See the Need Sunday
Introduction-
This morning is very special day in the life of our church. We are calling it see the Need Sunday
We have for well over a year been taking a hard look at what we do as a church and why we do it.
We have looked at what we have done in the past to see if it will be something that we will continue to do in the future.
We have given you tidbits and this morning I would like to share a little bit more. Today is the beginning of the unveiling and in January of next year, we will launch and celebrate the changes of our church. We will not only share with you the changes we have made but in the next few months, you will be able to physically begin to see the changes.
God created the church.
It was not our idea, it was the Lord’s.
He made it very clear what the church should be and what the church should get done.
Society today has created churches of entertainment. They have a pastor of their liking who feeds them once a week and that is where church seems to stop.
We have treated the church as somewhere we go instead of somewhere we belong and are a part of it.
The church was intended to be the Lord’s hand extended to (1) People that we come into contact with (2) A place where we as believers get disciple in the Word and go out and model Jesus Christ to the world.
Rosedale has always been a church that loves people and wants people to come and join this family of believers. What we want to be is more intentional, to not only want people to come to the church but create reasons for people to want to come to the church.
This is why we partnered with Bountiful Blessing in 2007 which has ministered to over 550 a year for the last several years. The way that we made it our own was to offer additional things that Bountiful Blessing did not offer.
It is why we are so excited to start Celebrate Recovery which will be starting this coming Thursday. We not only want people to come but giving them a reason to come by meeting the needs that they have.
People are busy.
Some are busy because they are working two jobs and trying to make a living. Single moms, single dads, split families that need someone to get along side of them.
I have seen more people in the last few years that are forced on call, have to now work some Sundays, anytime something extra at work is done, it seems to have to be done on Sunday. That is a fact of life.
We are not able to compete with people making a living. We just have to offer ways to help when and where we can.
Illustration
Imagine if you will a city with a lot of people. Imagine that if you look at the demographics of that city that 17% of its residents live in poverty and that over 47 % of school age kids get government assistance for a free or reduced lunch. Do you picture New York? Los Angeles? Some other big city? It is Middletown Pa.
(Slide #1)
Now look at Highspire and Steelton and their numbers are;
(Slide #2)
24% are living in poverty and 75% of students are getting free or reduced lunches.
(Slide #3)
Harrisburg 33% living in poverty and 83% of students get free or reduced lunches.
Middletown, Highspire, Steelton together
(slide #4)
20% living in poverty and 57% free or reduced lunches
One more
(Slide #5)
Middletown, Highspire, Steelton, Harrisburg together
30% living in poverty and 74% of students getting free or reduced lunches.
Kunkel Elementary School which is a few blocks away from our church is where 81 % of the kids are getting free or reduced lunches. Our elementary school in our neighborhood has applied to be a Title I school, which means that everyone would be eligible to receive help from the federal government.
Add to that a crime rate that just keeps rising.
The drug epidemic exploding to where ambulances in our area carry the miracle drug Narcan to revive overdose victims.
This is the neighborhood God has placed us and this why we are reaching out in a new way to meet needs of this community.
A mission field is more than going across an ocean, that is important but we cannot forget where God has placed us and why He has placed us there.
Our lights are on for this community!
So we as a board decided that we were going to look at what we can do to be more “The church” to the community that God has called us.
We began to go on a journey and we began to seek God’s guidance in what this church will look like when He was done with it.
We looked at our mission statement, there was nothing wrong with our previous mission statement, it lined up with all main line protestant churches, but it was not what God was speaking to us. So after about 18 months, here is what God has shown us.
(Show Mission Statement/ Slide #6)
“To demonstrate the revitalizing power of Christ’s love by creating a radically-inclusive community focused on breaking the cycles of poverty and marginalization in the Middletown area so that current and future generations are liberated to become devoted disciples of Jesus Christ.”
That is a mouthful- (For sake of advertizing and promotion we will shorten that )
We want to do more than tell people we love them.
We want to show them that we love them.
We want to see transformation in people lives.
We want to break the chain that binds generations and liberate them to be disciples of Jesus Christ.
It is why we exist! Everything we do will be put against our mission statement.
Why did we start Celebrate Recovery- (point to the mission statement).
Why did we yank the pews out of the sanctuary- (point to the mission statement).
Transformation
Liberation
Growth
Engagement with the people of this area.
This is not the actions of a few people; this has got to be the heartbeat of the whole church. This is what each person that calls Rosedale their home has to live and believe.
Church is not just a place that you go- it is a place that you belong, are a part of and a place where Christ disciples His people to go out and model what He has done in our lives.
It must be a place where each one of us shows people the love of Christ.
It cannot only be a place to get free stuff and meet immediate needs but also become a place that transforms lives
This is so much bigger than we are that if God does not intervene we would never be able to accomplish it all.
The cost
The people needed
The wisdom of God and the power of God that is needed is way out of our pay grade, but it can be done with God’s anointing and His direction.
(Text)-judgment day as we stand before the Lord
Matthew 25:37-40
“Then the righteous (believers) will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the King will answer them; truly, I say to you, as you did to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”
Proverbs 14:31
“Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.”
Jesus has a lot to say about the poor and how they should be treated. He had much to say about playing favorites and who would be offered the gospel. He very clearly said that all are welcome to come and experience the love of God
3 ways He did and ways that we must also do it.
I. Jesus went to the people
If we are going to be the church that God intends us to be we must go to the people that He has called us to. The day of holding the door open and expecting people to just run in is over. We must go to the people and draw them in to God’s love. We must offer them something that is more inviting than the world.
The history of the Church of the Nazarene is a history of loving all people. Phineas Bressee, the founder of the church of the Nazarene said “We are debtors to every man to give him the gospel in the same measure in which we have received it.”
We are to go to the people the same way that Christ came to us and as sinners know that we can receive from Him salvation and forgiveness.
He did not give up on us
He did not put extra yokes on us.
This is our mission field and these are the people that God has entrusted to us.
II. Jesus saw the people
Seeing people and really seeing them is two separate things.
We come in contact with lots of people every day. In the stores, at work, walking, driving, neighbors, and the list goes on and on. But how many of them do you really see?
See their hurts, their needs, being a friend to someone that you do not know.
Being the Good Samaritan when society says to just go on by and that it is acceptable. Jesus saw them and chose to get involved with them.
Bressee said of Nazarene churches
“Our church is a missionary church. It knows no difference between home and foreign fields – in these days all fields are near.”
“We were convinced that houses of worship should be plain and cheap, to save from financial burdens, and that everything should say welcome to the poor…We went in poverty, to give ourselves – and what God might give us – determined to forego provision for the future and old age, in order to see the salvation of God while we were yet here…We would be glad to do much more, yet hundreds of dollars have gone to the poor, with loving ministry of every kind, and with it a way has been opened up to the hearts of men and women, that has been unutterable joy. The gospel comes to a multitude without money and without price, and the poorest of the poor are entitled to a front seat at the Church of the Nazarene.”
Seen from Shinler’s list- I could have done more.
Jesus wept over Jerusalem and we must wept over our community.
III. Jesus had compassion for the people
Jesus and Bressee say in all things show love. Our starting point is always love. Otherwise, tempers may flare and we forget our first duty, to love our neighbors as ourselves. May love always be our watch word and song!
Compassion is
Love in action
Faith in action
Not only seeing but doing something about it.(Good Samaritan saw and then acted)
Every one of us.
As a church of Jesus Christ, we cannot only say stay warm, but must help.
There comes a point in a believer’s life that church becomes a way to grow spiritually themselves and a place that reaches the lost.
The church becomes a place to belong not just a place to attend
God expects everyone to be involved in ministry.
The pastor job is to train others for ministry.
• Ministry has purpose and the church has purpose
• There is strength in numbers (church) (money)
• Maturity in Christ is faith in action.
Closing,
So what is going to be the difference than before?
We will be intentional and directed in the ways that we minister to people in our community.
We will do as God provides and blesses those that get involved.
How are we going to do that?
Asking God to intervene- we absolutely need His help. It is bigger than we are.
It will take God speaking to many different people in many different ways. He’s not calling all of us to full time ministry. He is asking all of us to be ministers where He has placed us.
It will take the church to be mobilized like the early church was.
It will take all of us to be sensitive to His leading us to people.
What can we expect?
We can expect God to honor His word and bring people.
We can expect people from all works of life to check us out to see if what we say is what we live.
We can expect people that may not act like us to come through those doors.
Great news!
God will give us everything we need to do what He has called us to do.
We will do far more than we can even imagine if God is in it and not limited to just our talents.
Who’s in?
Let’s do this God way and give Him all the glory for it.
On your way out this morning, you will be handed the new mission statement of Rosedale. We are asking you to be praying that we would stir a fire in this community like never before and ask God what part that you play in this new calling.
