Title:  Finish the Swing
Purpose:  To challenge Christians to Keep Reaching Out   


Intro:
1.  Anyone that has been trained to swing a bat in baseball or bowl a bowling ball can tell you about "Follow Through"  You will not do well unless you "follow through". 
2.  A Half hearted swing at the bat could cost you the game
3.  Dt. 7:1-5, 12-16; Judges 1:21, 28; 2:11-19; 2 Kings 25:8-10
4.  They were told to drive them out but didn't
5. 
You cannot leave God's work undone. 

I.  You may be worse off in the end than in the beginning:

       A.  They went into captivity, were split up and
       B.  Jerusalem used to be the center of the church, but not any more
               (something somewhere was left undone)
       C.  Jer 20:9 - Theme was "Light the Fire" for the Revival
       D.  Lone Oak provided the fuel, fanned the flame. 
I saw you on FIRE
       E.  Log on fire allowed to go out, can't reuse it, hard to
            make a fire with it
              1.  Don't let the fire go out, don't lose all that we have gained
              2.  Cannot leave God's work undone!! got to move forward

II.  You will get stuck
       A.  Israel got stuck in a rut (like a broken record)
              1.  Sin, Bondage, Cried, God delivered.....
              2.  Problem, they got used to the scenery
              3.  Those pagans were not supposed to be there!!
       B.  We have a problem with leaving things undone
              1.  Our Building is an example
              2.  After awhile we get used to it looking that way, and don't feel
                  compelled to finish it because you are used to the way it looks
              3.  We must NEVER get used to seeing people lost
              4.  Problem:  Israel made peace with the enemy
                     a.  Our enemy is not people, gays, people living in sin
                     b.  They are the victims, and we are in a rescue mission
                     c.  Satan is the enemy, the minute we stop rescuing, he's won
                        because we've made peace with him
       C.  ILL:  Satan's Gospel Meeting
              1.  He wanted to spread the bad news
              2.  Satan was not impressed.  One speaker spoke of killing
                   Christians, another of persecuting them, another of making
                   it a crime to worship Jesus.  Been there done that…
              3.  One speaker got up and said simply these words:  Do Nothing
              4.  That speaker got a promotion in Satan's Kingdom,. Satan
                    want's you to live comfortably and do nothing
       D.  What you did may not seem like much,
              1.  What difference can a phone call make, a personal call?  etc..
              2.  Little things matter
              3.  ILL: Pin on our van's harmonic balancer was left unfixed.
                     - Was such a minor repair
                     - Because it was left undone, had to replace the whole
                        crankshaft.  We wound up just replacing the engine
              4.  Little things mean a lot, CANNOT LEAVE GOD'S WORK
                 UNDONE!

III.  People will die
       A.  Many Israelites were killed and taken away in the end
       B.  How many will die around you because you didn't reach out
       C.  You may be a person's only hope
              1.  Cornelious prayed, God sent Peter
              2.  Someone may be praying, and God may have sent you
                     -Don't be a Jonah, be a Peter
              3.  It's not about having all the answers
                       -Share Good News (Woman at the well a good evangelist)
                       -Care (People will never care how much you know until
                          they know how much you care)
       D.  You cannot leave God's work undone, you have to move forward


Concl:
1.  Campaign is now over, we can breathe easier and "Vegg"
2.  So was Joshua's Campaign, but there was still work to do, and
     they didn't do it
3.  They were in Captivity and went back into captivity (we were in captivity, to our own fears, let's not go back into captivity!)
4.  We were freed from that last week when they came to help "Light the Fire"
5.  Now we are depressed -- "Back to the Old Grind"  NO!!!!!!
6.  No more captivity.
7.  HIS TRUTH IS MARCHING ON!
8.  There is much to do there's work on every hand .. Here am I send me!!