A church without walls. WBC Away weekend . 16.05.04 am
Do you believe =God wants the KOG to grow? Lives to be changed?
- do you believe Jesus prayers (for unity, many to come to know Him, ¡¥greater things than these¡¦ etc) are answered?
Yes?
- do you believe God is more willing to answer some of our prayers than we are to pray them?
Yes?
Then why is our EXPERIENCE often so different? So half-measure by comparison? (we know God can do more/(better?) than this!)
Because of obstacles¡K barriers ¡K walls.. we put in the way.
- remove the barriers and God will do the rest
Want an illustration of this?
Mt 6:5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 And he was amazed at their lack of faith.
Now- I¡¦m not saying this to confuse or condemn. I¡¦m simply illustrating- remove barriers and God will do marvellous things (in the way HE wants)
Illustr: ¡¥natural Church development¡¦ by Schwartz. Marvellous book as says: natural.. healthy things grow (in life). Formula¡¦s don¡¦t work- but Giod does! If you can get rid of the things that hold growth back- God WILL do the rest. It will be natural growth
So- this is a weekend, sermon about removing the barriers!
- catalysed by this dream I can¡¦t get out of my mind of us being a ¡¥church without walls¡¦ (so much in there!)
TO GOD
Friends- I want to say that it all starts with us getting rid of the walls that there are between us and God.
- this is the starting point. Most important thing
o forget church growth! Seriously! (I want Kingdom growth!)
- everything hangs, starts, on us and Jesus. YOU and Jesus
o our purpose statement: ¡¥bringing Glory to God¡¦
If you can get the walls down that you¡¦ve put up to God
- that¡¦s the main thing
- other things will follow
What might they be? Well- YOU know. The HS will show you!
- may be fear
o Gen 3:10 ¡¥I was afraid of you so I hid¡¦
- Reservation
o 400 year window in the Bible (1000BC-600) there¡¦s lots about ¡¥hearts¡¦
„X starts with David. ¡¥wholehearted¡¦. A man after God¡¦s heart¡¦
„X then his son, Solomon
1KI 8:56 "Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. 57 May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers; may he never leave us nor forsake us. 58 May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep the commands, decrees and regulations he gave our fathers. 59 And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day’s need, 60 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other. 61 But your hearts must be fully committed to the LORD our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.
„X Then lots about kings whose hearts were not committed, half committed or fully-committed to the Lord (in Kings & Chronicles)
„X 1 Ki 15:14 Although he did not remove the high places, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life.
Maybe ¡¥reservation of heart¡¦ is the barrier?
Or unconfessed sin
Or disappointment
- (which sadly means that the barrier created in the past¡K still is a barrier, today). At some point you have to let disappointment go. Build a bridge, and walk over it
Or a physical or psychological condition. Yes- once this is dealt with- the rest will happen naturally
May the Spirit show you. WOK this morning!
BETWEEN EACH OTHER
I dream of a church where there are no barriers between us & God. An open-hearted open-heaven. Getting there!
But also- where there are no barriers between each other. A church without walls
- where it is okay to be YOU. Me. Real. Honest. Not have to ¡¥tow some theological, experiential or psychological line¡¦
- don¡¦t want to criticise them, but something I couldn¡¦t stand about my last church was- it wasn¡¦t a safe place for broken people to be themselves in. = a big failing!
Friends- when these walls come down¡K barriers are destroyed¡K and we are able to love one-another without pretence- great power and healing comes. And we fulfil God¡¦s purposes for us.
- 1 Pet 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
- RO 12:9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good
Sincere = ¡¥without wax¡¦ to us (open letter)
= ¡¥without playacting¡¦ to them
Get rid of the walls. Tear them down. Let¡¦s be a community showing the reality of Christian living and love. Naturally supernatural
BETWEEN OTHERS (CHRISTIANS)
Jesus prays in Jn 17:21 ¡¥that the world may believe¡¦. But he also prays that the barriers that stop this happening may come down, too:
JN 17:20 ". I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
Do you see- remove the walls and the rest will happen!
- but we must remove the walls. Answer Jesus¡¦ prayer
Friends- it¡¦s time to end territorialism, and denominationalism
- 2.5 yrs ago (in my mind at a LT) I made conscious decision to build Kingdom not empire
o (doesn¡¦t mean instantly giving resources elsewhere)
- but be glad the Kingdom is advancing! Wherever! Not get upset to lose people to other churches (but not the Lord)
Remove the walls that the world might believe.
- Illustr: first sermon at MW. Couldn¡¦t preach on revival. Could preach on what was clear- unity. (and who knows- maybe this will birth what we¡¦re asking for!)
Divisions between people who are earnestly trying to follow Jesus is NOT good!
- Illustr: Corinthian church is picture of non health, not health!
- Illustr: BWA and SB denomination. Have left, wholesale
What might these walls be?
- ignorance, prejudice
A freshman at Eagle Rock Junior High won first prize at the Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair, April 26. In his project he urged people to sign a petition demanding strict control or total elimination of the chemical "dihydrogen monoxide." And for plenty of good reasons, since:
1. It can cause excessive sweating and vomiting.
2. It is a major component in acid rain.
3. It can cause severe burns in its gaseous state.
4. Accidental inhalation can kill you.
5. It contributes to erosion.
6. It decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes.
7. It has been found in tumors of terminal cancer patients.
He asked 50 people if they supported a ban of the chemical.
Forty-three (43) said yes, six (6) were undecided, and the last
one? Well, only one (1) knew that the chemical, dihydrogen monoxide,
was water (H2O).,
- laziness (MW event is a pm off?!!), pride, fear (of contagion!)
TO OTHERS
A church without walls between members and other Christians will be a church that ¡¥brings people to Jesus¡¦. Seriously, it will! It¡¦s in the Bible
- ¡¥by this will ALL MEN KNOW that you are my disciples¡¦
The walls will come down that stop them coming IN
- and I dream of that. A church without walls to those who need what we have¡K want what we have
- (what we have is magnetic, and what they are looking for)
Buy WE must take the walls and windows down still further. We must build a church where ANYONE can come in
- and feel at home¡K (actually HEAR what our words, hearts & lives communicate)
Story is told of computer that translated from English to Russian. The message was fed in and it typed out the Russian equivalent. They tried an experimental message ’The spirit is willing but the flesh is indeed weak’. To check the accuracy the Russian was re-fed in and it typed back ’The steak is not good but the Vodka is excellent’. [So often the words of the gospel go misunderstood or not understood at all]
John Chapman quoted in leadership mag
- anyone can come in and find God here- like this:
1 Cor 14:25 if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, 25 and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!"
A church where anyone can come in¡K and EVERYONE is being changed
- nice in theory
- = radical in practice!
- Illustr: when Hugh in skirt + Mohecan came in. You were SO good! I was sweating!. (some of us didn¡¦t know it was David Beckham trendy)
- I feel you all asked ¡¥what would Jesus do?¡¦ and you did it.
What would Jesus do? He¡¦d welcome all in- and journey with them in love for as long as it takes to change them
TO GOING
But I believe Jesus wants our walls to fall down so we can GO, as well. Not just DRAW people in.
- think about it: this IS what the early church existed for
- people ask¡¦ why aren¡¦t we like them, experiencing what they did¡¦
o look at their priorities. They WENT
o they obeyed Jesus¡¦ last early words Mt 28:19 ¡¥GO¡K and I am with you until the end of the age¡¦
Our churches have become so much about ¡¥maintenance rather than mission¡¦ and the¡¦ sofa rather than saving¡¦ that we are ingrained to think
- ¡§I can¡¦t do that! I can¡¦t go! Doesn¡¦t work in our culture, anyway. He won¡¦t do anything¡¨
o And that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. W e don¡¦t go therefore we don¡¦t SEE
o Those words are walls. Barriers. They¡¦re WHY we don¡¦t see!
But if you GO- OUT (leave the 99 and search for the 1)- in virtually all contexts God will bring fruit
- in most contexts you¡¦ll see it after a few years
- God will enable you to FIND a way that brings fruit
Illustr: Penetcostal awakening. Why it was so powerful, influential, is before there were any churches there were people going OUT to save and serve (the whole world over)
A church without walls. People coming in. Us going out
A church that reaches through the barriers of age and gender and takes ¡¥God to the world¡¦
- it¡¦s going well at the Edge. God is ahead of us in reaching older folks (believe that will go well, too)
- need to work at not only taking God to them but making them part of the community we¡¦re building
TO SERVING
And, as I close- please realise that the GOing is a lot more than just going to ¡¥mish¡¦ (mission) as WE understand it.
- we knock down the walls to go and serve in EVERY way
- I have this sense that we¡¦ll be sending out people to use their skills in service (and that we¡¦ll have to adapt our structure to support that better)
o Serving in caring, managing, using our skill
„X Here¡K in the workplace
„X But elsewhere in needy parts of the world, too
So struck by our last ¡¥bring and share¡¦ and the sense of going to serve socially as well as spiritually
- those services are one of the ways I hear God¡¦s voice¡K and take our temperature
- wouldn¡¦t be surprised if we hear more!
DREAM with me of being ¡¥a church without walls¡¦.
TAKE the walls down- and the rest will happen naturally
- our walls to God, to others, to our friends in other churches, to Seekers, to Age, to GOing, to Serving
(There is a place of commanded blessing. Break dividing walls)
