Becoming a Community Church
January 16, 2010
Romans 15:1-4
1Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.
2Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification.
3For even (D)Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, "THE REPROACHES OF THOSE WHO REPROACHED YOU FELL ON ME."
4For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
In 1957 a group of Christians saw the need for a new community of believers on South Peninsula Drive. This forward thinking group of thinkers saw a community that was growing, and needed nurturing. That was over 50 years ago! Since that time, the congregation of South Peninsula Baptist has seen good times and bad, times of boom, and times of wandering in the wilderness. Today I want to take us in a journey of retrospection, self-inspection, and rectification.
The key word in our birth as a church was the word “Community”. We were in the beginning a community church, and should remain very much so today. If we are to reclaim the vision that captivated the founders of this community of believers, we must once again put the community back in our fellowship. To that end I’m going to share with you a series of sermons over the next 3 or 4 weeks designed to teach us how to build community. We *MUST* reach the needs of this community, and truly become not “just another Baptist church”, but a community church in spirit as well as deed.
Community is an extremely powerful word, and it will be emphasized over and over again over the next few weeks as we look at ourselves, and open our hearts up to God’s revelation. Community conveys a sense of belonging with people you have something in common with. Your community is a group of those people whom you care for, whom you value, and whom matter to you. We must become a community, unified in a common goal, if we want to fulfill Christ’s greatest commission and reach the people who live in our neighborhood.
I. We build our community by bearing one another’s burdens (v1)
"The law of Christ is the bearing of others burdens, the sharing of others griefs, sacrificing yourself for another.... This [is] the law of Christianity ... [and] of the saint. It is the only way to be saved. From the beginning it has always been so. A good way to test your love to God is by the way you treat your brother ... God is more concerned by my conduct toward my brother than by my prayers to him."
Paul tells in verse 1 that those of us who are strong must bear the burdens of those who are weaker. How we treat our neighbors says far more about our church than any piece of literature, any amount of advertising, and any amount of preaching.
Lessons From Geese
Fact 1: As each goose flaps its wings it creates an "uplift" for the birds that follow. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.
Lesson 1: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.
Fact 2: When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front of it.
Lesson 2: If we have as much common sense as a goose, we stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others.
Fact 3: When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies to the point position.
Lesson 3: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each others’ skills, capabilities, and unique arrangements of gifts, talents, or resources.
Fact 4: Geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
Lesson 4: We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In groups where there is encouragement, the production is much greater. The power of encouragement (to stand by one’s heart or core values and encourage the heart and core of others) is the quality of honking we seek.
Fact 5: When a goose gets sick, wounded, or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. Then, they launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock.
Lesson 5: If we have as much sense as geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.
FACT!!! People in our neighborhood are hurting! They have physical burdens, they have financial burdens, they have emotional burdens, and they don’t know where to turn. We need to conduct ourselves in such a way, building community, so that the people who are hurting know they can come to us and be lifted up. To become a community church we need to be aware, and actively looking to see who needs our help. Then we need to give them what they need!
II. We build community by using our skills and gifts to serve others.
1 Peter 4:8-10 (New Living Translation)
8 Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.
10 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.
It’s a simple matter, we need each other. We are to graciously serve one another without regard to what it may cost us. Serve each other joyfully and when needed, not just when it is convenient for us. I’m using the word serve, because it is an active word. To serve our community is more than to just talk about its needs, it is putting feet to the talk.
TRUE SERVICE
Self-righteous service comes through human effort. True service comes from a relationship with the divine Other deep inside.
Self-righteous service is impressed with the “big deal.” True service finds it almost impossible to distinguish the small from the large service.
Self-righteous service requires external rewards. True service rests contented in hiddenness.
Self-righteous service is highly concerned about results. True service is free of the need to calculate results.
Self-righteous service picks and chooses whom to serve. True service is indiscriminate in its ministry.
Self-righteous service is affected by moods and whims. True service ministers simply and faithfully because there is a need.
Self-righteous service is temporary. True service is a lifestyle.
Self-righteous service is without sensitivity. It insists on meeting the need even when to do so would be destructive. True service can withhold the service as freely as perform it.
Self-righteous service fractures community. True service, on the other hand, builds community.
SOURCE: Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline, "The Discipline of Service."
A true community church will bear each other’s burdens and serve one another.
III. In bearing one another’s burdens, we are following the example of Jesus Christ.
Christ bore a burden that was not His. When we bear the burdens of our community we are following the example of our Lord. Christ didn’t die on the cross because it was a fun thing to do, or because it was the convenient thing to do, Christ died on the cross because it was the necessary thing to do.
Flip Wilson was a popular comedian several years ago, and one of his characters was a Preacher at the “What’s Happening Now Church.” Flip did a Skit where he told about this preacher. He’d shout out:
"IF THIS CHURCH IS GOING TO SERVE GOD IT’S GOT TO GET DOWN ON ITS KNEES AND CRAWL!!!"
And the audience yelled back "Make it crawl preacher, make it crawl!
"AND ONCE THIS CHURCH HAS LEARNED TO CRAWL, IT’S GOT TO GET UP
ON ITS FEET AND WALK!!!"
"Make it walk preacher, make it walk" the audience moaned.
AND ONCE THIS CHURCH HAS LEARNED TO WALK ITS GOT BEGIN TO LEARN TO RUN!!!"
"Make it run, preacher, make it run!"
"AND IN ORDER TO RUN, ITS GOT REACH DEEP DOWN INTO POCKETS AND LEARN TO GIVE!!!"
(pause) "Make it crawl preacher, make it crawl."
A Church can’t grow if it doesn’t give. And if it doesn’t give… it’ll crawl.
Now Flip Wilson was talking about money in this story, but we have so much more to give as a church than money. Don’t get me wrong, money is a great thing for us to have as a church since it would increase the types of things we are able to accomplish, but there is much more to building our community that opening our wallets. We must open our hearts.
Conclusion:
We need to look at ourselves this morning. Are we a community church? Or have we boarded up the windows of our hearts and decided to only allow those in that know the password. This is our community. This is GOD’S community! The people around us need us, as much as we need them. Let me challenge you as a group to begin to bear the burdens of those in our neighborhood as if they were your own. Serve them as if you were serving Christ. And follow the example of Christ as we build community together.
