ENTERING INTO HEAVENLY WORSHIP-8

Summer Series: Growing in Worship

A Sent Church

Rev. Kevin L. Baker

The late Sam Shoemaker, an Episcopalian bishop, summed up the situation this way: "In the Great Commission the Lord has called us to be--like Peter--fishers of men. We've turned the commission around so that we have become merely keepers of the aquarium. Occasionally I take some fish out of your fishbowl and put them into mine, and you do the same with my bowl. But we're all tending the same fish." 

·        Today, we have come to the end of our summer series on Growing in Worship. Last week, our experience of worship hits its climax as we learned about the offertory and the eucharist.

·        Throughout this series, I have been sowing a seed every week by saying that church work is what we do here in the church for the church.  The work of the church is what we do out in the community M-S.

·        Bp. Shoemaker, obviously experiencing the same struggle that many churches experience, gives us a vivid word picture of the situation—especially here in western New York. 

·        In our worship service, we come together as God’s people to hear God’s Word, pray, and give thanks.  During the eucharist every week, we experience the cross and resurrection afresh and anew, and we pray for God to make us evangelists to spread the good news to the whole world.

·        Thus, the final movement of our worship service after communion with Jesus at the Lord’s Table is the Great Commission. 

·        The opattern for us is the same as it was for the first disciples of Jesus—after experiencing the resurrection and the Gospel we are sent out into the world to love and serve the Lord by being, proclaiming, and demonstrating the good news.

I.        THE FINAL MOVEMENT OF WORSHIP—THE SENDING

"And afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen. And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. Mark16:15-16)

·        What are you to do with the message of the resurrection? You are to believe it, and you are also to proclaim it!  Here at the end of Mark’s Gospel, we have Jesus giving the Great Commission, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."

·        Some, when they are preaching on the Great Commission, emphasize the word "Go." And, unfortunately, there needs to be an emphasis upon that word. Today, the Church has become ingrown.  We disobey at the most fundamental level of discipleship—being a witness and making disciples.

·        We have lost sight of the go of the gospel. Far too many believe they can erect a building and put a sign out, and watch people flock to their doors.

·        But the truth is, we are living in an increasingly secular culture. In fact, our culture today in many ways parallels the culture which existed at the time of the early Church.  

·        For a while in America, churchgoing was a socially desirable practice. But it is now fallen from favor. While there is a resurgence of interest in spiritual things, that interest is not in organized religion.   

·        People are simply not looking for a church to attend. They are looking for meaning and purpose in life; they are looking for a new spiritual reality. But they have concluded, for the most part, it is not to be found in organized religion.  Not because an organized church is the problem—in fact it is the kind of church Jesus built.

·        People in the world conclude, organized religion has brought us all kinds of evils – from the crusades to the abuses of the televangelists. So how can we change their perception?

·        I have a radical suggestion.  Do you want to hear it? 

·        I think we need less church meetings and more time out in the world reaching out in practical ways to preach the Gospel in deed, not word only. 

·        In order for the message to get out to all creation, Christians must demonstrate the faith in all areas of society. Namely, where we work and where we live. 

·        Here is how.  Get to know your neighbors and develop a relationship with them so that you your life has been an opportunity for them to have a different perception of the Church.

·        Reach out in love to new people in the neighborhood welcoming them, and introducing them to other neighbors whom you know.  It is not hard to love others.

·        Especially, reach out in love to your neighbors in their time of need—when their lawn mower is  broken let them use yours or cut their lawn; or when they are sick you take them meals and helped them and pray for them to get well; or when they lose a job or a love done, encourage them and helped them in any way possible. 

·        This is what Paul called being a “living epistle” and we all are—the question is after being read will people think we are a good book or a bad book. 

·        Some Christians, and I say this lovingly, have been living in the church ghetto for so long that people that people think you are weird and wacked out.  They cannot relate to you.

·        So, we need to learn how to be real.  To be friendly.   We need to learn how to talk to people without coming across like we just learned some canned evangelism program. 

·        We need to learn to not expect unsaved people to act saved till they are.  To not judge people, but to love people in good works flowing out our being built up each Sunday here as we worship together. 

·        Just inviting them to a church full of programs is not the answer.  You are the answer. 

·        The answer is every one of us living an authentic witness to Christ through loving our neighbors enough to get to know them so they will know us and come to know Jesus through us.

·        I can this now that he is gone—Josh left a great witness to our neighbors.  He would shovel the driveways of two of our elderly neighbors, and now those neighbors are talking to us asking about Josh, and God has opened up a relationship there. 

·        Every one of you are prime examples of how God has placed believers in all walks of life. Look at what you do for a living and where you go, and the people with whom you come in contact.  Get to know people at work and on your street. 

·        Instead of attending church meeting 4-5 nights per week, start going to community meetings.  Get involved there and God will give you the great blessing of loving people into his Kingdom.     

·        Your life touches the lives of so many others. And the reason you are where you are and you do what you do is because God desires to work through you.

II.         HOW TO WORSHIP GOD MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY—LIVE THE GOSPEL

"And these signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it shall not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.’ So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed." (vv. 17-20)

"And these signs will accompany those who have believed. . ." (v. 17a)

·        So what about the supernatural element described by Mark?  The signs and wonders part of our faith?  

·        The truth is: many are simply afraid that if they surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit, He is going to make them do something which will make them look weird.  We are afraid we might become "Charismatic."

·        But I object to the term being used to refer to those who seem to emphasize only one of the gifts of the Spirit, namely the gift of tongues. The words, "Charismatic," means "gifts of grace" or "grace gifted."  That is why we are the Charismatic Episcopal Church—a grace gifted church.

·        All Christians are Charismatic, whether they speak in tongues or not. Whatever gift God has given you, whether it be the gift of administration, or the gift of discernment, or the gift of helps, or the gift of giving, or the gift of hospitality, or the gift of wisdom, it is to be used as a gift of grace.

·        These are not natural gifts of which I speak, but are supernatural enduements by the Holy Spirit. They give you power to live out your Christian life and to minister in Jesus’ name.

·        The gifts of the Spirit are tools for serving others.  If your neighbor asks for advice, the Holy Spirit may give you a word of wisdom.   If they are sick, he may give you a gift of healing for them as you pray.  If they are depressed, the Holy Spirit may give you a word of encouragement for them. 

·        "In My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it shall not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

·        These were powerful signs which had their fulfillment in the life and ministry of the apostles. We see some of them, such as speaking with new tongues, healing, and casting out demons in the life of the early church. But then we have this business of picking up serpents and drinking poison.

·        Are we to conclude that we are to become snake-handlers and poison-drinkers because we are believers?  These are not rituals.   No—God wants us to know to not be afraid as you go out as witnesses.

·        We see, in the life of Paul, an event when a poisonous serpent latched onto his hand as he was gathering wood for a fire. He shook the serpent off and was unharmed, although those around him expected him to die.

·        Many missionaries have been fed poison on the mission field and not died which caused people to believe in God.

·        As we go into our lives when we leave worship  we leave empowered by God.  What we need is to allow God to release the power of the Spirit in our lives in such a way that the power of God begins to work through us as a blessing to others.

·        What are you to do with the message of the resurrection? You are to believe it; you are to proclaim it by living it on the mission field God has given you—your family, neighbors, friends, and neighbors.  THIS IS A LIFE OF WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH. 

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