I Still Believe... | Pastor Lee Cummings

Okay, thank you. Thank you. You guys are so awesome. Thank you. Uh go ahead and take a seat. And more comfortable chairs than what we started with. Um Jane and I have missed you guys. And uh this is a a special day for us as it is for you because this is all of our birthday. No matter when you came and joined and were a part of radiant whether it was 30 years ago or 30 minutes ago uh this is our anniversary together and it's all glory to God right uh it's all all god he has done this miracle over the last 30 years and um Jane came up with me when we left for sbatical and I told her well now you have to come back up when we come back and so she's back up here and you may never see her again she may not ever come up on this platform for him for the next couple of months. So, you better take advantage of this moment. >> He's so mean. No. Um I'm just honored to be up here and just love this church so much and just so humbled that over the 30 years that he's built this church and um just really so overwhelmed and just love you all so much. And just a thank you to Mike and Jenny for your friendship, for your kind words. Um, they just mean so much and you guys mean so much to us and this church and my family and how you guys have w this church has walked with us through health issues and family issues and all those things. It's just such a beautiful thing and I'm just so so thankful. So, I just love you guys and excited for the next 30 years. So, thank you. >> Love you, B. Walking down here. >> There you go. Well, good morning, man. >> Jane and I have missed you guys. We uh had an incredible time off and uh we're so grateful for that. And uh but we had this date on the calendar marked and we were so excited to come back because the the one downside of uh kind of unplugging like that is we missed all of you. And so this morning has been very very good to just be able to reconnect and see all of you. We want to say good morning to those that we can't see in person, but hopefully we will a little bit later on this afternoon at Portage. We love you guys. And uh today's going to be a fun time. And uh I just want to honor a few people. Number one, I want to uh seriously I just want to say uh I with the help of the Lord could not have done this if it wasn't for an amazing wife. So Jane, thank you for 30 years of your partnership. You're the best. And Mike and Jenny, having you here uh has meant the world to us today. We spent a lot of years together. Thought we would do this forever together. Um, but uh we are so proud of what you guys have carried over to Jackson. Uh, we say it every time. Every time we go to your to your church, it feels like here. Uh, and that's the highest compliment that we can give. And you're a leader leader as well. And you and Jenny are just uh amazing friends and partners in the gospel. So, thank you for being here with us today. And uh to my kids, Tiffany was in the Tiffany and Griff were in the first service, but we have Ashley and Zach and Jared and Sam are here, and this has been their life project as well. The first volunteers we had in this church were Jared and Ashley. Uh they set up Cookies and Punch for the information meeting. And so we've put them to work ever since. But we love you guys. Thanks for your help. And then lastly, I want to just thank uh Pastor Caleb Culver for doing such an amazing job leading uh so that we could take a sbatical. I came back, there was still a church. There was no landmines that had gone off, no heresy that had been taught to my knowledge. I haven't watched any of the services yet, so stay tuned. But uh but uh you and Rachel are dear friends, uh incredible pastors and we're grateful for you. So, thank you. And uh you know, sabbatical was uh fantastic. Uh we did a whole lot of nothing, which we never do. Uh slept in, lost track of time, didn't know what day it was uh several times. I mean, have you ever lost track of time? And I'm not talking to the U of M fans. You guys lose time. all of but no um you you know I had to sorry I've been saving that one but literally we uh we enjoyed the summer we spent a lot of time at our cabin with friends with our family and uh I was thinking you know I've been asked a couple times what was the great revelation did did God give you a download for the next 30 revelation, insight, something, you know, some new vision. A lot of times when I come back from a vacation, my staff is kind of bracing themselves because they know I'm going to want to kick into something. And uh and and the answer is I didn't have a brand new great download revelation, but it's just the same revelation that I've had for 30 years. And it's it's one I'm going to preach to you in the few moments that I have this morning. And the title is I still believe. I still believe in Jesus. I still believe in the Bible. I still believe what we are doing. I still believe in the church with all of my heart. I still believe in what God called us to 30 years ago and that by God's grace, he's called us into the next 30 years to continue doing. And it's what God is doing in the earth. He is building his church. And that's why 30 years ago, Jen and I left the church we were on staff at. We moved down here uh was 25, she was 24. We had two small children. We kind of left everything that was familiar to us because we felt that God had spoken to us about Southwest Michigan being a harvest field and that there were incredible harvest fields ready to be harvested, but there were a lack of laborers. And so we said yes. We said we'll go and we'll start from ground zero. And we put our life and our heart into this city and in into this region in building a church because we believe it is what God not only called us to but what God has called every Christian to do which is to build what Jesus said he would build. How many know Jesus said I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. There's only one institution on the face of the earth that Jesus said he would build. He didn't say, "I'm going to build government." I He didn't say, "I'm going to build schools." He didn't say, "I'm going to build media." He didn't say, "I'm going to build, you know, political entities." He said, "I'm going to build the church." And 30 years ago, we said, "Whatever God is building, that's what we want to help build." And so, you ask me, "What's your download from sbatical?" It's this. I still believe in the church and I want to start where we started 30 years ago which is Isaiah chapter 60 verse 1-5. This is a prophetic foundation scripture for us was given to us just weeks before we planted. And we were told, I believe that the Lord has given me this scripture to give to you as a blueprint and uh a 30,000 foot view from heaven, if you will, of what God is doing, not just here and will do through you, but what God is doing all across the earth. The prophet Isaiah said, "Arise and shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples, but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you, and nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see, they all gather together. They come to you. Your sons shall come from afar. Your daughters shall be carried on the hip. And then you shall see and be radiant. And your heart shall thrill and exalt. One translation says your heart shall thrill, tremble, and grow wider. God's saying that as we begin to see what he's doing, when he puts his glory and his power and his might on his people, the church, our heart will get wider and believe God for more because what is needed in this hour of spiritual darkness, and you don't have to be a prophet to look on the horizons of our nation, on the horizons of our culture, on the nations of the world in hour that we're living in with all of the existential threats and fear and anxiety and thick darkness that is weighing on people to recognize that there is the need for light. There is a need for truth, for revelation, for hope. And God has promised that he's going to put his glory on his people. And in response to that, the world is going to come to the church. I believe the world is going to say, "Come and let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of our God. There's going to be hope that is found in his house." And 30 years ago, we said, "This is the kind of church that we want to build." And 30 years later, I still believe in the church. Now, before you say to me, "Of course you believe in the church. You're a pastor. This is your business. This is what you do." Realize the only reason I am a pastor is because I believe in the church. It's not the other way around. You see, because if I thought that there was a better method in a better environment or a better model to reach people, to impact people, to give people hope, to see lives transformed, to see marriages healed, to see people encounter God, to become those who know God, who have the assurance of salvation and eternal life through the name of Jesus. If I thought that there was a better methodology, you can rest assured I'd be doing that. But the fact that I am passionate about the church is because I believe in the church. I believe in it wholeheartedly. I believed in it 30 years ago. I believe in it even more today. It's why we've invested so much of our life and so much of our resources and our time, not just to build this church, but to help strengthen other churches and to plant new churches. This morning we are planting two churches on our 30th anniversary. Radiant Church St. Louis and get this, Identity Church in Boise, Idaho is being planted in starting its first service this morning as part of the Spirit and Truth Network. So I believe in the church. You see, I grew up a church kid. I My grandparents took me to a Pentecostal church. My mom remarried and we went to the United Methodist Church, high lurggical church. The Awana's bus came through my apartment complex and took me to the Baptist church. My best friend and a couple cute girls took me to the Assembly of God church. I went to a mids non-carismatic dispensationalist Bible college and got kicked out of it. I married a gorgeous Christian reform girl and planted a non-denominational church. I am spiritually eclectic. Some people would say schizophrenic, but I believe in the church in all of its expressions and all of its styles and all of its preferences. If it names the name of Jesus and it preaches the Bible from Genesis to Maps, I am a fan of the church. I'm a fan of the church. I believe in the church and I don't believe in the church for all the reasons you might think of. I want to give you three three reasons why I still believe in the church today. Number one is I believe in the church not because of the weakness of the body but because of the strength and the power of its head. In Ephesians 1, Paul is writing to the Christians at Ephesus. Ephesus being one of the most influential but also one of the darkest places in the Roman Empire. Paul in Acts chapter 15 goes there, preaches the gospel, creates a riot, sparks a revival. It becomes a thriving church. And years later, Paul's writing back to them the letter to the Ephesians. And in chapter one, which is this beautiful opener, Paul says, "I'm gonna let you in on my prayer life and show you what I pray for you as Christians." And here's what Paul says. For this reason, because I've heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and your love towards all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you, and here's his prayer, that God might give to you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation and the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that you might know what the hope of your calling is. What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints? And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe according to the working of his great might? Verse 20. That he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand in heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And he has put all things under his feet, and given him to be the head over all things, to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. >> This is Paul's prayer. His prayer for Christians was, "I pray that God would open the eyes of your heart to be able to see what I'm doing not just through Jesus, his death, burial, and resurrection, but what I'm doing through the church." How many of you remember that song, Open the Eyes of My Heart? We've sang it in church for years. One of the most well-known songs. You may not know this. Paul Balashu wrote that song, sang that for the very first time other than in his church in Waco, Texas in Radiant Church in the Devil's Den when he was our guest worship leader. It's the first time it was ever sung in a church outside of his. And it has been a prayer of mine for us for 30 years that in every phase of carrying out the vision, God would open the eyes of our heart to what? To be able to see the church the way God sees the church. God looks at the church as the body of Jesus, the body of Christ through which he fills all and all. In other words, God puts his glory on members. He puts his members into the church. He calls the church his body of which Jesus is the head. >> And today I believe in the church not because of the body so much because the body has weakness. >> Church is not perfect. People are not perfect. You might say, "Well, big churches have lots of problems." The reason why big churches have lots of problems is because we have lots of people. And problems come packaged in people. Well, there's a lot of problems with leaders in the body of Christ. Yes. And amen. But my confidence in the church is not who's behind the pulpit or even who's in the pew. It's not about the weakness in our programs, the flaws that we have, the mistakes that we've made. It's not about the things that are painful because listen, there's church hurt is a real thing. Pain is a real thing both in the pew and in the pulpit. We get hurt when we're around one another. Why? Because we're imperfect. And God is using the imperfectness of each other to actually perfect each of us. We per God perfects us by our imperfections. >> God takes the sandpapers of people's immaturity and uses it to smooth you into a masterpiece. >> And it's not just pain in the pew. I'm a shepherd. And what I was not taught in Bible college is that sometimes sheep bite. But pastors aren't allowed to talk about that. So, I'm gonna move on. But my confidence is not in how good you are, how many volunteers we have, the size of our budgets, the perfection of our transitions, our models, our sound systems, the structures of our buildings, the influence that we have, our social media preference. All those things are imperfect. But my confidence in the church is not in the body, but it's in its head, which is Jesus, the resurrected, glorified son of the living God, who purchased the church with his own blood. You want to know how committed Jesus is to the church? He bought it through the price of his own blood. Acts 20 29. He purchased the church with his blood. We live in a day where a lot of people want to say, "Ah, I love Jesus, but I can't stand the church." That's like saying to somebody, "I like you, but I can't stand your wife." >> Because the church is Jesus's bride. >> And what God has committed to perfect? Who are we to criticize or to abandon and say, "Jesus, we just want to follow you on our own. We don't want to be connected to your body." Our life only makes sense in the context of the local church. Why? Because none of us are the whole body. All of us are members. And not one part of the body can say to the other part, I don't need you. That's why I still believe in the church. And number two, I still believe in the church because God doesn't have a plan B. Has anybody ever had a plan B for something? It's like you plan a wedding. What do we do in case of rain? Well, case of rain, we're going to we're going to shift gears or you know, this is our plan for our vacation, but if that doesn't go well, we're going to do this other thing. It's good to have a plan B. But when Jesus built his church, he burned the ships. He burned the ships and says, "There's no going back. This is it." He's committed that the purpose that God has in redemption will be accomplished not in spite of the church but actually through the church. Paul says this in Ephesians 3 verse 9-11. He says, "And to bring to light for everyone." What is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things? Check these words out. So that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places. This was according to the per the eternal purpose which he realized in Christ Jesus the Lord. Stop for a minute. Let me break this down for you. Principalities, powers, and rulers is talking about demonic entities that rule over nations, states, and generations. high ranking demonic fallen angels that right now govern the nations of the world in the invisible realm. You may not have known this, but demons aren't like these just little floating Casper the ghost. Just like in the military, there's ranks of authority. In the angelic realm and in the demonic realm, there's ranks. There's highlevel principalities and powers. Daniel talks about the prince of Persia and the prince of Greece. Right now, what you see happening in the news in the Middle East, in the natural, is actually being orchestrated by spiritual authorities in the unseen realm. But God says that it's been his eternal purpose from before the time he said, "Let there be light." That throughout the human history, the whole arc in the narrative of human history, God was going to put on display his wisdom, his power, and his infinite might. and he was going to do it on a stage called human history. And the actors who will carry out the script is the church. >> I'm going to put my glory on individuals. I'm going to put my glory on the church and every demon in hell, every fallen angel, every arrogant entity and every angel that has stayed faithful to God and every creature that's around the throne of the of God is going to look down on the stage of human history and watch that God displays his infinite wisdom through how he works through people like you and me. God's going to bring the gospel to every nation, every people group on the face of the earth. There will be people from every nation, every tribe, every skin color, every socioeconomic status that is gathered around the throne that day because Jesus worked through the church. >> There's not going to be a person that stands before God and has an excuse because Jesus has worked through the church. And God doesn't have a plan B. And if he doesn't have a plan B, then I don't have a plan B. I still believe that what God has started in the church, he's able to complete in the church. Amen. >> Number three, here's why I still believe in the church. I still believe in the church because it's the only hope of the world. >> We are the carriers of the message of hope. There's no other name given among men by which we must be saved other than the name of Jesus. Today, if you're a child of God, you didn't buy your way in. You weren't born into it. You were born again into it through what Jesus Christ did on the cross of Calvary. And you, whether you know it or not, when you were saved, God grafted you in to the church. The church capital C is made up of Christians in every church in every denomination who faithfully believe in the Lord Jesus. And then there are local church expressions of it that are outposts of the kingdom of God. It's easy for us to look at the church in our day and age, criticize it, deconstruct it, try to replace it, try to silence it, try to render it irrelevant and say it's had its day, but now we've become more sophisticated, wiser, smarter. We've got science. We've got politics. We've got philosophy. The church is old school, marginalized, and irrelevant. But here's what God says in the message translation of Ephesians 1. It says, "All this energy issues from Christ, God having raised from the dead and set Jesus on a throne in deep heaven in charge of running the universe. Everything from galaxies to governments. no name, no power exempt from his rule. And not just for this time being, but forever. He's in charge of it all. Having the final word on everything. And that the center of all of this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world. The world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body in which he speaks and acts and by which he fills everything with his presence. Why do we plant churches all over the United States and around the world? It's because Jesus wants to fill every place that is a dark void that Isaiah 60 talks about with the light of his church, with the light of his glory. How many churches can we plant? I don't I think a thousand's a pretty good number in our generation. But we need churches. We need Christians. We need outposts of the kingdom of God. Because listen, the church is not on the sidelines trying to get the world's attention to say, "Look, we're relevant. Let us at the table from heaven's perspective. The world is irrelevant to what he's doing through the church." >> And I still believe in the church. I still believe that the church is called to be salt and light. A city set on a hill, the pillar and the buttress of truth and the embassy of the kingdom of God. It's built upon the rock of Jesus and the gates of hell shall never prevail against it. The church is the body of Christ on the earth, the bride that Christ purchased with his own blood, the household of faith, the redeemed of the Lord, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, the assembly of the firstborn, whose names are recorded in heaven, the calledout ones, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that we may proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. The church is those who were once not a people but now are the people of God. The army of the Lord equipped with spiritual weapons and given authority over all demonic power, principalities and every name and every ideology that would dare exalt itself against the knowledge of God. She may be weathered but not beaten, persecuted, prosecuted, and rendered irrelevant by those who falsely have prophesied her extinction. But for 2,000 years, on every continent, in every language known to man, having been accused, assaulted, relegated to the sidelines, muted in attempt to be cancelled by every empire, ideology, kingdom, and new trend that has risen in arrogance to replace the very church that Jesus is the head of. The names of those rulers, thinkers, and philosophers are the ones who have found themselves left in the dustpin of history. Nero, Muhammad, Khan, Napoleon, Voltater, Lock, Payne, Marks, Lennon, Stalin, Mao, Freud, Young, Hitchens, G or even or any other name that can be named. The news outlets, the platforms, universities, any social media influence or platform or political leader, there is still only one name that never bows, never wearies, never waivers. One Lord who is above them all, over them all, and one day will judge them all. One name, the name of Jesus Christ. And this Jesus, Jewish Messiah, Savior of the world, Lord of all creation, is now at work in this world, bringing all things under his authority until the day he returns. And he's doing it through one entity, one body, one people, the bloodbought church of which I and you are a part of. The church of Jesus scattered across the nations, time zones, mountain ranges, oceans, found in cathedrals, and in caves, warehouses, and living rooms. And this is the prevailing church that will triumphantly make known to every principality and power, angels and demons, what the manifold wisdom of God is. If you ask me, do I still believe in the church? I believe it to my bone. I still believe in the church. And this morning, I wondered if I could still preach. God. And this morning, as much as I love stacking the stones of what God has done in the last 30 years, like April 28th, 1998, [clears throat] when we moved into our first sanctuary here on the Richland property, now it's the old student ministry center. We put 400 chairs in there. And I thought, what are how are we ever going to fill this place? 150 people showed up and we grew and went to three, four services over there and September 8th, 2006 when we moved into this sanctuary in Richland. And then Easter 201 18 17 18 17 when we moved into the Portage location and then 2020 when God supernaturally gave us the property in downtown Kalamazoo on the Kalamazoo mall put our prayer room in to pray morning, noon, and night from the center of our city. I still remember planting 13, 14, 15, 18 churches out of this church. This morning, I'm in my heart. I'm stacking the stones going, "God, I never saw this." People say, "Did you see all this?" I didn't see all this. But as I'm stacking the stones this morning, I'm thinking in my heart, Jesus, you're not done yet. There's still tens of thousands of people in our time zone, in our area code that do not know Jesus. That right now, should they step out of this life and into the unseen realm, they would be separated from God for eternity. And yet you and I have the cure to the disease of their soul called sin. I'm thinking about the nations of the world that still have not heard. And I'm thinking of the cities that right now need a church that will preach in spirit and truth. I'm I'm thinking of the university students, thinking of the colleges, and I'm thinking of the future church planters and worship leaders. and artists and content creators and authors. I'm thinking of the next generation of leaders. I'm thinking of the next generation of intercessors. You see, there's going to come a day when Jen and I are in heaven looking over the banister of heaven. And I want to look back down at Radiant and I want to see it thriving, growing next generation, still going. And you know what? If if if 50 years from now nobody remembers the name Lee Cummings, I pray to God that we still remember the name of Jesus. >> That he's the head of our church and that we're serving him and our heart is still connected and still partnering with him and building what he is building. I don't know who it was. You could stand with me if you would at both locations, but I don't know who it is. Toby Kavanagh could tell me, but one time an old missionary said this. He said, "The goal of our life should be to preach Jesus, die, and be forgotten so that he can be remembered." This morning, as I'm stacking the stones, Jane and I get to be on the receiving end of honor, and we appreciate that. We really do. But I I am very sober that it it takes an army that all of us are a part of the church that Jesus is building and that at the end of the day he is the head and he deserves all the glory in the church. All the glory, all the honor. He deserves to receive the rewards of his suffering. And this morning, what I can offer him is the same thing we offered him 30 years ago, which is our yes. Jesus, blood, sweat, and tears to build the church. And today, it's not just us answering that. There's a mandate. There's an invitation. All of us that are part of Radiant Church to say on this 30th anniversary, from here on out, the next 30 years, Jesus, you have our Yes. with everything within us. We want to partner with you in building what you're building. And this morning, if you in your heart are saying, I'm consecrating myself, giving you my yes. As I pray, I want you to just lift your hands up all over the room. Jesus, here we are. And we just say thank you. All glory, all honor to you. And we offer to you our yes. Whatever we have, whoever we are, it is at your disposal. Lord, thank you for all that you have done exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ever ask or think. But God, we want to see you do more through us, through your church. Demonstrate your manifold wisdom through us. You delight to dwell in the praises of your people. So we lift up our hands. We lift up our hearts and we say, "Jesus, do it again." >> Yes. >> Do it again. >> Higher, further, wider, deeper. Do it again. And we give you our yes in Jesus name. [music] Amen. And amen. God bless you all.