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First of all, I still marvel at the strength and fortitude shown by Leon Barnes to address our family after such a distressing and painful week. It’s obvious to me that it’s not because he has to or is made to, but because he wants to, he feels compelled to. In our discussions recently on sharing the gospel, I’m reminded how transformative the good news is and how NOT sharing the love of God should hurt us more than getting up the nerve to share it. What are we waiting for?

Yesterday’s message doubled down on this idea as well. Leon’s words on righteousness stuck with me yesterday. Or rather, we might say that Scripture speaks very strongly about UN-righteousness, which Leon described as not simply the acts of doing wrong, but also the vacancy of doing right.

History is a powerful teacher, and certainly over the years our churches have historically taught long on the sins of mankind, the wages of sin, and what actions make up a sinful lifestyle. It’s possible that this emphasis may have even distracted us from seeing that our call to righteousness is actually asking for much more than simply removing the undesired actions from our lives.

James 4:17 “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

As Paul suggests in Romans, James recognizes that “sin” or unrighteousness may not only comprise of those unwanted behaviors but also the lack of good coming from each person’s heart.

Our LifeStage groups discussed the core value of “Disciple” this week, and I think the words of Jesus echo what being a disciple means. He doesn’t say, “you will be known by the good face you put on when you gather together.” He doesn’t say, “you will be known as my disciples by how many sins you DON’T commit or the wrongs you don’t do.” He doesn’t say that disciples will be known for who they DON’T associate with or for what activities they DON’T partake in. Jesus, for whom each of us follows, says, “for they will know that you are my disciples by how you LOVE ONE ANOTHER.”

There is an assumption then addressed by Jesus here in John 13 and it is similar to that of Paul in Romans 1 and Romans 7 and then by James in James 4. The assumption is that you are in the wrong if you are not doing right by one another. Jesus wants his followers to be distinguished by their LOVE, by doing RIGHT, by being made RIGHTEOUS.

None of us are perfect. We all have things that we have had to remove from our lives or things that still weigh us down from being able to realize the fullness of the life God calls us to. And it’s that life, that ABUNDANT, FULL LIFE which is what we are called to live, a life where (as disciples of Jesus) we are known by our LOVE.

• Who is someone in your life whom you need to bless instead of doing nothing?

• Are you showing love to others in a way that people KNOW you are a disciple of Jesus?

• What is one good thing that you’ve felt like you should be doing that you could start doing this week?

Chad Tappe

 

 

For about as long as I’ve been an adult I’ve made it a habit to read the newspaper daily and watch the news to try to keep up with what is going on in the world. Often it is discouraging to simply see all the horrible things going on with death, destruction and devastation everywhere. In such times it is easy to begin thinking that everything and everyone is awful and no one can be trusted. While it is certainly true that evil is prevalent in the world, it would be a horrendous mistake to conclude that nothing was beautiful, wonderful, amazing and honest in life. I’m convinced that while we hear most of those who are out to harm and destroy, they do not represent the majority of humanity. I believe most people want to do right and good and be helpful to one another in life.

When we read the Bible and realize that sin has invaded our world in horrible ways and that sin always has a price to be paid it is discouraging. One of the reasons the good news or gospel of Jesus is so wonderful is that it is available to everyone and that it came to us at the highest price imaginable. God longed for our salvation from sin so much that he willingly paid the price for our sins on the cross with the brutal death of Jesus His own Son. No wonder Paul declared he wasn’t ashamed of the gospel because it is God’s power to salvation to all who believe, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

But to feel the full power of the gospel we must look a little further in Romans one to see full impact of the gospel message. After he declared in verses 17 “Therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. As it is written the righteous shall live by faith.” Then came these horrible words: “For the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and all unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” We love to hear the story of the gospel and God’s amazing love and grace toward us. But it is difficult to hear of his wrath against ALL UNGODLINESS AND ALL UNRIGHTEOSNESS OF MEN. But a view of God that sees only his love and grace and misses his wrath against sin is a false view of God and is an erection of a god of our own liking. The reason the gospel is so powerful is that it saves us from the very wrath of God when we submit to it by faith.
Remember every single one of us is guilty of being ungodly and unrighteous. In Romans 3:23 it says, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” We have failed to be godly or reverent toward God and we have failed in doing the right things He requires. It is also true that we tend to suppress the very truths that most demonstrate our own guilt or failure. It is very easy for all of us to look around and see the horrible failings of others. They are jealous, envious, cheat, steal and lie. They lust and covet for what another has. Their influence isn’t what it should be. But it is far more difficult to see our own failings. “It isn’t my fault” becomes a favorite expression from very early life and continues with us until death.

If we were innately good and could on our own make our own salvation the gospel wouldn’t be so great after all. But when we realize we are helpless on our own to save ourselves and be right with God, it becomes all the more remarkable that God not only wanted our salvation but would pay for our sins and instead place the very righteousness of Jesus to our account when we through faith submit to him and live by faith in him. The whole world needs the gospel to be saved.

What would you think today of a person who had a cure for cancer but refused to share it with other people? How much more tragic it is when we have the gospel to save the immortal souls of all people and don’t share it with others. Risk it this week to tell a friend about Jesus and the good news of salvation. It may change your life and theirs for eternity.

Leon Barnes

I grew up with a stereotypical image of missionaries. I envisioned men and women who journey into the African bush to find small villages of people who have never heard the name of Jesus. These bold men and women gather the local people under a shade tree, preach a Gospel message, and then lead the whole village in a procession down to the river where they baptize people by the dozen.

Our ministry in Angola is nothing like my once-held stereotype.

I live in a city of almost a million people that is saturated with churches, though Jesus has little effect on the average Angolan’s life. Belief in God is nearly universal and Jesus’ name is everywhere. But for many Christians, the Gospel has been reduced to a short list of rules: 1) don’t drink alcohol, 2) don’t smoke, 3) go to “church” on Sunday, and 4) tithe 10% of everything you earn.

It seems to me that the religious culture in urban Angola isn’t much different from many cities in the U.S.A.

I struggle to find opportunities to share the Gospel for two reasons. First, it’s hard to convince people that their understanding of the Gospel is insufficient. Following Jesus Christ is more than a handful of rules that we follow, but reducing Christian life to a handful of rules makes following Jesus a much more manageable task.

Second, evangelism doesn’t come naturally to me. I tend to be task-oriented rather than relationship-oriented. I must continually remind myself that every individual whom I encounter may be an opportunity to share my faith. When I feel busy, I often lose this perspective.

I appreciated Michael Frost’s thoughts in the first chapter of Surprise the World! Frost suggests that, for most of us, opportunities to tell others about Jesus will not arise from bold evangelistic proclamation but rather from living questionable lives. I believe this is true. When I reflect on our ministry in Angola, I see far more fruit born out of our friends and neighbors witnessing the way we live, than I see result from my Sunday sermons or Gospel meetings.

Recently I have been trying to focus more on living a questionable life. I am consciously looking for opportunities to bless others. I make at least three attempts per week to eat with others. (These are two strategies suggested by Frost.) After just a few weeks of developing these new habits, I notice that I am more focused on relationships than tasks. I have also had many more opportunities to explain why I live differently than most.

On Sunday, Wade challenged us to put the Gospel message into our own words – to find our own unique way to account for the hope that we have in Christ (1 Peter 3:15).

I have adjusted the way I share my hope as I have been developing these new habits. One example:

Three weeks ago, I stopped to buy a small item from a woman, Adelina, in an open-air market. The price was approximately $1.75 and I only had a bill worth about $2, so I told Adelina to keep the change.

She smiled and exclaimed, “You white people are so generous!”

I smiled back and replied, “I know many white people who are not generous. But I like to bless others because Jesus blessed others – and I am trying to be like Jesus.”

She immediately replied, “I need to know more about your church!”

I am now one of Adelina’s regular customers and each time we interact I share a little bit more about what I think it means to “be like Jesus.” In fact, as soon as I finish writing this post, I will head to the market to see her again.

I pray every day that God will bring me new opportunities to share my hope in Christ. I pray that he does the same for you.

Robert Meyer

Wade’s sermon this past Sunday was entitled “I am ready.” The preaching passage came from Romans 1:14-17 where, among other things, Paul states, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto Salvation for everyone who believes….”
You know it got me to thinking about the question ‘What is the Gospel of Christ and are we guilty of acting like we are ashamed of it?’ I think that in this age of cultural relativity we sometimes are guilty of trying to package the good news of Jesus Christ into a palatable version of truth, (a ‘Cliff notes’ version of the gospel or what one of my friends refers to as ‘Gospel-Lite’).

While we should make every effort to make the gospel plain and simple for all to understand, I think there is a danger of assuming that people need us to ‘dumb-down’ the truth of God’s word in order for them to understand it! Paul was absolute in his contention that the clarity and simplicity of the gospel message of Jesus Christ was more than adequate to do the job it was designed to do. As a matter of fact, he proclaimed that it “IS THE POWER OF GOD…”. It seems to me that Paul understood that in the simple proclamation of the word of truth, something unique and wonderful happens as a person hears and believes it. The word of God will ignite in their heart and will kindle the fire of salvation to burn within! The challenge for each of us, is to be that spark. I believe our challenge is to be ready to say like the apostle that I am not ashamed to share the story of what God has done for me in saving my soul from sin!

The Gospel is still powerful today and contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be a polished public speaker, a rock star or a stand-up comedian to get people’s attention. God can use each of us sharing our unique story to touch the lives of those around us who are searching for a better way!

It’s nice to sing the old song, I love to tell the story, but are you ready to actually tell it? Let’s not be ashamed to let the world know where we stand and boldly share the ‘good news’ with someone we care about this week!

John Phillips, Jr.

I’m always encouraged by my Central Church family, but for me, yesterday was one of those incredibly impactful days. For instance, Life-Stage Groups 1C and 2A are combining for this month as we discuss the core values at Central. Brian Beck and Lezley Cooper led a tremendous discussion on the values of “ACCEPT” and “RELATE”—how God accepts us and relates with us, but then how we are to accept and relate with others.  Being Missions Month, our worship service began with an interview of Amy Williams and Renada Burt on behalf of Laundry Love. You can tell that anyone who has served with this ministry has been touched by how personal it becomes. Yes, you’re helping to meet a specific need by a specific person, but you’re also making a relationship. What a perfect example of our call to “ACCEPT” and “RELATE”. How cool it is to hear testimonies from brothers and sisters in Christ who are actively and passionately reaching out to those who need to be loved.

After our church family shared an intimate time of communion with each other, it was great seeing the smiles on every face as we witnessed the CentralKids bring their gifts up to the front on behalf of our Peru Mission to children. Our church family has long valued this emphasis on sharing what we have with those who have needs, be it in our community, or through our mission efforts around the world.

Wade also shared a challenge for our church family to review the idea of the gospel in our lives. As Christians, how we define precisely what the gospel message is for us may vary subtly from one person to the next; however, what change has it made? The power of the gospel isn’t limited to its definition but is empowered through the transformation of each person who believes. The gospel doesn’t sit on a shelf collecting dust. The gospel is not meant for but one day out of a week. The good news of the gospel is a life-changing, world-altering, relationship-transforming way of seeing the Kingdom of God.

If the gospel is old news to you, it will be dull news to everyone else.

-Ken DeYoung

We don’t believe something by merely saying we believe it, or even when we believe that we believe it. We believe something when we act as if it were true.

–Dallas Willard

So, what if we lived every day as if the gospel wasn’t “old news”? What if the church believed in the transformative calling of the gospel and acted—each day—as if it were true?

What would be different today? What would be different tomorrow, or next Sunday? How is the gospel changing our lives every day?

Chad Tappe

It seems strange that in the very same Book of Romans Paul would both say to “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law” and “I am in debt to all people” (Romans 13:8; 1:14). How do feel about debt? I don’t like being in debt to another person and would love to declare that I am debt free. But there is a debt that every Christian has that will never be paid in full.
In Romans 1:14-17 Paul wrote these words, “I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘the righteous shall live by faith.”

Like Paul, you and I as Christians are in debt or under obligation. Someone in our life took an interest in us and in our having the opportunity to know Christ and have our sins forgiven. We all sin and fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). “For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of me, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Romans 1:18). Since we are all guilty of sin and God’s wrath is against all sin we are in deep trouble on our own. Yet, someone cared enough for us to tell us about God’s grace. Someone shared with us the gospel or good news of Jesus so we could be saved. We didn’t deserve it. If we received what we deserved we would all be lost forever. The faith God freely offered us salvation that we do not deserve through Jesus and that someone cared enough to tell us what he did, makes us debtors both to Jesus and other people for all our spiritual lives. We owe it to all people that we know to share with them the good news of Jesus so that they have the opportunity to be saved like we are.

Because we are saved by God, God has sent us on a mission. He sends us as ambassadors to the world we live in to represent Him and His cause in the world. As an ambassador of Christ, I’m not a citizen of this world. Instead God’s plan for every Christian is that we would be strangers, sojourners and exiles in this world. Too often we go way too far in our life on earth and become far too much at home here and now and lose sight of our purpose from God. As an ambassador for Christ I am to live in the world as one representing God and heaven, not this world or even this country. When we become too at home on this earth it leads to lots of worry and fret over what is happening around us. But if we keep in mind that we are on a mission from God to be his ambassadors to represent Him and heaven on the earth it changes our entire view of life.

Paul said the result for him was that as much as was in him he was ready to share the good news of Jesus to all people. Over in I Corinthians 9 he described what was involved in that whole mission. “Though I am free from all people, I’ve made myself the servant of all that I might gain the more. To the Jew I became a Jew that I might win the Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the Law (though not being myself under the law) that I might gain those under the law. To those without law, (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) I became as one without law that I might gain those without the law. To the weak I became weak that I might win the weak. I’ve become all things to all people that I might by all means save some.”

Too often we become so engrossed in this world and this life we aren’t even willing to reach out with the gospel to a Democrat if we are Republican or to a Republican if we are Democrats. All such silliness makes the devil in hell jump up and down with joy and it breaks the heart of God and Jesus who died for us. No matter who it is, whether fellow Americans, immigrants or aliens I am to be on a mission to share with them the good news of Jesus because the gospel is God’s power for salvation to all who believe, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. We must never forget our debt and never forget our mission.

Imagine an ambassador from this country going to Russia to represent this nation and when they get there they forget all about their mission and become engrossed in the social life of the Russians. They become so much like the Russians that no one would ever realize that they are ambassadors for the United States. What good would they be as ambassadors? About the same amount of good as that Christian who gets so engrossed in life as a citizen of the United States that they forget their mission from God to share the gospel with all people.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to pay your debt by sharing the gospel of Jesus with the people you are around every day. If you fail in the mission, many who depended on you will be lost forever.

Leon Barnes

Since our kids were little, we have always made a point to avoid saying things like, “We went to church.” The kids would jokingly mimic Brian by saying, “How can you go to church when you ARE the church?” We thought we were fairly on top of helping our children realize that the church is a family of believers rather than the building that they meet in, BUT, as I listened to Morgan Sunday morning and saw the different shirts that he went through, I was struck by the shortfalls of our family’s discussion of the church.
So what shirt do I wear? What ideas or habits keep me from really serving as the body of Christ? Here are some that I struggle with:

1. I have a shirt that clearly says “I am too busy doing important ‘church work’ to spend time talking to you about Jesus and how He can take care of you and any struggle you’re dealing with.” Wow! When you say it out loud it sounds horrible, but somehow it isn’t so horrible when I’m just wearing the shirt. That one needs to go in the trash! It’s simply not at all how Jesus lived, nor how He expects His body to live. Our purpose is to lead others to Him. If we’re too busy to do that, then we are entirely too busy!

2. I have another shirt that sometimes finds its way onto my body that says “My traditions matter more to me than truth.” Ouch! Throw that one out! Let’s lead the way in studying and praying for God’s guidance for every move so that we never get stuck in “what we’ve always done” and are continually finding new ways to serve God better.

3. The last shirt I want to tell you about is the one that says, “Your sins are worse than mine.” Do you have that one? I kind of think it is in everyone’s closet. It is so easy to justify my struggles and wonder why others have such a hard time “living right”. Romans 3:23 says that everyone has sinned, and amazingly, Paul doesn’t follow it up by saying, but some are so much worse than others! Definitely need to exchange that shirt for one that says, “Thankful for Christ’s blood that covers all of our sins.”

I feel sure that we all have different shirts that we need to weed out of our wardrobe—ideas or habits that limit my ability to really serve God and others. I hope my list will start you on the path to making your own list. Then, let’s commit to throwing all these “shirts” in the trash and simply “being the church”—Christ’s living breathing body.

Tammy Beck

Remember a few years ago when the phrase “We don’t go to church, we are the church!” started to be tossed around? It didn’t take long for it to become cliché, probably because it’s both true and also rolls off the tongue. You say it now (obnoxiously, of course) after someone says something about going to church, and it will, without a doubt, induce some serious eye-rolling.

What struck me, though, as I listened to Morgan explore the idea on Sunday, is that the phrase went from novelty to cliché without anything changing. That is, “we are the church” became something we all knew and recognized, but nothing about our behavior—or even our language—about church changed. Does anyone else feel this way? I don’t know if it’s laziness on my part that I don’t change anything, or like Morgan said, we just don’t know what to do with the fact that we are the church. Regardless, I appreciate his words and am challenged to do two things:

1. I am going to change my vocabulary about church.

I believe that until we change our vocabulary about church our perception of who we are, what we do, what it means to gather will not change.

Instead of “I’m going to church”
—> I’m going to say “I’m getting together with the church.”
Instead of “how was church?”
—> I’m going to ask “how was the time with the church?”
Instead of “what time is church?”
—> I’ll ask “what time is the church meeting?”
And on and on it goes.

When we say the former, I think we all know we mean the latter. But I also think that without making this small, simple change, we won’t really start to think about being the church in new ways. What other phrases come to mind that we say all the time? How would you tweak them? (Let’s make a list in the comments, and then let’s change the way we talk about these things!)

2. I am going to start to understand my identity as connected to the church.

I heard The Church Has Left the Building went really well, and that was so good to hear. (Thanks for sharing the pictures Darrin!) But listening to Morgan’s sermon, it hit me: “Doesn’t the church leave the building every Sunday”? Of course it’s helpful to highlight the event and to serve in intentional ways together on the special occasion, but it struck me that we have the opportunity every week to leave the building and still to be connected to one another as the church. I loved Morgan’s “I am His” t-shirt. Collectively, we should be wearing a “we are His” t-shirt, every week as we leave the building. We’re more likely to be a church of inclusion, to serve together, to live out the constant reality of being the church if we recognize that we are connected to one another—whether or not we’re in the auditorium together.

What does this look like in practice? It could be as simple as messaging one of my church friends once during the week asking: “Have you had a chance this week to include someone?” or “Have you had the chance to serve someone?” Just that, I believe, will help me remember to be the church “out there,” so that I can more honestly be the church when we gather together.

Jeremy Daggett

It’s hard not to pick and choose where and when to let my “Jesus side” show.

If I feel like someone is being a jerk in traffic, I want to shove the “Jesus side” of me to the back seat while I have some choice words and gestures for this guy who obviously doesn’t know how to drive. After all, Jesus never drove in rush hour traffic, so he probably couldn’t understand what it feels like to get cut off, could he?

If I feel like someone’s situation tugs at my heart and, for some reason, I feel moved to help someone with money or a kind word, it’s easy to put my “Jesus side” out for display. After all, Jesus was a good guy who had compassion on people and helped them out when they needed stuff didn’t he?

I have a sense of the times my “Jesus side” needs to be on display and when it doesn’t need to be on display.

Unfortunately, the decision is usually weighted almost entirely on what I want and not as often on what Jesus would likely want.

But it is getting better.

It’s not hard to pick and choose where and when to let my “Jesus side” show, but I don’t even want it to be a question or a choice or for there to by a “my side”.
So when that jerk shows up in traffic and cuts me off, I want Jesus’ leadership to shape how I respond with love, grace, etc.

And when someone’s situation tugs at my heart, I want Jesus’ leadership to shape how I help and serve…

…but I also want Jesus’ leadership to shape how I love, serve, and more when someone’s situation doesn’t tug at my heart, but it tugs at his.

And that only happens, I’ve discovered, if I make sure that “I am His” is the filter through which I make all my decisions, think all my thoughts, etc.

This week, I’m challenged to take every thought captive and make it submissive to Christ so that every part of me reflects Christ, not just the parts that I want to make available.

Wade Poe

A few weeks ago we looked at the story of Jesus clearing the temple, and the obvious question was: “What in the world was Jesus so mad about?”

Leon did a great job of expressing the problem at hand; the Jews had turned a place of inclusion into a place of exclusion; they had turned a place to be with God into a place of worldly profit. Elsewhere the Bible teaches that WE, the people of God, are now the dwelling place of God’s Holy Spirit. WE ARE THE CHURCH. And I believe Jesus can become equally angry with us when we operate in a way that stands between people and Himself. This Sunday I hope to look further into what it means to be a place of INCLUSION rather than a place of EXCLUSION. More specifically, let’s look at how can we be a PEOPLE of inclusion rather than a people of exclusion.

What’s the first thing you think of when you think of “church?”

What do you think your coworkers think of when they think of church? What about your friends? Neighbors? Twitter followers?

Do they think of a place of inclusion or exclusion? Do they think of a people of inclusion or exclusion?

As we try to “be the church,” we are met with the task of reflecting the image of Christ to those around us. How can we do that and do it well? Join us for worship this Sunday to talk about being the church and then take action in “The Church Has Left the Building” right after service.

See you there!
Morgan Hines