Seven Habits of Fully Devoted Followers of Jesus: Receiving Communion Faithfully (1 Corinthians 11:17-34)
Hands up if you were here last Sunday at 11.00am. Good. I think we have some unfinished business from last week. Our Spring sermon series is entitled what? Seven Habits of Fully Devoted Followers of Jesus. Remember the theme last week? “The Joy of Serving”. Now judging by some of your faces, and the number of response forms you gave Lesley, it seems some of you have yet to experience the joy of serving. Do you remember the difference between the wise and foolish builder in Jesus’ other parable? I wasn’t as direct in the application as I should have been. I don’t want to deprive you of the joy of the Lord.
He expects each and every one of us not only to hear him but also… put into practice what he says. He wants us all to serve him in and through his church. Now if you are not yet a believer, I’m not talking to you. If you are just passing through, I’m not talking to you either – at least not yet. But if you consider yourself a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ (or you want to be) and you consider yourself a member of Christ Church, please hear me. God is speaking to you right now. Don’t be like the foolish builder or like the lawyer who wanted to debate with Jesus. He heard lots of sermons but he didn’t what? Put them into practice. Right. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to build wisely – to serve joyfully. I don’t want you to miss out on the joy of serving. I know you took the serving leaflet home.
I know you filled it in, or at least you thought about it, you planned to, but you forgot. You just forgot to return it. That’s OK. We all do it. We live busy stressful lives all week and when we come to church we switch off… But I don’t any more sleepless nights worrying about you missing out on the joy of serving for one more week. So, help me get to sleep tonight. Take time over coffee to fill in one of those little biddy serving leaflets and slip it into Lesley’s hand and make her day. Or if you feel embarrassed, just slip it onto her desk while she’s not looking. Then you too can experience the joy of serving on one or more of our teams.
Do you know why dogs and cats are so different? A dog looks at you with those big brown eyes, cocks its head to one side and says to itself, “You love me, you feed me, you care for me, you take me for walks… you must be God”. A cat looks at you with those piercing green eyes and thinks to itself “You love me, you feed me, you care for me, you stroke me … I must be God”.
There are cat people and there are dog people. There are tennis people and there are golf people. Some people like to sleep with the windows open and some people prefer to sleep with the windows closed – and they are usually married to each other. Some people keep a pen and notepad by the telephone while other people just have children. There are breakfast people and there are people who don’t remember what breakfast is. There are A type people and there are the rest of you. There are Tigger people and there are Eyore people. There are blue sky optimist people and there are chicken little – sky falling in people. And every team has at least one of each. When it comes to finances, some are cheque book people and some are cash people. There are Harrods people and there are T.K. Maxx people. There are Waitrose shoppers and Aldi shoppers. There are carefully balanced every month cheque book people and there are shut the cheque account down every two years and start over people. There are people with stock brokers and there are people perfectly capable of going broke without them. And you know who you are. Jesus says that ultimately, there are only two kinds of people – the sheep people and the goat people. Do you know which you are?
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.” (Matthew 25:31-33)
Lets find out how Jesus distinguishes one from the other. And lets make sure we know which we are and which we want to be. We can make five simple observations from this passage:
With God on our Side: Film Launch on Sunday 28th February, Christ Church, Virginia Water, GU25 4PT, 2:30pm
“With God On Our Side takes a look at the theology of Christian Zionism, which teaches that because the Jews are God’s chosen people, they have a divine right to the land of Israel. Aspects of this belief system lead some Christians in the West to give uncritical support to Israeli government policies, even those that privilege Jews at the expense of Palestinians, leading to great suffering among Muslim and Christian Palestinians alike and threatening Israel’s security as a whole.
This film demonstrates that there is a biblical alternative for Christians who want to love and support the people of Israel, a theology that doesn’t favor one people group over another but instead promotes peace and reconciliation for both Jews and Palestinians.”
The title for our film, “With God on Our Side” was inspired by the verse:
…while Joshua was there near Jericho: He looked up and saw right in front of him a man standing, holding his drawn sword. Joshua stepped up to him and said, “Whose side are you on—ours or our enemies’?” He said, “Neither. I’m commander of God’s army. Joshua 5:13-14a (The Message)
We believe this verse is still true today, that God does not take sides with certain people groups, nations or agendas. Rather He is for all people. Throughout history, those who have claimed God was on their side have used it to justify atrocities done in the name of Jesus. We believe once again certain Christians are approaching the people in the Middle East claiming God is on their side in a way that disregards human rights and gives unilateral support to a secular State, elevates one people group over another while using the Bible as justification. We believe there is a better way, a way of justice, peace and love for Jews and Palestinians. One that is inclusive, not exclusive. That is the heart of God.
Bishop Stanley Ntagali of Masindi, Uganda, speaks at the launch of the Swahili translation of Christianity Explored in Bweyale, in January 2010.
A high proportion of the residents in the area are refugees and live in resettlement camps. The hope is that those trained will help resource other churches to use CE Swahili into Sudan and Congo as well as Tanzania and Kenya.
Uganda is a country of striking beauty with a bright future but with momentous demographic and economic challenges ahead. With God’s help, The Church of Uganda, with its schools and hospitals, as in Kiwoko and Bweyale, will help its people realise their full potential, to the glory of God and the extension of his kingdom.
Next Sunday, 7th February, we are hosting a seminar at Christ Church on Climate Change with Professor Scott Elias of Royal Holloway, University of London from 3:00-5:00pm. All welcome.
Professor Scott Elias will give us the latest evidence for climate change. You will not want to miss this event. Do invite your friends.
“Since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) made its last assessment of global warming in 2007, new data have emerged that point ever more clearly to the growing threat of climate change, and mankind’s role in creating these problems. It is now clear that human-induced climate change is already affecting both the physical environment (e.g., rising temperatures, melting sea ice, etc.) and the biological world (e.g., changes in ecosystems, threats to the habitats of many species). Global precipitation trends have also been linked to human induced global warming.
These changes include increased precipitation in Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes, drier Northern Hemisphere tropics and subtropics, and wetter Southern Hemisphere tropics. The magnitude of these changes is greater than what has been predicted in previous climate models, and may already be affecting ecosystems, agriculture, and human health in some regions.
The world’s oceans are becoming acidified as more CO2 gas is dissolved in ocean waters. Ocean acidification threatens the world’s coral reefs, shellfish, and marine ecosystems generally. The latest estimates now predict that global sea level will rise between ½ and 2 meters by the end of this century, as much as four times the estimate made by IPCC in its 2007 report.
The situation is grim, but because it is human-caused, there is much we can do to remedy the situation. The whole world must take this problem seriously. Governments as well as individuals must act quickly.”
The Road from Jericho to Jerusalem is just 14 miles. A half-day’s journey, uphill all the way. Bethany is just on the other side of the Mount of Olives. A natural place to stop and rest before the final ascent and panoramic view of all Jerusalem. But it is not the road that should capture our attention. Dusty roads through dramatic scenery were as common then as now, indeed little has changed. Israeli checkpoints, barbed wire, military settlements and the Separation Barrier have replaced the Roman garrisons but it is still Occupied Territory. It is ironic that if Jesus were born in Blackpool he would have no problem getting from Jericho to Jerusalem today. But because he was born in Bethlehem he would not be able to make the journey to the Mount of Olives, let alone join the Palm Sunday procession into the Old City. Like thousands of West Bank Christians he would be unable to visit Jerusalem today. He would be turned back at a military checkpoint – because he was born in Bethlehem. Pray for your brothers and sisters today in the Holy Land who are denied the most basic of human rights – freedom of movement, freedom to worship, freedom to live in the land of their birth. In March, Bethlehem Bible College is hosting an international conference called “Christ at the Checkpoint” with Lynn Hybels, Tony Campolo and many other evangelicals. Come and meet Christ’s family living at the checkpoints.
Richard Bewes, former Rector of All Soul’s, Langham Place, London, spoke at Christ Church, Virginia Water on Mission Sunday, 10th January 2010. In this sermon he draws out four principles of mission from the Apostle Paul’s encounter in Athens recorded in Acts 17.
In this sermon, he considers the mission lessons learnt from the story of Caleb in Joshua, and in particular, Caleb’s drive and energy, even as an 85 year old, to claim the promises of God.
I wonder whether you saw the New Year in at a party? When people have had a glass or two you often find out what they really think. I heard of a guest at a rather noisy party, who approached his hostess to complain, “I find the whole situation absurd,” he shouted rather loudly over the din, “no-one here seems to realise how silly they look all dressed up, how pathetic their little lives really are, their behaviour is so grotesque…their small talk is so…so superficial…” “Ah,” said the hostess, smiling sweetly, “you must join the sociologists in the far corner. The rest of us realised all that a long time ago but we decided to ignore it and just enjoy the party….” Ecclesiastes was written by a man who decided not to ignore reality any longer but joined the deviants in the corner who are confronting the absurdity of life. And he invites us to listen in on their conversation. The first verse suggests this is the work of King Solomon but most commentators doubt it. The writer gives himself the name qoheleth which is translated teacher (TNIV) or preacher (ESV). For convenience, I am going to assume it is Solomon. What matters is that we read this as an autobiographical journey by someone in search of meaning in life. In the opening chapter, Solomon introduces us to three people, a scientist, an historian and a philosopher, who each help him to answer the ultimate question, “Is life worth living?”
And Solomon gives us his answer in verse 2, even before asking the question. “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” (Eccl.1:2)
This is like a detective novel in which the writer begins by telling you who did it then proceeds to reveal how they did it and how the clues fit together. While popular in fiction, few people are really comfortable with this “Sherlock Holmes” style of ruthless elementary deduction when applied to real life.
During the Spring when we explore Ecclesiastes together, we are going to unmask some of our fantasies and take off our rose tinted spectacles. Ecclesiastes does not allow us to escape back into our Disney make-believe world where the blood is only tomato ketchup, and everyone rides off into the sunset, living happily ever after.
A hard look at life can be very disconcerting. Have you noticed the way the TV news typically ends? The news will move from a story about army casualties through a road side bomb in Afghanistan, to a suicide bombing of a mosque in Pakistan, to the latest revelations of Iran’s clandestine nuclear programme to a devastating cyclone in the Philippines, then, almost without a pause, we move to the latest cricket and rugby scores, and then with a smile and a shuffle of papers we end “on a lighter note” with a trivial or eccentric story with a happy ending… and in a millisecond it’s straight into the make-believe world of the adverts. T.S. Eliot rightly warned that “humankind cannot bear very much reality.”
But bear it we must if people are to realise that the message of Jesus Christ is good news. You cannot save a drowning man if he does not realise his predicament. Francis Schaeffer, the most influential 20th Century Christian philosopher, once wrote,
“There is a time, and ours is such a time, when a negative message is needed before anything positive can begin…People often say to me, “What would you do if you met a really modern man on a train and you had just an hour to talk to him about the gospel?” I would spend forty-five or fifty minutes on the negative, to show him his real dilemma-to show him that he is more dead than even he thinks he is…Then I would take ten or fifteen minutes to tell him the gospel…Unless he understands what is wrong, he will not be ready to listen, and understand the positive.”
This is the stance that Ecclesiastes takes. Solomon drags us through the pointlessness of life without God, often with great humour. We greatly misunderstand this book if we imagine that Solomon is merely a cynic. He never lets us forget that the posture he is taking is not a divine viewpoint. Rather it is the rationale of a secular person looking at the world with all its problems, horizontally. Or, as Solomon puts it 27x from “under the sun.” He does not accept these secular assumptions. He is deliberately putting on the mantle of the secular mind to force us to think the way the world thinks, and takes us to the logical end of such a world view.
It may be uncomfortable, even disconcerting, to deliberately try and imagine the world without God, but this we need to do if we are to identify with our family and friends who avoid God.
Who think the Church irrelevant. We are going to find that Ecclesiastes will help us a great deal to get into the mind of the unchurched Harry and Mary. There are some amazing similarities between cultures separated by thousands of years and thousands of miles. Human nature does not change with the colour of the skin. Solomon, would have concurred with the view of Black Elk, the great Sioux religious leader, “Everything an Indian does is in a circle”,
he said, “Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood.” For centuries, wise people in different cultures have been pondering the mysteries of the “circles” of human life. Whenever you use phrases like “life cycle“, or “the wheel of fortune,” or “come full circle,” you are taking a cyclical view of life and nature. If life is only part of a great cycle over which we have no control, what’s the point? Why carry on? “Eat, drink and be merry…” (Eccl. 8:15). While much of the world, for most of the time ignores such questions, pretending life is one long party, lets return to the corner of the room and overhear the conversation between Solomon and his friends, a scientist, an historian and a philosopher, debating the ultimate question. Solomon looked at the cycle of life “under the sun” and he came to three bleak conclusions.
From the view point of the scientist, nothing in life is changed (1:4-7); in the opinion of the historian nothing is new (1:8-11), and in the experience of the philosopher, nothing is understood (1:12-18).
I think we would all agree that the £850 billion the government has pledged to bale out UK Banks is a lot of money. It’s the equivalent of £40,000 for every household. A great deal of money. We might disagree, though on whether some of those billions should be paid out in bonuses this Christmas. On Thursday the RBS Board threatened to resign en masse if the government blocked its pledge to pay bonuses. Whether you agree or not might depend on whether you are a potential beneficiary. Today is our Pledge Sunday.
Today we are asking you to make a pledge. To indicate in writing, up front, what the Lord has laid upon your heart to give back to him in 2010. Today we are asking you to be a wise and generous investor. We are asking you to indicate your pledge to the Lord’s work in and through Christ Church in 2010. As a sign of your thankfulness. As a sign of your trust. As a sign of your obedience. None of us know what lies ahead. So your pledge is not binding. Your income may go up in 2010. It may very well go down. All God expects is that we tithe in proportion to our income. So please make your pledge today.
Knowing what income we may expect helps our Church Council to budget prudently. You may wish to base your pledge on your income this year. You may wish to base it on your anticipated income next year. It is your choice. But please pledge.
Pledge Joyfully. Pledge willingly, secretly, sacrificially and in proportion to your income. Becoming a generous investor is much more than simply putting money in the collection. Its even more than filling in a bankers standing order (although we do like you to give in this way).
As you consider your pledge, let us take a few moments to consider the meaning and application of this parable of Jesus.
We shall see that by our attitude to money, how we invest our assets, we are shaping our legacy, indeed, our eternal destiny. Through this simple story, Jesus shows that we have a choice. We are either becoming a success or a failure, and the way we handle money will make it obvious which.
Jesus is teaching the crowds when he is interrupted by a man who asks Jesus to solve a family dispute. ‘Teacher, tell my wretched brother to divide the inheritance with me.’” By the way it doesn’t say the word ‘wretched’, I put that in, I think that’s what he means. You know what they say, don’t you, where there’s a will there’s a family. That’s what’s going on here, isn’t it? Two brothers falling out for good over money.
Like many today, their relationship is coming to an end over who’s going to get Granny’s sideboard and clock. Rabbis were expected to help settle such legal matters, but Jesus refuses to get involved. Why? Because He is being asked to side with one brother against another. He knew that neither recognised their real problem. The real problem for both was covetousness. (The “you” in Luke 12:14 is plural.) As long as both were greedy, no settlement would be satisfactory to either. Their greatest need was a change of heart. Like many today, they wanted Jesus to serve them but not to save them. Jesus tells this story because he wants to save them and us. He tells this story to help us distinguish success from failure. To discern the difference between wisdom and foolishness.
By the world’s standards this individual was very successful. Very wealthy. He had it made. He could retire early and quit the rat race. And yet God says ‘you are a complete and utter failure’. Quite shocking really isn’t it? Why? Because we are about to see Jesus defines failure. Failure is being successful in things that really don’t matter. People who are satisfied only with the things that money can buy are in mortal danger of losing the things that money cannot buy.
1. The Fool’s Dilemma
“The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ (Luke 12:16-17)
Rico Tice speculates, “So this guy knows exactly how to work the EU subsidies. And the stables have been converted into garages and there are four family cars. And in city terms I guess you’d see him commuting in from Sunningdale every morning, …. his wife shops at Harrod’s and Harvey Nicks.
He’d have a house next to Ernie Ells on the Wentworth Estate, wouldn’t he? He’d be playing golf there, loves to play the West course every Saturday morning. And the kids, well the boys would be at Harrow or Eton, the girl would be at Downe House. He drives an Aston Martin. That’s his life, and if you saw him commuting in you’d nudge your friends as you walk past First Class. You’d say, ‘look at him, he’s made a fortune you know. Take his advice. He’s no fool. Amazing guy.’ … a partner at Goldman Sachs, and he is the guy that actually saved Goldman Sachs billions of pounds. You know they ended up with 8 billion on the sub-prime mortgages, but…. He’s the one who got them out. He’s a very bright guy… a bright guy, he knows how to do it, take his advice, he’s no fool.”
How would you respond to the wealthy man’s dilemma? Here was a man who had a problem with too much wealth! You may be thinking – I wish I had that kind of problem. If you inherited a fortune this week, you would no doubt ask the same question as he did, “What shall I do?” It was a good question to ask. What made him a fool was the way he answered it. The Fool’s Dilemma.
2. The Fool’s Decision ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ (Luke 12:18-19)
Here’s Rico again, “So you see he gets a better harvest than expected but there’s no panic, there’s no waste, he’s not going to flood the market. He gets out his calculator, he does his sums, he does his work, he sees it’s definitely worth paying for a massive grain storage mountain. Bigger profit than normal this year, there’s no point in letting Gordon Brown get his hands on it, so he calls in his accountant and he works out how to invest it. … it’s amazing because he’s eventually able to arrive at, being able to say to himself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” So he retires early at 47. It’s just absolutely fantastic, he’s done it. Left school aged 18 and said, ‘I want to retire by my mid-forties,’ and he’s done it. He’s retired early.
And doubtlessly the Sunday Times colour supplement would run an article on him entitled, “The Man Who Knew When To Stop.” And those people slogging it out, commuting into the city, they’d read it and they’d say, ‘Very wise, very wise.’ And … he’s now trying to get his handicap down to single figures, he wants to get down to single figures on the West course at Wentworth, now that’s a battle. So he’s going to try and shoot under eighty every time as he goes out. And … down in Sandwich he’s built the most fantastic holiday home, wonderful, overlooking the bay.”
‘Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry’ Isn’t that the motivation behind many a pension plan or saving scheme? Isn’t that the assumption behind the glossy holiday supplements that intentionally fall out of your Sunday paper so you have to pick them up? People say that money does not satisfy, but it does satisfy ifyouwanta particular lifestyle. The Fool’s Dilemma, the Fool’s Decision.
3. The Fool’s Destiny Rico once more, “The retirement party has come and gone, it’s a lovely Sunday afternoon in the summer at Sandwich. The sun’s sort of bouncing off the water, it’s a beautiful day. His wife is with the staff clearing up in the kitchen. He’s got a long cool glass of orange … in his hand. He’s standing on the veranda looking out over the bay. The congratulations from his friends are ringing in his ears, they’re saying, ‘we saw the article; I don’t know how you did it. We’re going to have to go on working for years, you’ve made it.’ And he looks down and there are holiday brochures on the little side table behind him. There are safaris, there’s skiing, he doesn’t know, … Aspen, Verbier, Val d’Isere, but he’s going to buy a chalet because he doesn’t want to be mucking around with time shares, not with global warming. You’ve got to go when the snow’s good. So he says to himself as he looks down and he sees the safaris and the skiing, and he looks out and he sees his boat, and he looks behind him and he sees the wonderful house he’s built, and he looks across, he can see Sandwich and the golf course, and he says to himself, “You’ve done it! You’ve made it! You’ve retired early. You’ve plenty laid up for years and years and years. Take life easy: eat, drink and….” and suddenly, there is a searing pain in his chest and he is dead before they get him into intensive care.
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:20-21)
‘This is failure’ says Jesus. To be successful in the things in life that really don’t matter. I have yet to meet anyone who sets out to be a failure. I think we would all really like to succeed.
But Jesus says he was a failure. He was a failure because he was not rich toward God. Rico points out, “we don’t know much about this guy, we don’t know if he was a good husband or a philanderer, we don’t know if he was a good father or he beat his children. All we know is that at the end of the passage…he was not rich towards God. it’s very striking how self-centred he is, …I, me or my come eleven times. “He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself.’” He thought he was self-sufficient actually he was thoroughly self-centred.”
The greatest tragedy is not what the man left behind but what lay before him: eternity without God. The man lived without God and died without God, and his wealth was of no good to him. God is not impressed with our money. We cannot buy our way into heaven. Wealth cannot keep us alive when our time comes to die, nor can it buy back the opportunities we missed. Jesus exposes the utter folly of investing in the wrong things, in things that ultimately don’t matter. What then is the right approach to wealth and possessions?
How to Become a Wise Investor
Jesus said, “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:21) Here is the answer. God does want us to be rich. “Rich toward God.” Notice Jesus is not criticizing saving. He is not condemning storing up. Just the reverse. Saving is warmly commended in Scripture.
“The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.” (Proverbs 21:20)
“Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise: Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer.” (Proverbs 30:24-25)
“One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” (Proverbs 11:24-25)
So Jesus is not criticizing saving or storing up for the future. The contrast Jesus makes here is between storing up for ‘myself’ and storing up for ‘God’. The question then is this:
In what am I investing? Whose money is it?
Who am I working for? Jesus does not want us to be a failure. That is why he explains that to be “rich toward God” means:
Rich in Thankfulness
“Do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes… consider the ravens… yet God feeds them” (Luke 12:22-24)
If we would have a proper attitude to possessions then we must first acknowledge, like the birds, that all things come from God. We will be grateful, thankful stewards of God’s good creation. Pledging is a way of saying “thank you”. Rich in thankfulness.
Rich in Simplicity
“Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith..” (Luke 12:27-28)
The fool’s motive was “more is better”. Jesus says “Less is more. Learn to live simply so that others can simply live”.
Even designer clothes cannot match the beauty of God’s creation and that includes you. Rich in thankfulness, rich in simplicity.
Rich in Generosity
“But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well… Sell your possessions and give to the poor.
Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”(Luke 12:31-34)
Wealth can be enjoyed and employed at the same time if we are rich – if we are generous toward God.
A month ago we launched our 2020 Vision and Five Year Plan. We believe these reflect God’s priorities for us as a church.
That is why we are now asking you to pledge.
To pledge your financial contribution so that we may accomplish our mission. Is this not a legacy worth investing in? Please make your pledge today. It will help you shape your legacy and help us as a church fulfill our destiny. Lets pray.
Hands up if you ever have dreams. What do you like to dream about? Have you ever seen a vision of the future? What kind of future do you long for? In the Bible, God gives us a vision of the future.
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘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.” …Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.” (Revelation 21:3-7)
The Bible says a lot about dreams and visions. God says we should expect them. He promises to give them to us.
‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.” (Acts 2:17)
God says he will give us dreams, visions and prophecies. We should expect them because we have God’s Holy Spirit living in us. It is normal to have dreams. It is biblical to have visions. And God expects us to prophesy as well – That means to tell others about what God is doing in our lives and what God is going to do in the future. As we trust what God has said in the Bible, he uses dreams, visions and prophesy to encourage us to be faithful and bring others to know him through Jesus. They also help motivate us to be diligent servants until the day King Jesus returns.
We believe God has given the leaders of Christ Church a vision of our future as a church. A vision born of prayer and the Holy Spirit. You received a copy today.
It is probably the most important document we have produced in many years. Please take care of it. Keep it with your Bible. Use it in your prayers. There are six parts. Each answers a simple question: Why? When? Where? What? How? Who?
Why? Why are we here? This is answered in our Mission Statement.
“To know Jesus and make Jesus known.” That is why we are here. That is why we exist as a church. That’s the why?
When? When will we achieve our vision and goals? It is called ‘2020’ because we long for 20-20 perfect vision.
We feel it is prudent, with all the changes going on in our world, to seek a vision of where God would have us be as a church in ten years time.
Where? Where are we going? Where does God want us to be in ten years? These are the ‘imagine’ statements.
They help us imagine, by God’s grace, what Christ Church will be like in ten years. They encapsulate what the Bible says God wants his Church to become.
What? What goals do we need to become the Church God intends?
These are specific, attainable, measurable over the next five years. Prepared by the various ministry teams. They build on what has been accomplished in the last five years.
How?How are wegoing to achieve our goals? How will we realize our vision?
Our Distinctive Values on the back of our 2020 vision explain our core biblical values. (read some) Why? Where? When? What? How? Finally,
Who?
To the glory of God and the future of Virginia Water, involving everyone of us in Christ Church family. As we read in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus says we all have a part to play in his vision for Christ Church. He gives us three reasons.
Jesus is Royalty: We are His Subjects
“A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return.” (Luke 19:12)
Jesus is talking about himself. He calls us to be his loyal subjects.
“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” (Philippians 2:9-10)
Jesus is Reigning: We are His Servants
“But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’ “He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.” (Luke 19:14-15)
All people are his subjects, whether they recognize Jesus as King or not. It is our privilege to be his obedient servants using the talents he has entrusted to us.
Jesus is Returning: We are Stewards
“Well done, my good servant!’ … ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities… ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.’ (Luke 19:17, 26)
Jesus wants to see a return on his investment in you and me. God has a plan for your life. A purpose behind the person he has made you.
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)
As we learn to serve Jesus on earth, so he is preparing us to serve him in heaven. As we are faithful in small things, we show ourselves trustworthy with greater things.
What is our motive behind the 2020 Vision? Do we expect Christ Church to grow as a result? How big do we want Christ Church to be? Wrong question.
The right question is this: Is there anyone in Virginia Water who has not heard about the love of God found in Jesus Christ?
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
Our new 2020 Vision and Five Year Plan encapsulate the priorities we believe God has given us as a church for the next few years. We invite you to help turn this vision into reality as his loyal subjects, as his obedient servants, and his wise stewards.
Lets pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us a clear vision of our future. Thank you for helping us set goals that will enable us fulfil our mission as a church. We want to know Jesus and make Jesus known. As your faithful servants, please help us to discern how each one of us can fulfil our part in your mission and help turn our vision into a reality. We ask this in Jesus name and in the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
