Monday, August 26, 2019

Invited to Church - August 25, 2019



OPINION?
In Matthew, Peter tells Jesus that He is the Messiah… Jesus responds
Matthew 16:18a “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church…”

Everyone I know has an opinion on the church… some positive… some negative…
STORY: I can remember the first time as a teen, I invited my friend to come to church. He was popular and a star on the basketball team. He was very hesitant… his big complaints, the church was a bunch of hypocrites & all they ever talked about was money… the day he came to church… the pastor got up and started talking about a building campaign to add a new gym & education wing to the church… he talked about money the whole sermon… and to make matters worse, when my friend left he hurt himself (no kidding)… where there should have been double doors/full glass panel… bloody nose… his opinion didn’t change much that day… he never came back.

My bet is that if I went around this morning and asked you what your opinion about the church was… I’d get 40 different answers… I’d bet we’d hear different things in both services …I’d even bet that your opinion has changed a few times over the years…
·      When NICKY GUMBEL, the founder of Alpha was in college… he was an atheist. And, he even called himself an angry or hostile atheist towards Christians. So when his roommates became believers and started going to church, he said this “Oh my gosh, they were such lovely people. How can I help them?!”
·      1st minute of this Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIc6KGE3ZY0
·      I love the honesty… and I think if we polled downtown Bloom or Uptown Norm, we’d get even more responses.
·      Abraham Lincoln said this about church: “If all the people who fell asleep in church were laid out end to end… they’d be a lot more comfortable.”
·      This is funny, but for some of us our view on church is filled with pain & regret.

Today, we are going to explore CHURCH. But I want us all to realize how ingrained our “opinions” and perception are to what church means? And how it’s supposed to work.

Last weekend, Corrie opened up our series called INVITED. She explored this idea that Everyone is Invited to Faith… no matter your background, family, sins, or failures. Everyone is welcome at the table to meet with Jesus. Now, for many, we believe that Jesus likes us… we may even like Him, but many do not believe this about the CHURCH.

Today, we’re exploring the idea that not only are people Invited to believe, but we are actually welcomed into the Church… there is not an “arrived” moment, but rather we are invited to participate in the Church even if we are skeptical or hostile. There will NOT be, nor has there EVER been someone “struck by lightning” when they came to church.

THE PROBLEM? The church has not done a very good job of making this a reality. It has been hypocritical, judgmental and sometimes hostile to those outside the weekly meetings. We need to break down this barrier and realize even the most broken, desperate or sinful person deserves a seat at the table.

DEFINING CHURCH
So, what did Jesus mean when he said that he’d build his church in Matthew 16?
·       a nice country white building - potlucks - everyone knows everyone?
·      or high church - same thing every week - religious ceremony?
·      or spectator church - concert - watching the show not engaging with what is actually happening that Sunday?
·      What about here? Is this church?

What did Jesus mean? Because none of these things existed in 30AD…
Webster’s Dictionary will know right!?
·      a building for public and especially Christian worship
·      the clergy or officialdom of a religious body
·      the persons that are ordained for the ministry
·      Is that what Jesus meant? A public building… clergy… something else?

Original intent of the word Ekklesia/Church
·      Called out group… non-religious term for an assembly
·      For what? For conversation!
·      The church is simply a group of people “called into the public arena for a discussion on faith.”
·      Not a club… not just for those who believe… rather, the church is a public place for discussion. It was never intended to be another temple of worship...

Jesus was attempting to RE-Define his cultures conversation about Faith.
Today, we’re exploring the idea that not only are people Invited to Church. Everyone is invited to participate in the discussion even if we are skeptical or hostile… because you’re not invited to a club or organization… it’s much bigger than that.

WE’RE STARTING A BRAND-NEW CONVERSATION…
An invitation to Church… is an invitation to the discussion of our Faith in Jesus.
·      When you discover that the church isn’t the building, the clergy, or the music - you may actually begin to like… or even love… the church.
·      For the rest of this talk, what I want to discuss is what makes “this discussion” so amazing & unique… and different than what people expect.
·      We are going to look at it through the lens of the letter to Ephesus as it’s one of my favorite letters to the church… to those involved in this new conversation…

In this new conversation, you can have a relationship with God.
·      In Jesus’ day, all kinds of Public Discussion (church) was taking place… and the same is true today (social media, coffee houses, etc)… Jesus turned the discussion on its head and made it about Him J.
·      Peter’s confession in Matthew 16 - we are going to base this public conversation on the idea that Jesus is the Messiah… that He is God’s son… that He is our Savior and Lord… that He is everything that we need.
·      So, the early church founded the conversation on the stuff of Jesus… His Kingdom, His power, Heaven, Forgiveness, Healing, etc.
·      The conversation was founded on our amazing God.
·      Ephesians 1:4-5 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
·      What makes this so amazing is that the conversation is wrapped up in a Lord who not only loves us but wants us and chooses us as His very own. (even if we don’t choose him)

In this new conversation, you can be a part of God’s Family
·      What makes this unique is that it’s an invitation to a family… a family discussion… a family of faith… not just an argument in the public arena.
·      Ephesians 2:19 puts it this way…19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.
·      Do you hear what the apostle Paul is saying?
·      Race, class, background, and personality type don’t matter in God’s family
·      Aside: we haven’t always done a great job of expressing this… I want to apologize
·      But the truth is… our founder, Jesus, says that those who join His church he actually calls friends! (John 15)
·      Friends are so important in Jesus’ church!
o   Happy - 6 friends in 6 months or you’ll leave the church
o   That’s why the church is made up of lots of smaller groups
·      You’re invited to belong to this family… and once you begin participating in the family, it’s not that the conversation is over.
·      Rather, you’re saying, this is a conversation that I want to have the rest of my life!
In this new conversation, you can join a worldwide family.
When we enter into God’s family, we become a part of something so much bigger than ourselves… and even so much bigger than our local church… we become a part of what God is doing around the world…
·      Ephesians 4:4-6 There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call - one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
We are part of a giant family & in spite of what you might hear, the family of God is getting bigger and bigger every single year… here are some fun stats for you!
·      Since 1970 - over 1 billion people have come to faith in Jesus
·      1 church in South America averages 45,000 on Sundays &10 million online
·      In Africa - by 1900 = 10 million believers
·      In Africa - by 2000 there were 360 million believers
·      In China - by 1940 there were 4 million believers
·      In China today there are over 100 million believers
·      A church in South Korea has 100,000 people in small groups
·      Finally, Life Church that started in Oklahoma has 100,000 on Sundays in almost 40 multi-site locations across many different states.
When you join the church, you’re participating in the largest public discussion on faith the world has ever seen! And I think the reason its impact is so great is because…

In this new conversation, it’s about LOVEnot more religion!
·      Not only is the church about a loving relationship with Jesus
·      But the church is about a loving relationship with each other.
·      AND about loving those not yet in the conversation.
·      The church has been famous for a lot of atrocious things throughout history…
o   The crusades to Jerusalem/ Burning women at the stake/ Bigotry and hatred
·      BUT the church should be Famous for its Love.
·      The church should be less a club & more like a Hospital
o   people finding faith... family & friends …healing, freedom, forgiveness, etc.
·      One pastor in the UK was trying to describe the church’s loving impact on his country and he explained it this way in 2017…
o   The church is Jesus to our world
o   We spend time feeding and caring for the poor in our cities
o   We world to nullify sex trafficking in our country
o   Over ½ of the preschool and parenting groups are run by the church in UK
o   We are the largest group of debt-cancelors in our country
o   We fed over 100,000 hungry people last year
o   We are often the first responders when tragedy or natural disaster strikes.
o   Our buildings become havens and homes for the broken communities
o   Not to mention comfort and hope given during funerals
·      Ephesians 5:1-2 Be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering & sacrifice to God.
·      The church is a unique conversation… and should become famous for its Love.


BRIDE OF CHRIST
When you discover that the church isn’t the building, the clergy, or the music - you can actually fall in LOVE with the church.

Illustration:  Anyone have a friend that you struggled to love the person’s spouse when you first met them? You loved your friend, but you were unsure about their new husband/wife.
The church is the “Bride of Christ.” It is the thing that Jesus loves most in this world… despite all of her hurts and hang-ups… her flaws… He looks upon her with love.

Ephesians 5 - look at this picture of Jesus’ love for the church:
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish

Jesus has on “love goggles” when it comes to the church friends J

Some of us may need to fall in love with the church today…
·      Realizing Jesus is the center of the church’s conversation.
·      Realizing Jesus loves His church!
·      Realizing the church is God’s family.
·      Realizing the church is God’s instrument of love to impact our world.

For others of you, the need is different…
·      Realize how much Jesus loves you.
·      Realize how much Jesus wants you in the conversation.
·      Realize you can come with your doubts, fears, critiques, and skepticism.
·      Realize you can be YOU in this family.

For people in both of these groups, I believe some of you need to get baptized.
·      For this is how we enter the church
o   Faith (only we can give this)
o   Holy Spirit (only God can give this)
o   Baptism (only the church can give this)
·      Some of us need to publicly join the family of God today
·      I know you’ve got excuses
o   Don’t know enough
o   Towels & T-shirts
o   Pictures and video for family.
·      Take a leap of faith… and let the church give you this gift.

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