Find Forever Family
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I have a question for you this morning. Why do you come to church? There are many ways we can phrase this question. Why do we gather? What is the purpose? Who are we as believers in Christ? What is the point? Three years ago, two things happened that brought this church into a position to begin asking those questions again. The first was that you lost your pastor. The second was COVID. When I came, I knew that we would need to spend a period of time finding answers to those questions, and those answers would provide us with the the why and the how of ministry moving forward. Shortly after I began, our state convention began restructuring their church health and leadership department and launched a program they call Regenesis. It was this program we have spent the last nine months working through.
The word Regenesis means new birth or renewal. The process is intended to provide new birth or renewal to struggling churches. Richard, Robin, Paul, Lynn, Ellen, Marci, and myself have been going through this process trying to define who First Baptist Church is and where God is leading us. This morning I want to share with you what we believe God has led us to and what he is leading us to become.
The “aha” moment came to me as I read the book of Galatians. We are going to be in chapter four this morning.
The root problem in Paul’s letter to the Galatians was that there were those who we call the Judaizers who came in after Paul left and led these new Christian converts into following the Law of Moses. They taught that unless you followed the Law of Moses like the Jews did, you could not be saved. In other words, one had to become a Jew to become a Christian. This led to new believers subjecting themselves to circumcision, believing that this act was necessary for following Christ. Paul wrote this letter to combat that idea and call these people back to following what he taught, which was a salvation by faith in Christ alone and by grace alone.
Paul argues that one is justified (made right before God) by faith alone. Obeying the Law of God cannot justify you because everyone fails to obey it. Rather, our trust is in Jesus who did obey the Law of God perfectly and then offered himself as a sacrifice for us, paying the penalty of our sin, and thereby purchasing our pardon, giving us the right to become children of God. In chapter three of this letter, Paul writes about the purpose of the Law of God. To put it simply, the Law of God was given to show us the holiness of God, his perfection, his character, and his standards. It shows us that we are incapable of measuring up to those standards. Verse 24 of chapter three tells us the Law was given to be a tutor to lead us to Christ. Now that the Galatian believers were saved by faith in Jesus, they no longer needed the tutor (the law), and they have become children of God, meaning they (and us) have become heirs to the promise God made to Abraham.
From this, we enter into chapter 4:
Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything,
but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father.
So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world.
What Paul is doing here is drawing on a well known family dynamic taking place in Roman society. Back then, wealthy men entrusted the raising of children to slaves who managed their affairs. While the son was a child, he and the slave shared a similar status. Neither had much freedom or individual rights. The difference was that the son, though he had no real rights, was in a legal position to inherit his father’s estate. But this would not take place until the son reached an age of maturity set by his father and there was a formal acknowledgment of his status as heir. Until that day came, the boy was placed under the care of a guardian or manager who oversaw the boy’s education and upbringing. This would be similar to a governess or a live-in nanny, a butler, or something like that.
Paul is drawing a comparison that helps his readers understand that similar to the way Roman boys were raised, so were we until the coming of Christ. Where the boy was under the authority of a guardian or manager, we are under the authority of the Law of God until a day appointed in which the Father calls us to become his child. From that point forward, we have a new authority and a new manager.
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,
so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
When we come to faith in Christ, we are no longer under the management of the law of God, but now God himself. Our status has been moved to such that we are now sons and daughters of the king. We have received adoption. That adoption is a key term in understanding who we are in Christ. We are not just God’s subjects, as a king might have rulership over a people. Though that is true, there is something much deeper happening here. All of God’s subjects are his children by adoption. When a child is legally adopted, the child has every legal status granted as if the child was naturally born to the parents. There is no distinction. Entering into faith in Christ makes us children of God by adoption, and therefore, brothers and sisters with one another.
It is from these two verses that our new mission statement emerged:
Our mission is to help people find forever family through Christ-centered relationships.
Our mission is to help people find forever family through Christ-centered relationships.
This has become our mission. This must become the heartbeat of First Baptist Church Three Rivers. When we join the family of God, we join a family that lasts for an eternity. We join a family that transcends all cultural barriers. It transcends race, language, geography, socio-economic status, or any other category that we may use to classify people. When we share Christ with someone, and they trust in him for salvation, their adoption takes place and they enter into a series of new relationships. Their first relationship is a new relationship with God. Where they were once enemies of God, alienated from him because of their own sinfulness, God is now their Father, who has adopted them and made them sons and daughters. The second new relationship is with the church. We are now brothers and sisters, united by adoption into the same royal family. When you and I look at one another, it ought to be with the same eyes as we might see those whom we share biological brotherhood or sisterhood with. The third is a new relationship with the rest of the world. Where we were once alienated from God, we are sent into the world as his messengers to find new brothers and sisters through the spreading of his message.
Of all the priorities the people around us have, family is one of the top priorities everyone shares. So why am I here? Why is church important? Why do we do what we do? Because the family of God matters. It is the only family that will last into eternity. When we gather it is to hear from our Father. My love for my Father brings me here to honor him alongside you at 11:00 AM every Sunday morning. I am here because God has called me to use my gifts and talents to help you grow in your love for him and your fellow brothers and sisters. I am here because when God’s children are faithfully executing his business, God brings more people into the family.
This statement is both a statement of what we aspire to be and what we are calling people to. As one enters into a relationship with God, he or she also enters into a relationship with his children both on a global scale and in a local context. We are children of God as much as any Christian anywhere on the planet. Our Philippino brothers and sisters are just as much children of God as we are. But this fellow believer is also as much a brother or sister as you and I are. There is a connection we share that is beyond anything else. Our mission is to help people find forever family.
Paul finishes this section in verses 6-7:
Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
Because we are children of God, we are heirs. We are heirs to the promise made to Abraham. We are heirs to the riches of God. As heirs, we have received the Holy Spirit who is the presence of God within us at every moment. We are the recipients of all he has to offer. Being a part of God’s forever family is the greatest and most rewarding experience of this lifetime.
It was on this basis that we landed on this mission statement. From there, we identified some key values that helped describe who we are. As we thought about who we are, we realized we were a loving, generous and hospitable people. Our opportunities are to grow in being loving, generous and hospitable people. We are going to expand on this in the coming weeks, but we have learned that everything we do as a church ought to help people grow in their capacity to be loving, generous, and hospitable.
We are going to be using a series of key questions to help provide measures of success. Those are:
What is my commitment to the family?
Who is my one?
Who are my people?
Where do I fit?
Where can I be generous?
How am I being hospitable?
We will address these in greater detail, but these questions provide the basis for how we gauge where we are at in becoming a greater loving, generous, and hospitable people.
Finally, I want to talk to you about our process. This answers the question, “How are we making disciples?” First, let me give you a picture of what a healthy disciple looks like.
A healthy disciple is one who loves God. He or she is committed to growing in that relationship and commits to being present on a regular basis. A healthy disciple also commits to learning from God. This person is involved in personal study of the Word of God as well as study in a small group environment. If one truly loves God, he will learn from him. This learning then leads to laboring for God. The more of the Bible you begin to understand and apply in your life, the more you are called to do something with it. A healthy disciple knows how God has gifted them, and they put their skills to work inside and outside the church. This includes things like serving in ministry and serving in missions. As a healthy disciple labors for God, it leads to creating new lovers of God, and the process begins anew.
To achieve this, we must structure the ministries of the church to lead along that path. Here is what we think that looks like. The first level of commitment we are asking people to make is to the Sunday morning gathering. This is where we meet together to hear a word from our Father that provides direction for the rest of the week. The second level of commitment we ask is to connect with each other through small groups. This can be achieved through Sunday school, Wednesday night Bible study, or perhaps another group. It is in this environment that we begin to really develop strong relationships with one another, learn spiritual gifts, and begin to experience ministry on a more personal level. From there, we ask those who are connected to begin serving on a ministry team. Are you in the choir? Are you on the finance team? Are you on the media team? Are you on the evangelism team? Hospitality? Finally, we invest in the community and beyond. As we love, learn, and labor, our desire is to build healthy members of the family of God who will go out and reach new members of the family.
There is much more to say over the coming weeks. This is but an overview of where we have been over the last nine months. What I ask from you this week is two things. First, commit to memory Galatians 4:4-5. It is from these verses our new mission statement was formed. Secondly, memorize the mission statement. We will recite both in our service next week. The Great Commission calls us to make disciples. We now have a road map for doing that.
The last thing I want to leave you with is this. We see a five year time horizon in which this process is going to be implemented. To get there, we are looking at focusing on three key areas: leadership development, evangelism & missions, and music. We think it is critical to train our leaders to do the work of ministry. We are going to create a leadership development plan to take what we are doing and make it better. We are going to develop an Acts 1:8 model for evangelism and missions beginning here in our town and spreading out as God gives the opportunity. Within five years, we will send a group on an international mission trip. We also see the need to modernize our music. We are not ditching traditional hymns, but we will seek to bring in more modern music that will help minister to newcomers. Joe and I have spoken at great length, and we know that this means beginning the search for his successor. Leadership development, evangelism & missions, and music are the three things we will focus on over the next five years to build a more healthy and more vibrant church that will raise up the next generation of leaders.
We desire to see a church body so invested in living out what forever family looks like that the community and beyond cannot help but take notice. This is where we are going. I hope you will join us.