Description
THE HOUSE
Church Cheers
Ed Young
September 1, 2007
I like to clap at church, don’t you? Church should be a place where we clap. Please be seated. You know last time I taught you some hand gestures that some of you had probably done before as kids. [Ed does hand gestures] I said here’s the church, there’s the steeple, open the doors and see all the people. Do you remember that? Well I want you to think about this. I want to add something to this. [Ed does hand gestures] Here’s the church, there’s the steeple, open the doors and see all of the cheering people. Because I’m going to talk to you tonight a little bit about church cheers, the noise that the church should make.
“Once I heard my grandma say…”
I love cheers. And the first time I ever remember hearing a church I was in Laurel, Mississippi. I was probably five years old. Laurel, Mississippi, man, that’s the Deep South. I’m talking about the real south. We used to vacation there and hang out at my grandparent’s house and my grandmother had a loud voice. That’s probably where I get my loud voice from. And she would sit on that porch swing and my brother and I would be playing football in the front yard. And the humidity could be cut with a knife, back and forth just sweating. And she would do these cheers, but one cheer that she did I have never forgotten. Let me do it for you, if you don’t mind.
[Ed cheers] “Once I heard my grandma say the Laurel team is coming this way. With a vevo, with a vivo, with a vevo, vivo, vumbo. And a rip tail, rat tail, sitting on a cat tail. Bum, bum, bum. What’s the matter with that team that they can’t see that they can’t play as well as me? With a vevo, with a vivo, with a vevo, vivo, vumbo. And a rip tail, rat tail, sitting on a cat tail. Bum, bum, bum.”
When I heard that cheer as a kid, that would motivate me to run faster, to play harder. There’s nothing like hearing cheers. Cheers sound good to our ears, don’t they? Cheerleaders are encouraging, they’re positive. No matter if you’re winning or losing, they’re with you. Cheers. I love cheers. Some people collect stamps, others collect cards. I collect cheers.
I had an incredible college career. I played for the Florida State Criminals ‑‑ I mean, Seminoles. My lifetime average, check it on the worldwide web, 0.7 per game. That’s 0.7 per game. How do you do that? Well, I did it, 0.7 per game. I rode the bench. I would travel all over the country with my teammates and because I rode the bench I got to listen to a lot of cheers. I never looked at the cheerleaders [Ed makes a face], but I did hear a bunch of cheers. So I have collected these cheers and I really think that God is into cheers. In fact, I was reading scripture and let me share something with you that kind of leaped off the pages. Hebrews chapter 12:1, “Do you see what this means, all these pioneers who blazed, the way, all veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better, I like this part, get on with it. We better get on with it.”
So we have these pioneers and veterans cheering us on, cheering you on and me on, cheering the church on in the heavenlies because they want us to get on with it. [Ed does hand gesture] Here’s the church, there’s the steeple, open the doors and see all the people. We’re intertwined. The church should be a place of cheers. So when we open the doors to the church and close them, it should sound like that.
I have to ask you something, are you cheering? Because, I need cheers, and so do you. The world has a way of just beating the fool out of us, doesn’t it? Yet I know, when I come to church and when the doors are open, the church is cheering for me because the church, we’re the Body of Christ. Believing is all about belonging. Read the New Testament. Someone makes a faith reception, someone opens their house and makes God at home there by this faith reception when Jesus infiltrates our lives, we become a part of the foundation of the Body of Christ. So if we could hear the cheers ringing in our ears that God is cheering and all the pioneers and veterans are cheering, we would not believe it.
“You’ve got it, now use it”
Maybe one of the cheers goes something like this. This is one that I have collected. This is one of my favorites, too. I was watching one of the best high school teams in America play years ago and here is what the cheerleaders did [Ed cheers], “You’ve got it, now use it. You’ve got it, now use it. You got it, now use it. You’ve got it, now use it.” Man they had it and they used it. They really did.
Now we’ve got it, right? We’ve got the house, the local church, the hope of the world. Do you remember St. Paul? Paul was called Saul and he was persecuting the church. He was killing Christians. He had this Damascus road experience where Jesus talked to him, and here is what Jesus said. Because remember, Saul was persecuting the church. He later became Paul. Jesus said, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” Jesus so understood and so identified with the church that He said Paul, you are after Me. We believe, we belong. We’re a part of the living, breathing Body of Christ. Each one of us, I’m talking about you and me, we’re unique. We’re one of a kind. We’re all creative geniuses. If you ever say, well you know what, I’m not creative, I’m not innovative, I can’t do this, I can’t do that. You’re making a mockery of God’s genius because all of us should utilize our giftedness and abilities within the venue, the context, of the local church.
Several years ago I went to Las Vegas and when I went to Vegas I could not believe the signage. Las Vegas has nothing to say but they know how to say it. In the local church, so often, we have everything to say but we don’t know how to say it. You’ve got gifts that I don’t have [Ed cheers], “You’ve got it, now use it.” We have this children’s ministry that is just totally off the chain [Ed cheers], “You’ve got it, now use it.”
We have the student ministry; we’re building up leaders and people who are difference makers in junior high and high school [Ed cheers], “You’ve got it, now use it.” Single adults, we have small groups and ministry activities just for you [Ed cheers], “You’ve got it, now use it.” We have mission trips all over the world [Ed cheers], “You’ve got it, now use it.” We have campuses in north Dallas and downtown and in Fort Worth and in Miami and right here in Grapevine [Ed cheers], “You’ve got it, now use it.”
I want to ask you something. You’ve got it. You’ve got the local church, the hope of the world. Are you using it? The question should not be, okay how does my church become creative? The question should be, God what are those blockades that are keeping me from unleashing my creativity that you’ve given me within the context of this biblically functioning community? Because when a bunch of Christians get together [Ed does hand gestures], “Here’s the church, there’s the steeple, open the doors and see all the creative people.” When a bunch of Christians get together we should be the most creative and innovative force in the universe. That reminds me of another cheer.
“We’ve got spirit, yes we do…”
[Ed cheers] “We’ve got spirit, yes we do, we’ve got spirit, how about you?” Wait a minute. Oh my goodness. Let’s start over. I understand that rhythm is a challenge. Let’s do it again. [Ed cheers] “We’ve got spirit, yes we do, we’ve got spirit, how about you?” [Audience chants back] I love that. I love that. I love that.
Acts 1:8, Acts 1:8 says that, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” The word power in the original language is pronounced dy-na-mis. Say dynamis with me. [Ed and audience say the word together]. We get the word dynamite from it. Do you remember that show Good Times? That was one of my favorite shows. I watch those reruns. Jimmy Walker, [Ed mimics Jimmy Walker], “Dynamite!” I love that.
We have power. We have dynamite power in the local church. When Jesus comes into our heart, and we make our heart His home, what does He do? The first thing on His punch list is to place the person of the Holy Spirit inside of your life and mine and the Holy Spirit redecorates us from the inside out. We’re a temple, a dwelling place, a house of the Holy Spirit of God.
Again [Ed does hand gestures], “Here’s the church, there’s the steeple, open the doors and see all the spirit filled people.” We have the spirit of God right here in your life and in mine. Something just freaky happens, something supernatural happens when a bunch of believers get together and open the word and study it in a corporate way. It’s just ‑‑ it’s just phenomenal. So you’ve got spirit. I’ve got spirit. Yeah, we do.
I mean, are you deferring to the Spirit? Are you listening to the Spirit? Are you allowing the Spirit to coach you and to prod you and to motivate you and to encourage you? Are you? Well, it’s not going to happen if you don’t make this house your home or another local house your home because 95 percent of the time the word church is used in the New Testament it is referring to a specific local church.
“Get your hat, your coat…”
Here’s another cheer. This one, too, is just near and dear to my heart. This one, it’s not my favorite but it’s probably my second favorite. Okay [Ed cheers], “Get your hat, your coat and get on out of here.” I said, “Get your hat, your coat and get on out of here.” Do it with me [Audience joins in], “Get your hat, your coat and get on out of here.” Snap your fingers, “Get your hat, your coat, and get on out of here.”
I love it because if you open your bibles and look up again Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, “I will build my church.” He didn’t say I will build my hospital or I will build my nonprofit or I will build my university. No, he said, “I will build my church.” And then he said, “The gates of hell will not prevail against the church.” And here is one of the things I love about being a believer. I’m not fighting for victory, I am fighting from victory. I’m fighting from victory.
I’ve read the back of the Book and guess what, it says we win. So I can tell the devil, [Ed cheers], “Take your hat, your coat, and get on out of here. Take your hat, and coat, and get on out of here.” Because when the church shows up, hell backs up. That’s a fact, Jack. I love that cheer. [Ed cheers] “Get your hat, your coat.” Oh that’s good.
“Push ‘em back, Push ‘em back, way back”
1 Corinthians 15:33. One of my favorite verses. This is a direct verse, now; I am just going to warn you. It says, “Do not be misled.” In other words, some people are being misled. “Do not be misled. Bad company corrupts good character.” Bad company corrupts good character.
[Ed cheers] “Push ’em, push ’em back, way back. Push ’em back, push ’em back, way back.” We’ve got to do that in a lot of areas in our lives. Certain people [Ed cheers], “Push ’em back, push ’em back, way back.” Certain places [Ed cheers], “Push ’em back, push ’em back, way back.” Certain influences [Ed cheers], “Push ’em back, push ’em back, way back.” Because these things, these entities, these forces are keeping you away from the priority of the House. Again, it’s all about the House. Come hell or high waters, it’s about the House. Broke, busted and disgusted, it’s about the what? The House, the House, the House. It’s about the House.
“Na na na na…”
Now the scripture says in Titus 3:10. Here, this is another scary verse. It says, “Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time and after that, have nothing to do with him.” Wow, that’s ‑‑ I mean, the Holy Spirit of God inspired the writer of that book to say that about the unity of the church.
That’s how important unity is within the Body of Christ. Warn a divisive, a negative person, once, twice and then tell them [Ed cheers], “Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye. Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye.” This person is talking down the church and they’re negative about me and other people behind—[Ed cheers], “Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye.” You know this guy, this guy is always dragging me to the strip clubs [Ed cheers], “Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye.” When I’m with her she’s taking me places that cause me to—[Ed cheers], “Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye.” But I really love him and we’re having sex and if I give him what he wants then one day he’ll marry me [Ed cheers], “Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye.”
Who are they in your life? People always say, “Well they’ve been coming to me, they said this, or they feel that.” This will mess somebody up. Just say, “Who are they?” We should have the right they. The wrong they will keep you in the fray and you will become prey. That’s P‑R‑E‑Y. The right they will pray, P‑R‑A‑Y, for you. The right they, they’re tough, they’re honest, they’re encouraging, and they’re yielded to God and to His house and to becoming an authentic follower of Jesus. So a lot of you, you have to do [Ed cheers], “Push ’em back, push ’em back, way back.” I understand that. You need to just push back. But some need to get crazy, radical. I don’t mean mean, but crazy radical and go [Ed cheers], “Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye.” I like that one, too. I really enjoy singing.
“We are the Raiders…”
This is my favorite cheer. I will just tell you now. This is my favorite. In high school I played against a school, the Keenan Raiders. Keenan, they had the greatest cheers ever, ever, ever. And here is one of their cheers that they would do all the time [Ed cheers], “We are the Raiders, oh yeah, we eat potatoes, oh yeah, on Saturday night, oh yeah, we dine right, oh way, with cheese and with ease. Say oh yeah. Say oh yeah. The Raiders.” Let’s give it up for the Raiders [Audience applauds], because if you’re a follower of Jesus, you’re a Raider man. You’re a Raider woman. I’m talking about A‑C‑T‑I‑O‑N. We’re aggressive, A‑G‑G‑R‑E‑S‑S‑I‑V‑E, we’re Raiders.
What are we going to talk about? Dissing God’s church? Turning our back on the only institution that Jesus ever built? Revolving our lives around some lake house or field house or new house as opposed to the House? You’re a believer, what are you smoking? Come on now. You’re a Raider. And we’re commanded, Hebrews 10:25, to worship together corporately, to be a part of the banquet [Ed cheers], “To eat potatoes, oh yeah, on Saturday night.” The best Christians show up on Saturday night. [Ed cheers] “On Saturday night, oh yeah, we dine right, oh yeah, with cheese and with ease.” I will sometimes just clap for myself because God will give me the words to say. It’s not me, anyway.
The church. In fact, in Hebrews 10:25 it elaborates on this. It says, “Do not give up meeting together. I like that, let’s not give up meeting together. As some are in the habit of doing.” Even back in the day some are like the lake house, the field house, the new house, no, no, no, the House. “But let us encourage,” that’s the cheering, “Let us encourage one another all the more as you see the day approaching.”
“Bang bang, choo-choo train…”
I was in the 5th grade and I used to go to South Carolina football games. The team wasn’t that great but I used to go to the games. And a friend of mine, who is now a pastor of a phenomenal church in Atlanta, he was the head cheerleader. This guy had this cool voice, very southern and he would have the microphone in front of the student section and lead the cheers and everybody would be, “Oh yeah.” They loved him. He used to do this cheer. You might have heard this one [Ed cheers], “Bang bang, choo choo train, come on Gamecocks, do your thing, uh.” Let’s change that, okay? [Ed cheers] “Bang bang, choo choo train, come on Fellowship, do your thing, uh.” Say uh with me. [Audience joins in with cheer] Uh. There you go.
Well we have to ask this question: What’s our thing? Why are we here? Why do we exist? What is the church? Is it an institution, a holy health club? The church is the Body of Christ. If you believe, you belong. If you are a kidney, if you’re by yourself you’re going to shrivel up and die. If you’re a lung and by yourself, you’re going to shrivel up and die. Everything works together in great unity as we do the stuff. You’re a central, critical part of the Body of Christ.
If you don’t believe me, yesterday I was Gar fishing. Gar, with the big teeth. If you don’t know what is I don’t have time to explain. My son caught a Gar and I was barefoot. And like an idiot, which I can be, so can you, I brought the Gar in the boat and let’s get a close up here [Ed takes off his sock and shoe]. It turned my toe all black and blue. The teeth barely shaved the top of my foot. It hurt. A lot of blood, etc. Thankfully I was fishing in front of a friend’s house who is very active here at Fellowship Church. He said, “You need first aid because Gar have this slime and funk all over them.”
I parked my boat and ran to his house and he put all this stuff on it, so it’s feeling better; but, you know what? This toe right here hurts, this really hurts and that hurts right now. Now, you don’t think that part of your body matters that much. I mean, who cares? The top of your foot. Who cares about that? Well you know what? It matters. You might be a big toe in the church. You might be the top of a foot. It matters what you do, it matters. Let me put my—[Ed starts to put on his sock and shoe but decides not to] I will just do like this the rest of the time. I don’t want to mess with it.
What’s our thing at Fellowship Church? Acts chapter 2. We exist to do four things. Say four with me. [Audience joins in] Four. Like fourth quarter. Four. We exist, Acts chapter 2, to communicate, care, to celebrate, and share. Say it with me [Audience joins in], “Communicate and care, celebrate and share.”
Communicate. The first church, what did they do? They talked. The people fed on the disciples teaching. They fed, but they didn’t just get fat. They didn’t get spiritually obese. They were nourished and then they got off of their rears and got off the stands and into the playing fields. So we exist to what? To communicate and teach God’s word. Also we exist to care.
What is care? It’s ministry. Think about the early church, all the ‘one anothers.’ Fifty times the phrase ‘one another’; pray for one another, encourage one another, have fellowship with one another, one another, one another one another. To minister means to meet someone’s emotional and spiritual and physical needs. So exist to communicate and care, and celebrate, celebrate, celebrate.
It’s worship and expressing love to God. Communicate and care, celebrate and share. What is share? It’s telling others the good news. It’s inviting people to the banquet table. We serve the food. I’m the dude with the food. That’s what I do on the weekends and its potatoes and its cheese and with ease because it’s God’s word. People come to hear God’s word.
Fellowship Church is full of incurable learners so not only are we here to feed believers, we’re also here to feed those who are far away from God. Why are you here? It’s not to sin, it’s to share others, to share Christ with others, to invite others to the banquet table. So that’s our thing. That’s our thing. Fellowship Church is a fellowship. Fellow‑ship. Fellowship Church is all about worship. Fellowship Church is about discipleship, and we’re also about leadership. Let’s face it, ship happens. Why are you laughing? Yes. We have taken that term and made it a dirty term.
I’m talking about ship happens because at Fellowship Church, right, we have a bunch of people, a bunch of fellows, men and women, rowing the ship in the same direction. Wor‑ship, fellow‑ship, disciple‑ship, leader‑ship, wor‑ship, fellow‑ship, disciple‑ship, leader‑ship. And when everybody is in unity and in concert together, rowing the ship in the right direction, we don’t have time to stand up and [Ed sings], “Rock the boat, don’t tip the boat over, rock the boat.” We don’t have time for that. So if you’re rocking the boat, go somewhere else [Ed cheers], “Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye.” Because we’re a perfect church for imperfect people. And I’m imperfect.
I love Cuban food, I just love it. And several weeks ago I was in the Miami area where we have a church, “Hi Miami.” Let’s wave. Yeah. Lisa and I found this restaurant and it had a really, really cool vibe. And ‑‑ I’m going to put my shoe back on because my foot is getting kinda cold. But we found this restaurant and we walked in and we were the only people in the restaurant who were not Cuban. And this place was happening. There was a bar, I think, on the upper deck and this woman was just singing her guts out. I mean, that great Latin music and you’re just like, “Wow.” You know? It was so energetic and so much fun.
So we sat down and the food was incredible. I mean, the real deal, authentic stuff. After she had done several songs she stopped and I was amazed that no one, at first, was really clapping for this lady. I mean, she was excellent. And then I watched the waiters and waitresses begin to do like this [Ed claps slowly]. And then everybody else in the restaurant began to [Ed’s clapping faster]. The leaders, cheerleaders, right, in the restaurant were the ones who were doing the stuff, who were serving and they got everyone else involved.
So as a believer, as someone who is mature, as someone who is doing the stuff, we should be the first to cheer, to encourage, to bless, to help, to sow seeds, to be the church. So it’s got to start with you and me. Now, if you’re not a believer yet you should not be doing that, but I thought it made sense.
The church is all about cheers because there’s a game going on, there’s this spiritual warfare. Now yes, we’re fighting from victory, we win and all that; yet, it’s spiritual warfare. There’s nothing like the local church. Well there is tension when you’ve got a game going on, right? There’s tension. And I don’t know about your family but sometimes we have tension in our family.
Tension is good. [Ed does hand gesture], “Here’s the church, there’s the steeple, open the doors and see all the cheering people.” When you have a bunch of people cheering, you’re going to have some tension. People like to [Ed makes a whispery fighting noise] one another and what do you have? Tension. [Ed cheers], “We’ve got tension, yes we do, we’ve got tension, how about you?”
Well I want to throw out some things that will cause some tension. They do cause tension and this is good. Here’s the first one. If you’ve got a pen or pencil you will want to write this down.
The first area of tension would be quality and quantity. That’s an area of tension. Quality, quantity. Quality, does it produce quantity or quantity produce quality? You know what, we want quality. I’m into quality. How many of you were not the first born in your household? You were not the first born. What if your parents said, you know what, we’re going to stop after the first child because we want the quality child. You would not be here. People say, “I want a church that’s into quality.” Okay, good. So am I. If you think that quality is the answer then the best church would have one member.
I say quality breeds quantity and quantity breeds quality. I love to fish. I was Gar fishing yesterday. I don’t want to catch one big Gar, I want to catch a bunch of big Gar. Quality Gar, quantity Gar. That’s good, there’s that tension. Fellowship Church, we have, you talk about quality. The core of our church is unbelievable. The cheering section that never sits down, the core here at Fellowship Church.
The other day I was in the north speaking at this church, this is a great, great church. It is really, really growing and the pastor began to say, “You know what Ed, some people around the community, some of the professional Christians, you know, the people that Jesus had problems with, the religious people” he said, “They’re just taking shots at us saying that we’re not deep and we’re shallow.” I said, “Man, man, whoa, whoa, whoa, just chill.” I said, “Just relax.” I said, “I’ve heard all of that.”
Here’s what people do. People see a growing church and they look at people who are kind of barely on the edge and the ledge of that church, the crowd. I’m not taking about the core, the crowd. And they’re like, “Oh man, yeah, Fellowship.” And they judge the spiritual depth by the crowd and they’re not talking to the core. Now, we’ve got to have both. We welcome both. We welcome people like that. Come on in. Welcome. The perfect church for imperfect people. Don’t just judge Fellowship, though, based on these cats. You better judge Fellowship Church on people who have been here year after year after year, who are praying high risk prayers, who are giving of their time and resources, who are sharing their faith, who are worshipping God in authentic ways. That’s the core. So don’t sit there and misjudge people. Don’t, don’t, don’t do that, whether it’s here or somewhere else. It’s quality versus quantity.
The reason we have quantity is because we have some unbelievable quality. That’s why we have however many people we have. Some people say, “Well man, does that mean you’re just into numbers?” Well, it depends on what you count. If you count marriages that are saved, if you count fragmented families that come together, if you count people who are involved in substance abuse who are getting their lives right, yes we count that. We count people because people count. So quality versus quantity. It’s tension.
Here’s another point of tension. Efficiency versus effectiveness. Efficiency is doing things right. There is a lot of companies who do things right. They have processes and churches that use processes and it’s all about the process. And that’s good. You’re doing things right. You’re efficient. Yet at Fellowship Church, we want to air on being effective because being effective is doing right things. It’s doing right things. A lot of you might be efficient in your schedule, but doing things right and all of that, being over committed and over stimulated is keeping you away from the church. It’s keeping you away from doing right things. That’s huge. I hope you receive that and get that, because businesses and sports teams and churches and schools and hospitals and governments, do the same thing man, the same thing.
Here’s another point of tension and this is the only thing I can guarantee you of at Fellowship Church. There’s a difference between being predictable and unpredictable. We want to be predictably unpredictable. “Well where did you come up with that, Ed?” Well, just read the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the real life of Jesus. There’s one thing you will see about the way Christ communicated; that He never communicated the same way using the same method. You can’t put Him in a box; yet, the church we have done so poorly at that. The church, we are so predictable. And you show me a church that’s predictable and I will show you a church that is in a rut.
So at Fellowship Church we want you to say, what is coming next? What are they going to do next? We want to be predictable in our unpredictability because unpredictability causes change and growth. It causes good conflict and then you have something thriving and you have that holy tension, and then you see just the incredible things. Now, we’re never going to compromise this message [Ed holds up his bible], never. We never compromise the Bible or tweak the Bible. We change the methods, but we don’t change the message.
That is huge for us to understand because it takes different styles of churches to reach different styles of people. Fellowship Church is not going to reach everybody. I know that, that’s cool. It takes different churches that are biblically driven to reach different types of people. That’s a huge thing.
Another point of tension that I have jotted down here is the tension between the simple and the complex. The simple and the complex. And this is so, so easy to miss. Mark chapter 10, Jesus was talking to a crowd and the kids showed up and the disciples are like, “No, no, get these kids out of there. Get these kids out of here.” They rebuked the kids and the parents for bringing the kids. What did Jesus say? “What are you guys doing? Bring the kids back. You have to have faith like these kids, like a child.”
I was in Australia a couple of months ago at a conference and a friend of mine who, I will not call his name, is a renown speaker who just spoke before 30,000 people in this conference. People were on their feet. It was just a great, great talk. And after the talk we were in the green room talking and my son, EJ, walked up to him and he began to talk to EJ. They began to talk and he came back and he had tears in his eyes and he said, “Tonight I know, I know my talk was great.” I said, “what do you mean? You had standing ovations, people were on their feet.” He said, “No” he said, “Ed, your son repeated back to me pretty much everything I said.” He said, “If I can connect with a 15‑year old, I’ve done the deal.”
If I call this guy’s name out you guys would be like, “Oh man, are you kidding me?” Some people think they are being all deep, they’re really being muddy. I want to be like the Caribbean, not the Trinity River. One of the greatest compliments you can give me or any speaker is to say, that was a simple message. That’s the goal because it’s easy for me to keep the complex, complex. I’ve done the work, I’ve gone to seminary. I can talk over your head like that [Ed snaps his finger]. It is easy; yet, the road from the complex to the simple is the road less traveled. It’s the road that Jesus took.
Look at Jesus. He had a choice. He could either speak in classical Greek or the street language of the day, Aramaic. Take a wild guess at what He used. Aramaic, Aramaic. So it is huge that we understand this. The Bible is complex in many ways and that’s great; yet, we have to serve the food where you can understand it and eat it.
My favorite Vietnamese restaurant, I love Vietnamese food, is here in Dallas and it called the East Wind. I will give them a shout out. The East Wind in the quadrangle. It will knock your socks off. And the East Wind, their menu is in Vietnamese, but thankfully, beneath the Vietnamese you have English. That’s great, because I can’t speak Vietnamese. I try and the waiters laugh at me. I joke around a lot. So I get to see it in English, you know. Its fine to talk Vietnamese now and then, but we better explain it and serve the food where people know what they’re eating. So the simple/complex. That’s a, that’s a monster.
Also something else, another point of tension, certainty versus uncertainty. Certainty versus uncertainty. Yeah, we’re certain about the scripture, and we’re certain about the foundations of faith; yet, we’re uncertain, many times, about faith. I mean, you’re going to have doubts. You’re going to have questions and I would love to put a big sign in front of Fellowship Church that says, “Doubters welcome.” We all have bouts with doubt. I doubt some. I question some. That’s good. People worry, I have these doubts. Wow.
Well, talk to someone, for example, about their upcoming wedding. If you really get down to the real issue, they’re going to have a little doubt even before they walk the wedding runner. Don’t lift your hand, but we all had those doubts. I had a little doubt, let’s just be honest here, I had a little doubt before I became a follower of Christ. “I mean, I’m making this faith reception. Yeah, I understand all the evidence but it’s a step of faith. I still have questions. Well, maybe that means my faith is not strong.” No, it doesn’t. No it doesn’t, because if we had certainty there would be no faith. And without faith, we can’t be saved. We’re saved by grace through faith so by virtue of having doubts and questions, that means I have faith.
So when you have a bout with doubt, what do you do? Do you move towards faith or do you float on the seas of relativism. And at Fellowship Church we welcome your questions, we welcome skeptics, we welcome people who are testing the waters. We welcome that. The Bible can stand up to it. It will take you and me through it. Faith.
As a leader I’ve had questions and doubts about every decision I have made here at Fellowship Church. I had doubts before I even moved up here. I had questions after I had been here for six months. I had questions when we bought this land, built the buildings, questions when we started these satellites, huge questions when we started this big camp and in Miami. I have questions all the time. I’m uncertain. It’s part of being a leader. It’s part of being a person.
If you’re certain about stuff, you’re not stepping out on faith the way God wants you to. Every time I write the tithe check I’m a little bit uncertain. [Audience laughs] It’s okay to laugh, I’m just talking. That’s good. Certainty/uncertainty, uncertainty/certainty. That’s a good thing because it’s a God thing.
Well, okay. [Ed does hand gestures] “Here’s the church, there’s the steeple, open the doors and see all the cheering people.” Are you a jeerleader? “We can’t do it man. I don’t know why we’re trying that. That music, I don’t know man. High definition screen, I’m not sure about all that. That mission trip–” I mean, are you a jeerleader or are you a cheerleader? We all need cheerleaders, people to motivate us and encourage us. We need people to sit on the swings and say, “Once I heard my grandma say the Laurel team is coming your way with a vevo, with a vivo, with a vevo, vivo, vumbo.” We need that. We need that.
“Two bits, four bits…”
At this time we’re going to receive our offering. Offering. I have another good one [Ed cheers], “Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar, all for Fellowship Church stand up and holler.” Come on. [Audience stands up and screams] Yeah! Yeah! That’s great. Please be seated.
Now, a lot of us, when the offering is passed by, that’s what we think [Ed cheers], “Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar.” That’s pitiful if you’re a Christ follower. Everything we have is, is the Lord’s, and we can’t take it with us. So you know, it takes huge money to do ministry. Have you ever heard this verse before? Matthew 28:19. Great commission. Here is what Jesus said, “Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.” Those first two words, say them with me [Audience joins in], “Go ye.” Say it again [Audience joins in], “Go ye.”
Guess what, “Go ye” is expensive. Now if you don’t think it’s expensive to do ministry, wow. Look at this church, look at what God is doing here and around the world. Look at our children’s ministry, look at our students. How do you buy a building in downtown Dallas and retrofit it for dirt cheap? It doesn’t happen. You get another building in Plano, over a 110,000 square feet, retrofit it. It costs a lot of money. “Go ye” is expensive.
Several days ago we just closed on a brand new building in Fort Worth, downtown Fort Worth. [Audience applauds] Isn’t that great? But I don’t know how we’re going to pay for it. I’m serious, I don’t know. We don’t have the money. I hope you know that. This camp we’re building in east Texas, we got a thousand acres for dirt cheap. The camp is going to cost over $30 million. We don’t have the money. So you’re talking about uncertainty, you’re talking about faith. “Oh Fellowship Church has all that money sitting back there, buy this.” No, it’s faith. It’s faith.
That’s why as believers, listen to me now, we should make as much money as possible. I hope you are busting yourself to make as much money as you possibly can. I am. Because as a believer, and many of you are believers, at least 10 percent of it, hopefully more than that, but at least 10 percent of it will go right here to the house. That’s what I do. So you better be cheering me on when I’m writing these books and going all over the world speaking, “I hope he’s making good money.” I mean, I’m telling you.
And a lot of you, and I sometimes think this too, we think we’re pretty smart. We’re not that smart. I’m not that smart nor are you. How many people with a lot of money, they’re ‑‑ I mean. I’m serious, they’re not that bright. Now some of them know where their stuff came from and they’re faithful to the house. Others are so clueless when they have money and I watch these people jump from bed to bed, deal to deal, buying this toy and that toy and I am thinking that is so pitiful. They have all these houses, yet they’re homeless, spiritually homeless. Homeless and helpless.
So whatever God has blessed you with, I don’t care if it’s $20 thousand a year or $200 million, good for you, make sure that you’re a river not a reservoir. Make sure that you’re a dynamic giver, that you don’t dam up the blessing of God. That’s why we’re here. God has blessed you and me to build the local church. And if we don’t succeed financially, how in the heck is it going to be built? If you can answer that for me, I would love to hear your answer. That’s why money matters so much to God. I’m not forcing anybody to give, twisting your arm. It’s between you and God. But don’t be ‑‑ if you’re a believer don’t be saying, Two bits, four bits, six bits a dollars, all for Fellowship, stand up and holler.”
Some of us are tired of you, you know, always walking the check. We’re paying for the meal, man, doing the tip and you’re just walking off. It’s time to step up and do the stuff. So church cheers, man they’re huge and again I want to thank you for your cheering. Thank you for just your enthusiasm as you motivate and stimulate so many here and now around the world with just the passion and the church unleashed because God has great things in store for our lives. Because it’s all about [Ed does hand gestures] “Here’s the church, there’s the steeple, open the doors and see all the people.”