Sermon for May 15th (Coming in)

About ten months ago, I presented for you a vision for what the ministries at Emmanuel might look like one day. I’ve spoken about it in various ministry team meetings and talked about it a lot back at the end of last summer, but it’s time to revisit this vision and find out if what I see God doing one day in this community is what you see God doing one day in this community. I see a day when Emmanuel is a place where people are coming in to be sent out. Now what does that mean?

I encourage you, as you are listening, to ask yourselves, “Does the Bible truly support this vision? Does God really want his people to do what this vision calls them to do?” I believe that this vision is grounded in the Bible (or else I would have never brought it up in the first place); however, in order for it to not simply be “my vision” but “our vision” or the “church’s vision” or “Emmanuel’s vision” you as the congregation need to be able to see it as much as I do. This week I’ll be focusing on what it means to be a congregation that “comes in” and why it should matter to you.

Coming in. A year ago, I felt that there were three separate reasons why we need to “come in” as a church community. First, we come in to be inspired and reconnected to God’s Word. Second, we come in to get inspired and reconnected to God’s people. Finally, we come in to be empowered to serve.

I recently read an article in the Fremont tribune that was really interesting. It read, "When the United States Secret Service in Washington trains bank tellers to deal with counterfeit money, they don't teach them to identify all the thousands of different ways to fake a $20, $50 or $100 bill. They teach you how to know for absolute certain that you're dealing with the real thing. You just become immersed in real United States currency." “That way, when tellers are flipping through lots of bills, they know when they touch a bill that doesn't feel quite right. They may not be able to immediately identify some new, crafty way of counterfeiting money. They just know something's wrong. And nine times out of 10, when a counterfeit bill is detected, it's because the teller felt it first.”

The article quoted a pastor who had used this example to make a point about our need to be reconnected to God’s Word, "You need to understand this word [the Bible], verse by verse, chapter by chapter, precept by precept ... and one of the ways to know it is to study it as an individual, as a couple, as a family, as a small group and as a church.” The point is that we need to come together as a community around Jesus, around God’s Word, in order that we can tell the “real thing” from counterfeit in this world. If you are not “coming in” and hearing God’s Word often, you’ll be much more likely to fall for a fake without realizing it. Coming in through Jesus—the gate—is necessary for our church.

Jesus said, “I am the gate.” You come into this place for Jesus and through Jesus. The church should be a place where God’s Word is front and center. Where you can be assured, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that even if everything else changed, you would be confronted with the Bible every time you came. In the book of 1st Timothy, Paul says that Timothy, as a church leader, should devote himself to the public reading of scripture, to preaching and to teaching. In the first letter to the Corinthians Paul says, “When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.” Martin Luther said that the church should be a “mouth house” where the gospel is preached in its truth and purity. I see a day when everything that happens in this place, whether it be a worship service or a ministry team meeting, is filled with the reading and hearing of scripture whether through a devotion, a time of learning or simply singing. We’d never just be “doing business”. We’d be here to reconnect with God. Do you want that for your church? Do you believe God wants that for this church?

We need to be reconnected to God’s word in this community, but we also need to be inspired and reconnected to other people as well. Many argue that they are “spiritual” and not “religious”. But if what you mean by that is that you only find your inspiration and connection to God by yourself in your garden, you are missing something that God wants you to find.

In the tenth chapter of Hebrews we read this, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” We are called the body of Christ because there are many members. If we believe we can live our lives on our own, separate from the rest of the community, the body of Christ doesn’t work well. There are times when members are cut off for some reason and that affects everyone as much as a person would be affected if their leg was amputated. But a person has trouble even just walking if their foot is all there but just asleep. There are hundreds of baptized members in our faith community that are missing every week. Think about how difficult it is to function as a church body when so many of our members are “asleep”, literally, in their beds on Sundays rather than worshipping God with us. We need to focus not just on having a community but being a community.

What brings you to church every week? The sermons? That’s probably not it. Are you just pumped up to pray in these comfortable pews of ours? No. I’d bet that you look forward to seeing someone, or maybe many people. I spoke to a man once who explained that he came to church because he liked to see other fathers, just like him, Christian men, who struggled with work, with their kids, with their faith, but still found a way to keep doing it. Knowing that there were other men like that each week gave him the strength to keep doing what he had to do until next Sunday.

Hearing biblical stories about how God works is inspirational, but hearing stories about how God worked in someone’s life last week can be life changing. Knowing that God is a God of compassion is nice, but having a person actual come and comfort you in your sickness or grief is what really makes a difference. I see a day when this church is a place where all people feel welcome of course, but even more importantly, where you feel cared for and loved. Where people come because they want to be a part of community that does that. Wouldn’t you want to be part of a church like that? Would you be willing to find ways to make that happen here?

Finally, we are called in to be empowered to serve. Saint Paul says in 1st Corinthians that, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” We come into this place to learn how to serve others. To be equipped to deal with stress and sadness in our lives. To be blessed so that we may be a blessing. But we can’t just send you all out into the battle without equipping you with the proper protection and gear. We have to “come in” before we can be “sent out. If you haven’t learned the story of Jesus and what His story means to you, you can be told all day to “Go tell it on the mountain” but you won’t know what to say.

The problem is that we’ve often forgotten this empowerment part. We understand that we need to come in and hear God’s Word. We even might enjoy reconnecting with family and friends, but we so often take the knowledge we’ve learned here, or the comfort we’ve received here, and think that we just need to put that stuff in our back pocket for a rainy day. But you are not receiving this gifts for yourselves. These gifts are for someone else.

I used to do a lot of weightlifting in junior high and high school, but at some point I realized there was a problem. I’d go up and lift weights and check myself out in the mirror and say, “Wow! Lookin good!” But then, when it was time to play football or something, I never felt like I was that strong. I didn’t find out until later that while I was preparing myself to be a bodybuilder, I wasn’t empowering myself to be a football player. That would have involved different exercises and using different muscles in different ways. That’s probably why they call some people “musclebound”. They look good, but when it comes to actually “using” those muscles, they are sometimes very weak. How many of you have come here to church your whole lives but feel “weak” when it comes to sharing your faith? How could we make this church a place where people felt strong when they left; like they had learned something that they could share and wanted to share with someone else.

I see a day when Emmanuel is a place where people are coming in to be sent out. Coming in is the first step, but without this first step we won’t be going anywhere. Do you see a day when you come to church not just to sit and listen, but to come and be changed by God’s Word? Do you see a day when you are here not just to see friends, but to make friends with people you’ve never met? My prayer, is that “coming in” to Emmanuel becomes the highlight of your week. Where you come to be motivated, comforted, strengthened, encouraged and empowered to live out your faith. Where you came not just because you were a Christian, but because you wanted to find out how to be a Christian.

If you see this day coming, as I do, if you believe God wants this for our
community, as I believe he does, perhaps this is no longer just a vision I see, perhaps it is our shared vision for Emmanuel. Coming in is just the beginning. This next week, imagine what God would start doing here if we were focused on His Word, intentional about caring for our community and empowered to serve. I believe that He wouldn’t want us to just keep to ourselves. He would send us out. Where would God take us? How would he use your gifts? What would be the impact this church might have within God’s kingdom? Why have you “come in” today?