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06.29.08

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

SERMON SERIES; THE WORK OF THE CHURCH

PART 4: FELLOWSHIP

PSALM 133; HEBREWS 10:19-25

The Dilemma of Declining Numbers

Excuses for Missing Church

“I don’t need to go to church to be a Christian. I can worship God on my own any way I want. I feel closer to God in the woods, at the lake, or on the golf course than I do in church.”

How often have we heard those words from others!!
Another one I’ve heard frequently is: “I believe in God, but I don’t believe in the church. The church is full of hypocrites and I don’t want to be associated with hypocrites.”
These are just a couple of the excuses people give for not going to church, and there are enough excuses around to fill volumes of books
What happened to the days when the church was full because everybody went to church?
How we long for those days to return

One of the truths of 21st century society is that the church has lost its place as the center of community

Sociologists declare that, not only are we living in a postmodern culture, we are also living in a post-Christian culture
With the “blue laws” no longer on the books, which protected the practice of Christian tradition, and with the broad cultural and religious diversity that exists in our society, Christianity has lost its protected status
To say we live in a post-Christian culture doesn’t mean that Christianity is dead, it simply recognizes that the Christian way of life is just one of many options from which people can choose
And it means that we who are Christian have to work harder and do a much better job at teaching and living the faith we profess

The Influence of Individualism

Add to this the value our culture places on individualism, and you’ve got a major hurdle for the church to overcome

One thing that is radically absent from our culture in this century is a sense of community
We’ve become a conglomerate of individuals occupying adjoining spaces without any sense of connection
You do your thing and I do mine, and occasionally our paths cross, but we do our best to avoid really connecting with each other

We need only to look at the statistics to know that this is true

Not only has church attendance declined in the past thirty years of so, membership in civic and social organizations has declined as well
Everyone is competing for new members and struggling to survive, and volunteerism is down as well
Volunteerism, civic pride, and religious faith peak during a time of crisis, but very shortly, that spirit of unity and faith wanes and we return to living in our own little box
Remember what happened after September 11 when churches, synagogues and temples were full and lines of people stretched for miles to give blood?
Where are those people now and where's that spirit today?

An Opportunity for Ministry

While this cultural climate is a challenge, it provides the church with an enormous opportunity for ministry

Because we have become so disconnected in our culture, there is a flood of people who are hurting because they are isolated and lonely
There’s no one to whom they can relate in a meaningful way

While we value our individualism, the truth is we can’t make it on our own—we weren’t wired that way

We weren’t wired to live in isolation, we were wired to live in relation
We weren’t wired to be independent, but to be interdependent, so that we can share who we are, what we know, and what we have with each other and respond to meet each others needs

Contrary to the popular notion that faith is a personal matter between the individual and God, Christian faith is to be a community faith

While it is true that salvation is a personal matter between an individual and God, once the decision is made to follow Jesus Christ, Christian faith must radically change the way we live for the rest of our life
Because we have a new relationship with God, we must also have a new relationship with others
Being involved in a community of faith within the church gives us the opportunity to practice building meaningful relationships with others so that we can go out and build meaningful relationships with those outside the church
Excluding ourselves from the fellowship of believers is not an option for the Christian
Our faith makes us part of the body of Christ on earth, which is the church, and when we exclude ourselves from the fellowship of the church, the body is not whole, and when the body is not whole, it cannot function effectively

The Ministry of Fellowship

Our Call to Belong, Not Just Believe

Fellowship is the fourth core value of the church given to us by Jesus in the second part of the Great Commission: “baptizing them in the mane of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

In our worship we offer to God the best of what we have and we hear and respond to God’s call and claim on our life
We move from our worship equipped by God to minister to the very real needs of others, sharing with them God’s love
As we minister to others where they are, we share with them how we’ve experienced God’s love and grace and invite them to share in God’s blessings through faith in Jesus
When that invitation is accepted and faith is professed, the next step is to welcome them as sisters and brothers in the family of God

Jesus includes this statement about baptism in the Great Commission because fellowship is an important purpose of the church

On this purpose, Rick Warren says, “As Christians we are called to belong, not just believe. We’re not meant to live lone-ranger lives; instead we are to belong to Christ’s family and be members of his body.”
Both of the sacraments we practice are sacraments of belonging
Baptism isn’t only a symbol of salvation; it’s also a symbol of fellowship
In this sacrament, we die with Christ to sin and are raised with him to new life
The reason this sacrament is practiced in the context of public worship is because it visualizes our incorporation into the body of Christ
Each time it’s celebrated, we renew our own baptismal vows as we welcome a new person into the family of God

At the table of our Lord, we gather from all walks of life to share a common meal

To sit at table with another is the ultimate form of fellowship and acceptance
As the bread is broken and the cup is poured, we are reminded of the sacrifice Jesus made for all, and we look forward to the day when Christ will return in glory
As we share the bread and cup together, we receive the gift of Christ’s life within us and we are empowered to live fully and faithfully
Bound together by a common faith in one Lord and Savior, this table is open to any and all who believe
The church exists to provide fellowship for believers

The Value of Fellowship

The Psalmist sings a song of praise to God for the joy of fellowship and unity

While his images of pouring oil over the head and the dew of Mount Hermon are cryptic to us, his point is that people living together in common unity, enjoying the fellowship of deep, meaningful relationships, is refreshing
Meaningful fellowship with others is good for the body, mind, and spirit, and meaningful relationships with others bring us into a deeper relationship with God
The alternative to fellowship is what we see so much of in our world—strife, discord, broken relationships, isolation, and all the effects these things bring with them
We weren’t designed to live this way--we were designed to live together in peace and harmony
One of the major responsibilities of the church is to bring people together in meaningful relationship with God and with each other

The writer of Hebrews celebrates the fellowship we have with God through the death and resurrection of Jesus

The curtain that separated humans from God is removed
At the moment of Jesus’ death, the curtain in the Temple separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was torn in half from top to bottom, symbolizing that the curtain of our sin has been removed
There is nothing separating us any longer from God; fellowship with God has been restored

Because we have fellowship with God we also ought to have fellowship with one another

Holding onto the hope we profess, we must come together to “spur one another on toward love and good deeds”
We need fellowship so that we may encourage one another
As we come together in meaningful ways and share the stories of both our struggles and our victories, we strengthen the faith and stamina of others as they seek to be faithful to living as disciples of Jesus
Life is too hard to go it alone—we need the strength and support of others as we struggle through life’s difficulties
The church is better equipped to provide that support than any secular institution because the Church’s focus is on love, acceptance, and grace
The church alone has the opportunity to offer people both a meaningful relationship with others and a meaningful relationship with God

Are We Faltering In Our Task?

Are we as welcoming as we think we are?

Are we willing to invest the time to incorporate newcomers into the life of the church so they will want to stay?
One problem in many churches is that the back door is wider than the front door
It’s hard for people to get in and easy for people to leave
Every church in America will make the claim that it is a friendly church, but the question is, “Friendly to whom?”
We may be friendly to each other because we know each other, but are we friendly to those who visit, who are seeking to become part of our family? And have we even asked them?

The ministry of hospitality is important because it’s the way we begin to introduce people to Jesus

But we must offer more than good hospitality; we must also provide them with ways of building meaningful relationships
Simply being a good host without providing the means for deeper relationships to develop says, “You’re welcome to visit, but we don’t want you to move in.”
Richard Pierson, in his book Needs-Based Evangelism, identifies three issues related to fellowship: how the church receives members, whether the church has a clear sense of purpose and direction, and how the church cares for the needs of others

In regards to how we receive members, Pierson says, “The church must present itself so authentically that there are no surprises. It’s important that we have a time of clear assimilation, in which we, in a variety of ways, develop means to help new members become more closely involved.”

That may be done by assigning new members a shepherd or a sponsor, offering classes on spiritual gifts, orientation classes and a variety of other means
The health of a local church is critical for gaining and keeping members

Often, people leave a church because there is no clear sense of purpose or direction

“When individuals feel a strong sense of purpose and direction and understand the church’s mission, they will tend to express loyalty and consistency,” Pierson says. “They will be stronger in their giving as well as their serving. When individuals believe in what the Church is doing they are more compliant and resistant to shopping and leaving.”
When a church has a sense of mission and purpose and is clearly making a difference, people respond positively and want to stay and be involved
This gives them the opportunity to develop strong and caring relationships that add meaning to their lives

Finally, Pierson says that people leave a congregation because their needs are not being met

When classes are ineffective, the music is boring, and care is not given, people leave
The quality of care a congregation offers is critical to the health of the church because it indicates the quality of our fellowship
Quality care, offered not only by the pastor but by the members of the church as well, is a clear sign of how much a person is valued
When we feel that nobody cares, it is easy to leave

If we truly want to be a church that meets the needs of people, we need to pay attention to the quality of our fellowship

An occasional potluck supper isn’t enough to encourage the kinds of relationships people are seeking
We need to invest the time and the effort to help people feel they belong, and give them the opportunity to serve in meaningful ways
Christian faith is about belonging, not just believing
People believe they are loved and accepted by God when they experience it in meaningful ways from those who are already part of the body of Christ