Transforming the Present Future
Acts 2:43-47
47 They praised God and were liked by all the people. Every day the Lord added those who were being saved to the group of believers.
Last Spring I read a book by Reggie McNeal called "The Present Future". The title caught my eye. As I read the book I found myself connecting with the author and thinking that he is articulating ideas and concepts about the church that I’ve struggled to put into word and practice.
One of the concepts was the importance of preparation.
We’ve been trained to think in terms of planning. This is a world of calendars, agendas, Palm Pilots, 5-year strategic studies, and detailed checklists. Now there is nothing wrong with planning! I’m constantly working and thinking 3-6 months ahead on my sermons and lesson writing. At our staff meeting this week we spent a several hours thinking and outlining the plan for our Open House this November 7th. (Now would be a great time to start praying for those you would like to invite!)
Planning is fine - if you know what will happen and when it will happen - which rarely happens! What we need to do instead is to work on getting ready for the future - in the present. Right now.
If you were to observe some surfer dudes on the west coast you’d see a group of people that live, breath, think, and eat surfing. Their surfboards are freshly waxed whenever they have a spare moment. They go to work with a board sticking out the window. They check the weather reports at every opportunity. They talk to their friends about where the next big set of waves is likely to arrive. In short - they consider all of their regular lives as preparation for the best part - surfing!
Let me lead you this morning to a new perspective on your Christian walk
It’s not a matter of planning what and how you want to live – some day. It’s a matter of preparing how you want to live – for the rest of your life. It is about being prepared for the opportunities God gives you serve him by serving others.
I don’t want to dress this up as some sort of a spiritual revelation that I have discovered. It’s more like God has brought some new perspectives to me and I have begun to embrace them – but only after having been drug kicking and screaming to a place where I can see them.
What got this started for me was 20 acres of farmland on Willoughby Road that Alaiedon Township refused to let us use for offices, ministry and worship. It was this blocked path that has pushed me – unwillingly and uncomfortably into – a reexamination of how we do church at Meridian Christian Church.
The result has been a new perspective – a different paradigm. What is this new paradigm? Well, this morning I’m going to outline one critical piece of what is happening at MCC. I hope you get as excited as I am about the present future of Meridian Christian Church.
Transforming the Present Future
God has lead the Meridian Christian Church into a special place of ministry to our community where we can be salt, light, and leaven
Instead of becoming an Inwardly oriented private clubhouse we can become an inwardly strong but externally focused church
Instead of developing an attitude of protect isolation and a fortress mentality – “It’s us against the evil dark world” – we can become an enveloping movement of love and acceptance.
Instead of putting ALL of our resources into being a weekly assembly of sanctified saints – an hour a week of glory to God piety and holiness – we are becoming a the 247 family of God – connected, worshiping, working, and serving 24/7.
Instead of putting hours of time and buckets of energy into the formulation of strategic 5 year plans we are focusing on being prepared for opportunities to SHOW AND TELL everyone we have contact with about Jesus Christ.
At Meridian Christian Church we are weaving good deeds and the good news into a single message of hope and life in Jesus Christ.
Internally Strong – Externally Focused
The Internally Strong – Externally Focused Church takes care of the people in the family of God
It’s a way of living your whole life instead of how you spend a couple of hours a week.
It’s the difference between being on a diet – where every day is one of self-denial and unbelievable sacrifice – and changing the way you eat and live.
What I’m talking about is challenging and demanding. It’s not easy – but nothing that is life transforming has ever been easy!
Let’s look at this today as those who have been called out of the secular world view of life into the changed and focused followers of Jesus – the church!
Great programs, youth, children, men, women, home groups, Bible teaching, singles, college, and the list goes on…
Good people doing good things for each other. We do all of that and we will continue to do all of these things – But these things are not sufficient if they are all focused on the box!
The Internally Strong – Externally Focused Church understands that God rests in and enjoys his children’s worship
Psalms 22:3 NCV
3 You sit as the Holy One. The praises of Israel are your throne.
Last week I went to visit my grand children and they all ran out of the house and grabbed hold of my legs as they shouted “Grandpa”.
Do you think God doesn’t love it when we come together and sing praises about him and what he has done for us! He loves it when we come together to worship him.
I appreciate the Holy Spirit churches – they taught us how to worship.
The Internally Strong – Externally Focused Church is not about size – its about influence.
It’s about focus, preparation, and attitude.
It’s about how we see ourselves in the community – as a people who add value, life and beauty to the city.
It’s about how we see our work in the community – to be salt, light, and leaven – to have an influence that makes our community into a better place to live.
It’s about being the “soul” and the conscious of the community – reminding them that there is more to life than three square meals and roof over your head – and it’s far more than designer clothes, German cars and exotic vacations!
It’s about the Meridian Christian Church being so integral to the community that we would be greatly missed if we weren’t here.
Four Characteristics of Internally Strong – Externally Focused Churches
First: Internally Strong – Externally Focused Churches are convinced that good deeds and the good news can’t and shouldn’t be separated.
Just as it takes two wings to lift an airplane off the ground, so externally focused churches couple good news with good deeds to make an impact in their communities. The good news explains the purpose of the good deeds.
Who then do we reach out to with good deeds and good news? God has consistently called his children to serve too groups through out all of history…
God has consistently called his children to serve… The people on the margins
Isaiah 58:1-12
5 This kind of special day is not what I want. This is not the way I want people to be sorry for what they have done. I don’t want people just to bow their heads like a plant and wear rough cloth and lie in ashes to show their sadness. This is what you do on your special days when you do not eat, but do you think this is what the LORD wants?
6 “I will tell you the kind of special day I want: Free the people you have put in prison unfairly and undo their chains. Free those to whom you are unfair and stop their hard labor.
7 Share your food with the hungry and bring poor, homeless people into your own homes.
When you see someone who has no clothes, give him yours, and don’t refuse to help your own relatives.
God has consistently called his children to serve… The cities
Jeremiah 29:1-12
7 Also do good things for the city where I sent you as captives. Pray to the LORD for the city where you are living, because if good things happen in the city, good things will happen to you also.”
Four Characteristics of Internally Strong – Externally Focused Churches
Second: Internally Strong – Externally Focused Churches see themselves as vital to the health and well-being of their communities.
They believe that their communities, with all of their aspirations and challenges, cannot be truly healthy without the church’s involvement. It is only when the church is mixed into the very life and conversation of the city that it can be an effective force for change.
For too long we have allowed the culture to marginalize the church. We have reacted to this in withdrawal and isolation – building fortress and club mentalities. We have become a church of spiritual consumers focused on how our personal needs are being met by the church leaders.
It’s time to stop emulating this self-defeating secular consumer mentality attitude and start emulating the SHOW AND TELL attitude of servant leadership in the surrounding community.
What do we bring to the table? Let me tell you about what MCC is doing that makes us Internally Strong and Externally Focused.
· We are serving families with developmentally disabled children by loving those families and their offspring.
· We are partnering with the community – with Okemos and L&L stores to collect clothing for people half a world away.
· We are working with the owner of Big Boy to create a memory on Christmas Day of good food and good friends for those who would be home watching “It’s a wonderful Life” for the 65th time – alone.
· We are partnering with administrators at Chippewa Middle School to fix up the landscape and dress up the entrance.
· Look for those opportunities to SHOW AND TELL
Four Characteristics of Internally Strong – Externally Focused Churches
Third: Internally Strong – Externally Focused Churches believe that ministering and serving are the normal expressions of Christian Living
Even more, they believe that Christians grow best when they are serving and giving themselves away to others. They are convinced that Christians can learn through good instruction, but they really cannot grow if they remain uninvolved in ministry and service.
What was the first miracle Jesus did? He changed water into wine. He didn’t heal a sick person. He didn’t forgive the sins of a broken person. He didn’t make a blind man see. He didn’t raise a child from the dead. He saved a party!
God has called us – you and I - Meridian Christian Church – some of you who are guests – to be more than church goers and chair sitters. He has called us to serve others.
A young man walks up to an woman who’s age is hidden by the joy in her face and the sparkle in her eyes. He extends his hand to the woman who is seated at a table and says, “May I have this dance?”. This is how the Mariners “Senior” Prom began at the Mariners Church in Irvine California. For one evening the walkers and canes were put away by residents of a senior home participated in a church sponsored “senior” prom. There was food, music, and wonderful memories as old men danced with young ladies and senior women danced with young men.
Sometimes the beauty and love of Jesus is extended in this way.
Listen, God has put us right smack dab in the center of a community hungry for His love. We are internally strong – let’s look for the opportunities that God is giving us to serve the community!
Finally: Internally Strong – Externally Focused Churches are evangelistically effective
People are looking for places of authenticity where the walk matches the talk -- where faith is making a difference. These words are carved in stone of the entrance of Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati: "Small things done with great love will change the world."
You don’t become authentic by saying that you are authentic. You become authentic by living the way you talk. It’s a matter of your SHOW matching your TELL.
When your SHOW matches your TELL – people start asking you how they can get what you have – that’s when we start telling them about Jesus.
It’s not about the donkey!
Matthew 21:9 tells how a donkey carried Jesus triumphantly into Jerusalem. The people cheered and shouted praises to him. They lopped off palm branches and laid them on the street for the donkey to walk on. When the trees were bare and the palm branches ran out they laid their own coats in the street. The people of the city ran ahead and shouted, “Praise to the Son of David! God bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise to God in heaven!”
For a moment perhaps, the donkey thought it was about him. After all he was doing all the work that morning. But it wasn’t about him. It had nothing to do with him. He was simply carrying the message.
It’s about Jesus!
Have you received the message yet? Have you determined to give your life to him?
