God's Big Picture: The Family

We are called to be a community of faith not just a collection of individuals. Jesus called together a group and taught them. Paul spent his ministry planting churches wherever God took him. We talk about the early church, meaning the early group of believers who gathered first in Jerusalem and then spreading out across the known world.

The church is the great passion of Jesus himself, something he said he would build and that not even the gates of hell would be able to close over it.

But great Christian community doesn’t just happen. It takes great commitment on the part of its members to make it happen. Great Christian community isn’t something someone does for you, it’s something you commit yourself to being a part of.

Let’s do a little exercise!

Suppose an alien lands in Cotton End and you have to describe to them what the church is without using the word church. What words or images might you choose to describe the church?

The Church as family

I know we all agree that when it comes to defining the church, the first thing we want to say is that the church is not the building, it’s the people. But it’s simply not enough to say that the church is the people.

We have to go a step further and say that the church is the people in relationship. Relationship with God and relationship with each other. We bear one another burdens (Gal.), we look out for each other, we don’t do stuff that would cause a weaker brother to fall. (1Cor.) We are more than just a collection of individuals who meet together on a weekly basis to share a common interest.

We are family, the household of God.

Amongst the many words that describe the many dimensions of being the church, family is one of those words that is sometimes overlooked. And yet it might just be the most important metaphor for the church that is used in the New Testament. Of all the images that Paul uses, family and family related terms are clearly quite frequent. In fact, Robert Banks in his book Paul’s idea of community goes so far as to say:

So numerous are these, and so frequently do they appear, that the comparison of the Christian community with a ‘family’ must be regarded as the most significant…

When we think of family related terms in the NT we think about words like:

Adoption

Abba Father

Brothers (and sisters)

Household

Inheritance

Heirs

Rick Warren in PDL: “We are created for community, fashioned for fellowship, and formed for a family, and none of us can fulfil God’s purposes by ourselves.”

But here’s the big question:

What turns a group of individuals into a family?

Let’s get into some small groups (like we did last week) and spend a little time thinking about that question.

Being family

Being a family is built on relationships. Relationships that are often costly requiring deep commitment, sacrificial support, challenging accountability and shared goals, hopes and dreams.

The key characteristic of God’s family is love.

Jesus said: “love one another…

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (Jn.13:34-35)

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. (15:12)

This is my command: Love each other. (15:17)

“Often we act as if relationships are something to be squeezed into our schedule. We talk about finding time for our children or making time for people in our lives. That gives the impression that relationships are just a part of our lives along with many other tasks. But God says relationships are what life is all about” [PDL 124-125]

The 10 commandments: 6 deal with our relationship with other people, 4 with our relationship with God.

“Relationships, not achievements or the acquisition of things, are what matters most in life.” [125]

Conclusion

Being family is costly. It demands commitment. It’s a commitment to:

#1 Fellowship and discipleship

Sharing life together, growing in faith together.

A great Christian community needs great Christians, and great Christians don’t grow on trees, they grow in nurturing hands of God and the fellowship of his people.

Great Christians are committed to each other (our core value: Genuine commitment to each other). They are committed to seeing through the great commandment: to love God and to love others as they would like to be loved.

#2 Mission

Mission will always feature. Although it’s one of our big themes that we will be looking at, it permeates everything other theme too. Great Christian community is shaped by its mission. A mission born in God’s heart and worked out through his church.

A great Christian community lives out a great purpose.

#3 Inclusion

Inclusion means:

That we believe that the community of Christian faith is the only place where a person can experience the life transforming power of God through Jesus Christ. It means we believe that the only hope this world has is in Jesus and that the church is the right place to find it.
And it means therefore, that everyone is welcome to come and discover this transforming love for themselves amongst a people who won’t condemn them or reject them, but who will love them, respect them, challenge them and walk with them through life’s challenges.

But the big question that remains is a deeply personal one.

What are you going to do about being a part of the family of God?

There is nothing like the local church when it is working right. Its beauty is indescribable. Its power is breathtaking. Its potential is unlimited. It comforts the grieving and heals the broken in the context of community. It builds bridges to seekers and offers truth to the confused. It provides resources for those in need and opens its arms to the forgotten, the downtrodden, the disillusioned. It breaks the chains of addiction, frees the oppressed, and offers belonging to the marginalized of this world. Whatever the capacity for human suffering, the church has a greater capacity for healing and wholeness… No other organization on earth is like the church. Nothing even comes close”
Bill Hybels Courageous Leadership p23

Welcome to the family.

God's Big Picture: The Journey

Today we’re going to do things a little differently. For the next four weeks we’re going to think about church. We’re going to consider the Big Picture of what church is and how church is what it is.

Let’s begin by briefly reminding ourselves of those core values, mission and purpose statements we committed ourselves to in January.

The five core values

1. A clear commitment to Christ
2. Genuine, authentic Christian lifestyle
3. Commitment to one another
4. Committed to serve and to reach our community
5. The centrality of prayer and worship in everything we do

The mission

To know God and to make God known

The purpose

To love people into a deep and growing relationship with Jesus Christ

For us, this describes the basis for being a great church. To help us realise this vision, we’re going to apply ourselves to four key themes:

The journey

The family

The community

The mission

Today we’re looking at the journey.

Understanding the journey

#1 Principles

Lost people matter to God

God’s heart is that everyone should be saved

Anyone can be saved

Everyone is somewhere on the journey

Coming to faith is a series of steps

Everyone is different (some coming running others are dragged kicking and screaming)

We have a role to play

Offering support
Teaching
Non-judgmental

It’s not our job to save anyone

At this point the congregation divided into small to groups to answer these three questions:

Who is on your heart at this time?
What groups of people are on your heart?
What should we do differently to help these people and groups move one step closer to God?

#2 Overcoming Obstacles

Cultural: Things like background and upbringing.

Social: Lifestyle choices

Theological: What do I truly believe? Is Dan Brown right or is the apostle Paul right? Why should I believe what you say is true?

Spiritual: Sin, the Bible tells us, leaves a person spiritually blind.

#3 How did Jesus approach the journey?

Bill Hybels in Just walk across the Room identifies 5 lessons from the master:

1. Bridge the chasm
2. Ask a question
3. Practice patience
4. Beware of rabbit trails
5. Give hope to the hopeless

Maybe as important as the things Jesus did, are the things he didn’t do. He didn’t:

• Start in the wrong place: Theology with Nicodemus but not with the Samaritan woman
• Dominate the conversation: He let the other person set the boundaries of the conversation. They had “stop/go control”. Yes, he asked good questions, he pushed doors, but I get the feeling that if the woman had said, “Let’s not go there,” Jesus would have changed direction.
• Criticise for the sake of criticism

Conclusion

So, if we agree that everyone in somewhere on a spiritual journey, then we must ask ourselves not only what the church needs to do differently to help these people but what are we going to do differently to be a spiritual guide or friend to the lost and missing we know and meet day after day.

So let me finish by asking you this one question: What are you going to do differently from now on to help those around you meet with God?

Wisdom for life

The Sermon on the Mount doesn’t just deal with what to believe, it deals with how to live as a follower of Jesus Christ.

Edward Mote wrote: On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is shifting sand.
Jesus calls us to make a decision and to choose the solid ground or shifting sand.

The first two steps to take

Step #1: Hear the words

It’s easy to hear without listening. Sometimes it’s because we don’t want to hear, sometimes it’s because we just can’t hear. But hear we must, if we’re going to take the right next step.
Jesus said that hearing was important for: Repentance; Understanding; Action
In fact, if you don’t hear what he’s saying, then there’s little chance that you will be able to do what he asks you to do.

Step #2 Put it into action

Apparently we’re easily led. Apparently advertisers find it easy to get us to do what we don’t actually want to do by making it look appealing. And so MacDonalds and Burger King and Coca Cola can’t run their adverts during My Parents are Aliens anymore.

Perhaps we’re not as easily led as we thought. Perhaps Jesus knew that we would always need to make a choice, and that listening was never enough. Having heard, it’s now down to you to make your choice. No one can choose for you.

Sure foundations

Three things emerge as the sure foundation.

• The message
• The example
• The sacrifice

#1 The Message

As we’ve seen over these last weeks, the message of Jesus covers a lot of ground. He talks about:

• Character: merciful, peacemaking, steadfast in the face of persecution
  
• Influence: salt and light
  
• Lifestyle: choosing righteousness
  
• Discipleship: prayer and fasting, obedience “choose your master”
  
• Relationships: reconciliation, restoration
  
• Integrity: all of these things hold together

#2 The example

Jesus knew that we would have question about how to live these things out in the real world of our everyday lives, so he lead by example.

When it comes to how we deal with people who have made a mistake he leads in compassion and restoration; when it comes to loving the excluded and rejected he leads by including them amongst his followers; when it comes to doing the right thing he walks in obedience to his Father’s will.

#3 The sacrifice

When it comes to sacrifice, Jesus knows what he’s talking about. When we look at the challenge of being fully devoted followers of Jesus and wonder about the cost, Jesus looks to the cross and sets the example.

If you and I were considered worthy of such a great sacrifice, then what sacrifice is too much for us in response?

When Jesus spoke of taking up a cross, he knew exactly what he was talking about. When Jesus spoke about laying aside your own ambitions and successes, even you life for others, he knew exactly what he was talking about.

Why a strong foundation?

Why does Jesus finish off his sermon with an illustration about foundations?

Of course it is connected with lifestyle choices. Jesus wants the best for you, and so he offers you the best possible foundation. Yes, it’s also connected with the issue of how we live in relationship with God. If we want to be good followers, of we want to be great Christians, then the Sermon on the Mount points us in the right direction.

But there is another reason that Jesus wants us to know how to build and on what foundation to do our building. The storms of life. They will come. They will pound the house we build. The rain will fall, the floods will rise, and a poorly built house will fall.