Good morning.  Once again, I would like to welcome all of our guests this morning, and tell you that we are glad you have made it out today to celebrate with us.  We have past ministers, family members, friends, and some other special guests with us today as we celebrate 100 years of Fly Branch Church.

As we get started this morning, allow me to open our time with a word of prayer.  Let’s Pray!

They say that dogs age 7 times faster than their owners.  So that means that a 10 year old dog is the same age as a 70 year old man.  But, they don’t say anything like that for churches.  Do churches age the same as people?  A church that is 100 years old is like a 100 year old person?  Or, do they age like “dog years?”  A 100 year old church is like a 700 year old person?

A famous comedian was asked what he would like people to say about him in 100 years?  And he answered, “Well, I’d like them to say, “He looks pretty good for his age!””

Today, as we look back over the past 100 years of ministry here at Fly Branch Church Of Christ…

As we look at the wonderful people who have served so faithfully down through the years...
As we look at the lives that have been changed...
As we look at the prodigal children that have come home...
As we look at the bad habits that have been broken by the power of Christ...
As we look at the sacrifice of those Christians in the early days of our church...

I can’t help but think of the song, “To God be the Glory...Great Things He Has Done!”

After looking at all of that, and looking at where we are today, we have to admit...
we look pretty good for our age, and all that glory goes to God!

Today, I want us to take a look at an interesting verse in the book of Revelation.  If you have your Bibles with you this morning, or you can grab one of the pew Bibles, take them and turn with me to Revelation 3:20.  Today, as we celebrate the past 100 years, I want to make 3 important observations from what Jesus says here in this verse.

Go ahead and follow along with me as I read.  In Revelation 3:20, Jesus says, “1”

Now, I know the text doesn’t say this, but the truth is certainly real as it relates to our church today.  Jesus could very well have said, “I was here.  I stood at the door and knocked.  And there were those who answered the door, and I came into their hearts.”

Sometimes, someone might carve their name into a tree and put, “Johnny was here…” or “Cindy was here…”  Perhaps they scratched into wet cement, or wrote it on the bathroom wall.  When you go to camps, you see it a lot on the bunk-beds, “So and so was here on this date…”  Wherever they put it, you can see the evidence that Johnny or Cindy or whoever it was, was there at some time in the past.

As we look at this church, as we look at the people and the lives that have been impacted by this church, I trust that we can see the Hand of God writing, “I was here!  I knocked on the door of people’s hearts and they opened the door of their hearts and let me come in.  I came, I touched lives, I forgave sin, I healed families, I was here!”

In our afternoon service, following the meal, we will be taking a time to remember who helped us to form our past, and we will all have an opportunity to share about the past of this church.  But we have to remember that God was with us in the past.

By the same token, I know that our text doesn’t say it, but I am convinced that it is true nonetheless.  Jesus could have very well said this as well, “I will be here!  I will stand at the door and knock.  And there will be those who will answer the door and let me come in.”

When we look to the future, we hear God saying, “I will be here!”

As Fly Branch Church Of Christ continues to worship God...
As we continue to impact the lives of people in this community for the next 100 years...
We realize that God will be here with us.

Always faithful...
Always knocking...
Always searching for that man, woman, boy or girl, who will open the door to His knock.

Jesus told us at the end of the Great Commission in Matthew chapter 28, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  You see, God will never leave us or forsake us.  He will be here for us in the future, just as He has been here in the past.

So, not only was He here for this church in the past, but He promises us that He will be here for us in the future as well.

But more important than God’s blessings in the past, and more important than God’s provisions in the future, God would have us read this text as it is written.  What tense is this verse written in?

It is present tense.  Jesus says to us, “1”

You see, God is here today.  He is saying, “Here I am!  I am knocking at your heart’s door today.  If you will open the door of your heart I will come in and be with you.”

Its fun to look back on what God has done in the past, and we will spend some more time doing that this afternoon.  But are you listening to the voice of the Lord today?

It’s exciting to look ahead and get a glimpse of what God will do in the future of Fly Branch Church Of Christ, and we will have an opportunity to do that this afternoon as well.  Your children are getting saved, they are getting grounded in the faith, and many of them are as faithful as anyone else in the church.  That is exciting!

But, even though God was once here in the past, and even though God will be here in the future, the most important thing is what God is doing right now!  I am convinced that He is knocking on someone’s heart’s door right now.  There are some of you, who have been here with us for quite some time, and others of you who are new to this.  Some of you have never made the decision to accept Him into your life.

You may look at your past and realize that you need to change.  You may even be excited about the future.  But you really need to take advantage of the present.  Accept Him and be baptized.  Again, Jesus says, “1”

For others of you, you have relied on what God has done in the past, and you hope for the eternity in the future, but you are doing nothing about that today.  Maybe it is a secret sin that you still live with today, and hope to get rid of in the future.  Perhaps it is the idea of sharing your faith with others.  You say to yourself, “I’ll do it later when I know more.”

The problem with that is you will never know enough.  Listen to Jesus’ words as they are recorded.  Follow Him, and open the door to what it is that He wants you to do today.  Again, Jesus had this to say: “1”

As we wrap things up this morning, and we get ready to have a fellowship meal together to celebrate the past 100 years, let me share one last idea with you.  Some of you might recognize this verse of our text from the letters to the 7 Churches in Revelation.  This particular verse is part of the Scripture that speaks to the church at Laodicea.  In Revelation 3:15-16, Jesus says, “1”

We can’t be complacent, and content with the past.  We can’t look only to the future.  God calls us to on fire for Him today.  He doesn’t want us to be in the middle, He desires that we would be one way or the other.  So I hope and pray that as you consider the importance of today’s text, that you would realize the importance of being on fire for God today!

I don’t mean to take away from this special day of celebrating 100 years of ministry for the Fly Branch Church.  It’s exciting to be here.  It’s exciting to be a part of it all.  It’s exciting to renew old friendships and to make new ones.  In a moment we will enjoy a wonderful meal together to help us enjoy one another’s company.

But, if that is all that this day means, then we have missed something.  We must let the Lord speak to us even on a special day like this.  What better way for Fly Branch Church Of Christ to embark upon the next 100 years of ministry, than to focus on the present, and what God invites us to:

(READ TEXT 1 MORE TIME “1”)

Let’s Pray!