Friday, August 16, 2013
Hi!
Well, after 2 days of traveling I finally ended up in Ghana. I met up with a girl named Holly at the Airport in Los Angeles and we traveled together. We flew to New York where we met up with a few other people that would be on our team. After a 10 hour flight we got to Accra where our hosts picked us up. The Sonius’ were my host family and once I got to their house I was very excited to sleep lying down after 15 hours sitting up on planes and almost ten hours in airports.
The next few days were orientation. Our host families went through what we were going to do and some things about the Ghanaian culture. We also learned some words in Twi (pronounced chi) -- the main language besides English. We learned your Ghanaian name is based on the day of the year that you were born. In that case, “Ye freme” (my name is) “Ama” because I was born on a Saturday. Most of the people in Ghana get very excited if you introduce yourself using your Ghanaian name, especially if you happen to be born the same day as whoever you are talking to. There were a few other interesting cultural things as well. One of those is that you do everything with your right hand, from taking or giving money when you buy something to anything that requires you to use your hands. Your left hand is considered dirty. Also you must never show the bottoms of your feet to someone because it is considered very disrespectful. Men especially may not sit cross legged with a foot on one of their knees and women must always be sure to have their feet on the floor.
On the evenings of orientation I had time to just hang out with the other interns. I shared a room with two girls: Jackie and Holly (the girl I had traveled with from LA). They were great room mates and we were always laughing. I got to know most of the interns pretty well but I definitely got to know Jackie and Holly the best. We were a team of 9 interns in total.
On the evening of our second day of orientation we got to go to the market. The people sell a lot of handmade things that are very beautiful. The Ghanaian people are very friendly and welcome you into their shops. My attention was turned to the artwork being sold. Every painting was so unique and beautiful that I wished I could buy them all and use them as wallpaper all over my house.
On July 2nd it was our first day of work at Theovision. Theovision is the mission organization in Ghana that we partnered with while there. They started something great called a Listener’s Club. They go into different villages with a radio and play portions of scripture that have been recorded. Lots of people come and just listen to the Bible being read because a lot of them cannot read on their own. After listening to a short passage, whoever is doing the listening club asks the people what they heard, what it meant, and how they are going to apply it in their lives.
When we arrived, the people at Theovision had just built a medical clinic that had never been used. This is where we worked for the next few days. We worked all day until about four in the afternoon. At the beginning of the day, Carolina (an intern from Ecuador) and I went around painting the little kids’ faces. It was fun to draw on their beautiful faces and see them smile. In the evenings the interns practiced taking vital signs on each other so they would be better prepared in the coming days. When we were out in the villages and did not have a clinic, we would set up tables under the trees. One table was for vital signs where two people would work, three tables were for our two doctors and our doctor in training, and one table was a “pharmacy.”
Before I get too far I need to explain something. I have had no medical experience -- except for the fact that my mom is a nurse. I went on this trip to work with the kids that were drawn in with their families by the medical help the team offered. Two other women, Dorothy Nelson and Tracy Martin, were in charge of the children's program and they had planned out a great program for the kids. The more villages we went to, the more we realized a structured children’s program was not going to be an option. There were just too many kids to plan for and not enough people, supplies, or order to have them all sit down and listen. My job basically consisted of doing crafts with a few of the kids -- groups of about 20 each. The rest of the time we just played games and got to know the kids. Every village varied in size, but most of the time we had about 200 or more children with only 3 or 4 of us children's workers. I loved it because I actually got to talk a little more to the kids whereas it was hard for the medical people to talk to them because they were trying to see so many patients. So, that was basically my job, playing with the kids in the nearby schools in the villages or the kids waiting with their parents to see the doctors.
The Ghanaian children’s names are so interesting! For example some of the little girls I met were named Princess, Vanilla, Believe, Patience and Knowledge. A baby I grew particularly fond of was named Cereal. One of the men from Theovision told us another African tradition. Most children in Ghana have two names, a Ghanaian name and an English name. Names are very important, so you give your child a name after people you have great respect for. One little boy named Gideon loved to be picked up and spun around until I thought my arms would fall off. Soon all the kids wanted to be twirled.
Not all our trip was work (although we did work a lot!). Our first Saturday in Ghana we went to Till’s beach for the day. Holly and I met a 6 year-old girl and her older sister on the beach. The little girl was a great dancer and we danced with her for a long time. Everyone else was being taught a dance by some other people on the beach. On Sunday we went to a very upbeat and colorful church. The kids love to teach us new songs and games as well. They all know the song “read your bible pray every day” and sing it all the time.
The second week we all went to a hotel to stay for the week in order to be closer to some of the other villages. We spent two days in each of those villages. In one of the villages I got to hold a baby on my back like the local women do.
Another day in a different village I was amazed at how organized the children were. I played games with them the whole time and it was very hot with no breeze whatsoever. When the children’s part of the day was over I was sent over to the pharmacy part of our clinic to count pills. It was great after a hard day of work to do something mindless (like counting pills) under the trees in the shade. It was quite relaxing.
In the village of Pram Pram there were very few patients and therefore very few children. It was an easier day that consisted of counting pills and catching baby goats and baby chickens. Pram Pram was very beautiful and right on the coast -- about 20 minutes from the sea. The ocean breeze was wonderful.
This was just a little bit about my trip. I could fill pages describing what I put in my journal and what is in my memory! I cannot thank you enough for your support and your prayers. It was a wonderful experience!!!
Lotsa luv,
Jenny
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Chewin' on this one...
The guy's name is Steven Furtick. He serves as Pastor at a church in the Carolinas. I've never met him. Actually, I never heard of him until this morning. Something he wrote popped up in my daily dose from www.churchleaders.com
It definitely got me thinking; and I'll be chewing on the reality of this for a while:
"He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it." 2 Kings 18:4
It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
The bronze snake had at one time been an instrument of transformation. It healed people. Saved them from the consequences of their sin. But then the people turned it into an object of worship. And thereby ruined it and robbed it of its power.
This is the essence of traditionalism. It’s not simply holding onto Grandma’s preferences. It’s when we take things. Good things. Effective things. And we end up worshipping them instead of the God who used them for a season. And it can happen to anything.
Hymns. Or modern worship.
Live preaching. Or video preaching.
One campus. Or multiple campuses.
Sunday School. Or small groups.
None of these are bad things, but they’re also not the ultimate thing. And therefore we shouldn’t treat them as such. Otherwise we run a dangerous risk.The very thing that you hold up as a tool for transformation today can easily become an idol of tradition tomorrow.
And God has a way of smashing our idols. Or rendering them powerless.
Don’t get me wrong. We should never lose our appreciation or respect for the things God uses to reach people and transform their lives. But we should also never allow them to steal God’s glory by becoming a greater object of our affections than God or the new ways He wants to work among us.
God’s glory is greater than Grandma’s traditions.
And our own as well.
It definitely got me thinking; and I'll be chewing on the reality of this for a while:
"He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it." 2 Kings 18:4
It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
The bronze snake had at one time been an instrument of transformation. It healed people. Saved them from the consequences of their sin. But then the people turned it into an object of worship. And thereby ruined it and robbed it of its power.
This is the essence of traditionalism. It’s not simply holding onto Grandma’s preferences. It’s when we take things. Good things. Effective things. And we end up worshipping them instead of the God who used them for a season. And it can happen to anything.
Hymns. Or modern worship.
Live preaching. Or video preaching.
One campus. Or multiple campuses.
Sunday School. Or small groups.
None of these are bad things, but they’re also not the ultimate thing. And therefore we shouldn’t treat them as such. Otherwise we run a dangerous risk.The very thing that you hold up as a tool for transformation today can easily become an idol of tradition tomorrow.
And God has a way of smashing our idols. Or rendering them powerless.
Don’t get me wrong. We should never lose our appreciation or respect for the things God uses to reach people and transform their lives. But we should also never allow them to steal God’s glory by becoming a greater object of our affections than God or the new ways He wants to work among us.
God’s glory is greater than Grandma’s traditions.
And our own as well.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Okay, let me grab this firmly by two corners and give it a good shake -- 'cuz it is covered by dust. I had spent over a year exploring all kinds of other blogs and ignoring ours. A coupla people have nudged me to resuscitate ours...so I'm gonna try to make it a new discipline. I'm actually gonna start fairly simply; using what I had sent out to our "E-Team" last week. So, there is an outside chance that someone will actually drift to this -- and will quickly realize he or she has seen this before. If that is the case, Lord willing, I will make the time to keep this relatively fresh and updated for when you check back next time.
This is the fourth consecutive week I’ve spent at least part of my quiet time shaking my head and smiling about something from the previous Sunday. The amazement this time has been about Lenín. He found his way to EFC about a year ago. He is an Ecuadorian who has lived part of his life in the Middle East, which is one of the reasons he has a huge heart for Jews…and is trying to build the only ministry with them that I know of here in Quito. He is also trying to raise money to plant a church on the coast to reach “African Ecuadorians.” In the meantime, he is leading music at a brand new church plant in one of the “rougher” areas in Quito.
Lenín is a great picture of the kinds of bridges God has been building around and from EFC. He loves to join us when he can “for the English worship.” He is also part of the leadership training (in Spanish) for Celebrate Recovery (CR; “A Christ-centered recovery program” -- www.celebraterecovery.com), driven by Rigo, our newest staff member – a Californian/Mexican married to one of the sweetest and most humble Ecuadorians you’ll ever meet. As far as we know, we’re the only church that provides CR training in Quito – and, as of last Friday, the only home base for people seeking recovery (people had come from five different churches!). Lenín led the music for the opening session – including a song that blended Hebrew and Spanish and magnified an astounding voice. He agreed to bring the song to our service on Sunday morning – and powerfully recaptured the sense of pure awe (which was magnified even further in an increasingly multi-national setting!)
The previous weekend a very different kind of group had met where the CR folks had been. About thirty people (an array of ages and nationalities and from a variety of local churches!) had gathered for “An All-Night Journey through the New Testament” – led by a Korean/Californian. No flashy program; no interactive study; no multi-media presentation…but thirteen hours of the oral reading of the New Testament; seamlessly going back and forth between English and Spanish!
Three Sundays ago Theresa (a Nebraskan; one of the leaders of the women’s prison ministry Alma Libre/Free Soul) tearfully stood to introduce Claudia, a 19-year-old Russian-born woman who had been caught trying to take drugs to Spain. Because she was pregnant, rather than “going directly to jail,” Claudia had been placed in a very small, grimy, windowless cell for four months before being released as the sentencing process continues. She was sent to a home where Kim “just happened” to be. Kim is Vietnamese and has a similar story. She was recently given a four-year sentence…and along with a gorgeous baby boy, is on her way “in” to prison (a process that is far more complicated than you might think!).
Kim also spent time in that tiny, grimy cell – which was where some ladies from Alma Libre met her…and she met The Way to have her soul set free. She speaks very little English or Spanish but has latched on to EFC as she waits to “go in” to the El Inca Prison…thanks in large part to the Sunday we broke out in an acapella version of “Jesus Loves Me” – the song (and The Truth) one Alma Libre lady had taught her! So, catch this: even though they don’t have a shared language, that young Vietnamese woman and her baby (the father was one of the traffickers that apparently found a way for her to “pay” her rent) invited the Russian/Spanish pregnant teen to this increasingly international church!
Then (I’m not doing very well at keeping this brief; sorry!), to round out the month, four Sundays ago we had the hilarious privilege of praying for and “sending” Boris, Fernanda and their precious baby girl. They are midway through two months of intense missionary training on the coast. (It has been just five months since we had prayed for Maria Sol – as the first Latin missionary to be “sent” by this church; she is on a two-year journey on an OM International Ship, currently in India!)
Born in Colombia and abandoned as a child, Boris hopped a truck, crossed the border and headed to Quito where he ended up living on the streets; one of what is a rapidly increasing number of teens making a living with a knife or a gun. A series of miracles saw him taken in and then adopted by a California couple that had recently started an orphanage on the outskirts of Quito. After several years he bolted for the streets again…and before long a fight left him in critical condition at a hospital near EFC. God used the care of one man (a Californian) in particular to catch the attention of Boris’ soul once and for all…and he quickly found himself in what was then a fledgling ministry house for boys and young men seeking freedom from life on the street. Boris was reunited with his adoptive family…and more importantly, his Father!
Now Boris and another “former street kid” are building a ministry focused on girls and young ladies making their living on the streets. The desire is to teach them a trade (specifically making jewelry) while helping them see their own personal versions of the reality that “Yes, Jesus Loves Them!” A percentage of any money that comes in is going to help a young Pastor plant a church in one of the toughest neighborhoods in the far north of Quito. Talk about the kind of bridges between worlds that only God could build!
By the way, I talked to Boris from the missionary training center and he said they still have their dream of going to India to serve one day…but he now realizes his commitment to follow Jesus means he is a missionary now – and he wants to learn what that looks like and means with every step he takes!
That is just a tiny glimpse into why one thing the Apostle Paul wrote continues to blow us away: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…” (Eph 3:20)
Soon to be on North American soil (and Canadian soil for the first time in four years!),
Len (for the three gorgeous blondes)
Monday, August 2, 2010
giggling!!!
Yesterday I had the hilarious privilege of being the one in the water who lowered Sebastian in baptism.
Sebastian is 15. His story magnifies God’s grace – to and through individuals as well as to and through a “mutt” of a church like EFC.
Sebastian is from here (Quito). He goes to a school named after Charles Darwin…and that is where my giggling begins.
One of Sebastian’s teachers this year is Natalia. She, her husband and their daughter are from near Odessa in the Ukraine. What they’re doing in Quito will have to be another chapter in the book I will probably never write. Through an extra-sweet gift of God’s grace, they found their way to EFC and have been as involved in and out of this church as any family I can think of!
Natalia says she uses pretty much any opportunity she can in the classroom (at "Charles Darwin") to talk about The Living God. Along the way, God used that to catch Sebastian’s attention. He was even more intrigued to hear that Natalia attended an English-speaking church – because as it is for many his age, “English” is seen as a key piece to the future. Like many, he is reluctant to speak English – but by God’s grace, he seems to “get it.”
Apparently, at least he gets enough.
Two months ago, while kicking around some of the things he had been hearing and singing (with Natalia and a few “Christian friends [he] used to think were kinda weird”), Sebastian surrendered to Jesus, “The Way to The Living God.”
I hadn’t heard about it until a couple of Sundays ago. I also hadn’t heard that for several Sundays he had brought a change of clothes in his backpack, hoping/waiting for water in the “baptismal pool” so he could take the “next step” that his friends and his heart kept telling him about.
So, after having a blast getting to know a bit of his story and making sure “the pool” got filled on Saturday, this transplanted Canadian prairie guy lowered an Ecuadorian teen under the water…with smiling Ukranian faces in the front row, flanked by (as close as I could tell by a quick visual scan) a growing core of Ecuadorians, Nigerians, Haitians, Germans, Colombians, Mexicans, Canadians, Brits, Belgians, Filipinos, folks from at least two dozen of the United States – and even two Shamans from the Amazon jungle!
Sometimes you just gotta laugh with joy!!!
Sebastian is 15. His story magnifies God’s grace – to and through individuals as well as to and through a “mutt” of a church like EFC.
Sebastian is from here (Quito). He goes to a school named after Charles Darwin…and that is where my giggling begins.
One of Sebastian’s teachers this year is Natalia. She, her husband and their daughter are from near Odessa in the Ukraine. What they’re doing in Quito will have to be another chapter in the book I will probably never write. Through an extra-sweet gift of God’s grace, they found their way to EFC and have been as involved in and out of this church as any family I can think of!
Natalia says she uses pretty much any opportunity she can in the classroom (at "Charles Darwin") to talk about The Living God. Along the way, God used that to catch Sebastian’s attention. He was even more intrigued to hear that Natalia attended an English-speaking church – because as it is for many his age, “English” is seen as a key piece to the future. Like many, he is reluctant to speak English – but by God’s grace, he seems to “get it.”
Apparently, at least he gets enough.
Two months ago, while kicking around some of the things he had been hearing and singing (with Natalia and a few “Christian friends [he] used to think were kinda weird”), Sebastian surrendered to Jesus, “The Way to The Living God.”
I hadn’t heard about it until a couple of Sundays ago. I also hadn’t heard that for several Sundays he had brought a change of clothes in his backpack, hoping/waiting for water in the “baptismal pool” so he could take the “next step” that his friends and his heart kept telling him about.
So, after having a blast getting to know a bit of his story and making sure “the pool” got filled on Saturday, this transplanted Canadian prairie guy lowered an Ecuadorian teen under the water…with smiling Ukranian faces in the front row, flanked by (as close as I could tell by a quick visual scan) a growing core of Ecuadorians, Nigerians, Haitians, Germans, Colombians, Mexicans, Canadians, Brits, Belgians, Filipinos, folks from at least two dozen of the United States – and even two Shamans from the Amazon jungle!
Sometimes you just gotta laugh with joy!!!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
July Generic Update
The first line of the book “The Post-American World” hit me hard for a variety of reasons. Although I appreciate Fareed Zakaria as a CNN reporter, I was expecting his book to be the latest in a string of “doom and gloom” accounts about the United States (and, subsequently, Canada: the main stakeholder in the “north” part of North America). That is why his first line caught my attention: “This is a book not about the decline of America but the rise of everyone else.”
The “rise of the rest” strikes me as particularly intriguing as I sit in the food court of a shopping mall that rivals anything I’ve seen anywhere. I am well aware of realities of a “developing nation” that lurk not far from view (i.e. as with everyone across the country, this mall recently had to learn to navigate daily electrical rationing that became “the norm” for well over two months). Regardless, the existence of several malls like this one stands as a market-driven testimony to how much the Ecuadorian capital has changed since Beth and I arrived here (individually) two decades ago.
I glance at the traffic circle three stories below and note that the majority of the vehicles streaming past (bumper-to-bumper, even on a Saturday afternoon) are newer than our 18 year-old Landcruiser (once again, I flash back just two decades to when owning a vehicle of any age was the exception rather than the rule!). My gaze returns to what is causing a notable “buzz” around me and I see dozens of HD TV screens throughout the food court, wired to DIRECTV and bringing World Cup soccer live from South Africa!
My eyes return to the table in front of me. There is an insulated cup filled with the daily brew from an “Ecua-version” of Starbucks. There is a “Kindle” (a mind-numbing gadget/gift from a fellow bookaholic) that absorbed Zakaria’s book from thin air in 30 seconds at the click of three buttons! I click a button on another soon-to-be-obsolete symbol of technology (my rapidly-aging laptop). It is barely “new enough” to connect to a little thing the size of a pack of gum (a mobile internet modem) that allows me to check Zakaria’s credentials more closely before continuing to click away on this update. The last gadget on the table is an “antiquated” cell phone that at least still offers instant connection with Kasey and four others who are off doing whatever it is junior high girls do in a mall. It all combines to make me smile at the thought of “the rise of the rest” in a “post-American world.”
I have been noticing a similar, although not-so-subtle, shift in and from the two places that demand the lion’s share of the time, energy and resources of the Kinzels in Keeto: English Fellowship Church (EFC) and the Alliance Academy International (AAI). Some research I requested a little over six years ago showed that 85% of the people who were attending EFC or had visited in the previous three years were from the “missionary community.” Around the same time the AAI was “home” to students from over 35 mission agencies and the vast majority of the missionaries had North American roots. You would have to experience it to fully appreciate the transformation in just a few tear-soaked years (from a steady stream of “goodbyes”) – so suffice to say, North American missionaries are part of a shrinking minority. A number of factors have converged to stir a similar trend in business and diplomatic circles. One picture of that is the salaried and supported staff team that God has allowed to be built at EFC. Out of nine people, I am the only full-blown “North American!” Our newest addition (an Associate Pastor, focusing on High School) was born and raised here, left at age 18 and returned at age 30. All the rest on “the team” are Latinos!
In spite of the “Post-American” trend, the number of people who turn to EFC and those we connect with over the course of any given week continues to increase – and reflect more international diversity than we ever could have dreamed. Heightened and intentional strides in ESL (English as a Second Language) connections have played a key role in that -- allowing bridges into Korean, Russian, South African, German, Nigerian and Haitian communities. Meanwhile, Ecuadorians make up the “majority” of people who turn here during the week (the number is often higher than at an average “Ecuadorian” church!). I feel as though I should mention one practical challenge that creates. We recently did a mid-year revision of our budget (it had easily been the most challenging budget we had ever wrestled through in the first place!). Even though the number of people we are able to reach and our expenses have risen exponentially, the income that we projected for the year is almost identical to what it was when I transitioned from broadcasting to the church ten years ago. Still, somehow God has allowed us to remain “in the black” – while allowing us to build enough reserves to create a buffer if we need to consider “deficit spending” at any point this year and even next!
Our increasing international tone reminds me of one of the amazing gifts delivered by God over the past several months. One Friday evening I received a call from an Ecuadorian lady who joins us every few Sundays to “freshen her English” (she is actively involved with her husband at a nearby Spanish-speaking church). He is an immigration lawyer and recently helped about thirty Pakistanis enter Ecuador. About a dozen of them are Muslims who speak English and were looking for a “place of worship” and asked if they would “be welcome” at EFC(!). They joined us Sunday morning – and experienced the story of Martin Luther, his culture-quaking encounter with true Grace and his subsequent “deconstruction of an ancient religion.” They have not returned since – but there is no question about what they heard!
One of the key pieces in the ESL bridge is the full, written, translated (parallel English/Spanish) copy of my message that is made available each Sunday (our secretary Jenny is an exceptionally gifted translator – especially working with “my” English!). We keep printing more – yet we still seem to keep running out. Many people comment that they take the text home so they can continue to pour over it during the week. It really blows us away when people (even visiting Pastors!) ask if they can use the text for Bible studies, sermons or to give to a friend or relative who is reluctant to visit any church. Plus, we constantly have visitors popping in and out and many ask to be added to a growing list of people around the world who receive the written translated text via email! It has become a reproductive tool beyond “anything we could have asked or imagined” (Ephesians 3:20)!
That reminds me of a Haitian connection I mentioned earlier. By God’s grace, we’ve become a key source of encouragement and support for “Pastor Adam” and a growing church of Haitian refugees (who repeatedly show that you don’t always have to follow best-selling North American books on “church growth strategy!”). Once, while Jenny (our regular translator) was on vacation for two weeks, Roberto (our church operations guru and extraordinarily gifted bicultural Ecuadorian) took on the translation. The next weekend he was invited to “visit” the Haitian church – only to arrive and learn that they were counting on him to bring the message (something he had never done before!)! Roberto turned to the two passages he had translated from Luke and God brought much of it back to his mind so he could bring it to them. That meant this Ecuadorian-born young man spoke in English while Haitian Pastor Adam translated into a mixture of French and Creole. To me, that is a hilarious picture of “the rise of the rest” in what seems to be becoming an increasingly “Post-American” community – with potential beyond comprehension to more fully become an “international, intercultural, interdenominational church” made up of people who are increasingly able and eager to genuinely live missional lives!
Seeking deeper surrender in the midst of it,
Len (for Beth, Jenny and Kasey) Kinzel
The “rise of the rest” strikes me as particularly intriguing as I sit in the food court of a shopping mall that rivals anything I’ve seen anywhere. I am well aware of realities of a “developing nation” that lurk not far from view (i.e. as with everyone across the country, this mall recently had to learn to navigate daily electrical rationing that became “the norm” for well over two months). Regardless, the existence of several malls like this one stands as a market-driven testimony to how much the Ecuadorian capital has changed since Beth and I arrived here (individually) two decades ago.
I glance at the traffic circle three stories below and note that the majority of the vehicles streaming past (bumper-to-bumper, even on a Saturday afternoon) are newer than our 18 year-old Landcruiser (once again, I flash back just two decades to when owning a vehicle of any age was the exception rather than the rule!). My gaze returns to what is causing a notable “buzz” around me and I see dozens of HD TV screens throughout the food court, wired to DIRECTV and bringing World Cup soccer live from South Africa!
My eyes return to the table in front of me. There is an insulated cup filled with the daily brew from an “Ecua-version” of Starbucks. There is a “Kindle” (a mind-numbing gadget/gift from a fellow bookaholic) that absorbed Zakaria’s book from thin air in 30 seconds at the click of three buttons! I click a button on another soon-to-be-obsolete symbol of technology (my rapidly-aging laptop). It is barely “new enough” to connect to a little thing the size of a pack of gum (a mobile internet modem) that allows me to check Zakaria’s credentials more closely before continuing to click away on this update. The last gadget on the table is an “antiquated” cell phone that at least still offers instant connection with Kasey and four others who are off doing whatever it is junior high girls do in a mall. It all combines to make me smile at the thought of “the rise of the rest” in a “post-American world.”
I have been noticing a similar, although not-so-subtle, shift in and from the two places that demand the lion’s share of the time, energy and resources of the Kinzels in Keeto: English Fellowship Church (EFC) and the Alliance Academy International (AAI). Some research I requested a little over six years ago showed that 85% of the people who were attending EFC or had visited in the previous three years were from the “missionary community.” Around the same time the AAI was “home” to students from over 35 mission agencies and the vast majority of the missionaries had North American roots. You would have to experience it to fully appreciate the transformation in just a few tear-soaked years (from a steady stream of “goodbyes”) – so suffice to say, North American missionaries are part of a shrinking minority. A number of factors have converged to stir a similar trend in business and diplomatic circles. One picture of that is the salaried and supported staff team that God has allowed to be built at EFC. Out of nine people, I am the only full-blown “North American!” Our newest addition (an Associate Pastor, focusing on High School) was born and raised here, left at age 18 and returned at age 30. All the rest on “the team” are Latinos!
In spite of the “Post-American” trend, the number of people who turn to EFC and those we connect with over the course of any given week continues to increase – and reflect more international diversity than we ever could have dreamed. Heightened and intentional strides in ESL (English as a Second Language) connections have played a key role in that -- allowing bridges into Korean, Russian, South African, German, Nigerian and Haitian communities. Meanwhile, Ecuadorians make up the “majority” of people who turn here during the week (the number is often higher than at an average “Ecuadorian” church!). I feel as though I should mention one practical challenge that creates. We recently did a mid-year revision of our budget (it had easily been the most challenging budget we had ever wrestled through in the first place!). Even though the number of people we are able to reach and our expenses have risen exponentially, the income that we projected for the year is almost identical to what it was when I transitioned from broadcasting to the church ten years ago. Still, somehow God has allowed us to remain “in the black” – while allowing us to build enough reserves to create a buffer if we need to consider “deficit spending” at any point this year and even next!
Our increasing international tone reminds me of one of the amazing gifts delivered by God over the past several months. One Friday evening I received a call from an Ecuadorian lady who joins us every few Sundays to “freshen her English” (she is actively involved with her husband at a nearby Spanish-speaking church). He is an immigration lawyer and recently helped about thirty Pakistanis enter Ecuador. About a dozen of them are Muslims who speak English and were looking for a “place of worship” and asked if they would “be welcome” at EFC(!). They joined us Sunday morning – and experienced the story of Martin Luther, his culture-quaking encounter with true Grace and his subsequent “deconstruction of an ancient religion.” They have not returned since – but there is no question about what they heard!
One of the key pieces in the ESL bridge is the full, written, translated (parallel English/Spanish) copy of my message that is made available each Sunday (our secretary Jenny is an exceptionally gifted translator – especially working with “my” English!). We keep printing more – yet we still seem to keep running out. Many people comment that they take the text home so they can continue to pour over it during the week. It really blows us away when people (even visiting Pastors!) ask if they can use the text for Bible studies, sermons or to give to a friend or relative who is reluctant to visit any church. Plus, we constantly have visitors popping in and out and many ask to be added to a growing list of people around the world who receive the written translated text via email! It has become a reproductive tool beyond “anything we could have asked or imagined” (Ephesians 3:20)!
That reminds me of a Haitian connection I mentioned earlier. By God’s grace, we’ve become a key source of encouragement and support for “Pastor Adam” and a growing church of Haitian refugees (who repeatedly show that you don’t always have to follow best-selling North American books on “church growth strategy!”). Once, while Jenny (our regular translator) was on vacation for two weeks, Roberto (our church operations guru and extraordinarily gifted bicultural Ecuadorian) took on the translation. The next weekend he was invited to “visit” the Haitian church – only to arrive and learn that they were counting on him to bring the message (something he had never done before!)! Roberto turned to the two passages he had translated from Luke and God brought much of it back to his mind so he could bring it to them. That meant this Ecuadorian-born young man spoke in English while Haitian Pastor Adam translated into a mixture of French and Creole. To me, that is a hilarious picture of “the rise of the rest” in what seems to be becoming an increasingly “Post-American” community – with potential beyond comprehension to more fully become an “international, intercultural, interdenominational church” made up of people who are increasingly able and eager to genuinely live missional lives!
Seeking deeper surrender in the midst of it,
Len (for Beth, Jenny and Kasey) Kinzel
Monday, May 3, 2010
lonnnnnnggggggg post
Hiya!
It has been over a month. Lots of excuses; no really valid reasons -- beyond the normal and hilarious flow of life. Actually, one thing in particular has been "the focus" of my/our(Elders') attention. It turned into a whole Sunday service...and some folks have been asking about the content of it. I figured I may as well just "cut and paste" the whole thing here. Folks have complete freedom to ignore it completely or read bits and bites along the way. This is the original "script" -- which explains the little "cues" along the way for Powerpoint files and videos. I know it will be a little "clunky" in this format...but, again, the info is there for those who want it and those who don't can simply ignore it!
EFC – Sunday, May 2, 2010 – What is the church?
-----“Amazing Grace” –7-year-old
Why are you here?
#2*****
I don’t mean that in a philosophical or “existential” way…as in, what is the meaning of life; how do you fit into it; or what is your cosmic purpose for existing?
I mean why are you here; right here, right now? English Fellowship Church; Quito, Ecuador; May 2, 2010.
Of all the places you could be in a beautiful country like Ecuador, why are you here…the morning of the second day of what is a weekly 2-day break in much of the western world?
If your answer is anything like, “Well, I (or for some of you, “we”) always go to church…” I have a couple of follow-up questions:
Why?
And what do you mean by this thing called “church?” that you “go to?”
Today we’re going to explore what many people (consciously or subconsciously) mean when they say they “go to church.”
I believe when many (if not most) people talk about “going to church” they intentionally or unintentionally mean coming to a time like this.
I am getting a little ahead of myself, but let me just say that while I believe “this” is a crucial part of church, it should not be seen as the “sum total” of church.
I am concerned that for many people, “this” and what happens here is synonymous with “church” – that is,
#4*****
“this” is “church.” Period!
Some of this may seem really basic to some of you, but by God’s grace there are people here who are new to this whole “church thing.” So we’re all at least starting at the same place, let me just say that when we use the word “church” we should be referring to one of two fundamental things. There is what is called “the universal church” and there is “the local church.”
#6*****
The universal church is made up of all people throughout human history who have genuinely surrendered to Jesus Christ as the only way back to the one, True God.
EFC is one of countless examples of a “local church;” a visible image of the immeasurable universal church—and both are part of God’s careful design.
My favorite picture of the universal and local churches coming together is in the unique vision the Apostle John was given as part of an exclusive look that God gave him into heaven. He wrote:
#7*****
“I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language…” (Rev 7:9, NIV)
That first “service” with the whole “universal church” is going to be beyond anything we could even fantasize, and it will bring together an indescribable number and mixture of people from “local churches.”
We hear the word “diversity” a lot these days…but we cannot comprehend how diverse that “multitude” will be; people from every moment of human history from “every tribe, nation, people and language.”
That indescribable multitude of beautifully different people will have one common focus. John wrote:
#9*****
These stood before the throne and before the Lamb (and that simple word “the” will be seen and understood in a way it cannot be until then; not “a” or “one of a number of possibilities” – but the throne and the Lamb)
…In loud voice they cried (…it sounds a little strange in English to say “in loud voice” – but John was trying to describe how all those diverse voices came together, literally as one)
…in loud voice they cried (…I believe a huge part of the cry will be because they will be having their first perfect look at the one thing they all have in common)
…in loud voice they cried (…try to imagine all the emotions that will be behind that cry!)
[Our] salvation is due to our God, Who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb [to Them we owe our deliverance]! (Rev 7:9, Amplified Bible)
Later we are going to celebrate that last statement, through what has come to be called “The Lord’s Supper,” “Communion” or even “Holy Communion.” It is open to anyone who, by God’s grace, can genuinely join with others and say,
#10*****
[Our] salvation is due to our God, Who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb [to Them we owe our deliverance]! (Rev 7:9, Amplified Bible)
By God’s design, we can celebrate Communion here in this local church and join with others from all through history from within the universal church.
My passion for the local church is greater than ever. At the same time, God has taken my heart for the universal church to places it has never been. Passion and vision for both grow side-by-side.
That is why it saddens me to see and hear about many people who have turned their backs on the local church.
There is a growing movement of people who say they don’t “need” a local church. They often have a list of things they are quick to point out that they believe are wrong in a local church that they came in contact with.
A similar trend says if four people get together on a Friday night for a couple of beers and talk about their faith for a couple of hours, that is “church.”
Many people turn their backs on the local church over disappointment, disagreement or dissatisfaction related to just one part of one particular local church.
Some overemphasize their part in the universal church and overlook what is found throughout the New Testament that underlines the crucial role of the local church.
Some churches have lost touch with the reality that they are part of something beyond their own walls and something that will live long after their doors have closed. They are dangerously focused only on “their” church. An unhealthy view of the local church comes at the expense of their vision for their place in the universal church.
And there are people who have turned “their local church” or even “their Pastor” into something close to an idol.
Much of the New Testament is written to people who were part of the universal church and who had begun to learn and live out what that means, through a local church.
#12*****
Just one example is the letter Paul wrote to: “God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ.” (Col 1:2)
Keep the thought of the universal and local church in mind, along with your place in both, as we go through a section in Colossians that has come to be labeled in many Bibles as “Living the New Life.”
#13*****
1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
#14*****
2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.
#15*****
3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
#16*****
4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
#17*****
5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.
#18*****
6 Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. 7 You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world.
#19*****
8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.
#20*****
9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.
#21*****
10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.
#22*****
11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
#23*****
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
#24*****
13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
#25*****
14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.
#26*****
15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
#27*****
16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.
#28*****
17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
So, “What is the church?” For many people, what happens in this setting at this time is synonymous with “church;” that is, “this” is “church.” Period!
Some have consciously or subconsciously reduced “church” even further, describing or labeling a local church based on its music.
If you ever want to do something that should make you very sad (although I can guarantee it makes God much sadder), do an internet search on the phrase “worship wars” (that may be one of the most contradictory phrases anyone ever came up with: worship wars).
I have two cartoons to show, one after another, that put of a smile on what really is a serious reality:
#30*****
#31*****
The more I learn about Satan, the less surprised I am by how something that is designed to be such a core part of life in “the church” is actually divisive and damaging.
The debates and even the division over worship are normally specifically about music, which can make it even more bizarre if you really study what Paul was encouraging when he wrote:
#33*****
“Let the message about Christ,
in all its richness,
fill your lives.
Teach
and counsel
each other
with all the wisdom he gives.
Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs
to God
with thankful hearts.” (Col 3:16)
-----Ginny Owens “Be Thou My Vision”
A couple of weeks ago I heard a guy talking about a grandma who wanted her teenage grandchildren to start “going to church”…so she found what many people her age would consider a “pretty wild” local church. She explored it with her eyes, heart and mind open and found that it taught and pointed to Jesus as the way to the God…and now every Sunday she picks up her grandkids, stuffs cotton in her ears and heads to that local church.
That is a great story…but I also looked for a story about a couple of teenagers who wanted their grandma to start “going to church,” so they found one that taught and pointed to Jesus as the way to the God – and it had an organ and a choir (like the kind she grew up with)…so every Sunday these teenagers leave their iPods on their dressers, pick up their grandma and head to that local church with her.
I may be crazy, but I still believe that the two kinds of scenarios that I just described could be brought together in one local church…as people gather to worship together! In my mind, that could be a powerful picture of the ways Paul taught about being “a body.”
Speaking of that, on Tuesday I was flipping through this hymn book and ended up at #677. It is based on John 13:35:
#35*****
“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (NKJV)
For some reason, I started to do a little research into song #677 – and what I found made me smile in light of this whole discussion on church music.
Peter Scholtes wrote and recorded #677 in the late 60’s. It actually became one of the main songs of what was known as “the Jesus movement” -- which was kind of the Christian sub-culture of the whole hippie movement.
The song came off an album by members of Peter Scholtes’ local church. Some of it was done with kind of a mixture of Gregorian chants and 60’s folk music, with guitars, flutes, conga drums, maracas and bongos.
#37*****
Some of you who have sung #677 from the so-called “protestant hymnal” for years might be interested (or surprised) to know that Peter Scholtes was a parish priest at St. Brendan's Church on the south side of Chicago. One of the things he did when he was about 50 was lead a youth choir at that Catholic church and he had been trying to find a song for a series of ecumenical, interracial events. He couldn't find anything and actually wrote “They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love” in one day!
-----Jars of Clay – “They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love.”
We’re going to look at something that has been repeated in “church” over the centuries as much as anything I can think of. I hope we can say it out loud, together.
Some of you won’t need to look at the words; some of you may need to look back at them every once in a while; some of you may have never seen them before.
Either way, let’s go through these ancient words together.
By the way, on Sunday mornings we’re continuing to move away from telling you when to stand or sit – or influence any body position you might want to take. However, if you grew up with this in your background, sitting while you read it may seem a little strange so why doesn’t everyone go ahead and stand for it:
#39*****
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
#40*****
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
#41*****
He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
#42*****
I believe in the Holy Ghost;
the holy catholic church; (don’t panic; that is small “c” catholic, meaning “everlasting” or “universal”)
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
If you don’t know what that was, it is “The Apostles’ Creed.” It goes back to about fifty years after the last book of the New Testament was written – so it is almost 1900 years old! There is no way of knowing how many people in how many languages have made the declaration that we just did.
-----Holy, Holy, Holy – Hillsong United
I spent as much time as I dared on the Internet, trying to find how many “churches” there are, all around the world – and how many people enter those churches each week. I found one guy who estimated at least two-billion people “go to church” each week – in one form or another.
If you asked all of them “what is the church?” what kinds of things do you think you would hear?
Mark Driscoll and Gary Breshears wrote one of the more intriguing books that I’ve seen on the subject.
#44*****
In preparing for “Vintage Church” Driscoll asked various pastors of some of America’s largest churches if they have a working definition of “the church.”
Driscoll says not one of them did; he said “they confessed they were giving their lives to building something for which they did not even have a clear definition.”
Yet if you go to one of the biggest book-selling companies around (amazon.com) and do a search for books with “church” in the title you’ll find thousands of them; things like: Liquid Church, Engaged Church, Total Church, Simple Church, Deep Church, Sticky Church, House Church, Church 3.0 - Upgrades for the Future Church, Essential Church, Prevailing Church, Your Church, Stop Dating the Church, The Viral Church, Organic Church, Doing Church and even The Church of Facebook.
One thing most of them have in common is that they share stories and experiences from what have been labeled “successful” churches and churches that have “failed.” In his book on church, Driscoll says that is strange, because none of them really define what a church is…and he wonders how you can call a church “successful” or a “failure” (or even “good” or “bad”) without understanding what it is supposed to be in the first place.
In different ways and at different levels of intensity, for the past year the five Elders of this church have been exploring the question, “What is the church?” We’ve done it specifically with this local church in mind.
The Elders decided we need to give a bit of an update on at least part of what we’ve come up with – and what it might mean for people who turn to this church.
Technically, doing something like this with all of you here fulfills one of the legal requirements that we have to operate as a “local church” under the rules of the Ecuadorian government.
#46*****
This may sound strange, but I kind of see EFC like a blob of clay that we started working on in a new way about 10 years ago.
Along the way some parts have been pulled off,
some parts have been shaped and molded,
and there are places where fresh clay has been added.
The more I think about the image of the clay, the more it makes sense to me. I believe we need to keep most of the clay moist and soft; we need to keep working on it.
#48*****
As with any project like it, people will always have ideas, suggestions and opinions about what it is like…and will express that with varying levels of passion. As frustrating as that can be sometimes, I believe it is a crucial part of this thing called “the church.”
There are parts of it that need to be carefully and permanently preserved…and this is a good place to look at the ten points that form the foundation of EFC:
#50*****
We believe:
the Bible is the inspired Word of God and is our authoritative and sufficient guide for daily living.
in the one living and true God, who exists eternally in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
in God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth, who sent His Son, Jesus Christ to the earth.
Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man; He died on the cross for our sins and came back to life and was taken to heaven where he is now with God.
the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, that He convicts us of sin, permanently indwells us, and empowers us to live God’s ways
humanity was created by God in His image, but we have separated ourselves from God.
#51*****
eternal salvation is a gift of God's grace and we are declared right before Him when we receive this gift of eternal life by trusting Jesus Christ as the only One who can rescue us from sin.
the church is the body of Christ and God has called the community of faith to gather together in local church families.
in the visible and personal return of Jesus Christ to earth when He will judge the living and the dead and will establish His eternal Kingdom.
in unity in diversity. We seek to be united in the essentials of our faith while embracing diversity in the non-essentials. We respect cultural, language, social, political and economic differences and value the significance of each person. We want to openly love all people while upholding our biblical values.
The question “what is the church?” has been around for a long time. Even in Bible times the Greek word that is trans¬lated “church” had different meanings and was used different ways…across the whole culture as well as within the letters and books that became The New Testament (where the word is found over 100 times).
If you know or have studied Spanish you will likely recognize the Greek word: ekklēsia.
#53*****
In classical Greek, it meant “an assembly of citizens summoned by the crier.” In New Testament times the word was almost exclusively used to represent a group of people brought together for a particular cause or purpose…whether it had to do with “God” (or religion) or not.
Notice that phrase: a group of people brought together for a particular cause or purpose.
That might be getting us moving in the right direction.
#54*****
people…together for a particular purpose.
So what is that purpose? As we explore the question “what is the church?” we need to consider why God strategically included “church” in His design for human history.
If God did not specifically have something in mind with and through local churches, why doesn’t the Bible just go from the book of John right to Revelation? Why all this teaching and all these letters addressed specifically to local pockets of followers of Jesus?
I took some liberty with a scene that writer Philip Yancey described, and adapted it to try to answer “why?”
Picture a made-for-TV documentary. The title is: Images of God Through the Ages. Of course they don’t have live footage of most of it, so they had to dramatize it…like a Hollywood movie set.
The opening scene is from 1400 B.C. It starts with an aerial shot of the Sinai mountains. It looks uninhabited. The shot scans around and then closes in on a group of people acting as ancient Hebrews. A narrator explains how they eat, what they wear and how they live.
Then the camera closes in on a Jewish boy, about twelve years old.
The narrator asks him to tell about God; to describe what God is like.
The boy’s eyes open wide. “You mean…you mean…” but he can’t bring himself to say the word.
The narrator prompts him, “Yahweh. The God your people worship.”
“Hmmm,” the boy grunts softly. “What’s He like? Hmmm. See that mountain over there?”
(The camera moves to a steaming, smoldering, smoking volcano…and shows a close-up of bubbling magma.)
The boy says, “That’s where God lives. Don’t go near it or you will die! He’s…well, He’s…I guess most of all he is scary.”
The next scene is from the first century A.D. The shot opens, panning across a broad, flat Palestinian horizon…and scanning a beach.
A small group of Jews is huddled together. The camera tightens in on a clump of bystanders. Then it gets even closer…focusing in on one woman. She is sitting on a rock. The narrator asks the same question he posed to the 12-year-old boy in the previous scene. “What is God like?”
“God?” she says, “I thought I knew but now I am not so sure. I started following this teacher around. He claims he is the Messiah…the one my people have been waiting for. Most of my friends laugh at him. I was there the day he fed thousands of people. I had fish and some bread myself. Who else could have done that, except God? I saw him heal a blind man, too. God must be like that man named Jesus, over there.”
The final scene in the documentary is from the 21st century. The film footage is no longer staged…dramatized. It is live. It looks like it could be from the evening news. Clips of your neighborhood are shown. Images of a neighborhood in Tehran. An orphanage in Darfur. Washington, DC. The U.S./Mexico border. And again the voice of the narrator is heard. “And what is God like now?”
#56*****
What is God like…now?
How do people see Him…and where do they see Him?
The Apostle Paul began to answer that as he stood in front of some of the most powerful “religious” men of his day. Paul said,
#57*****
“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.” (Acts 17:24, NKJV)
Later Paul wrote:
#58*****
“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.” (Rom 8:11, NLT).
He also wrote: …you are God’s temple and God’s Spirit dwells in you…(1 Cor. 3:16, ESV)
The original language sheds more light on those two verses. The key phrase in each is: lives or dwells in you.
The “you” in each case can either mean you “singular” or you “plural.” In much of the New Testament, even when the writers seemed to be referring to individuals, they often had “community” in mind. Another version of a verse we just looked at captures it more literally:
#60*****
“...all of you together are the temple of God and the Spirit of God lives in you…” (1 Cor 3:16, NLT)
The roots of that go back thousands of years. One of the guys from the Wednesday Night Fight Club found it in the book of Leviticus. God said to and through Moses:
#61*****
“I will set My dwelling in and among you…I will walk in and with and among you and will be your God, and you shall be My people.” (Lev 26:11-12, Amplified) It is easy to miss that promise in a book so full of strange laws, sacrifices…and blood!
By God’s grace, all the pages about law, sacrifice and blood got summarized and lived out by Jesus Christ! That is what Paul was trying to get across to the people who had begun to make up the first “local churches.”
#62*****
Paul said: “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.” (Rom 8:11, NLT)
Go to the final scene in that imaginary documentary…and the question “what is God like now/where is He?”
Why did God include “church” in His design for human history?
#63*****
God is in and among those who make up “the church.”
He is in and among those who His grace has brought into the universal church.
And He lives in, among and through those who are seeking to embrace and share that grace through their connection with a local church.
God dwells in and among those who make up “the church” as His primary way to make Himself seen and known.
Jesus told His first twelve followers,
#65*****
“I will build my church….” (Mt 16:18, NLT) A study of the nuances of the original language underlines the confidence and the certainty behind His words: I will build…
What has Jesus used…what is Jesus using…what will He continue to use to build?
From the very beginning…He has used people. Ordinary people…and by “ordinary” I mean “messed up.”
As I’ve said many times, God has to use messed-up people because they’re the only kind of people around!
#66*****
Amazing grace…that saved a wretch like me; Amazing grace…that uses a saved wretch like me!
The first time Jesus made His promise about building the church, He was looking right at Peter…and you don’t have to study Peter for very long to see that he was a living model of what it means to mess up – but oh, how he loved Jesus…and oh, how Jesus loved him!!!
I would say a pretty good indicator of whether you are genuinely a part of the universal church is that you want to learn more about Jesus; your love for Jesus is growing; you want to be more like Him…and you realize you cannot do any of that without Him.
And I would say that is a good thought to lead us to worship through our offering.
-----“Jesus Loves Me” – Gaither Vocal Band
God is in and among those who make up “the church.”
God is in and among all those who His grace has brought into the universal church.
#68*****
The Elders of this church believe God also lives in, among and through those who are seeking to embrace and share that grace through their connection with a local church.
We continue to talk, pray, discuss, debate, study and think: what is the church?
We’ve also been exploring and reviewing what this church, and many others churches have done to allow people some concrete way of connecting to and with a local church.
I should mention that you can be part of a local church, even a very active part, and not be a genuine part of the universal church!
I believe you can be genuinely a part of the “universal church” without being part of a “local church” – but I believe you would have to have a pretty good reason to not be an active, positive, constructive part of a local church -- and I don’t believe there are many good reasons to not be! The catch is, understanding and agreeing what “being a part of it” means.
We want to introduce you to what we’ve come up with for EFC!
We’re going to quickly go through the first part of it today…and there are copies of the whole sheet at the back. We hope this first part explains where we’re coming from with it.
#70*****
It would be a way of saying, “I want to actively, intentionally and lovingly engage in working on this particular local ‘lump of clay” – and I want God, through the people who make it up, to actively, intentionally and lovingly engage in working on me. I want to walk with others as we continue to define and live out what this church is.”
#71*****
EFC Member Covenant
This is for those who want to walk more closely with others from EFC and in healthy relationships with Christ-ians in general. It is not a call to perfection but to pursue and live out joy found in the forgiveness and grace of the God.
WHAT IS A COVENANT MEMBER?
Member: is not used in the sense of “joining a club” but in recognizing oneself as a part of a “living body.”
Covenant: is a commitment we make with God and with other people.
WHAT IS A COVENANT? (must read)
#72*****
A covenant is a mutual agreement between two parties. It infers accountability and an ongoing commitment. The Hebrew word for covenant (berit) is a relational term used to illustrate the commitment of God to His people and the expectations God has for them.
#73*****
The Old Covenant is most simply expressed through the 10 commandments. Nothing but complete obedience to them would earn God’s favor. God showed grace and unmatched love by sending Jesus. Jesus is the only one who completely fulfilled the requirements of the Old Covenant. In Jesus a New Covenant (agreement between God and man) was made through which we are welcome in God’s presence now and forever. This new Covenant is a Covenant made in Jesus’ blood. Through the redeeming sacrifice of Jesus, by His death and resurrection, we are set free to serve God and live by the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. A new obedience comes from the new Covenant; one that flows out of redemption, gratitude and love.
#74*****
It is this New Covenant that we want this covenant to be anchored to. This is not designed to add to the completed work of Jesus but rather to be used as a reminder of and encouragement for His continuing growth and prominence in our lives. Obedience does not earn salvation, but salvation bears fruit in obedience.
#75*****
Five statements form the foundation:
1) I WILL walk with God daily through personal study, reflection and prayer.
2) I WILL walk with others in ongoing pursuit of growth, depth and knowledge of the God.
3) I WILL “take it to the street” and serve others in Jesus’ name.
4) I WILL seek to build discipleship into every aspect of my life.
5) I WILL pursue unity in core matters of “doctrine” and relationally with others.
Again, there are copies of the whole sheet at the back.
Take it home, look at it, read it, pray about it, set it aside for a few days; then read it and pray over it again; consider your own heart and if it lines up with what you have sensed at the heart of this local church.
We wanted to introduce it this morning and we’ll look at it from a few different angles over the coming weeks.
I can’t think of a better way to wrap this service up than to celebrate communion together.
The tables with the two symbols for Communion are only at the front this time…so you can watch and listen to a couple of things, if and as you come to the bread and the cup. Remember, they are only symbols; coming to them symbolizes your desire to come to Jesus.
You’re welcome to come at any time while the last two songs play.
I want to read one of the more well-used portions of the Bible at Communion time…from one of the more modern versions of it. These are Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 11:23-28, from The Message.
#77*****
Let me go over with you again exactly what goes on in the Lord's Supper and why it is so centrally important. I received my instructions from the Master himself and passed them on to you. Jesus, on the night of his betrayal, took bread. Having given thanks, he broke it and said,
“This is my body, broken for you. Do this to remember me.””
After supper, he did the same thing with the cup:
“This cup is my blood, my new covenant with you. Each time you drink this cup, remember me.”
#78*****
What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master. You will be drawn back to this meal again and again until the Master returns. You must never let familiarity breed contempt.
Anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Master irreverently is like part of the crowd that jeered and spit on him at his death. Is that the kind of "remembrance" you want to be part of? Examine your motives, test your heart, come to this meal in holy awe.
-----“Communion” – Third Day
-----“Creed” – Rich Mullins
It has been over a month. Lots of excuses; no really valid reasons -- beyond the normal and hilarious flow of life. Actually, one thing in particular has been "the focus" of my/our(Elders') attention. It turned into a whole Sunday service...and some folks have been asking about the content of it. I figured I may as well just "cut and paste" the whole thing here. Folks have complete freedom to ignore it completely or read bits and bites along the way. This is the original "script" -- which explains the little "cues" along the way for Powerpoint files and videos. I know it will be a little "clunky" in this format...but, again, the info is there for those who want it and those who don't can simply ignore it!
EFC – Sunday, May 2, 2010 – What is the church?
-----“Amazing Grace” –7-year-old
Why are you here?
#2*****
I don’t mean that in a philosophical or “existential” way…as in, what is the meaning of life; how do you fit into it; or what is your cosmic purpose for existing?
I mean why are you here; right here, right now? English Fellowship Church; Quito, Ecuador; May 2, 2010.
Of all the places you could be in a beautiful country like Ecuador, why are you here…the morning of the second day of what is a weekly 2-day break in much of the western world?
If your answer is anything like, “Well, I (or for some of you, “we”) always go to church…” I have a couple of follow-up questions:
Why?
And what do you mean by this thing called “church?” that you “go to?”
Today we’re going to explore what many people (consciously or subconsciously) mean when they say they “go to church.”
I believe when many (if not most) people talk about “going to church” they intentionally or unintentionally mean coming to a time like this.
I am getting a little ahead of myself, but let me just say that while I believe “this” is a crucial part of church, it should not be seen as the “sum total” of church.
I am concerned that for many people, “this” and what happens here is synonymous with “church” – that is,
#4*****
“this” is “church.” Period!
Some of this may seem really basic to some of you, but by God’s grace there are people here who are new to this whole “church thing.” So we’re all at least starting at the same place, let me just say that when we use the word “church” we should be referring to one of two fundamental things. There is what is called “the universal church” and there is “the local church.”
#6*****
The universal church is made up of all people throughout human history who have genuinely surrendered to Jesus Christ as the only way back to the one, True God.
EFC is one of countless examples of a “local church;” a visible image of the immeasurable universal church—and both are part of God’s careful design.
My favorite picture of the universal and local churches coming together is in the unique vision the Apostle John was given as part of an exclusive look that God gave him into heaven. He wrote:
#7*****
“I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language…” (Rev 7:9, NIV)
That first “service” with the whole “universal church” is going to be beyond anything we could even fantasize, and it will bring together an indescribable number and mixture of people from “local churches.”
We hear the word “diversity” a lot these days…but we cannot comprehend how diverse that “multitude” will be; people from every moment of human history from “every tribe, nation, people and language.”
That indescribable multitude of beautifully different people will have one common focus. John wrote:
#9*****
These stood before the throne and before the Lamb (and that simple word “the” will be seen and understood in a way it cannot be until then; not “a” or “one of a number of possibilities” – but the throne and the Lamb)
…In loud voice they cried (…it sounds a little strange in English to say “in loud voice” – but John was trying to describe how all those diverse voices came together, literally as one)
…in loud voice they cried (…I believe a huge part of the cry will be because they will be having their first perfect look at the one thing they all have in common)
…in loud voice they cried (…try to imagine all the emotions that will be behind that cry!)
[Our] salvation is due to our God, Who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb [to Them we owe our deliverance]! (Rev 7:9, Amplified Bible)
Later we are going to celebrate that last statement, through what has come to be called “The Lord’s Supper,” “Communion” or even “Holy Communion.” It is open to anyone who, by God’s grace, can genuinely join with others and say,
#10*****
[Our] salvation is due to our God, Who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb [to Them we owe our deliverance]! (Rev 7:9, Amplified Bible)
By God’s design, we can celebrate Communion here in this local church and join with others from all through history from within the universal church.
My passion for the local church is greater than ever. At the same time, God has taken my heart for the universal church to places it has never been. Passion and vision for both grow side-by-side.
That is why it saddens me to see and hear about many people who have turned their backs on the local church.
There is a growing movement of people who say they don’t “need” a local church. They often have a list of things they are quick to point out that they believe are wrong in a local church that they came in contact with.
A similar trend says if four people get together on a Friday night for a couple of beers and talk about their faith for a couple of hours, that is “church.”
Many people turn their backs on the local church over disappointment, disagreement or dissatisfaction related to just one part of one particular local church.
Some overemphasize their part in the universal church and overlook what is found throughout the New Testament that underlines the crucial role of the local church.
Some churches have lost touch with the reality that they are part of something beyond their own walls and something that will live long after their doors have closed. They are dangerously focused only on “their” church. An unhealthy view of the local church comes at the expense of their vision for their place in the universal church.
And there are people who have turned “their local church” or even “their Pastor” into something close to an idol.
Much of the New Testament is written to people who were part of the universal church and who had begun to learn and live out what that means, through a local church.
#12*****
Just one example is the letter Paul wrote to: “God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ.” (Col 1:2)
Keep the thought of the universal and local church in mind, along with your place in both, as we go through a section in Colossians that has come to be labeled in many Bibles as “Living the New Life.”
#13*****
1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
#14*****
2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.
#15*****
3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
#16*****
4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
#17*****
5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.
#18*****
6 Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. 7 You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world.
#19*****
8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.
#20*****
9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.
#21*****
10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.
#22*****
11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
#23*****
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
#24*****
13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
#25*****
14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.
#26*****
15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
#27*****
16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.
#28*****
17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
So, “What is the church?” For many people, what happens in this setting at this time is synonymous with “church;” that is, “this” is “church.” Period!
Some have consciously or subconsciously reduced “church” even further, describing or labeling a local church based on its music.
If you ever want to do something that should make you very sad (although I can guarantee it makes God much sadder), do an internet search on the phrase “worship wars” (that may be one of the most contradictory phrases anyone ever came up with: worship wars).
I have two cartoons to show, one after another, that put of a smile on what really is a serious reality:
#30*****
#31*****
The more I learn about Satan, the less surprised I am by how something that is designed to be such a core part of life in “the church” is actually divisive and damaging.
The debates and even the division over worship are normally specifically about music, which can make it even more bizarre if you really study what Paul was encouraging when he wrote:
#33*****
“Let the message about Christ,
in all its richness,
fill your lives.
Teach
and counsel
each other
with all the wisdom he gives.
Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs
to God
with thankful hearts.” (Col 3:16)
-----Ginny Owens “Be Thou My Vision”
A couple of weeks ago I heard a guy talking about a grandma who wanted her teenage grandchildren to start “going to church”…so she found what many people her age would consider a “pretty wild” local church. She explored it with her eyes, heart and mind open and found that it taught and pointed to Jesus as the way to the God…and now every Sunday she picks up her grandkids, stuffs cotton in her ears and heads to that local church.
That is a great story…but I also looked for a story about a couple of teenagers who wanted their grandma to start “going to church,” so they found one that taught and pointed to Jesus as the way to the God – and it had an organ and a choir (like the kind she grew up with)…so every Sunday these teenagers leave their iPods on their dressers, pick up their grandma and head to that local church with her.
I may be crazy, but I still believe that the two kinds of scenarios that I just described could be brought together in one local church…as people gather to worship together! In my mind, that could be a powerful picture of the ways Paul taught about being “a body.”
Speaking of that, on Tuesday I was flipping through this hymn book and ended up at #677. It is based on John 13:35:
#35*****
“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (NKJV)
For some reason, I started to do a little research into song #677 – and what I found made me smile in light of this whole discussion on church music.
Peter Scholtes wrote and recorded #677 in the late 60’s. It actually became one of the main songs of what was known as “the Jesus movement” -- which was kind of the Christian sub-culture of the whole hippie movement.
The song came off an album by members of Peter Scholtes’ local church. Some of it was done with kind of a mixture of Gregorian chants and 60’s folk music, with guitars, flutes, conga drums, maracas and bongos.
#37*****
Some of you who have sung #677 from the so-called “protestant hymnal” for years might be interested (or surprised) to know that Peter Scholtes was a parish priest at St. Brendan's Church on the south side of Chicago. One of the things he did when he was about 50 was lead a youth choir at that Catholic church and he had been trying to find a song for a series of ecumenical, interracial events. He couldn't find anything and actually wrote “They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love” in one day!
-----Jars of Clay – “They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love.”
We’re going to look at something that has been repeated in “church” over the centuries as much as anything I can think of. I hope we can say it out loud, together.
Some of you won’t need to look at the words; some of you may need to look back at them every once in a while; some of you may have never seen them before.
Either way, let’s go through these ancient words together.
By the way, on Sunday mornings we’re continuing to move away from telling you when to stand or sit – or influence any body position you might want to take. However, if you grew up with this in your background, sitting while you read it may seem a little strange so why doesn’t everyone go ahead and stand for it:
#39*****
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
#40*****
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
#41*****
He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
#42*****
I believe in the Holy Ghost;
the holy catholic church; (don’t panic; that is small “c” catholic, meaning “everlasting” or “universal”)
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
If you don’t know what that was, it is “The Apostles’ Creed.” It goes back to about fifty years after the last book of the New Testament was written – so it is almost 1900 years old! There is no way of knowing how many people in how many languages have made the declaration that we just did.
-----Holy, Holy, Holy – Hillsong United
I spent as much time as I dared on the Internet, trying to find how many “churches” there are, all around the world – and how many people enter those churches each week. I found one guy who estimated at least two-billion people “go to church” each week – in one form or another.
If you asked all of them “what is the church?” what kinds of things do you think you would hear?
Mark Driscoll and Gary Breshears wrote one of the more intriguing books that I’ve seen on the subject.
#44*****
In preparing for “Vintage Church” Driscoll asked various pastors of some of America’s largest churches if they have a working definition of “the church.”
Driscoll says not one of them did; he said “they confessed they were giving their lives to building something for which they did not even have a clear definition.”
Yet if you go to one of the biggest book-selling companies around (amazon.com) and do a search for books with “church” in the title you’ll find thousands of them; things like: Liquid Church, Engaged Church, Total Church, Simple Church, Deep Church, Sticky Church, House Church, Church 3.0 - Upgrades for the Future Church, Essential Church, Prevailing Church, Your Church, Stop Dating the Church, The Viral Church, Organic Church, Doing Church and even The Church of Facebook.
One thing most of them have in common is that they share stories and experiences from what have been labeled “successful” churches and churches that have “failed.” In his book on church, Driscoll says that is strange, because none of them really define what a church is…and he wonders how you can call a church “successful” or a “failure” (or even “good” or “bad”) without understanding what it is supposed to be in the first place.
In different ways and at different levels of intensity, for the past year the five Elders of this church have been exploring the question, “What is the church?” We’ve done it specifically with this local church in mind.
The Elders decided we need to give a bit of an update on at least part of what we’ve come up with – and what it might mean for people who turn to this church.
Technically, doing something like this with all of you here fulfills one of the legal requirements that we have to operate as a “local church” under the rules of the Ecuadorian government.
#46*****
This may sound strange, but I kind of see EFC like a blob of clay that we started working on in a new way about 10 years ago.
Along the way some parts have been pulled off,
some parts have been shaped and molded,
and there are places where fresh clay has been added.
The more I think about the image of the clay, the more it makes sense to me. I believe we need to keep most of the clay moist and soft; we need to keep working on it.
#48*****
As with any project like it, people will always have ideas, suggestions and opinions about what it is like…and will express that with varying levels of passion. As frustrating as that can be sometimes, I believe it is a crucial part of this thing called “the church.”
There are parts of it that need to be carefully and permanently preserved…and this is a good place to look at the ten points that form the foundation of EFC:
#50*****
We believe:
the Bible is the inspired Word of God and is our authoritative and sufficient guide for daily living.
in the one living and true God, who exists eternally in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
in God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth, who sent His Son, Jesus Christ to the earth.
Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man; He died on the cross for our sins and came back to life and was taken to heaven where he is now with God.
the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, that He convicts us of sin, permanently indwells us, and empowers us to live God’s ways
humanity was created by God in His image, but we have separated ourselves from God.
#51*****
eternal salvation is a gift of God's grace and we are declared right before Him when we receive this gift of eternal life by trusting Jesus Christ as the only One who can rescue us from sin.
the church is the body of Christ and God has called the community of faith to gather together in local church families.
in the visible and personal return of Jesus Christ to earth when He will judge the living and the dead and will establish His eternal Kingdom.
in unity in diversity. We seek to be united in the essentials of our faith while embracing diversity in the non-essentials. We respect cultural, language, social, political and economic differences and value the significance of each person. We want to openly love all people while upholding our biblical values.
The question “what is the church?” has been around for a long time. Even in Bible times the Greek word that is trans¬lated “church” had different meanings and was used different ways…across the whole culture as well as within the letters and books that became The New Testament (where the word is found over 100 times).
If you know or have studied Spanish you will likely recognize the Greek word: ekklēsia.
#53*****
In classical Greek, it meant “an assembly of citizens summoned by the crier.” In New Testament times the word was almost exclusively used to represent a group of people brought together for a particular cause or purpose…whether it had to do with “God” (or religion) or not.
Notice that phrase: a group of people brought together for a particular cause or purpose.
That might be getting us moving in the right direction.
#54*****
people…together for a particular purpose.
So what is that purpose? As we explore the question “what is the church?” we need to consider why God strategically included “church” in His design for human history.
If God did not specifically have something in mind with and through local churches, why doesn’t the Bible just go from the book of John right to Revelation? Why all this teaching and all these letters addressed specifically to local pockets of followers of Jesus?
I took some liberty with a scene that writer Philip Yancey described, and adapted it to try to answer “why?”
Picture a made-for-TV documentary. The title is: Images of God Through the Ages. Of course they don’t have live footage of most of it, so they had to dramatize it…like a Hollywood movie set.
The opening scene is from 1400 B.C. It starts with an aerial shot of the Sinai mountains. It looks uninhabited. The shot scans around and then closes in on a group of people acting as ancient Hebrews. A narrator explains how they eat, what they wear and how they live.
Then the camera closes in on a Jewish boy, about twelve years old.
The narrator asks him to tell about God; to describe what God is like.
The boy’s eyes open wide. “You mean…you mean…” but he can’t bring himself to say the word.
The narrator prompts him, “Yahweh. The God your people worship.”
“Hmmm,” the boy grunts softly. “What’s He like? Hmmm. See that mountain over there?”
(The camera moves to a steaming, smoldering, smoking volcano…and shows a close-up of bubbling magma.)
The boy says, “That’s where God lives. Don’t go near it or you will die! He’s…well, He’s…I guess most of all he is scary.”
The next scene is from the first century A.D. The shot opens, panning across a broad, flat Palestinian horizon…and scanning a beach.
A small group of Jews is huddled together. The camera tightens in on a clump of bystanders. Then it gets even closer…focusing in on one woman. She is sitting on a rock. The narrator asks the same question he posed to the 12-year-old boy in the previous scene. “What is God like?”
“God?” she says, “I thought I knew but now I am not so sure. I started following this teacher around. He claims he is the Messiah…the one my people have been waiting for. Most of my friends laugh at him. I was there the day he fed thousands of people. I had fish and some bread myself. Who else could have done that, except God? I saw him heal a blind man, too. God must be like that man named Jesus, over there.”
The final scene in the documentary is from the 21st century. The film footage is no longer staged…dramatized. It is live. It looks like it could be from the evening news. Clips of your neighborhood are shown. Images of a neighborhood in Tehran. An orphanage in Darfur. Washington, DC. The U.S./Mexico border. And again the voice of the narrator is heard. “And what is God like now?”
#56*****
What is God like…now?
How do people see Him…and where do they see Him?
The Apostle Paul began to answer that as he stood in front of some of the most powerful “religious” men of his day. Paul said,
#57*****
“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.” (Acts 17:24, NKJV)
Later Paul wrote:
#58*****
“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.” (Rom 8:11, NLT).
He also wrote: …you are God’s temple and God’s Spirit dwells in you…(1 Cor. 3:16, ESV)
The original language sheds more light on those two verses. The key phrase in each is: lives or dwells in you.
The “you” in each case can either mean you “singular” or you “plural.” In much of the New Testament, even when the writers seemed to be referring to individuals, they often had “community” in mind. Another version of a verse we just looked at captures it more literally:
#60*****
“...all of you together are the temple of God and the Spirit of God lives in you…” (1 Cor 3:16, NLT)
The roots of that go back thousands of years. One of the guys from the Wednesday Night Fight Club found it in the book of Leviticus. God said to and through Moses:
#61*****
“I will set My dwelling in and among you…I will walk in and with and among you and will be your God, and you shall be My people.” (Lev 26:11-12, Amplified) It is easy to miss that promise in a book so full of strange laws, sacrifices…and blood!
By God’s grace, all the pages about law, sacrifice and blood got summarized and lived out by Jesus Christ! That is what Paul was trying to get across to the people who had begun to make up the first “local churches.”
#62*****
Paul said: “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.” (Rom 8:11, NLT)
Go to the final scene in that imaginary documentary…and the question “what is God like now/where is He?”
Why did God include “church” in His design for human history?
#63*****
God is in and among those who make up “the church.”
He is in and among those who His grace has brought into the universal church.
And He lives in, among and through those who are seeking to embrace and share that grace through their connection with a local church.
God dwells in and among those who make up “the church” as His primary way to make Himself seen and known.
Jesus told His first twelve followers,
#65*****
“I will build my church….” (Mt 16:18, NLT) A study of the nuances of the original language underlines the confidence and the certainty behind His words: I will build…
What has Jesus used…what is Jesus using…what will He continue to use to build?
From the very beginning…He has used people. Ordinary people…and by “ordinary” I mean “messed up.”
As I’ve said many times, God has to use messed-up people because they’re the only kind of people around!
#66*****
Amazing grace…that saved a wretch like me; Amazing grace…that uses a saved wretch like me!
The first time Jesus made His promise about building the church, He was looking right at Peter…and you don’t have to study Peter for very long to see that he was a living model of what it means to mess up – but oh, how he loved Jesus…and oh, how Jesus loved him!!!
I would say a pretty good indicator of whether you are genuinely a part of the universal church is that you want to learn more about Jesus; your love for Jesus is growing; you want to be more like Him…and you realize you cannot do any of that without Him.
And I would say that is a good thought to lead us to worship through our offering.
-----“Jesus Loves Me” – Gaither Vocal Band
God is in and among those who make up “the church.”
God is in and among all those who His grace has brought into the universal church.
#68*****
The Elders of this church believe God also lives in, among and through those who are seeking to embrace and share that grace through their connection with a local church.
We continue to talk, pray, discuss, debate, study and think: what is the church?
We’ve also been exploring and reviewing what this church, and many others churches have done to allow people some concrete way of connecting to and with a local church.
I should mention that you can be part of a local church, even a very active part, and not be a genuine part of the universal church!
I believe you can be genuinely a part of the “universal church” without being part of a “local church” – but I believe you would have to have a pretty good reason to not be an active, positive, constructive part of a local church -- and I don’t believe there are many good reasons to not be! The catch is, understanding and agreeing what “being a part of it” means.
We want to introduce you to what we’ve come up with for EFC!
We’re going to quickly go through the first part of it today…and there are copies of the whole sheet at the back. We hope this first part explains where we’re coming from with it.
#70*****
It would be a way of saying, “I want to actively, intentionally and lovingly engage in working on this particular local ‘lump of clay” – and I want God, through the people who make it up, to actively, intentionally and lovingly engage in working on me. I want to walk with others as we continue to define and live out what this church is.”
#71*****
EFC Member Covenant
This is for those who want to walk more closely with others from EFC and in healthy relationships with Christ-ians in general. It is not a call to perfection but to pursue and live out joy found in the forgiveness and grace of the God.
WHAT IS A COVENANT MEMBER?
Member: is not used in the sense of “joining a club” but in recognizing oneself as a part of a “living body.”
Covenant: is a commitment we make with God and with other people.
WHAT IS A COVENANT? (must read)
#72*****
A covenant is a mutual agreement between two parties. It infers accountability and an ongoing commitment. The Hebrew word for covenant (berit) is a relational term used to illustrate the commitment of God to His people and the expectations God has for them.
#73*****
The Old Covenant is most simply expressed through the 10 commandments. Nothing but complete obedience to them would earn God’s favor. God showed grace and unmatched love by sending Jesus. Jesus is the only one who completely fulfilled the requirements of the Old Covenant. In Jesus a New Covenant (agreement between God and man) was made through which we are welcome in God’s presence now and forever. This new Covenant is a Covenant made in Jesus’ blood. Through the redeeming sacrifice of Jesus, by His death and resurrection, we are set free to serve God and live by the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. A new obedience comes from the new Covenant; one that flows out of redemption, gratitude and love.
#74*****
It is this New Covenant that we want this covenant to be anchored to. This is not designed to add to the completed work of Jesus but rather to be used as a reminder of and encouragement for His continuing growth and prominence in our lives. Obedience does not earn salvation, but salvation bears fruit in obedience.
#75*****
Five statements form the foundation:
1) I WILL walk with God daily through personal study, reflection and prayer.
2) I WILL walk with others in ongoing pursuit of growth, depth and knowledge of the God.
3) I WILL “take it to the street” and serve others in Jesus’ name.
4) I WILL seek to build discipleship into every aspect of my life.
5) I WILL pursue unity in core matters of “doctrine” and relationally with others.
Again, there are copies of the whole sheet at the back.
Take it home, look at it, read it, pray about it, set it aside for a few days; then read it and pray over it again; consider your own heart and if it lines up with what you have sensed at the heart of this local church.
We wanted to introduce it this morning and we’ll look at it from a few different angles over the coming weeks.
I can’t think of a better way to wrap this service up than to celebrate communion together.
The tables with the two symbols for Communion are only at the front this time…so you can watch and listen to a couple of things, if and as you come to the bread and the cup. Remember, they are only symbols; coming to them symbolizes your desire to come to Jesus.
You’re welcome to come at any time while the last two songs play.
I want to read one of the more well-used portions of the Bible at Communion time…from one of the more modern versions of it. These are Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 11:23-28, from The Message.
#77*****
Let me go over with you again exactly what goes on in the Lord's Supper and why it is so centrally important. I received my instructions from the Master himself and passed them on to you. Jesus, on the night of his betrayal, took bread. Having given thanks, he broke it and said,
“This is my body, broken for you. Do this to remember me.””
After supper, he did the same thing with the cup:
“This cup is my blood, my new covenant with you. Each time you drink this cup, remember me.”
#78*****
What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master. You will be drawn back to this meal again and again until the Master returns. You must never let familiarity breed contempt.
Anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Master irreverently is like part of the crowd that jeered and spit on him at his death. Is that the kind of "remembrance" you want to be part of? Examine your motives, test your heart, come to this meal in holy awe.
-----“Communion” – Third Day
-----“Creed” – Rich Mullins
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