On April 13, 1970 words were spoken that have become synonymous with a troubling situation when the astronauts aboard Apollo 13 said, “Houston, we’ve got a problem.” (Apollo 13 patch goes up on overhead one) A short circuit in one of the Command Module’s oxygen tanks, the primary spacecraft, created a tremendous explosion that caused the mission to be aborted and a lot of hard work and prayer to bring the three astronauts home.
The situation required the asking of many questions and I think that one of them was probably our sermon title, “Where do we go from here?” “What do we have to do to get them safely home?”
One particularly life-threatening situation had to do with the amount of Carbon Monoxide that was building up inside the spacecraft. The filters used in both the Odyssey the command module, and “Aquarius”, the Lunar Module that was supposed to take 2 of the 3 crew to the moon’s surface, were failing to keep the CO levels in the safe range. Some fast thinking created some jerry-rigged filters that filtered the CO to acceptable levels and the crew got safely home.
When the emergency call from Apollo 13 went out, it caused those here on earth to re-purpose and re-envision what they were going to do. Instead of thinking lunar landing, the engineers and mission personnel began thinking safe return home.
It’s hard to believe that over 30 years have passed since those moments of suspense took place far out in space. Many of us here can look back and think, 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, things were sure different than they are now. And they were and they are different. Much has changed since the spring of 1970. But, God has not changed.
The mission and the purpose of the church has not changed either. However, as we all know this church, or any church for that matter, is not the same as it was 10, 20, 30 or even 40 years ago. And we have mixed feelings about that.
But, our basic purpose and basic mission, given to us by God has not changed one bit. It is still the same. A question I believe that we need to ask is, “Are we still following that basic purpose and basic mission that God has for us?”
For the next several weeks I am going to share with you a vision for our church that I believe is God’s vision and has been for quite sometime. It has been His vision since Carter Cummings and others started this church in 1946. It was still His vision in the early 1960’s when Dan Frost led the congregation in the building of this sanctuary. It continued to be His vision during the ministry of Bob and Dale Neace and it will still be His vision when others come, God willing, after we are no longer here and our children, and their children, and others whose names we do not yet know, will remain to serve God.
God’s vision for us involves two things – who we are, that is our character, and what we do, that is our ministry programs and tasks. Both are necessary but the first part is the base upon which the second part is built, not the other way around.
In other words, God is more interested in people than in programs. The programs have a purpose – to help people come to Jesus and follow Him – but it is people first and programs second. God’s mission and purpose is the transformation of the human heart and soul.
Our main text for this morning, Jeremiah 29:1 – 8, is one that perhaps does not come to mind when we think about God’s purposes for the church. Perhaps Acts 2: 42 – 47 is a more suitable passage. We will be addressing that passage in the coming weeks. Or maybe Jesus’ words as recorded by Matthew at the end of his gospel account in chapter 28 and verses 18 – 20, is a better passage as well. We will examine that passage in the near future too.
Vision is a big picture thing. It requires us to draw back and look larger and see things from a greater perspective. It is the foundation upon which our goals and strategies take shape. Without a vision, goals are unfocused and strategies are not well chosen.
This is illustrated in an item that I call the “Leadership Arrow” that I share with our leaders. (Leadership arrow goes up on overhead 2.) It is important that we notice the following things about this arrow:
1. The point of the arrow is toward the future and the base of it “rests” if you will on the present and the past. But not just any present or past, God’s work in the present and past.
2. Goals appear at the top where the arrow meets the future. Goals are “targets” that the arrow is aiming at. They are the visible and practical part of our efforts. But, they are based on the other four.
3. Strategies are the “ways” of our efforts. They are means by which we achieve our goals. They are the answer to the question, “How are we going to achieve our goals?”
4. Objectives are the priorities we choose to follow. They are the filters we used to decide what we are going to do. Our strategies and goals develop out of our objectives. Having objectives also means that we aren’t going to do something and that is sometimes the hardest decision we have to make.
5. Then, the base upon which the previous three are built is the vision. This is the reason for existence. The question, “Why are we here?” is a vision question. And in answering this question we begin to identify our objectives and our priorities.
These are issues that I wrestle with on a regular basis. They are part of my role as your pastor because I am called by God to lead you in the direction that God wants us to go. But, what does God expect of us? What does He want us to do? And equally important, who does God want us to become?
This is where our Jeremiah text comes into view. It is part of a letter that is written by Jeremiah from Jerusalem to his exiled fellow citizens in Babylon. Babylonia, now modern day Iraq, was the power to be reckoned with in that time and place. They had come and conquered what was left of Israel and, as part of the customs of war and conquest in that time and setting, they took the leaders and other influential people away as captives and brought them back home to the capital city of Babylon.
So here is a group of fellow Israelites, a long way from home, in a society that did not believe in their God, wondering what they were going to do. God instructs Jeremiah to tell them what He wants them to do:
ü _ Build homes and plan to stay
ü _ Plant gardens and eat what you plant
ü _ Get married and have kids
ü _ Get your kids married and have grandkids
ü Work for the peace and prosperity of Babylon
ü In other words, don’t dwindle, multiply!
Now there is nothing wrong with this is there? God gives some very practical advise. But, the problem is where God says to do it. Right where they are.
I just wonder if the hardest thing they had to swallow when they heard Jeremiah’s letter was “plan to stay and work for the peace and prosperity of Babylon.”
“Work for these pagans? You have got to be kidding God! Look at them! They worship idols! They do disgusting things! They eat pork! We can’t stay here! We’ll be ruined!”
The orders sound ridiculous! It does not make sense! “God what are you doing?”
I believe that God’s vision in this situation was simply for a “fully following and faithfully functioning people” to be in place so that God could work there. I believe that this is also God’s vision for us here in Kendallville, Indiana in the early 21st century.
I believe that God’s vision for us is to be a “fully following and faithfully functioning people.” (Overhead 3 goes up)
What does this mean? Good question! I’m glad that you asked! Reviewing what God said through Jeremiah gives us a start.
God wanted the Israelites to be His people. He heard their plight and misery and He delivered them from Egypt. He made a covenant; an agreement with them to be their God and they to be His people.
He gave them a place of their own to live. And He asked them to live a certain way as an indication of their commitment to Him. And He asked them to do this surrounded by those who did, and would not, believe in Him.
But, He also did it for another reason. His relationship with them would become the avenue by which He would seek to establish a new covenant of salvation for all humankind.
So, as part of that process, God tells a group of these people, to "faithfully follow and fully function as my people there in Babylon." Why? “Well, as He goes on to say, because as you do, as you seek to insure peace and prosperity in Babylon, it will be of benefit to you as well.” And that required of the Israelites to faithfully follow God and fully function as His people then and there by basically “blooming where they were planted!” The same, I believe, holds true for us.
God wants us to bloom here in Kendallville as His people. He wants to use us to help others come to Him. But, we must faithfully follow God and fully function as His people in order to do so.
Now, some of us might be thinking, “Jim why didn’t you say ‘fully following and faithfully functioning?” Well, I’ll tell you why.
God wants us to follow Him faithfully. To be faithful to something or someone is to be loyal and to be truly loyal means that we fully follow. But, a critical question to ask in regards to being a faithful follower is, “What does a faithful follower of God look like?”
In one of his recent books Bill Hybels shared the story of an intense and personal retreat time during which he prayed for God to make him a better leader so that he would not squander the opportunities he had been given to serve the Lord. After he prayed that prayer he felt led of the Holy Spirit to reflect on the lives of Biblical characters that reflected Godly leadership.
As I read that chapter, entitled interestingly enough “A Leader’s Prayer,” I began to get clearer vision of what a faithful follower of Jesus Christ should be. Briefly, a faithful follower of God is: (overhead 4 up)
_ Hopeful like David
_ Loving like Jonathon
_ Holy like Joseph
_ Decisive like Joshua
_ Courageous like Esther
_ Wise like Solomon
_ Authentic like Jeremiah
_ Celebrative like Nehemiah
_ Willing like Peter
_ Committed like Paul
We are going to study the lives of these 10 individuals and determine why they model faithful following.
The second part of God’s vision is being a fully functioning person, and people of God. (Overhead 5 up)
There are five areas of functioning that God, through the Bible, has indicated we need to be doing as His church:
ü We need to honor Christ through Worship
ü We need to know Christ through Fellowship
ü We need to grow in Christ through Discipleship
ü We need to serve Christ through Service
ü We need to share Christ through Evangelism
Please notice the five italicized words: honor, know, grow, serve, and share. They are action words. They are words that require us to be on the move for God and with God. They are, I believe the primary tasks of the church. That is clear when we read Acts 2:42-47. (Overhead 6 up)
This is the church at its very beginning! From it’s start, this is what God intended every church to do. Not just one or two areas, but all five areas! All five are essential for the life and growth and health of the church. We need all five in our lives and we need all five in our church to function as God would have us function.
This is going to be our study for the next several weeks. I don’t plan on making it boring or dull. As a matter of fact, I am going to ask you to pray for me that God will speak clearly, understandably, and enthusiastically through me so that we will clearly and honestly understand and accept God’s vision for us. Because I believe that God’s vision for us is one that we must accept and obey.
I conclude with what I hope is a very clear illustration of what I believe God has envisioned for us. (Overhead 7 up)
I want to introduce us to Kent, Connie, Ken, and Katie Kendallville - two adults, a teenager, and a child.
The Kendallville’s come to our church. They like it. They like you. They like me. They say, “This is our church!” They stay.
What are our expectations of them?
Depending on their previous spiritual/church experiences, I’ll tell you what God wants.
He wants to give them eternal life through a salvation experience. He wants them to join a class or group so that they begin to grow in their faith and relationship with God.
But, there’s more. God wants them to get to know the church family by joining in fellowship events like the Christmas party or the bowling outing held last fall or through a small group that will help them learn the important spiritual discipline of spiritual honesty.
God also wants them to serve by finding their place of service and ministry in the church and in our community. Maybe that means a place on our FW Friends staff and working with Common Grace as a volunteer. Or maybe it means teaching a Sunday school class and volunteering as tutor in the local literacy program. And He also wants to help them develop an outreach attitude that enables them to share their faith in a caring and natural way so that others can come to Christ as well.
There are Kents, Connies, Kens, and Katies all around us. We work with them. We sit with them in the bleachers at basketball games. We live next door with them. We rid the bus with them. We have the same frustrating English teacher with them.
They have issues. They have problems. They have a past.
They have fears. They have hopes and dreams. They are looking for answers. They are looking for hope.
Who are the Kents, Connies, Kens, and Katies? You know who they are! Not only are they the people who have yet to come through the doors of this building, they are also us.
God’s vision is that we become fully faithful and fully functioning followers of God. That’s a big dream. That’s God’s dream. Let’s make it a reality. Amen.
(Overheads are available in powerpoint format. Please contact me at pastorjim46755@yahoo.com and ask for 122902 svgs. Leadership Arrow is based on the concepts of Bobb Biehl in his work Masterplanning. Five functions are the five purposes as defined by Rick Warren in his book The Purpose Driven Church. Apollo 13 patch is from the website, www.nasm.edu and the material by Bill Hybels is from his book Courageous Leadership, 2002, Zondervan Corporation. All materials are copyrighted.)
