Deuteronomy 6:1-9, 1 John 4:7-21, Matthew 22:34-40

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Matthew 22:34-40

1 John 4:7-21

Committed To Love

April 29, 2012

Part 2 of Great Ends Of The Church Series

As Sally and I get “settled in” to the manse, the community, the Church and the “routine” here at Edgewood, we continue to give praise to God for the blessing this Church is – and we are sure will continue to be – to us.

Last Sunday we began looking at some specific things we can do to be the Church God is calling us to be by looking at one of the first statements in our denominations Book Of Order  — what has become  known as “The Six Great Ends Of The Church”. 

Listen to what the Book Of Order says:

The great ends of the Church are:

the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind;

the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God;

the maintenance of divine worship;

the preservation of the truth;

the promotion of social righteousness; and

the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. (Book Of Order, Presbyterian Church USA, F–1.0304)

These are great words!  They also give us a vision for what it means to be the Church — what the Church is to be about – what the Church is to be doing.  The Church is not about the building – it’s not about the Minister  – it’s about God – it’s about Christ – it’s about people who are trying to fulfill these “Great Ends” the Book Of Order lay out for us. If we here Edgewood are going to be the Church God wills for us to be, then we will have to be committed to living out these “Great Ends”.

When we looked at the first of these Great Ends — the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind – last week we saw that – if Edgewood is going to be the Church God is calling it to be – then you and I are going to have to be committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind – or evangelism.  Whether or not we here at Edgewood will be the Church God intends for us to be depends – first and foremost – on our commitment to this first Great End of the Church.  

But there is more.  The second Great End of the Church – the second thing necessary for us to be the Church God intends for us to be – is a commitment to

the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God

I believe that this can be summed up in one 4 letter word –

Love

The love God has for each of us

The love God calls upon us to have for Him

The love God calls upon us to have for each other

The love God calls us to have for the community and the world

the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God

Love

Rick Warren in his book The Purpose Driven Church  writes:

“A great commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission makes for a great Church”.

If we here at Edgewood are going to be the great Church God calls us to be we are going to have to have a great commitment to the Great Commission – making disciples for Christ – or – as the Book of Order puts it – “the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind”. We also are going to have to have a great commitment to the Great Commandment – loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind – and loving others as ourselves.  That’s what the Book of Order calls: “the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God.”

Indeed, a great commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission makes for a great Church

Let me ask you a question — what do you think is the primary difference between Christianity and other religions?

I believe the primary difference between Christianity and other religions can be summed up in one word: love.  

Think about it—what other world religion places the same emphasis on loving others as Christianity?

Jesus — the founder of Christianity – said:

“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35

Everything we do in the Christian life needs to be motivated by love—love for God and love for others.  

When Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment in the Law, He answered:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

Love.

The love God shares with us.

The love God calls upon us to share with each other

The love God calls us to share with the community and the world

That’s what this second Great End of the Church:

the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God

is all about.

If we here at Edgewood are going to be the Church God intends for us to be, we are going to have to be committed to the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God – we are going to have to be  committed to love.

Love is what makes Christianity unique—and it’s the one thing that everyone knows we are supposed to do. Take any non-Christian off the street — even a person who has never been to church in his or her entire life—and ask them to tell you something about Christianity – I believe the one thing they could probably tell you about Christianity is that Christians are supposed to love others.

The world knows we’re supposed to do it, and we know we’re supposed to do it, but it’s not always easy to do, is it?

In fact – being really committed to the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God – being really committed to love – is very difficult for us. 

I read of a young pastor who asked a more experienced pastor:

 “What are the requirements to be a successful pastor?”

The response was: “You have to be an entrepreneur. You have to be organized and efficient, able to manage your time well, and able to see projects through to completion.”

The young pastor did not realize this more experienced pastor was on an ego – trip and was basically describing himself.

A few days later this same young pastor asked another pastor—one who was approaching retirement—the same question.

Without hesitation, the older, wiser pastor answered, “You have to love your people.”

The young pastor said, “What about being organized and efficient? What about being a self-starter?”

The older, wiser pastor said, “A person with good organizational skills will have a large congregation—and you should develop those skills as much as you can. But a pastor who loves people will make a difference in their lives for all eternity.”

The advice the older, wiser pastor gave does not just apply to pastors. It applies to all Christians everywhere.

Do you want to make a difference in the world? You do it by loving others.

Do you want Edgewood to make a difference in the world?  You and I have to do it by loving others.

Now — some of you may be thinking –

            Bill — there’s only one problem. I’m not a loving person. I don’t even like most people … how can I love them?

That’s a good question.

How do you become a more loving person?

First of all – you need to remember that love is primarily an action, not a feeling. It’s something you do more than it is something you feel. God’s love – and the love God callsus to have for Him and share with others – is a verb – not a noun.

The emphasis in our society is on how love makes you feel. When you’re in love you feel good. There’s no question that there is some truth to that. It does feel good to be in a loving relationship with your friends, your family, your spouse, and so on. But there’s more to it than that. Our goal is not just to feel love, our goal is to show love to the people in our lives—our friends, our neighbors, our family members, our spouse, and even our enemies.

If we are going to be committed to being the Church God would have it to be – we are going to have to be committed to the Second Great End of the Church:

the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God

We are going to have to be committed to love.

There are three things for us to focus on as we strive to be more loving people – a Church committed to love.

First of all, in order to love others, we’ve got to understand God’s love.

In 1 John 4 John talks about what it means to love. He makes it clear that the real proof of love is not in what we do for God, or what we do for others, the real proof of love is in what God has done for us.

These verses help us to understand what love really is.

First, we see that love will sacrifice to make things right.

Look at 1 John 4:10:

(v. 10) This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

First and foremost, love involves sacrifice.

This is the heart of the gospel: We were separated from God by our sins, and we were completely unable to save ourselves. So God sent his son into the world to atone for our sins—to die for our sins — so that we can be forgiven. That’s how great His love is for us—He was willing to make such a sacrifice in order to restore our relationship with Him.

This is what we must do for others.

If Edgewood is going to be the Church God intends for it to be, each of us must be committed to love  — and that means being willing to sacrifice in order to make things right.

Sometimes husbands must sacrifice in order to make things right in their marriage;

Sometimes wives must do that –

Sometimes fathers must sacrifice in order to make things right with their family

Sometimes mothers must –

Sometimes friends must sacrifice in order to make things right in the friendship –

Sometimes we must sacrifice to make things right in the Church.  

Now – I feel I need to explain the “to make things right” clause.

Love involves sacrifice, but it’s not sacrifice merely for the sake of sacrifice. It’s not sacrifice because the other person is everything and you’re nothing and what they want matters and what you want doesn’t. It’s not about playing the martyr. Love involves sacrifice, but it’s sacrifice for the good of the relationship; it’s sacrifice in order to make things right. Love involves sacrifice.

If we want the Edgewood to be the Church God intends for Edgewood to be, we will have to be committed to the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God. 

We are going to have to be committed to love.

To be committed to love, we have to be prepared to sacrifice for the benefit of others.

The second thing to know about love is  —

Love empowers others to do what’s right.

Look at 1 John 4:9 …

(v. 9) This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

Did you catch that?

That we might live through Him.

God’s love is demonstrated to us in the fact that He sent His son so that we might have life. His love is for our benefit. It strengthens us. It empowers us.

This is what our love should do for others. We should love people in a way that builds them up, in a way that empowers them, in a way that gives them life. Just like God’s love for us gives us the strength to live, our love for others can  — in a different way, of course — inspire and empower others to live holy lives.

Yes — if we want Edgewood to be the Church God intends for us  to be, we have to be committed to the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God. 

We are going to be committed to love. .

This involves sacrifice and this empowers others to do what’s right.

Thirdly — love replaces fear with security.

Listen to 1 John 4:17-18:

In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

John is saying that our relationship with God is a relationship of love, not a relationship of fear.

You might be familiar Proverbs 1:7 that says:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…

In several other places the Bible says that we are to fear God. Why, then, does John say that our relationship with God  is not about fear?

It’s really 2 very different types of fear.

One type of fear is holy respect.  That’s what the author of Proverbs is referring to and this is the way in which we should fear God. The other type of fear is more like terror. The “holy respect” kind of fear is based on an understanding of God’s goodness. The “terror” type of fear is based on a misunderstanding of God’s nature completely.

Someone once shared with me that they once had a boss once who had an explosive temper. You never knew what would set him off, but when something made him mad he would launch into a tirade that seemed to last forever. He might fire you, he might cut your salary, he might demote you — you never knew. Let’s not make the mistake of thinking that God is like that — that He is a “fly-off-the-handle” kind of God. God is loving, He is merciful, He is tender and compassionate. Our relationship to Him is not based on fear, it’s based on love. Because of that, we have security in Him. Our security is not based on our own goodness, but on His goodness.

This is the kind of love we need to show to others — the kind of love that says, “My love isn’t conditional; it’s not temporary; it’s not here today and gone tomorrow. You can count on me.”

If we want Edgewood l to be the Church God intends for Edgewood to be, we have to be committed to the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God.  We are going to have to be committed to love, and the love God calls us to commit to is His love – a love that is willing to sacrifice, a love that empowers people to do right, and a love that offers the security of permanence. In other words,  we need to be filled with God’s love – and share God’s love with others.

In order to be filled with God’s love we must experience God’s love firsthand.

To give God’s love you must first receive God’s love. Listen to 1 John  4:7:  

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

Notice the phrase “has been”… Everyone who loves has been born of God…

If you’ve experienced God’s love first hand, you can share God’s love with others. If you’ve never received God’s love, you simply don’t have it in you to love others. As 1 John 4:19 says:

We love because He first loved us.

Our ability to love comes from God’s love for us. The only way that we can live in His love is to experience His love firsthand. And there’s only one way to experience His love — through the free gift of His grace. God’s love is something you will never, ever, ever, ever, ever earn or deserve. It is available in one format: as a free gift—never as a payback for your goodness, never as a reward for your hard work, but only as a gift. As Paul wrote in  Ephesians 2:8-9:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.  

God loves you so much that He sacrificed His Son in order to make things right and  in order to offer you forgiveness for your sins. God loves you so much that He sent His son into the world so that you might have the power to live through Him. God loves you so much that He has removed all fear of judgment and condemnation, and He has given you the kind of love that casts out all fear.

In order to be filled with God’s love you must also share God’s love with others.

1 John 4:12 says  

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

His love is made complete in us when we show His love to others. The more we show His love, the more we grow in His love.

So how do we show His love? We show it the same he showed it to us:

• We sacrifice in order to make things right with others.

• We do what we can to empower others to live right.

• We build relationships with others not based on fear but based on security.

God sacrificed His Son so that we could be reconciled to Him. In the same way, there will be times when you must sacrifice in order to be reconciled to others. When God saw that we were lost and alone and dying without Him, He sent his Son into the world so that we would have the power to live through Him. In the same way, we need to love others in such a way that we empower them to live—we need to be their source of strength, their source of encouragement, their source of hope.

And God loved us so much that He wiped away our sins, wiped away our fear of judgment, wiped away our fear of abandonment, and he made a promise…

Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5)

God has taken away the insecurity of fear and has filled it with the security of His love. And that’s the kind of love we need to show others, a love that says: “My love for you isn’t based on a whim. It’s rock-solid and you can count on it forever.”

Do you want Edgewood to be the Church God intends for Edgewood  to be?

Well – you are going to have to be committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind – or Evangelism — and the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God – or love.

You are going to have to be committed to evangelism – and love.

Do you want to be committed to the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God?

Do you want to be filled with God’s love?

You’ve got to know God’s love, you’ve got to experience God’s love, and you’ve got to show God’s love.

Listen again to 1 John 4:16: 

 Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us.

The second Great End of the Church – the second thing necessary for Edgewood to be the Church God intends for Edgewood to be – is

the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God

The love God has for each of us

The love God calls upon us to share with each other

The love God calls us to share with the community and the world.

So  – as Rick Warren so succinctly says:

“A great commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission makes for a great Church”.

For Edgewood to be a great Church, we will have to be committed to the first two Great Ends of the Church –

the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind

the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God

 

We are going to have to be committed to Evangelism and to love.

 

There are four other things we are going to be looking at in coming weeks – so let’s remind ourselves of all the Great Ends as we read them in the bulletin insert for today:

 

 The great ends of the Church are:

the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind;

the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God;

the maintenance of divine worship;

the preservation of the truth;

the promotion of social righteousness; and

the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. Book Of Order, Presbyterian Church USA, F–1.0304)

The second Great End is love. Amen

Isaiah 51:1-6, Matthew 28:16-20

Isaiah 51:1-6

Matthew 28:16-20

Tell Those Who Don’t Know

April 22 2012

Part 1 of Great Ends Of The Church Series

I must say that it has been quite a week! Sally and I have been busy settling in here in Sanford as we begin the ministry here at Edgewood.  Thanks to Ruby Creed and others we have met many of the members of Edgewood and visited in some of your homes.  We’ve also gotten to know many of you at the “Meet / Greet an Eat”   last Saturday night, the Women of the Church joint meeting on Monday night, the Men of the Church meeting on Tuesday night, and several opportunities for meals out together.  We truly appreciate all these opportunities to get to know you and look forward to many more. 

While we have been busy getting to know you, I have been praying and thinking a lot about what messages God would have me bring to you these first Sundays we have together.  As I have prayed and thought about this, I have been struck with the feeling that God wants us to spend our first few weeks together looking at what it means to be a Church – what it is that we, as a Church, needs to be doing. To do this, we are going to look at one of the first statements in our denomination’s Book Of Order – a statement that has become known as “The Six Great Ends Of The Church”.  Listen to what the Book Of Order says:

The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. (Book Of Order, Presbyterian Church USA, F-1.0304)

These are great words!  These words also give us a vision for what it means to be the Church and what it is that we, as a Church, are to be doing.

The Church is not about the building – and it’s not about the Minister  — the Church is about God – the Church is about Christ – the Church is about people who are trying to fulfill these “Great Ends” the Book Of Order lays out for us. If Edgewood Presbyterian Church is going to be the Church God wills for it to be, then it will have to be a Church where the members are committed to living out these “Great Ends”.

Listen to them again:

The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. (Book Of Order, Presbyterian Church USA, F-1.0304)

6 “Great Ends”

The first being: the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind.

That’s what Jesus was talking about when He gave what we refer to as “the Great Commission”:

“Go and make disciples of all nations” Jesus says – “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”

Proclaiming the Gospel means that those of us who know about Jesus – those of us who have been saved by God’s great love for us in Jesus Christ – need to commit ourselves to telling those who do not know about Jesus – or do not live as God calls us to live – about God’s great love.

Those who know telling those who don’t know.

Some call this Evangelism.

I believe it should be the first task – the first “Great End” of the Church.

An abbot of a monastery called a young novice into his office and instructed him to give the homily at the next morning’s chapel. The novice was struck with fear and tried to explain that he was not prepared to speak before the brothers — but the abbot insisted.

The next morning at chapel the young novice stood in the pulpit with his hands trembling — his knees knocking – and his voice was quivering. There was a long pause before he first spoke – and then he asked a question:

“Do you know what I’m going to say?”

The brothers had no idea, so all of their heads shook “no” almost in unison, as if it were choreographed. The novice said, “Neither do I. Let’s stand for the benediction.”

The abbot did not appreciate this. He called the young novice into his office and said, “You must do this. It’s for your own good. Tomorrow is your day again. Be prepared, and this time do it right.”

The next day was almost an exact repeat of the day before. All the brothers sat there before him. His hands shook — his knees knocked – and his voice trembled. After a long pause the novice again asked:  “Do you know what I’m going to say?”  

Well, after the previous day’s experience, they had a pretty good idea. All of their heads went up and down – “Yes” – they thought they knew what he was going to say.  

“Then there’s no need for me to say it” the novice said. “Let’s stand for the benediction.”

By now the abbot was very angry. He brought the young novice into his office and said, “If you do that again, you are going to be in solitary confinement with only bread to eat and water to drink for thirty days and any other punishment that I can think of. Tomorrow morning you will give the homily – and you will do it right.”

The next morning all the monks were there to hear what he would say, and it was, again, almost an exact repeat. He stood, he trembled, his voice quivered; and after the long silence, he asked, “Do you know what I’m going to say?”

After three days of this, about half of them had a pretty good idea and they nodded their heads up and down as if to say “Yes, we know” . But the other half noticed the switch from day to day, and they really weren’t sure what was going to happen; and so they shook their heads back and forth as if to say “ No, we don’t”.

The novice observed some of the brothers indicating “Yes, we know” and others indicating “No, we don’t” and said, “Let those who know tell those who don’t. Let us stand for the benediction.”

No one is sure what happened to the young novice after that!

Friends – a simple definition of evangelism – a simple definition of the first “Great End” of the Church – “the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind” – is this: Those who know tell those who don’t.

The word “evangelism” is actually almost a transliteration from Greek. The Greek word was euangelion, but the pronunciation has become blurred when brought into English. The prefix eu means “good.” We’ve brought that over into English as well. We go to a funeral and you hear a “eulogy”, which is two Greek words—the words for good and word. It is a good word about the person who has died. Or we speak of a “euphemism” as sort of a good way of saying something about something that maybe isn’t very good. The rest of the word euangelion – the  angelion part — we’ve also brought over into English because we speak about “angels” as messengers. The Greek word angelion means “message.” So euangelion — or “evangelism” — is the good message or the Gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ.

To many people, evangelism only means telling about Jesus and that’s all it means — but that was never all the word meant in the Bible. In fact, that is only the beginning of evangelism.

Let’s think about it this way – suppose you walk out of Church this morning and there was a stranger standing outside who said to you, “How do I get to Highway 1? ”and you respond: “Well, get in your car” but don’t say anything else. That might be good advice – but it is inadequate. They also might need you to tell them which direction to go and where to turn.

In the same way, the beginning of evangelism is the information about Jesus Christ – the information of how to get to Him; but there is much more a person who does not know Christ needs to know. Evangelism also needs to include trying to persuade a person to be a disciple of Christ. The beginning of the first “Great End” of the Church – “the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind” — is the information about Jesus Christ – the information of how to get to Him; but there is much more.  The proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind also needs to include persuading a person to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Jesus defined it for us in Matthew 24:18-20: 

“Go and make disciples of all nations — baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”

Evangelism means telling people about Christ – and convincing people to be the kind of followers of Jesus Christ who will try to do all that Jesus tells us to do.

Being an Evangelist is something like being a salesperson. A salesperson is not only the one who shows the product, but the one who closes the sale – who gets the signature on the contract — the down payment – and makes sure that the delivery is made. An evangelist is a person who talks about Jesus and the Good News of Jesus Christ — but also closes the sale, persuades the person to take delivery of Jesus Christ into their life and make a commitment to obey Jesus Christ as Lord.

There are some who have made a distinction between evangelism and discipleship, and it’s helpful to distinguish between them at times. It’s sort of like the difference between obstetrics and pediatrics, or birthing a child and raising a child. But the distinction is really not a Biblical one. It’s a human way of thinking. In God’s way of describing it, it’s all connected together.  

To truly “proclaim the gospel for the salvation of humankind” you have to be committed to telling the Good News of what God has done for you in Jesus Christ – and committed to helping others become followers of Christ.  

What does it mean to be the Church God calls us to be?

First – it means being committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind. It means being committed to evangelism. In other words, the reason that Edgewood Presbyterian exists should be to persuade more people to be disciples of Jesus Christ – persuade more people to be committed to Him, persuade more people to believe in Him, and persuade more people to try to do whatever He asks them to do.

We don’t do this for ourselves. We don’t do it for the Church, and we don’t do it for the people. We do it for Jesus Christ.

If we here at Edgewood Presbyterian  Church are committed to letting God work through us to make more disciples for Jesus Christ, then we are fulfilling our purpose and reason for being; if are not committed to this, then we are not.  

If we are going to be the Church God wants us to be we are going to have to be a Church that is committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind – committed to evangelism.

There are a lot of reasons for this – so let’s look at several of them. 

The first reason we need to be committed to evangelism — the first reason we need to be committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind – is because God is committed to it.   

A Christian is someone who is committed to the things God is committed to. . As Christian individuals, and as a Church, we need to be committed to the things of God, and God is committed to evangelism. He gave His Son’s life for this good news. He has ordered us to make disciples. You can’t read the Bible and come to any other conclusion but that this is a big deal to God, that God counts evangelism to be really important — and what is important to God is important to somebody who’s a Christian. What is important to God is important to the Church.  We need to say that we here at Edgewood Presbyterian are committed to evangelism – that we are committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind — because God is committed to it.  

But there are other reasons for being committed to evangelism.  

Another reason we need to be committed to evangelism – another reason we need to be committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of human kind – is because we have been evangelized — we have had the gospel proclaimed to us. Somewhere, from someone, we heard about Jesus Christ. Somewhere, from someone, we discovered for ourselves that receiving Jesus Christ changes life!  This should give us a desire to evangelize others.

Marketing — or advertising – are good things, but are ultimately not as powerful in persuading people to try a product as those who are already “sold” on the product telling others about it.  

Some years ago my Dad – at that point a retired lawyer – asked me: “Have you read John Grisham’s new book?” I said, “I’ve never heard of John Grisham.”  “Well, you ought to read his book called The Firm.” I had never heard of it. I had never seen it reviewed. So I went out and bought it to keep Dad happy —  at least I could tell him I bought it. I started to read it, and I read it straight through.  I then read another of his novels — A Time To Kill.  I then read any book by John Grisham I could get my hands on! John Grisham has written many books – and at one time the paperback best seller in the United States was by John Grisham, — as well as the hardcover best seller.  That has never happened before in history, and it’s not because of advertising. It’s not because of the publisher’s clever marketing plan. It’s  because people liked the book. I guess a lot of people liked the book and told other people, until millions of these books have been sold. I know I fell in love with John Grisham’s books because Dad loved them – and told me about them.

We need to be people who “like” Jesus. We need to be people who have experienced Jesus and then tell others about Him. It doesn’t take a newspaper ad. It doesn’t take a review in a magazine. Evangelism is people who have fallen in love with Jesus telling other people about their love for Him until it spreads to thousands and millions and tens of millions and hundreds of million and more.

A third reason for being committed to evangelism is that, as Christians, we need to value other people. We need to love others as God loves them.  We need to get to the point that we can’t stand the thought of others being ignorant of God or isolated from God or lost and without God.

I once heard of a T – Shirt that read “Friends don’t let friends go to hell.” You may not want to wear that to work tomorrow morning, but you get the idea. When you care about other people, you become committed to evangelism. You become committed to proclaiming the gospel for the salvation of humankind. You become committed to their knowing about Jesus Christ.

So – if we here at Edgewood are going to be the Church God wants us to be, the first thing we are going to have is a commitment to evangelism – proclaiming the gospel for the salvation of humankind

So – how can we do this?

How can we live out a commitment to evangelism – a commitment to proclaiming the good news of salvation?

One thing each of us can do is pray.  

Pick three people whom you think are not Christians and pray for them every day. Pray that they become Christians, but also pray for their families, for their jobs, for their financial situations and their health or whatever issues they may have in their lives.  

What do you think would happen if each of us were to decide to pray for others who do not know Christ? I believe miracles will happen – and that is indeed something we all can do.

There are lots of other ways we can live out our commitment to evangelism. We can find ways to tell others about Christ all over the place if we’re looking for them.  A commitment to evangelism means looking for as many ideas and opportunities as possible for evangelism to be valued and for evangelism to be practiced, each of us in our own lives but all of us connected together as the church of Jesus Christ. So let’s be truly Christian in the way we value evangelism, but also in the way we do evangelism.

That is the first thing we will need if we are going to be the Church God is calling us to be.

We’ll look at the other “Great Ends of the Church” in the coming weeks – so let’s keep them in mind. In fact, let’s read them together now. Take your bulletin insert and let’s read the Great Ends:

The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. (Book Of Order, Presbyterian Church USA, F-1.0304)

The first Great End is to proclaim the Gospel.  

Amen.

 

Isaiah 51:1-6

Matthew 28:16-20

Tell Those Who Don’t Know

April 22 2012

Part 1 of Great Ends Of The Church Series

I must say that it has been quite a week! Sally and I have been busy settling in here in Sanford as we begin the ministry here at Edgewood.  Thanks to Ruby Creed and others we have met many of the members of Edgewood and visited in some of your homes.  We’ve also gotten to know many of you at the “Meet / Greet an Eat”   last Saturday night, the Women of the Church joint meeting on Monday night, the Men of the Church meeting on Tuesday night, and several opportunities for meals out together.  We truly appreciate all these opportunities to get to know you and look forward to many more. 

While we have been busy getting to know you, I have been praying and thinking a lot about what messages God would have me bring to you these first Sundays we have together.  As I have prayed and thought about this, I have been struck with the feeling that God wants us to spend our first few weeks together looking at what it means to be a Church – what it is that we, as a Church, needs to be doing. To do this, we are going to look at one of the first statements in our denomination’s Book Of Order – a statement that has become known as “The Six Great Ends Of The Church”.  Listen to what the Book Of Order says:

The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. (Book Of Order, Presbyterian Church USA, F-1.0304)

These are great words!  These words also give us a vision for what it means to be the Church and what it is that we, as a Church, are to be doing.

The Church is not about the building – and it’s not about the Minister  — the Church is about God – the Church is about Christ – the Church is about people who are trying to fulfill these “Great Ends” the Book Of Order lays out for us. If Edgewood Presbyterian Church is going to be the Church God wills for it to be, then it will have to be a Church where the members are committed to living out these “Great Ends”.

Listen to them again:

The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. (Book Of Order, Presbyterian Church USA, F-1.0304)

6 “Great Ends”

The first being: the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind.

That’s what Jesus was talking about when He gave what we refer to as “the Great Commission”:

“Go and make disciples of all nations” Jesus says – “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”

Proclaiming the Gospel means that those of us who know about Jesus – those of us who have been saved by God’s great love for us in Jesus Christ – need to commit ourselves to telling those who do not know about Jesus – or do not live as God calls us to live – about God’s great love.

Those who know telling those who don’t know.

Some call this Evangelism.

I believe it should be the first task – the first “Great End” of the Church.

An abbot of a monastery called a young novice into his office and instructed him to give the homily at the next morning’s chapel. The novice was struck with fear and tried to explain that he was not prepared to speak before the brothers — but the abbot insisted.

The next morning at chapel the young novice stood in the pulpit with his hands trembling — his knees knocking – and his voice was quivering. There was a long pause before he first spoke – and then he asked a question:

“Do you know what I’m going to say?”

The brothers had no idea, so all of their heads shook “no” almost in unison, as if it were choreographed. The novice said, “Neither do I. Let’s stand for the benediction.”

The abbot did not appreciate this. He called the young novice into his office and said, “You must do this. It’s for your own good. Tomorrow is your day again. Be prepared, and this time do it right.”

The next day was almost an exact repeat of the day before. All the brothers sat there before him. His hands shook — his knees knocked – and his voice trembled. After a long pause the novice again asked:  “Do you know what I’m going to say?”  

Well, after the previous day’s experience, they had a pretty good idea. All of their heads went up and down – “Yes” – they thought they knew what he was going to say.  

“Then there’s no need for me to say it” the novice said. “Let’s stand for the benediction.”

By now the abbot was very angry. He brought the young novice into his office and said, “If you do that again, you are going to be in solitary confinement with only bread to eat and water to drink for thirty days and any other punishment that I can think of. Tomorrow morning you will give the homily – and you will do it right.”

The next morning all the monks were there to hear what he would say, and it was, again, almost an exact repeat. He stood, he trembled, his voice quivered; and after the long silence, he asked, “Do you know what I’m going to say?”

After three days of this, about half of them had a pretty good idea and they nodded their heads up and down as if to say “Yes, we know” . But the other half noticed the switch from day to day, and they really weren’t sure what was going to happen; and so they shook their heads back and forth as if to say “ No, we don’t”.

The novice observed some of the brothers indicating “Yes, we know” and others indicating “No, we don’t” and said, “Let those who know tell those who don’t. Let us stand for the benediction.”

No one is sure what happened to the young novice after that!

Friends – a simple definition of evangelism – a simple definition of the first “Great End” of the Church – “the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind” – is this: Those who know tell those who don’t.

The word “evangelism” is actually almost a transliteration from Greek. The Greek word was euangelion, but the pronunciation has become blurred when brought into English. The prefix eu means “good.” We’ve brought that over into English as well. We go to a funeral and you hear a “eulogy”, which is two Greek words—the words for good and word. It is a good word about the person who has died. Or we speak of a “euphemism” as sort of a good way of saying something about something that maybe isn’t very good. The rest of the word euangelion – the  angelion part — we’ve also brought over into English because we speak about “angels” as messengers. The Greek word angelion means “message.” So euangelion — or “evangelism” — is the good message or the Gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ.

To many people, evangelism only means telling about Jesus and that’s all it means — but that was never all the word meant in the Bible. In fact, that is only the beginning of evangelism.

Let’s think about it this way – suppose you walk out of Church this morning and there was a stranger standing outside who said to you, “How do I get to Highway 1? ”and you respond: “Well, get in your car” but don’t say anything else. That might be good advice – but it is inadequate. They also might need you to tell them which direction to go and where to turn.

In the same way, the beginning of evangelism is the information about Jesus Christ – the information of how to get to Him; but there is much more a person who does not know Christ needs to know. Evangelism also needs to include trying to persuade a person to be a disciple of Christ. The beginning of the first “Great End” of the Church – “the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind” — is the information about Jesus Christ – the information of how to get to Him; but there is much more.  The proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind also needs to include persuading a person to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Jesus defined it for us in Matthew 24:18-20: 

“Go and make disciples of all nations — baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”

Evangelism means telling people about Christ – and convincing people to be the kind of followers of Jesus Christ who will try to do all that Jesus tells us to do.

Being an Evangelist is something like being a salesperson. A salesperson is not only the one who shows the product, but the one who closes the sale – who gets the signature on the contract — the down payment – and makes sure that the delivery is made. An evangelist is a person who talks about Jesus and the Good News of Jesus Christ — but also closes the sale, persuades the person to take delivery of Jesus Christ into their life and make a commitment to obey Jesus Christ as Lord.

There are some who have made a distinction between evangelism and discipleship, and it’s helpful to distinguish between them at times. It’s sort of like the difference between obstetrics and pediatrics, or birthing a child and raising a child. But the distinction is really not a Biblical one. It’s a human way of thinking. In God’s way of describing it, it’s all connected together.  

To truly “proclaim the gospel for the salvation of humankind” you have to be committed to telling the Good News of what God has done for you in Jesus Christ – and committed to helping others become followers of Christ.  

What does it mean to be the Church God calls us to be?

First – it means being committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind. It means being committed to evangelism. In other words, the reason that Edgewood Presbyterian exists should be to persuade more people to be disciples of Jesus Christ – persuade more people to be committed to Him, persuade more people to believe in Him, and persuade more people to try to do whatever He asks them to do.

We don’t do this for ourselves. We don’t do it for the Church, and we don’t do it for the people. We do it for Jesus Christ.

If we here at Edgewood Presbyterian  Church are committed to letting God work through us to make more disciples for Jesus Christ, then we are fulfilling our purpose and reason for being; if are not committed to this, then we are not.  

If we are going to be the Church God wants us to be we are going to have to be a Church that is committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind – committed to evangelism.

There are a lot of reasons for this – so let’s look at several of them. 

The first reason we need to be committed to evangelism — the first reason we need to be committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind – is because God is committed to it.   

A Christian is someone who is committed to the things God is committed to. . As Christian individuals, and as a Church, we need to be committed to the things of God, and God is committed to evangelism. He gave His Son’s life for this good news. He has ordered us to make disciples. You can’t read the Bible and come to any other conclusion but that this is a big deal to God, that God counts evangelism to be really important — and what is important to God is important to somebody who’s a Christian. What is important to God is important to the Church.  We need to say that we here at Edgewood Presbyterian are committed to evangelism – that we are committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind — because God is committed to it.  

But there are other reasons for being committed to evangelism.  

Another reason we need to be committed to evangelism – another reason we need to be committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of human kind – is because we have been evangelized — we have had the gospel proclaimed to us. Somewhere, from someone, we heard about Jesus Christ. Somewhere, from someone, we discovered for ourselves that receiving Jesus Christ changes life!  This should give us a desire to evangelize others.

Marketing — or advertising – are good things, but are ultimately not as powerful in persuading people to try a product as those who are already “sold” on the product telling others about it.  

Some years ago my Dad – at that point a retired lawyer – asked me: “Have you read John Grisham’s new book?” I said, “I’ve never heard of John Grisham.”  “Well, you ought to read his book called The Firm.” I had never heard of it. I had never seen it reviewed. So I went out and bought it to keep Dad happy —  at least I could tell him I bought it. I started to read it, and I read it straight through.  I then read another of his novels — A Time To Kill.  I then read any book by John Grisham I could get my hands on! John Grisham has written many books – and at one time the paperback best seller in the United States was by John Grisham, — as well as the hardcover best seller.  That has never happened before in history, and it’s not because of advertising. It’s not because of the publisher’s clever marketing plan. It’s  because people liked the book. I guess a lot of people liked the book and told other people, until millions of these books have been sold. I know I fell in love with John Grisham’s books because Dad loved them – and told me about them.

We need to be people who “like” Jesus. We need to be people who have experienced Jesus and then tell others about Him. It doesn’t take a newspaper ad. It doesn’t take a review in a magazine. Evangelism is people who have fallen in love with Jesus telling other people about their love for Him until it spreads to thousands and millions and tens of millions and hundreds of million and more.

A third reason for being committed to evangelism is that, as Christians, we need to value other people. We need to love others as God loves them.  We need to get to the point that we can’t stand the thought of others being ignorant of God or isolated from God or lost and without God.

I once heard of a T – Shirt that read “Friends don’t let friends go to hell.” You may not want to wear that to work tomorrow morning, but you get the idea. When you care about other people, you become committed to evangelism. You become committed to proclaiming the gospel for the salvation of humankind. You become committed to their knowing about Jesus Christ.

So – if we here at Edgewood are going to be the Church God wants us to be, the first thing we are going to have is a commitment to evangelism – proclaiming the gospel for the salvation of humankind

So – how can we do this?

How can we live out a commitment to evangelism – a commitment to proclaiming the good news of salvation?

One thing each of us can do is pray.  

Pick three people whom you think are not Christians and pray for them every day. Pray that they become Christians, but also pray for their families, for their jobs, for their financial situations and their health or whatever issues they may have in their lives.  

What do you think would happen if each of us were to decide to pray for others who do not know Christ? I believe miracles will happen – and that is indeed something we all can do.

There are lots of other ways we can live out our commitment to evangelism. We can find ways to tell others about Christ all over the place if we’re looking for them.  A commitment to evangelism means looking for as many ideas and opportunities as possible for evangelism to be valued and for evangelism to be practiced, each of us in our own lives but all of us connected together as the church of Jesus Christ. So let’s be truly Christian in the way we value evangelism, but also in the way we do evangelism.

That is the first thing we will need if we are going to be the Church God is calling us to be.

We’ll look at the other “Great Ends of the Church” in the coming weeks – so let’s keep them in mind. In fact, let’s read them together now. Take your bulletin insert and let’s read the Great Ends:

The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. (Book Of Order, Presbyterian Church USA, F-1.0304)

The first Great End is to proclaim the Gospel.  

Amen.

 

 

 

Micah 6:6-8, 1 Corinthians 13

Micah 6:6-8

1 Corinthians 13

“A Ministry Of Love”

April 15, 2012

First sermon at Edgewood Presbyterian

About three weeks ago Sally and I began moving some of our things that we had in the cabin on my brother in law and sister’s farm in Fort Mill SC where we had been living since last November up to the manse here in Sanford. On one of our first trips up we noticed the sign in front of the Church that read:

New Life – 4/8

New Leader 4/15

Of course the “New Life – 4/8” referred to Easter – and the “New Leader – 4/15” refers to today being my first day here at Edgewood.

Today is truly a day for celebrations.  

            As Christians this year we are continuing to celebrate the resurrection of Christ and the event of Easter that – this year – we celebrated on 4/8. And now here at Edgewood there seem to be some celebrations going on today – on 4/15.        

            Sally and I are celebrating today that the long ordeal of looking for the Church God had in store for us is over – as is the long ordeal of packing and moving. The movers have made their and now Sally and I are busy unpacking boxes.  Or I should say Sally is busy unpacking – I seem to be busy staying out of her way!

            I get the feeling that you — the members of Edgewood – are celebrating today.  Sally and I deeply appreciate all the visits, gifts and food that have come our way since we moved in – and last night’s “Meet, Greet, and Eat” was fun and a true blessing for us. 

            I also get the feeling the members of the PNC may be celebrating today.    Royce – Jody – Lee – Tricia – and Shannon have done a great job and been faithful to their tasks — and I hope you will feel they were attentive to their task and prayerful – and that God has blessed their work.

            Yes – today is a day for celebration for us all. 

            God is beginning a new chapter in the life of Edgewood — and in Sally’s life and mine. It’s a new ministry – a new work – a new thing for us to do as together we step out in faith and believe that God is with us – blessing us as we go.

            A day for celebration indeed!

            But you might want to know exactly what it is you are celebrating today.

            What are this new minister and wife going to be like?

            What are they going to do?

            Well –- while I can’t make promises and talk a lot about specifics – I do want to lay out for you something of a dream I have.  I call it a vision for the ministry Sally and I want to have with you – and a vision for the ministry we all can share with each other – with the community — and with the world.

            I call it a ministry of love.

            If I could look into the future and see the day that Sally and I are no longer with you – and believe me Sally has made me promise that there will be no more moves for a long time so hopefully this will be years into the future – but if I could look at the point in time when we are no longer here – and if I could look for a word that you might use to describe the ministry we had here – I would want the word to be love. I would want people to say “the time Bill and Sally Hayes were at Edgewood  was a time when the church had a ministry of love.”

            I want us to have a ministry that is based on God’s love – a ministry that is a celebration of the love God has for each of us and the love of God we all can share with each other – as well as with the community – and the world.

            Now — what exactly is this ministry of love going to look like?

            We don’t know yet – do we?

            While we don’t know the specifics, I want to give some basic things that can help us establish this ministry of love I believe God is calling us to – some things that are going to be important – that I believe are going to be basic for us.

            The first thing is our individual faith in God.

            The requirements for love Paul lays out in 1 Corinthians 13 are not easy.

            It takes faith. 

            It takes a deep and abiding faith in God to be able to have the love in our lives that we need for this ministry of love I feel god is calling us to have.

            That means that each of us – each of you – are going to have to have a deep and abiding faith in God for this ministry of love to work. Your daily devotional and prayer time will need to be a priority for you.

            As you pray every day I ask you to pray for several things:

            Pray that God will show you the girts for ministry you have and how you can use your gifts in the Church – the community – and the world.

            Pray that God will give you a vision of His will for Edgewood and.

            Pray for each member here at Edgewood.

            Pray for the Session.

            Pray for Sally and me.

            While you pray, know that Sally and I are praying for you also.

            To have a ministry of love  — a ministry that celebrates the love God has for   us – the love God calls us to share with each other – and the love God calls us to share with the world — each of us will have to have a deep and abiding individual faith in God. 

            Second – we are going to have to have a sense of the importance of worship.

Worship is going to have to be our focal point in our life together as God’s people. The experience of worship is the time that we come together and celebrate God’s love and give praise to God for the wonderful ways that God has blessed us.  We give praise to God in our hymns — our prayers — our attentiveness to God’s word.  Whatever else we do as a Church — worship has got to be the vital link between us and God – – and the vital link that ties us together as God’s people.  Worship is the undergirding strength of our ministry — it’s what will make it possible for us to have a ministry of love.

            So – a deep and abiding individual faith in God – and a deep and abiding sense of the importance of worship – are two things we will need for this ministry of love.

            A third thing we will need is a commitment to studying God’s Word.

Bible study will have to be an important element of who we are and what we do. We are all going to have to be committed to studying God’s Word individually – and as a Church we will need times to come together to open God’s Word for corporate study so we can hear what God has to say to us.

So – so far we have three things I think we need for  this ministry of love I invision us having – a fourth thing I believe is needed is a sense of the importance of fellowship. The times we gather together to share a meal with each other are times we also share God’s love with each other.  These can be times of joy and can increase the bond of love we feel for each other as well as the love we have for others and for God.             

Then — we are going to have to have a sense of the importance of outreach and missions – and finding specific ways to reach out to others with the love of God.  

To have a ministry of love  — a ministry that celebrates God’s love for us – the love God calls us to share with each other – and the love God calls us to share with the world — each of us will have to have a deep and abiding individual faith in God – a deep and abiding sense of  the importance of worship – a deep and abiding sense of the importance of studying God’s Word individually and together as a Church – a deep and abiding sense of the importance of fellowship — and a deep and abiding sense of the importance of outreach and missions.

This might seem like a tall order – it might seem to be dreaming a bit too much – but I believe and have faith that if we will do what we can to have this deep and abiding faith in God –deep and abiding sense the importance of worship – deep and abiding sense of the importance of studying God’s word – deep and abiding sense of the importance of fellowship — and deep and abiding sense of the importance of outreach and missions – God will bless us with a ministry of love.

Here are a few specific things about how Sally and I want this ministry to be as we begin this ministry together with you.

We want to get to know you – to count you not only as members of the congregation but as friends.

We want you to call us by our first names – and we will work at learning yours and calling you by yours.

We want to be accessible to you.  You know where we will live. Come over when you can. 

You have my e-mail address.  Some of you have already started to use it.  I hope all of you will. The same with my face book account.

When we get local cell phones we’ll let you know the numbers.

We want to be your minister and wife – but we also want to be your friends.

I want to make visitation in your homes a vital part of my ministry.

Sally and I also want to make being involved in the community and in your lives a vital part of the ministry and friendship we will share together. Let us know how we can do that – and invite us to be a part of the community and your lives. 

So – today celebrate – and today we begin.

Next  Sunday I’ll start a series of sermons where I will look at what God might be calling us as Edgewood Presbyterian Church to be and do as we look at one of the first statements in our denomination’s Book of Order – what is called The Six Great Ends Of The Church – but for today – for now – it is important to celebrate.  

Celebrate – because God is beginning a new chapter in our lives – a new ministry – a new thing as together we step out in faith and believe that God is with us – blessing us as we go.

As we focus on a ministry of love – a ministry based on the love God has for us – calls on us to share with each other – and calls on us to share with the world – we will be blessed.

As we focus on our individual commitment to our faith in God – the importance of worship – the importance of studying God’s word – the importance of fellowship – and the importance of reaching out into the community and the world with God’s love – – God will bless us – and I believe we will have

A ministry of love.

Amen.