Sermon Notes - McLean Bible Church

McLean Bible Church’s 50 th Anniversary, part 1
God’s Faithfulness Over 50 Years
God’s faithfulness is why we are where we are . . . the way we are at McLean Bible Church today.
I have picked out five seminal moments in McLean Bible Church’s history where God did for McLean Bible
Church (Ephesians 3:20) “. . . exceeding, abundantly more than we could ask or think.”
God’s faithfulness has been a constant and unbroken stream running through the past 50 years here!
#1 – The Founding of McLean Bible Church (1961)
#2 – McLean Bible Church’s First Facility (1964)
All 6 acres = $55,000
God could have had the Beltway go anywhere – but He sent it through this man’s farm and sliced off the
6 acres so that McLean Bible Church would have a place to call “home.”
#3 – Lon Solomon Becomes Senior Pastor at McLean Bible Church (1980)
“Tell us how much above the minimum 75% would you need to be sure it’s God’s will for you to come to
McLean Bible Church”
“Sir – the way I see it – if I get 75% - it will be such a miracle I’ll know it’s God’s will!”
“I’d like to express to you how honored I am that you would offer me the opportunity to be considered for
the position of senior pastor. However, I would like to withdraw my name from any further consideration.
It is my plan, God willing, to remain here at McLean Bible Church until I die or get fired, whichever comes
first.”
It was an amazing act of God’s faithfulness that put me in McLean Bible Church to begin with – and I have
no intention of being unfaithful to God by pulling myself out of McLean Bible Church, until the Lord Himself
moves me!
#4 – God’s Unprecedented Blessings in the 1990’s
McLean Bible Church today:
• Outwardly focused
• Outreach driven
• People-centered
• Multi-cultural
• Theologically sound
• Christ-centered
• Impact all of Washington, DC for Christ
Mission Statement
Mission of McLean Bible Church = “To make an impact on secular Washington with the message of Jesus
Christ.”
1991 – Started Awana
1994 – Jane Daniel re-created Women’s Ministry
1994 – Started Frontline to reach “young adults”
1996 – Started Access for children with disabilities

1996 – Started “Turkey Outreach”
1997 – “Not a Sermon” began on radio
1997 – First Global Impact trip
1997 – Started Gathering for college-age
1998 – Kid’s Quest
1999 – Started The House in Anacostia
1999 – Started DayBreak in Lincoln Heights
1999 – Church-wide Small Groups Ministry
2000 – Dale Sutherland began The Rock as we know it today
As we sought to impact Washington with the Gospel, God “opened the windows of heaven for us and
poured out so much blessing on McLean Bible Church, that we didn’t have room to store it.”
(Malachi 3:10)
• God’s power is unlimited
• God’s resources are inexhaustible
• Whenever God asks us (in faith) to “attempt great things for God . . .”
• We can always “. . . expect great things from God.”
The first question to always ask:
• Is never – “Can we afford it How are we going to pay for this”
• But – “Is this God’s will Is this what God is asking us to do”
Because if it is – and we’ll step out in faith and obey God – the resources will always be there!
We rely on the “Lord of this church” to meet the needs of this church – and because He’s faithful – He’s
never let us down!
#5 – A New Campus and Beyond (1997-2000)
25 acres, minimum
Within 5 mile radius of Balls Hill Road facility
“There is no piece of land in Tysons as large as you want . . . and if there were, you couldn’t afford it
anyway!”
“Why not sell your property and move to Loudoun County”
NWF original property:
43.5 acres
4.5 miles from BHR facility
McLean Bible Church in 1997:
3000 people
$3 million annual income
“How much more faithful could God have been to McLean Bible Church over the past 50 years”
Although I can’t tell you what we did to bring this blessing of God onto McLean Bible Church . . . I can tell
you some things we can do to lose it!
So What

“Sarah, is anything too hard for the LORD” Genesis 18:14
“I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for Me” Jeremiah 32:27
“How can this be, since I am a virgin” Luke 1:34
“Nothing is impossible with God.” Luke 1:37
“What is impossible with men is possible with God.” Luke 18:27
So often, we approach situations in life deciding ahead of time what God can/can’t do – will/won’t do.
“Call to Me and I will show you great and mighty things that you could never anticipate.” Jeremiah 33:3
If we trust God without limits – this does not mean that God will do for us whatever we want Him to do.
In keeping with God’s wise and good plan for our lives – He has massive blessings He wants to bestow on
us – but we’ll never see the blessings if (in our puny human belief) we limit God.
The only thing we should ever allow to limit what God is going to do for us should be the will and plan of
God for our lives!
“BTE Club” = Back to Egypt Club
God calls us to see the world through the lens of the Word of God:
• We have an unlimited God
• With unlimited power
• Who’s prepared to do unlimited things for those people
• Who give him an unlimited platform in their lives
“Call to Me and I will show you great and mighty things that you could never anticipate.” Jeremiah 33:3