Pastor Jeff Williams: May 29, 2011 Going Beyond, Part V, “Beyond Building.” Let’s dig into the Word this morning. I want to talk about four kinds of people that attend church, and you’re going to be on this list somewhere. In this series, “Going Beyond,” [the topic this week is] “Beyond Building.” The first group of people are the Visitors. Visitors are the folks that come to church on occasion, but they’re never entered into the life of the church. The church is simply a place. To them, it literally is a building. It is a place you go for funerals, weddings, and maybe on a major holiday like Easter or Christmas, but probably not. They’re just visitors to the church. They’re there when they have to go, but there is no connection there. The second group is the spectators. These are the people who go with more frequency than the visitors, but they try to get out of it every chance they get. Usually, when they come, they come because they have to. Maybe they are a child whose parents make them come. That was me. When I was a little boy, I was a spectator. I came to church because I had to. My mom and dad made me go. Back in the day, I wanted to be home watching “All Star Wrestling,” the Crusher and the Bruiser. That’s where I wanted to be, and I played hooky every chance I had because church was something to be endured. It was something you had to hopefully manage to sit through, and you couldn’t wait until it was done. Your favorite words were, “As we close the service…” Those were my favorite words. As a spectator, you are here maybe because your spouse brings you. There is some reason you have to go, but you really don’t want to go. When you’re there, you’re not engaged. You’re not buying into the message, and you’re not part of a relationship or ministry. You’re there because you need to be there. There is a consumer mindset that has really become pervasive in our society. You know that consumer mindset that goes into the grocery store and says, “Try this.” Somebody else says, “Try this product. It’s bigger and better. It’s more improved.” That has crept into the church by the droves. We have a lot of mega-churches where people will leave their home churches to travel for miles to consume a service because it’s the in thing to do. They don’t know anybody in the church. They don’t engage in ministry; they’re not building relationships. The church doesn’t know them, but they consume a product. When another church pops up that’s faster and is growing bigger or another new preacher rolls into town, they say, “Oh, he’s really good,” and they’ll go there. They have this consumer mindset. They’ve bought into the message; they’re believers, but they’re not plugged into the body at all. They’re always moving around, always trying the next best big thing. That’s a consumer mindset, and it’s very pervasive. Then there is the participator mindset that enters into the life of the church. This group enters into relationship. The participators enter into ministry; they buy into the message; and they are a part of that body of believers. That’s what we’re going to talk about today: what does it mean to be a participator? Hopefully, that’s the category you fit into today. If you are a participator, the first thing you must do-the entry point in being a participator-is you must be a receiver of the Gospel, a receiver of Truth. In John 1:12 (page 1049 of pew Bibles), it talks about this. He says, “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God…” Notice, it’s receiving and then becoming. It’s not becoming and then receiving. You receive, and then you become as the end product. As we try to invite people to church or encourage people to come, sometimes they’ll say, “Well, you know, I just don’t have my act together. I have things in my life that I’m ashamed of. They’re not right. When I get my act together, then I’ll think about God. Then I’ll think about spiritual things.” We say that’s like a dirty person saying, “I’m too sweaty, stinky, and dirty to take a shower.” “What? Showers are for dirty people! That’s why you go! The soap, the water, and the shampoo cleanse you from that dirt!” You don’t say, “Well, I’m so sick, I can’t take this medicine. I’m too sick to go to the doctor. I’ll wait until I get better.” “Going to the doctor and getting your meds is going to help you get better because medicine is for sick people.” In that same way, church is for sinners, and we are all sinners. You are pastored by a sinner, in case you didn’t know that. We are all sinners; we all have a needle that points to self. We all have a selfish nature that is in rebellion against God. So number one, what do we receive as a receiver? We receive the Word, and Paul talks about this very practically in Romans 10:13 (page 1121), “…for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” That’s good news! Then he asks some practical questions [in the next Verse, Verse 14]. He says, “How, then, can they call on the One they have not believed in?” What he’s saying is if they don’t know about God, how can they call upon Him? And how can they believe in Him, Whom they have not heard? How can they hear without someone preaching to them? One of the main ministries of our church is that we proclaim the Gospel, whether it’s from Sunday morning, in a small group, or in a class. Whatever it is, we are proclaiming the Gospel, and what is the Gospel? If we had one message to proclaim, what would it be? What is the most important message in this Book? The Bible tells us. What if the end-of-world guy [Harold Camping] was right? Have you heard the latest by the way? Well, the rapture was going to be May 21, right? Brenda and I were going out to lunch, and we were talking about it on Monday. I said, “He’s going on the radio tonight. Watch him play the ‘Jesus came back spiritually card.’ That’s what all the false religions/false teachers do when they predict the second coming and it doesn’t happen.” “Oh, He came back spiritually,” [according to Harold Camping]. Jesus has come back to earth spiritually like a half a dozen times now. I said, “He’s going to pull that card, you watch.” Sure enough, he got on the radio and said, “Jesus came back. We were right, but it was a spiritual second coming. The end of the world is still going to be October 21.” That’s when everything will get blown up, so we have almost five months left. What if he were right? [What if] we had one Sunday left; and there was one more sermon we could give? What should that be according to this Book that we read? In 1 Corinthians 15:3 (page 1139) says, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance…” In the Greek, it’s very clear that Paul is saying, “This is the most important thing that I received, and this is the most important thing I’ve passed on to you. This is the most important thing you can pass on to someone else.” The Gospel says that Christ died for our sins-according to the Scripture-that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to Scripture-and Verse 5 says “and that He appeared.” Died, buried, raised, and appeared: died for sins; buried three days; raised and appeared to many. Paul says that is the most important message that we share. That is the essence of the Gospel. That is what we are about. That’s our number one priority as a church. If you want to be a participant in the message of the church, you must be a receiver of that message. Secondly, we are called to be givers. I’m not talking about money. You can give that too, but I’m talking about an attitude of the heart that looks out for others in the church. Acts 2:44-46 (page 1079) says, “All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts…” He’s talking about sharing life together. Being a participator means you recognize you’re responsible not just for yourself. They gave of their resources; they gave of their talents; they gave of their time. I think of one of our members named Vic Smith who tragically lost a daughter years ago to a car accident. Every year he opens up his home at least once-if not twice-a year to people who’ve lost loved ones. They open up the Scripture, and they open up their hearts, and they pray together. They work through a curriculum together, and they try to work on healing together. He lets them know that they can go on. Life has not ended, and they can heal. He ministers to them. He gives them of what he has. That’s what this Passage is talking about. It’s talking about sharing; it’s talking about when one has a need, another one comes to minister. We have a woman in our church who has some illnesses she’s been working through. Even though she has a strong faith, she has been very afraid of dying. Literally, the dying experience terrifies her. We have another woman in our church who has died. You’ve heard where they talk about hovering over your body, the light? She went through that. She goes to our church. When she was a young girl, she had a respiratory condition and was in an oxygen tank, and she died. She will tell you it’s not a dream state she was in; it is as much a memory as her graduation from high school, her wedding day, or the birth of her children. She remembers being out of her body; looking down on the tent and her body; looking down at her mother crying; watching the medical professionals as they worked to revive her; listening to the conversation; and then seeing a light and going toward that light. Then she remembers experiencing peace and love that she’d never experienced before. She heard the voice of God and asked to go back to her mom. God said, “You can, but you need to understand it’s going to hurt when you go back. When you’re in your body, it’s going to hurt,” and she asked to go back. She no longer has a fear of death-none, not a bit. She called and ministered to that person in our church who does. That’s what I’m talking about when I talk about giving. It’s as they say, “Having each other’s backs.” It’s being in a position of community. It’s sharing a life together, and that's what the church was in its inception. It didn’t remain that way entirely. Sin would creep into the church; self-centeredness and rebellion would creep into the church as well; but in its inception, in its infancy, the church was that kind of community that sees the needs, responds to the needs, and gives of ourselves to one another. Thirdly when we talk about ministering, we are to be workers in the Word-a worker in the Word. In 2 Timothy 2:15 (page 1179) it says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the Word of Truth.” Have you ever been in a classroom situation where you’re hoping the teacher doesn’t call upon you because you didn’t read the assignment or you’ve read the assignment and you don’t understand the assignment? You’re sitting there thinking, “Please don’t call on me. Please don’t call on me. Please don’t call on me,” and they do. You’re like, “Uh-oh.” You’re not ready; you’re kinda ashamed, right? There are some times in our lives when we’re called upon to know the Word, and we don’t know it. I had a lady in our church who had some friends who challenged her on the Bible, the authenticity of the Bible being the Word of God. She had no answer for them. She said, “What should I have done? What should I have said?” I said, “Probably, if somebody thinks the Bible is just an ordinary Book, you should have probably taken them to some Biblical prophecies and showed them how some prophecies were fulfilled. Show them about kings and reformers who were prophesized by name centuries before they were born. Talk to her about how they prophesized where the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.” Bethlehem is a little city like Orfordville or something. It wasn’t a major city, and yet the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. “Talk to them about how Christ fulfilled the prophesy.” She said, “I don’t know those things.” I said, “Let’s get together. Let me teach you those things.” She wasn’t ready [to show proof to her friends]. [You have to be ready for] when people challenge your faith so that you’re ready when a false teacher like Harold Camping comes and says, “The rapture is coming May 21, and the end of the world is October 21.” So many people bought into that. A man in Asia jumped off a building and died. A woman out west slit the throats of her two little daughters and then her own. Fortunately, a neighbor found them and saved all of their lives. People put their pets down; people sold their homes and quit their jobs. As I was preparing for that message that I gave last week on that subject, I had to listen to this program and listen to call after call to my amazement. These were reasonable-sounding people asking questions of Mr. Camping, and he would give them ridiculous non-Biblical answers that I’d never heard before in my life. They would simply say, “Well, thank you. Now I understand.” I would say, “No, you don’t! You’re more confused than you ever have been in your life!” But they would swallow it hook, line, and sinker. A workman understands the Scriptures. They have a handle on the Bible so when those moments come, they are ready to defend their faith, to explain their faith, or to rise to someone who is challenging their faith with heresy. That’s why we have teachings on weekends; that’s why we have our classes. This morning we had a class at 8 o’clock. We had a class at 9:30; we had a class at 11-right now. Have you gone to any of them today? They’re there; they’re there to teach you as small groups. We studied the Bible. We have one-on-one Real Zeal curriculum where people are working through the Bible together one on one in our church. Are you taking advantage of those opportunities to become a student of the Word? We have three people right now enrolled in training to be pastors, studying the Word of God. God wants you to be a workman that doesn’t need to hang your head when the moment comes, so you understand the Word of God. You can explain the Word of God. Fourthly, we are called to be servers of the Gospel. In Galatians 5:13 (page 1154), it says this: “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” To be a participant in the body of Christ, to be a participant of the church is to serve. I hear Christians who say, “You know, I don’t need to go to church to worship God. I can worship God in the park.” How many of you heard people say that before?” Yeah, that is a selfish and arrogant statement to make. It’s selfish because that means you are not offering what you have to give and what God has given you to the church. What’s more, it’s arrogant because it’s saying you don’t need anything the church has to offer. You don’t need the ministry of anybody else. You don’t need the teaching from the Bible because you understand the Bible so well yourself. You don’t need the spiritual gifts everybody else has. It’s a selfish and arrogant statement. When God gives you a gift and gives you talents, it is for others. It’s to serve others. Whether it’s a spiritual gift, like preaching and teaching, or a practical gift, like the ability to build something or fix something, [God has given you those to share with others]. We announced a long time ago-a year or so ago-that Sarah Worthing, one of our members, had become paralyzed. She is a young mother, and she could no longer walk for an inexplicable reason. She became confined to a wheelchair. Within two weeks, a team from church assembled. With donated materials, they built a ramp for her to get in and out of her house on. I’m happy to now say she can walk. After months of being paralyzed, her ability to walk was restored. She walked to church last Sunday. That’s a blessing; that is serving. When you receive a gift for your birthday, your anniversary, or Christmas, it is usually from somebody to you. It has your name on it, and you know who it’s from. You open it up and it’s something you want. It’s not like Fred Flintstone giving a bowling ball to Wilma. Remember that episode? It’s not that. By the way, it was a bowling ball that only fit his hand. You give the gift to them, for them. God gives a gift to you for the church. I hope I have a gift to teach and preach. Some of you might say, “Well, I’m not so sure you do.” Others of you seem to come back every week, but that’s not for me. That’s not for me to get up in the morning and preach to myself in the mirror. “Good morning, me. Turn to the Passage that you need to hear today. I’m going to preach myself a sermon on not being an idiot.” That’s not for me. The last time I preached in a mirror, it was to prepare a sermon to give in front of my student body at Trinity. I was not aware of any student ever giving a sermon before, so I was quite honored to give a sermon; but I was so scared that I preached the sermon to myself. All I knew was how scared I was. They never invited me to speak again. I don’t know what that means, but we don’t get gifts to use for ourselves. Your gift is for the body; your gift is to share. You’re to serve and help. Our custodian has been under the weather. He’s had some surgery, and he’s been recovering. We have some needs to be taken care of, some physical needs at the church. Judy, our office administrator, made some phone calls. People stepped up and said, “I’m willing to serve. I’m willing to clean the restrooms. I’m willing to do the sanctuary. I’m willing to vacuum. I’m willing to cut the grass.” What a blessing that is-people coming alongside and serving the Lord, serving us, and serving Jim (Fish, the custodian at Faith) by ministering to the physical needs of our church. That is a spiritual act-serving. It’s what a participant does. A participant realizes it’s not about them only. They use their gifts, their talents, their time, and their resources to serve Christ and to serve the body of Christ. Fifthly, a participant in the church is a follower. They’re doing what Jesus said to do. Matthew 28:19 (page 989), our core Verse for our church-this is on our website, it’s on our literature-says, “Therefore 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 I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” In 1 Peter 3:15 (page 1202), “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” Set apart Christ as Lord. “God, what do You want me to do? Where do You want me to go? How do You want me to serve?” A true participant is a follower. When I was 19 years old, I attended a Urbana missions conference. Billy Graham was our last speaker. He said, “The first words of Jesus to His Disciples were to come, and His last words were to go.” When they came, they didn’t know anything; when they went, they knew what they needed to know to change the world. You come to Christ as an infant; and then when you leave, it means you’re mature. When you grow up and leave the house, it means you’re mature. When you leave, when you go out for the mission of the church, it means you have become a mature person. You are becoming a mature church. I’m excited about the things I see happening in our congregation right now. Sometimes as a pastor, you take the spiritual pulse [of the church] and think, “Oh, we need to bring out the defibrillators and shock this body.” Other times there is a pulse. I sense something good is happening. I was talking to our RUSH students. You know what RUSH is? RUSH is our group of young adults in their 20s that meet every week to study the Bible together. Pastor Jesse is their fearless leader. I think this past week, there were like 24 young people that took over Pizza Hut. They meet every Tuesday in the little side room there. You can’t have any meals there on Tuesdays at 7; that’s for RUSH. They take it over, and they study the Bible together. They’ve gone from two 20-somethings to over twenty 20-somethings. I’ve heard several of them come up to me and say, “Pastor, we’re going to do something exciting. We’re going to go somewhere. We might go and help the victims of the tornado. We might do something locally in our community, but we are going to do something to make a difference in our world! We’re going to do something!” Just having that dialogue, just hearing that conversation, blesses me. I’ll feel the pulse; I’ll feel the heartbeat. If young people realize it’s not about them and give out to serve, then there is hope for us, isn’t there? Those people get it. I listen to that group, and I’m excited to hear what they’re going to do. The pressure is on now. The pastor has talked about you in church. Whenever they decide where they’re going to go, what they’re going to do, we are going to get behind them any way we can to help them. We’ll be proud of them. I think of Pastor Jerry-he’s 55 years old. He has a good job. He can kind of kick back and take it easy, but he is starting a church in Evansville. He is already preaching there. Well, he is done now, I think (Pastor looks at his watch). Knowing Jerry, he still might be preaching. That’s a lot of work, and there he is. I think of Sally Thompson, who is Pastor Jesse’s sister. She’s part of our tech team, part of our 8 o’clock in the morning music team. Life was good; she had a job. She was by her family, and within two weeks, she was off to Indonesia. She is serving as a missionary there. She packed her bags, bought her ticket, and was gone. She wants to “Go Beyond,” she said, and there she is. I think about our team that leaves Friday for Bali-Mike Powers, the Bales, the Millers, Jesse, and other folks gathering and going to minister to our missionaries. We have several in our body that are going to joining kids around the world very soon to go to the Dominican Republic and help build a playground and share the Gospel there. My alarm clock went off at 2:30 in the morning Saturday morning. You say, “Why was it going off at 2:30 in the morning?” It’s because our team was getting ready to leave for Haiti, and they’re there now. We met at Van Galder, and we all huddled around together. Their leader said, “It’s time to board the bus. Let’s pray.” We all huddled up in a circle, and I just looked at every one of their faces and into everyone’s eyes. I said, “We are so proud of you. Your church is so proud of you. I’m proud of you. God’s going to use you.” We prayed together, and I gave every one of them a hug as they got on the bus. I just saw in their faces anticipation, “I don’t know what’s ahead of me. I don’t know what it’s going to be like in Haiti. I haven’t ever been there,” but they are going off to minister. They’re going off to work on plumbing, to paint, to serve, and to teach people they don’t know. You say, “Well, they know Pastor Sean.” Some of them don’t know Pastor Sean at all. They’ve come on board since he was here. They’re going to be serving. There is a look of fulfillment in their faces that says, “I’m a participator. I’m a difference-maker. I’m a follower of Christ.” Turning 50 has had an impact on me. I’ve gotten very reflective as I’ve gotten older. From time to time, I go to my hometown of Rockford, whether it’s to see my sister or friend or to even go to my favorite pizza place. I take some drive-bys. Occasionally, I’ll go out of the way and I’ll drive by my grade school. There are a lot of memories there. I look at that building, and I stop my car. I think about the ball games and the playground. I think about the friends that I met that are lifelong friends. I say, “Here is where I learned how to read and write, multiply. Here is where I learned disciplines that I would carry with me and study habits I would use for the rest of my life. Here is where teachers poured into me and helped me to be the person I am today.” I take a drive by my home. When I say a home, [I mean] we lived in an apartment. My father was an immigrant from Sweden. He took a very low-paying job as a factory worker. He died when I was very young, so my mom just did odd jobs to survive, and we received social security (payments). We didn’t have much. That old four-family flat, that was home. It doesn’t look pretty to you. You wouldn’t want to buy a house in that neighborhood, but that is home to me. I think, “Here is where I was raised. Here is where I spent time with my mom and my sisters and friends. Here is where I learned how to play wiffleball and kickball. Here is where I formed my personality. Here is where I became a man. Here is where I grew up. This building has significance to me. It is far beyond an apartment building. This was home for me.” It was far beyond an apartment building; this was home for me through my formative years and into adulthood. Then I drive by where our church used to be. It’s not there anymore. The church I grew up in has been leveled and I can hardly even tell where it was anymore. There are gas stations, other buildings, and restaurants around where it stood. That spot of land is very precious to me. Even though what was there is gone, all those memories are there. That’s where I grew my spiritual roots. That’s where I first learned that God loved me and that Jesus Christ died for me. That’s where I first opened up my heart to the Lord. That's where I first sensed a call in my life from Him. Again, it’s where I built friendships that have lasted a lifetime. It’s where I was born and raised spiritually. That land has significance to me. When I talk to you about building Phase 4, I’m not talking to you about building a brick and mortar and carpeting and wood. I am talking to you about ministry; I am talking to you about life change. That is what we are building. We are building a place for others to come and know the Lord that we know. We’re building a place so we can more effectively minister to the people we have and the people who will come in, so join us with your hearts, join us with your prayers, and join us with your resources as we together seek to make this happen. It’s more than a building. Let’s pray together: Father, I thank You today for the challenge of Your Word. Nothing earth-shaking was shared today. There was no enlightenment in the Scripture that we hadn’t seen before. That was not the purpose. The purpose was just to remind us of what this is about, what church life is about, what ministry was about. Lord, I thank You for each person here-those who have been a part of our church for years since its inception and those [who have more recently joined]. Lord, as I look out today, I can see some people who are with us since the very first Sunday 21 years ago. I can look out and see a face that’s joining us for the very first time today. I thank You for all of them. I pray that together we would seek to make a difference-not just in Rock County, but in our world. We thank You for bringing this church into existence. We thank You that we can partner with like-minded churches to accomplish the mission You’ve given us to do, to reach the world with the good news of Jesus. In Your name, I pray. Amen.