Sermons

Possible Next Steps for Summer 2010 (part 2)

Next week we will get back into the book of James.  I’m looking forward to that.  But I’m going to take one more Sunday and talk about the steps that we elders believe Jesus is calling us to take this Summer and then in the Fall.  I’ll explain what we are going to do, and then raise some of the questions I’ve been asked this past week.

But to set the stage, let’s turn to John 4.  If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and we’ll bring one to you.  John 4 is on page 888 in the Bibles we are passing out.  I want to start with this question: Why is it so important that we all be involved in advancing Jesus’ mission?  Jesus Himself gives a powerful answer here in John 4.

Here’s the setting.  Jesus and the disciples have been walking for hours, and they come to a well.  They are all hungry, so Jesus sends the disciples into town to buy some food, and he sits at the well and talks to a woman from Samaria.  Now there’s lots we could talk about here.  But I want to focus on one part.

Jesus shows the woman that she has heart thirsts, like we all do, and she’s been trying to quench her heart-thirst in relationships with men, but that the only way her heart-thirst will be quenched is with the living water of knowing Him.  So the woman heads into town and tells everyone about the living water she’s experienced in Jesus. 

Meanwhile, the disciples come back with food.  And they are all starving and ready to dig in.  But they notice that Jesus is so satisfied that he has forgotten all about his physical hunger.  Look at what they say in v.31 –

31            Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, "Rabbi, eat."

32            But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about."

33            So the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought him something to eat?"

34            Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

The disciples were thinking of the strength and satisfaction that comes from physical food.  But Jesus had just been strengthened and satisfied with spiritual food; with soul-food.  As Jesus shared the Gospel with this woman, His heart was so satisfied, so strengthened that He forgot all about his physical hunger.

See, when we share the Gospel with people, God will give us food that will satisfy and strengthen our souls.  Why?  One reason is because you are loving others.  There’s nothing more loving than helping someone come to know Jesus.  And Jesus promises that when we love others, He pours His Spirit upon us and satisfies us with Himself.

The other reason is because you are glorifying Jesus.  When you take the risk to reach out to someone and help them come to know Jesus – that displays Jesus’ glory.  And when you see Jesus’ glory displayed, you will be filled with joy.

So when you think of advancing Jesus’ mission, think of an In-‘n-Out hamburger.  Just as an In-‘n-Out hamburger satisfies your physical hunger, so advancing Jesus’ mission will satisfy your spiritual hunger.  That’s why it’s so important that we all be involved in Jesus’ mission – because it’s one way that we get food for our souls.

So how are we doing in advancing Jesus’ mission?  Now before I answer that, I want to tell you that Jesus is doing wonderful works here at Mercy Hill Church.  I love how much you love each other, how devoted you are to encouraging each other in the faith, how much you go out of your way to serve each other, how devoted you are to prayer, how much you seek and experience the presence of Jesus, how passionately you worship, how devoted you are to unreached people groups.  I love what’s happening here.

But when we ask – how are we doing in advancing Jesus’ mission, the answer is – we’re not doing very well.  We’re just not.  A few of you are.  But Jesus wants everyone at Mercy Hill Church to be well-fed.  He wants all of us enjoying the food that comes from advancing Jesus’ mission.

Imagine that this past week you only ate half the physical food you ate; you’d be very weak.  Well, this past week many of us only ate half the spiritual food Jesus had for us.  Because one way Jesus feeds our souls is by advancing His mission, but many of us have not advanced His mission.

And Jerry and Tom and I have been troubled by this.  Because we aren’t serving you well if we aren’t leading in such a way that we all get involved in advancing Jesus’ mission.  If the shepherds’ leadership results in the sheep only getting half of the food they need, the shepherds aren’t doing a good job.

So we’ve been asking -- why are we weak in advancing Jesus’ mission?  I’m sure that we all could pray more.  We could care about our neighbors and fellow-workers more.  We could love and serve our neighbors and fellow-workers more.  We could be more bold in witness.  All that is true.

But as the elders have talked and prayed, and as the home group leaders have talked and prayed, we have seen two really important things we’ve neglected.

One is that we elders have not trained our home group leaders in how to advance the gospel in their own neighborhoods and workplaces, or in how to lead a home group in advancing the gospel together.  Not that we haven’t had meetings where we’ve talked about it.  But that’s not how Jesus trained his disciples.

Think about it.  Jesus wanted to raise up 12 men to advance the Gospel.  So how did he train them?  Not by talking about it at a meeting.  But by doing it together in everyday life.  They saw him weeping over Jerusalem, praying early in the morning, answering the scribes’ questions, eating with the tax collectors, talking with the rich young ruler.

But we haven’t done that with our home group leaders.  So the problem isn’t with our home group leaders – they are faithful, and loving, and serving, and doing everything we’ve trained them to do.  The problem is that we haven’t trained them in how to advance the Gospel themselves, and in how to lead a group of people in advancing the Gospel.  And because of that they haven’t been able to train you in how to advance the Gospel.

The other is that we haven’t made the mission very accessible.  Picture it like this.  You are in a home group, and the home group leader urges you to advance the gospel in your neighborhood.  But what are you supposed to do?  How are you going to do it?  You’re on your own, you’ve gotten no training, you’ve gotten no help!

But can you feel how much easier it would be if the home group leader said – I’ve got a neighbor who can’t do her yard work.  She said that this Saturday we could do her yard work for her. So let’s meet at her house at 8 AM and do the yard work for her.  We can serve her, bring in some pizza for lunch and eat with her, get to know her, and show her the love of Jesus.  See how much easier that is?  You’re being given something to do.  You’re having the joy of doing this with others.  You’re being trained by watching how your home group leader talks with his neighbor.  That’s something anyone could do!

And then as we do that, we will all grow so that we will be able to advance the Gospel more effectively in our own neighborhoods and workplaces.  It’s just like “What about Bob” – baby steps.

Ok – so what are we going to do this Summer and in the Fall?

First of all, we’re going to ask each home group to give us your leaders for 15 weeks this summer, so we can train them in how to advance the Gospel themselves, and in how to lead a team of people in advancing the Gospel together.  We’re going to do a summer home group of home group leaders – and it will be full of life-on-life advancing of the Gospel.

Then second, we want to make sure that everyone else is strengthened and encouraged this summer, so we’re encouraging each home group to keep meeting in some form so that each week you can hear each other’s burdens, encourage each other, and pray for each other.

You could meet in one house and divide as men and women, or you could meet all together.  Whatever you think will work best.  This will be a great opportunity for many of you to rise up in leadership and help this happen for the 15 weeks of the summer.

Then third, in the Fall we want to encourage neighborhood home groups as much as possible.  Right now, one home group can have people who live miles apart.  But think of how much easier it would be to experience community with people who live near you.  And think of how much easier it would be to advance the Gospel in a neighborhood close to you.

Now we are not sure how this will end up looking.  I know that some of our present leaders are going to take a break in the Fall, and other new leaders will arise for the Fall.  And we’re simply going to ask you to ask Jesus about which home group he wants you in.  Now this will mean change.  It won’t be easy.  And all of our home groups will probably change, because when you think geographically you end up with different groups.  But we want to ask you to do this – not because we want to make things hard on you – but because we believe this will strengthen all of our home groups.

So that’s how things will look this Fall and Summer.  Now here’s some other questions that have been raised:

One question was -- what will this look like for me if I’m not a home group leader?  That’s a crucial question.  This summer your home group will continue to meet in some form – so you can find out the needs of those in your group, pray for them, love them, encourage them – and share your needs and be prayed for.  Please do all you can do to make this happen.

Then this Fall we will take a Sunday to introduce each new home group leader, and each new home group leader will explain which neighborhood their group will focus on.  And you can pray and look at a map and ask Jesus and talk to each other – and decide which home group you will join.

Then that group will meet weekly with the goal of encouraging each other in the faith.  We’ll share needs, encourage each other with God’s Word, and pray for each other.  But we will also talk about how that week we can advance the Gospel in the neighborhood.

Like maybe some of the moms can go to the nearby park on Saturday with their kids, and meet other moms with kids.  Or maybe some of the guys can play some pickup basketball at the park and meet some guys.  Maybe the home group can put on a game night for people in the neighborhood.  There’s lots of ideas.

Now this doesn’t mean that you will stop advancing the Gospel at your workplace, or in your own neighborhood.  But the idea is that as you learn how to do that with your home group in the home group neighborhood, you will be able to do that even more effectively at your workplace and in your own neighborhood.

Another question was – if I believe Jesus is calling me to a home group that’s not the one closest to me, can I still be part of that group?  The answer is – absolutely.  You need to do whatever you sense Jesus is calling you to do.  We believe Jesus wants us to urge you to think of the benefits of being in a home group with people you live close to – for the sake of increased community and increased mission.  But what’s most important is that you do what you sense Jesus is calling you to do.  So pray, seek Him, ask Him, and do what He says.

Another question was -- could this result in home groups focusing too much on advancing the gospel and not enough on loving each other?  That’s a really important question.  And the answer is that it could.  But that’s not at all our intention.

Our groups will continue to have as their top priority that each person is loved, encouraged, prayed for, strengthened.  But now think about it.  If our top priority is to make sure that we are all strengthened as much as possible – what do we need in order to be spiritually strengthened? 

Food.  Spiritual food.  And one way we receive spiritual food is by advancing the mission.  So in addition to sharing our needs and building each other up through the word and worshiping and praying for each other – we’re also going to plan ways we can join together to advance the mission – because that will glorify Jesus, it will love our neighbors – and it will strengthen us spiritually.

Another question was – how will this help me learn to advance the Gospel?  Excellent question.  Your home group will regularly be doing things in the neighborhood to advance the Gospel. 

These activities will be done together – it’s always easier to do something with others.  These activities will be easy – no one’s going to be required to preach on street corners or go door to door.  These activities will involve life-on-life training – as we do them together we can watch and listen to each other.

And as Jesus works, the result is that we will all learn how to advance the Gospel – and be able to advance the Gospel more effectively in the workplace and in your own neighborhood.  Baby steps.

Ok.  Let’s open this up for some more questions or comments.

So this week, take some time to lay hands on your home group leaders, and others in your group who are going to be part of this summer home group leaders’ home group.

Then during the 15 weeks of the summer keep loving each other, encouraging each other, praying for each other, calling each other, getting together.

And then in the Fall, pray about which neighborhood home group Jesus wants you to join.