Seeing The Church
As The Hope Of The World
#20/20Vision
OKAY – I would like to start off with 3 passages of Scripture that will lay the foundation for our conversation this morning, the 4th Sunday of the year 2020.
The first is in John chapter 3… Jesus is talking with a religious leader by the name of Nicodemus.
And in this conversation Jesus is explaining to him about the kingdom of God.
Telling Nicodemus (this influential religious leader and teacher) that not only is God’s kingdom, not a physical kingdom, but that to both see and enter this kingdom you must be born again (born of water and of the Spirit)…
AND THEN - Jesus tells Him that in order for this Kingdom to be fully established that He (the Son of Man)
must be lifted up (on a cross) so that eternal life can be made available to everyone who believes…
AND YOU KNOW – it is almost as if Jesus is anticipating the thoughts that must be running through the mind of Nicodemus at this very moment…
“Are you kidding me, that is insane… why in the world would God allow His Son to be lifted up and crucified on a cross? Why would God do such an inconceivable thing for finite, fallen and sinful people.”
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. – John 3:16-18
NOW BEFORE – we move on to the next passage, I want us to let those 22 words that follow directly after the comma, really sink in for a moment…
UNTIL - they make each of us (until they make you and me) extremely uncomfortable.
Perish = apollymi (to destroy, to put out the way entirely, to put an end to, to give up to eternal misery)
QUESTION – do you know anyone who already stands condemned this morning, and whose current forever is to perish?
THE NEXT PASSAGE – is from Jesus’ powerful sermon on the mountain by the Sea of Galilee… the longest recorded sermon of Jesus.
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
QUESTION – do you know what the primary purpose of salt was in the first century? Preservation…
So then what is Jesus saying in Matthew 5, to those who were choosing to follow Him?
THAT - this world is in a state of decay, death and destruction…
AND THAT – they were the ones that He has called to turn this all around.
AND THEN – Jesus continues and says to these same followers.
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. – Matthew 5:13-16
NOW - the final passage I want to share as we begin is from the 5th chapter of the second letter that Paul wrote to church in Corinth.
IN – this chapter, Paul is trying to explain to the believers in that city and to us as well..
THE REASON - why he does what he does,
THE REASON - why he makes the kind of sacrifices that he has for Jesus and the Gospel…
Sacrifices that were so extreme that some people (when they heard about or saw them) thought that Paul and his companions had to be out of their minds.
If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God… 2 Corinthians 5:13
Existemi = to be out of one’s mind, beside oneself, insane
QUESTION - has anyone ever saw the things that you do for God and the sacrifices that you have made for Him and His church… AND – they are like,
“are you kidding me, existemi (you must be insane, crazy, out of your mind) to do and give up so much.”
AND IF – no one has ever said that abut or to you…. would you
like them too?
AND - are you willing to do what it takes to have the happen?
UNDERSTAND – we often want the results without actually taking the journey that will get us there.
AGAIN – people were looking and Paul and wondering why he was doing so much crazy, sacrificial and difficult stuff for Christ His Gospel and His church…
AND LISTEN – in the very next verse we see that Paul’s reason was exactly the same as the Father’s reason for Jesus being lifted up on the cross.
For Christ’s love compels us,
because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
– 2 Corinthians 5:14-20
Prayer
OKAY, SO – we are in week 2 of our series… ‘20/20 Vision.’
AND REMEMBER MGCC - this series is about you and I having visual acuity (having clarity of vision) in 6 of the most important areas of our lives…
Jesus, The Church, Ourselves, Our Relationships, Our Work and Our Assets.
NOW – last Sunday we talked about seeing Jesus for who He is...
AND – we said that when we see Jesus for who He is we will see that…
• Jesus is a hard God to pin down
(He is unpredictable and unboxable)
• Jesus is the image of the invisible God
(If you want to know what God is like all you need to do is look at Jesus)
• Jesus is the Creator of all things
(Scripture says that God breathes out stars, Psalm 33:6, think about that for a moment. Like, go ahead and breathe out... did you create anything. Understand one day God breathed out the star Canis Majoris, a star so huge that 12 trillion earths would fit inside of it. How great is our God!)
• Jesus is our Savior
(And listen, there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved, Acts 4:12… no one, no one comes to the Father except through Jesus.
. Jesus is 'the' Lord
(Jesus must have authority over every area of your life. Why do you call Him Lord and then not do what He says? Now, that's a good question, Luke 6:46).
• Jesus is The Alpha and Omega
(Jesus is the One who is everything and is everywhere. Jesus has been every where you have ever been, and He is already standing where you will be tomorrow).
MGCC - I really want to encourage you to continue to reflect on these 6 facets of who Jesus is,
AND ON - the implications (the carry over) that they can and should have both for, and in, your life.
NOW THIS MORNING – we are going to unpack a conversation that I am calling ‘Seeing The Church As The Hope Of The World.’
UNDERSTAND – it is absolutely essential that when it comes to the church, when it comes to His Kingdom…
THAT - we have visual acuity
THAT - we have 20/20 Vision
THAT – we see the church clearly for what it is.
AND – the truth is that many people…
AND LISTEN - I am not talking about people out in the world who do not believe or attend church,
INSTEAD - I am talking about people who do ‘attend’ church and who do ‘claim’ to follow Jesus…
AGAIN – the truth is that many people when it comes to seeing the church clearly… ARE - lacking visual acuity.
IN – other words they do not see the church for what it really is.
Though seeing, they do not see.
OKAY HERE’S THE DEAL…
WE KNOW THAT – we have… poor, incomplete or inaccurate visual acuity when we see the church as…
• Simply a building or an event that takes place on Sunday mornings
• A hotel and spa for saints, rather than a hospital and rehab center for sinners
• A place that we attend in order to earn God’s love, grace and forgiveness
• A place where we come as consumers to be served and have our needs, rather than a place to serve and meet the needs of others
• A social club, entertainment venue or activity center
WE KNOW THAT – we have… poor, incomplete or inaccurate visual acuity when we see the church as…
• Simply a place where our children learn good values and we make new friends
• A place to have experiences and hear teaching that always comforts and encourages us, but never challenges or convicts us.
• Optional (in other words everything is dependent on what is convenient to us)
• Belongs to us… and that we are the ones who have and are building it…
YES – unfortunately for many when it comes to seeing the church for what it is, their visual acuity is far from 20/20 vision.
GET IT?
NOW OBVIOUSLY – as with seeing Jesus for who He is, there are so many things that we could talk about this morning that would help improve our visual acuity when it comes to His Church
LIKE – some of the things we spent weeks talking about last year… in our series, ‘Becoming The Church He Intended.”
How the church is
• The body and bride of Christ
• The family and flock of God
• The temple of God, the called our one, and…
• The promised messianic kingdom
HOWEVER THIS MORNING – I want us to just focus in on what I think, is perhaps the most important facet of the church, and that is Seeing The Church As ‘The’ Hope Of The World
AND UNDERSTAND – my use word ‘The’ is very intentional.
BECAUSE – the church is not just ‘A’ hope of the world, but it is the hope of the world.
QUESTION – do you believe that church is the HOPE of the world?
OKAY HERE – is how I want to attack this conversation…
By unpacking 4 statements…
1. The World Needs This Hope
2. We’ve Been Called To Carry This Hope
3. When This Hope Is Carried The World Is Changed
4. Our Hope Carrying Plan And How Are We Doing
Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. So God has given both his promise and his oath.
These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.
This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. – Hebrews 6:17-20
MGCC
I. The World Needs This Hope
This hope that we have found in Christ and in His Gospel.
NOW – there are basically 2 facets of our hope that our world desperately needs… FIRST – they need…
A) They Need The Hope of Salvation
WHY? because as Jesus said in John 3 they are lost and stand condemned already.
Whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son… Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. – John 3:18,36
MGCC – those are not fun words, are they?
BUT LISTEN – they are true.
AND – we must not run from or ignore them.
UNDERSTAND MGCC – thousands of people in our community, millions of people in our country and billions of people in our world (are lost and stand condemned already)
and need the hope of salvation.
WHO NEED…
- To hear the gospel
- To hear the good news that God through Christ no longer wants to count their sins against them
- To hear the Gospel so that they can surrender to it and be saved.
UNDERSTAND – the hope of salvation is both powerful and protective. IN FACT – Paul says the following in 1 Thessalonians
But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. – 1 Thessalonians 5:8
LISTEN - the hope of salvation is like a helmet that a soldier would wear in battle…
IT PROTECTS – the head, the mind, the thoughts…
So that we can know that…
• We are saved
• We are right with God
• Our sins have been and are forgiven
• Our past has been cleaned up and that our future is guaranteed… NOT BY – our own effort but by His sacrifice.
The church is the hope the world, and the world needs this hope.
They need the hope of salvation, and
B) They Need The Hope Of A New Life
Because the old one, the one without Jesus is not so good.
BUT LISTEN – the good, the great news of the Gospel is that there really is this promise of a new life.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ… - 2 Corinthians 5:17,18
A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. – John 10:10
But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.” - Acts 5:19,20
- UNDERSTAND – the world (people without Christ) need the hope Of a new and better life
- Of an abundant and satisfying life that is found in Christ alone.
AND LISTEN – the things people have placed their hope in
YOU KNOW – things like…money, applause, stuff, worldly success earthly relationships…
have not, cannot and will not sustain them.
They are hopes that can never ultimately deliver.
YES – the world need this hope of new life where…
• Jesus provides living water and they will never be thirsty or unsatisfied in life again.
• They know that nothing they will ever suffer, can compare with the future glory that awaits them
• In all things they are more than conquerors
YES – the world need this hope of new life where…
• They will never have to worry or be anxious about anything, but instead will experience the peace of God that transcends all understanding.
• They can be fully content in all circumstances, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
• They will experience new birth into a living hope and into an inexpressible and glorious joy.
YES – the hope of salvation and the hope of living a new life is what this word needs…
AND MGCC…
II. We Are Called To Carry This Hope
IN FACT – it is our commission… it is the one job that Jesus gave us to do…
The 11 disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. When they saw Him, they worshiped, but some doubted. Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
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, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” - Matthew 28:16-20
And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. – Mark 16:15,16
You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. – Acts 1:8
He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. – 2 Corinthians 5:19,20
YES MGCC – we have been called NOT SIMPLY – to study this hope… celebrate and enjoy it for ourselves.…
BUT TO - carry this hope, to share this hope, to take this hope out into this world that so desperately needs it…
NOT SIMPLY – to study this hope and enjoy it for ourselves.
I MEAN…
Can you imagine standing before Jesus at the judgment and giving an account for being a church that did not carry the good news of the hope of salvation into the world…
“Hey, Jesus. We are really excited to see you here. We took the people you entrusted us with us with, and we got them really deep into your Word. Now we didn’t actually reach any new people, but the ones we started with are a lot better at worship, Bible Study, long flowing prayers, and their sin management skills are impeccable. So, how did we do?” - Bo Chancey (Pray For One)
BOTTOM LINE – here’s the deal…
We (the church) is the hope of the world, we are plan A and there is no plan B.
III. When This Hope Is Carried The World Is Changed
A guy named Rodney Stark wrote a book called The Rise of Early Christianity . When he wrote it, he was not a Christian. He was the Professor of Sociology and Comparative Religions at the University of Washington.
BUT - he tracked Christianity in its first three hundred years of existence, because Christianity changed the world.
It started as this obscure, small Jesus movement and it changed the world.
Eventually Rome was not overthrown.
Eventually Rome became a Christian nation.
WELL - how did that happen?
BECAUSE - the Church in those days…they had no political position. They could not hold an office. They could not vote. They had no Bill of Rights. They didn’t have that kind of religious freedom.
IN FACT - you had people like Nero who lit them up and set them as streetlights on fire in the evenings.
And yet the Church exploded!
SO - he said, “How did this happen? It was not a democratic system. They didn’t have a vote to cast. They didn’t have that. So how did they…? How did they do that?” And he just traces it.
HE SAYS - “Abortion and infanticide was common in the Roman world. It was an accepted practice.”
It was most often exercised when the child was female or the child had disabilities.
It was perfectly common in those days.
It was condoned by people like Plato and Aristotle to leave a child out in the wilderness, in the woods—just leave ‘em there. Virtually all disabled or deformed babies were just simply abandoned. If you were a girl your chances of survival and a good life were minimal.
Early Christians did not allow for infanticide or abortion.
NOW LOOK - they couldn’t really control what happened outside their community. THEY - were not in a political position to force that upon other people, BUT - they could affect how things were gonna be done within their community. And in their community they just said,
“We’re just gonna do things differently.
That’s not how we’re gonna do it.”
IN - ancient Rome Christians saved many, many abandoned babies and brought them up in the faith, and Christian homes became the first orphanages and nurseries.
SO - the Church valued women and they protected children and the helpless in a culture where these were not values.
Christian men were called on to love their wives as Christ loved the Church and to sacrifice and to protect and provide for their families.
WHEN - the Church began Rome was not providing social services or help to people in need, BUT - there was no need for the government to help because the Church took care of each other. AND - they didn’t just take care of each other; they took care of other people who were not part of their community, which in those days was unheard of.
IN THOSE DAYS - widows would be forced to remarry because there was no other way for them to provide for themselves. But the Church came in and said, “You know, we’re not going to do it that way.”
And they said to the widows, “You don’t have to remarry.
We will help take care of you.”
ANOTHER EXAMPLE…in early Rome young ladies would often be forced to marry even before puberty, and the Church came in and said,
“We’re…yeah, we’re not going to do it that way either.”
AND - the list just goes on and on and on. And eventually society is so struck by what’s different within the walls of the community called Church that it changes everything.
It changes their culture.
BUT IT - wasn’t because they could vote.
IT - wasn’t because they passed legislation that forbid certain practices.
NOW IF - they could have been more involved in the political process, THEN they should have, BUT - that was not an option.
HOWEVER - change came, in the world they lived in…even political change…by just the Church being the Church.
SO HERE’S - my question: “What would happen if the Church was just the Church?”
AND I THINK - it’s hard to be objective, BUT - I think you have to ask yourself, “If the Church was the Church and we did a better job of caring for the sick, would there be any healthcare debate right now?” I don’t know that there would be.
IF- the Church was the Church… and marriage was honored and there was complete commitment and the Church demonstrated what intimate love looked like, you have to wonder if it would be hard for us as a society to define marriage.
IF - the Church was the Church and we cared for orphans and foster children and single moms more effectively, you have to wonder what would happen to the abortion rate.
If the Church was the Church and ensured that there were not hungry among us and people were learning to take care of themselves and be responsible for themselves and their families, you have to wonder what would happen to our welfare challenges. You just have to ask yourself if that would change things in our culture in a more dramatic way.
I seriously doubt that there is a problem, political or economic, that will not melt before the fire of a spiritual awakening.”
- Franklin Roosevelt
UNDERSTAND…
Jesus did not call us to condemn or conform to the world, but to reconcile and redeem the world.
IV. What’s Our Hope Carrying Plan, And How Are We Doing?
Video on 2019 at The Grove
YEAH – last year was a good year… and listen I a convinced that we are at a really good place as a church.
I MEAN – we are on the right track, we are pointed in the right direction.
BUT LISTEN – in 20/20 we are going to take our mission to take Jesus and His Gospel into our lost and broken world to high levels than we ever have before.
B/S – we cannot allow ourselves to be satisfied where we are.
The stakes are much too high
Where countless people will spend eternity is a stake.
Bo Chancey (pastor of Manchester Christian Church) writes the following in his book, ‘Pray For One…’
“The enemy’s number one tactic is to get the Church to focus on anything other than the mission of Jesus. If he can get us to fight on a false front, then he wins the battle no matter how valiantly or powerfully we struggle. Fighting the wrong fight is actually worse than not fighting at all.”
The enemy’s number one tactic is to get the Church to focus on anything other than the mission of Jesus.
Here’s what I think. I think that like every other local church in history, we’re in motion. We’re not static, not fixed as a single spot on this graph. We’re in motion, always in motion.
Likely, we’re moving somewhere in-between a Healthy, Mission Focused church and a Stable Content where we are church; somewhere in-between pursuing Christ and His priorities and settling into patterns and priorities that feel comfortable to us.
UNDERSTAND - human nature always draws them back toward comfort…
Which is why there is a continual need to re-energize, refocus, re-prioritize, re-commit, or they will drift toward becoming a stable content where we are church.
All churches are subject to this, and it can happen without even realizing it.
We Pursue Jesus by becoming disciples who make disciples
What’s a disciple?
Bible reading and prayer…
We Pursue The Compassion Of Jesus by loving others with words and actions
We Pursue Hurting And Lost People with the love and hope found in Jesus
Lord please lead me to one person that I can share your love and Gospel with.
