Crystal Cathedral

Exciting Ministry Announcement!

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Robert H. Schuller (RHS):

Good morning! God loves you and that's why you're here. And if you can't feel it, get ready! You will when you walk out of here. Now touch somebody close to you, give them the blessing, tell them God loves you and so do I.

Well, welcome to a service that we call a new beginning. This is what we believe is a New Beginning Sunday in the history of this church. This ministry is more than nine thirty and eleven o'clock. We have a Hispanic Ministry, which is growing by leaps and bounds. You, Crystal Cathedral, made national news this week in Christianity Today, and I'll read it to you: "Dante Gebel, a popular Argentine evangelist has been hired by the Crystal Cathedral to lead the California mega-church's Hispanic Ministry." Phenomenal. He came here four weeks ago; he had 400 at his service. More the next week. More the next week. Last week he had a thousand one hundred. You're going to see that place filling. This is going to be the most powerful impacting Hispanic place, probably in the whole world for Christ. Absolutely.

You've all been praying for this church! You've seen empty seats. Yes, I see empty seats and what do I see? I see wonderful friends, beautiful people, strong members of the church. Tithers, donors, teachers that are all in heaven. When I started to build a membership of this church, I didn't realize they wouldn't all live to be a hundred. Yes, we're in a growth pattern today. And my son Robert Anthony has launched his new ministry. More than just a television ministry - that can come - but he is a part of a group that has purchased American Family Life, a television network that will be specializing and producing family programs, children's programs, as well as a Christian ministry. So I'm very proud.

And his son Robbie, my grandson, is with us today. Next week he launches his new ministry. It will be in Orange, California. He's already ordained, but I want to bless him specially this morning and have us all pray for that new church that he's starting, so he's up here with me.

And Juan Carlos announces his new role in this ministry and I'm revealing my new dream to you, too. So I can say this is the day, say it with me, that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Now let's pray: Oh God, You are the greatest dreamer of the greatest dream and that's why You have us here, to call us into Your kingdom and make the beautiful difference in a world that needs love so badly. So bless us in Christ's name, Amen.

Prayer by Robert H. Schuller (RHS) for Robert V. Schuller (RVS)

RHS: You may be seated. I'm so proud of my grandson Robert Schuller. He goes by the name of Robbie or Bobby. We get all the Robert's mixed up, I guess. But he is starting a new church in Orange, and you can see how this influence of this church is reaching out more and more. And I want to commission him this morning so, Robbie, would you come up here please? And tell us what your calling is.

RVS: Okay, well as a lot of you know, The Gathering began originally as the college group here at the Cathedral. When we started, we had about ten people, and this would have been about four and a half years ago. And we decided to come in and create this new service that my wife Hannah and I had a dream about. We began in the Tower chapel at night, and we started growing, and we realized that college ministry is not like youth ministry. College students wanted to bring in friends and family and so we grew and we eventually moved to the third floor of the Visitors Center and now we're in the Arboretum. And we're no longer a college ministry and haven't been for years. We've been a ministry for everyone! Every generation. And when I say for everyone, I mean for everyone. You know, no matter what your walk of life is and what your background, what your race or denominational views are, people are welcome in The Gathering, just like they are here at the Cathedral. And we've seen God using us in a very missional way in our community. We do all sorts of things in the local community for the poor, the homeless, the disenfranchised, as well as work with helping people find a meaningful philosophy in life.

And it's our desire, actually, now to take off from this place and stand on our two feet as a church of our own. We're excited about it. And we're going to be meeting at the American Legion on Sunday mornings at 11:00, but don't go because I'll get in trouble. You need to stay here, I think. No, I'm just kidding. Come visit us if you want, but the main bulk of our ministry is not to be a worship service, though we will have a worship service. It's going to be an ongoing community of believers. My hope is that eventually, someday our church will become a church that's going all the time. It'll be worship, prayer, service to the homeless and the poor all day, all night, all the time. And it'll be led by, hopefully, seminary students that will come in and work with our local church members as volunteers. We'll have an ongoing place where people can always come for healing and for renewal, and we're really excited about it.

This is strange for me, though, because I've been here for years now here at the Cathedral and this is kind of a commencement. I think it's important for me to mention, too, with all of the dramatic things that have been going on in the last year, that this is not something out of anger or rebellion or anything like that. This is really something we've been talking about for years about doing and realizing that this is the time to do it. So, we're going out in a lot of ways as a church plant from you, from you all. You're all sending us and supporting us and believing in us and praying for us.

The last word I want to say to you is that I believe in you guys, I really do. And this is sad for me in a lot of ways because I've loved all of you so much in this community. I think that the Cathedral has the nicest, most wonderful people I think I've ever known. And I want to say that, it's true, yes. I just want to say that there's some incredible people here, that all of these buildings, you know, this amazing thing, this tower and all these things on the campus, all the things this ministry has done reaching 19 million people around the world, its all because of you. It's because of God in you, I should say. That God transformed you from someone who was in the slumps to being people of power, of integrity, who believed in yourself, believed in the God that believed in you, and you made all this stuff happen. And I can't wait to see what the future of the Crystal Cathedral is. It's going to be wonderful. You're in good hands with good leaders, in a great organization. I cannot wait to see what happens here. And it's too bad that I'm leaving, but I'll be watching, and I'll be back from time to time, I'm sure. But I want to go with your blessing and your prayers, and I want you to pray for us and all of us as we go out to reach this local community.

Would you do that for us? Great, all right.

RHS: Why don't you rise and extend a hand as we reach out to bless him. Extend your hands. We reach out to touch him. You made him, oh God. You brought him into this world. Nobody else just like him. You had a whole new recipe for a human being and out he came. And You have called him and You will bless him now as he begins this church in Orange. And, oh Lord, thank You that all of us in this church and in His will be living under Your holy Spirit's blessing, Amen. And come back and preach for us once in awhile.

RVS: I will, I will. Okay.

RHS: Okay! You may be seated.

Introduction to Sheila Schuller Coleman

RHS: Just want to bring you up to date on this ministry. Our greatest days are coming, no doubt about that. Well, the news is, I had surgery to remove two benign growths in my neck, near my vocal chords. and the good news is, the growths, they were removed, they were benign, and my voice was spared, and my larynx is undamaged, so thank God for that one.

Then, two weeks ago, I was blessed with three unscheduled appointments in my office from three prominent church leaders, best left unnamed. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, each brought, unknowingly, the same message, led by God. They said, "I came because I feel I have a message from God that you need to hear." And three times in three consecutive days, this was their message: "Schuller, you may be thinking of slipping away and retiring and living in Hawaii, but God is not finished with you yet. They said, God wants to tell you that your most productive time of ministry is ahead of you. The church was your vision from God and that vision cannot be given to anybody else. It is yours to fulfill."

Then, one week ago, God came to me during the night with this message: "Schuller, this church still needs you. Jesus Christ still needs you. You have the gift of vision. You have the gift of motivating people. You've been given the gift of positive thinking and all of that is what the church is going to need today and in the tomorrows more than ever."

And I, in my two-way prayer, said, But God I'm getting old. I no longer have the strength to do all that I used to do."

And I heard Him say, "No, you're right. But I'm giving you help. You don't have to do it alone. You have a family and they have been very helpful in this ministry. I gave them, I raised them, and they are motivated by me. You have a family. Your first-born child is Sheila. She has an earned doctor's degree from the University of California; her doctorate is in administration and leadership, and that's the kind of power leadership this church is going to need today and tomorrow. And she has a caring spirit. Christ is in her life. She will be your legs, Schuller."

So, God called me to start a church, called you to help make it happen, and is calling my daughter Sheila to be my co-leader. I will motive and clarify the vision; Sheila will be standing next to me and lead this ministry in a more strategic and unified church. You will see her on this platform every week and you will know that she is the strong leader that will keep this church going stronger than ever in the years to come. Sheila, come beside me.

Sheila, you know that the board called you and me to stand together and is asking the congregation to give us all the support for making this the church of tomorrow that is more and better than what it has been in the past.

SC: That's right. Our best days are ahead of us, and I thank you, Dad. I was humbled and honored to receive the call, and when the board asked me, I did accept. However, I accepted with conditions and limitations. Based on my strengths and weaknesses, how I see my role is merely this: to assist Dad in communicating the God-given vision. God has given the vision to Dad and I'm just to assist him in communicating it and to make sure that we, as a ministry, are all moving in one direction and following that vision. I believe in team leadership, and I will be just one member of the teams leading the local church and the Hour of Power. My role is that of a Directing Leader, which means, again, I will just make sure that everybody is following the vision.

I will help assemble teams. I believe in empowering the laity, the members of the congregation, that's you. And I have many ideas for involving you to help us because I cannot do this alone. And later we will have a time when I will ask you to make a commitment to help me stand behind these two amazing men, whom God has ordained and anointed. And it's my call just to help my father finish strong, and to be his legs, and to help ensure that the messages and the visions that God has given to my father and to Juan Carlos Ortiz, that those are kept alive. That is my call, that is my role that I accept with those conditions.

Message & Prayer by Sheila Coleman

"Oh, the Seeds You'll Sow!"

SC: Today is an exciting day. It is a historic day because it is a day of new beginnings and this is the new beginning of new life for this Crystal Cathedral Ministries. God is going to rebuild this church; of that I have no doubt.

We celebrate and we honor the creator of new beginnings. He has put new beginnings within each and every one of us. He's put a new beginning in you, a new beginning in me, and a new beginning in this ministry. And as many students, including my beloved children from our school, many of them are facing commencement. We will be launching them and commissioning them out into the world.

There are other schools all around that are doing commencements, and what they read at my commencement, when I got my master's at Chapman, was from this book by Dr. Seuss. It is a children's book, yes, but it's called, "Oh the Places You'll Go." It's really a parable and it tells the story of a child who is encouraged by his mentor to go out and do great things with his life. But he's warned by his mentor be careful because along the way you will find yourself in the slump place, you will find yourself in the scary place, and you will find yourself in that most dreaded of all places, the waiting place. But if you endure all of these, you will finally find yourself in that mountain-moving place. And we, as a ministry, have endured this slump phase, we have endured the scary place, we have endured the waiting place, and now we are at the mountain-moving place. Amen? Amen.

Well, like the child in Dr. Seuss' book, my parents encouraged me to go places in my life and sow. In only the fourth grade, I had the dream to become a medical missionary doctor, to Africa, and I worked toward that goal all the way up through college. But God slammed that door and brought me here and I've been here ever since. That was in 1973.

Well it was just a few years ago when I was bringing my son Nicholas to school, my husband and I live 6 miles from here, in Orange. We were halfway here and we had to take a detour because of roadwork, and I said, "Hey, Nick, this is right by my old childhood home. Do you want to swing by?"

And he says, "No, Mom. Don't you remember how many times you've taken me past your childhood home?" And it was only three miles from my home. Then Nick said, "You know, Mom, I'm really struck by something. I'm very, very impressed with how far you've gone in your life. A whole three miles, Mom. That's really impressive how far you've gone in your life."

And I stopped and I paused and I was like, wow, wait a minute, hey, wait, I'm not feeling real encouraged here because I had planned to go to Africa and I made it only three miles. Not much to write home about. I don't need to write home. I can walk home. But what I've learned is that it's not where you go, the places you go, like Dr. Seuss says, "But, oh, it's the seeds you'll sow." That where God has planted you, God has planted you for a purpose and for a reason. And while you're there, as Dad taught me, you are to bloom where you are planted. And what is a flower? Oh yes, a flower is beautiful and smells lovely, but the real true purpose of a flower is to produce seeds.

And so I feel like I've had to make sure that I have planted seeds through my life. The importance of seeds - I've learned that from my dad since I was a little girl. But what he doesn't know and I'm teaching him today is that seeds are meant to be disseminated. They are meant to be scattered far and wide. In fact, God created seeds as new beginnings, as new life. But did you know that each seed has built within it a travel mechanism? Now it varies.

Some seeds are carried by wind and you know one as a dandelion; it has those wonderful white things that catch the wind and breeze, and they travel far. We have seeds in a tree in our yard that have, it looks like, a little helicopter blade, and you can see them twirl as they're carried on the wind far and away.

Other seeds have little hooks in them or adhesive and you know what they are because you've had to pick them out of your socks if you've gone hiking or from the bottom of your shoe, or maybe it's been in your pets' fur, but they are meant to grab onto something and be transported and scattered.

Other seeds are hidden in delicious, beautiful fruit that's meant to be ingested. And then those seeds travel wherever that animal travels. That's where those seeds end up.

I can tell you that we have in our backyard a little tree. Last year, from somewhere, a fig tree seed blew into our yard and was planted and grew and we had all this fruit. It was messy. The birds would eat it and we would step on it and my husband chopped it down, but not soon enough because this year we have at least four if not five tiny baby fig trees growing in our yard from the seeds that have scattered. So he needs to get to work and get those cut down sooner this year.

I lived here, grew up here, but I spent all my summers in the farm in Iowa with my mom and dad, their brothers and sisters, my aunts and uncles. And their fields stretched for acres, acres. In fact, the cornfields are so big they would say, "Don't go play in the corn fields," because you could get lost and we'll never find you. But I didn't inherit this wonderful green thumb of my family. I have a black thumb. In fact, I can hear and I've seen plants quiver when they see me coming their way. I can hear them say, "Please don't let her by me. She will take me home and she'll kill me."

And so I've decided, today, I'm going to try a new technique. I have a big pile of soil here, I have a basket of seed, and, instead of just planting a few seeds, I think that maybe I'll increase my chances of success if, oh, I just put more seed in there. What do you think? Am I doing okay? Going to get it all? Get it all, all that seed, it's all very important. All right. Actually, this is not going to work, is it? But the thing is, it's tempting to want to keep all our seed in one little bucket and not scatter it and not share it. That's what we have a tendency to do.

And my family - we are humans and we love each other and are well meaning - we thought that it would be wonderful if we could keep all of our seed in one bucket. And so we encouraged and we wanted my brother and we wanted my nephew to be here in our bucket with us. But sometimes God has a bigger plan and sometimes He wants to expand the kingdom, and He can't do that if we're selfish and we keep all the seed in one bucket. And so we have to be brave, we have to be courageous, and we have to scatter the seed where God wants it sown - not where we want it sown. And I apologize to all of you on behalf of my family for being guilty of wanting to keep my family all in one bucket.

But today, as my brother launches an amazing ministry, I am so excited for what God is going to do through him and my nephew, that I want to celebrate and I want to show you that we are committed to following God, and obeying Him, and scattering the seed. Dad, will you help me?

Hold out your hand. Okay, here we go. Okay, scatter.

RHS: Wow. Wow.

SC: Only God knows where He wants us to sow His seed and we have to leave it up to Him. But what kind of seeds are you sowing? I don't think you'd find my uncles planting bird seed -because that's what this is - in their fields. They are planting very special hybridized corn or soy bean seeds. In fact, they set aside a portion of their money to make sure they buy the best seed possible. So, what seed are we sowing?

Well, here at Crystal Cathedral, it is our call; God has called us to sow a special seed. It is our unique call, our unique mission. He has entrusted to us this unique seed that we will plant and they are seeds of love, positive seeds of love, positive seeds of grace, positive seeds of faith teaching people that they can do it, that they can believe, that they can be all things that God wants them to be, positive seeds of hope. That is our call, those are the seeds that we have been called to plant here and to sow here at Crystal Cathedral.

So, when people come to the Crystal Cathedral and they leave, may they say about us and about this church, "I went to the Crystal Cathedral and I got a new dream today." "I went to Crystal Cathedral and I found hope today." "I went to Crystal Cathedral and I was loved at Crystal Cathedral. It didn't matter what I had done. It didn't matter what my family was going through. They loved us. They loved us where we are. They accept us and they will walk with us." This is the place where God has called us to be unique in His kingdom.

What holds us back from sowing? Well, I believe it's fear of failure. How many times have we tried to extend something to somebody and been rebuffed? I can tell you about the man that I tried to share the gospel with and I said, "Would you like to accept the gift of grace?"

I thought he would say yes, yes. But, he said, "no."

Oh, okay. That made me a little hesitant next time around. But, you know what, God needs us to be courageous and He needs us to go out there and He needs us to sow anyway because if we resist sowing, who's going to do it? What's going to happen? We need to continue to sow.

We learn in Matthew 13 in the parable of the sower, Jesus encourages us, He says, "Sow."

Now know that when you sow, some of the seed will go by the wayside. In fact, if you look at it just from an odds standpoint, one out of every four times you sow your seed, it is not going to even make it to soil. The birds are going to come along and eat it. And one fourth of the time it's going to land in shallow soil, its roots won't even be able to go down far enough, and it's going to be scorched by the sun, and that plant will die. And one fourth of the time you sow that seed, it's going to land in soil where it grows but thorns and weeds will come and choke it out and it will bear no fruit.

When my dad talked up here a year ago and told everybody about the lemon meringue pies I made, I thought, "Oh my goodness, I've got to make more pies." So, on the way home, I stopped at the nursery, bought a lemon tree, planted it in the backyard, but made the mistake of planting it way too close to the fence where there's a sweeping vine that grows. Now I'm battling and I'm losing the battle to the sweeping vine, because it sends out its little tendrils and it squeezes my tree. I can tell you it's not bearing a whole lot of fruit yet.

"Move the tree," Dad says. He's a farmer, I'm not.

But the point is, sometimes we do not know when we sow where it's going to do wonders and where it's going to make a difference. Sometimes you'll be surprised. It is the last person in the world where you sow that seed where it will take root and bear fruit.

My mom and I went to a hairdresser and the hairdresser next to ours, his name was Charles, we used to watch him do hair. And Mom would say, "There's no hope for Charles." Charles lived a very wild life back then. Well, fortunately for Charles, God wasn't depending on Mom and I to do the sowing because there wouldn't haven't have been any seeds sowed. But in His infinite mercy, God brought someone into Charles' life, Charles became a Christian, and he is the most fruitful Christian, one of the most fruitful Christians I know today. So do not think you can tell by looking at somebody or talking to somebody what kind of soil they are. Sow, sow, sow anyway, and leave the results to God.

It is so easy to sow seeds. All you need is a smile, a hug, a prayer. My husband has had people in Starbuck's share with him, strangers, and he has said, "Can I pray for you?"

"Yes!" That person says. You never know.

And so I just ask you, we need you today, we will be asking you to make a commitment to sow seeds because, if you look around this Cathedral, you'll see empty seats. Every one of those seats needs a seed. And the more seeds we sow, the more these seats we will fill. So, in a minute we will be taking communion, and we ask that you use this time to prepare your hearts for the seeds that God wants to sow in you and through you. Now listen to the choir as they sing, "Lord, here I am, ready and willing, Lord, here I am."

Anthem - "Here I Am"

Communion lead by Juan Carlos Ortiz

Call to Commitment - Robert H. Sculler and Sheila Coleman Schuller

RHS: We ask all of you here to make a deep commitment to Christ. He needs people who are committed, who believe in Him, who follow Him, who live with Him. Secularism is strong in this world and the anti-Christ movement is never far from us. So, what we need are power people. And I'm so grateful that in my ministry, today and every Sunday from now on, Sheila will be standing with me.

SC: Yes. And we need you as an army of sowers of seed. And so we would ask you to make a commitment to join Dad and Juan Carlos and me, join our army and come forward and get a seed. We have buckets of seeds up here. Come and get the seed because this is the seed that represents what God will sow in you and through you. And, as you do, Dad will share with you the vision that God has put on his heart for this, our ministry.

RHS: You've often heard me say, "Any fool can count the seeds in an apple but only God can count all of the apples in one seed." And you are one seed.

SC: So, if you are willing to make a commitment to join us, will you come forward now and get a seed? Thank you. We need you. We need you.

RHS: Years ago, I stood on the rooftop of a drive-in theater. Had no members but had a calling to start a church and invited people who came, curiously in their cars, to come forward and help me. And the past 50 years this ministry has impacted the world because of those who came and made the church this strong church that it is today. And now today I'm asking you who come forward to make that kind of commitment. Look forward to the decades and the century to come. Orange County is never going away. The mountains won't move. The ocean will always be there, and in the flatland between the sea and the hills, there is a church, a church on 40 acres of land that's never going to melt or fade away or turn into dust. And it is an empty place calling for people who believe in the Bible and who believe in Jesus to come and become a part of a community of people dedicated with their lives, with their liberties and with their tithes and offerings to make the church of Christ and the faith known into this world.

And I ask you, as you take a seed, to realize that you are committing.

SC: Our unique vision that God has given to us through my father is for us as a church to reach the un-churched, right Dad?

RHS: Yes.

SC: To reach the un-churched through a positive message, a message of hope and love and joy, and this is our commitment to you, that we will be a church that will reach the un-churched.

RHS: I want you to know that, as the months and then years move on, you can look to the future of this church and know that its greatest days are coming. I have said before, I repeat, the greatest churches that I have known in the world, today, are churches where the pastors are famous, but they aren't making the church strong, it's always a woman behind them, maybe a wife. Paul Yonggi Cho built the largest church in the world, 750,000 members, but it's his mother-in-law who organized it and made the members what they are. And so it is in this church, in the years to come, it will be Sheila Schuller Coleman who's making this church, not the preacher. And she will be calling upon you, maybe to come and be a part of a small group, maybe a Bible study, I don't know. But if you get an invitation from Sheila Schuller Coleman, you can know it's coming from God, Himself, for He has appointed her to be here. And I'm so grateful that, as long as I can be here, she will be at my side, right here.

SC: And I just want you to know that you are an answer to prayer. We have been praying for today that God would raise up people who would say yes to His call, and that is you. You have said yes. Look at this. This is a mighty army. This is an amazing base from which God can do amazing things here in Orange County and across the world. And I want to tell you how blessed I am to see you saying yes to God's call. God will use you in a mighty way and you will not regret it. You will look back on today and say, "Thank You, Lord, for calling me. Thank You, Lord, for believing in me and asking me to be a part of a movement that will change the world."

You can do it with God's help. He never gives us a dream that is so small that we can do it all by ourselves. He only gives dreams that are big enough, where we have to rely on Him, where it can only be done through Him, so then we look back and we say, "God gets the credit, God gets the glory." Not Dr. Schuller, not Juan Carlos Ortiz, not even you or me, but just God Himself. And that is why we do what we do. Thank you for saying yes to the call.

RHS: The longer I live, the more people I meet who come to me because they're Christians and love our ministry. I ask, "How did you become a Christian?"

They seldom say, "Billy Graham led me to Christ" or "You led me to Christ." Almost always they say, "Oh, there's this guy that I worked with. He was a Christian churchgoer. He was always talking to me. I brushed him off. Then there was the time when I had trouble and I was alone and I began to think about what I'd been making fun of, this whole thing called prayer and God. And I fell on my knees, didn't know what to say, but I said, ‘God, if You're there, here I am. I want to be Yours. I need You.'"

So, every person within the sound of my voice is going to be used, has been used, probably already, to lead people to Christ. Know who you are. Know why you're in this place.

SC: And if you will stand now, Dad will lead us in a prayer of commitment. Take that seed that you have in your hand. Here, Dad, here's one for you. Hold it out to the Lord. This is an offering to Him, a promise, a commitment. Now, Dad, lead us in a prayer of commitment please.

RHS: Lord, this seed that I hold out, I give to You. Let it be planted, bear much fruit. Let this seed, which is small become me. Let this seed become my mind, my heart. Let this seed become my body. Let this seed become my lips. And Jesus, You live in me. Help me to make a difference in our world that needs You so badly, Lord.

Now, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. And may God give you peace in your laughter and in your tears, in your labor and in your leisure, in your sickness and in your health, in your youth and in your age, until you come to stand before Jesus in that day in which there is no sunset and no dawning. Amen.

SC: And now let us sing, "Rise Up, Oh Church of God."

Hymn - "Rise Up, oh Church of God"

RHS: There have been many times in the past weeks or months or years when you wondered when you had something to share, who do you talk to? Who's running this church anyway? Schuller's out of town most of the time. Who's the leader? As of today, the lady at my side is the leader of the leaders.

SC: Well, what he's trying to say is, "I can dream the dreams and Sheila will do all the work."

RHS: God bless you! Have a good week.

© Copyright Hour of Power 2010. This message was delivered from the pulpit of the Crystal Cathedral on June 10, 2010.