Chickens and Eagles | Pastor Ethan Boggs | Vibrant Church

0:00 Have you ever met anybody who always has a negative attitude? Like when you talk to them, you tell them they're looking good, but they say, "Well, I'm feeling bad." You say, "Hey, listen. Like the weather is beautiful today." They're like, "Well, it's going to rain on Tuesday." How many of you know that it's hard to have a good day when you have a bad attitude? >> And it's hard to have a a bad day when you have a good attitude. when you are in your heart having a kind of perspective that looks outwardly and knows that I need to have a good attitude. In this series, we talked about week number one through the life of Nehemiah. We talked about if you're going to take bold steps or bold moves, the first thing is you need to have a burden. And the next week, we talked

0:46 about how you need to be able to take a step of faith and do it scared. And number three, bold moves require the right attitude. John Maxwell said it like this that everything worthwhile is uphill. So if you see someone with a good marriage, you see somebody with a strong business or financial success or a great devotion, prayer life, can I tell you they put effort into that. That wasn't an accident. It's it's uphill. And what John Maxwell then goes on to say that most people have uphill hopes but have a downward attitude, a downhill attitude. So they got all these dreams, all these prayers, all these big ideas, but they have a critical complaining cynical spirit. And

1:34 you can't expect to have uphill results with downhill attitude. Can I get an amen? Do me a favor. Look at the person next to you. Point at him, why don't you and say you need an attitude adjustment. >> Okay, let's not do that again. You almost started fighting. >> How about you point at yourself? Everybody point at yourself. Say, >> self, >> you need an attitude adjustment. >> Attitude adjustment. >> It's huge how we see things. How many of you know that attitude doesn't fix everything, but it definitely changes how you handle everything. So, in our time together, I want to take you to Nehemiah. And if the media team, just stay with me. Uh, let me give you a little recap.

2:20 Go to Nehemiah chapter number two. Nehemiah, here's the idea. Nehemiah isn't a preacher. He isn't a priest. He isn't He's on not on staff at a church. Nehemiah is just a guy that works security for the king. He's a cup bearer. That means he would test the wine before the cup went to the king to make sure the the king wasn't poisoned. So, he's like secret service. And what happens to Nehemiah? He gets a burden for the city of Jerusalem because for over a hundred years, the walls of the city have been demolished. In fact, the Bible says there the gates are burned. It's broken down over a hundred years. Now, get that picture in your head. You know what your yard looks like after it ain't been mowed for two weeks. >> Now, just imagine what this looks like over a hundred years. And God stirs this man. And so what he does, he then goes

3:07 to the king, asks for permission to go and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Takes a bold step of faith. He doesn't scared. God gives him favor and he goes into Jerusalem. Nehemiah chapter number two 11. This is what happens. I went to Jerusalem. And after staying there three days, I set out during the night with a few others. And I had not told anyone what God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one that was that I was riding on. So, a couple things we see. He spends months praying. He goes out and I'll show you. In fact, I want you to read it when you get home. Verses 13 to 16. You're going to see that that he gets uh he goes and investigates. He plans. He's praying, but he doesn't tell

3:52 anybody. Isn't that good? Let me tell you something. You can't tell everybody everything God's doing in your heart. Some of that is between you and God until the right time comes when you're going to start a business. Why don't you just don't post it yet? If you say, "I'm going to lose 600 lb in two days." Why don't you not post that? Just wait a little bit. Okay? Just get past two days and see if you're down at least five. But here's the big idea. He travels hundreds of miles. He plans. He dreams. He does everything he can. And then and then he gets a bunch of people together and he shares his vision. This is so good, guys. I want you to see this. Let's go down to chapter chapter 2 17. Look at this.

4:38 Then I said to them, you see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace. So, get this. Scriptures let us know he's now prayed for four months. He's been planning for days. He's got he's got requests from the king. He's all good. Now, he's got to present the vision to people in the city. This is a big moment. Verse 18, they replied, "Let us start rebuilding." So, they began this good work. Notice this. Number one, they said us. Like, you can't do nothing great on your own. If you think, I'm going to build this kids expansion

5:24 within my own effort, you've lost your mind. I can't do this without you. We can't do this without God. We're all going to need to come together and have unity and let us start rebuilding. And so, they began the good work. Here's what you need to know. What we're going to do is going to be good work. It is worth reaching the next generation. It is worth impacting young people for the sa in the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. So they have a good attitude. Let's go. What we see is verse 18. They're full of faith. They're excited. Let's go, Nehemiah. When do we start? Let's get it going. But look down here. Verse uh 19. But when Sambalot and Tobaya and Gisham

6:09 the Arab heard of our plan, they scoffed uh contemp I can never say I did this last service too contemptuously. You can read it better than I can say it. What are you doing? Are you rebelling against the king? Now this I want to this is the most important thing in the sermon today. One verse separates two different attitudes. One verse that we see in verse 18, we see in verse 18, excitement, positivity, vision, joy, purpose. Let's go. Let's build. Let's go, Nehemiah. Then you slip over to verse 19 and you see them

6:57 scoffing and laughing and making fun of the idea of doing something bold for God. Two different attitudes, same speech, two different responses. Here's what I want you to know. Your attitude is a choice. It's a choice. You know, in this campaign season where we're believing God to show up, I I have met with so many of you. I've talked to hundreds of you really. And and and and man, there's so many verse 18 people. You are excited. You are full of joy. You're ready to take the mountain. Pastor Ethan, when can we get started? We're ready to give. We're ready to see God do

7:43 something supernatural. I got stopped in the lobby all day between services just telling us about like we're with you. I can't wait to see what God's going to do. We're praying. We're believing. Can I tell you that's a verse 18 attitude. But I have bumped into a couple of verse 19 people that are like, "Well, well, it don't take all that, pastor. I think we're good right where we are. I think the church is doing just fine. I think we need to relax with all this vision talk. Listen, preacher, I know you was a young,

8:28 but us older folks, we got steady wisdom and we just need to we don't need to do all that and and the crowds are good. You start talking money and giving, the crowds are going to go down. And that's what people have told me. And I want to look at him and say, "You ain't nothing but a verse 19 person." Because we can't do anything great for God if you're a verse 19 church. We got to be a verse 18 church that believes that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we may ask, think, or imagine. And watch this. The very next line says, "According to the power that works in us." In other words, God is able to do it, but it is contingent on the power

9:16 that we have in us to release what he can do. What kind of faith level do you have when you're brought an idea about rebuilding a wall? Verse seven, verse 18 people and you got verse 19 people. I uh was talking to somebody here recently and they told me about a book that I had in my library called The Autopsy of a Deceased Church and I read it. It's a really brief read. I read it in a couple hours probably and I uh was it's very simple read but what the the author does he he does uh let me say like this he does like a deep dive research on I think 12

10:03 to 14 churches that have died. Okay, they had to close up shop. Nobody else was coming. Nobody was getting saved. Um it's just we've all seen this unfortunately these dilapitated churches that were once on fire. You know always breaks my heart by the way when I see an old church that nobody going to anymore because they had faith to get to that point. Tithe got them to that point. Givers got them to that point and they have vision up to that point. But what happens? And so I read this book and some things I wanted to share with you in his research. This is what he finds on page 18. The most pervasive and common thread of our autopsies was that the deceased churches lived for a long time with the

10:51 hero as the past. The past was the hero. Everything right now was inferior to what it used to be. The good old days. That was one of the main threads they found in researching churches that have died. They went on to say that the members were fighting for the past, the good old days, the way it used to be, and they want the way it used to be to be like today. Page 22. So what did the deceased churches cling to? What did they refuse to let go of facing certain death?

11:38 Worship styles were certainly on the list as were fixed orders of worship services. The times of worship services, some stubbornly held on to buildings and rooms, particularly if that room or building was a memorial named for one of the members of the past. You ever seen that where they stick somebody's dead on a pew, you know, like they're still sitting there or something, you know? But more than any one item, these dying churches focused on their own needs instead of others. They looked inwardly instead of outwardly. Their highest priorities were the way they've always done it and what made them the most comfortable.

12:25 Churches begin to die when the number one goal is that the members are comfortable. page 44. Here's what they found. Dying churches would only accept growth if the new members were like them and if the church would continue to do church the way they wanted it. In reality, what they found, members of the dying churches really didn't want growth unless the growth met their preference and allowed them to remain comfortable.

13:11 So, white people only want white people. Black people only want black people. Young people only want young people. Old people only want old people. Rich people only want rich people. Poor people only want poor people. When we decide what the church is supposed to be based on our preference, it begins to die. Amen. >> How many of you have seen this? It's hard to watch, isn't it? Part of my job, part of our job coming together as a church is keeping that spirit at bay. >> Did you hear what I said? >> We're going to fight for and have the right attitude. Let me give you an example there. There's a big difference between a chicken and an eagle. How many of you in this room got

13:58 chickens? Okay. All right. How many of you know somebody's got chickens? Okay. All right. Hands up. How many of you have a pet eagle? Nobody's got a pet eagle. It's illegal to have a pet eagle. But everybody's got Here's my point. It is rare to find someone with a mentality like an eagle. But it's easy to find chicken thinking people. You know what you think about chickens and eagles? Here's the big difference. The perspective. Eagles fly. Eagles soar. Eagles have a different vantage point. Chickens, they scratch and they cluck and they

14:46 pick. H. You know what's amazing about chickens? Chickens have like a thousand predators. Everything can kill a chicken. If a chicken eats a word wrong, it's dead. The reason why I know everything kill a chicken cuz I had eight. Now I got three. Everything kills a chicken. Raccoons kill chickens. Psums killed chickens. My daughters killed a chicken. everything. An eagle is considered an apex predator. That means that very few things My shoes untied, everybody. Is that all right? You Everybody still good? It's going to bother me. Pastor Chad, please help me. I can't think. I'll rip this suit in half. I get down

15:33 there. Bless you. Bless you. Bless you. Quick before someone posts this. All right. Good. Good. Good. Good. All right. A chicken and an eagle. Two different natures. Two different spirits. two different attitudes. Are you with me? Everybody can't build a ch Can't build a church with a church full of chickens. >> Some of you when I started talking about $20 million, I heard you. Started getting scared. This service is off the rails. So, I'll tell you. Started getting scared. Started getting nervous. But there were some eagles in the room that said, "Come on, pastor. We can do it. I believe big. God is JUST GETTING STARTED. THE BEST days are yet to come. BUT WE'RE NOT CHICKENS. WE'RE EAGLES.

16:19 Help me with my example, guys. Help me with my example. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. >> You got to buy them in fours. So, I got four of them in here. I hope that wasn't one of them. His name is Nugget. Come on out here. Come on out here. Get a good view at Nugget.

17:08 Get a good shot at Nugget. Who wants this chicken? >> I'm joking you people. I'm not preaching this service ever again. Here's a big idea. I want you to see a chicken. Not much to a chicken. Here's what's amazing about chickens. In fact, I think I want to show you this. Let me show you this. I'm so scared I'm going to drop this thing. Let's show me the list between chicken and eagle. Here's the difference between

17:53 a chicken mentality and eagle mentality. A chicken sees problems. An eagle sees possibilities. A chicken finds excuses. An eagle finds solutions. A chicken resists change. An eagle embraces change. A chicken spirit will speak fear. An eagle spirit will speak faith. A chicken will discourage others. An eagle will encourage others. A chicken wants to stay comfortable. But an eagle is willing to sacrifice. A CHICKEN CRITICIZES IMPERFECTIONS. An eagle celebrates the progress. Chickens say, "What if? What if this happens? And what if the economy? And what if mama? And what if? Well, an eagle SAYS WHY NOT

18:42 HAVE FAITH? And chickens say we can't, but an eagle says we can. Here's what I'm afraid is that God gives us vision to go big and to go bold and to dream big. When you have a church full of oh chickens, it's hard to do great things for God with a chicken mentality. How many of you want this chicken? I mean, for real, you want it. I'm selling them. It It is a I am in an a campaign. Who gave me $10 for these chickens?

19:29 $20, $30, $40. For real, give me $40 for these chickens. It's all kids raising their hands. That's what I thought. All these For real? No. He said, "No." I heard a whistle. "You want these chickens? Come on. I'll give them to you. Come here. Come get these chickens. I'll pay for them." >> How much? $6,000. >> Somebody give him these chickens. I don't want your money. Keep your money. >> Give him those chicken. I don't want those chickens. We do some weird stuff here.

20:17 Let me show you this really quickly. Keep the chickens in the box during church. God help us. Let me show you this. Your attitude is a choice. Number two, your attitude is contagious. Look at this. When a chicken does a dust bath, let me show you this dust bath. When a chicken does a dust bath, that's why they clean themselves. They kind of get down in the dirt. Studies say that when one chicken sees another chicken doing a dust bath, other chickens jump in and do it, too. In other words, it is easy when you get down in the dirt for others to follow you, too. When you start having a negative attitude, a negative attitude, a negative attitude, a negative attitude, here's what we find. It ain't

21:03 hard to find a crowd with a downhill attitude. Can I get a witness? And this is my prayer for our church in closing. Nehemiah 2:20 says, I replied, he's speaking now to these people with verse 18 and verse 17 attitudes. He said, "The God of Helping will heaven will help us succeed. We, his servants, will start rebuilding this wall, but you have no share, legal right, or historic claim in Jerusalem." In other words, he looks at the people with a negative attitude and says, "We're going to build whether you like it or not." And look what he says. In essence, he's saying, "Don't let a negative attitude rob you from everything God has for you." This is important, church, because if

21:48 God's going to do something great through vibrant, we're going to have to have an eagle spirit. Can I get a witness? Let me show you this verse in closing. Isaiah 40:31, it says these words, "But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint." Hear me today, church. If we as a church continue to trust in God, we keep following Jesus, we keep getting people saved, we keep discipling, we keep loving God, we keep inviting God to be the central piece of our church, he says, "I will make you strong. I will make you better. You're going to soar with the eagles." If our focus is the

22:35 past, we're going to get small like chickens. Are you hearing me, everybody? We're going to cluck and we're going to just peck and we're going to scratch. But God has called you and me to live a lot bigger than that. To live a lot higher. To be a church with an attitude that knows that God is able to do it. To be a people that will run and to be a people that will soar. And we believe with all of our heart. There's still teenagers that need Jesus. There's still children that need TO HEAR THE GOSPEL. There's still families that need to be restored and touched. And God is waiting on eagles to arise so that he can do something great in this city. If you believe it, say amen.