The Church Has Left The Building Series

TITLE: THE CHURCH HAS LEFT THE BUILDING

SCRIPTURE: ST. MARK 16:15

On last Sunday I preached from the subject “THE CHURCH” – this morning I want to continue that message or Part-II and tag this message – “THE CHURCH HAS LEFT THE BUILDING.” I remember when I was still relatively young, Elvis Pressley was all the rage. A phrase that became very familiar to Elvis fans at the height of his cultic popularity was, "Elvis Has Left The Building!" It is a phrase that was often used by public address announcers following Elvis Presley concerts to disperse audiences who lingered in hopes of an Elvis encore or to get a glimpse of him or autograph.

• I was 16 years of age on August 16, 1977 when news announced Elvis had died at 42 years of age

We have heard the phrase over the past few decades “Elvis Has Left The Building.” 43 years after his death, we still use the phrase which in essence means today – “The Show Is Over” “It’s Time to Leave.” I have a simple message for us this morning – “The Show Is Over” “It’s Time to Leave” -- “THE CHURCH HAS LEFT THE BUILDING.” Many of the churches -- and by churches, I mean Christians -- have forgotten the church is meant to thrive outside the walls of the church house by serving others and by being a means of God’s Grace. It is time for the Church to leave the building.

When we read about the life of Jesus in the Bible, we see an extraordinary thing. everywhere Jesus went lives were transformed --

• PETER - ANDREW - JAMES - PHILLIP - JOHN were ordinary fishermen

• MATTHEW was a tax collector

• PAUL was a Jesus hater

• JOHN THE BAPTIST was a nomad

• One man was a Leper

• A little girl was demon possessed

• Another was Lame

• Yet another man was Blind

• THOMAS was a Doubter

After their encounter with Jesus, they were transformed.

• Paul went from Jesus hater - to Jesus lover

• John went from being a nomad - to being on a mission

• Peter went from hothead fisherman - to passionate disciple

• The Lame walked

• The Blind saw

• The unclean Leper was healed and cleaned

• Thomas Believed

None of these encounters with Christ happened in a Church Building. As these people’s lives were transformed, they became witnesses to Christ.

• After Christ left, He left them His Spirit

• When His Spirit indwelt them, they became the Body of Christ

• As the Body of Christ, together they formed the Church

Sometimes we in the church have been guilty of assuming we are a landmark for site seers.

• Come and see our Worship

• Come and see our Savior

• Come and see all of our great people

• Come and see the sights and sounds of our church

• Someone once said, "We are all called to be fishers of men, not keepers of the aquarium"

• The reality is most people are not converted in the church

• More prayers of salvation are said in a HOME - OR A CAR - OR EVEN A PARK than in a Church Building

The Church has left the building. There are two main reasons the unchurched remain unchurched.

1. Either they consider church irrelevant, which is a shame because worshipping God and being a part of Christian community and getting all this great practical truth out of the Word of God together is so VERY RELEVANT!

2. They mistakenly think church is “ONLY (and this breaks my heart to even say this) FOR INSIDERS”

Instead of being critical of our friends and family that don’t worship God, do we realize why the Church isn’t very contagious sometimes? Sometimes we keep the good news to ourselves. We may not realize we’re doing it and we certainly don’t want people to stay on the outside without finding a way in. But we haven’t done what the Bible tells us to do to -

• It’s really simplistic

• It’s really not difficult at all

• "GO"

That haunts me because I know God wants everyone to experience and enjoy His love -- His grace - His peace. we don’t want anyone to think the church is just for insiders!

• What can we do to erase these misconceptions?

• What can we do to dispel this haunting image?

• How do we effectively get the message across that the church is for everyone?

The church is going to have to leave the building in order to be contagious! If the unchurched are going to know that church is relevant, and that there are no outsiders, then the church must leave the building! This principle is really rather ironic in the first place because the Bible never employs the word “church” to describe a building.