And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works; that thou art neither cold nor hot.  I would that thou wert cold or hot.  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.    Revelation 3: 14-16 (KJV)

It is said the church of Laodicea that it was a church that was neither cold nor hot.  Some think it is the church of the latter days.  I will let you decide that.  Today, I want to preach on the lukewarm church.  I want to call it an average church.

What makes an average church?  Is it the size of the building; is it the number of people in the congregation? No!  I've said it many times -- 5 people on fire for God make a great church.  You can have a church with thousands present but if they are lukewarm Christians, they are an average church.

God wants the church to be alive. He wants Christians to be alive. He wants the preaching to be alive. He wants your testimony to be alive.  If it's alive, God is in it.  The average church is not what Christ wants us to be.  He says; “I will spue you out of my mouth.”  Average is not enough.  Okay is not okay!  How do we know we are average Christians in an average church?

Revelation 3:17....Because thou sayest, “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing”; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.

An average church thinks it needs nothing.  Well, folks!  I want to shock you this morning; this church needs a lot of stuff.  When we get to the point we think we don't need anything we had better fall on our face before God and repent.  How dare we give God anything less than our very best!  You may think, “I don't need the church...that bunch of hypocrites.  I don't need to pray, I've got everything I need.”   You know what?  I don't have anything I need, but I have God and He has everything I need;   So for me, that's enough.

The average church thinks it doesn't need revivals, doesn't need to fast and pray. There is no need to witness, encourage others, or show-up for meetings.  If you believe this, you have sat down on God.  Average Churches think if they have large crowds, big bank accounts and property then they need nothing more. When we get to that point in our thinking, Verse 17 says that we are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. We should be filled with the joy of the Lord so full that it's bubbling from us. We should praise Him because of who He is.  He is the one who died for our sins.  Without the cross, we would still be a bunch of heathens.

God wants you well, not wretched and miserable, poor, blind and naked.

The most wretched and miserable people on this earth are the ones who were once Christians and drifted back into a world of sin, doing things that would be a disgrace to Jesus Christ.  Joy can't come from the world.  Joy comes only from God. You can't turn a blind eye to Him.

Parents, know what your children are doing, where they are going and who their friends are.  Don't be afraid to say, “NO!”  Where is wholesome living?  “No, you're not going out of this house with that on.”  “Get more clothes on.” (and that's to the boys).

If your walk is average, your family will be average and your church will be average.  One moment of ignorance can mean a lifetime of pain.  We've got to fully serve Him to please Him.  Average is just not enough.

You can get just enough education to make your job easier; pay just enough taxes to stay within the law; and save just enough money for retirement.  You do all these things if you want to but when it comes to serving God, you can't do just enough to get by.  You've got to fully serve Him to please Him.  Average is not enough.

Bro. Jr Fields........May 7, 2006.

Sermon edited by Mary King

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