God’s Magnetic Community
There are three ways that everyday ordinary folk like you and I can come to know of and experience God.
We experience God in His Creation.
Go into Creation, pay attention and it reads like a huge billboard pointing to the creative genius of
Almighty God.
Veggies
Think of snowflakes, cloud patterns, leaf shapes, rock formations.
Incredible intricacy.
Incredible variety.
And yet all that intricate variety is joined together as it is knit together and held together by the fingers of the Creator Lord.
Creation shouts the praises and glory of God.
We experience God in His Revelation.
The word of God is powerful and it ministers to us in powerful ways.
The Psalms and Proverbs reveal these powerful ways.
We experience God in His Innovation.
That is His Church - the Kingdom of God on earth!
Some in my age group were pretty critical of the church.
They had nothing good to say about it.
It was dead. It was useless and full of tradition and ritual
I never quite bought it…
I want to introduce you to "The Magnetic Community".
Acts 2:42-47
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.
44 All the believers were together and had everything in common.
45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
The church is Awesome - vs. 43.
Remember the first time you ever saw a magnet?
And began to experiment with what it could do!
Remember the cardboard toy - "Simon" and metal filings. You got to give him hair and a beard...
Do you remember pushing and pulling a steel bar through a piece of paper
How about the first time you discovered how you could wire a stator and rotor and a magnet to create electricity?
The awe and wonder of it all.
Remember the first time you experienced church?
I mean when you really experienced church!
I grew up with church.
To me she is a beautiful bride.
I was called to Children’s Hospital in Dayton Ohio for an emergency. A member delivered their baby and there were complications. When I arrived there the family’s Home Group was in the waiting room praying. They wondered why I was there! Because of their love and concer the attending nurse experienced church and later came to BCC and said "I want what you have."
MCC is a part of that awesome community that is magnetic in quality!
There was the Clothing Drive the first year. And the Youth Group that meet at Deer Path Apt. Home Groups which have grown and continue to reach out.
What makes it such an awesome and magnetic community?
The church is a community without rank - vs. 44.
I lived with the AF for 21 years.
9 years were in Marquette and 12 years were in Beavercreek. I had coffee with enlisted men and dinner with officers. They have ranks and they have enlisted people and commissioned officers.
But in the church there was no rank. A Tech Sergeant (enlisted 6 level) gives a word of encouragement to a full bird Colonel (officer level 6) A Major (officer level 4) sits down and prays with a Master Sergeant (enlisted level 7).
Galations 3:26-28
26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,
27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
There is no rank. There are roles - but no rank. There are gifts - but no rank. There are differing abilities - but no rank. There is diversity of all kinds - but no rank. We are all one in Jesus.
The church is a caring community - vs. 45-46.
They helped each other out and they spend time together. I see it over and over with the Home Groups and Ministries. This is more than simply going to a class.
This is becoming a people together; a family and a body. This is HOME. Home is where when you go there they have to take you! Church is a family. We take care of each other.
A little caveat here - This is wisdom, think about it.
The church is an attractive and growing community - vs. 47-48.
People need relationships. We hunger for closeness and relevance. We want purpose and meaning. We desperately need to be loved and accepted. People are attracted to real community. They are hungry for it. It is just like a moth that is drawn to a flame. The church is attractive.
People begin to fall in love with Jesus when they hang out with his people. The church (Jesus) is open to people.
Ben Merold saw this sign on the side of a little grocery store in the middle of the mountains of Kentucky. "There’s no place like this place anywhere near this place."
You just had to experience it to understand it.
There is no way to really explain some things.
Get in and experience it!
The Celebration!
The Ministry!
Children
Youth
Meridian Angels
Sports
Home Groups
It’s exciting so let’s share it with our un-churched friends.
