About 20 years ago, I was finishing a graduate degree. An organization in Orlando wanted me to come and work for them. Lots of perks. A new car – a demo – every six months. Some free medical care. Lots of travel. Close to my mom and dad. But I read a verse that said that Jesus loved the church and gave Himself up… for the church. The church is the place where the kingdom of heaven invades the world. I didn’t want to be on the fringes of that. So, I came to help build the Kingdom of God here in NE Ohio by starting a church.
There haven’t been many nights since I came that I put my head on my pillow and wondered, “Am I doing something that matters? I don’t have to wonder, “Does my life count?” And that’s a good feeling.
How about you? Are you engaged in something bigger than yourself? Do you have a sense of purpose and meaning? Are you making an eternal difference?
You can be busy – carting kids around to games, buying a big house and filling it full of stuff, adding to your portfolio and still carry with you a sense of aimlessness. When you put your head on your pillow, do you have a nagging sense of emptiness? If there’s any of that in you, then this talk is for you.
Three weeks ago, we talked about “Designer genes.” We asked, “Did God really create the universe?” and made a case for a Creator.
Two weeks ago, we discussed the “Rolling stone.” We asked, “Did Jesus really rise from the dead?” and made a case for a Savior.
Last week, we tackled “Nothing but the truth.” We asked, “Are the Scriptures really true?” and made a case for the Bible.
Today, it’s “Kingdom come.” The big question is “What in the world is God doing?” We want to make a case for the Church.
I’ll admit it. A lot of what God does in this world confuses me. I often wonder what He’s up to in this world. What’s He up to in my life? But I have learned one thing that He’s always doing: He’s always building His kingdom. The kingdom.
Did you know that over 100 times, Jesus referred to the “Kingdom”? It’s His priority. It’s the first thing He talked about when He started teaching publicly.
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Matthew 3:2 (ESV)
And when He taught us to pray, He wanted us to pray about the Kingdom first.
Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come…
Matthew 6:9-10a (ESV)
See, God is King of the universe. And this world has rebelled against His rule. What He is doing is seeking to for His rebellious creation to come under His authority and recognize what a good and wise King He is. All of creation ought to serve Him and worship Him as King. And when that day comes there will be no more war. No more selfishness. No more greed. No more hurt. No more injustice.
So, what’s God up to in this world? He’s building His kingdom. Now, here’s some good news.
God invites you to be involved with Him in His work. When you see the Father at work around you, that is your invitation to join Him. Henry Blackaby
How does God work in this world to usher in His kingdom? The way He’s working in this world is through His church. The church is the place where the kingdom of heaven invades the world. The church?
A lot of people have written off the church. They say the church is boring. That it’s irrelevant to my daily life. That they make you feel guilty there. That all the church wants is your money. That the church is full of hypocrites. That the church is the last place I want to go.
And sadly, sometimes all that is true. But we are praying, “Not here at CVCC, Lord.”
We believe that this local church can be more and more irresistible. That it can be a place where people actually want to come. Our dream is that on Sunday mornings, children in our community will be shaking parents to get them out of bed and so they can take them to church. Our dream is that outsiders will come here and actually look forward to coming back the next Sunday. They’ll say, “I’m not sure I buy into all that they are teaching but I’m willing to go back to check it out. I don’t understand everything but I want to see more.”
When the King walked this earth announcing the kingdom, you couldn’t marginalize Him. You couldn’t ignore Jesus. And the church is His body. If it was impossible to overlook Jesus, then it should be impossible to overlook the church. You shouldn’t be able to drive by and not notice that we’re here.
We want CVCC – the church – to be the number one option for people who are hurting and confused in our community. They may not agree with all we do and all we believe, but the quality of the experience when they come and the content of our character that they see create a buzz.
God is building His kingdom through the work of His church. About ten years ago, we hammered out a vision statement to clarify what we’re all about as a church. Here it is:
Helping people grow to be passionate followers of Christ.
That statement has stood up to the test of these ten years. It still rings true. It’s what we’ve been about and it’s what we’ll be about. Let me expand on that statement. Let me tell you how we are going about making passionate followers of Christ. Think 1, 2, 3, 4.
1 great passion
Love
Someone once asked Jesus, “What’s the Greatest Commandment?” Here’s what He said.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind… You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 22:37, 39 (ESV)
That’s got to be our passion. Love.
Evidently, someone set a fire in a house in Cleveland and nine people died. We need love. Bombs are still blowing people up in Iraq. We need love. Someone gave a teenager some drugs this past week to get that kid hooked. We need love. One spouse beat on another. We need love. A little girl was sexually assaulted. We need love.
God is at work building His kingdom. And in His Kingdom, people love. He’s inviting people to love – to love God more completely and love others more compassionately. That’s the work of the church. See, the work of the church in this world matters.
You say, “Rick, what are you wanting CVCC to do?” Love. When someone asked Jesus, “What’s the main thing?” He said, “Love.” When we enter into relationship with Him and enter the Kingdom, we not only have His command to love, but His capacity to love.
Some of you are thinking, “OK. Fine. What’s this have to do with me and the void in my heart?”
There’s a young adult here at a crossroad. You’re thinking, “I’ll be fulfilled and satisfied if I could just get the guy or girl, get the car, get the job.” But deep down inside, you know that if you get all that you’ll be selling out to your mom and dad’s values. And you know that all that will never really make you happy. And the void’s still there.
If that’s you, you need to know that God is building His kingdom – a kingdom of love. He invites you to join Him. Your King has a mission for you that will give you meaning. At CVCC, we’re about 1 great passion. And…
2 vital priorities
Just after Jesus died and just before He ascended to heaven, He gave us what’s called the Great Commission. And in that Commission are two priorities. They’ve guided this church from day one. Here’s the first:
Reach outsiders.
Jesus said,
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.
Matthew 28:19a (ESV)
Basically, Jesus is saying, “Bring people in. Bring them into my Kingdom! They don’t know Me. They don’t yet know how to love. Go get ‘em!” Reach outsiders. That’s the first priority. Here’s the second:
Teach insiders.
Jesus said,
… teach them to observe all that I have commanded you.
Matthew 28:20 (ESV)
Jesus is saying, “After you bring people in, grow people up. Teach them how to live in this new kingdom. Teach them what it means to be under My rule. Teach them how to love. Help them mature.”
Some churches are good at one and not the other. But it’s not an “either/or” deal from Jesus. We have to do both. From day one here, we’ve said that we are going to more and better disciples.
Again, some of you are thinking, “OK. OK. I get it. What’s this have to do with me and my lack of meaning?”
There’s a young mother here. You’re up to your eyeballs in dirty dishes and dirty diapers. You feel like you haven’t had an intelligent conversation with an adult in weeks. And deep inside, you are wondering, “Does it matter? Does my life count? What’s the point? Does my life have meaning”
If that’s you, you need to know that God is building His kingdom. He invites you to join Him. And maybe there’s another young mom that He wants you to reach or another young mom that He wants you to teach. Your King has a mission for you that will give you meaning. We’re about 1 great passion. 2 vital priorities.
How are we going to do this? Truth be told, we can’t really reach outsiders and teach insiders to love. That’s what God does.
But everyone who is passionately following Christ learned how to do that in some kind of environment. Maybe it was a camp. Or a home. Or a bible study. The common denominator is a relevant, irresistible environment. So, at CVCC we are partners with the Holy Spirit in creating the best environments for people to connect with Christ. We’ll seek to facilitate the best environments for children, youth, young adults, singles, parents, and couples. Let’s talk about…
3 irresistible environments
Think foyer, living room, and kitchen. That’s what’s up with the video from our house in North Royalton. And that’s what’s up with these signs.
The foyer
That’s where we expect guests. Question. When guests are in your home, do you act a little differently? I bet you do. There are certain things you just don’t talk about in front of guests. Kids grades. Your marriage problems. Or if you do talk about them, you keep in mind that guests are present. You don’t change who you are or what you believe. You just know it’s not right to air all your dirty laundry in front of your guests. You want your guests to feel welcome and come back.
That’s what we want for our weekend services. We want the “cringe factor” to be low. You know what that is, right? You brought a friend to church and you couldn’t believe your eyes and ears. “I can’t believe he’s talking about that!” You brought a guest and you saw it all through their eyes and heard it all through their ears.
Recently, a friend brought some outsiders to CVCC. And Brian and I were told in advance. And I’m glad we were told. It reminded us that week after week, some of you are bringing people to church for the first time. It might be someone you’ve been praying about for years. I didn’t change what I said and Brian didn’t change what we sung. But as we prepared, we remembered that some new guests were coming. We prayed and thought about how we were going to say things and sing things.
Week after week, we want to keep the “cringe factor” low at our weekend services. Why? They are foyer environments where guests show up. Our weekend services are for outsiders as well as insiders.
At CVCC, we have foyer events for young adults, too. It’s called 707. Our youth ministry is launching new foyer environments for High School and Middle School this fall. Our children’s ministry is launching a new foyer environment in January. It will be a setting for children and their parents with music, drama, video, Bible stories, and more.
The foyer. It’s an irresistible environment for guests.
This is why we’ve been doing some painting and rearranging. We do it at our house all the time. You probably do, too. Same family. Just different paint. We simply want to make CVCC a more irresistible environment. We want our guests feel welcomed.
Some have asked, “Are we Cuyahoga Valley Community Church or Cuyahoga Valley Church? Why the change?” To put it simply, we’re trying to make the church more accessible to guests. Our marketing guys are telling us that Cuyahoga Valley Church is easier to work with on publications. Going from Cuyahoga Valley Community Church to Cuyahoga Valley Church takes us from 11 syllables to 7.
Bottom line, though, either name works. I’ll probably always say CVCC or just Cuyahoga Valley. I’ve been saying it that way for 18 years. You can call me Richard Alan Duncan or Rick Duncan or Ricky D. or Dunc. I’ll answer to them all. I’m the same guy by any of those names.
The foyer. It’s for guests. But we want guests to get to the Living Room.
The living room
This room is designed for people to become friends. We want guests to become friends. To make a connection. We ask, “How do we take people in a growing church and connect them?” We’re still working on this.
We offer medium-sized environments like a men’s prayer breakfast or a Mother’s Day luncheon. Right now, we are planning some fall and spring events – some concerts and marriage seminars – to help people build friendships. We’re calling these environments Group Connection events. It’s where people can come and make friends.
Lots of churches have lots of great programs, but they aren’t getting people anywhere. If the LR environment is to help people get form the foyer to the kitchen, then the steps need to be easy, obvious, and strategic.
If this colored paper represented programs – steps through the LR – and someone had to walk on the paper without walking on the carpet, would the steps be easy, obvious, and strategic? Anytime the distance is too big from the foyer, people won’t do it. Anytime it’s random (throw up the paper), people can’t do it.
The Living Room – medium-sized environments where new people can come and build friendships. But we really don’t want people to stay in the Living Room. We want guests to become friends. And we want friends to become family. And that happens in…
The kitchen
Life happens in the kitchen. I’ve never had a meeting with my family in the foyer.
When people get comfortable with each other, they end up in the kitchen. That’s where life on life happens. What we want is authentic community. The kitchen is where it happens.
You say, “Well, what’s the kitchen environment for the church?” Two words. Community groups. Some call them small groups.
When I was in seminary, Maryanne and I were part of a great church – a mega church. One of the most influential pastors in America, Adrian Rogers, spoke virtually every Sunday. I loved listening to him speak. But if you were to ask me who impacted my life the most while I was in seminary, I would say it was a small group of guys who met with me week after week. We’d pray together. We’d share what we were reading in the Bible together. We’d encourage each other. Now, nobody has ever heard of any of those guys. But they impacted my life. Adrian Rogers… impressed me. John and Chuck and Steve… impacted me.
We grow best and we grow most in a small group environment. We impress people from a distance, but we impact them up close. Up close an personal. That’s where life change happens best. That’s where we really learn how to live in God’s Kingdom – how to love.
This is the win for us. We want you in a group at a table in a home studying God’s word. We want everyone at the kitchen table.
If you’re still ripping the cellophane off your Bible, come to the kitchen table we call “Fresh Start.” It’s a small group environment we offer on Sunday mornings for new people.
And we will be offering Friendship groups for people who are just sitting down at the kitchen table for the first time and want a “dating period” with a group of new friends. You want to make sure you aren’t hanging out with “wacked out” people. You don’t know if you want to stay with these people for a long time. We’ll put you in a group for 8 weeks. And if they aren’t your people – if they are “wacked out” – just let us know. We’ll let you try another Friendship group.
Our community groups meet for 18-24 months. We study the word of God together. We learn to live in the Kingdom of love together. Then, with the help of a coach, our community groups multiply. And we make room for more people at the kitchen table.
It’s at the kitchen table where you do life together. It’s where care is given and received. In a church this size, our staff can’t give you as much as you need. But, in a group, members can cook meals when there’s a need. This is a way for us to model ourselves after the 1st century church – small groups of believers meeting in homes.
The foyer is fun. The living room is cool. But we are going to go work hard to get people to the kitchen. The kitchen is where it learning to love happens.
At CVCC, every ministry is using the foyer to kitchen model. Children. Youth. Young adults. And everyone else. From the foyer, to the LR, to the kitchen. That’s how guests become friends and friends become family.
This model is giving us a clear filter for making decisions. The question we are asking is this: Will this new opportunity help us move people from the foyer to the kitchen? Anything that helps us do this better gets a “Yes.” We are asking, “How can we make it more and more clear for people to get to the kitchen?” We want to be more streamlined. We want to be better stewards of your time and gifts. Why these environments? We want to simplify and clarify our mission.
So what? Big deal. What’s this have to do with me?
There’s a businessman here who looks like he’s got it made. You’ve got the house and wife and kids and cars. You’re planning a nice vacation. But it’s all a façade. When you put your head on the pillow at night, you’re wondering, “How can I keep all these plates spinning? The job isn’t as secure as everyone thinks. The credit card debt keeps building. Is this all there is?”
If that’s you, you need to know that God is building His kingdom. He says, “Quit focusing on building your kingdom and start focusing on building Mine.” He invites you to join Him in really reaching people and teaching them to love. Your King has a mission for you that will give you meaning. We’re about 1 great passion. 2 vital priorities. 3 irresistible environments. And…
4 essential pursuits
We’ve talked about this a lot over the years. So, I’ll just mention them. Think G.R.O.W.
G – Giving – that’s love going to God.
And all who believed… had all things in common.
Acts 2:43-44 (ESV)
The win for us is not that you just make it through a bunch of classes. The win for us is that you are at the kitchen table changing – actively learning to give your talent and treasure. You’re learning to love God by investing with Him.
R - Relationships – that’s love going to insiders
They devoted themselves to… fellowship. And all who believed were together... and breaking bread in their homes…
Acts 2:42, 44, 46 (ESV)
The bull’s eye for us is not that you have your head filled with knowledge. The bull’s eye for us is that you are at the kitchen table changing – actively in relationships with others. You’re pursuing love – community with insiders.
O - Outreach – that’s love going to outsiders
And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Acts 2:47 (ESV)
The strike zone is not that you end up with Bible course certificates to hang on your wall somewhere. The strike zone for us is that you are at the kitchen table changing – actively learning to outreach. You’re pursuing love – influence with outsiders.
W - Worship – that’s love going to God
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching… and [to] prayers. [They] attended the temple together… praising God…
Acts 2:42, 43, 46, 47 (ESV)
The target for us is not that you show up, sit down, and stand up at the right times. The target for us is that you are at a kitchen table changing – actively learning to worship. You’re pursuing love – intimacy with God.
Giving. Relationships. Outreach. Worship.
We’ve seen it happen time and time again. When you engage in these G.R.O.W. pursuits, your life will change. Changed lives. For us, that’s the bull’s eye. That’s the strike zone. And it happens best in a community group. Practice these four pursuits and you will mature into a passionate follower of Christ.
I hope you’re proud of your leaders, your elders and staff. Our leaders have been praying and reading and meeting and discussing and planning for long, long, long hours. Some of us have been visiting other churches to learn how to leverage this awesome opportunity. Some people have asked, “Are we trying to be like Northpoint church in Atlanta or like Fellowship church Dallas?”
The answer is “no.” Over the years, we’ve been influenced by lots of godly leaders. Bible teaching that’s clear, practical, and relevant? That’s Chuck Swindoll’s influence. Brokenness? That’s Nancy DeMoss’ influence. A constantly growing church? That’s Rick Warren’s influence. A Jesus focus? That’s Anne Graham Lotz’ influence. Using the arts in ministry? That’s Bill Hybel’s influence. Prayer and holiness? That’s Gregg Frizzell’s influence. I could go on and on and on.
We want to learn from lots of leaders. Someone said, “If you stop learning, you stop leading.” So, no, we’re not going to be a clone of anyone. Northpoint is in Atlanta. This is Cleveland. We learn and modify and adapt and delete to do Kingdom work in this context.
So what? GROW. Big deal. What’s this have to do with me?
There’s a little kid here who’s never quite fit in. When your friends choose up sides in sports, you’re always wondering, “Will they pick me last again?” You don’t want your teacher to call on you because you always manage to embarrass yourself and the class laughs. They’ve never said it, but you know deep down that your not your parents favorite child. You’re wondering, “Does my life really matter?”
If that’s you, you need to know that God is building His kingdom. He invites you to join Him. You can give and relate and outreach and worship. Your King has a mission for you that will give you meaning.
Listen, there are lots of great churches in NE Ohio. But I count it an honor to be a part of this one. I know we have problems we need to solve. But I love serving Jesus here. Whenever my mom sees a mom or dad who’s proud of their child, she says, “Every old crow thinks his crow is the blackest!” And every pastor probably thinks his church is the greatest. We have a great staff and elder team. We have great leaders. We have great opportunity. And I think we have a great strategy.
Get on board and embrace this! The kingdom is not about you. It’s about the King! We ant more people to know Him and serve Him. You can find meaning by building His kingdom. Be a part of what God is doing! If you don’t want to be a part of it, then give up your seat to someone who does!
Listen, you don’t want to miss the next five to ten years here. We need you to pray with us about cutting a road through to Sprague, about adding 300 more parking spaces, about creating balconies and building 150 more seats here, about building a youth center, about finding warehouse space for offsite offices and for 707, about retiring debt.
God is building a kingdom of love. He’s doing something special here on this corner. It’s a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Don’t miss it! Here’s what E. Stanley Jones says about building the Kingdom:
It is an exciting adventure, a surprise around every corner, never a dull moment, horizons cracking, new horizons looming, every possession an invitation to possess more, every solution gives the key to further solutions. You’re on the tiptoe of expectancy, life beckons. (The Unshakable Kingdom, p. 38)
I want to be a part of something like that! And that’s why I’m serving Jesus here.
A truth to take home: My King has a mission that gives meaning to me.
A verse to remember: Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33; ESV).
A question to answer: What will I do to join God’s work in this world?
