January 5, 2003

Service Theme – "Our God is Jesus"

Matthew 28:18-20; 22:34-40

Jesus: Savior or Spoof?

1. Introduction

Illustration – NEW YEAR’S LETTER TO THE PASTOR

Dear Pastor:

Christmas Holidays (the Sunday before & after) 2

New Years (the party lasted too long) 1

Easter (get away for the holidays) 2

July 4th (national holidays) 1

Labor Day (need to get away) 2

Memorial Day (visit hometown folk) 1

School closing (kids need a break) 1

School reopens (one last fling) 1

Family reunions (mine & wife’s) 3

Sleep late (stayed up too long Saturday night) 9

Deaths in family 2

Anniversary (second honeymoon) 1

Sickness (one per family member) 5

Business trip (a must) 1

Vacation (three to four weeks) 6

Bad weather (ice, snow, rain, clouds) 2

Ball games 2

Races 2

Unexpected company (can’t walk out) 2

Time changes (spring & fall) 2

Special on TV (Superbowl, etc) 3

Sincerely,

A Faithful Member

1. Context – While we find that letter a bit humorous, it also makes us a little uncomfortable because maybe it hits a little too close to home. All of us have had times, myself included, when we made excuses rather than go to church. Maybe the real reason is that God’s getting too close, that He’s challenging us to allow Him to change who we are and how we do things. But, as we’ll see in today’s Scripture, we’ve got to get past the excuses if we want to see God work powerfully in our hearts and lives.

1. Scripture Passage

1. Matthew 28:18-20 (from The Message) – Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."
2. Matthew 22:34-40 (from The Message) – When the Pharisees heard how he had bested the Sadducees, they gathered their forces for an assault. One of their religious scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: "Teacher, which command in God’s Law is the most important?" Jesus said, "’Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself." These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them."

1. Our Mission and Vision

1. We’ve talked about these passages and how they relate to our church before, but I believe it is important to review them and keep them in the forefront of our minds. So today we’re going to talk about them in the context of reviewing our mission and vision statements, and then see what we have been doing to fulfill them, what we can do to fulfill them and what obstacles there are in our path to fulfilling the mission and vision God has given to us.
2. First, let’s review our mission statement, the stated purpose for our existence. Sodaville Evangelical Church exists to:

1. Our vision statement, how our mission will be fulfilled, is this: The passion of Sodaville Evangelical Church is to reach people for Christ by accepting all people where they’re at and moving them toward Christ-like maturity. We do this by providing a safe and stable place to share, serve, and grow together into a loving Christian family. I believe just as firmly now as the day we wrote these two statements out that they outline God’s intentions for us as a church. So how are we doing in light of them?
2. I’ve taken our mission statement and broken it down into four areas in the life of our church that need equal attention and emphasis if we’re going to fulfill the vision God has given us. Those four areas are worship (loving God), community (sharing His love with you), evangelism (reaching out with compassion), and discipleship (applying the Bible and prayer to real life). Let’s take a look at how we’re doing in each area, what we can do, and obstacles to fulfilling them more effectively.

1. Worship

1. The first area is worship, or loving God. What are we doing to worship God more effectively? While recognizing the fact that worship is a lifestyle, let’s focus for a moment on the worship services of our church. The biggest single commitment we have made in the last year to improving our worship service is the upgrading of our sound system and the installation of our projection system. That was an expensive move, and while we’re still working on adjusting the system to meet our needs, there has been definite improvement in the sound quality and in projecting our song lyrics. Also, being able to put sermon thoughts on the screen helps me communicate better what God has laid on my heart. The upgrades are a tool to be used for God’s glory, and God will reward the step of faith we took in spending His resources on this project.
2. What can we do in the future to enhance opportunities for worship? First, we can continue the training and development of our worship team. I believe they do a great job because their hearts are in it for the right reason: to help others touch God’s heart in worship. Is there room for improvement? You bet, but we are making the effort to improve. Additional instruments can be added as people follow God’s leading in this direction. Second, we can continue to look for ways to increase the use of multimedia during our worship services. By multimedia I mean use of videos, PowerPoint, drama, and other musical methods such as last week when Rebecca signed to that wonderful song by Avalon. Increasing the use of multimedia also means a leader with a passion for worship who will step forward to take charge of the media booth. Third, we can increase the number of opportunities for community worship by adding another worship service. In fact, the council has already voted this year to do just that. Yes, I know our sanctuary is not full right now, but the truth is that if we’re going to bring new people into our church, many of them unchurched, we’re going to have to provide more opportunities for them to come and experience what worshipping God is all about. These are just a few ideas for more effectively fulfilling God’s mission and vision in the area of worship, and we’re open to hearing other suggestions.
3. What are the obstacles that we have to overcome if we’re going to fulfill God’s mission and vision in the area of worship? The first and most obvious is fear. Fear of change. Fear of the unknown. Fear of involvement. Fear that we’ll be made a little uncomfortable. Fear of embarrassing ourselves. Fear of not knowing where the financial resources necessary to fulfill this mission and vision are going to come from. This is where the rubber meets the road in determining whether we believe Jesus to be our Savior or a spoof. You see, we can say all we want that Jesus is our Savior and Lord, but our actions will determine whether or not those are just empty words. If we believe Jesus to be Savior, we will accept and even embrace the change He leads us into. If we believe Him to be spoof, we’ll insist that things stay the same no matter what. If we believe Jesus to be Savior, we will learn to view the unknown as new opportunities for His power to shine in our church. If we believe Him to be spoof, we’ll always play it safe in all we do as a church. If we believe Jesus to be Savior, we will involve ourselves wholeheartedly in whatever He leads us into without reservation, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us. If we believe Him to be spoof, we will involve ourselves only in what is "safe" and comfortable. If we believe Jesus to be Savior, we will swallow our pride and do whatever He leads us into, even if it means we risk making mistakes in public and embarrassing ourselves. If we believe Him to be spoof, our pride will dictate what we will and won’t do, and how we view and treat others who take risks. If we believe Jesus to be Savior, we’ll see Him as being the owner of everything in the universe and as being more than able to finance the steps of faith He leads us into. If we believe Him to be spoof, we will take no chances financially whatsoever. As I said before, our behavior will indicate whether we believe Him to be Savior or spoof in our worship.

1. Community

1. The second area of God’s mission and vision for our church we’re looking at is community. Community is simply what we do to foster relationships with each other and unity of focus and direction in following God’s leading. What have we done in the past year to more effectively develop biblical community in our church? A few I came up with were our New Year’s Eve progressive dinner and family game night, our Valentine’s dinner, potlucks, the soup supper, the church picnic after the baptism ceremony, the Fourth of July barbecue, and TLC groups, including the monthly joint Care Group meetings. These are all great times of fun, relationship building, and fellowship.
2. What can we do to more effectively share God’s love with others? One of the things I’ve noticed about our fellowship events, except for the Care Groups, is that they tend to be clumped together. Part of that is my fault for not spreading the visits of some of our guest speakers and the subsequent potlucks out a little more this past fall. So maybe we should work on determining ways to schedule fellowship events throughout the year. Maybe a quarterly family game night on a Friday night. Again, we’re open to hearing suggestions about new things to try for the expressed purpose of building community in our church.
3. What are some obstacles to fulfilling God’s mission and vision for us in the area of community? Fear of time restrictions. Fear of getting hurt. Fear of no one showing up (one of my big ones). Again, this is where the rubber meets the road in determining whether we believe Jesus to be our Savior or a spoof. If we believe Jesus to be Savior, we will make spending time with people in our church a priority by actually doing it. I say this recognizing that for some folks their work schedules are an obstacle that they can’t overcome in most instances. But if you fit this category, there are still things you can be involved with in the area of community. If we believe Jesus to be spoof, we’ll consistently use our schedule as an excuse to keep from being in community with those in our church. If we believe Jesus to be Savior, we’ll allow Him to heal those hurts from the past through forgiveness and open the door to new relationships with those in our church, recognizing that getting hurt is a fact of relationships no matter who we’re in relationship with. If we believe Him to be spoof, we’ll keep the door to our heart locked and keep people at a safe distance emotionally so we can’t get hurt again. If we believe Jesus to be Savior, we’ll take the chance that we’ll look stupid if no one shows up, knowing that God will use the circumstances for His glory anyway and that we can always try something different. If we believe Him to be spoof, we won’t try new things because we won’t allow Him to overcome our pride. Again, our behavior will indicate whether we believe Him to be Savior or spoof in this faith community.

1. Evangelism

1. The third area we’re looking at to see how we’re fulfilling God’s mission and vision is evangelism. This is probably the hardest one for most of us. Evangelism is quite simply, as our mission statement puts it, reaching out with compassion. Touching people where they live, loving and accepting them where they’re at while giving them a hand into the new life that’s available to them in Jesus Christ. What have we done in the past year to reach out with compassion? First, we have opened the doors to our hearts and our church to those in our community through our Christmas activities – our children’s musical, caroling in the community, the Christmas Eve service. We also opened ourselves to the people in our area through Harvest Fest, which I believe was the best one since I’ve been here in terms of accomplishing our mission and vision. We have placed free "Jesus" videos in the Sodaville Store, both for adults and for kids, and many have gone out into the community. A member of our church purchased the church licensed version of this film on DVD for us, and maybe Good Friday evening would be a great time to have a community showing of it. Several other events have opened our doors to people in our area, such as Easter activity day, the "More than Skin Deep" girls’ sleepover, and the ladies’ teas and luncheons. These are all great ways to reach out with compassion to those who don’t know Jesus.
2. What can we do to more effectively fulfill God’s mission and vision in the area of evangelism? One thing I’ve noticed is that we tend to clump many of our activities and events around Christmas and Easter, which is not a bad thing because those are times of the year when people’s hearts naturally turn to spiritual matters. But maybe we should develop outreach events and activities for other times of the year. Again, we’re open to hearing suggestions for new ways to reach out.
3. What are some obstacles to more effectively fulfilling the mission and vision God has for us in the area of evangelism? Time commitment. Financial issues. Fear of being hurt. We’ve talked about all these before, but the bottom line is still the same. If we believe Jesus to be Savior, we’ll allow Him to overcome these obstacles by following Him obediently in faith. If we believe Him to be spoof, we’ll consistently play it safe. Again, our behavior will indicate whether we believe Him to be Savior or spoof in our efforts at evangelism.

1. Discipleship

1. The last area we’re looking at to see how we’re fulfilling God’s mission and vision is discipleship. Discipleship is simply, as our mission statement puts it, applying the Bible and prayer to real life. In other words, it’s learning how to daily live out our faith in a world that makes it difficult to do. Here are some things we’ve done in the past year to become more mature disciples of Jesus Christ. Seventeen people in 2002 were involved at some time or another in Discipleship Training. I will go out on a limb to say that, if you’re serious about your relationship with Jesus Christ, you will involve yourself in this program. We also held our first Saturday Seminar with two classes, one on prayer and one an Old Testament overview, and four people in attendance. Our next one will be on January 18^th from nine to noon. It’s called New Testament Overview, but it will also cover the dates and events of times both between the two Testaments and of the early church. Sunday School classes, kids’ clubs, and youth group also contributed to the spiritual growth of our people.
2. What can we do to more effectively fulfill God’s mission and vision for us to become mature disciples of His Son? Continue and even expand our efforts in Discipleship Training and the Saturday Seminars. Have a new Youth Leader step forward who will be a spiritual father and mentor to those kids. Maybe at some point acquire a satellite system and show some of the excellent simulcasts that are available through Christian Communications Network. There are some excellent video series, and we own a few ourselves, that can help us better understand what being a disciple is all about in our daily lives. Kim and I are planning on leading a HomeBuilders group based on Family Life material we found out about at the marriage conference we went to. This group will help those of us who are married to apply biblical principles to our relationships with our spouses and with our kids. Again, we’re open to hearing any suggestions for new things we can try to more effectively fulfill our mission and vision in this area of discipleship.
3. What are some obstacles that stand in our way? Well, to be honest, I think we’ve discussed the major ones already. And the truth is that we will always find excuses, whether big or little, to keep from following God’s leading obediently in faith if we want to find those excuses. But if we believe Jesus to be Savior, we’ll follow Him obediently in faith no matter what the obstacles that come up to try to prevent us from becoming and making mature disciples of Jesus Christ. And if we believe Him to be spoof, we’ll always be effective at finding ways to keep things the same as they’ve always been. As the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding. Our behavior will indicate whether we believe Him to be Savior or spoof in discipleship.
4. What’s the point in sharing all this? Simple: God is challenging us to walk obediently in faith, following Him and taking risks for Him in order that His mission and vision for our church will be fulfilled. This is not the time for us to tremble with fear; it’s the time for us to be excited and filled with faith because of the great things God is going to do through us as we obediently follow Him in faith. Some of the stuff we’ll try will flop. But some of it will be effective beyond our wildest dreams and imaginations even if we have to wait to see the fruit grow. I’m excited about what God wants to do in us and through us. Are you willing to take some risks with me (and even lead and push me into a few) so that we will commit ourselves with reckless abandon to the cause of Christ here at Sodaville Evangelical Church? Are you willing to see His mission and vision for us be fulfilled?

1. Conclusion

1. I’m offering you two different ways of responding to God’s call this morning. First, recognizing the importance of prayer in accomplishing God’s will here on earth, I’m looking for people who are willing to pray. I’m looking for people who are willing to commit to praying for fifteen minutes each week for God’s will to be done in me and my family and for His protection over us, and to praying an additional fifteen minutes each week for God’s will to be done in and through our church and for His protection over it. That’s a total of thirty minutes per week, or an average of 4.2857 minutes per day. If you are willing to make that commitment please take either the communication card or another slip of paper from the seat in front of you and write "30 minutes of prayer" and sign and print your name. You will be my partner in prayer for my family, my ministry, and the ministry of our church, and I need your prayers. So go ahead and take a moment and do that if you’re willing to make this prayer commitment. You can leave those slips at the sound booth on your way out. I believe that it was E. M. Bounds who said that God does nothing apart from prayer.
2. So what’s the second opportunity I’m giving you to respond? Simply this: if you are willing to commit yourself to obediently following Christ in faith toward the fulfillment of His mission and vision for this church no matter what the cost, please stand. This isn’t a "standing is the right thing to do" issue. It’s a "I will follow Christ no matter what the cost, no excuses allowed" issue. If you’re making that commitment this morning, please stand now.