Previous Page

Feb 10, 2019

Made to Belong

John 13:35
I am the Church – Part 5

Made to Belong ~ February 10, 2019

          Some of you laughed at my observational skills a few weeks ago. Nearly everyone in the church was wearing black except me. I was wearing this this exact shirt. Believe it or not, it’s not the only time in my life that black and orange were present as a result of my less than keen observations.

I attended a private Christian school for my last two years of high school. During my senior year, we had a number of new high school students. Since I was new the previous year, I understood the difficulty of fitting in.

Two new students in 10th grade were friends before attending our school. They had that connection but were finding it difficult to fit in with the rest of the student body, many of whom had been in school together since kindergarten.

I reached out and tried to make them feel welcome. Sometimes, I’d sit with them at lunch and sometimes I’d talk to them while they waited for the bus. I don’t remember their names, so we’ll call them Denise and Jill.

They had a penchant for wearing matching outfits to school. It had to be planned because it happened way too often.

One day, someone at the senior lunch table took notice and began mocking them for matching their clothes. I was sitting with the rest of the seniors that day and joined in the fun with the other seniors. We pointed at them and laughed and made snide remarks. We also planned to match the next day. Each senior would wear black and white.

I was oblivious to my duplicity. Can you imagine such density in a 17 year old?

That night, Denise called me, crying. I asked her what was wrong, never giving a second’s thought to what had happened during the school day. She told me how she and Jill felt with everyone making fun of them. She told me how hard it was to fit in to a new place. She told me how much I’d hurt them because I’d pretended to be their friend and then acted like such an idiot.

I was busted. What could I say? I apologized over and over again and assured them that I wasn’t really like that. My mind scrambled, searching for a way to make it up to them…and then I remembered the plan we had hatched to wear matching outfits the next day. I told her about it. I told her that she and Jill should wear black and white and that I’d wear something bright. What color do you think I picked? It was my favorite color, orange.

So, the next day, the seniors, and Denise and Jill, work black and white to school and I wore orange. Let’s just say, it didn’t go well for me…all because I was an idiot when two people were just trying to fit into a new place. They wanted (maybe even needed a place to belong) and I made it difficult for them. How dense could one 17-year-old be? Don’t answer that…because you might have your own stories about a dense 17-year-old.

Today, we come to the next part of the “I am the Church” series. Before we get into the message, are you enjoying the book. Do you feel like you’re getting anything out of it? Do you feel like it’s good for you…or for someone else? Just kidding!

          Listen, we are convinced that life works best when people live in right relationship with God and each other. We also believe a right relationship is described in the five purposes for both life and the church:

  1. Worshiping
  2. Belonging
  3. Growing
  4. Sharing
  5. Serving

Today, we are talking about the second purpose, belonging.

          We believe that when people come into God’s family, they need to belong to a local church instead of living life alone. This week, you’re going to read about how a local church family…

  • Identifies you as a genuine believer
  • Moves you out of self-centered isolation
  • Helps you develop spiritual muscle
  • Helps you share in Christ’s mission in the world, and
  • will help keep you from backsliding

Because of that, we seek to provide an environment of love, acceptance, forgiveness, and unity so that each person is encouraged and supported through deeply personal relationships with other Christ followers.

It may feel like I’m preaching to the choir this morning since you are all here, and I may be, but we press on because, as we’ll see, being here isn’t the only thing it takes to say, I am the church.

          We find these words from Jesus in John 13:35 (NLT)—Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. Rick Warren points out that, “God wants his family to be known for its love more than anything else. Jesus said our love for each other—not our doctrinal beliefs—is our greatest witness to the world.” He goes on to write that, “love cannot be learned in isolation. You have to be around people—irritating, imperfect, frustrating people.”

          Imagine that! We must be around people to learn to love people! There are some avenues of growth that only happen in community with one another.

I know regular church attendance doe not guarantee spiritual growth and maturity. Many of us have known folks who wouldn’t think of missing church and yet it’s obvious that they haven’t grown or matured in years. And yet there’s something important about prioritizing time in God’s house and with God’s family. The writer of Hebrews penned these words of admonishment,
Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord’s coming is getting closer” (Hebrews 10:25, CEV).

Did you catch that? When you and I attend church, it’s not just about “what’s in it for me?”. That’s part of it, but there’s more. It’s also what I bring to the table—what word of encouragement, what hug, what listening ear. When we attend church, we’re not just supposed to be a cup, we’re supposed to be a conduit.

As Christians, we are not just called to believe, we are also called to belong—to be active members of God’s family. Think about this, when Jesus extended the invitation, “Follow me,” it was an invitation to faith and family. Those who accepted the invitation followed him from within a group. As a group, they followed, they learned, they served, and they grew and matured. Can we do any less?

          At Trinity, our model of ministry is built around the idea of family:

  1. Meeting the family
    This step involves . . .
    • Being introduced to Trinity and to Jesus
    • Church services
    • Church events—5th Sunday, Church Picnic, etc.
    • Interest groups
  2. Getting to know the family
    This step involves . . .
    • Discovering a personal relationship with Jesus
    • Growth Track 101 (three different options to take GT 101 starting March 3)
      • 9 AM on Sunday morning
      • 7 PM on Thursday morning
      • 9 AM -Noon on a Saturday Morning
  1. Committing to the family
    This step involves . . .
    • Developing commitment in a personal relationship with Christ.
    • Growth Track 201 (this will follow GT 101 in April)
  2. Serving the family
    This step involves . . .
    • Discovering and developing your talents and gifts.
    • Growth Track 301
  3. Leading in the family
    This step involves . . .
    • Investing in others through holding leadership positions in the church.
    • Leadership Development
    • Mentoring/Coaching Training

As we think about this idea of family, I don’t know if you are aware, but there is great alarm today at the high rate of church-going young people who graduate high school and walk away from the church. We need to commit ourselves to teaching and training our students not just to attend church, but to be the church.

          I love Paul’s words to the Romans as recorded in Romans 12:4-5. I’m reading from The Message,  “we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we?”

          We are called to believe and belong. Most of us are going to belong to something somewhere. We’ll most likely belong to several different groups. There’s nothing wrong with that because light shines brightest in darkness. However, we do need to regularly charge the batteries, so we’d do well to be in the habit of regularly attending church. It will help us better be able to say, I am the church.

          The most common description of God’s family in the NT is found in the phrases “one another” and “each other.” We find both positive and negative phrases. We are told to…

  • Love one another (14x)
  • Be devoted to one another
  • Honor one another
  • Live in harmony with one another
  • Accept one another
  • Greet one another (2x)
  • Agree with one another
  • Serve one another
  • Bear with one another (2x)
  • Be kind and compassionate to one another
  • Submit to one another
  • Forgive one another (2x)
  • Admonish one another
  • Encourage one another (4x)
  • Spur one another on
  • Offer hospitality to one another
  • Show humility to one another
  • Fellowship with one another
  • Be at peace with each other (2x)
  • Carry each other’s burdens
  • Build each other up
  • Do what is good for each other
  • Pray for each other
  • Don’t slander one another
  • Don’t grumble against one another
  • Don’t lie to each other

          Remember Jesus’ words,  “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples,” (John 13:35, NLT).

          So, how are we doing with each other? We can’t really practice all those “one another” and “each other” admonishments if we don’t spend time together. We need to spend time together inside the church, like we’re doing this morning, but we also need to spend time together outside the church.

          There is no biblical allowance to serve God apart from being an active part of his family. There is no biblical allowance to serve God apart from gathering with his family. To think and practice otherwise is to elevate our opinion, practice, and preference, above God’s word…and that’s dangerous ground to stand on—individually and corporately.

          How are you doing at belong to God’s family? I want to challenge you to take some time this week and think about that.

  • Are you meeting the family?
  • Are you getting to know the family?
    • Are you discovering a relationship with Jesus?
    • Have your attended GT 101?
  • Are you committed to the family?
    • Are you developing a relationship with Jesus?
    • Have you attended GT 201?
  • Are you serving the family?
    • Are you discovering and developing your talents and gifts?
    • Have you attended GT 301?
  • Are you leading in the family?
    • Are you investing in others?
    • Are you continuing to learn?

Trinity Assembly of God—this part of God’s family—needs you!

  • For those of you who are not yet connected, you attend, but you don’t really belong yet.
    • If you live long distances from family friends…
    • If you are in an unsupportive family or marriage…
    • If you feel like you’ve never belonged anywhere…
    • Let Trinity be your family.
      • You are wanted here!
      • You belong here!
    • For those of you who are already members, I want you to fall in love with the church.
      • Fall in love with God’s plan for the church, not your idea of the church.
      • It is the hope of the world.
      • You are wanted here!
      • You belong here!

Prayer

Series Information

As a building, a church is just a mass of steel, concrete, and wood. It’s just a building, nothing more, nothing less. What a building a church is the people who choose to show up and “be the church.” 

If I am the church, then I love God, love people, and I am a disciple who is making disciples.