's up with that like so is are we not right with god you know is is people just what's going on it's called a lid you hit a lid you plateaued now this is what the plateauing doesn't mean it doesn't mean well I guess we're doing things wrong so we got to switch the way we preach we can't do door-to-door soul winning so let's just stick to evangelistic services you know let's open up a bus ministry and just bus in 50 kids and not even check on their salvation list with the numbers it's just all about the numbers that's not what that means plateauing is not a stop sign it's a growth sign so what does that mean it means okay we've hit our potential in this chapter of our lives it's time to flip the page and work a little harder put a little more weight on the bar spar with someone who is a seasoned boxer or a kickboxer if you want to be better you know it's not fun when you get into a kickboxing match with someone who's just as good as you because you're not going to grow you have you actually have to spar with someone who's better than you who punches harder kicks harder is faster if you want to grow that's true in jiu-jitsu is it not if you want to grow as a jiu-jitsu practitioner you have if you're a white belt you have to go with the blue belts and the purple belts right if you want to get better oh i just feel like i plateaued okay then it's time to put more weight on the bar that's all it means look at second corinthians 8 verse 1 it says moreover brethren we do you to wit of the grace of god bestowed on the churches of macedonia how that in great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded into the riches of their liberality for to their power i bear record yay and beyond their power they were willing of themselves praying us with much in treaty that we should receive the gift and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints you say what are we trying to do when we hit that lid go beyond our power i don't know if i can do that well you know what maybe as an individual you can but as a church we can we can add more weight and help you along i mean when you lift weights like let's say you bench press you experts out there when you bench press if you lift a heavier weight doesn't it help when you have a spotter even put two fingers below the bar or something when they're like and you just like you just tap it for some reason it helps i don't know if it's like black magic or voodoo i don't know what it is but it does help right well in like manner if you're not ready for that extra weight just push and the members will just kind of help you along and you know what give it a couple months give it a couple weeks and you'll be able to lift that weight just fine okay beyond your power the bible says in second corinthians 1a you don't have to turn that we would not brethren have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in asia that we were pressed out of measure above strength in so much that we despaired even of life paul saying man i felt like we were dying but you know what except the corner we fall to the ground and die and abideth alone but once it falls and it dies it brings forth much fruit so in order to get beyond that lid in order to get beyond that plateauing we just got to put more weight and look we're not plateauing right now hey man we're still growing i'm just preparing you for when we do plateau because it will happen and that's not a time to get critical and that's not a time oh what's going on and start complaining you know what i'm going to tell you time to put more weight time to go to the outermost parts of the world time to create new ideas new films new soul winning areas time to do more is what we need to do because we hit a plateau we've reached the potential of where we're at it's time to go beyond that okay but here's the thing you don't have to worry about plateauing because of this there's something called the law of conservation of momentum has anybody ever heard of that okay we got one two does anybody know what that means aha less hands just kidding i've heard of it i don't know what it means so in a nutshell basically what this law means is that when an object that has momentum hits another object the first object will stop however the object that it hits takes on the momentum of the previous object you understand so let me give you an example in pool if anybody ever plays pool that's a perfect example right there when you hit the white ball to hit the eight ball the white ball will stop but you know what the eight ball will do go into the center pocket and it picks up the momentum of the previous object so what does that have to do with anything well when we as a church hit that plateau we need to recognize the law of conservation of momentum we hit one but you know what it's only going to propel us to the next level and we take on that same momentum and we apply it in a bigger realm anybody play baseball okay got a couple here i'm not a baseball expert but i do know this is that they teach people who play baseball i'm left-handed that's why i'm standing like this right when they hit the baseball that when you hit the ball you don't just stop the bat you're actually supposed to swing through the ball because of the law of conservation of momentum it'll actually go further if you just swing through the ball instead of stopping at impact you understand that so in like manner when we hit that plateau it's not like okay we're just gonna take a break for like a year we'll just take a six month break we'll just slow it down a little bit swing through it amen swing through the plateau swing through the plateau in your personal life i just feel like i'm plateauing as a christian swing through that thing go through it don't see it as a stop sign it's a growth sign crack that thing out of the park swing through it do it because the law of conservation of momentum is on your side and if we're gonna go beyond what we are right now we have to realize that when we hit a plateau we need to hit it hard and just plow right through it you know what's gonna happen the new phase of our church thereafter when we plateau it's gonna be more greater things are gonna happen and we are we are entering into a new phase of our church okay we're not plateauing yet but we're we're entering into a new phase let's keep this momentum going amen we got to grow the individuals to make up for the church press forward and forget those things which are behind all right so what's the sermon for today it's simply this fwvcla has good momentum don't criticize it go along with it use it to your personal individual advantage get around the christians who are on fire for god if you're not and allow that to rub off on you i'm just not excited about soul winning then you need to stick around after service and get into some conversations and in about 20 minutes you'll get excited about solar because you'll be around people who are excited about solar and recognize this don't look at a plateau as a stop sign when we hit that plateau it's going to propel us forward as long as we swing all the way through you understand this is a new chapter amen we got good momentum let's keep it let's maintain it and thank god for it let's put let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer father we thank you so much for your word and thank you for the good momentum that you've given to us and i pray that you'd help us to maintain it continue to grow us as a church as individuals as soul winners help us to continue to reach more people lord may use us greatly as a church to bring honor and glory to your name but also to see a lot of people saved but we be able to do a great work for them and i pray god that you your favor would continue to be with us that you would use us and be pleased with us as well and in jesus name we pray amen