Broadway Christian Church ·Columbia, Missouri

Morning Worship ·May 1, 2005

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Prayer of the Day

Living God, Creator of all, Savior of all, we thank you that your love and power encompass all things and all people.  Be with us, we pray, as we seek to be grasped by your vision for our mission.  This we humbly, yet boldly ask in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Scripture
Matthew 28:16-20

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.  When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted.  Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey [to observe, to do] everything I have commanded you, for I am with you always, even unto the end of the age.”

Message
What God Wants This Church To Do
Rick Frost

Here’s my newest copy of the New Testament.  It just arrived in the mail, unsolicited.  Tyndale House publishes it, I think.  It’s amazing.  There are more and more translations available.  Do you remember in days past when there were only basically two translations of the Bible?  There were the King James Version and the Revised Standard Version.  Now there are more translations of the Bible than you can imagine.

Let me suggest to you to welcome new translations of Scripture, but to do so with caution, because, as you know, every time anybody translates anything, they’re doing it from their own perspective.  Know that when you read the Scripture, and the caution is to try to remember or get back as close to the original Greek and Hebrew as you can.  Probably the New Revised International Version of the Bible is as close to a literal translation as you can find.  There are many wonderful translations, and this is not a criticism.  I just want you to be cautious with all the translations that are available today.

Now, what I want to find out today is do you know there is a sequel to the story that’s in this Book?  I mean… everything has a sequel today.  Right?  And there’s a sequel to this Book.   Do you know what it is?  Sure you do.  There are churches – Christian churches, not just Disciple churches, but Christian churches – everywhere.  There are communities of faith that meet in grand cathedrals of brick, and stone, and glass.  Some of them are wooden.  Some of them are cinder block.  Some of them are inexpensive storefronts, and grass huts, and igloos.  They are all over the world, every place.  It’s amazing.  Everywhere in the world there are people getting together.  They are reading their Bibles.  They are worshipping God, and they are learning together about Jesus.  That’s the sequel to the story that’s in this Book.  It’s an amazing thing, absolutely amazing!

Now, the question today is do you know what the prequel is?  Not just the sequel, but do you know what the prequel is?  How did it all start?  Well, our text today, I suggest, is the prequel to what’s going on in the world of Christ today.  This is the way it all started.

The risen Christ, on an unnamed mountain in the north of Israel, a long, long time ago, met with eleven disciples.  Just eleven people.  When those eleven met the risen Christ, Matthew says the eleven worshipped him.  Oh, and by the way, they also doubted.  The scholars say the literal translation of that phrase is, “They worshipped and they doubted.”

Do those two things go together for you?  Worship and doubt.  Yes, they go together.  I have never met – never, never, never met – a person with 100% faith.  Never!  People worship.  People doubt.  People worship.  People doubt.

So, here they were.  Eleven persons worshipping, doubting, meeting the risen Christ, worshipping, doubting.  It sounds a lot, to me, like what I experience going on around here.  Worshipping, doubting, worshipping, doubting.

Jesus said, “I have been given from God all authority on heaven and earth to give you these instructions.”

Do you know what those instructions were?

“I,” said Jesus, “want you to go into the whole world and make disciples.”  Now, some people throughout the ages have misunderstood this, as you and I both know.  They thought what that meant was that you have to do whatever you have to make a disciple, even if you force them, even if you coerce them.  The worst moments in our history, folks, have been times when we have misunderstood this command.  That’s not what it says.  That’s not what it means.  It simple translates, “disciple everybody.”

“Disciple,” folks, is not a noun.  It’s a verb.  It’s an action word. “Disciple everybody.”  “I want you to disciple people.”  That’s it.  No “ifs.”  No “ands.”  No “buts.”  That’s what God wants this Church to do.  That’s it.  That’s what we do.  You want to say it in a phrase?  There it is.  “We disciple people.”

Now, the next big question is, how do we do that?  That’s what we do.  How do we do it?  How do you disciple people?  I suggest we do it the same way Jesus did it.  Do you remember how that was?  Jesus took the initiative with people.  Jesus welcomed people.  He reached out, and to those who responded, he loved.  He loved them.  Those who needed help, he helped them.  Those who needed a blessing, he blessed them.

Of course, even with Jesus, himself, some people didn’t respond.  Some people were turned off.  Some people rejected it.  But you know, he didn’t get all huffy.  He didn’t get mad about it.  People need room to say, “no.”  Jesus gave people room to say “no,” because if you don’t have room to say “no” in this life, then “yes” doesn’t mean a thing.  Does it?  It’s a choice.  No coercion.  No pressure.  No pushing.  Just make room for everybody?

“Everybody?” 

“Yes.  Everybody!” 

“Lord, everybody includes a lot of folks.  We’ll have problems, and it’s expensive, and not everybody gets along.  Everybody?”

“Yes.  Everybody.  Make room for everybody!”

“What about the weeds?  What about the one’s who are just taking up space, who aren’t doing anything?  Who are grumbling, and half-baked?”

“Leave the weeds alone.  Just leave them alone.  You know what happens when you start pulling up weeds.  When you start pulling up weeds, you tear out the plants along with the weeds, and it becomes a mess.  Just leave the weeds alone.  Harvest time is coming.  It will all be taken care of in that context.  You just disciple people.  That’s what I want you to do.”

Folks, I believe, I think with all my heart that is what God wants this church to do.

“And for those who are ready and willing, baptize them.  Yeah, baptize!  Just baptize them.”

You see… our relationship with Christ, folks, is sort of like a couple falling in love.  Everyone in this room has fallen in love.  You know how it works.  First of all, you have to meet somebody.  Then when you meet somebody you find out you may just like them, and that’s a good thing.  Then when you find out you like them, then you want to go out together.  When you go out together, then you want to spend more time together.  When you spend more time together, you want to start doing some things together, and first thing you know, you’re engaged.  Then the first thing you know, they come to see me.  They get married.  It’s amazing.

We had a beautiful baptismal service here last Thursday night with six adults.  It was wonderful.  They are people who had come to the point in their lives when they were willing to stand up and publicly say, “I don’t want to just go to church any more.  I want to be the church.”  That’s where we draw the line.  If you get baptized, you are the church.  Otherwise, you’re just thinking about it… wondering about it… learning about it.  You’re welcome.  That’s not a problem.  But this is when you become the church, when you get baptized.

We had six people on Thursday night say, “I’m committed.  I’m ready to get married.  I’m committed to Christ for as long as we both shall live.”  It’s a covenant.  It’s saying, “I’m going to be there for you and with you and you with me.  You can put my name on the bottom line.  I want to be numbered among the people who follow Jesus.”

Jesus said, “Baptize those folks.”

That’s what we do.  We reach out to everybody.  We disciple the people who respond, and we baptize those who are ready to make a commitment.  Amazing!

And he said, “Furthermore, I want you to teach them.”

“Teach?  What are we supposed to teach?”

“Teach them all I have commanded you, all I have taught you.”

Folks, what did Jesus teach us?  Do you remember?  Well, he taught us how to pray.  He taught us how to worship.  Jesus taught us to read our Bible so we could hear the voice of God speaking to us.  Jesus taught us to care for one another and each other.  He taught us to give generously and gratefully and joyfully.  He taught us to engage, to plan our lives to be lives of service to people in need – service to things like peace and justice in this world.  He taught us to share our faith with other persons.  He taught us to keep a Sabbath time honoring God – a time to honor the rhythms and seasons of life.

What do we call those things around here?  We call them the Eight Keys.  The Eight Keys to Discipling.  That’s what God wants this church to do.  That’s what God wants us to do, and this is how God wants us to do it.  Reach out to everybody.  Make room for everybody.  Disciple those who respond.  Baptize those who are committed.  And teach the way of Jesus to all.

Now, that’s what we do.  That’s how we’re going to do it.

Where are we going to do it?  Where does that happen?

First, some facts.  While Columbia has grown over 20% in the past ten years…  Can you believe that?  Columbia has grown over 20% in the past ten years!  What you may not know is that this church has grown over 50% in its adult attendance alone in that same period.  50%!  We receive 50 to 60 new members every single year, and we’ve done that for the past ten years.  We have a Sunday School enrollment of 260 children in grades 1 through 12, and we can identify nearly 160 youth between grades 6 and 12 who are connected with this church.  That brings us to where we are today.

This is a thriving church.  You know that.  We have wonderful, good facilities, and those facilities are bursting at the seams.  We are overcrowded.  We’re on top of each other, and it’s holding us back.  That’s the bottom line.

Let me hit the high points.

We have not started a new adult Sunday School class in this church for ten years.  Not one.  And yet we’ve had 300 new adults join this church in that time period.  The reason we haven’t started a new adult Sunday School class is why?  Because every single room in this church is being used by our children.  There is no place to start a new Sunday School class.  And the children – because their parents come, the children come.  We now have a need for additional classrooms just for our kids, not to mention our adults.

Jacob Thorne starts June 11 as the youth minister of this church.  He has 40, 50, 60 fired-up young people and adults waiting.  We’re very excited about them, but they have no place in this church to call their own.  Not a place.

For over a decade, our Fellowship Hall has not been able to accommodate even half of the people who attend church here on any given Sunday morning – not even half of the worshippers here.  We have no place in church where we can get together for a meal and for fellowship.  Not a place.

Last, but not least, our music ministries who serve this community of faith in three worship services every single Sunday and in a variety of settings at other times and in other places are presently restricted to a little, tiny classroom – a Sunday School classroom – up there in the office wing.  Have you been up there lately?  You see... if you just attend worship here, and you’re not out wandering around, you have no idea what people are dealing with.  I understand that.  That’s not anybody’s fault.  That’s just the way it is.  You have no way of perceiving how we’re on top of each other.  They’re in a little Sunday School classroom.  It’s a farce.  There are file cabinets stacked to the ceiling.  The heating and cooling vents are covered.  They’re hanging robes on filing drawer handles.  The music equipment is scattered all over this facility.  Choirs, ensembles, instrumentalists are all tripping all over each other.  It’s crazy.

And those are just the things I’ve got time to tell you about today.

What I do want to ask you to do today, though, is say, “Thank you.”  I want you to say, “Thank you, Lord.  Thank you, Lord, that we have these kinds of problems.  Thank you that we have these kinds of challenges.”

These are the kinds of challenges we’re supposed to have, folks, when we’re doing what God wants the Church to do.  A community that’s alive, that’s vibrant, that’s faithful, by definition, is supposed to grow.  Isn’t that right?  Are we misreading the Scriptures here?  It’s just about that simple:

            Reach out to everybody.

            Make room for everybody.

            Disciple those who respond.

            Baptize those who are committed.

            Teach the way of Jesus to everyone.

That’s what I believe.  I believe in my heart of hearts that is what God wants this church to do.

But it really doesn’t matter what I think and what I believe.  What really does matter is what you believe.  What do you think?  What do you believe?  We’re going to find out.  In the next week or two, every single one of you is going to have an opportunity to vote.  That’s right.  All of us are going to receive a copy of what I’ve just basically outlined to you – a proposed plan.  It’s going to be put in front of you.  It’s going to be coming in the mail.  Be looking for it.  Please don’t throw it away.  It’s very important.  It is your vote.

Very quickly, this plan is going to call for these things.  It’s going to call for the construction of four things.

• It’s going to call for the construction of a flexible family-life center out in that area back there [pointing to the north side of the church building].  It would be a facility that we can use seven days a week.  It is going to give us the Sunday School space we need.  We’re going to be able to start ten new Sunday School classes.  We’re going to be able to sit down with 400-500-600 of us where we can actually meet and eat together, where we can fellowship with each other.  We don’t know each other, and when we don’t know each other, we don’t have much concern for each other.  What we have to do is build the unity of the church, and the way we’re going to do this is not through sanctuaries, but through a place where we can meet, and eat, and be in fellowship with each other.

• This is a plan that’s going to call for the remodeling of the Activities Center – the old sanctuary.  We’re going to create designated youth space out of that.  We’re going to put a door right there in the side of that building so that kids can come and go.  It will be a teen center, for lack of a better word.  It will be a safe place where the youth of this church can bring their friends, who can bring their friends, and bring their friends.  You see how it works, so that they can grow as young disciples in a safe, careful environment.

• This plan is going to call for the creating of space that will meet the needs of all our music ministries.  My goodness, we have just put that on the back burner for a long time.  They need the tools to do the job and do it right, so that they can take the next step in making inspiring, beautiful, more powerful music for worship in this place.  We appreciate what they do.  They do it amazing well, and they are ready to move to the next level.

• It’s also a plan that’s going to call for the reconfiguring of the office wing.  We have two and three staff in a room now.  We have another person coming.  We have to address that.  It is also going to give us some additional class space on Sunday, and some conference centers, and things like that.

Well, that’s a thumbnail sketch.  It’s more than that, but that gives you an idea of the proposed plan.  It’s not the final plan, but it is, I believe, the next plan.  We need it.  We’re playing catch-up here at Broadway.  I think we sort of sensed that when we were at the workshop, those of you who were there.  We’re not talking about being set up for things years down the line.  We’re talking about catching-up at Broadway.  I think it deserves our immediate attention.

So, now, everybody’s in favor of doing something good.  The question is how much are you in favor of it?  We’re going to test this plan with you.  You’re going to be receiving a copy of that plan and a confidential questionnaire that nobody in this church is ever going to see, because when you fill it out, it’s going to have a self-addressed envelope, and it’s going to go directly to Dallas, Texas, where Cargill and Associates will take it.  They will put it all together in what’s called a feasibility study.  By the first week in June, we will know what the people of this church really want to do.  It’s confidential, because we need to know what you think.  We need to know what you believe.  Do you believe that we are ready for this?  Do you believe we’re ready to move ahead with this plan?  How strongly do you think that?  How strongly are you willing to financially support it?  So, please receive that when it comes.  Fill it out.  Send it to Dallas.  It’s very, very important.

I think about the legacy that those of us who came into this church in the last 15 to 20 years have received.  It is a legacy that the folks who came before us created for us.  I have to tell you, I believe for Jack and George and me, this is the last time we’re going to do this.  Isn’t it, George?  Isn’t it, Jack?  We’re not going to do this again.  OK?  But we believe we want to create a legacy for those yet to come – to do for those who will follow.  Whether we get to use it, or need it, is really not the issue for us.  The issue is what’s it going to be for those who are coming up, those who will follow us?  What will we create for them?

So… I ask you to remember Jesus’ words.  I think he tells us what he wants us to do.  He wants us to reach out to everybody, make room for everybody, disciple those who respond, baptize those who are committed, and teach the way of Jesus to all.  That is what we believe, and this is what the future holds for us.  I believe it with all my heart.  I believe that you believe it, really.

And we all say together… “Amen.”

Benediction

Magnificent God, the bounty of our love, we celebrate!  The bounty of our homes and families, we celebrate!  The bounty of our community in Christ, we celebrate!  And these, we consecrate, offering them to you.  In thanksgiving, we all say together, Amen.