Building a Soilid Foundation | A Sermon on Deuteronomy 6:4-9 & Luke 7:24-27

Introduction
This week our church was filled with children. They sang songs, played games, made crafts, memorized Scripture, and learned about God.  It was a wonderful week.

VBS was incredible.  But VBS alone won't build a lifetime of faith.  You can't build a house on one good week.  A solid foundation is laid one brick at a time. 

That's exactly what Moses tells Israel in Deuteronomy 6.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9
⁴ “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.^{[a] 5} And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. ⁶ And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. ⁷ Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. ⁸ Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. ⁹ Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The Lord is Our God, the LORD Alone
The very first thing this passage reminds us is The LORD is our God.  Now you will notice the Bible capitalizes the word LORD in this passage.  Whenever the Scripture does that, it is translating the name of God, the name of God He gave when He spoke to Moses out of the burning bush.

God said His name is Yahweh.  That is the Hebrew word for God's name.  It is not really translatable, but it means something like, “I Am Who I Am” or just “I Am”.  Yahweh, God, is the only true God.   He is who He is.  We do not get to change Him into something we would like.  We are made in His image, not the other way around.  We can have our opinions about what we think god is like or what we wish He is like, but that doesn't change anything about who God really is.  He has always been the same and always will be the same.  He is sovereign.  He is the great I AM.

They may be other spiritual beings or demons, but there is only One God–the Creator of everything.  He made everything that we see and nothing exists that He has not made and does not have authority over.  And so, we are to worship God alone.  We are not to have any other gods.   And we are never to put anything else ahead of God in our lives.  “Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the Lord alone.”

There are so many things that vie for our attention in this world today.  We are so busy.  We have work and family, and leisure activities, and family obligations.  And if we are parents, then their are so many activities we feel pressured to be involved with for our children and grandchildren.  And sometimes, worshipping God or studying His word or prayer feels like just one more activity we have to fit in an already busy schedule.  But The LORD should be our number one priority.  He should always come first and then we fit the other things around our time devoted to Him (or they don't fit in); but God should always fit in because He is FIRST. 

The Greatest Commandment
Then Deuteronomy spells out what Jesus said is the greatest commandment:  “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.”

Love Him with all your Heart – Your affections and desires. Love God with what you value most and what your heart longs for. Ask yourself: What do I love the most?

And we are to love Him with all our Soul – Your whole life and being. Love God with your identity, your worship, and your commitment to Him. Ask yourself: Who do I belong to?

And love Him with all your Strength – Your energy, abilities, resources, and actions.  Love God not only with your feelings but with what you do and what you have.  Ask yourself: How do I live out my love for God?

Building a solid foundation starts here–by Loving God with all your heart, soul, and strength.

The Second Greatest Commandment
In the New Testament, when they asked Jesus about the greatest commandment, he said, “A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:39)

And when asked, “Who is my neighbor?”  Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan, making it clear that everyone is our neighbor–even those who are different than us, even those who we might despise.  And Jesus went even farther, teaching we must even love our enemies, and pray for those who persecute us. 

1 John 4:20 teaches, “If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?

Building a Solid Foundation with Kids
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says, “you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands…  Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.”

 Our faith in God is so important to us.  We want to pass it on to our children and grandchildren.  That is why we go to the extraordinary effort to provide a great VBS each summer.  This was a focused time of fun and learning for our children (and for the adult volunteers too).  It was hard work, but also a labor of love.  And I bet our volunteers got as much out of it as the kids!

But you can’t build a solid foundation of faith with children with just one week out of the year over summer.  Think about it.  Children go to school 5 days a week, 10 months out of the year, for 12 years (plus one for kindergarten).  It takes that much effort to educate them in the basics of mathematics, English, social studies, etc.  On top of these, there will also be interests in extracurricular activities like sports, music and the arts, etc.

But if we are going to instill in our children a true love of God and a desire to value His commandments and the knowledge for how to know Him and trust Him and pray to Him, it must be done through regular lessons and time spent in worship. 

Kids are constantly inundated with worldly ideas.  We must be sure they hear the Truth from God’s Word even more.  And we as parents or grandparents, we too must be so marinated in God’s Word and filled with God’s love that our children see in us a faith they want for themselves.

So we must must commit ourselves wholeheartedly to God’s commands.  Repeat them again and again to our children. Talk about them when we are at home and when we are on the road, when we are going to bed and when we are getting up.

Built on the Rock/Built on the Shifting Sand
In Luke 7:24-27, Jesus said, “²⁴ Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. ²⁵ Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. ²⁶ But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. ²⁷ When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

I have an unfortunate truth to share with you (in case you don’t already know it).  The fact is, everyone faces storms in their life–times when troubles come that threaten to blow you away like a terrible storm.  It is not a question of if the storms will come, it is only a matter of when.  They come for us all–health problems, divorce, financial problems, the loss of a job, the loss of a loved one…  Many are the storms that can shake our lives to the very foundations.

But when they come, will your life stand because it’s built on the solid rock of faith in Jesus?   Or will you have wasted your time building on the shifting sands of something else?  

We choose what our lives are built on not by words or wishful thinking or good intentions.  We build our lives by our daily practices and disciplines.  Here are some of the spiritual practices that ensure our lives are built on the solid Rock of Christ.

Regular Spiritual Practices that Help Build a Solid Spiritual Foundation

Here are some activities and spiritual disciplines that, when practiced regularly, help you build a solid foundation of faith for your own life and your family.

Be Part of a Church.  Christians need to be part of a church.  There is a lion out there, a great enemy, who wants to devour you--especially when you decide you want to follow Jesus.  And like a young, vulnerable zebra separated from the heard, you can be sure the lion is going to come for you if you are not part of a church.  So, be part of a church.  Attend regular.  Share your life with the church family.  Be committed.

Read Scripture.  If you really want to know God and spend time with Him (and not just what you imagine God to be) read you Bible.  It tells you who He really is and allows you to hear His Word.  

Prayer.  Prayer is the heart of a relationship with God.  He wants you to ask for what you need.  But prayer is not just asking for things.  It is also thanking God, praising God, listening to God, and sometimes just sting with God in silence.  Prayer is so much deeper than we realize, and it is essential to a vibrant relationship with God and a strong spiritual foundation.

Discuss God.  Spend time talking with others about God and about the Bible and your prayer life and what you are learning and experiencing.  We like to talk about people we know or celebrities we admire.  How much more fruitful it is to discuss God with our friends and family.

Express Gratitude.  Be thankful and express it.

Forgive.  Forgiveness can be very hard, but it is at the heart of the Christian faith.  God has forgiven us.  We need to practice forgiving others.

Serve.  Somethings can only be learned by serving.  And serving helps us stop focusing on ourselves and our own problems.  It helps us see others and practice compassion and empathy.

Encourage One Another.  Be an enxourager.

Worship Regularly.  Regular worship is vital to a fir spiritual foundation.  God is worthy of our worship and praise.  And if we love Him with all our heart, soul, and strength, we must honor Him with our songs and prayers and presence and praises and attention.  The routine of regular worship reshapes us into the people God wants us to be and unites us together as the body of Christ on earth.

Repent.  We all make mistakes.  And we are all sinners in need of the saving grace of God.  Repentance opens the door to God's forgiveness in Jesus Christ and starts us along the road to true holiness God wants us to live.

What Are You Building Your Life On?
You know, no one builds a foundation because it's exciting.  No one drives by a construction site and says, "Look at that beautiful concrete slab!"

The foundation isn't the part people admire.  But it's the part that makes everything else possible.  A beautiful house without a foundation won't last.  Neither will a beautiful family.  Neither will a successful career.  Neither will a busy life.

If we neglect the foundation, eventually the storms will reveal it.  Jesus said the wise man builds his house on the rock, because storms will come and test it.

So today I'd simply ask:  What are you building your life on?
Is Christ truly the foundation of your home?
Or has He become just another activity squeezed into an already busy schedule?

This week our children learned songs about Jesus.  They memorized Scripture.  They laughed.  They played.  They made crafts.  But they need more than one week of Vacation Bible School during summer break.  They need parents and grandparents who are building their own lives on Jesus every single day.  They need to see us reading God's Word.  They need to hear us pray.  They need to watch us forgive.  They need to see us worship.  They need to know that when life gets hard, Mom and Dad don't run from God—they run to Him.  Because children usually learn more from what we practice than from what we preach.

Invitation – Maybe today your family needs to begin laying a new foundation.
Maybe you've been trying to build your life on success, or money, or sports, or simply trying to "be a good person."  None of those things can carry the weight of a human soul.  Only Jesus Christ can.

The greatest gift we can give our kids is a faith that will carry them for the rest of their lives.
So I invite you to pray to God and make a commitment…

Fish for People | A Sermon on Matthew 4:19

Matthew 4:19
In Matthew 4:19, Jesus called his first disciples.  Matthew 4:19 – Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”

Fish for People
This wasn’t just a call for the first disciples.  It’s a call Jesus gives to all of us.  To fish for people means to join Jesus in His mission of drawing others into God’s Kingdom through our witness, love, service, and proclamation of the gospel.

Jesus taught His disciples to fish by doing it.  Let’s look at a few examples of Jesus fishing for people. 

Jesus calling the disciples (Matthew 4:18-22) – Jesus meets fishermen where they are and uses their own experience to invite them into a new kind of fishing.  You have to understand people's lives and the needs and struggles and meet them where they are.  As Jesus called the disciples to be “fishers of people,” He didn’t just walk up randomly and make the invitation. He had watched these fishermen—He knew their daily lives, their routines, and their struggles. He understood what their work meant to them. Then He took something familiar—their skill in fishing—and gave it a greater, kingdom-minded purpose. Jesus said, in effect, “This thing you’ve been doing, I’m inviting you to do it in a whole new way. Not to catch fish, but to reach people. And I will show you how to do it.”  

The Woman at the Well (John 4) – Jesus engaged in personal conversation and drew the Samaritan woman to faith.  Here we see that Jesus isn’t just reaching out to people like Him—Galileans who grew up in the same region, or fellow Jews of the same background. Instead, He crosses cultural and social boundaries to speak with someone considered an outsider, someone others would have avoided. Jesus walks through Samaria, sits by a well, and notices a woman coming to draw water in the heat of the day. Why is she here now, when no one else is? Why not in the cool of the morning? He sees her situation, understands her deeper story, and begins a one-on-one conversation. Through truly seeing her and knowing her, He leads her to faith.

Feeding the Five Thousand (Mark 6:30-44) – Jesus includes the disciples in the act of caring for the crowd, showing them that “fishing” can also mean meeting practical needs that open hearts.  Jesus says, “I want you to take care of these people’s practical needs. They’ve been with us all day, and they’re hungry.” The disciples want to send them away, but Jesus responds, “You give them something to eat.” They’re confused—“How can we possibly feed them?”—and then He shows them how, performing His miraculous work. In doing this, Jesus teaches His disciples, and us, that fishing for people often begins with meeting practical needs. If someone is hungry, homeless, or without clothing, how can they truly hear about eternal life until their immediate needs are met? Care for their physical needs first, and hearts will be open to receive the hope of Christ.

Sending out the Twelve & the 72
Jesus didn’t just show the disciples how to fish for people by doing it all Himself.  He challenged the disciples to get out in the world and do some fishing themselves.  In Matthew 10:1-15, Jesus sends the 12 disciples out to practice preaching, healing, and proclaiming the Kingdom.  In Luke 10:1-20, He sent a broader group of 72 disciples out to share the message, showing that “fishing” is a task for all followers, not just the original twelve.

And the disciples learned well.  By the time we get to Acts 2, we see Peter preaching in Jerusalem and leading 3,000 people to believe in Jesus and be baptized.  But it wasn’t just about big numbers.  Every single person was important to the disciples because every person belongs in God’s Kingdom.  That’s why I love the story of Philip.  The story is found in Act 8:26-40, but let me summarize it.

It’s the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. The eunuch was a high official, the treasurer to the queen of Ethiopia, riding in his chariot on the road home from Jerusalem. He had gone there to worship, but because he was a eunuch, the Law of Moses said he could not fully participate in the temple. So here he is, hungry to know God, yet feeling excluded. As he rides, he’s reading aloud from the prophet Isaiah about the Suffering Servant—someone who was despised and disfigured—and he’s wondering what it all means.

Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit tells Philip, “Go to that chariot.” Philip runs alongside and hears the eunuch reading Isaiah. He asks, “Do you understand what you’re reading?” The eunuch replies, “How can I, unless someone explains it?” He invites Philip into the chariot, and Philip begins to share the good news: this prophecy is about Jesus, the Messiah, who gave His life so that all may be welcomed into God’s family. No barrier from your past, no wound, no exclusion can keep you out—because through Jesus, you are made whole.

The eunuch hears this, sees some water by the road, and says, “Look, here’s water. What’s to stop me from being baptized?” And in that moment, he is baptized into the family of Christ—fully included, fully loved, fully His.

Whether it was the 3,000 who responded to Peter’s preaching, or the one man Philip led to Christ, the disciples were faithfully doing it. They had learned well what it meant to fish for people.

Other Aspects of Fishing
It occurs to me that there’s a lot more to fishing than just the moment you cast out your nets.  My brother-in-law Joey is one of the best fishermen I know. Anytime we go to the beach on vacation, I get excited because I know Joey will be there—and that means we’re going to catch fish. Now, Joey isn’t necessarily better at casting a line or reeling in a fish than I am. I know how to rig the hooks, cast accurately, and set the hook just right. I’m as good at the mechanics of fishing as he is.

But here’s what makes Joey a great fisherman: he starts fishing long before we ever get to the beach. Months in advance, he’s studying the tides, the kinds of fish in season, the best times of day, and the best spots to fish. He asks around, gathers information, and prepares. By the time we show up, Joey knows exactly what bait to use, where to cast, and what to expect. I just get to do the fun part—cast the line and reel them in—because Joey has already done the hard work.

On top of that, Joey knows what kind of fish we’re catching, whether they’re keepers, how to clean them, and how to cook them. That’s what makes him an excellent fisherman—it’s not just the moment of casting a line, but the preparation, knowledge, and care that go into it.

Now let’s take that idea into our spiritual call to be fishers of people. Too often, when we think about fishing for men and women, we only think about the moment itself: What am I going to say? Will I know what to do? But real fishing begins long before the moment of encounter.

We prepare by spending time with Jesus, reading His Word, and letting Him shape us. That way, when we come alongside someone—like Philip with the Ethiopian eunuch—we’re ready. He just “happened” to be reading Isaiah, and Philip was able to say, “I know what that’s about.” That didn’t happen by accident; it was God at work in both of them. And God can do the same in you.

You may think, I don’t know the Bible well enough. But here’s the truth: you don’t have to know it all. God knows what’s coming. He may nudge you today to read Isaiah 40, and you might not know why. But four weeks later, you’ll find yourself in a dentist’s waiting room, and someone will bring it up—and suddenly you’ll realize God had you preparing for that moment all along.

It’s like maintaining your fishing gear. I’ve been there: I show up at the beach, throw my line out, and the reel locks up because I never cleaned it from last year. Is your spiritual life like that? When someone opens their heart and says, “My wife just told me she wants a divorce, and I don’t know what to do,” do you freeze up? Or are you ready because you’ve been walking with the Lord, keeping your nets clean and your heart prepared?

And fishing doesn’t end with the first catch. When someone says, “I’m coming to church with you Sunday,” don’t just say, “Great, see you there.” Meet them on the front porch. Walk in with them. Sit beside them. Help them find a small group, a class, or a place to serve. If they love to sing, introduce them to the choir. That’s what it means to cast the net and to follow through.

Fishing for people is so much more than one moment. It’s preparing beforehand, being ready in the moment, and walking with people afterward. That’s the full picture of what Jesus calls us to.

Essential: Casting Our Nets
Preparation is important—but at some point, you have to cast the net. You can do everything right beforehand, but if you never cast, you’ll never catch.

Jesus called His disciples to be “fishers of people,” and that same call comes to us today. So, let me ask you—who are you fishing for? Who in your life needs to experience God’s love, hear the good news, or see faith lived out through your example? Every one of us has family, friends, neighbors, or coworkers who need the hope of Christ. Following Jesus means not just being caught by His grace, but also casting our nets wide so that others might be drawn into His Kingdom.

World Communion Sunday
The disciples’ faithfulness in becoming fishers of people led to the rapid expansion of the Christian Church. As more and more people became followers of Christ, they too became fishers of people. Being fishers of people is not optional—it is essential. Any generation that fails in this calling faces decline and eventual death. But faithful disciples across the centuries have carried the gospel, and now followers of Christ are found in every corner of the globe. Today, on World Communion Sunday, we celebrate this witness to the spread of the faith. Though we speak different languages, eat different foods, and live in different nations, we are united as part of Jesus’ fishing crew—bound together by His sacrifice and the power of His resurrection. World Communion reminds us that all Christians are interconnected, breaking down denominational and cultural barriers. It is also a call for us to remember our mission to be fishers of people. What our world, our country, and our community need now more than ever is to live out the principles of forgiveness, grace, love, sacrifice, and service that Christ taught us. This is the only hope for our world.  Will you answer Christ’s invitation:  “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”

Welcome to the First Day of the Rest of Your life

Introduction
Today, we celebrate our graduates.  I had each one on my mind as I planned this sermon.  

I thought about the Walker, who used to come sit in my office and ask such interesting questions—whom I had the honor of sponsoring to attend Chrysalis last summer.  

Grace, Amy’s niece, who is always so sweet and kind and faithful to attend youth and Sunday worship.  I loved seeing her volunteering at the Miracle Field in April.

Henry, Big Mama’s grandson, who I first met in VBS. He lives in another town, but has so often visited our church and I’ve prayed for him many times.
And our college graduates. 

Kate, who has such a sweet, sweet spirit and I can see in Kate a deep love of Christ and a desire to serve Him in our community.

Then there’s sweet Sydney, who started out as part of our youth program, then in Sunday worship, and has remained active in our church throughout college.

And I remember JC as a young girl in our children’s program and visiting her assemblies over at Christian Heritage—now all grown up and graduating college.

But I thought of all the people in my church too and even Christians who don't attend my church.  The title of the message is: Welcome to the First Day of the Rest of Your Life.  And that’s true not only for graduates, but for all of us. Through Christ, we can always make a fresh start.  And so each day is like we just graduated.

For this message, God gave me 1 Timothy 3:1-7 to preach.  It’s not the scripture I would have chosen for this occasion.  And even though I tried to choose another topic and scripture instead, God kept leading me back to this one.  So, I believe it’s the one God chose.  In it, the Apostle Paul writes to his young apprentice Timothy about the organization of the Church and the different roles in it.  In particular, Paul gives Timothy the qualifications of a Bishop.

1 Timothy 3:1-7
¹ This is a trustworthy saying: “If someone aspires to be a church leader, he desires an honorable position.” 

Right off the bat, let me clarify, the Greek word the New Living Translation renders as “church leader” is Episkypos.  It’s where we get the English word Episcopal, like the Episcopal Church.  What Paul is talking about here is not just the average run of the mill church leader.  He’s talking about Bishops.  The NRSV and KJV actually translate it as Bishop.  “Whoever aspires to the office of bishop…”

² So a church leader [bishop] must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. ³ He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. ⁴ He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. ⁵ For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church?

⁶ A church leader [bishop] must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall. ⁷ Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the devil’s trap.

Bishops are Leaders
Bishops are leaders in the church.  As the early church in New Testament times grew and expanded rapidly, they organized like this.  A group of new Christian believers would gather weekly—usually in somebody's home—to pray, worship, study Scripture, and celebrate Holy Communion. They also worked together to make new disciples, feed the hungry, and help the poor.  They usually didn't have a church building at this stage (Christians didn't have money for extra buildings and their meetings were often outlawed).

Each house church had a pastor and there might be numerous houses of Christian worship in an area.  (Remember, most people at that time had to walk to church.  So their church had to be within walking distance.)

Each area had a Bishop to oversee all the many house churches in the area.  That's literally what Episkypos (Bishop) means.  It literally means overseer. This is how most Christian denominations are still organized today. 

And this is how the United Methodist Church is organized.  We group local churches together in a larger area and a Bishop is appointed to oversee them.  We break areas down even further into districts & have district superintendents help the Bishop.

So in the early Church, the Bishop was the top leader in the church.  Not that they were more important. Paul makes it abundantly clear in other passages that no person in the Church is more important than another.  No office or role is more important than any other.  The Body of Christ needs all its many parts.  It’s just that the Bishops are leaders.

As the leaders of a large area of Christians, Bishops need to understand Christian doctrine.  They help keep the various local churches on the right track, teaching the right things. They keep churches moving in the right direction fulfilling Christ’s mission to make disciples.

Bishops are also spokespersons for the whole Church.  In the NT Times, Bishops were the ones city officials would talk to when they wanted to get a message to all the Christians in an area.  As representatives for the whole Church, Bishops needed to represent Christians well.  That’s why Paul said their lives must be beyond reproach.  They should be self-controlled, wise, have a good reputation, good at entertaining guests, able to teach, not drunks, not violent, gentle, not quarrelsome, not greedy, good at managing their own family.

Obviously, it's a tall order and it takes a special person to be a Bishop.  But what does this have to do with graduates?  And what does this have to do with you? 

Practical Application
We all have an important roll to play in the Body of Christ.  No role is more important than another.  Graduates, as you graduate, you have completed an important part of your training.  Maybe part of that is so you can get a certain job and have a career, but I think it goes deeper.  More important than earning a living, you will make a difference in this world.  You will shape your family.  You will impact your community.  You will influence people.  How will you shape them?  What impact will you have?  Will your influence be positive or negative?  You decide by your character and how you choose to live.

Will you aspire to be a Bishop? (I’m not aware of any of our graduates or anyone from my church here who aspires to be a Bishop, but you could if God calls you to it and the Church recognizes it, more power to you!)  Whether or not you aspire to be a “Bishop”, the qualities Paul lays out are great aspirations for us all.

The characteristics of Bishops in the New Testament exemplify the qualities every Christian should aspire to.  Lives beyond reproach, self-controlled, wisdom, a good reputation, hospitality, able to teach, not getting drunk, not violent, gentle, not quarrelsome, not greedy, good at managing you own family…

Those are good qualities for our graduates to shoot for.  They’re good aspirations for all of us.

1 Corinthians 12:18-21 – ¹⁸ But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. ¹⁹ How strange a body would be if it had only one part! ²⁰ Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. ²¹ The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”  And verse 27 – ²⁷ All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.

I pray you will will aspire to have the very best qualities!

Closing
Let’s do something together.  This is for graduates.  This is for their parents and grandparents and everyone.  I want you to look at your feet.  Go ahead.  Do it…  Those are your feet.
Isaiah 52:7 says, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!”
I hope you will use your feet to take you places to share the Good News of Jesus.

Look at your hands.  Do it…Those are your hands.
Ephesians 4:28 says, “use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.”
I hope you will use your hands to do good work (whatever it is) and that you will have generous hands that help the needy just like Jesus has helps you.

Now, put your hand over your heart.  Feel it beating…  That’s your heart beating.
Matthew 5:8 says, “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.”
I hope you will let Jesus keep your heart pure so you sincere and honest.  Let everything you do flow from the purest of motives.

The truth is, we all fall short.  But the Good News is there is forgiveness and redemption in Jesus.  So if you need to make a fresh start, turn to Him today.  Whatever happened in the past prepared you for the future ahead.  But make a commitment today to follow Jesus into the future He wants for you.

We Are Family

Introduction
I’ve been reflecting a lot about my Mom and our relationship lately.  I guess because of Mother’s Day.  One thing I remember in particular is the day I left home to go off to college.  It was the day I “moved out” of my Mom’s house.

We went to eat lunch at the Texas Cattle Company in Macon.  I didn’t want orneed my Mom to go all the way up to Marietta to help me move in to college at Southern Tech.  Although she would have liked to, I felt I needed to do it on my own and she let me.

Even though I moved out of my Mom’s house, we remain connected. I visited every weekend and we talked often on the phone.  We were and are bound by love and always will be.  Regardless of whether we live in the same house, we will always be family.  I’m so thankful for all my Mom did for me—for her sacrifice, her love, her continued support—and for the legacy she passed on to me.

My relationship with my mom and my family are a good lead in to wwhat I want to share today.  I want to talk about family, but I want to broaden the concept of family beyond your biological family.  Jesus said family is deeper than blood relations. Jesus said in Matthew 12:50, “Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”

The Church is a family. We are connected to each other. And I want to discuss this connectionism among the followers of Christ in the Church.

Acts 15:22-29 tells about a special council the early followers of Christ held in Jerusalem to deal with an important issue in the growing Family of Christ, the Church.  You see, Jesus was Jewish.  The first disciples were Jewish.  The earliest followers were Jewish.  They followed Jewish religious customs laid out in the Old Testament.  (You know things like: don’t eat pork.  Don’t work on the Sabbath day.  Celebrate Passover.  Etc.) 

As the years went by, more and more non-Jewish people became Christians and started asking a legitimate question: Do non-Jewish people need to follow all the Jewish religious rules in order to be Christians?  And a really important issue was about circumcision.  Most Jews are circumcised at birth.  But if you became a Jew as an adult, you would need to be circumcised then.  So this was a important (and potentially painful) issue for the male gentiles who wanted to follow Christ.  Did they need to be circumcised and follow the Jewish laws of the Old Testament to be Christians?  So the Church had a big conference to discuss the issue and make a decision. Let’s read what they decided.

Acts 15:22
²² Then the apostles and elders together with the whole church in Jerusalem chose delegates, and they sent them to Antioch of Syria with Paul and Barnabas to report on this decision. The men chosen were two of the church leaders—Judas (also called Barsabbas) and Silas. 

Let’s pause here to consider.  The early Church felt it was important to speak as one body.
Christians are in connection.  Not individuals.  Not even individual congregations.  The early Christians wanted everyone across the whole church to believe and practice the same thing (as far as it was possible).  So they made a decision and sent representatives with the official decision in a letter.

Acts 15:23
²³ This is the letter they took with them:

“This letter is from the apostles and elders, your brothers in Jerusalem. It is written to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. Greetings!

It's important to recognize that the Jerusalem council represented church congregations that spanned across a geographical area roughly the size of the Southeastern United States.  This was the Church--a large body of believers made up of hundreds of small local congregations that spanned throughout the middle east.  And they were all expected to follow the same rules.

Acts 15:24
²⁴ “We understand that some men from here have troubled you and upset you with their teaching, but we did not send them! 

In other words, some people have made proclamations that don't represent the official positions of the  connection/family.  They had no authority to say what they said.

Acts 15:25-27
²⁵ So we decided, having come to complete agreement, to send you official representatives, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, ²⁶ who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷ We are sending Judas and Silas to confirm what we have decided concerning your question.

This is the official ruling for the connection.  Everyone in this family will follow the following ruling.

Acts 15:28-29
²⁸ “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements: ²⁹ You must abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. If you do this, you will do well. Farewell.”

The Take Aways for Today
There are 3 main take aways I want you to see today from this Scripture.  

1. The Church is Connectional
2. It’s not about rules. It’s about grace.
3. Christians have the simplest of rules.

Let's look at each of these.  First of all, the Church is connectional. Christianity is not an individualistic faith.  Contary to popular opinion in 21st century America, faith is not a private matter.  We are a community, a family.  What you do matters to me. And what I do affects you.  Thus, we live together, worship together, serve together, and make decisions together.  And here’s the hard part for most people in America.  Our connection even goes beyond our local church.

The Local Church
It’s easy to feel loyalty to your own local congregation.  It’s also easy to fall into a trap where all you care about is your own local congregation.  We may appreciate other churches in in our community, but we are tempted to see our own church as more important.  If we're not careful, we may even see other congregations as competition.  However, our local church is only one small part of God's great Church.  And each little part is important and we are all on the same team.  We are not competing against each other.  There are plenty of people in our community that aren't part of any church.  There's more than enough unchurched people to go around.  We need not fight over who goes to what church. Let us work to include those who are not going to any church. 

Our Household – The Denomination (The UMC???)
My local church is belongs to the United Methodist Church.  However, there are a lot of question marks in that affiliation for us right now because our congregation is preparing to vote on whether we wish to remain in the UMC.  Many feel the UMC is not follow the household rules anymore and we are finding it unbearable to remain in the same house.

Going back to the family analogy.  Did you ever hear parents say something like:  "If you're going to live in my house, you have to follow my rules.  If you don't like it, go get your own house."  And if your parents said that to you and you decided to move out, you might need to have a conversation about what you get to take with you.  Maybe your parents would say: "You can't take the care your driving.  That belongs to us!"  But you might argue back and say, "Hey!  I worked and earned the money for this car and bought it myself.  Just because the title is in your name doesn't mean it's fair for you to say it's yours."  And you might have to work out how to divide everything up.

Well that's sort of where we are in the UMC right now.  We can no longer agree to follow rules of the house. Many congregations are wanting to move out and into another house, but we have to decide what property we can take with us.  

My hope is that once people get to decide where they want to live (whether it's in the UMC or another denomination), we will all be able to get along better.  Because whether we are in the same household (denomination) or not, we are still family (relate by the blood of Christ).  We should be able to live together in peace and unity in our own household and be good neighbors to our extended Christian family outside our denomination.

Our Tribe – Methodist
The next level up on the Christian family tree is our tribe, which more me is Methodist (or you might even say Wesleyan).  There are numerous denominational families that belong to the Methodist tribe.  We all are strongly influenced by the theology of John Wesley. Our share Wesleyan theology includes things like Infant Baptism, an important emphasis on grace, and strong sacramental theology, among other distinctives.  The Methodist tribe--which includes the UMC, GMC, Salvation Army, The Nazarenes, Evangelical Methodist Church, Wesleyan Church, and many others--have a lot more in common with each other than we do with denominations in other tribes like the Baptist, Pentecostal, and Roman Catholic tribes.

The Church Universal 
The final level that includes every Christian, throughout all time, in every place, and in every denomination is the universal Church.  The rules for who belongs in this broadest category are very simple.  The chief requirement is that you repent of your sins and follow Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.  All who do this are part of the extended Christian family we call the Catholic Church (AKA the Church Universal).  We can respect, appreciate, and work with all Christians—regardless of denomination--and we should.  We are all followers of the same Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior. 

It’s Not About Rules.  It’s All About Grace.
Following Jesus is not about rules; it’s all about God's grace.  Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”

The Jerusalem Council rejected legalism that tried to say Christians needed to follow Jewish religious laws in order to be saved.  The Christian Church clarified that following Christ is not about rules; it's about receiving God's grace through Jesus Christ.

There are still people today who will try to say you’ve got to do certain things in order to be a real Christian.  Some Pentecostals (not all but some) say you must speak in tongues in order to show you are really a Christian.  Some Baptists (not all but some) say you must be fully immersed in a believers baptism in order to be a real Christian.  Some Seventh Day Adventists (not all by some) say true Christians worship on Saturday (the seventh day) and eat the kinds of food the Old Testaments says we should eat.  The Jerusalem Council settled this in Acts 15.  It’s not about rules.  It’s about God’s grace received thru Jesus Christ. 

And in order that Christians may all live together in unity and peace, the Jerusalem Council laid out the simplest of rules for early Christians to follow:

1. Don’t eat meat sacrificed to idols.
2. Don’t eat blood.
3. Don’t eat meat from strangled animals.
4. Abstain from sexual immorality.

Numbers 1, 2, and 3 have to do with maintaining connections with Jewish Christians and not being a stumbling block to anyone.  The Apostle Paul clarified this in 1 Corinthians 8, 9, and 10.  Meat in the first century was almost always butchered as part of a religious sacrifice.  Jews could only eat kosher meat sacrificed to Yahweh.  But most meat sold in gentile meat markets had been sacrificed to idols or pagan gods.  Jews found such meat to be abhorrent to their faith.  Thus, Paul said, Christians should avoid eating meat sacrificed to pagan gods because it might lead someone to think Christians believed in and were honor false gods.  Paul's reasoning was that false gods don't really exist so meat sacrificed to them was not polluted in any way, but it was the conscious of the people who knew about the meat that mattered.  Even if a Christian knew there was nothing wrong with eating the meat, they should protect the consciousness of others who might think it mattered.

In 21st century America, we don't have to worry that meat was sacrificed to an idol or false god.  Although, we might need to pray about and consider other issues, like whether the meat was processed in an ethical way or by a business that treats their workers fairly or one that is a good steward of the environment.

The fourth rule of the Jerusalem council deals with actual sin that is abhorrent to God and destructive to people, relationships, and communities.  The Jerusalem council instructs Christians to abstain from sexual immorality.  Jesus, The Apostle Paul, and the letter of Jude all agree Christians should abstain from sexual immorality.  No where in the Bible does it allow for the faithful to be sexually immoral.

So really, you could say there are just 2 broad rules all Christians should follow.  So from 613 Jewish laws in the Old Testament, Christians come down to just 2:

1. Don’t be a stumbling block.
2. Don’t be sexually immoral.

Of course, we understand that living faithfully for Jesus requires wisdom.  We must let the Holy Spirit guide us to discern what is the right thing to do in any situation.  But it really is simple. And God is full of grace through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Conclusion
Because of the Jerusalem Council’s decision, Gentile believers were welcomed into the Church.  They joined in droves.  Within a few years, there were more Gentile Christians than Jewish ones.

Have you joined the Church?  What does that mean?  First of all it means to repent of your sin and give your life to Christ.  Turn away from your own selfish way of living and turn to Jesus.  Let Him be Lord of your life.  Follow Him and He will save you.  

Second, be baptized. Baptism doesn't save you, but it is the outward and visible sign Jesus commanded His followers to use to initiate new believers into the household of God.  God imparts grace to us through baptism to help us live as He wants us to live.  

Third, when you join a local congregation, you promise to support the church with your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service, and your witness.  Using the family analogy, joining a local church is like getting married.  You stand before God and witnesses and promise to be faithful to the church.  You declaration makes it possible to move into a deeper relationship with the family of God because everyone knows you are truly committed.

If you’ve already done all these, take some time to reflect what it means for you and if you’re being faithful to the family.  

If you need to do any of these, I can help. I would love to talk with you help welcome you into the family of God.