October 2017

October 22 2017

“A Church Like Jesus: Next Generation” by Rev. Cody Sandahl – October 22, 2017

codysandahl Sermons Littleton, sermon

Sermons

"A Church Like Jesus: Next Generation" by Rev. Cody Sandahl - October 22, 2017

00:00 /

Lay Reader = Deuteronomy 11:1-2, 18-25

You shall love the Lord your God, therefore, and keep his charge, his decrees, his ordinances, and his commandments always.²Remember today that it was not your children (who have not known or seen the discipline of the Lord your God), but it is you who must acknowledge his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm…

¹⁸You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem on your forehead. ¹⁹Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. ²⁰Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,²¹so that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth. ²²If you will diligently observe this entire commandment that I am commanding you, loving the Lord your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him, ²³then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and mightier than yourselves. ²⁴Every place on which you set foot shall be yours; your territory shall extend from the wilderness to the Lebanon and from the River, the river Euphrates, to the Western Sea.²⁵No one will be able to stand against you; the Lord your God will put the fear and dread of you on all the land on which you set foot, as he promised you.

Introduction

We are still in our series looking at the key ministries of Jesus. Last week we saw how crucial it is to be connected – not just on Sunday, but in smaller groups as well. This week we are looking at how Jesus interacted with the younger generations.

It’s interesting to know a bit more about the status of children in the 1^st century. The mortality rate for children was extremely high – only about half of children would live to reach puberty. Given the high death rate, children were seen as burdens unless they managed to survive long enough to be useful. Maybe one way to think of it is that they were only “potential people” until they were twelve or thirteen.

Given that background, how did Jesus interact with children? And what does that tell us about interacting with the next generation?

Luke 18:15-17

¹⁵People were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they sternly ordered them not to do it.¹⁶But Jesus called for them and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. ¹⁷Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”

Pride of Place

What do the poor, the beaten down, those who are persecuted because of their faith, and children have in common? Those are all the groups who Jesus says “the kingdom of God belongs to them.” That is quite a group, isn’t it? I guess if you’re a poor, beaten down child who has been persecuted because of your faith you are GOLDEN!

The early church took Jesus’ words that we just read very seriously. The surrounding culture didn’t care about children – in fact unwanted infants were often abandoned by their parents – just left outside somewhere. And this was considered normal.

But the early church thought that receiving a child in the name of Christ was to receive Christ Himself. So they started rescuing the abandoned infants. They started raising and loving these children as their own. They received them in the name of Christ as a way of receiving Christ into their own lives. Though the culture said these were useless THINGS, the early church said they were people created in the image of Christ.

This is fascinating. Jesus didn’t just elevate children from useless to valued. He didn’t just elevate children from disposable to equals. He actually elevated them to a privileged place. Just as Jesus called us to give EXTRA care to the poor – for theirs is the kingdom of heaven – so too Jesus called us to give EXTRA care to the children – for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

I’ve mentioned the book I just read – Growing Young – and it’s research about churches that have successfully reached the next generation. I’ve shared how they found that relationships are more important than sermons and music. I’ve shared how they found that churches should be answering young people’s core questions of who am I, where do I belong, why am I here instead of teaching them Bible trivia. Let me share one of the most controversial findings of their research.

They found that the number one indicator of a church that be able to reach the rising generation – #1 thing a church can do – are you ready? It’s controversial, are you ready? The number one indicator is that the church decides to make the rising generation NOT an equal share of their overall ministry but the PRIMARY focus of their overall ministry.

So if we’re thinking that young people are nice, but they don’t really give money – they’re a burden, not a blessing. If we think about young people in terms of their giving potential today, then we won’t reach them.

If we’re thinking that young people are nice as long as they come to the ministries WE already like. If we’re thinking that young people SHOULD BE doing things like they were done in the past because that way was inherently right. If we’re asking young people to accept everything that worked for the last generation. Then we won’t reach them.

If we’re thinking that young people are nice as long as they dress how respectable people used to dress at church. If we’re thinking that young people are nice as long as they don’t bring a coffee cup into the sanctuary. If we’re thinking that young people are nice as long as they like the same music the rest of us like. If we’re thinking that young people are nice as long as they want to keep everything the same. Then we won’t reach them.

In fact, if we’re thinking anything that begins with “young people are nice,” we’re missing the point. Unless we see the task of reaching the rising generation as ESSENTIAL, we won’t do it. Unless we see the task of passing on an alive faith in Jesus Christ to the rising generation as an IMPERATIVE FROM JESUS, we won’t do it. What did God command the Israelites to do in our first reading today from Deuteronomy? He first says, “Remember today that it was not your children (who have not known or seen the discipline of the Lord your God), but it is you who must acknowledge his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm.” And then he says that a key part of acknowledging God’s greatness is to teach God’s ways to the next generation. It isn’t the next generation’s job to find God on their own. It isn’t the next generation’s job to magically be like their forebears. It’s OUR job to REACH the next generation and show them our faith, invite them to a relationship with Jesus, and live out the kingdom of heaven right here on earth.

Just as serving the poor and the homeless and the abandoned is an imperative from Jesus, going out of our way to reach the next generation is an imperative from Jesus. If our church didn’t have a Community Dinner, if we didn’t have Whiz Kids tutoring, if we didn’t give away back packs with school supplies, if we didn’t have the Christmas giving tree, if we didn’t build wells in Zimbabwe, if we didn’t help out in Rwanda, if we didn’t partner with ARC, if we didn’t do any of those mission activities, what would you think? Would you be content with this church? Or would you think we’re a bunch of hypocrites who don’t live out their faith?!?

We should feel the same about our church if the next generation is an afterthought. Because the kingdom of heaven belongs to children, too, Jesus says. Children are just as imperative as serving the poor. Reaching the next generation is an essential part of being a church.

When I was in high school I was in a small town in Texas, and there was one family that had been in our church forever. They were the pillars of the church. They were the big givers – and everyone knew it. That husband and wife almost had veto power over everything, such was their sway. And our church was thinking about buying a house across the street for the children and youth, even though we didn’t have that many at the time. We were hoping to prioritize the next generation in the HOPE that more would come.

But the wife in this big giver family was adamantly opposed to it. It would cost a lot of money. We didn’t have enough kids to justify it. It would become a financial albatross around the church’s neck. It would distract the church from serving the elderly members we already had. Any reason you can think of to oppose this plan, she said it.

But one day she came forward, almost seething with anger, and she handed over a check. A big one. And she forced the words out through gritted teeth, “I’m so mad at God over this, but he told me to pay for that house for the children and youth.” And so she did it! That’s incredible faithfulness! And yes, prioritizing children and youth in that church worked! We reached far more families even in that small town at that small church.

What Won’t Change

Now, it’s not quite that obvious here. It’s more subtle than that. But before I talk about how we do this, let me first tell you some things we DON’T need to do to prioritize the next generation.

First, do you remember that I shared from that book that music and preaching are in the “good enough” category? If people want exceptional music of a particular style, they have smartphones in their pockets with the best music the world has ever created. If people want an exemplary sermon that inspires them, they can hop on YouTube and get the best sermons ever preached. The music and the sermons in the church need to be well done. The congregation needs to be engaged and alive as they sing. The congregation needs to be engaged and alive as they listen to the sermon and put it into practice.

But exceptional eloquence and exceptional music don’t really bring more people in. So we don’t have to drastically change our music style. Maybe we try some things to liven it up sometimes, or maybe we mix up the style on occasion, but the overall style we have today is fine. That’s something we can tweak here or there, or maybe one of the hymns becomes something different, or our special music changes, but no wholesale changes are needed to reach the next generation.

Another thing that matters FAR LESS than music and preaching? Screens in the sanctuary. Screens were a thing a couple of decades ago, but now they are either there or not. Essentially the presence of screens won’t draw in anyone new, and the absence of screens won’t keep anyone away. I don’t know of a way to put screens in here without messing up the feel of the sanctuary. I have no plan to put in screens. It’s a lot of hassle and cost for minimal impact.

Third, younger people aren’t the only ones who matter. Jesus also reminds us to “honor your father and mother,” right? The early church had special ministries for widows, right? Some of the churches in Acts had very young leaders, but they also had older leaders, too. This isn’t about picking one generation or another. But it IS about the established generations – the ones for whom the church is already built, the ones who are already catered to – it’s about the established generations choosing to mentor the rising generation. Choosing to give the rising generation an environment where THEY can thrive. But it doesn’t mean throwing everything out.

For example, this church put in an elevator a while back to help people who have trouble with the stairs. Only in THE LAST MONTH did we get baby changing stations. We served the established generations long before we served the rising one. But now that we have baby changing stations, we’re not getting rid of the elevator. It’s still there! We’re still going to maintain it. We didn’t need to focus on people who have trouble with stairs any more, because we already addressed that. We needed to address people who have to change diapers.

Reaching the rising generation does not mean getting rid of your ministries to the established generations. We still have Carol as the Pastoral Care Director. We still have Deacons who will visit you in the hospital. We still have Senior Lunch. We still have parking spots reserved for seniors right next to the building. We still have a transportation ministry. Those things don’t need to change! But we don’t need to focus on those because they’re already working. We’re already good at that.

Prioritizing the Next Generation

So that’s what doesn’t need to change. So what does it look like to prioritize the next generation just as we prioritize serving the poor? There was a church I studied that had what they called “specials” in every worship service. Each week it was something different and creative. And some of those “specials” were done by a group of youth dancing to a song, and it somehow reinforced the point of the pastor’s sermon or the text they were going to be reading. I gotta tell you, it wasn’t my thing. And I think I can go out on a limb and say for many of the people in the church that week, it wasn’t their thing either.

But the back story is that the youth of the church approached the head pastor and said they didn’t want the church to attack their culture. They wanted to help the church REDEEM youth culture. And this WAS their thing. So the church helped them do it. The church helped them make it happen. And yes, the church warmly embraced them doing their thing in worship, even if it wasn’t everyone else’s thing.

And guess what? I don’t remember a word of the pastor’s sermon. I don’t remember a single song we sang. But I remember those young people dancing with passion for the Lord. And even if you couldn’t pay me to get up there and dance with them, even if it wasn’t my thing, seeing people being passionate for the Lord – that is most definitely my thing.

When we prioritize the next generation, we have not just a willingness but a DESIRE to hear what they care about. We have not just a willingness but a DESIRE to create an environment for them to thrive. We have not just a willingness but a DESIRE to see them stand up and lead and redeem our city and, yes, our church. So the first thing we need to do is listen to the rising generation. What do they want to do? What would they love to see happen? How can they show their passion for the Lord? How can the church help them? Not just grudgingly or haltingly, or “yeah you can do that as long as it doesn’t affect me?” but how can we make the BEST environment for the rising generation to express their passion for the Lord? That’s what it looks like to prioritize them.

And so rather than grumbling that the next generation isn’t doing what you did back when you were their age, how about learning what they care about and what they want to do? Rather than pointing out that it’s so hard to get young people to lead or serve, maybe we should ask how we could structure or reimagine things so that they would be excited to lead or serve.

But let’s acknowledge one of the key challenges. Get ready to raise your hand. Raise your hand if you’re kind of ready to let someone else step up and serve in the church. Yeah. That’s valid – I’m not saying you shouldn’t feel that way. You’ve served the Lord well and you’ve served the Lord long. I get it.

But who’s here to take over that baton? Do we have enough of the rising generations to hand over the reins yet? I don’t think so.

But if everyone who’s tired right now gives up right now, we’re not going to be ABLE to reach the next generation. We are dedicating ourselves to two years of 24 to Double, our new whole church discipleship program. And almost every church that has done that program fully has seen their church grow. If we give up now, we won’t be able to grow, and there won’t be someone to take the baton.

I know many of you are tired. And you have good reason to be. I’m asking for 2-3 years of extra effort, because this is our window to reach the next generation. This is our window to unleash the passion of the next generation. This is our window to make our community notice that First Pres Littleton is living out their faith in the Lord in a way that blesses our city. This is our window. Right now.

So here are some hypotheticals. If Karley is looking for someone to help with storytelling with children’s ministry, and you have some skill with acting or drama, then give it a shot instead of saying, “someone else should do that.” If Allie is looking for drivers for a youth event, give it a shot instead of saying, “that’s a bit later than I like to be out.” If we try to start a regular parent’s night out so we have a natural way to invite families to our church, give it a shot instead of saying, “I did that when I was younger, so someone else should do it now.”

Here’s something tangible that everyone can do. Take a look inside your bulletin and pull out the insert. Toward the bottom on one of the sides you’ll see a box where you can write in a name. And what I want you to do is think of one person or family of the next generation – in fact, you can just make it anyone younger than yourself if you want. If you’re already part of the youngest generation, well we have a baptism today so write in the baby’s name. Pray for that person or that family this week. We already prioritize the sick in our prayers. We already prioritize those who need help in our prayers. Let’s prioritize the next generation in our prayers as well.

This is our chance! This is our window! Don’t quit on me now! Don’t ride off into the sunset quite yet! I know you’ve earned your sunset, but let’s spend the energy to prioritize the next generation. We’re not going to forget about the other generations, but it’s going to take a lot of work to reach the next generation. Let’s figure out what race they want to run instead of expecting them to just run the same race we already did. I know you’re tired. But if this church is still thriving twenty years from now, it will be because you decided to prioritize the next generation. I know you’re tired. But Jesus is calling. Amen.

October 15 2017

“A Church Like Jesus: Small Groups” by Rev. Cody Sandahl – October 15, 2017

codysandahl Sermons Littleton, sermon

Sermons

"A Church Like Jesus: Small Groups" by Rev. Cody Sandahl - October 15, 2017

00:00 /

Lay Reader = Luke 10:38-42

³⁸Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. ³⁹She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” ⁴¹But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; ⁴²there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Introduction

We are still in our series looking at the key ministries of Jesus and asking how we can pattern our church and our lives on him. Last week we heard about Jesus’ worship, that we should expect to leave Sunday worship with fire and water – fire to seek and do God’s will, and peaceful water to simply be who God made us to be and enjoy God’s love.

This week we are looking at small groups. In our first text today we heard how Jesus gathered with people in their homes, and he did some of his teaching there. In fact, Jesus said that Martha was too distracted and Mary, who was sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to him, had chosen the better use of her time. There is something deeply important to these smaller gatherings. Let’s see how the early church in Acts followed this key ministry of Jesus.

Acts 5:27-42

²⁷When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, ²⁸saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.” ²⁹But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than any human authority. ³⁰The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. ³¹God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. ³²And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.” ³³When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. ³⁴But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time.³⁵Then he said to them, “Fellow Israelites, consider carefully what you propose to do to these men. ³⁶For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him; but he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and disappeared. ³⁷After him Judas the Galilean rose up at the time of the census and got people to follow him; he also perished, and all who followed him were scattered. ³⁸So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; ³⁹but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them—in that case you may even be found fighting against God!” They were convinced by him, ⁴⁰and when they had called in the apostles, they had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. ⁴¹As they left the council, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. ⁴²And every day in the temple and at home they did not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah.

China

It was a strange meeting. Yes, a very strange meeting indeed. You see, it had started innocently enough, but by the end I had become a full-blown coach on how to lie convincingly. And did I mention this was a pastors-only meeting? As I said, it was a strange meeting.

My previous church had a partnership with some missionaries in China, and our mission pastor was about to lead a “tourist” trip. And this “tourist” trip just so happened to be led by a pastor and they just so happened to have an entire briefcase full of Bibles. And since that would be very frowned upon by the customs agents in China, the mission pastor was a bit nervous.

Now you also have to understand something about this mission pastor. The head pastor was always telling him with a sly look on his face, “You should come over for a poker night!” Because the mission pastor wore all of his emotions out there on his sleeve. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what he was feeling. So he was realistically nervous about giving away their real purpose.

Enter Cody, bluffing coach. I asked him what his title was. “Pastor.” “No,” I said, “your formal title in the denomination.” “Teaching Elder.” “That’s right – so when they ask you your job, you are a teacher. And you’re not lying, you are a teacher – it says so right there in your formal title. If you convince yourself of the truth of that statement, you won’t have panic emanating from your pores.”

Sure enough, they sailed through customs without a problem. Some think it was Jesus’ provision, but I just know it was my coaching. My coaching is made even more effective by my humility.

China is an interesting place for Christianity. There are two kinds of churches – registered and unregistered. The registered churches can be about as public as any church in America, and in fact the government often pays for the building and helps pay for the pastor’s education. Sweet gig, right? All you have to do is register your church with the Three Self Patriotic Movement and abide by the government’s policies and be an instrument of the Chinese government. Would you take that deal?

About a third of Chinese Christians attend registered churches, and the other two-thirds risk persecution to attend unregistered churches. Why? Why take the risk? What’s so important? In fact, if you don’t want to attend a state-sanctioned church, why gather at all? Why not just have your own private faith?

Think about it this way – if our government banned religious gatherings, if we were ordered to close the doors here…what would you do? Would you just keep your faith to yourself, or would you keep trying to meet with some of the people here?

Peter and the other Apostles faced that question in our text today. In fact, the stakes were even higher. Peter spends the first several verses reminding the Jewish leaders that they had crucified Jesus not too long ago. They probably hadn’t actually forgotten, so I think Peter was making a statement: “We know that you could crucify us, too, but our faith is more important than our physical wellbeing. You can’t intimidate us.”

For Peter and the Apostles, and for so many of the Chinese Christians, their faith is important enough to take risks. Their faith is important enough to suffer costs – physical, financial, and social. In v41 they even say, “they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.” They had proven their mettle.

Are we made of such stern stuff? Do we have that kind of iron in our backbone? Do we have that kind of conviction and passion for Christ? Is it that important to us?

Small Groups

The gathering was essential to these early Christians. Just as Jesus gathered in the Temple and in homes like Mary and Martha’s, the early Christians did the same. V42 says, “every day in the temple and at home they did not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah.” It doesn’t say, “every Sabbath for one hour in the morning – not too early nor too late so that it doesn’t mess up the rest of the day.” Doesn’t say that. It says, EVERY DAY in the Temple AND AT HOME. They were bought in, and it wasn’t just a Sunday morning church service. That’s the Temple for them. But they also gathered at home.

This isn’t the only place in Acts, either. In fact, the very day that the church started, on Pentecost, we see in Acts 2 what they did. And part of it says, “Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts.” In the temple AND at home – day by day, not just an hour on Sunday. Together, not just alone.

I’ve shared this before, but it’s worth reminding. One of the items on my lifetime bucket list was to see a tree big enough to drive a car through. And the California Redwoods did the trick. And these organic skyscrapers seem absolutely impregnable from the outside. But a few of them had ropes around them with signs that said, “Do not walk.” After some asking around I learned that Redwoods have very shallow roots, and the ones that are off on their own can actually fall down from a weakened root system if enough people walk around their base. But when they congregate together and interlock their roots – even the strongest wind can’t touch them.

We may look like impregnable Redwoods from the outside, but unless our roots are intertwined with another part of the forest, we’re liable to come crashing down. But when we’re together, life may attack, the winds may blow, the rain may fall, but the trees stand strong together.

So are you off on your own, hoping your own roots are strong enough to weather life? Or do you have some other spiritual Redwoods you’re intertwined with? Are you just worshiping in the Temple, or are you gathering to listen to Jesus at home – in a small group – as well? Who’s a part of your local forest of faith?

If you don’t have an answer to that, your roots are exposed. Connect your roots with others, or you’re probably going to come crashing down someday. That’s how important it is to gather – not just for worship – but for other spiritual relationships as well.

At my previous church, I was the person charged with expanding and deepening the small group ministry of the church. The church had been in the small groups business since the 1960’s, so they had around 400 people in groups already – that’s like a third of their Sunday attendance. For reference, the most we have ever reached in a given week is about 65, when we had the Sunday morning Bible study, the two Monday men’s Bible studies, the women’s Shabby Sheep group, and Carol and I were leading special classes. That’s about 40% of our Sunday attendance.

That means that even at our BEST, 60% of the people who came on Sunday spent their week as solitary Redwoods. After about four years in Bethlehem we got over a 1000 people connected in small groups, about 80-90% of the weekly attendance. That was a forest of interconnected spiritual Redwoods.

And that has its benefits. There was the group that had a member in the hospital, so they decided to move their next gathering to the hospital room. That’s how much they cared about each other.

There was another group that saw not one but TWO young adults in their twenties discover that they weren’t the center of the universe. They went from being extraordinarily selfish to selfless almost as if a switch had been flipped. That’s how much these groups impacted their lives.

We had a class here on Sunday mornings taught by Dave Blackburn, and he just had to move out of state. But the group DEEPLY wanted to keep going – that’s how important it was to them to keep studying the Bible together, not just alone. So I’m going to keep teaching it this semester and we’re going to try to figure out something moving forward.

Think about that – can you imagine studying the Bible or discussing your faith in such a way and in such a group that you miss it when it’s gone? That you want to go to? It’s not a discipline but something enjoyable? Can you imagine that? Do you want that? That’s what it looks like to be part of a forest of spiritual Redwoods.

Different Kinds of Groups

Now I will admit that I learned something in Bethlehem – not everyone experiences spiritual growth in the same kind of group. For instance, I grow more out of LEADING a group than participating. And I grow more out of a 1-on-1 or group of 3 where we can go very deep. That’s not for everyone.

I’ve shared before that the primary way I grow spiritually is through the Life Journal – a Bible reading plan and a method where you do Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer – SOAP. In fact, the pastor who came up with the Life Journal – Wayne Cordeiro – started groups in his church that all they do is gather in the same place – maybe a Panera or Starbucks – and they spend 20 minutes reading Scripture, 20 minutes doing the SOAP method of journaling, and then 20 minutes sharing what they wrote in their journals with each other. 40 minutes of their gathering time is silent and on your own. I’ve long wanted to try starting some of those groups – no one has to be the teacher, it’s super simple, and it gets people reading and reflecting on Scripture. But if you’re a person who loves to talk, that’s probably not the group for you, right? You’d go crazy in the first 40 minutes! But the introverts among us are probably wondering why you’d have to have as much as 20 minutes of talking. Can anyone really have that much to say?

Other people are really starving for simple friendships. I believe this church used to have hiking and biking groups. In my previous church we had a motorcycle group. And all I asked was that they pray before each ride – it reminds people that this is a motorcycle group associated with a church.

Here we still have book clubs, crafters and quilters. This church used to have a family game night. I’ve thought about doing something like my friend’s church where they get groups to rotate hosting dinner. Then after everyone has hosted once, the whole church re-mixes the groups so you’re constantly meeting new people. You might take a couple people with you from the last time, but you’re getting this persistent, low-risk chance to get to know people more deeply. That’s kind of a forest of spiritual Redwoods thing, isn’t it? Might we do something like that here?

For those who want to engage their brains, we have the Sunday morning group between services, we have the Monday men’s AM and Monday men’s PM groups, and we have the women’s Shabby Sheep. We have special classes like the Hot Button Theology. We’ll probably have one on spiritual gifts next year.

I share all of these just to make the point – there is no one size fits all approach. But everyone needs to be connected with other Redwoods. Maybe you need 1 or 2 others. Maybe you can find your fit in one of our existing groups. Maybe you need something like a hiking or biking group. Maybe you would be better served by a devotion group with a lot of personal time. Maybe you’d love to be a part of a dinner group.

40% of our church being connected isn’t going to cut it. We can’t survive with 60% of our church being isolated trees. The wind will come. We have to be strong enough TOGETHER to weather it.

But here’s the catch – I can’t lead all of these groups. I can’t launch all of these on my own. In fact, I don’t even know which ones would fly here and which ones would be duds. So here’s your challenge – if you aren’t connected with other spiritual Redwoods, and one of the options I threw out there sounded interesting to you, let me know. Let’s see what we should get rolling. Some of them aren’t hard at all. Some of them take a little more work. Let me know how you would LIKE to connect if we’re not already offering it, and maybe there are enough people to make it happen.

Summary

Sisters and brothers, we MUST be connected with other spiritual Redwoods, or we’re vulnerable. We’re likely to crash out there on our own. But when we gather together, when we spend time not just in the Temple but in homes as well, not just in worship on Sunday, but in Bible studies or small groups or discussion groups or activity groups or devotional groups or dinner groups – that’s when we become a church like Jesus. The question is whether it matters as much to us as it does to our Chinese brothers and sisters. Amen.

October 8 2017

“A Church Like Jesus: Worship” by Rev. Cody Sandahl – October 8, 2017

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"A Church Like Jesus: Worship" by Rev. Cody Sandahl - October 8, 2017

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Lay Reader = Luke 24:22-35

²²Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, ²³and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. ²⁴Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” ²⁵Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! ²⁶Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” ²⁷Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. ²⁸As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. ²⁹But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. ³¹Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. ³²They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” ³³That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. ³⁴They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” ³⁵Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Introduction

Well it’s good to be back with you after two weeks. We are continuing our series looking at the key ministries of Jesus as we ask how we can pattern our church and our lives on those key ministries. We’ve heard about Jesus’ habit of invitation, his creative communication, and his powerful first impressions. Today we are looking at Jesus’ worship.

As with the other key ministries of Jesus, he wasn’t like everyone else in his worship. He astounded people at every turn! He taught with power and authority. He prayed to God on a personal, intimate level. He celebrated with gusto – people wondered why Jesus and his disciples were having so much fun! Luckily for us, we don’t really hear about Jesus sacrificing goats and doves, so we don’t have to setup a tarp up here under the Communion table to worship like Jesus. But if not goats and doves, how did Jesus worship? And how did he talk about worship?

John 4:7-26

⁷A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” ⁸(His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) ⁹The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) ¹⁰Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” ¹¹The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? ¹²Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” ¹³Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” ¹⁵The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” ¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” ¹⁷The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; ¹⁸for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!”¹⁹The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. ²⁰Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” ²¹Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²²You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. ²⁴God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” ²⁵The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.”²⁶Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”

Fire and Water

As any pollster can tell you, how you ask the question changes what people tell you. I remember when I was in high school our youth group did a little experiment. We went to the local mall and asked people what Christmas meant to them.

For our first few interviews, we said, “We are with a church youth group, and we are asking people what Christmas means to them.” With that preface, people talked about the birth of baby Jesus, and how meaningful it is to go to church as a family, and being together on Christmas morning is so peaceful. Very nice.

But for the second batch of interviews, we didn’t tell them we were with a church. We just asked people what Christmas means to them. And suddenly the responses were different. We heard about the stress of putting toys together at 2am before the kids wake up, or the annoying mother-in-law, or the stress of flying and driving. So either we happened to talk to some much holier people for the first round, or telling people we were with a church made their answers gravitate in that direction.

And it’s the same whenever we talk about worship. I bet if I called anyone here on Wednesday and asked “How was worship on Sunday,” most of you would say some version of, “it was nice” or “it was good.” But if I followed up and asked you, “what in the worship service is still impacting you on Wednesday?” you’re probably going to give me a healthy dose of silence.

You have to really know what you’re trying to ask to get a really good answer. So what should we expect in worship? How do we know if whatever happens on a Sunday is good? And how much of that is something that WE answer, and how much of that depends on GOD’S answer?

Well our two texts today give two very different outcomes for worship, and I believe we should be shooting for both of these. In our first text today, a few disciples are unknowingly walking down the road with Jesus after his crucifixion and resurrection. And he teaches them from Scripture about God’s will. And what’s the result? They say to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”

So let’s go back to that Wednesday phone call again. What if I called you and asked, “Did your heart burn within you as you heard the scriptures read and taught?” That’s a different question than asking if the worship was good. As we look at Jesus’ worship, we see that one of the most important measures of “good worship” is that people become on fire to seek and do God’s will. And that wasn’t just a Pentecost, miraculous tongues of fire kind of thing. That was the expectation every time.

Do you have that expectation when you come to worship? Do you expect to be inspired to seek and do God’s will? Do you expect to leave here on fire for Jesus? We shouldn’t rest until that fire is a valid expectation of our worship as a church.

But fire isn’t the only expectation in worship. There’s also water. In our second text today Jesus tells the woman, “those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” That’s a little different than having your heart burn within you, right? This sounds a bit more tranquil. This sounds a bit more peaceful.

Becca and I were just in Hawaii for our tenth anniversary – one of the nice things about not being able to travel much when you have young kids is that you can store up enough miles and points to do something nice when you DO get to travel without them. And as we came up with our daily agenda, we had two very different kinds of activities. One day we did a nice hike into a sheer valley to a black sand beach. I have a picture of Becca at the trailhead and there are no fewer than six warning signs posted. Some people might find that stressful, but this is how we have fun.

But we had other activities like snorkeling with the manta rays. The key to getting up close to the manta rays is to just float as flat as possible on the surface so the plankton accumulate close to your face. And our group got to see a ray do barrel rolls about six inches from our masks as we just floated there peacefully taking in the wonder of God’s creation.

Those are two different kinds of activities, and our definition of a successful anniversary trip required both. On the one hand we wanted to get out and go – we wanted to be active and hike and go places. That’s the fire – going and doing.

But on the other hand, we wanted to take in the beauty and relax and simply BE – we wanted to float on the water or sit on the beach doing nothing. That’s the water – peacefully being.

If we had stacked our trip full of fire, we would have been exhausted. But if we had only planned for water, we would have eventually been bored. We needed both fire and water, actively doing AND peacefully being.

So, too with our worship. You should expect to be fired up to seek and do God’s will. But you should also expect to be refreshed by God’s unfailing love for you simply because you are YOU. If our worship is all fire we’ll exhaust ourselves with activity. But if our worship is all water we’ll eventually just peacefully drift away without ever DOING God’s will. We need fired-up hearts AND souls that are refreshed by Jesus’ living water.

How much fire do we have in our worship? How much water do we have in our worship? I think we have a lot to work with, but we aren’t there yet with either element.

Vision for Worship

I’ve been reading a book about churches that have successfully reached the youngest generations, it’s called Growing Young, and it has some interesting observations about worship. They found that both music and preaching are important to the rising generations, but only to a point. In fact, both music and preaching are in the “good enough” category. In other words, you can lose people if the preaching is terrible or the music is a life-sucking dirge, but you don’t gain a whole lot more people even if the preaching is exceptional or the music is world class. As long as it’s in the “good enough” category, there are other things that matter more.

The most important thing is relationships, and those should be ACROSS the generations. The researchers found that instead of focusing on cool worship or programs, churches should aim for warm peer AND intergenerational friendships. And so instead of imagining worship as a trip to the theatre or symphony, we should imagine it like a gathering in the family room.

My family is going down for my mom’s birthday in a few weeks, she’s turning 39 – you’re welcome, Mom. And I already know what the family room is going to look like. There will be some people with plenty of white hair there, probably sipping an adult beverage and sharing raucous tales of old. There will be people like me there who are in the process of gaining white hair courtesy of being a parent. And there will be little tornadoes disguised as kids trying to tear the place apart. All these generations will be in this one big room together.

And so the kids will be ransacking the toy closet. And the parents will be trading off duties. And the grandparents will be finding the comfy chairs. Each generation has things that it likes, and some things it probably wouldn’t prefer. My parents have a wonderful stone ledge around their fireplace and a lovely natural wood coffee table. Perfect for the adults, but a possible source of injury for the kids. Some of their toys are loud, poppy things that can drive the adults crazy, but they’re perfect for the kids. The important thing is that everyone is together, and everyone has a chance at a good time.

So if you imagine worship like a family gathering, what should it look like? For the grandparents or great-grandparents among us, did you do anything in your house to make it more grandkid-friendly? Maybe we have to make some modifications to our worship in the same way.

For those with kids right now, do you do anything at family gatherings simply because it’s the way your family does things? Maybe we have to keep some things in our worship to honor the more seasoned generations.

One of the other most important things for reaching the rising generations is authentic passion. You can tell within about thirty seconds whether a worship service is alive or dead just be reading the energy in the room. Let’s use that family gathering image again. Would you rather spend time in a crypt or a family party? I’m not aware of any morticians in our midst, so I’m betting almost all of us would rather be in a family party. If our worship feels stilted or disconnected or stale, the rising generations don’t want any part of it. What’s the point?

But if people are worshiping because their faith is real and alive and affecting their lives, then the rising generations are all in. I’ve talked with people who have joined us over the two years I’ve been here, and quite a few of them cited passion as their reason for returning after their first visit. Some heard a story of God’s work in someone’s life, and it touched them. Others were here on a day when someone really poured out their heart in a prayer, and it touched them. Others were here on a youth Sunday and saw the alive faith in our students, and it touched them. This is one of those points where the generations sometimes differ.

When the first Star Wars movie was doing test screening, the crew knew they had a hit because people were “ooh”ing and “ahh”ing and clapping and cheering. Except for the test screening in Japan. The audience sat in stone silence the whole time, so the crew was worried. But their Japanese distributors were ecstatic. They had to explain that the dead silence was the highest form of honor and praise that the Japanese audience could give!

In the same way, some people’s primary worship language is respect or honor. The best way to honor a beautiful special music piece is the stony silence of that Japanese test audience. Others want to “ooh” and “ahh” and clap and cheer. There isn’t one right way to do it – it’s just different generational cultures. So if you’re the kind of person who wants to clap, go right ahead, but don’t judge the one sitting in silence. They were touched, too, but they’re expressing it with honor and respectful silence. And if you want to show respectful silence, go right ahead, but don’t judge the one who wants to express their appreciation audibly. It’s just a different culture, and our family gathering is big enough for both.

Can we be a family gathering that is suitable for every generation? Can we be a family gathering where people of every age have a reason to be excited? Maybe some people love the hymns, maybe others love the choir, maybe others love the prayers, maybe others love the sermons, maybe others would love it if we did something new. We aren’t there yet, but it’s possible. Would you like to see that kind of fire and water worship? Would you like to see every generation have a reason to be excited?

Making the Devil Mad

I was helping a man this past week, and he has a lot of troubles. But he said something that has stuck with me. He said that, rather than being mad at God for his troubles, he’s going to try to make the devil mad by his faithfulness to Jesus in the midst of his troubles. That may not be perfect theology, but I kind of like that image.

So as I think about being a church like Jesus in our worship, I want the devil to be mad because of our worship. I want the devil to be mad because he’s unable to divide the generations, unable to pit the young against the old, unable to pit the liberal against the conservative, unable to pit the saint against the sinner, unable to pit the member against the guest, unable to pit the white against the brown, unable to pit the rich against the poor. If that were to happen here then the Adversary would be very mad indeed, and our Lord and Savior would tell us “well done, good and faithful servants.” But we’re not there yet.

That’s going to take more fire in our bones to seek and do God’s will. That’s going to take us thinking long and hard about making this a great family room for all generations, not just a theatre for a few. But that’s also going to take some more water in our souls to peacefully be who God made us to be. That’s going to take us being comfortable with who we are even if the person next to us isn’t the same. That’s going to take us being at peace when we reach out to new people, because your place in the family isn’t being taken away. We will need more fire and more water in our worship. May Jesus help us worship in spirit and truth, in fire and in water, in doing and in being. Amen.