May13

Beautiful in God’s Eyes

by Ears2Hear on May 13th, 2012 at 10:00 am
Posted In: Message Highlights

5/13/2012– “Beautiful in God’s Eyes” by Senior Pastor David Wing – (http://doverfoursquare.org/5/sermons.html)

There is no more influential or powerful role on earth than a mother’s. Their words bless, their touch leaves a lasting impression. The memory of their presence can last a lifetime.

Mother’s Day is a great day of love and honor; but, it can also be a day of pain. Those who are unable to have children, those who have been wounded by a mother, and those who feel they have failed in the calling of being a mother. The thing that brings many of us joy may be like salt in an open sore to others.

It is in those tender, raw places we can lose our way and our trust. We need to remember:

Trust isn’t a destination. Trust is a pathway to something greater. May your trust lead you to Father God!

Listen to God’s promises:

  1. The beauty of the Lord is so strong and it can be vibrant in you. His anointing and approval on your life is available to you.
  2. The fragrance of God through your years of crushing and pain can smell wonderful. The fullness of His character in your character is possible and He desires it for you.
  3. Difficult times can be overcome by your confidence in God’s love for you.
  4. The Lord is preparing a table for you, a table of newness in your life. The Lord will give you new songs and new clothing is being made for you. You can have a new heart and new eyes. You can grow in God’s grace and be moved by His holiness.
  5. The Lord will guard your heart. The Lord is saying: “Come, My child, I want to give you new roses without thorns. I will provide the comfort and peace you need. Meditate on My Words constantly, for out of the richness of My Word in you, there shall flow waters of life into your children and unto others.
  6. Watch out for distractions that may come your way. For the enemy wants to steal the beauty of your life. Remain transparent and simple before Me, for the Lord is with those who call upon Him.
  7. The Lord says: “I have brought you to the still waters. Come and drink! Be satisfied in Me and enjoy the peace I have for you.
  8. The Lord says: “I will guard your heart. I will bring women into your life to encourage you. For that is my plan in the Body of Christ.
  9. You can have a ministry that will bloom in the lives of your children and in others. Let me rejuvenate you so you can be strong to do what the Lord has planned for your life.

The Scriptures say:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:4-6 (NASB)

Mothers, this morning I want to tell you to PUT GUILT IN ITS PLACE! I’m convinced that guilt is the human response of trying to find a logical, explainable answer for our tragedies and our mistakes. Yet, if we dwell in guilt, the ramifications of unresolved guilt are profound, resulting in shaken assurance, crippled confidence, and fragile faith, as we begin to wonder how God could ever forgive us of our mistakes, or how He fits into our harsh realities.

God has a remedy for all these symptoms that produce guilt. He calls us to CONFRONT guilt, i.e., to put it in its place. He doesn’t require this for the purpose of reopening the wounds of our lives, but rather, for the purpose of allowing us to deal with any condemnation or doubt we may feel so that we might find freedom from it. Rest your guilt on God’s grace. Mothers, we’ve all made mistakes, but we serve a God who forgives. Let guilt do its job, bringing you to repentance… BUT then allow full cleansing and full forgiveness to follow. Find healing in the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

“I have blotted out like a thick cloud your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you. Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it” (Isaiah 44:22-23 NKJV).

We are not made to carry guilt. So, we confess our sins and know they have been resolved in the Blood of Jesus, and then we begin to sing, praising God thankfully, rather than trying to reason everything out.

Mothers, one of the greatest gifts you can provide for your family, is allowing the Holy Spirit to loosen any chain that seems to bind you to feelings of guilt. Rest your case, for all the mistakes in the past on the presence of God’s Living Word and the Blood of Jesus Christ.

You are beautiful in God’s eyes. In Proverbs we’re told that a mother’s price is much higher than jewels:

“Your price is higher than jewels” (Proverbs 31:10).

One translator says: “Her worth is far above rubies.” The rich red ruby is a unique gem. These rare and large rubies even surpass diamonds of equal weight in value.

Another translation says: “Her value is far beyond pearls.” Consider this: only 20 are found out of 35,000 oysters – and only three of those are gem quality!

Still another translation says: “Her value is far beyond corals.” Corals are delicate flower-animals and only a few are quality enough to be polished and regarded as precious stones.

Rubies, pearls, and corals… Take your pick. Each of these is quite rare and valuable. Each is hard to harvest and hard to find. That’s the imagery we get in God’s Word. Women who serve God are beautiful and are of inestimable value. Just as gems increase in value as time passes…you, who are God’s beautiful women and His “jewels” will, too.

Manage your time wisely, whether married or single mothers. Time is the most precious commodity God gives to us. So redeem it well. Find your strength in the Lord. The Word says: “We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us” (Phil 4:13).

Speak wisely. Be led of the Spirit. God has given each one of you an invitation to beauty. Oftentimes you must pay the price if you are to become priceless. Our Master Craftsman made you. He is holding your heart in His hands. Let Him do His purifying work in and through you.

Let’s talk for a moment about your clothing. God has for you a wardrobe of virtues:

“Strength and honor are her clothing. She shall rejoice in time to come” (Prov 31:25 NKJV).

The woman who is beautiful in God’s eyes dresses herself daily with strength and honor. Clothed in these virtues she will rejoice in time to come. She smiles at the future, whether to a new day, or to her home going to be with the Lord. She trusts God for the eternal. She is joyful. She can laugh. God’s beautiful women face the future with joy for a lifetime. One author says:

“When a joyful woman laughs, it puts the lines on her face in the right places.”

Mothers and women of the Church, we bless you today. We ask you to give your life afresh to God and proceed full-faith ahead into each beautiful day that he has planned for you. Wholeheartedly pour out your love into each beautiful day that He has planned for you. Wholeheartedly pour out your love and care for your family and your church family and the people God brings into your life.

Reach out and encourage others in Christ. Make the commitment to wake up each day of your life and repeat that pattern for beauty. You are dressed in strength and honor.

Whatever your age, you can look down the corridor of time toward your future and rejoice!

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Apr25

Getting Ready for the Harvest

by Ears2Hear on April 25th, 2012 at 7:00 pm
Posted In: Message Highlights

4/25/2012– “Getting Ready for the Harvest” by Senior Pastor David Wing – (http://doverfoursquare.org/5/sermons.html)

“These that have turned the world upside down…” (Acts 17:6 KJV). This was spoken about some of Jesus’ disciples – a few ordinary people from ordinary walks of life. We, too, are just ordinary people; but God wants us to understand that He longs to do these same extraordinary things through us. When we take steps in faith to move past our own internal insecurities, we can truly turn our community “upside down”.

“I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My Word, and hast not denied My Name” (Rev 3:7-8). It does not matter how weak or inadequate we may consider ourselves to be. We may feel like we only have a “little strength”; but God has placed open doors before us! When we choose to be sensitive to the needs of others, we will be amazed at how God can open new doors to share the Gospel with souls all around us.

“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation” (Rom 1:16). God has placed every one of us right where we are with a purpose to touch people’s lives. With Christ in us, we have all the “goods” we need right inside of us!

May the Lord stir up our hearts with a creative boldness to share our faith and a fresh passion for reaching souls for Christ! The harvest is drawing near. All we need to do is to get ready for it!

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Apr22

The Bride

by Ears2Hear on April 22nd, 2012 at 10:00 am
Posted In: Message Highlights

4/22/2012– “The Bride” by Senior Pastor David Wing – (http://doverfoursquare.org/5/sermons.html)

As a pastor, I am usually the first one to see her when she appears at the back of the church. When people finally realize she is there, they begin to look and they excitedly look again as she passes their row coming toward the front of the sanctuary. Who am I talking about?

The Bride. All heads are turned to see her!

This is exactly how it is with the Church, the Bride of Christ. She usually remains hidden from friends and relatives inside the church until it is time for her to come forward. Then, row by row, people turn to look at the center aisle. Some gasp, some cry, some laugh, and there are smiles everywhere. People are rejoicing to see her.

The Bride is the center of the wedding and radiates hopes and dreams on that special day. Christ wants us to turn heads, to turn the world upside down, and even to bring hope and draw attention to a place of safety and belief in the middle of a world that is filled with pain and sorrow and cynicism.

Jesus often spoke about weddings (Mat 22:1-14; Luke 12:35-40; 14:12-14; 14:16-24; John 2:1-11). God referred to the people of Israel as His Bride in the Old Testament (Hosea 2:19-20). New Testament writers talked about the Church being the Bride (Eph 5:22-32). In the last few pages of the Bible, the final and biggest wedding of all time takes place (Rev 19:7-8; 21:1-2; 9-10). Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God and His Bride, the Church, will close out recorded history with a wedding ceremony like no other.

We are the Bride of Christ.
We must not forget who we are!

We are living in the most significant years of history in the Christian life. We have the privilege of evangelizing the lost and spreading the message of hope and encouragement to those who already know Christ.

“Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His Bride has made herself ready” (Rev. 19:7 NASB).

We must be ready! If we adorn ourselves for Christ, His eyes will be upon us for good. Our success as a church can never be determined by our facilities, our programs, our plans, or even our marketing. Success can only come from the Hand of God upon our lives. For this reason we must posture ourselves for His manifest presence.  God will always be drawn to a church where every activity, every plan, and every leadership decision clearly displays His heart. When we draw close to God, He draws close to us. This is a Biblical principle:

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8 NKJV). “The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call upon Him in truth” (Psalm 145:18 NKJV).

As a church doing the will of God, first and foremost, we must hunger for the presence of God. Hungering for God’s presence includes three vital components:

(1) A greater realization of His presence. The more we long for His presence, the more sensitive we will be to what God is doing and where He is doing it!

(2) Filled to full measure with His Holy Spirit. Paul says that our experience can vary by the degree of power and presence operating in our lives (Eph 5:18-20).

(3) A special anointing for a special time and task. This is what we call the Manifest Presence of God. We need God’s presence more than anything else. We need it more than a beautiful facility, more than cutting edge programs, more than mega attendance, and more than a big budget!

May we only want what is birthed by God. We are the Bride. Through continual prayer, becoming intimately acquainted with God’s Word, and choosing to please heaven in all we endeavor to do, we, as a church, can be an obedient people preparing for the return of Jesus Christ, our Heavenly Bridegroom.

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Apr18

Every Member a Minister

by Ears2Hear on April 18th, 2012 at 7:00 pm
Posted In: Message Highlights

4/18/2012– “Every Member a Minister” by Senior Pastor David Wing – (http://doverfoursquare.org/5/sermons.html)

One of the greatest roles of a pastor is to believe in people. We need people who can come alongside of us to believe in us and see our potential. This principle of leadership can be clearly seen in the life of Jesus.

Mark reveals this unique characteristic played out in the life of Jesus (Mark 2:1-5). Here we read how four men decided to take their paralyzed friend to Jesus so that their friend could be healed. At that time Jesus was teaching in Peter’s house in Capernaum. Although there was such a crowd that no one could even enter the house, this did not deter these four men. Without any regard for the cost of roof repair, they literally broke up the roof and lowered their friend right down in front of Jesus! Jesus could have scolded them for their destructive behavior, or for interrupting His message, but He didn’t. Instead, He looked upon those men and called their actions “faith”!

We are called to look for faith in people, to look for evidence of God’s presence in other’s lives, and to desire God’s best for them. All of us have been given a measure of faith with which to minister to those around us. We all have gifts and will be held accountable for what we did with them. Jesus gave clear teaching on the importance of investing what God has given us (Mat 25:24-29). There are many applications of this parable, but there is one message that rings through so true:

You cannot please God by not investing what He has given us.

Nothing pleases God more than when we are willing to risk what He has given us for the sake of the Master.

There is another important truth found in Scriptures:

“Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest” (Prov 14:4).

Where there are no people, there is no dirt on the floor and there are no bathrooms to clean! If our goal is to keep a clean stable, then we simply do not need any oxen, but no work without their strength. If we are afraid to make mistakes or afraid to fail, then we will never get anywhere.

On the other hand, if our goal is to make a difference with our own individual lives, then, as this passage of Scripture from Proverbs makes very clear,  we must be willing to clean up messes. Ministering will always bring problems, but this is normal! If we want to step out and be used by God, we cannot allow ourselves to be afraid of failure or of making mistakes. Life is full of risks. You can’t really live without takings risks of some kind. If we have a heart for God, we should be more than willing to take risks out of love for our Lord and Savior!

We are called to be a ministering people. It is God’s plan that we get involved in other people’s lives. We need to get involved, keep serving and use our gifts to touch the lives of others. God is less interested in what we are doing and very interested in what we are becoming.  Are we becoming more and more like Jesus?

Another important key in being ministers is to develop deep relationships along life’s way. Accountability, mentorship, and the opportunity of having others speak into our lives are of utmost importance. God has not called us to be lone rangers. We need each other. God meant us to do church together so that we can pour into each other’s lives. Serving one another is vital. May God help us to learn this wonderful truth:

You never diminish the flame of your own candle by lighting the flame of someone else.

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Apr08

Hope in the Resurrected Christ

by Ears2Hear on April 8th, 2012 at 10:00 am
Posted In: Message Highlights

4/8/2012– “Hope in the Resurrected Christ” by Senior Pastor David Wing – (http://doverfoursquare.org/5/sermons.html)

The Church is the ambassador to carry hope to this world. The Church is different from any other social gathering in that it offers the one message of hope which this world desperately needs — a message that is real and true: Jesus Christ rose from the grave because He is the Son of God! This is what the Easter celebration is all about. Peter tells us in his epistle:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a LIVING HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3 NASB).

After that dark and terrifying Friday (strangely known as “Good Friday”), there soon came a morning filled with hope. On that Sunday morning came the most wonderful message of hope ever given: “He is not here, for He has risen as He said” (Mat 28:6).

This is the hope we celebrate at Easter. It is rooted in the fact that, when Jesus died on the Cross, he broke the back of everything that could ever give ground to hopelessness. He broke the power of sin, the power of our failures, our fleshly weaknesses, our temptations, and all of Satan’s devices. Then on the third day, He rose up victoriously from the dead to demonstrate the living power of hope. Jesus took the keys and loosed every cord with which hopelessness tries to bind us. It is these very keys which Jesus has now given to His Church! Having these keys, the Church now offers this same message of hope to the whole world.

It is for this reason that Paul prayed so fervently for the Ephesians (Eph 1:17-19). He prayed they would have spiritual eyes and spiritual hearts that are enlightened to understand the power and greatness of this hope which is able to overcome anything that might try to defeat us. This is the solid turf of God’s promise upon which believing Christians can boldly stand every day of their lives.

Easter is all about this hope. This is what we are celebrating. It’s all about the resurrection power of Jesus Christ: a life-giving, defeat-destroying, fear-smashing, Satan-crippling, doubt-dissolving power! In the midst of our darkest hours, when we turn to Christ in faith, the Holy Spirit comes along side of us to comfort, lead, assure, and help us. The Spirit will refocus our eyes upon Jesus and help us abide in the light of this glorious hope – a hope which will never disappoint us or leave us embarrassed (Rom 5:5). It’s a hope that sees us through every trial. We can “abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom 15:13 NASB).

Let’s realize today that regardless of how hopeless the circumstances in our life may be, it is only a “Friday”. It may be a very dark and gloomy day, but it will pass. Sunday is coming! Now, there may be a “Saturday” — a time of mourning – but Saturday is not the end of God’s week! Our “Saturdays” are the doorway to Sunday! Every time we gather together in a Sunday service, we are bearing witness to the Sunday resurrection of Jesus Christ. When we enter into a believing and trusting relationship with Jesus Christ and what He did for us through His death and resurrection, we can be sure that our ”Sunday” will come! Because of this, we can face our “Fridays”! In life’s darkest situation, we can always say, “The best is yet to come!”

A well-known song written by Bill and Gloria Gaither relates this same message of hope:

Because He lives,  I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.

This song is more than poetry; it’s a prophecy! It’s a promise to us that we can face any day’s circumstances because there is a resurrection. This resurrection announces to each of us that there is a Savior unto Whom we can look and upon Whom we can trust. Our faith is made bold in the victory of the empty cross and the empty tomb! Our hope is anchored in the glory of His resurrection. Jesus said, “Because I live, you will live also” (John 14:19). This is the wonderful hope of Easter!

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Apr04

Why We Need to be Equipped

by Ears2Hear on April 4th, 2012 at 7:00 pm
Posted In: Message Highlights

4/4/2012– “Why We Need to be Equipped” by Senior Pastor David Wing — Wednesday Night Series: “Dover Foursquare Family Core Values” – (www.doverfoursquare.org)

Paul explained to the Ephesians that the purpose of ministry is to “equip” the people for the work of the ministry (Eph 4:11-13). As we have been sharing recently, in the original Greek language of the New Testament, the expression “to equip” can literally be translated as “to mend” (Cf. Mark 1:19). The significance here is that all of us need to be “mended” in order to fulfill the assignment which God has placed before each of us as members of the Body of Christ.

Our minds need to be renewed (Rom 12:2) and this is accomplished through the ministry of God’s Word. Ephesians tells us how Jesus so loved the Church that He gave Himself for Her that He might wash and cleanse her with “the washing of water by the Word” (Eph 5:25-27). Imagine how wonderful it would be to have our minds so renewed and so totally cleansed of this world’s debris that when we meet a soul, our very first reflexive thought would be: “Lord, bless them.” This is the equipping and “mending” that God has provided for us through the variety of preaching and teaching ministries of the Word within our church.

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Apr01

God Deserves Our Best

by Ears2Hear on April 1st, 2012 at 10:00 am
Posted In: Message Highlights

4/1/2012– “God Deserves Our Best” by Senior Pastor David Wing – (www.doverfoursquare.org)

Let’s recognize an important fact: God does not do things at random! He planned our birth before we were conceived. He chose us, created us, and then delicately placed us on His sovereign time continuum. We are called to serve the One who planned our life and He deserves our very best!

Doing our best for God is one of the core values of the Dover Foursquare Church. Whatever we do for God, we must always remember two things:

1. It’s not the size of the task, but it’s the size of our heart and what we put into the task that will make it something beautiful for God.

2. Whatever we do is for an audience of one – the One who created us!

God does not expect perfection, but He does expect excellence. This was a quality found in Daniel’s life. Others around Daniel could not help but recognize that he maintained a “spirit of excellence” in everything that he did (Dan 5:12). Like Daniel, when we realize that God deserves our very best and we choose to always give our “first fruits” of service to Him, our lives will reflect that to all those around us as well.

God has given each believer specific spiritual gifts to be discovered, developed, and deployed.

The question is not whether we have gifts. The real issue is whether we know what those gifts are and whether we are developing them for the Master’s use. If we are unaware of these gifts, our ability to serve Him will be immensely impeded. There are three categories of gifts mentioned in God’s Word: (1) Office Gifts; (2) Serving Gifts; and (3) Charismatic Gifts.

Office Gifts
God has placed specific offices in the Church for the sake of oversight and leadership (Eph 4:7-12). Leadership is not exclusively reserved for these positions, but it is often carried out through them. These office gifts are for the “equipping” of the saints.

The word “equip” is a very picturesque word in the original Greek language of the New Testament. “Equip” literally means “to mend”. The same Greek word is used to explain that James and John were in the boat with their father, Zebedee, “mending their nets” (Mark 1:19). The nets, simply by reason of use, may have gotten snagged on the rocky bottom of the Galilee and they needed to be repaired before the next fishing trip. We could say that James and John were “equipping” their nets for the very purpose nets were created – to catch fish!

With this explanation, we can now understand that the function of the Office Gifts has this same role: to “mend” and equip saints. We need these Office Gifts (pastors, teachers, evangelists, etc.) – to speak God’s Word to us which will bring the mending of our lives so that we can be fully equipped to do what God has called us to do – to catch fish!

How foolish it would be for a fisherman to mend his nets just to collect more nets! Neither should his goal be to compete with other fishermen in the seeing who can collect the biggest pile of nets! How ridiculous that would be! The fisherman’s true goal in mending torn nets is to throw them back in the lake in order to catch more fish.

Serving Gifts
The next category of gifts can be referred to as “Serving Gifts” (Rom 12:6-8). These gifts are distributed among believers in order to equip us to excel in serving. It is our responsibility as believers to discover, develop, and deploy these gifts for the sake of the Kingdom of God. In so doing, God is honored, the Body of Christ is built up, and we will begin to realize a sense of fulfillment greater than ever before.

We must serve with passion. Our service at Dover Foursquare Church is so vital. We need to allow our gifts to come forth. When we link our gifts with a passion to give God our very best, we begin to play a powerful role in the Body of Christ. We’ll find joy and motivation, and we’ll experience maximum effectiveness with minimum weariness.

Charismatic Gifts
We read about these gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11. God has authored every gift by His Spirit and placed them in the church for the common good. There is nothing like the church when it is vibrant, healthy, and working just like God designed it. At Dover Foursquare, we welcome the awesome variety and totality of the gifts of the Holy Spirit as they were designed to function. God is not into making clones out of His people. He placed each of us in His family with a certain mixture of gifts, temperaments, and capabilities. The more each one of us takes “ownership” in the ministry of the church, the stronger the church becomes.

Let’s be who God created us to be. Let’s rest in and cultivate our gifts. How beautiful the Body of Christ can be when we serve and do so by giving Him what He deserves – our very best!

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Mar28

The Three C’s of a Healthy Church

by Ears2Hear on March 28th, 2012 at 7:00 pm
Posted In: Message Highlights

3/28/2012– “Committed to Serve” by Senior Pastor David Wing — Wednesday Night Series: “Dover Foursquare Family Core Values” – (www.doverfoursquare.org)

1. CAUSE.  Why does church exist? What is it that gives us our motivational drive? A cause is like the engine of a car: it is the very thing which keeps us moving! What should our cause be? Where should our focus be? Jesus’ great commission (Mat 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47-49) should make this very clear: Evangelism and reaching souls for Christ. All of our efforts are wonderful, but if we are not winning souls, then all our efforts are in vain.

2. COMMUNITY.  The church is not about activities and programs. It is about what is happening to us during those programs and activities! Church is all about genuine relationships. This is what turns a crowd into a family. In fact, the feeling that should be prevalent in all our gatherings should be nothing less than that of a family reunion. Jesus said that the world would recognize us as His disciples when we have this kind of love one towards another (John 13:34-35). People are not just looking for friendly people, they are looking for friends. Let’s open up our lives and let one another in and become the church-community God has created us to be.

3. CORPORATE.  This area has to do specifically with finances. The way we handle finances as individuals and as a church is the way we will handle the “true riches” of eternity (Luke 16:10-11). Stewardship over the things with which God has blessed us is like a boot camp for the true riches God wants to entrust us with in eternity. Part of this responsibility includes tithes and offerings. Joyful giving (2 Cor 9:7) is part of true spiritual maturity and we should see it as both a privilege and a pleasure. In fact, giving should be done with the same worshipful enthusiasm as our times of singing when we gather together on Sundays. When we are financially faithful, there are wonderful promises (Mal 3:10-12) which God makes available to us as individuals and as the corporate church.

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Mar28

Committed to Serve

by Ears2Hear on March 28th, 2012 at 7:00 pm
Posted In: Message Highlights

3/28/2012– “Committed to Serve” by Senior Pastor David Wing — Wednesday Night Series: “Dover Foursquare Family Core Values” – (www.doverfoursquare.org)

We want our days to count. We don’t know how long we have. Jesus could come at any time. According to some statistics, there are only 10% of those who get saved are actually experiencing salvation in church. This means that the other 90% of evangelism takes place outside the walls of the church. What should our response to these statistics be? We need to go out and win souls! We have a great work to do! This should be the very heart and soul of our commitment to serve.

Organization within the church may be necessary, but it should never be the life of the church. Church structure alone is like a synthetic silk plant. It looks great until you get closer and then you can clearly tell the difference.

One key in church work: Build a team! God will always provide helpers to those who serve with the idea of “team” in mind. As members of the Body of Christ (1 Cor 12:12; Eph 4:14), we need each other. To enable us to fulfill the assignment God has set before the Church, He has gifted each one of us in a unique way (1 Cor 12:7) which only reveals more fully our dependence upon each other. We all have an assignment, but we must never isolate ourselves. Each part of the body works in groups. The hand works with the fingers. God has designed the church in the same way. Things just work better as a team.

Every member of our physical body “cheers” the health of the other members and gives their support. In the same way, each of us must always carefully strive to see that the other members of the body of Christ are healthy. We must live in the Body of Christ to see that others are successful. This is a responsibility that each of us must take very seriously.

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Mar25

You Are On Special Assignment

by Ears2Hear on March 25th, 2012 at 10:00 am
Posted In: Message Highlights

3/25/2012– “You Are On Special Assignment” by Senior Pastor David Wing – (www.doverfoursquare.org)

God’s “Work of Art”
We are on “Special Assignment” and we are called to be the person God had in mind when He originally designed us. Let’s not give this message away! Let’s take it as our own! We were created to be a masterpiece of God:

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:10 NKJV).

The word “workmanship” actually means “a work of art”! God created us to know oneness with Him and with other human beings. God’s plan is not only to repair our brokenness, but He wants to make us new creatures – His special “work of art” – ready and available for the special assignment for which He has designed us.

“Turn Aside”
One day when the human race had not heard a word of hope for a long time, a man named Moses walked past a shrub. He may have seen that same shrub many times before, but this time it was different! This shrub was on fire with the very presence of God!

“I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn” (Exo 3:3 NKJV).

Everything relied upon Moses’ willingness to turn aside – to interrupt his daily routine to pay attention to what God wanted to say. Like we often do, Moses could have just looked the other way. He would have missed his calling – his special assignment to lead the people of Israel out of Egyptian bondage and into God’s purpose.

God’s sense of timing always seems strange to us. It was strange to Moses. Forty years ago he would have been ready for such an assignment. Forty years ago he was strong and had a great education. Forty years ago he had all the right connections and high hopes. But, now, he was a nobody! An anonymous shepherd in a forgotten desert. Moses questioned God saying, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh? I am slow of speech and have been totally disappointed in myself for these past forty years!” Nevertheless, God spoke to Moses and gave him great assuarance and He will do the same thing for us:

“So He said: ‘I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain” (Exo 3:12 NKJV).

Like Moses, we must be willing to “turn aside” and take time to recognize what God has in mind for us. We could have been born in another place and another time, but we weren’t. We are here and God does not do things at random. God never makes mistakes! He chose us, created us, and then delicately placed us on His sovereign time continuum.

Chosen for Success
As Paul told the Ephesians (Eph 2:10), God prepared our paths beforehand that we should walk in them. He has an assignment for each and every one of us and it is our responsibility to find out what that is and walk in it. He chooses us with a very specific purpose and He wants us to succeed! Jesus told His disciples that He had appointed them to be fruitful:

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain” (John 15:16 NAS).

Divine Endowment
God does something very special for everyone entering His family. He gives each member a divine endowment known as a spiritual gift. Both Paul and Peter spoke about this (Rom 12:6 and 1 Peter 4:10 NAS). This gift is a God-given capacity to fulfill what He has asked us to accomplish. This gift helps us to locate our place and our role. Coming to grips with this fact is one of the most wonderful discoveries in our lives.

God does not want us to be unaware of these gifts. Knowing and functioning in the gift God has bestowed upon us is the very heart of the church. In “doing” church as a team, we must remember that it is not one person doing a hundred things, rather it’s a hundred people doing one thing each, and that “one thing” is to accomplish the special assignment for which God has designed us.

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