Believers Center of Albuquerque
Believers Center of Albuquerque
FOR THIS CAUSE | JARED NIEMAN | BC CONFERENCE 2025
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We really are at a, at an incredible time in this church, a time of honoring the amazing legacy of our founding senior pastors. 45 years. 45 years. 45 years. Anybody can do something for a couple years. Anybody can serve God for a few months, even a decade, but 45 years, no scandals, no issues. Amen. No moral failures. Amen. 45 years of teaching the gospel. Yes, yes. Pastor Marshall was teaching the grace message before famous people were teaching the grace message. 45 years of raising kids to serve God. 45 years of getting people saved. 45 years of showing up, week in and week out in the highs and the lows and the storms. The figurative storms, the literal storms. 45 years. That's incredible. You know, the Bible says that our good deeds on earth set up treasures in heaven. Amen. And I, I believe that your treasure room in heaven is gonna be packed full. Amen. Whatever that means. I don't think any of us really. I fully understand it. Hopefully it's like gold and diamonds and it was like, good stuff. And we thank God for you. We love you. Can, can we celebrate your pastors? But this is a pivotal time. Transitions aren't easy. They're they're funny, they're weird, they're awkward at times. I've been through it. I, uh, was telling them I tore our church down. I don't mean literally, but we, we tore it down and rebuilt it. We took it down to the studs, if you know what I'm saying, and it wasn't always fun or easy. As someone who's been through it, I want to ask everyone here to stand with them, to arm them with your own prayer. Amen to anoint them in your prayer time to ask the Holy Spirit every day, to give all five of them wisdom, the mind of Christ, and the courage to not just see what is right, but to do it. The reality is we cannot miss this moment. We can't miss these moments. This is a big moment in the history of this church and we cannot miss it. This community needs your church. Jacob said, how awesome is this place? It is none other than the house of my God. We need churches. We need thriving churches. We need awesome churches. Amen. John 1837. Jesus speaking to Pontius Pilate before he's gonna go be tortured, beaten, bruised, mocked, made fun of, betrayed, and ultimately crucified. Pontius Pilate. He asks him why he has come if he's the Messiah. They're talking and Jesus says in verse 37, he says, for this cause. I was born and for this cause I have come into the world that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hear my voice. You know, we hear so much nowadays about vision. We write books on vision. We do leadership studies and podcasts. About vision. Vision is important. It's powerful. The Bible speaks a vision. You need to have a vision. Amen. But in all the talk of vision pulling you into your future, we, we rarely talk about having the right cause behind the vision. Amen. Vision is wonderful, but without the right cause the vision can die. Can we all agree that Jesus did not lack vision? Come on. Jesus had more than enough vision than anyone could ever speak of. But why has his vision now lived on for thousands of years after he went back to heaven? Was it the vision or was it the cause? Good. See, without a cause, we can grow weary, we can become overburdened, we can achieve great success and still feel empty. You need to look no further than Hollywood, the N-F-L-N-B-A. Famous musicians. We see it all the time, don't we? Yes. They achieve the dream. They get the$200 million contract, they win the Super Bowl, and then you find out that they are just as depressed, just as broken and just as empty as everyone else. They drink all the drinks, smoke all of what you can. Inhale, they have all of the sex. They buy the houses, they get the cars, they have the bank account. And what do they say? What's the use? Anyway, see, you can have a vision. You can even have a fulfilled vision, but without the right, cause you can still burn out. Flame out, become overburdened, grow, weary, quit and even want to give up. Amen. Jesus died on the cross to allow his cause to go beyond himself and to be handed to everyone who follows him. You heard what he said? He said, for this cause I was born and for this cause. I have come into the world. Everyone who is of this truth hears my voice. We have the greatest privilege that is given to mankind, and that is the privilege of partnering with Jesus to advance his cause on the earth. If you know Jesus, you are called and you are a part of the cause of Christ. Amen. And when you understand this privilege, your life will never be the same. Amen. Yeah. Thank God. So let's talk about living for the cause of Christ. What does it do in our life? What do I mean when I say that? Your life will never be the same? Well, number one, when you live for the cause of Christ. It gives purpose and meaning to everything that you do. Second Timothy chapter one, verse nine, it says to him, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. Those are big words, aren't they? Verse 12. For this reason, I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed for I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded. See, when you understand that you are saved and upon salvation, your life with God did not end. Salvation is not the end. It is the beginning. It is the beginning of a new life, but it is also a beginning of walking in your calling, and it is not just another calling. It is a divine calling. It is a anointed calling. It is a holy calling. You are called by God. You have a purpose in your life and it is given to you through his grace. By what Jesus did for you on the cross, and the choice is yours in this moment tonight. Will you be ashamed of it or will you be persuaded by it? You can reject the call. You can turn aside from the call, but please understand. God has saved you and called you with a holy calling for his purpose and his grace to do what? Jared, to advance his cause on this earth. And when you accept it and you become bold in it, it solidifies our relationship with Jesus. And it should, through the power of the Holy Spirit, strengthen our resolve and our commitment to him, right? Yes. Yeah. Amen. Amen. Yeah. See so many people, they are simply wandering through life. No purpose, no direction, no cause to live for. Jesus said for this cause I was born. Can anybody think of what the world says? The world tell tells us you need to have a cause worth dying for. I love what Jesus says. He says, I'm gonna give you a cause worth living for. Come on. I already know I'm dying. At some point I need something that. Wakes me up in the morning. I need something that energizes and motivates me when nobody is around to motivate me. For me, I need something that moves me, that drives me, that pushes me, that causes me to keep going and to not quit. When every fabric of my being says to give up and why bother? What's the point? Anyways, I don't need a cause to die for. I thank God that Jesus gives me a cause to live for, for this cause. He was born for this causes called us with a holy calling. And when you understand that it gives purpose, it gives meaning to everything that you do. Yeah. Amen. Everything in your life matters. You know, I hear this all the time, I'm sure your pastors do too. When you're a pastor in a church, you get this question, Jared, what's my purpose? And it's a sincere question that has the easiest answer. Our purpose as Christians is to advance. The cause of Christ on this earth. Our purpose as Christians. Is to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. Our purpose as Christians is to live in and be a part of the advancement of the Great Commission, which is to go into the world to get people saved. Baptize in water filled with the Holy Spirit and train them up in the Word of God by making them disciples. That is our purpose. It is not just my purpose or David's purpose or Cindy's purpose. It is all of our purpose. And when you understand that, it gives meaning to everything that you do. Number two, it then rightly determines the priorities of your life. Matthew 6 33. Jesus says, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. One translation says, seek ye first the advancement of the kingdom of. And he says, and all these things will be added unto you. The priority of our lives as believers is to be, to advance the kingdom of God on this earth. Jesus said, seek ye first actively pursue as the priority of your life. You're allowed to have other priorities, but priority number one. Yes. Right. Amen. Is to be to advance the kingdom of God. And how does God primarily advance his kingdom in the earth? Through the church. That's right. Collectively and individually because we are the church and we are the church. You are not just here to go through the motions of life. Somebody say Amen. Amen. You are not just here on this earth to wake up, go to work, pay taxes, and die. Come on, come on. There has got to be more to life than waking up going to work. Paying taxes and then dying, and hopefully I can go see the mouse at some point. Come on man. There has got to be more to life than that. But see, when you don't have a cause worth living for, right, exactly. The enemy will cause you to believe that that is all there is. To life. You have a holy calling to advance his kingdom. Jared, I'm not a, I'm not a pastor. I know, but see, you go to work every day as an ambassador for Christ. You young people go to school. As representatives of Jesus Christ, yes, you're there to learn and take tests and get your education. Yes, you're at work to collect the paycheck, to be able to pay the mortgage and provide for your family, but the cause of Christ gives you meaning to those things. Yes. When you understand that you are in life to advance the cause of Christ, going to work, playing golf, going on vacation, picking up the kids at at school, hanging out with your friends, being in class, teaching a class, being in the hospitals, whatever it is you do, everything you set your hand to do is to be done, to advance the cause of Christ. That's right. Nothing is taken for granted. Being stuck on the freeway is a moment to advance the cause of Christ. You can flip people off or you can worship. The choice is yours. Amen. Everything. When you understand it, you understand your purpose and your. The cause of Christ should be the determining factor of our decision making. Yeah, that's right. The cause of Christ should be the determining factor of the words we speak. That's right. The cause of Christ should determine our attitude, our choices, our response. Our time and our money. Everything should be done to advance the cause of Christ. And when you do it, when you do it, it gives purpose and meaning and it prioritizes your life. You know what I love about Jesus? He says, if you'll seek first, all these things will be added unto you. Yes, you can go. You can go read Matthew chapter six. Go read the 12 verses before verse 33. You wanna know what he's talking about? He's talking about earthly needs and desires. People are, oh, everything's about heavenly things. No. Well, in Matthew six, he is talking about the bills getting paid. He's talking about putting food on your table. Come on, he's talking about clothes on your kids' back, shoes on their feet, paying for the books. That's right. That's right. That chapter is about earthly things. It's about the things that are stressing you out, the things you pray about, the things you worry about, the thing that wakes you up and makes you go to that job you don't really like. That's what he is talking about. And you know what he says at the end of it? He says, look, seek first to advance the kingdom and all these things. That's right. See, when we prioritize God. He prioritizes us. Amen. Amen. Number three, living for the cause of Christ forces trust and dependence on him. He said, and all these things will be added unto you. Verse 34 says, therefore, do not worry about tomorrow. For tomorrow will worry about its own things. Huh, you know the, the Lord is already in your tomorrow, but some of you won't prioritize him today. Proverbs three verse five. Just one of the famous scriptures in the Bible. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will direct your path. I looked up the Hebrew, the original Hebrew text of the word all, and it means all. We love this scripture. There's probably some of you that have plaques of this scripture in your kitchen, and we post it and we repost it and we quote it. We write songs about it. We pray about it. We tell our friends when they're struggling, well trust in the Lord with all your heart. The truth is, many Christians try to trust in God when they, their own life hasn't worked out, and then we go, well, I'm trusting in the Lord, and most of us have a habit of trusting in ourselves until we fall or wear out, and then trust in God. Come on,
Speaker 2:that's good.
Speaker:But the reality is we need to turn that around. Yes. But when you live for the cause of Christ, it forces you to trust in him. The last thing, the cause of Christ is actually the only cause on this earth that truly matters. Amen. Everything on the earth is temporary except people coming into relationship with Jesus. For 45 years, this church has been leading people to Jesus. By show of hands, how many of you got born again inside this church? Look at all these. How many of you recommitted your life inside this church? How many of you got either filled with the Holy Spirit and or baptized in water inside this church? In churches all around this city and all around this country? Every Sunday morning, maybe Wednesday night, whenever they have service, men and women, young and old, rich or poor. If they hear about the good news of Jesus Christ and they open up their hearts to God and they make Jesus their Lord and Savior. This last week at our church, we had 1100 people respond to the call of salvation. We had 302 people get baptized in water this weekend at our church, and you know that. A thousand years from now, those 1100 people, they will still be in the kingdom of God. Come on. A thousand years from now, no one will remember who wins the next Super Bowl. A thousand years from now, no one will remember the name Trump or Biden or Vance or Obama. A thousand years from now, no one will even remember the name. A thousand years from now, no one will remember who won the summer Olympics last year. Truth is, we don't remember now. A thousand years from now, no one will remember who the Governor of Texas or Florida. No. No one will remember a thousand. And no wonder a thousand years from now this building probably won't be here. Right. There may still be a church here, but the truth is this will have all been worn down and had to have been rebuilt. But a thousand years from now, the people that you help bring to church, the people that you witness to, the people that you represent, Jesus to. And maybe they show up here, or maybe they show up in my church. Maybe they show up somewhere else. Maybe they watch something on YouTube and they cry out to Jesus and say, Jesus saved me a thousand years from now. Those people will be in heaven with us. Amen. Hallelujah. The cause of Christ is the only cause on the earth that truly matters. Why? Because it's the only cause that is eternal. Amen. And when you attach your life to the cause of Christ, let me say it this way. When you attach your life to the church, you attach your life to something that gives purpose, meaning, and fulfillment to everything that you do. And it bear bears reward on earth, but mostly it bears reward in eternity.