One of the first things that goes wrong with “Lifesaving Stations” (churches) is that we forget about the importance of prayer. Prayer is a core values of the Dover Foursquare Church – a value we do well to honor, and a heritage upon which we can build our lives. There are four powerful directives concerning prayer which I feel to focus upon:

1. We must believe that prayer works. In fact, even when we die, our prayers don’t! Each prayer takes on an eternal life of its own.

Prayer is the inheritance we receive and the legacy we leave.

Prayers have no time or space restrictions because the God who answers them exists outside of the space and time He created! “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16 NKJV).

2. Pray continually. In the parable of a widow and the unjust judge (Luke 18:1-7), Jesus paints a clear picture of what it means to pray hard – asking, seeking and even knocking until your knuckles are raw. The psalmist declares: “For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when Thou mayest be found…Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance” (Psalm 32:7). Continual prayer allows God’s Spirit to encircle us with songs of deliverance!

3. Prayer is all-encompassing. We can pray about anything and everything! What a comfort this is for us. God truly is for us– not passively, but in the most active sense imaginable!

Supernatural things begin to happen when we “tag-team” with God through prayer.

4. Thankful prayer is essential. “In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess 5:18 NKJV). Paul also said: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Phil 4:6).

An Episcopal pries named Dr. Theodore O. Wedel wrote a short parable in 1953 that I believe will help us to see the true purpose of the Church. As we walk into this great new season of Dover Foursquare and a new level of fulfilling the calling on our lives, may we never forget who we are and for what purpose God has called our church into existence: We are a lifesaving station for Christ! Here is the parable:

On a dangerous sea-coast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a crude little lifesaving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with not thought for their own comfort went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost.

Some of those who were saved and various others in the surrounding area wanted to become associated with the station and gave of their time, money and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews were trained. The little lifesaving station grew.

Some of the members of the lifesaving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. They replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building. Now the lifesaving station became a popular gathering place for its members and they decorated it beautifully. But they began to look at it as a sort of club.

Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on lifesaving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work. The lifesaving motif still prevailed in the decor of the building and there even was a large lifeboat in the room where the club’s initiations were held.

About this time a large ship wrecked off the coast and the hired crew brought in boatloads of cold, wet, and half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick. The beautiful new club was in chaos. So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming inside.

At the next meeting, there was a split among the “club” members. Most of the members wanted to stop the lifesaving activities for being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon lifesaving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a lifesaving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own lifesaving station. So, they did.

As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It, too, evolved into a club and yet another lifesaving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself, and if you visit that sea-coast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore.

Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters, but most people drown.

Though Paul wrote 1 Corinthians almost two thousand years ago there is much we can still hope to learn from it. In chapter one, Paul is confronting division within the Corinth church aiming to bring unity. Unity is an issue here because without it the Body of Christ begins to fall apart. No one person is better than another they are simply created differently. Divided we are left lacking, however, united in everything we are enriched…not lacking in any gift (1 Cor 1:5-7).

Paul ends his correction of the church by stating:

“For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel,
not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void” (1 Cor 1:17 NASB).

Paul backs this up by heading start into the “Message of the Cross.” For those who do not understand the meaning of the cross it is foolishness. However, it is the Power of God for those who Christ has redeemed.

See many throughout the Early Judaism and the rest of the Mediterranean looked for completely different type of Messiah than Jesus. The Jews believe the Messiah would come down from the heavens on a chariot of fire liberating them from the bondage the Romans have placed them in. The Greeks on the other hand could not understand how a “god” could allow himself to die. Both groups thought Jesus Christ dying on the cross was foolishness and could not see past the surface and into the spiritual.

Paul writes: “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God… (1 Cor 1:21). The Greek word use for “know” here is “gnwskw” (gnosko). The word not only means to know, rather, it means to know intimately or personally. The world might have known of Jesus but they did not know Jesus. Therefore the Cross became a stumbling block and foolishness to those who did understand (1 Cor 1:23). However, for those who are the called it became the Power of God and Wisdom of God  (1 Cor 1:24).

But who is this “Called?” Jesus is clearly explains who they are in Mark 2.14-17. Jesus has just called Matthew to come and follow him. He then sits to eat with Matthew and other tax collectors when some begin to radical Him for doing so. Jesus then makes this statement: 

“It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinner” (Mark 2:17 NASB).

The “Called” are sinners. They are those who are in need of a savior and know it. Paul continues in 1 Corinthians by almost insulting the reader bringing each person back to the point when they first realized that they needed a savior (1 Cor 1:26-31). We too should reflect back upon who we were and where we came from. Not one of us was perfect or had it all together, rather, many of us were broken, abandoned, and in need of major repair (healing).

It is these types of people God is calling and drawling to Himself and it is these types of people whom we should keep our eyes open to share the gospel with. Just as Jesus reached out to you and shared His saving grace with you may you also be used as the instrument in which Jesus chooses to use to share His gospel with others.

Though Paul wrote 1 Corinthians almost two thousand years ago there is much we can still hope to learn from it. In chapter one, Paul is confronting division within the Corinth church aiming to bring unity. Unity is an issue here because without it the Body of Christ begins to fall apart. No one person is better than another they are simply created differently. Divided we are left lacking, however, united in everything we are enriched…, not lacking in any gift (1Cor  1:5-7).

Paul ends his correction of the church by stating:

“For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void” (1 Cor 1:17 NASB).

Paul backs this up by heading start into the “Message of the Cross.” For those who do not understand the meaning of the cross it is foolishness. However, it is the Power of God for those who Christ has redeemed.

See many throughout the Early Judaism and the rest of the Mediterranean looked for completely different type of Messiah than Jesus. The Jews believe the Messiah would come down from the heavens on a chariot of fire liberating them from the bondage the Romans have placed them in. The Greeks on the other hand could not understand how a “god” could allow himself to die. Both groups thought Jesus Christ dying on the cross was foolishness and could not see past the surface and into the spiritual.

Paul writes: “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God… (1 Cor 1:21). The Greek word use for “know” here is “gnwskw” (gnosko). The word not only means to know, rather, it means to know intimately or personally. The world might have known of Jesus but they did not know Jesus. Therefore the Cross became a stumbling block and foolishness to those who did understand (1 Cor 1:23). However, for those who are the called it became the Power of God and Wisdom of God  (1 Cor 1: 24).

But who is this “Called?” Jesus is clearly explains who they are in Mark 2.14-17. Jesus has just called Matthew to come and follow him. He then sits to eat with Matthew and other tax collectors when some begin to radical Him for doing so. Jesus then makes this statement: 

“It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinner” (Mark 2:17 NASB).

The “Called” are sinners. They are those who are in need of a savior and know it. Paul continues in 1 Corinthians by almost insulting the reader bringing each person back to the point when they first realized that they needed a savior (1 Cor 1:26-31). We too should reflect back upon who we were and where we came from. Not one of us was perfect or had it all together, rather, many of us were broken, abandoned, and in need of major repair (healing).

It is these types of people God is calling and drawling to Himself and it is these types of people whom we should keep our eyes open to share the gospel with. Just as Jesus reached out to you and shared His saving grace with you may you also be used as the instrument in which Jesus chooses to use to share His gospel with others.

As we have been studying in these past weeks, Biblical prosperity literally means to push forward, to make progress, and to give help on the road. It is something God longs for us to have (3 John 1:2). Men like Joseph, David, and Jehoshaphat were obedient to God and consequently they experienced prosperity and it was evidenced in their life through God’s presence and blessing upon them. When we willingly obey God, His presence will be with us also.

Obedience is the truest indication that our heart belongs to God.

There is a difference between the Omnipresence of God and the Manifested Presence of God. The Omnipresence of God refers to the fact that God’s presence is in every place at the same time – something which both believers and nonbelievers live in whether they realize it or not. On the other hand, the Manifest Presence of God is only experienced when God makes Himself known to us in a tangible way. It is a sweetness that fills the atmosphere during our times of worship and prayer when we have personal times with the Lord and when we gather together as His Church. The Manifest Presence of God is something He invites us into – it is a place of intimacy.

God invites us to True Intimacy with Him.

In the same way that obedience manifests God’s presence in our lives, disobedience will cause His presence to leave us. This is what took place in the life of Cain when he directly disobeyed God’s word to him: “Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord” (Gen 4:16). Disobedience cost Adam and Eve God’s presence. Until King David repented for his disobedience, he lived for about a year without experiencing God’s manifest presence.

The Presence of God will make you prosper in all you do.

Isaiah cried out for God’s power-filled, demonstrative working in his life (Isaiah 64:1-2). His cry was not a shallow request for a dramatic event. Rather, Isaiah was a man of God who understood that when God manifests His presence great things could happen – wonderful changes which “no ear has perceived” and “no eye has seen” (Isaiah 64:3-4) both in his own life and in the nation for which he was praying.

Worship from obedient hearts is so important if we desire God’s presence in our midst. Worship is more than a mere exercise of extolling God’s glory. It is more than a personal devotional time.

Worship is a Biblical means of intimacy with God from obedient hearts.

How do we move into that Manifest Presence of God? The key is a life of obedience. How do we obey God in difficult areas of our life? It is only through faith. Obedience does not produce faith. Rather, it is faith that produces obedience.

Faith only comes by hearing the Word of God (Rom 10:17). This Scripture is actually saying, “If I hear God’s Word, I’ll have faith!” We all want to be “doers,” but it is the hearing of the Word that causes us to do the Word! This is why we provide so many opportunities to hear the Word right here at Dover Foursquare. We have our Sunday Morning Service at 10:00 am. We have Sunday School at 9:00 am. We have Breakthrough Prayer at 8:15 am. On Wednesday Evenings we have teaching classes for every age group. We also have Home Groups which are great opportunities for the Word to be shared and heard in a fellowship-friendly environment.

So if we want a life of obedience, we need faith. To obtain faith, we need to hear the Word. So let’s take time out this week to enter into a fresh life of intimacy with God. His Manifest Presence will surely rest upon us and we will find ourselves living out our lives in the wonderful Biblical Prosperity which God has always intended for us.

There is much to study when we examine the Scriptures concerning Jesus as our Savior. We could study His incarnation, His perfect life, His perfect fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy, His perfect sacrifice as the Lamb of God on Calvary, and how He alone is able to be the Mediator between God and man. Yet to understand how great and wonderful our Savior is, we must first discover how great our need is for this Salvation.

The greatness and preciousness of the “cure” can only be comprehended to the degree we are willing to see how God describes the seriousness of our “sickness”!

 When someone is lost and needs directions, there are two important questions that must be asked:  “Where are you right now?” and “Where do you want to go?” When both of these are answered, a third question should also be asked: “To make it to your destination, is what you have sufficient?”

 “Where do you want to go?”
God’s Plan of Salvation is directly related to His Eternal Purpose for man. When Adam disobeyed God, he was put out of the Garden of Eden. He was no longer living in God’s original purpose. Our destiny, therefore, is enter back into all that God has intended for man. Now if this Plan of Salvation only includes the forgiveness of sins and cleansing by the Blood of Jesus, then man’s needs would be fully met. Truly the thief on the cross could not have been more satisfied to hear Jesus say, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). Yet the real question we should be asking is: Does it fulfill God’s need? Salvation will satisfy man’s need, but more importantly it goes far beyond man’s need to satisfy the original longings of God’s heart! The Psalmist said: “Salvation belongs to the Lord” (Psalm 3:8).

“Where are you right now?”
This question can be answered by discovering just how far man has fallen out of God’s Eternal Purpose. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). The Greek word for “fall short” means: “to come short, to be impoverished, to be devoid of, to be destitute”. In other words, Adam did not just stumble and scrape his knee in the garden! His one act of disobedience caused all mankind to be completely destitute of God’s glory. Scripture makes it clear how every descendant of Adam is utterly devoid of all that God intended for man (Rom 3:10-12, 19, 23; Isaiah 64:6; Psalm 86:12-13; 1 Timothy 1:14-15; Jeremiah 17:9).

Not only is man sinful and unclean, he is dead (Eph 4:1-3). In the Garden, God told Adam: “From the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die” (Gen 2:17). Now Adam’s body did not die in that same day, but something far more important did! God created man in His own image and likeness and breathed His own breath or “spirit” into Adam’s nostrils. This is what set Adam apart from every other living creature. God created man for His own fellowship! When Adam sinned, it was his “spirit” that died. Adam and all his descendants (including us) are born “dead” towards God and are totally devoid of even the remotest possibility of fellowship with God. “There is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God” (Rom 3:11 NASB).

It is so easy for us to look at all the other “descendants of Adam” around us, do a bit of calculating, and come away feeling we are just not that bad after all. What a mistake! One honest glance into the mirror of God’s Word quickly dispels such thoughts! James tells us that there is a great danger of deception when we get too far away from that mirror: “For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was” (James 1:23-24 NASB).

“To make it to your destination, is what you have sufficient?”
Jesus spoke about the need for us to “first sit down and calculate the cost” (Luke 14:28-32). Realizing where we are – our fallen, impoverished, destitute state – and how great a distance we must travel in order to return to God’s Eternal Purpose, is what we have sufficient for such a journey? No way! The cost is extreme and totally out of our reach. No matter how we calculate it, everyone of us comes up short.

Looking at the Cross, we can see the desperate measures God took to provide the only cure possible for man’s impoverishment. The Cross truly is the “Great Equalizer” – regardless of our background, our IQ, our economic or social status, the Cross wipes away all distinctions and declares: “…that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Rom 3:19). It is in this revelation of where all of us stand that we can see just how great and marvelous God’s Salvation is! “How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” (Heb 2:3)

The Salvation Jesus purchased for us is completely free. There is nothing we could ever do to purchase such a grand gift. But we must be very cautious not to make the serious error of equating “free” with “cheap”. The Greek root word for Salvation is “sozo” and it has the following meaning: “to save, to deliver, to preserve, to bring safely, to heal, to restore, to make perfectly whole”. All of this and more is included in this wonderful Salvation.

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Cor 5:17).

This is God’s plan – a plan of complete metamorphosis – through Christ’s complete work of redemption, God offers to transform us into an entirely New Species that bears the image and likeness of God!

“And we…are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory…” (2 Cor 3:18 NIV).

Listen to how Peter explains it: “Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:3-4 KJV). This is God’s Plan of Salvation and included is all that we need to be made “perfectly whole” as God intended us to be!

Being so much more than just forgiveness of sins, this Salvation provides for our total restoration back into the Eternal Purpose of God. When Zechariah, was prophesying over his son, John the Baptist, he made a very interesting declaration: “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways; To give to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins” (Luke 1:76-77 NASB). In other words, the forgiveness of sins is just the getting on point – the beginning of the journey back into God’s Eternal Purpose! Of this wonderful journey Paul said: “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:14).

As someone once said,
“God loves us just the way we are,
but He loves us too much to leave us like that!”

What a Great Salvation and what a Wonderful Savior!

In the three and a half years that Christ was here upon earth,  He laid out a plan called the “Great Commission”: “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel” (Mark 16:15). In the Gospels, we see that Christ came to serve. He established a following. Then upon leaving, He gave instructions which could be summed up like this: ”I’m leaving, but the Holy Spirit will come and He will empower the Church to do the things that I did and to do even greater things.”  Not only by His words, but also by His life, Jesus gave us the pattern of serving others. This is an important part of what the Church is called to do – to serve others.

Last week we saw that God wants to prosper us (3 John 1:2), and that this word “prosper” literally means ”to push forward, to progress, and to give help to others move ahead on the road before them”. This is the prosperity Christ blesses us with as a Church when we walk in obedience to the Great Commission. Giving as Christ gave is not “reciprocal giving”. We are to give without expecting anything in return (Luke 6:32-35) — a concept this world will never understand. This principle of the Church being here as a servant is one which runs deep. Scripture clearly points out this principle and we cannot avoid it. Jesus Christ came not to be served, but to serve (Mark 10:45). The Church is to fill this servant-role just as Christ did (Gal 6:10). The Church exists here on earth to give, not to get.

When Biblical prosperity is at work in our lives, others will notice it. Just like Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph (Gen 39:3), likewise those who do not know the Lord will recognize that the Lord is with us. The Lord will bless His servants with His presence (2 Chron 17:3-4; 2 Chron 16:9; Deut 11:26-28; Job 36:11-12). Obedience is the key to having the presence of God permeate our lives so that we can boldly say, “When God is with me, I am blessed!”

Worship is one of the “Core Values” of the Dover Foursquare Church. Worship is far more than just singing songs in a meeting. Worship is a ministry unto the Lord. It is essential that we, as a church, have such an integrated fellowship that when we get together, worship flows freely. Jesus flowing through our lives into the community around us is a natural by-product of a worshiping church. People around u s will simply sense God’s greatness in us wherever we are.

Worship erects a dwelling place for God’s presence and it ignites the transformation of God’s people. The word “worship” literally means to prostrate ourselves — a laying low of our human will and a true humility of the heart. By studying Scriptures we can gain a very clear picture of what God means by the word “worship” (Rom 1:9; John 4:23-24; Col 3:16; 1 Cor 14:15-17; Phil 2:3-5; Rom 12:1; 1 Cor 14:15; Psalm 47:6-7; 47:1; 100:1-4; 46:10; Hab 2:20; Phil 2:9-10; Micah 6:6-8; Psalm 3:3-4; Heb 4:16; Lam 3:40-41; Psalm 63:3-4; Lev 9:21; Psalm 30:11; 149:3; 150:4).

Christ invites us to live in His richness. Jesus Christ left the splendor and wealth of heaven to come to earth in poverty (2 Cor 8:9). Through His death we have forgiveness and are now invited to  live in His riches. These are spiritual riches — “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27). God has offered us “all things pertaining to life and  godliness” (2 Peter 1:3).

Joseph went from pit to palace. He knew that great destiny carries great responsibility; and this is true for us today. Even in the dismal and discouraging times of his life, Joseph maintained integrity and the  proper attitude towards those he served (Col 3:22-25) — whether it was for Potiphar, for the prison keeper, or even for Pharoah. As a result of such honorable behavior, God granted him favor and promotion wherever he went – something which those whom he served could easily recognize (Gen 39:2-5).

What ever Joseph did, the Lord made it prosper!

We can see this in the life of Isaac also. Notice how the Scripture uses the word “prosper” three times in a single sentence:

“Then Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold and the Lord blessed him. The man began to prosper and continued prospering until he became very prosperous” (Gen 26:12,13 NKJV)

God wants us to prosper: “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 1:2). The Greek word for “prosper” literally means: “to push forward, to make progress, to help along the road.” This is exactly what God wants  to do! He wants to “push us forward” in our marriage, our job, and in every part of our life. Wouldn’t it be great to have to tell God, “Oh, no, Lord, please quit pushing me forward. I’ve already been blessed too, too much!”

In His wisdom, God strategically locates us. When we learn the keys of maintaining intregrity and being faithful to those in authority over us in that place, then like Joseph, we, too, will prosper as God intends us to.

2 Corinthians 3:5-6 sets forth a principle that I would like to have govern out thoughts and our life together for however long the Lord Jesus wills us all to be together as a church body. This text focuses on the ministry of every believer. With the Lord Jesus as our center, God wants us to be a ministry-minded church. The goal of pastors and leaders should be to train every believer to do the work of the ministry (Eph 4:11-12).

The first step in finding our place in ministry begins with WORSHIP. As we become an integrated fellowship, worship will flow freely. Worship is not a periodic activity. It is the key to release power in Jesus’ Name. Worship is a “fountainhead” of everything… God’s presence, His power, the guidance of His Word, the healing of our souls, our bodies, and our families, and will overflow as evangelism of the lost around us. In the Book of Acts, one just has to marvel at how obvious the importance of worship was in the life of the Early Church:

1. On the day of Pentecost, 3,000 souls were saved — and it all began in a prayer meeting that turned into a Holy-Spirit-empowered worship service! The “tongues” were languages not for preaching, but for praising God (Acts 2:1-11)!

2. After that day, a pattern was established: The people continued by “praising God and having favor with all the people” (Acts 2:47). Within that kind of environment, they gained favor among all the poeple and the result was that souls were added daily to the church.

3. In the very next chapter a marvelous miracle occurs (Acts 3). A lame man’s healing, Peter’s sermon, and the mighty ingathering of thousands of souls were simply the by-product of men en route to a prayer gathering!

God’s Word makes this very clear! When ministry to the Lord is placed at the top of our priority list, then everything else will follow… salvation of souls, healing of sick bodies, and life-changing experiences both for us and those God brings us in contact with!

Worship the Savior! Everything flows out of our worship!

• Worship is the fountainhead from which the redeemed drink to sustain the fullness qualifying us as visible witnesses to the reality of a living God. It prepares us to demonstrate Him to those around us.
• Worship is the very atmosphere in which the unsaved, when welcomed and loved, will “sense” the dimension of greatness of the One whom they seek, often unknowingly.

Not only are to be worshipers individually, but it is also important for us to come together corporately for powerful times of Spirit-filled worship. May the Lord help us all to realize that for us to fulfill His purpose upon us, Dover Foursquare must be a worshiping church.