The Way Of Jesus - Marker # 7 - I Am Participating In A Community Of Followers Of Jesus On Mission In The World. Series

Way of Jesus Mark # 7 - October 21, 2018

This are notes, a detailed outline of this sermon.

Intro: Did you ever win a participation award when you were young?

When I was a boy they didn’t have those. They had these instead (meme of bruised arm)

I think participation trophies started somewhere in the 90’s when they wanted to give kids something not for winning, but for being there. Elia received some of those.

Illustration:

When our daughter Elia was 8 she was competing in gymnastics, aiming for the city gymnastics finals.

At one point she was playing with some friends on the old wooden balance beams on the playground at Spruce court.

She fell and cracked 2 ribs. Not a good day.

Her grandmother came to the city finals. She knew Elia wasn’t going to place on the podium because she hadn’t been able to train much due to her ribs that broke.

Grandmother brought a beanie baby stuffed dog.

Elia placed after 4th, which meant she didn’t receive a ribbon, which is all she wanted.

Grandmother gave her the beanie baby as a consolation prize.

The girl who placed 1st in that competition and every other competition, literally covered in medals, clearly wanted and would have preferred Elia’s beanie baby.

Elia’s ‘participation’ award that year, a very personal gift from a loving grandmother, was the envy of the other 9 year olds.

Participation matters. Participation makes all the difference.

Our last marker or anchor in the Way of Jesus series we’ve been looking at is:

# 7 - I am participating in a community of followers of Jesus on mission in the world

This is the final marker of the Way of Jesus.

All the markers happen all the time and the WoJ intentionally revisits each marker so we stay on track.

Let’s break it down

1. Participating

2. Community of followers of Jesus - The Church

3. On mission in the world

Let’s look at what we are first:

The Church=

Eklessia - Called out

Called out of what?

Darkness 1 Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

1 Peter 2:9-10

Sin

The world (participating in the sin of the world)

Bondage

Into what:

The glorious inheritance of the children of God

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

Ephesians 1:17-19

Who here is called out?

Let me ask another way: who here is part of the church?

Everyone who believes that Jesus Christ died for their sins, who has relented if their sins and turned to follow Jesus.

So that’s #2. That’s what we are: a community of followers of Jesus

What’s #1?

I’m participating. As with all the markers of the way of Jesus, we take responsibility. We actively, personally engage to be followers of Jesus. It is not something done to us. We are doing it.

What does participating start with?

Showing up. That’s half the battle. Being here.

What else does participating look like?

Let me do a favourite thing of mine and talk about you guys.

Go to

William

Marjorie

Faith/Rodney/Denis etc

Florence

Hazel

Paul and Shirley (Birthday recognition, Resetting classrooms, organizing church greeter schedule, Sunday Resource (YSM and Other) Ministry

Seasonal Banquet Gym Volunteer Oversight)

Others

That’s just a tiny bit of insight as to how we work together as a community of followers of Jesus on mission in the world.

We see:

• Care for this congregation

• We see care for the mission’s community

• We see leadership offered, gifts offered

• We see visitation of those who are shut in happening, those in prison

• We see hands-on practical service

• We see leadership in worship, teaching.

Why do we do all this?

On mission in the world

We likely all have different nuances of responses to this question,

but I believe the one thing in common that we have is a desire

to serve Jesus,

a desire to serve the living God.

That is our mission. To serve God, embracing everyone, enfolding all into the love of God in Christ Jesus.

To be an expression of Jesus’ own mission - the reason He was sent.

Do you remember when Jesus talked about why He was sent?

14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and … was teaching in (the) synagogues… He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: