Build-A-Bear Missionary Baptist Church

WE’VE GOT MAIL #5/7 Stockwell Road MBC
August 9, 2009 MW
BUILD A BEAR BAPTIST CHURCH
Revelation 3:1-6
INTRODUCTION:
A. These two chapters in the Book of Revelation contain 7 letters written to 7 Churches located throughout Asia. They are love letters written by the hand of John from the heart of God. Jesus had a word for each of these churches and He also has a word for us as well. You see THEY GOT MAIL and today WE’VE GOT MAIL. There are 3 ways that we need to view these letters this morning.
1. PROPHETICALLY…each one represents a different time period in Church history; Sardis represents the time from 1500 AD to around 1700 AD. This is the period of time when the Protestant Reformation took place and the rise of numerous false religions which protested the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.
2. PRACTICALLY…a letter to the Church at Sardis is a letter to Stockwell Road MBC.
3. PERSONALLY…Churches are made of individuals, of families of people.

B. At the Louisiana Boardwalk is a store called Build a Bear Workshop. In this store you create your newest stuffed animal. You pick out the animal you want, you place a heart in it, you stuff it, you air blow it, you dress it, you give it a name and you receive a birth certificate. You do all you can to make this little stuffed buddy a living thing but no matter what….it isn’t real.. It may have the appearance of being real but it isn’t. This is the essence of the Church at Sardis. They had a reputation in the community for being alive but in actuality they were they dead. This is what we see in many false religions…they have huge crowds, massive buildings but no TRUTH. They look alive but in reality they are dead. Sadly, I am afraid this same scenario is played out over time in far too many of the Lord’s Churches as well.

C. Sardis, was a city located high above on a 1500 ft. plateau with one small path up the mountain…on either side of the plateau were steep cliffs which made the city impenetrable from invaders. Gold and silver coins were first minted there…it was a very wealthy city. One night as the Persian king Cyrus was attacking his soldiers witnessed a guard from the city sneak down a small secret path to pick up his helmet that had fallen. That night they snuck up the secret path, entered the city as the guards slept and conquered it. It regained some wealth under Alexander the Great but it was conquered again by Antiochus by the same manner as the Persians. Then the Romans came and in John’s day it was a shell of what it used to be. The people had grown complacent, indifferent and immoral. They were living in their past accomplishments but were neglecting their present duties. The Church at Sardis, unfortunately, had become the thermometer of the Spiritual temperature of the City instead of the thermostat that controlled and influenced the spirituality of their city.

D. They had become the Build a Bear Baptist Church having the look of life but in reality were dead.

BODY:

I. THE POWER OF EVERY CHURCH vs. 1
note: When the Lord comes to the Church at Sardis He introduces himself as the one that has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars. But with this introduction He sees the reality of what is going on…the rejection of this power and a reliance on themselves and their reliance on past accomplishments. Our Church must ALWAYS rely upon the PROVISIONS that God has set in place to power our Church…His Spirit and the message of His Servants.
A. The Ministry of the Spirit—the 7 Spirits of God
1. to confirm truth
2. to convict sin and error
3. to control saints

B. The Messages of His Servant—the 7 Stars
1. pastors help reveal the Word of God
2. the Word of God reveals the Will of God

II. THE PLAN FOR EVERY CHURCH vs. 2-3
note: The Lord has not left us without guidance. His Word gives advice for EVERYDAY. We are not left to our own devices. If we would simply be observant of God’s plan and stay on God’s path we will experience God’s pleasure. Notice what plan we SHOULD follow instead of the plan that Sardis had followed.
A. To Revive—weakening/struggling areas
B. To Reach—for excellence in everything
C. To Remember—the struggle and sacrifices towards success
D. To Rededicate—to the same attitude of sacrifice
E. To Repent—of sinful/slothful actions and attitudes
F. To Realize—the Rapture is near and we must be prepared

III. THE PROMISES TO EVERY CHURCH vs. 4-5
note: The Lord ends with words of promise to the few in Sardis who were trying. A principle of Scripture we must acknowledge is this: God ALWAYS has a remnant. In this wicked day that we live in…I believe that we are that remnant. This word “overcome” doesn’t refer to being saved…it refers to having the victory and conquering Over his own easily-besetting sins; Over the world and its temptations; Over prevalent error; or Over the ills and trials of life, so as, in all these respects, to show that his Christian principles are firm and unshaken.
A. We Shall Be Claimed
B. We Shall Be Clothed
C. We Shall Be Confirmed
D. We Shall Be Confessed

CONCLUSION:
Are you the thermometer or the thermostat of Stockwell Road MBC. How are you helping the spirituality of our Church? Or are you contributing to our Church becoming like the Build a Bear Baptist Church? Are we just “looking” alive or are we alive?