Where We Are Going

Where We Are Going
Jeff Garrett

Larry Walter’s childhood dream was to fly but his poor eyesight disqualified him from becoming a pilot in the Air Force. Determined to fulfill his dream, he purchased 45 weather balloons, filled them with helium, and tied them to his lawn chair which was anchored to the bumper of his jeep. In preparation for his flight he strapped on a parachute, took a CB radio to communicate with his friends on the ground, packed some soda, and a BB gun to shoot the balloons when he wanted to come down. Larry planned to float about 100 feet off the ground and come back down after a couple of hours. But things did not go as he planned.

When Larry’s friends helped him cut the cords that anchored the lawn chair to his jeep he shot up into the LA sky as if he were fired from a cannon. He leveled off at 16,000 feet (about 3 miles high!). At this altitude he was cold, frightened, and helpless. He was afraid to shoot the balloons because it may unbalance the load. When he drifted into the primary approach corridor of the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) he knew that he was in trouble.

A TWA pilot passed Larry and radioed the airport explaining that he had just passed a man in a lawn chair with a gun in his lap. Radar confirmed that there was an object floating 16,000 feet above the airport. LAX declared an emergency and dispatched a helicopter. Larry continued to drift toward the Pacific Ocean. The helicopter finally lowered a rescue line and pulled Larry to safety. He was arrested by LAPD for violating LAX airspace. As he was carried away in handcuffs a reporter asked him why he had done it. Larry nonchalantly responded, “A man just can’t sit around.”

This story illustrates the futility of taking off without knowing where you are going to land. Many people dream they can float through life aimlessly and accomplish God’s will. But this is impossible. We need to know who we are and where we’re going.

I have taught my children to look both ways when crossing the street. Christians also need to look both directions. We need to look to the past and appreciate our identity. 1 John 2.24 says See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. But we also need to look to the future and imagine our destiny. 1 Peter 1.13 says “…Look forward to the special blessings that will come to you at the return of Jesus Christ.”[NLT] Obviously, God wants us to look in both directions. Looking back gives us roots that we can grow; looking forward gives us wings that we can fly.

There are dramatic pictures of the fellowship of God’s people in Revelation that give us inspiration. Let’s think about three characteristics of the church in heaven that we need to imitate. We typically look to the past and say that we want to be like the church of the first century. But today, I want to encourage you to be like the one in heaven.

1. The church in heaven will be a place of moral purity. Revelation 21:27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Most of us would admit that the church falls pitifully short of the heavenly standard of moral purity. Leadership Magazine reported on a poll of a thousand ministers. The preachers indicated that 12% had committed adultery, and 23% admitted they had done something they considered sexually inappropriate. Christianity Today surveyed a thousand of its subscribers who were not ministers and found those figures nearly doubled: 23% had been unfaithful and 45% indicated they had done something sexually inappropriate.

We must never water-down the call to repentance. Jesus communicated clearly, “Unless a man denies himself and take up his cross, he cannot be my disciple.” You come to Christ just as you are but you don’t stay that way. You get sober. You stop lying. You stop cheating. You don’t stay the same. Peter Marshall once prayed, “Lord, thank you that we can come to you just as we are. But remind us that we dare not leave as we came.” Imagine a church that is so unpolluted from the world, so distinctively holy, that it shines like a city set on a hill in Huntington that cannot be hidden. We will strive to maintain moral purity.

2. The church in heaven will be a place of compassionate ministry. Revelation 21:4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

Generally speaking, our churches have not been noted as places of healing and comfort. We are known as places of teaching and truth. Our emphasis has been on educating people to get the doctrine right. We’ve aimed so much at the head that, at times, we’ve missed the heart. But, when someone faces death or they are mourning or crying or in pain we will respond with compassion.

A few weeks ago Mary Dunford got a bad report on her health. Her doctor told her that there was a spot on her liver that may be cancer. The first place Mary came to was the church. When she came I was out of the office on a visit so she talked to Jeanie. They cried and prayed together. Later, I called Mary and prayed with her over the phone. I was impressed that the first place she went was to the church.

That’s the way it should be for all of us. The church should be a place of compassionate ministry, a sanctuary to run to in times of trouble. The church is a place where we wipe away each others tears and pray together.

That’s why our prayer time is so important. I’ve noticed that there are some who are hesitant to come and request prayer and I cannot understand why there is any hesitation. Don’t you realize that we all need God’s help? When you come forward to ask for prayer it is an expression of your faith. It’s not a walk of shame, it’s not an admission that you are a backslider. It’s a sign that you are walking with Jesus faithfully and that you depend on him for help. It is a sign that we have a healthy church that cares for people. If you cannot find compassion at church where in world can you go?

I love what Ken Medima wrote about “The Church”:
“If this is not a place where my tears are understood, where do I go to cry?
“If this is not a place where my spirit can take wings, where do I go to fly?
“If this is not a place where my questions can be asked, where do I go to seek?
“If this is not a place where my feelings can be heard, where do I go to speak?
“If this is not a place where you accept me as I am, where do I go to be free?
“If this is not a place where I can try and learn and grow, where do I go to just be me?”

3. The church in heaven will be a place of perfect unity – Revelation 7. 9 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." 11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"


This is the theme verse for our 7:12 Life Builder service which begins March 8. The emphasis in v.12 is on praising the Lord – they say praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen! But I want you to notice the ones who are doing the praising. It was a great multitude that no one could count. And they are from every nation, tribe, people, and language! They are standing together in unity and they are praising the Lord. They were not divided by ethnicity. There was not a group of Asians and a group of Africans and a group of Europeans. They were not divided by denominational affiliation. There was not a group a Methodists and a group of Baptist and a group of Church of Christ. They stood together as one body with one purpose – to give praise and honor to Jesus Christ.

A man had a dream that he was ushered to the gates of hell. He called out “Are there any Church of Christ in there?” Yes. “Are there any Baptist in there?” Yes. Any Catholic? Yes. Then suddenly he was ushered to the gates of heaven. He called out “Are there any Church of Christ in there?” No. “Are there any Baptist in there?” No. Any Catholic? No. Then tell me, who is inside these pearly gates? And they answered – Christians! Christians all! That’s who we are! Our allegiance is not to our denomination but to Jesus.

Since there will be no such divisions in heaven, we will strive to maintain the unity of the church on earth. Last Tuesday I spoke at a chapel service at KCU which is affiliated with Christian Church – a part of our movement that uses the instrument. I enjoyed visiting with the president of the school, Dr. Keith Keeran. We talked about the upcoming North American Christian Conference (NCAA) which will be this June. During the first part of my chapel talk I shared my excitement about this historic meeting between the a cappella Churches of Christ and the Christian Church. It will be the largest gathering of our movement since the 1801 Cain Ridge Revival. The division over the instrument will finally end in a happy reunion this summer. I want you to mark June 27-30 on your calendars and plan to go. Call Louisville and reserve your hotel reservations so that you can worship with 25 – 30 thousand people.

We will not limit our relationship to Christian Churches. Last year we participated in a day where we helped clean up the city. It was an inter-denominational effort with people from the Church of God, Encouragers Fellowship, the Baptist Church, and Methodist Church. This April George and the youth group will be participating in the Silver Ring Thing which addresses the number one issue teens face today – sex and relationships. There will be over 1,000 teenagers from various churches (Norway Avenue Church of Christ, New Life Church, Christ Temple, River Cities Community Church, Jefferson Avenue Church of God, 5th Avenue Baptist, 10th Avenue Church of God) and these teenagers will make a promise to be sexually pure.

Somebody says, “How can you get together with all these denominational groups and not argue about doctrinal differences?” As Jay says, “We’re so busy dealing with sin that we don’t have time to argue.” I love that answer. There are two things we will do to maintain unity.

a.) We will be faithful to the message (The message is Jesus) - In the past, I thought our primary mission was to argue doctrine with denominations and I spent most of my time arguing about baptism and instrumental music and Jesus was lost in the process. If you are not careful you will do the same thing. For example, if you’re trying to convince someone who is already a believer that they need to be baptized differently then baptism is going to be your focus. But if you’re focusing on sharing Jesus with people who do not know Christ, you will focus on the deity of Jesus, his atoning death, bodily resurrection, and free offer of salvation by grace through faith.

That’s what Peter did in Acts 2. There are 23 verses about Jesus. Then the people were cut in the heart and asked, “What shall we do?” Peter said, “Repent and be baptized everyone of you.” In the early years of my ministry I’d have one verse about Jesus and 23 about baptism. But I’ve discovered that when people are convicted by Jesus, they ask, “What does He want me to do?” At that point, baptism is not an argument; it’s a natural response to the command of Christ.

Jesus said, “If I be lifted up I will draw all men to me.” That’s what we will do. In heaven the saints will stand around the throne worshipping Christ—not arguing about baptism. There are not going to be any arguments about instrumental music because Revelation 15.2 says that God is going to give you a harp to play. We will be faithful to the message i.e., we will maintain unity by focusing on Jesus.

b.) We will be flexible with our methods - We have a great slogan that goes like this: “In essentials we have unity, in nonessentials we have liberty and in all things we practice love.” That slogan summarizes so much of what we believe in one sentence. In essentials we have unity. We will never change the things that are essential to salvation. We will not change our fundamental beliefs that there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all. We will always preach and teach from the Bible because it is our only standard. In the future, some may criticize us and say we rely too much on the Bible. But that is who we are and it will never change.

But there are a lot of things in the future that will change and you need to be mature and flexible and adopt the attitude of the apostle Paul who said, “I’ve become all things to all people so that I might save some.” I like the beatitude - Blessed are the flexible, for they will not get bent out of shape! We refuse to be shackled by yesterday’s traditions. If some method is not working effectively we will not continue it. God will help us find new and different ways to accomplish his will.

Someone says, “What kind of changes are you talking about Jeff?” It is impossible to outline all of the changes that will happen in the future. I’m sure that there will be changes in the style of our assemblies and music. Some of you will be leading ministries and directing programs which haven’t even been thought of yet. So it is impossible to outline all of the changes that will occur. God will show us when we get there. That’s the way God leads us. In Genesis 12.1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. So Abraham told Sarah “start packing because we are moving.” Sarah asked “Where are we going?” Abraham said, “I don’t know. God will show us when we get there.” God leads us in the same way so we have to be flexible and willing to change. We know our ultimate destination is heaven but he’s leading us in a way we’ve never been before.

Somebody says, “I’m too old to change.” No you’re not. Abraham was 75 years old. The seniors of our church have gone through more changes than any other generation in history. They are the most flexible group of people in our church because they know that the essentials have not changed and never will. They get their stability and security by standing on the rock – Jesus Christ.

Change always creates discomfort and criticism, but to refuse to change is to stagnate and die. We can’t put new wine in old wineskins. And we all need to here this because people come here and they are attracted to the fact that Norway Avenue is different than any previous church experience they have had. So, at first, they love it. But sometimes after they have been here for a while, they begin to dig their heels in because they see all these changes taking place. They say, “It’s different from when I first came and fell in love with the church.”

But what you have to understand is that the church is going to be in a constant state of change. I like the statement, Methods are many, principles are few, methods always change, and principles never do.

Larry Walters had a dream to fly. He fulfilled his dream in an unusual way and came to be known as Larry the Lawn Chair Man. He took off not knowing his destiny and it got him in trouble. But his story makes us smile.

God has put a dream in my heart. He set eternity in our hearts. One day we will fly away and meet Jesus in the air and so shall we be with the Lord forever. (Sing the 1st verse of "I'll Fly Away") We know where we are going. We are going to be with Jesus in heaven. But until we get there we will have a church that resembles the one described in heaven. We will strive for moral purity, compassionate ministry, and perfect unity. We will be faithful to the message and flexible with our methods. I want to end by sharing nine dreams for the future. (I did not have time to read the nine dreams in this sermon.)

1. The dream that Jesus would be the star and the message and the true Lord of our church. And that the Church of Christ would be a description of whose we are and not a denominational designation or a sectarian category.

2. The dream that we would seek to use powerful and relevant ways to get the church out of the building and be disciples in the marketplace. That we would lift our eyes to the fields and see the lost and speak with compassion the instruction of the Lord to their hurt, confusion, and weariness.

3. The dream that we would be a people that would not ask “What can the church do for me?” But that we would be a people who serve a transcendent God and practice a costly discipleship. To look after orphans and widows and meet the needs of the poor as we serve from the strength of our spiritual gifts.

4. The dream that we will have dynamic assemblies that hit people at a heart level and ushers them into the presence of God.

5. The dream that we will develop a loving intolerance for sectarian language that implies that God loves us and us alone.

6. The dream that we will find effective ways to use the spiritual muscle and the spiritual wisdom of our women.

7. The dream that we will never compromise the gospel of grace. That we will speak where the Bible speaks, and despite the temptation to do otherwise, to be silent where the Bible is silent. To shout where it shouts, to whisper where it whispers, and to allow liberty where God’s Word allows liberty.

8. The dream that we will have dynamic ministries that addresses the needs of every age and ethnic group. That we would be all things to all people so that we might save some.

9. The dream that we will be known for our love, our grace, our knowledge of Scripture, our moral excellence and our uncompromising loyalty to the Lord Jesus.

I’ve been carrying these dreams with me for many years. They are guiding principles for my life and ministry. They are worthy dreams and I invite you to make them your own.

Prayer Time

_________________________

Resources

Russell, Bob (1993). The President’s Message: Imagine God’s Glory Revealed in Your Church. The Christian Standard. September 21, 2003. pp. 633-637.

Stone, Dave (2002). Seek God’s Direction for Our Future. Living Word Ministry. Sermon Manuscript LW2520. July 28, 2002. retrieved at www.livingword.org

Chapel Sermon for Kentucky Christian University

The Dating Game: Choosing a Mate for Life
KCU Chapel (2/20/06)
Jeff Garrett

The title of my lesson is called The Dating Game: Choosing a Mate for Life. Some people say, marriage begins with the ideal and then it turns into an ordeal and then both people want a new deal. But in spite of today’s high divorce rate, Americans are still in love with marriage. Experts estimate that 95% of today’s single people still have a deep desire to get married. So almost everybody wants to get married, plans too and eventually does. But many do so for the wrong reasons.

Some yield to peer pressure. It usually happens about the third year of college when a girl burst through the dormitory, ring finger first flashing off symbols of eternal love. And then you begin to fill the subtle pressure of “Whose next?” and “Why isn’t it me”?

Parental pressure can be just as strong as peer pressure. The comments that your parents made when you were a teenager aren’t so funny when you reach mid twenties and thirties. Not-so-subtle comments like; “When are you going get married” or “You’re not husband shopping in the right places”. Parents need to be careful about kidding around or playing matchmaker because some single people begin to doubt their own worth. And they start thinking things like “What’s wrong with me?” “Is it my looks?” “Is it my personality?” When we communicate that there is something wrong with people who are not dating or who are not in a serious relationship or married, it may pressure them to flirt and fret and market themselves. They may throw themselves at the first candidate to come along.

Has anybody here ever heard of the buying mood? Car salesmen know that most people who are going to buy a car will buy one within the first 48 hours of after they walk into the show room floor. They don’t check repair records, they don’t analyze how various models depreciate and they don’t read consumer reports---they’re in the mood to buy and they want to buy now. Listen to what one real estate agent said about a house-buying mood.

“It’s real all right, that’s why you have to move so fast, it you don’t get them to sign that contract within a day or two---you lose them. But when they are in the mood, it’s unbelievable. A woman will buy a house simply because she loves the laundry room. A man will walk into a garage, envision where his workshop will be and it’s a done deal. They don’t check the heating system, the electric, the attic or the basement.”

Well just like there is a car-buying mood and a house buying mood there is also a marrying mood – a mood that causes temporary insanity and too many single people get caught up in it. Now, if you buy the wrong house---you can sell it. If you buy the wrong car---you can trade it in. But if you marry the wrong person---you’re in trouble. God wants us to avoid that dilemma by giving us guidelines for spouse selections. This morning I’m going to give you five guidelines.

#1 Spiritual Compatibility – 1 Corinthians 7.39 A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. A widow can marry anybody she wants to … but he must belong to Jesus. Now if that is true for the 2nd marriage I know it’s true for the first.
Some people complain – “Well, that’s just not fair – that’s like discrimination. That’s like saying Christians are too good to date and marry non-Christians. Some people complain that it hurts evangelism and say “How in the world are we going to win anybody to the Lord if we can’t date and marry them.” It is incredibly unrealistic to use dating and marriage as methods for evangelism. God wants you to marry a Christian. It is a lot easier to get to heaven when both of you are flying in the same direction.

You need somebody who has the same Lord, who cherishes the same treasure, who trust the same book, and who taps in to the same resource through prayer. But even that’s not enough. I mean just because a person is a Christian doesn’t mean you should marry them. You can be married to a Christian and be miserable. Just because a person is right with the Lord, doesn’t mean they’re right for you.

Like this preacher who had a woman in his congregation that didn’t like him. Every Sunday she gave him a hard time. One Sunday after church she said “If you were my husband, I’d feed you poison.” He replied, “If you were my wife, I think I would take it.” You can be right with the Lord and not be right for one another.

#2 Character compatibility – Proverbs 11.3 The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. If you marry someone whose life is marked by duplicity i.e., dishonesty, deceitfulness – it will destroy your marriage. It would be difficult for you to marry somebody who has serious cracks in their character. Asked yourself these questions.

Do you respect your partner’s maturity level? His decision-making ability? His degree of discipline? Is he responsible?
Do you respect her commitment to her vocation? Is she loyal to her friends? Does she get along with her parents?
Can you truly look at your date and say, “You know, even if I weren’t dating this person, I would want to be friends with them because they are such a person of integrity and character.”

You better marry someone you can trust. If you turn your head and ignore serious flaws---you are going to pay later and you will be sorry.

#3 Occupational compatibility – Genesis 2.24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The Biblical principle is to leave and cleave. Some people cleave before they leave.

I remember how Kim and I drove from Nashville TN to Minford Ohio so that I could ask Carl and Sharon if I could marry their daughter. I was nervous but I said “Carl, I want to marry Kim and I would like your blessing.” Carl said, “You can marry her when you get a job.” In other words, “You are not moving in with me Jeff.” So I went back to Nashville and I found three jobs. We got married and I worked while finished school. The point is you have to have a job.

I heard about a guy who wanted to marry this farmer’s daughter? He had been in school all his life. So he went to this farmer and he said ‘Sir, I would like your daughter’s hand in marriage and I want your blessing. I want you to know that I have a B.A. and an M.A. and a Ph.D.” That old farmer didn’t know what a B.A. or MA or a Ph.D. was and he looked at him and he said ‘Son, what I want to know is - do you have a J.O.B.?” Do you have a job because you’re not going to marry my daughter if you don’t have a job!

Here are some practical questions regarding occupational compatibility.

Are we going to be satisfied with this level of income? Your income will determine the type of house you live in and the type of car you drive – will this meet our expectations?
Are we going to be satisfied with the hours the job requires?
What are your expectations when you start having children? Is the wife going to work or does she expect to stay home and raise your kids?

You see all of these questions need to be discussed thoroughly. You need spiritual compatibility, character compatibility and occupational compatibility.

#4 Communication compatibility – Poor communication is a major problem in many marriages. You need to know each other deeply and the only way to do that is to communicate honesty and transparently. You will never find genuine intimacy with a spouse who will not communicate.

#5 The attraction factor – Genesis 29. 16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful. Now when the Bible says you are lovely in form and beautiful that means you are a knock out! Jacob was attracted to Rachel. Notice v.18 Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, "I'll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel." … 20 So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. So there was a lot of chemistry between Jacob and Rachel and at the end of seven years v.21 says … 29.21 Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to lie with her."

Now that’s what I call the straight forward approach. That’s the attraction factor at work. But its not just about sex, it’s about the whole person. They are your best friend. You’re just magnetically drawn together and that needs to be there if you’re going to get married. But I want you to notice that Jacob was not sexually intimate with Rachel until after they were married – that’s what you need to do. Wait until you’re married.

I want to end with a caution not to rust into marriage. Give yourself time. Because only time can reveal the difference between infatuation and lasting love. Tell me something, how many years did Jacob and Rachel wait? 7 years and 7 days. Now I’m not suggesting that you have to wait 7 years but you need to submit your relationship to the test of time because time reveals the difference between infatuation and lasting love. Time allows couples to prove that they are really compatible. If you choose a longer dating period then you are going to go into marriage with even greater confidence.

You need to take your time and not rush into marriage so that it can be affirmed by your family and friends. Too many young couples have this idea, you know we’re adults now and we know what’s right with each other so we don’t need your approval. So stop butting in on our lives. And with that attitude they cut themselves off from the most caring and insightful people in their world – their parents and their Christian friends. So don’t rush into it too fast. This reminds me of this poem by Richard Dobbins. It’s called …

“Married at an Early Urge”

Nice night in June, stars shine, big moon
In park with girl, heart pound, head swirl
Me say love, she coo like dove
Me smart, me fast, me never let chance pass
Get hitched, me say, she say okay
Wedding bells ring ring, honeymoon, everything
Settle down, married life, happy man, happy wife.

Another night in June, stars shine, big moon
Ain’t happy no more
Carry baby, walk floor
Wife mad, she stew, me mad, stew too
Life one big spat, nagging wife and bawlin’ brat
I realize at last, me move too fast.

Well we don’t want you to move too fast. So examine your relationship along these five important dimensions.
- Spiritual compatibility
- Character compatibility
- Occupational compatibility
- Communication compatibility
- The attraction factor

And above all pray and ask God for wisdom as you make your decision.

_____________________________

Resources Used

Hybels, Bill & Hybels, Lynn. (1997). Fit to be Tied: Making Marriage Last a Lifetime. Zondervan Publishing. Grand Rapids, MI.

Who We Are

Who We Are
Jeff Garrett

I am going to present two lessons called Who We Are and Where We’re Going. The first sermon focuses on our identity and the second sermon (which will be next week) focuses on our destiny.

It’s important to know who you are i.e., to have a good self-image. When people have a poor self-image they lack confidence and withdraw from life. But when people feel good about themselves their life improves and they are optimistic about their future.

Raymond Corsini tells a story about a counseling session he had with an inmate in a prison. He had one session with this man and did not see him again. Four years later, as this inmate was being released, he came to say goodbye. The inmate said “Dr. Corsini, I want to thank you for changing my life.” Corsini, who barely remembered him because he had only one session with him said, “How did I change your life?” The man said, “You told me that I was intelligent. All my life I’ve been told that I was stupid. That’s all I heard when I was growing up. But since you’ve told me the truth my life has change. I now have my GED, I’m being released from prison and I have hope for a bright future.”

Some psychologists teach that what people need is healthy self esteem. I believe self esteem is important but not sufficient. What we really need is Christ esteem. When you have Christ esteem your search for self esteem ends because you know Jesus loves you and accepts you. His death on the cross proves that you are important to him. Knowing that you belong to Jesus improves your self-image and helps you walk with confidence.

Just like individuals have a self-image that affects their performance I believe that a church can adopt a corporate self-image that affects its growth and health. Some churches have a healthy self-image. Phil Richardson is a member a church in Cincinnati. He calls me and frequently tells me about all the exciting things that happen in his church; the dynamic assemblies, the relevant messages, the outreach to the community and world. He tells me how many people he’s inviting to church. It’s obvious that Phil’s church knows who they are and they are excited about where they are going.

I believe a lot of people are excited about what God is doing in our church and that we have a good self-image because we know who we are. Paul uses three wonderful metaphors in Ephesians to describe the identity of the church.

1) The church is the body of Christ: Ephesians 1.22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

2) The church is the building of Christ: Ephesians 2.20 [the church is] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

3) The church is the bride of Christ: Ephesians 5.25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. … 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.

We feel good about who we are because we know whose we are. We understand that we are the body of Christ, the building of Christ, and the bride of Christ. No one can understand our identity apart from Jesus Christ. He is the head of the body, the foundation of the building, and the husband of the bride. The Bible takes a high view of the church and so should we.

I sense a lot of positive energy in our church. Christians can get in a habit of bad mouthing the church. It happens at dinner time when they have the preacher for dinner. They don’t have him over for dinner – they have for dinner. Or they talk about the elders or youth minister or campus minister or the secretary or the whole church is going to pot and everything is just so negative and critical. It completely ruins the meal and time together because they are so pessimistic. I thank God that you don’t do that. You could criticize because there is always something to pick at but you don’t do that. You are so encouraging. You’re like the apostle Paul.

Paul usually commended the churches in the beginning of his epistles. He usually began with a statement of thanksgiving. He would find something good to say and brag about their church. Now the churches that he addressed had many problems but he always found something good to say about them.

The Corinthian church was pledge with problems yet Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 1.4 I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. That is amazing when you consider the problems at Corinth. The Corinthian church was divided (1.10), immoral (5.1-13; 6.12-20), they were suing each other in civil courts of law (6.1-11), they had problems with divorce and remarriage (7.1-40), they were insensitive to weak believers (chapters 8-10), they observed the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner (11.17-34), they were confused about spiritual gifts (12.1-30), their assemblies were chaotic (14.26-39), and their teaching on the resurrection was wrong (15.12-58). Yet, in spite of all of these problems Paul addressed them as the church of God in Corinth (1.2) and said that he always gave thanks for them (1.4). With the security of their salvation affirmed, he gave specific instructions to nurse this church back to health.

The church at Colossi was threatened by a dangerous heresy but Paul wrote Colossians 1.3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints. You are such a loving church. Your guys are great.

You see, he always had something good to say. In spite of the problems he had to address, and he had strong reproofs in those letters, Paul always expressed gratitude and thanksgiving for the church.

I like the book – One Minute Manager. The idea behind the book is that managers and leaders go around and find people doing things right and praise them for it. This encouragement reinforces the behavior and productivity increases. That’s what we do when we assemble together. Hebrews 11.24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

It is so encouraging to assemble on Sunday morning. That’s the best way to start the week. We affirm each other, hug each other, and encourage each other. When I hug some people I think that might be the only hug they get all week. We want people to be encouraged in the Lord when they come to the assembly.

Some people have had bad experiences in churches. Some people have been hurt.
If it were possible I would like to magically erase all the hurt and the scars and all the church splits and all the gossip that comes out of churches and make it all go away.

Since I cannot do that, I am going to ask that for the next few minutes you allow no negative thought to enter your mind as I talk about the church. Let’s go all the way back to childhood when your thoughts were first being formed about the church. Let’s do what Paul did in
Philippians 1.3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, Paul’s heart is full of thanksgiving because his mind is full of good memories as he thinks about the good people in the church at Philippi.

Many of you have wonderful memories of the church you grew up in. Whatever church that may have been – e.g, Catholic, Church of Christ, Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, or some other church. Many of you have wonderful memories. It was there you learned to respect authority, to pay attention, to sing hymns and to read the Bible.

It was in church that you learned the great stories like the story of creation, Noah and the Ark, Abraham and Isaac, the story of Joseph and the coat of many colors, the stories about Moses and the Exodus and Joshua and the conquest of Canaan, and David and Goliath. You didn’t learn those stories at school or some other organization – you learned it in church.

During those early years you learned that Jesus loved you no matter what. You were taught to love Jesus and to obey God’s word. There you were baptized and took your first communion. Isn’t that good to remember?

Some of you remember summertime VBS with Kool-Aid and sugar cookies, and church camp, and youth group activities where you made life-time friends. Do you remember revivals and Gospel Meetings? You remember those wonderful fellowship meals. The people at your church loved you and they were your friends.

They were the ones who celebrated with you when something good happened. They came to your graduation, they organized the shower for your wedding, they bought gifts for you and your husband as you started in your new marriage. They gave your baby shower.

When there was a crisis in your family the people from church showed up. They were the ones who came to the hospital and to the funeral home. They supported you through your divorce. They cared for your children and may have even helped you catch up on your bills. No one loved you like the people from your church.

That’s who we are. We are the church of God and we love and support one another. Jesus said in John 13.34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

If you do not have memories like I just describe I pray that you will begin to make those kinds of memories with us. I hope that you will begin to build close relationships with people in our church. We want to be your church family. This is what we are like. God has taught us in Romans 12.10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. We want you to accept Christ and make this your home church. And we will make memories together as we follow Jesus Christ.

You can do two things that will facilitate that process: 1) Join a small group. 2) Come to our Wednesday Night Assembly beginning March 8th. It’s called the 7:12 Life Builder. Come at 7:00 to drink coffee and fellowship. We will begin the service at 7:12. Our theme during March is called “Getting to Know You.” We have so many new people and we are going to provide you an opportunity to get to know each other.

I visit the hospital frequently and sometimes I see people who have no church affiliation. It’s sad because they don’t have a church family to support them. What are you going to do when a crisis happens? Who is going to be there to pray and support you? We want to be there for you. 1 Peter 1.22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.

Who are we? We are the body of Christ, the building of Christ, and the bride of Christ and we love each other deeply, from the heart. I want to leave you with two final thoughts about who we are.

We are a refuge for hurting people

Matthew 11.28 "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. 29 Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. 30 Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." [The Message] If your tired, worn out, burned out on religion or hurting for some other reason, come to Jesus. Be a part of us. This is a safe place for you to learn and grow and heal.

We are Christians only – not the only Christians

Acts 11.26 The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

We celebrate the fact that the church is larger than our group. It is made up of all Christians regardless of their denominational affiliation. Somebody says, “Jeff, are you saying there are Christians in other churches?” Absolutely! “How do you know?” I met hundreds of them. I read their books, I attend their services, I listen to their sermons, and we sing their songs. Who do you think writes all those songs we sing?

In the eyes of Christ there are no denominational, geographical, ethnic/racial, gender barriers in the church. The church is spiritually united as one and she belongs to Jesus.

We don’t have a corner on the truth. We don’t have a monopoly on Jesus. We’re not the only Christians. We just want to be Christians only. We don’t want to be Church of Christ Christians or Baptist Christians or Methodist Christians or Catholic Christians. We just want to be Christians.

I want to do something that requires your participation. I want you to call out at the same time your religious background i.e., the one you were raised in. Each person will shout out something different like “Church of Christ” “Catholic,” “Presbyterian, “Christian Church,” “Baptist” or whatever. If you were not raised in any religious group I want you to shout out “I have no religious background.”

I want us to do it all together and say it loud. Don’t scream but do it loud and we will make a discordant sound that cannot be understood. Right now, shout out your background. … Doesn’t that sound awful?

Now I want you to repeat one name after me. Repeat after me – “Jesus.” A little lower – “Jesus.” Now whisper his name – “Jesus.” Doesn’t that sound wonderful? We are all in harmony when we say his name in unity.

That’s who we are. We belong to Jesus and we love each other.

Prayer Time