Capturing the Heart of the Community
- not too long ago I was driving west along the Queensway
- I estimate that I’ve traveled this same route literally hundreds of times
- but this particular time I noticed a restaurant that was advertising its prices, and I said, “That restaurant must be new!”
- to which Charlene replied, “It’s been there for as long as we’ve lived here!”
- I estimate that tens of thousands of cars pass by our church every week
- I’ve heard some people, who have passed by our doors hundreds of times, claim that they’ve never noticed our church before
- now, let’s consider what people notice when they do see our church
- I’m sure that we want our church to exude a sense of openness and invitation
- although it was the last thing we wanted, our churches have inadvertently created what is called a fortress mentality
- the bricks and mortar which we intended to provide a place of worship have in effect walled us in so that we have little effect for the gospel in our neighborhoods
- this is far from what the Bible teaches, and far from what we intended
- I dream of a church that captures the heart of the community
- as I read the New Testament, I discover that the early church did capture the heart of the community
- Acts 2:47 tells us that the early church enjoyed the favor of all the people
- Acts 5:13 says that they were highly regarded by all the people
- as the early church grew and believers were scattered through the Roman empire, little communities of Christ-followers sprang up
- you get the sense in Acts that the early church was a force, and it had an impact all over the Roman empire
- I don’t mean to pretend that the early church was perfect
- but I believe we could learn some valuable lessons from the New Testament on how to capture the heart of the community
- just as God captured the heart of Nineveh through Jonah, I wish and pray that God would capture the heart of Humber Bay through Park Lawn Baptist Church
- I’m going to go through a checklist of four ingredients we’ll need if we’re going to do this
- my part is to tell you what these four ingredients are
- your part is to mark yourself on whether or not you possess this ingredient or not
- ATTITUDE
- the first ingredient that is absolutely crucial is attitude
- somebody has said that attitude determines action determines accomplishment
- how we feel about our church and community (attitude) will determine the steps we take (action) which in turn will determine what we get done for the kingdom of God in our community
- our attitude towards the church and the community ultimately determines our effectiveness
- consider the contagious enthusiasm of the early church in the book of Acts
- when the believers spilled out of the Upper Room into the streets of Jerusalem, everyone there heard them in their own language “speaking of the mighty deeds of God” (Acts 2:11)
- but their testimony didn’t stop with speaking
- (Acts 2:42) They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
- (Acts 2:43) Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.
- (Acts 2:44) All the believers were together and had everything in common.
- (Acts 2:45) Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
- (Acts 2:46) 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,
- (Acts 2:47) praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
- let me ask you a question
- what do you think would have happened if the attitude of the early believers was one of disharmony, disunity, self-centeredness, and leader-bashing?
- “Who do these apostles think they are?” “These apostles preach too long!” “They’re serving fish again?”
- do you think that people would have jumped at the chance to participate in a group like that?
- not likely!
- once upon a time, there was a woman named Ethel who went to church every week
- and very week she was frustrated because her pastor refused to give an invitation at the end of the service
- Ethel felt it was important to invite people to walk forward and accept Christ, but the pastor wouldn’t do it
- every Monday at work, her longtime friend Harriet asked about her weekend
- and every Monday Ethel complained about that hardheaded pastor of hers
- “He wouldn’t know a good idea if it socked him in the face,” she muttered
- one week, Ethel suggested for the zillionth time that the pastor give an invitation
- “Hmmm,” he said, “that might be a good idea.”
- Ethel was shocked
- “If you get someone who needs the Lord to church, then I will offer the invitation”
- Ethel couldn’t wait for Monday to roll around
- she marched up to her friend Harriet
- “Would you come to church with me this week?”
- “No,” said Harriet, with a quizzical look
- “But you’re my oldest and dearest friend,” Ethel blurted. “Why not?”
- “Well, I’d do just about anything for you, Ethel,” replied Harriet. “But for two years I’ve been hearing what an imbecile your pastor is – I’ll never, ever go there”
- (50 Day Adventure journal)
- action step 2 in our 50-Day Spiritual Adventure this year asks us to attract others to the church by saying good things about it
- each day, for 50 days, we are encouraged to write down something good about our church or church family
- then, at least twice a week, we should share some of these good things about our church with someone else
- we shouldn’t boast in anything but the cross, but we do need to hold forth the good qualities the church already has
- and then, at least once during the Adventure, we are to ask someone to come to our church or to a church activity
- this will be easy to do, because if we have been telling them about the good things happening at the church, they will naturally want to come
- what’s your attitude when it comes to the church?
- BOLDNESS
- the second ingredient necessary to capture the heart of the community is boldness
- (Acts 4:29) Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
- (Acts 5:18) They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.
- (Acts 5:19) But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out.
- (Acts 5:20) “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people the full message of this new life.”
- (Acts 5:21) At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people. When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin–the full assembly of the elders of Israel–and sent to the jail for the apostles.
- people’s lives were touched dramatically as the apostles demonstrated the power of God in the streets of Jerusalem, at peril of arrest, imprisonment, or worse
- and the church began to grow beyond Jerusalem
- the early believers were bold
- they couldn’t help but tell you about the Lord!
- I made a new firefighter friend last month
- one thing about firemen – they spend a lot of time together
- they practically live together for 24 hours at a time
- what a place to be a Christian!
- you couldn’t help but share your faith with others
- my friend’s name is Winton, and he said that as he opened up about his relationship with God to his co-workers, he began to discover a large number of secret Christians
- they were too bashful about Christ
- if we’re going to capture the heart of the community, we need boldness!
- (Acts 4:29) Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
- we must become people and churches that take our light out from under our bowls and put them on a stand, where we can draw men and women home safely into the Master’s arms
- the church must become that true lighthouse for people in the storms of life
- if the church is not following the mandate of Jesus to go make disciples, then why should we believe that God will bless the church?
- or, if we as individuals are not willing to be molded and used by our Lord, then why do we hope God will bless us?
- when a church loses its vision to reach the lost, God’s blessings are withheld
- but when the majority surrender themselves to be used by him and to make him the real Lord of their lives, we begin to see marvelous things take place
- CONTACT
- the third ingredient we need if we’re going to capture the heart of the community as a church is contact
- I believe the early church had two advantages over us
- number one: they didn’t have church buildings
- that might not sound like much of an advantage, but they couldn’t be contained and trapped by the four walls of a physical plant
- it’s my contention that North American churches have unintentionally succumbed to a fortress mentality
- the bricks and mortar which we intended to provide a place of worship have in effect walled us in so that we have little effect for the gospel in our neighborhoods
- we’re the salt of the earth, but the salt is still in the salt-shaker
- we have to somehow prevent the walls of the church from holding us in
- I believe we should purposely endeavor to establish ministries within the community
- another conviction I have is that we should continue to allow our facilities to be used by the community
- at present, our church is “home” to two girl’s groups, English as a second language classes, and other groups
- these may not be profound, but they demonstrate that our attitude demonstrates that we have a heart from our community
- another advantage the early church had is that they were scattered
- we read in Acts 8 that the believers were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria because of persecution
- in other words, they were literally forced into contact with unbelievers
- sometimes in church the opposite happens
- the longer we’re Christians, the fewer friends we have who are not Christians
- we need this contact
- to his Father, Jesus prayed, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one…As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world” (John 17:15,18)
- Jesus repeatedly addressed the importance of sending, or scattering, of his people into the world
- ministry is incarnational; we need to be among people
- Paul even tells us not to separate from sinners in the world
- let me challenge you: if you’re going to capture the heart of the community, how much contact do you have with the community?
- how well do you know your neighbors?
- what community groups are you involved with?
- what steps are you taking to keep involved with the community?
- DESIRE
- perhaps the ingredient we lack the most is desire
- when Jonah went to Nineveh to preach, the entire city repented and turned to God
- the Ninevites were known far and wide for their savage cruelty
- what happened? Jonah was so upset that the Ninevites repented that he wanted to die
- Jonah wished that they would be destroyed rather than saved
- how much do we care about capturing the heart of the community?
- a pastor came to church in jeans and a tee-shirt one Sunday morning, and his hair was in a ponytail
- he preached about how Christians get concerned about things that don’t matter while not getting concerned about things that do matter
- he preached the whole sermon without a word about his appearance
- he talked about compassion for people in the community who are marginalized, disadvantaged – about breaking our circles of security
- finally, at the end he said, “Now some of you today have been getting more upset about my ponytail than you are about people not getting Christ’s gospel and Christ’s love. The truth is, ponytails don’t matter – but people do. I’m going to cut my ponytail. What are you going to do about your neighbors?”
- the real question this morning is, how much do you care?
- do you care enough about capturing the heart of the community that you’re going to pick an ingredient on this checklist that needs work, and do something about it?
- in fact, I’m going to throw down the gauntlet and challenge you this morning to carry out action step two
- action step 2 in our 50-Day Spiritual Adventure this year asks us to attract others to the church by saying good things about it
- each day, for 50 days, we are encouraged to write down something good about our church or church family
- then, at least twice a week, we should share some of these good things about our church with someone else
- and then, at least once during the Adventure, we are to ask someone to come to our church or to a church activity
- who is willing to accept this challenge?
