TITLE: “Loving our cities to Life”
TEXT: Acts 1-2
THEME: God is excited about Bloomington-Normal.
MY JOURNEY
Did you know that God is excited about
Bloomington-Normal?
Growing up in Lincoln IL, most
people commuted to either Springfield or Bloomington for work. I remember for
years my mom went to night school in Springfield… which meant that we went to
dinner, the mall and did fun stuff in Springfield… but one day she got a job at
Sate Farm so where we went for “fun” shifted to B-N (there’s nothing to do in Lincoln)
…and I actually got excited about BN. I liked the malls better, the Barnes and
Noble better… and the shear number of restaurants all on one strip made it easier
for me to find stuff.
That continued into my college
years as ISU became one of my potential destinations (undergraduate teaching
degree) after I finished a year or two of Bible School. In fact, Corrie and I’s
very first “official date” was at the Bone Center… and the Chili’s here was our
“go to spot” all through our college years… so for years, when someone said
Bloomington, it held in our hearts a piece of excitement.
But God was more excited about
Bloomington-Normal than us.
Time drew on. The Waters’ clan
moved to Ohio… started a church and a young family… and our excitement went to
new places and things. Then in 2008, our Sr. Pastor Happy Leman sent me a
lengthy 10-page email about his VISION for the future of the Vineyard in
Illinois. It involved sending out 10 missionaries, 10 church planters and 10
multi-site campuses over the next 10 years (2010-2020) …and we got excited
again about central Illinois… and after 10 years in Ohio, we decided to come
home. In fact, we initially got pretty excited about coming back to BN in 2010.
But God was
still WAY more excited than we
were.
Over the next 4 years, God built
within us a desire to see His Kingdom come alive powerfully in everything that
we did… He built His excitement for impacting not just a few people, but entire
cities with His love, His grace, His power and more within us. And in 2014, the
same month we saw the birth of our twin girls
(Emberly Pippa - beautiful fire and Eleora
Merry -joyful light)… Happy (Sr.), Jim (exec) and the Waters’ hearts all came
together to say “YES” to partnering with God’s excitement for B-N.
God’s Journey with Us
Do you realize God is excited about
Bloomington-Normal?
…Holy Spirit has been moving and
working in these cities for a long time… now, we’ve been invited, as the
Vineyard church, to join in God’s excitement for this place… God’s heart is on
fire and filled with great joy for the roughly 175,000 people in our metro
area.
If God is excited about B-N, we
need to ask a few questions:
1) How do we shape the society around us?
2) What does our city need?
Before we can answer those
questions, we need to understand TWO THINGS…
…that God is always thinking bigger than
just one person. He is excited about entire families, communities, and
even nations. He wants to co-create with us to change the world… He wants to
share in the journey… He wants to empower us to shape the nations.
Listen to how Jesus talks to his
disciples after his resurrection in Acts 1:4
Once when Jesus was eating with
them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the
gift he promised, as I told you before. 5 John baptized with water, but in just
a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
6 So when the apostles were with
Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel
and restore our kingdom?”
7 He
replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and
they are not for you to know. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit
comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me
everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout
Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Before we can answer those
questions, we need to understand…
…the four stages of God transforming
a city.
Stage 1: Renewal
·
Helping
believers be what they should have been/who God created them to be
·
Identity
·
Love
·
Community
·
Not
just about living better lives, but actually being changed people…
· Leading changed lives
·
When the Holy Spirit births renewal in a church, it’s exciting!
Acts 2 On the day of Pentecost all the
believers were meeting together in one place.2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven
like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were
sitting. 3 Then, what
looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of
them. 4 And everyone
present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.
When the HS births renewal it leads to Stage 2: Revival—
Ø
Must
break out into the community.
Ø
True
life change can’t be contained in a building.
Ø
People
will naturally share what they have!
Ø People coming to know Jesus for the
first time… or returning to greater faith in Him.
Ø In Acts 2, Peter stands up in the
street during a festival and preaches the truth of the gospel…
Ø 37 Peter’s
words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles,
“Brothers, what should we do?”
Ø 38 Peter
replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized
in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 This promise
is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by
the Lord our God.” 40 Then Peter continued
preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves
from this crooked generation!”
Ø 41 Those
who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that
day—about 3,000 in all.
Ø Imagine
the impact of 1,000s of new believers.
That kind of social ramification can only lead to…
Stage 3: Reformation
§
When reformation happens, social structures can shift, so that
society reflects Christian principles
§
Our cities will actually begin to look more and more like Jesus.
§
Acts 2:42-46 All
the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship,
and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.
§ A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many
miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place
and shared everything they had.
§
They sold their property
and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped
together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared
their meals with great joy and generosity.
§ Imagine if God empowered us so
much, and so many came to find faith in Jesus that…
o Our social interaction would change.
o Miracles would become the norm.
o Generosity would be commonplace.
o That Holy Spirit’s impact on our city would
be felt daily.
Reformation of our society
leads to…
Stage 4: Restoration
·
Humanity
wasn’t designed to know shame, sin, feel pain.
·
If you
know these, they were not from the Father… these are the thoughts of the enemy.
·
We were
designed to live in paradise.
·
Acts 3:17-26. We are waiting for the restoration of all
things.
·
The
gospel message is not “join our club.”
·
The gospel message is to come back to what
you were designed to be. This is a great game changer.
· 47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of
all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being
saved.
Our Journey Together…
God is excited about Bloomington-Normal…
and way more excited than we are…
If God is excited about B-N
1) How do we begin shape the society around us?
2) How do we begin to meet our city’s needs?
3) How do we go on God’s journey of Renewal, Restoration, Reformation
& Restoration?
Our churches exist to serve
and provide a Kingdom destiny for all who live in a community.
We do this by forming a unique church
environment that…
·
creates a COMMUNITY OF HOPE
(Renewal)
·
cultivates has a COMMITMENT to
EXCELLENCE (Renewal)
·
challenges us to have a CULTURE of INVITATION
(Revival)
·
considers themselves CARRIERS of the GOSPEL
(Reformation)
·
charges us with CONTINUING JESUS’
MINISTRY (Restoration)
The greatest power of the church is not just the gathered saints but also
the scattered servants!
To close, let’s take a minute
and listen to the founder of the Vineyard, John Wimber talk about partnering
with Jesus to “do this stuff.”
- VIDEO – https://vimeo.com/96681615
We want to change the world with Jesus…
·
It starts with capturing God’s excitement for
our cities.
·
It starts with that excitement creating a unique
church culture.
·
It starts with the Holy Spirit empowering us.
·
It starts with us “Loving our Cities to Life!”
through continuing Jesus’ ministry.
Let’s pray.
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