Be the Church 2 – Vision

September 16, 2018

Be the church! 1) Love God 2) Love people 3) Make disciples

Be the church!

          There are all kinds of churches in our area: AG, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Brethren, AME, Episcopal, Nazarene, Catholic, Congregational, Non-denominational, and more.

          So many churches. So many people needing Jesus. We need different kinds of churches because there are all kinds of different people. Trinity cannot reach them all and will not appeal to them all. We simply need to do our part to the best of our ability.

          We are going to take 7 or the next 9 weeks to talk about how Trinity approaches being the church.

          Today, we’re going to talk about our vision. If you were here in January 2015, or if you’ve gone through Growth Track, you’ve heard me speak about it.

          A vision is a picture of the future. A statement of what we want to do and be. Our vision was born out of a concentrated time of study and prayer.

          Our vision is to be a welcoming place of love and acceptance where people can find grace and healing as they are reunited with God and his family.

          What does this mean? The word “reunited” has a dual connotation. First, it applies to every human being because God loves us all and wants all of us to come to repentance. But remember, we cannot reach everyone, so we need to narrow our focus a bit. At Trinity, we are best suited to reach people who have a church background and/or experience with God but are away from him now for a number of reasons.

• some were pushed away by the church or the people in the church.
• some have unintentionally drifted away.
• some have been lured away
• some intentionally walked away

          Whatever the reason, we believe the reason they’ve gone doesn’t have to be strong enough to keep them away forever. We believe it’s our job to open the door and invite them to come back home.

          Now, listen, people away from God are going to walk in with some baggage. They are welcome and so is their baggage. (Truthfully, we all have baggage and the unfortunate truth is that many church folks have learned to hide theirs and pretend it doesn’t exist.)

          We don’t demand people drop their baggage before they come through the doors. We don’t ask to pretend their baggage doesn’t exist. Regardless of their circumstances, regardless of their baggage, we treat everyone the same way. For some people, their baggage is plain as day. For others, it is hidden, even to them.

• Regardless of the baggage, we WELCOME them.
• Regardless of the baggage, we LOVE them
• Regardless of the baggage, we ACCEPT them.
• Regardless of the baggage, we EXTEND GRACE to them.
• Regardless of the baggage, we are A PLACE OF HEALING.

          Why is this so important? It’s important because the church (both corporately and individually) is often the first picture of God that people see. As such, we want people to know that…

1. God is welcoming.
   1. Open arms are a more accurate picture of God than a pointing finger is.
   2. Many folks are somewhat familiar with John 3:16 (even if you’ve only seen the sign at sporting events).
      1. John 3:16 (NKJV) – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
      2. John 3:17 (The Message) – God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help…
   3. I don’t know about your experience with church or about your spiritual journey.
   4. Perhaps it’s a journey where you’ve always pictured God pointing an accusing finger at you. If so, your picture of God is wrong.
   5. (In fact, in Scripture, the people Christ would have pointed his finger at were religious know-it-alls, bullies who demanded everything be done their way.)
   6. God is a welcoming God.
      “If you’re weary and burdened come to me and find rest for your soul,” were some of Jesus’ words.

2. God is loving.
   1. Love is a big word in Scripture.
   2. Love in Scripture, as it applies to God, is not a love based on what we earn or deserve.
   3. It is an all-encompassing love that is present no matter what.

3. God accepts us as we are.
   1. Does this mean God views us as perfect and therefore nothing in our lives needs to change?
   2. Of, course not. We all know we’re not perfect.
   3. What it does mean is that God is not waiting for us to conform our lives to some external standard before we are acceptable to him.
   4. We are acceptable because he created us and loves us.
   5. We must be careful not to confuse acceptance with approval.
   6. God accepts us no matter what, even though he may not totally approve of things that ultimately harm us.

4. God offers us grace.
   1. Grace means not being treated the way we deserve to be treated.
   2. Someone once defined grace as getting ice cream when you deserve a spanking.
   3. In his book, What’s So Amazing About Grace? author Philip Yancey defines it by saying: grace means there’s nothing you can ever do to make God love you more and there’s nothing you can ever do to make God love you less.
   4. God is a God of grace.

5. God heals.
   1. He wants to fix what is broken inside of us.
   2. That broken part is sin and God abhors sin the same way you and I abhor cancer, other diseases, and drugs.
   3. God doesn’t abhor sinners. If he did, he’d hate every one of us.
   4. He doesn’t.
   5. Just as a parent who cradles a child and wants to be able to make it all better. God wants to cradle us and fix what’s broken so that we can be whole again.

          If you don’t see God as a welcoming, loving, accepting, gracious healer, then your view of God needs to be adjusted.

          I was scrolling through Twitter a couple weeks ago where I came across these words from Mark Batterson, “God’s vision for the church is bigger than ours. Why? Because it’s not our church. It’s His church. And He said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.’”

Now, what do we do with this?

1. First, most of us here have family members and friends who in the past have had some sort of connection to church or some sort of experience with God but are not actively living for God now.
2. Second, if Trinity is your church, then Trinity’s vision should be your vision.
3. One of your most important jobs is to invite your friends and family members to come to church with you.

Why?

• We believe that when people join us, they will feel welcomed, loved, and accepted.
• We believe that since they’ve had experiences with God and church in the past, they’ll sense something familiar when they are here.
• We believe God will use that familiarity and our hospitality to draw them back home to find the grace and healing they need – even if they don’t yet realize they need it.

          Folks, I’m talking about your family and my family, your friends and my friends. This isn’t just a Trinity thing – it’s a personal thing!

      We’re not primarily interested in building Trinity Assembly of God. We’re primarily interested in building the kingdom of God!

          Let’s see how this can work. If you are wearing a name tag this morning, please stand. All of these people are in church today because someone invited them. Their name tags don’t have their names on them, they have the name of the person (or people) who invited them to church.

          We do a lot of fun and spiritual things at Trinity, but events don’t bring people to church, people do.

          You might wonder how or when you should invite some. Andy Stanley says to listen for NOT clues:

• Things are NOT going well…
• I was NOT prepared for…
• I am NOT from here…

          If/When you hear one of these cues, invite the person to church. Tell them you’ve found it helpful and meaningful and you think they will also.

          Don’t get offended or discouraged if someone says no. Simply invite them again when the opportunity arises.

          Let’s be the welcoming, loving, accepting, grace giving, healing church God has called us to be. This building can’t do it. These pews and chairs can’t do it. But we can!

          Are you with me?

Let’s pray.