Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come. Amen.
Listen for the Word of God in the Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2, Verses 14a and 36 through 41:
But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified."
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?" Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him." And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
The Title of this Sermon is "Ready, Set, Grow!" That used to be the name of a UCC Program to foster Congregational Vitality. It all started with a poll where people were asked to rate how strongly they agree with the following items:
- This congregation is always ready to try something new
- The current morale of this congregation is high
- This congregation is strongly focused on serving the wider community beyond the congregation
- This congregation makes a real difference in the lives of its members and their families
- Members of the congregation have a sense of excitement about the future
- The members and pastor(s) share a clear vision, goals, or direction for their ministry and mission
- Now, please self-evaluate your congregation on this overall scale
So the overall question is: Are we as a congregation ready to open our hearts and minds to the needs of today and tomorrow?
Both the Orem Community Church and the Provo Community Church proved to be ready to try something new. They hired a guy from a different continent to be their spiritual leader. That’s really new and really brave. The people back then in Jerusalem also had to adjust to a new style of Parish Life. Peter was their new guy in town, a former fisherman from the North and now eager to grow the Church in Israel’s capital. Here and now the mission is to grow both churches individually and together. Peter is a good example for church growth because we heard: "and that day about three thousand persons were added."
So now let’s talk about some obstacles: It won’t happen that way: This day we won’t add three thousand persons. I am sorry. Yet growing is the issue for our church. Growing on two scales: We need to grow spiritually in matters of width and depth, to broaden our faith and to deepen our hope. And we need to grow as a congregation in matters of involvement. Our Church attendance has to go up!
The "Ready, Set, Grow!" Program suggested to use the wisdom of demographics for congregational growth. Here are the numbers: From 2000 through 2006 population in Orem and Provo has increased by 8%. I’m a Theologian not a Mathematician so you will forgive me saying: An increase of one per cent per year. So without doing anything special both church membership and Sunday attendance should go up by one per cent each and every year. "Ready, Set, Grow!" How do we make that happen? Is it all just bad fate? Has the Almighty God forgotten that we are here?
Let’s have a look back at the days of Peter in Jerusalem. He was on a mission. It is seldom God in person who grows his church directly but in most cases he will need people to join his mission. Peter was on such a mission with a strategy for growth as imposed by the risen Christ:
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
The United Church of Christ on the national scale won’t get tired of reminding everybody that we are an inviting church. But as we sit around here this morning we can be as inviting as we can: Our invitation won’t reach out to anybody. Most people out there won’t even know we’re here. Jesus commanded his disciples: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" Go out to the whole wide world and gather people under God’s word. Now hold a minute, you may remain seated until worship is over, but as of tomorrow...
Well the whole wide world ain’t that wide anymore. Let me introduce you to the Small-World-Hypothesis which brought forth the concept of "Six degrees of separation". Six degrees of separation refers to the idea that, if a person is one step away from each person he or she knows and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people he or she knows, then everyone is an average of six "steps" away from each person on Earth.
So basically there is a virtual World Wide Web within each one of us: You know the members of your family, maybe you still have contact to friends you had when in school, relationships that evolved when serving in the Military, and Friends and Colleagues of all kind. Now each and every one you now has his or her own network. You are just an average six steps away from the White House, the Vatican, Felipe’s hometown in Chile or my German hometown - every place and every person on earth.
Students from all over the world and especially students from BYU and UVU use so-called social networks on the internet. There you can add people to your friend list - a kind of virtual telephone book. And you can click through your friends’ friend list and their friends’ friend lists and thus you may get an I idea that the concept of Six degrees of separation might really work. Some people started using the concept of social networking for churches. Because a big part of what church has to offer is to connect people with one another. In today’s Bulletin you find some lines on mychurch.org. Our church is in there and we can visualize our network there and in this way maybe expand it. Let people know that we are here. Join us online, ready, set, grow!
So you see the Small-World-Hypothesis is helpful and kind of true - not only as the whole wide world is concerned but also here in Utah County.
We are able to build a network:
- Today I took a special item with me: a ball of wool
- And I want you to make a net, a net of our existing connections.
- Please have the ball handed over to someone you really know in this room, I mean to someone you also know besides meeting her or him on Sundays.
(passing the ball of wool)
So hold it for minute: These are our relationships depicted and I am confident that each and every one us here this morning could throw this ball out of the window as well. Our personal networks are not limited by church walls. As a matter of fact, quite a few people live in Orem and are members of the Provo church and vice versa. We are already strongly connected in either direction. And there are the other clubs you may attend, and other place you go to. We have quite a dense net all over Utah Valley and even beyond, I suppose.
Jesus commanded: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations". Dear Sister and Brothers: Let’s start in our two cities first. How could that possibly be done?
Down to earth:
- Participate in Church Life
- Tell your friends and neighbors about our Church Life
- And upside down: tell your pastor, your moderator or the council members, what you want your church to offer.
- Throw that wool ball out of the sanctuary.
So we are ready and set to grow.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
