Unstoppable-Prayer and Spirit

1.     The unstoppable church is a praying church.

1.     It's not our mission to just grow a church, but to bless a city, empower a culture, and its surrounding areas.

1.     Vision of CWC: Our vision is to see people saved, healed, set free, discipled, equipped, empowered and serving.

1.     That should be our DNA.

2.     The vision is the very reason we make every decision we make and lead our selves by.

Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 NLT "Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means 'rock'), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it."

2.     God is building the church on the revelation of our personal belief in and of Jesus Christ.

1.     Upon our declaration of Him!

2.     He is the Christ the Son of the Living God!

3.     He is the Messiah, He is the Savior of the world, that is the rock of our message!

3.     Our job is not to build the church. 

1.     We need to remind ourselves that it’s His church. 

2.     He’s the one who will build it and if we can stay out of the way, then great things are going to happen.

1.     Prayer must play an integral part.

1.     Prayer is the difference between the best you can do and the best God can do.  Mark Batterson.

2.     So if we are not praying, then the best we can do is the best we can do and that’s not good enough.

1.     It'll never be good enough!

2.     When we pray, the Holy Spirit does the heavy lifting.

3.     Prayer creates the culture of a people, of a church, and prayer immediately gives people a heart for evangelism because when you get into God’s presences, you start to get His heartbeat.

1.     His heartbeat is people.

2.     That's why Jesus was sent to rescue mankind, God's love for all people.

4.     That is an unstoppable game changer.

1.     You can delegate a lot of things, but you can’t delegate prayer.

1.     In Acts 6:1-4 the church leader’s delegated things so they could be in the Word and prayer.

2.     As a matter of fact just the opposite happened.

Acts 6:1-4 NLT "[1] But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food. [2] So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, "We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. [3] And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. [4] Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word."

5.     I love conferences. 

6.     I’m a conference junkie, but I’d rather have one God–idea than a thousand good ideas. 

1.     You can get a good idea at a conference by being in the presence of God and getting into prayer.

2.     I love corporate prayer meetings. 

1.     This is a corporate prayer meeting as a matter of fact, every Sunday.

2.     Corporate worship, corporate prayer, corporate discipleship teachings, not all of us experience that or engage in that but it's what is is.

3.     The corporate church connecting with the presence and power of God.

3.     It changes things.

1.     All of us should realize how short we have fallen in this area.

Ephesians 6:18 NLT "Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere."

4.     Paul says later in vs. 20 Pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for Him, as I should.

1.     I want to make sure I’m not just leading the way in my personal prayer life-but also leading the way corporately.

1.     What happens if we stop praying?

2.     What happens when the church stops praying?

2.     Boredom: You can’t have a spirit filled life and be bored at the same time.

1.     When you stop praying it takes the supernatural element out of what we’re doing and the church becomes a club.

2.     No conviction of the Holy Spirit, no miracles, and then the church stops being a movement and becomes a museum to what God has done in the past.

3.     If we want God to do something new, you can’t keep doing the same old thing. 

4.     You have to do something different and prayer is the difference between you fighting for God and God fighting for you.

5.     If we stop praying, we’re on our own and I don’t think we will get very far.

7.     When we pray, it creates that momentum you can’t manufacture – its God beginning to move.

1.     Prayer is the difference between what you can do and what God can do.

2.     Removing prayer removes the supernatural out of the church.

3.     Prayer is the difference between you fighting for God or God fighting for you.

James 5:16 NLT "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results."

8.     Confess to one another, pray for one another and be healed. 

1.     I preach confession to one another because it's what the bible teaches and I live out confession to God and to others, because it's what the bible teaches.

1.     I want to be healed, I want others to be healed, I want our community to be healed, so does God, it's His heart.

2.     The unstoppable church is a serving church.

1.     The unstoppable church is a loving church, a welcoming church, a connecting church.

1.     The unstoppable church thinks of the needs of the people and works to minister to those needs.

2.     That's what minister means:to meet the need, attend to the needs of someone, a servant.

1.     The church of China uses this term musher.

2.     They call everyone musher.

1.     The Pastors, the lay-members, the worship team, the ushers, the board members, musher simply meaning, servant.

3.     We're servants to one another, we're servants to our children, servants to our spouses, servants to this church, we're servants to this community, the hurting, the broken, the lost, abandoned, and confused.

1.     Musher.

1.     When we see each other as servants of God we no see competition but teamwork.

2.     When we see each other as servants we no longer see big I's and little you's.

3.     When we see each other as servants we see each other in unity and not in and through division.

4.     We see a mighty moving, alive, pulsating, force of God rather than just holding on 'til Jesus comes.

Ezekiel 34:1-24 NLT "[1] Then this message came to me from the LORD: [2] "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: What sorrow awaits you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn't shepherds feed their sheep? [3] You drink the milk, wear the wool, and butcher the best animals, but you let your flocks starve. [4] You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the injured. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty. [5] So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd, and they are easy prey for any wild animal. [6] They have wandered through all the mountains and all the hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them. [7] "Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: [8] As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, you abandoned my flock and left them to be attacked by every wild animal. And though you were my shepherds, you didn't search for my sheep when they were lost. You took care of yourselves and left the sheep to starve. [9] Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD. [10] This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I now consider these shepherds my enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock, and I will stop them from feeding themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths; the sheep will no longer be their prey. [11] "For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search and find my sheep. [12] I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day. [13] I will bring them back home to their own land of Israel from among the peoples and nations. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers and in all the places where people live. [14] Yes, I will give them good pastureland on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in pleasant places and feed in the lush pastures of the hills. [15] I myself will tend my sheep and give them a place to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign LORD. [16] I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes-feed them justice! [17] "And as for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign LORD says to his people: I will judge between one animal of the flock and another, separating the sheep from the goats. [18] Isn't it enough for you to keep the best of the pastures for yourselves? Must you also trample down the rest? Isn't it enough for you to drink clear water for yourselves? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? [19] Why must my flock eat what you have trampled down and drink water you have fouled? [20] "Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will surely judge between the fat sheep and the scrawny sheep. [21] For you fat sheep pushed and butted and crowded my sick and hungry flock until you scattered them to distant lands. [22] So I will rescue my flock, and they will no longer be abused. I will judge between one animal of the flock and another. [23] And I will set over them one shepherd, my servant David. He will feed them and be a shepherd to them. [24] And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David will be a prince among my people. I, the LORD, have spoken!"

5.     Vs. 2-4 The scripture is warning us, the church, of how we enjoy the presence of God, the provision of God, the direction of God and the salvation of God all the while taking advantage of others in their pursuit of God.

1.     Taking advantage of the hope filled message of Jesus Christ for ourselves all the while being ashamed, and afraid to share it.

2.     Selfish to the point of driving out the hurting, starving out the hungry, dehydrating the thirsty, and watching the broken struggle to their to death.

6.     We should all leave the judging up to God and be as loving and accepting, as we would want others to be with us.

7.     I want my headstone to say, "Pastor Mike was unstoppable, not because he did not have failures or doubts but because he continued on despite them.  

1.     Be positive when the whole world around you is sinking in doubt and negativity.

2.     Be in control when everyone is letting go and careening recklessly through their lives.

3.     Be bold when everyone is cringing in fear.

4.     Be brave when the weak hide in cowardice.

5.     Be deep when everything is so shallow.

6.     Be teachable when surrounded by know it alls.

7.     Be flexible when facing challenging rigidity.

8.     Be merciful when everyone wants to condemn someone.

9.     Be strong as the incessant bad news makes the world's knees weak.

10.    Be sensitive when all the pain has made hearts hard and calloused.

11.    Be a peacemaker when everyone wants to fight.

12.    Be considerate when everyone else just thinks about themselves.

13.    Finally, be compassionate when the love of many has grown so very cold.