ASSEMBLIES OF GOD"That My House Be Filled"
Taking the Parable of the Supper in Luke 14:16-23 as a text, he emphasized "...yet there is room..." and "...that my house be filled." He said two extreme interpretations of Jesus parables confuse the central truth. One holds that many of the parables do not apply today, and the other tries to bring on a political kingdom today.
Bueno insisted that Jesus wanted to initate something much more wonderful than a feast.
"He was announcing something much greater than just a physical meal, and He wasn't just announcing it exclusively for some future date. He was bringing it to the hearts of His disciples as something that was already in action, already happening..."
Pointing out that Jesus told the people of His day the Kingdom of God was near, he said it followed wherever Jesus. It brought deliverance to Mary Magdalene, healing to the deaf, blind, lame and leprous; and, even, raising of the dead. Bueno applied the message for today. The Kingdom this Fellowship proclaims remains just as vital and real as ever, he said.
He told the congregation the celebration is more than just a general council, a meeting every two years. "We are here to receive the blessings of that mighty Kingdom...in the expectation of all that Kingdom can do in our lives." He urged the crowd not to wait until the sermon ended to let faith reach out for healing or relief from the drought in their lives.
Bueno acknowledged that the Great Supper of King Jesus will be a reality, but he took a present emphasis with his first point. "Jesus has invited us to participate in the greatest thing the world has ever known or ever will know!"
Continuing with a second point from the parable, Bueno said, "There is no need to wait!" Future blessings will come, but God has given us the best, a spiritual kingdom, to proclaim now.
Bueno's third point exposed the folly of excuses. "All excuses are foolish in refusing to accept the invitation of the Lord." Reciting the list from Luke with modern counterparts, he said, "The truth of the matter is that none of these excuses are reasonable when we think of the the power of this Kingdom, when we think of the blessedness of what He is offering us and the world."
Unbelief is most tragic when it appears in our churches, our Fellowship, and our lives, he said. Adding that he was not condemning, Bueno said the message of Jesus should drive and draw by the intrinsic value of His invitation. He shared an "Open Letter from Jesus" borrowed from a local church to tell how he had been prompted to talk to Jesus more. He said he was moved to accept Christ's invitation to a relationship greater than anything in this world. There is no reasonable excuse why Jesus can't come into our lives. "The invitation is open...we have the joy of knowing this Jesus."
Bueno reported a great move of God's Spirit in Argentina where prosperity and pride were supposed to keep revival from coming. Not enough churches and auditoriums are available to house the crowds. More theaters are used for church than secular films, he said.
He also told of great revival in Cuba, despite Communism and persecution. Now 1500 churches thrive and the nation has just enjoyed government sanction evangelistic crusades.
Bueno challenged his listeners with a quote from the second General Council of the Assemblies of God. "As a council, we hereby express our gratitude to God for His great blessing upon the Movement in the past. We are grateful to Him for the results attending this forward movement and we commit ourselves and the Movement to Him for the greatest evangelism that the world has ever seen. We pledge our hearty cooperation, prayers, and help to this end." He followed with testimonies of sacrifice and faithfulness that soon saw the Kingdom of God "experienced in a new way in a Pentecostal Fellowship."
Bueno closed with a look at the cry of the master that His house be filled. There still is room. He referred to three levels of urgency-calling, bringing, and compelling, or exerting every effort to get them to come.
"Board of Administration, members of the Executive and General Presbyteries, I invite you to join in the great host of men and women that have pledged our lives to making sure the house of the Lord is filled. BGMC, Light-for-the-Lost, Speed-the-Light, Women's Ministries, and all the other ministries...the 1827 foreign missionaries, 1100 home missionaries, 600 missionary associates, I invite you to ratchet up another notch and to get into the 'compel' stage of our Master so that the Lord's house may be filled...I pray, deacons, delegates, pastors and evangelists, and all who proclaim the name of Jesus will join in this hour and hear the word's of Jesus...My House is not filled!"