January 20

January 20, 2008

AS I SEE IT

Today, we are going to hold our annual congregational meeting, so I thought it would be appropriate for me to give you all the big picture of our church and where we are going, as I see it. I am particularly focusing on the local ministry of our church, and our impact on our community, because the elders have determined that this is to be the major emphasis for us in the foreseeable future. There’s not a lot of fluff in this sermon, so I encourage you to pay careful attention, follow along in the outline, and take notes. Because this is foundational stuff for our church.

I trust it will not come as a surprise to you to know that

I. The Glory of God Is Supreme 1 Cor. 10:31

The Purpose of Faith Church as we have it on our bulletin each week is to glorify God. That’s the ultimate reason why we exist. 1 Cor. 10:31, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” We want to enhance God’s reputation in everything we do. Wherever we go, we represent Jesus Christ; and if people know that we go to Faith Church, then we represent the church as well. We want people who know us to think well of Him because of what they see in us.

I don’t want to be famous; I don’t particularly want Faith Church to be famous. But I do want Jesus Christ to be famous because of us and the way we live and serve our community.

II. We Must Be Faithful to Scripture Philip. 3:16; Matt 29:19,20

We believe that the Bible is the Word of God. We teach and preach it; we study it in our Sunday School classes and small groups; but most importantly, we must live it out. Paul told the Philippians, Philip. 3:16, “Only let us live up to what we have already attained.” The great curse of American Christianity is that we know so much more than we do. This is a very biblically literate congregation; praise God that you know the Bible as well as you do. But if we do not live up to what we know, the world rightly accuses us of hypocrisy. For example, we know we are to love our neighbors, but most of us don’t even know them all that well. And if our neighbor were to be someone who is in great need, or of another ethnic group, as in the parable of the Good Samaritan, then we typically don’t know them at all, because they live in a different part of town where we seldom go. They are invisible to us. Or, for example, we know the Scripture says, “Pray without ceasing,” but that’s not even close to being part of most of our lives. We read that 2 Cor. 5:19, “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation,” but we are fearful and reluctant to take that message to the people who most need to hear it. So right up front we have to acknowledge that the Scripture is the only infallible rule for faith and practice, and we are determined to be more faithful to it. We must become doers of the Word, and not hearers only.

III. We Are Completely Dependent on the Power of God Through Prayer 1 Cor 2:4,5; 2 Cor 3:5; 4:7; John 6:44; 1 Cor 1:26-29

The Apostle Paul was the most dynamic evangelist the world has ever seen. But when he wrote to the church in Corinth about his ministry, here are some of the things he said:

1 Cor. 2:4‑5, “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, [5] so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.”

2 Cor. 3:5, “Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.”

2 Cor. 4:7, “we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all‑surpassing power is from God and not from us.”

And Jesus said pointedly, John 6:44, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him…”

So we must depend on the power of God to save people. We simply cannot do it ourselves. But here’s the great temptation for us: we tend to think that because we can’t save people, and only God can, that He does it without us. But that is simply not true. That is not His way. He has chosen to use frail, ignorant, fearful, insecure people like us. Paul makes a point of that in 1 Cor. 1:26ff,, where he notes that not many of the Corinthians were particularly wise, influential, of noble birth, or had any other great human qualifications. But, he says, [27] “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. [28] He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, [29] so that no one may boast before him.” So, OK, we’re not all that great—but God is, and He is a Master at taking inadequate people and using them in powerful ways to accomplish His great purposes.

Surely, one of the implications of this is that we have to pray more. We have to ask Him to use His Word (Is 55:11), and His Spirit (John 16:8), and our stumbling presentation of the good news (Rom 10:17) to bring people to saving faith in Himself. Prayer is a great declaration of dependence; lack of prayer is a tacit declaration of independence. I need to pray more; and so do we as a congregation. Because without that, not only will we head off in the wrong direction, we won’t accomplish anything of value in the kingdom of God.

What’s the proper motivation for reaching out to others with the good news of Jesus Christ?

IV. The Motivation for Evangelism Is Love

—not duty. I never want to try to motivate anyone with guilt. It doesn’t work, and it is counter-productive. It just loads people down with a burden they can’t bear and it never helps them be successful at sharing their faith.

It all starts successfully with

A. Christ=s love for us 2 Cor. 5:14‑15

2 Cor. 5:14‑15, “For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. [15] And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” If we are not overwhelmed with the love of God, if we do not enjoy Him and His presence, if we are not experiencing the love, joy, and peace that come from Him, then we will get it all wrong. But when we really grasp that Christ died for us—not just in our heads, because I think most of us know that and believe that—but when we get it in our hearts, then we will feel this compulsion to share that love with others. We are not our own, we belong to Christ, and we want to serve Him, to live for Him.

B. Our love for others 1 Thess 2:8

And then He gives us His love for other people. When Paul went as a missionary to the city of Thessalonica, he described his ministry there in these words: 1 Thes. 2:8, “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.” It’s not just a matter of dumping some information on people, not just “give them the gospel” and run. No, we give them our lives, because they mean so much to us. Christ’s love for us, and our love for others are the primary motivations why we would even try to make an impact on this community.

That means relationships are key to the whole thing. To begin with,

V. Relationships…

A. Are more important than programs

Some efforts to help others are simply do-gooder programs, and not much more. Some programs like that actually discourage building meaningful relationships with people. You stand behind a table and dish out food to hungry people. That’s important, of course, but it doesn’t afford much of an opportunity to get to be friends with someone. When we host the homeless here with InterFaith Hospitality Network, the key is not just providing a home cooked meal, though that’s good; but the key is in being friendly, in chatting with people, in building trust, and in the context of that relationship, the good news can be heard.

That leads to the next point: relationships

B. Come before propositional truth

There is a place for proclaiming the good news, of course. And there is a place for being able to intellectually defend our faith—there are good answers for the honest questions people have. But today more than ever, people don=t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Unless we build the friendship, we won’t have the chance to share the truth in the context that allows them to hear it. How receptive are you when some Mormon or Jehovah’s Witness knocks on your door and wants to tell you about their faith? We have to earn the right to be heard, and the way we do that is by genuinely loving and serving people. This is why I am encouraging Chris to find us ways to connect with our community that build relationships, and are not just “hit-and-run” type encounters.

Here’s an example of how relationships have played into a program and have led to the opportunity to share God’s truth. Nate Howard has a ministry in a park in Kansas City with some homeless men. He and some other students from Mid-America Nazarene College go to the park every week, and grill hamburgers and hot dogs for some men. They have been doing this for over a year now, and the men have not only come to expect it, but have grown to be friends with the students. In the context of those friendships, spiritual ministry to the men’s deepest needs is beginning to emerge.

If you feel insecure and uncomfortable talking about your faith with a stranger, it will be 100 times easier with a friend.

This focus on love enables us to

VI. Distinguish Between the Sin and the Sinner Luke 7:47

--between symptoms and the disease of sin. Don=t get hung up on the sinful behaviors of people, but cut through that. We don=t criticize a cancer patient for looking pale and weak, because that’s a symptom of their disease. AJesus looked past my faults and saw my needs,@ and we need to do that with others.

There’s a great story in Luke 7, where Jesus was eating at a Pharisee’s house, and a prostitute came in and stood behind Jesus, weeping, and letting her tears fall on His feet. Then she wiped His feet and dried them with her hair, kissed them, and poured perfume on them. The Pharisee was scandalized that she was in his house, but even more so that Jesus would let her do that to Him. Jesus explained Himself in this way: Luke 7:47, “Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven‑‑for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." Her actions were proof of her love, and she loved Him because she sensed forgiveness, not judgment, from Him.

What do you think people feel most from you—grace, acceptance, forgiveness, understanding of their humanness? or judgment, criticism, and condemnation? If we have truly soaked in Jesus’ unconditional love, then we will be able to pass that on to others.

VII. Body-life 1 Cor. 12:4‑7

Finally, we need each other. No one person has all the necessary gifts. We are each a part of the whole Body of Christ, and each of us is necessary to the task. 1 Cor. 12:4‑7 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. [5] There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. [6] There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. [7] Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. One person is great at explaining the gospel and answering questions. Another is stronger at praying people into the kingdom. Another is just the completely accepting friend, who lowers their guard because there is nothing to defend themselves against. Another finds real joy and satisfaction in organizing and leading things; another does the details and loves to help behind the scenes. None of us is complete in ourselves. We need each other. So let=s find ways to work together, like the four men who brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus, even though they had to cut through the roof to do it.

Q & A

Now I’d like to try to answer some common questions people ask as they and we think about the future of Faith Church. These are from a document called The Vision of Faith Church, which the elders approved a number of years ago, but it was so long ago that most of the men on the session now probably do not remember it. Nonetheless, this was our view at that time, and I continue to think these perspectives are valid.

1. Where Does Evangelism Take Place?

Evangelism properly happens in two places.

A. The church scattered

When I attended Fourth Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., the pastor there, Dr. Richard Halverson, when asked where his church was, would look at his watch and say, “Well, right now, the church is on Capitol Hill, and in the Justice Department, and in schools and businesses all over town.” The church is wherever we are, because the church is the people. So where does evangelism take place? Wherever we are, in our relationships with people all over the community.

The gospel imperative is “go”. Not, “invite them to come,” but go. Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Go make disciples of all nations. We are to go where the lost sheep are, and adapt ourselves to them there. We are not to ask them to come into our worship services and adapt themselves to us.

We expect to find many more avenues to go into our community in the coming year, and I hope that many of you will take advantage of them. But in many cases, you are already there, in your work place, in your school, in your neighborhood. So it’s not a matter of adding something else to your schedule, so much as it is a matter of looking at the people you rub shoulders with with new eyes and a new heart.

B. The church gathered

But secondly, the church will provide events from time to time which will help you in your ministry with your friends. Think of these events as spiritual CPR: They can be either Cultivating (very low-key, little to no spiritual content; the emphasis is on building relationships and good will. Ex: softball); Planting (the Bible is mentioned, some truth is conveyed, for example, directed toward a felt need, or by way of exploring some current topic of interest. Ex: Love and Respect marriage seminar); or Reaping (the gospel is presented, and an opportunity to respond in faith is given. Ex: the comedy nights we’ve had). The primary place evangelism takes place is in the context of our friendships with people in the community who do not yet know the love, joy, and peace of a relationship with Christ. And from time to time, the church will host programs or events that will help us with that.

2. What Will Sunday Morning Look Like?

I do not see that we will adapt our worship to the unchurched to any great extent. We can certainly be more “sensitive” to seekers, but I don’t expect us to revamp the whole thrust of the services to appeal to non-Christians. We call these times “worship”, which by definition is for believers. I understand and respect the philosophy behind using worship services as the primary outreach vehicle, but I do not agree with it. Because the worship services are geared primarily for believers, I do not anticipate giving an invitation on a regular basis. Exceptions to that might be Christmas and Easter, when we anticipate a larger number of unchurched people will come here, and other times when it naturally fits with the text or theme for the day.

3. How Big Will We Be?

I really don’t know. Size is not the goal. The goal is to be more biblical, in the sense of being balanced in the Three Priorities, and hence, much more intentional and successful at winning people to Christ.

If we are successful at winning people to Christ, some of them will inevitably come to our church, and the church will grow. It doesn’t matter how big it gets, or how small it stays, as long as we are adding to the Kingdom. At present, most of our growth comes from wonderful Christians who find us, and we are grateful for them, but the kingdom of God is not growing much through us. We have to fix that, and leave the resulting size of our church to God.

Another point needs to be added here: if you have a thousand people in church on a Sunday, and most of them are immature, carnal believers who bring disrepute on the name of Christ by the way they live the rest of the week, or who can’t feed themselves or reproduce themselves spiritually, are you accomplishing your goal? Absolutely not. The Great Commission is to “teach them to obey all that I have commanded you,” so we have to disciple new believers to maturity in Christ. I’m not interested in merely adding numbers to the morning worship attendance.

4. Will We Build Another Building?

If the church grows, we will have to provide for that growth. I feel very strongly that we should add services before buildings, and we are currently in the process of talking about what a third service would look like. We are also exploring the possibility of building a larger sanctuary on this property, and trying to factor that in to everything else we do. But I want to build the congregation to be as large as possible in this facility before we build something else.

“The Life Saving Station”

by Frank Voight

You have heard this story before, but I think it bears repeating, because it is so appropriate for us.

“On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur was a crude, little lifesaving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat. The few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea. With no thought for themselves, they went out, day or night, searching tirelessly for the lost. So many lives were saved by the wonderful little station that it became famous.

“Some of those who were saved, and various others in the surrounding area, wanted to become associated with the station, and gave of their time, money, and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought, and new crews were trained. The little lifesaving station grew.

“Some of the new members of the lifesaving station were unhappy because the building was crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. So they replaced the emergency cots with beds, and put better furniture in an enlarged building.

“Now the lifesaving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they redecorated it beautifully and furnished it exquisitely, because they used it as a club. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on lifesaving missions, so they hired crews to do this work. The lifesaving motif still prevailed in the club decoration, however, and a symbolic lifesaving boat dominated the room where initiation took place.

“About this time, a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crew brought in boat loads of cold, wet, and half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick; some had black skin, and some had yellow skin. The beautiful club was considerably messed up. So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming inside.

“At the next meeting, a split took place in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the lifesaving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal life of the club. Other members insisted on lifesaving as their primary purpose, and pointed out that they were still called a lifesaving station. They were finally voted down, however, and told that if they wanted to save the lives of various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own lifesaving station down the coast. They did.

“As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a club, and yet another lifesaving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself; and if you visit that coast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters. But most people drown.”

Friends, it is God’s will that Faith Church be a life saving station, not a club. I very seldom say that phrase, “it is God’s will” about anything related to our plans as a church. I’m a little suspicious of pastors who use that phrase all the time: “It’s God’s will that we do this, or that.” All they are doing is slapping that label on their own desires. But there is no doubt about this in my mind at all. It is God’s will that Faith Church be a life saving station. And by His grace, and His power, that’s what we are going to become.