Sermon Tone Analysis

Friends, our final Scripture reading today is Ephesians 3:8-21.

I invite you to turn their in your Bibles and to pull out your bulletin insert to follow along.

Listen now to the Word of God.

“Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.

His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!

Amen.”

What is the church good for?

For decades, folks went to church because it was the right thing to do – and because your parents, your neighbors, even your boss expected you to.

Now, there are no expectations.

In fact, going to church is out of step.

Some churches are social clubs; others are dedicated to helping their communities.

But what was the church made for?

Apart from a building and activities and programs and aid, why does it matter?

What’s its foundation?

Our first day together as CrossWay, it's a great question to start with.

If we don't know what a church is or why it exists, there's really no reason to be here!

We need to know what is special about this particular church.

Many of us came right around the corner from Church of the Covenant.

What will be the same and what will be different at CrossWay?

That's what we'll talk about tonight...the vision of CrossWay Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

Vision is a popular word.

To be “visionary” is to be forward thinking, to envision how things should be.

Steve Jobs was a visionary.

When he was in charge, Apple was always way ahead of its competition.

How many of you have an iPhone in your pocket?

Apple has a 50% market share in cell phones.

Android phones are made by tons of different companies – Apple has the same amount of business as all of them combined.

They had forward thinking.

The modern church loves vision, too.

No matter what you think of megachurches, their vision is to attract people.

That's no accident.

They work to get noticed.

Virtually every church has a vision statement.

Before CrossWay even formed, before we could get off the ground, we needed a vision statement.

Everybody wants to know what you're about.

It can be a good thing.

Yet when I dove into the Bible the last couple of weeks to talk about vision, I realized something I had never ever noticed in years of Bible reading.

The Bible mentions the insight and good judgment required to understand God’s ways.

It discusses how wisdom is a requirement for leaders to serve faithfully.

But not once will you ever search the Bible and find the word “vision” used in the way we think of it.

There's no concept of earthly visionaries.

Every time the word “vision” is used, it's when God has directly intervened.

Sometimes the vision is visual; the prophets saw something they could have never known otherwise.

But just as often, when someone has a vision, God speaks directly to them.

Biblically, a vision is always from God and about God.

The prophet who saw the vision merely reported on what the vision was about; they never took credit for what was revealed.

So what is God's vision for His church?

In the Bible, the word for church, ekklesia, means “assembly” or “gathering.”

It's the people of God claimed by God who gather together in His name for His sake.

And Ephesians 3 tells us the key role of the church.

Paul writes, “this grace was given to me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.

His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

That's a mouthful, but it’s simpler than we might think.

The church is responsible for the “administration” of a mystery.

The word is oikonomios – where we get the word “economy.”

We are the stewards, the managers, we handle the “economics” of the mystery of God.

Well, what is that mystery?

It's the plan that God kept hidden for ages and is still hidden from so many people.

Through the church – through us, the people of God – God's ultimate mystery, the plan of salvation in Jesus Christ, is made known.

We're the caretakers of the good news.

We're the ones who reveal it to peasants and kings alike until the whole of creation knows who Jesus Christ is and what He did on our behalf to the glory of God the Father.

God's vision for His church – all churches, every body of believers – is for us to make His mystery known.

We're to help others go from ignorance of God to a relationship with Him.

We're to make plain the wisdom that God had in sending His Son to earth as an atoning sacrifice for sin.

We're to make it known that, “In Jesus and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”

We get to come alongside others, and together with them “grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”

As the church, we get to “know this love that surpasses knowledge” and to “be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” That's God's vision for this church and for any group of faithful followers.

Here's how CrossWay's elders worded our church's vision statement, keeping in mind God's vision for the universal church: /our vision at CrossWay is to lead others toward a life-changing relationship with Jesus through service, invitation, fellowship, and the teaching of God’s Word, inviting them to faithfully follow as His disciples./

Let’s break down each part of this and how it involves us.

First, *the church exists to bring people into a life-changing relationship with Jesus.*

That applies to each and every one of us.

We were made by God.

We belong to Jesus.

Everything in the universe exists in accordance with His will and purpose.

We were made for Him.

And as Augustine wrote in his famous Confessions, “our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You, Lord.”

There is nothing more important than having a relationship with Jesus.

Our sin, our brokenness, our unwillingness to follow God’s ways, has separated us from Him.

We wander around life aimlessly, pursuing this hobby, following after this pleasure, going through sorrows and grief uncertain why it all happens.

If we don’t recognize God as the center of life who gives us meaning, no matter how much we accomplish, we ultimately have no significance, no purpose.

Our purpose is found in God.

He made us for a reason.

He created us to glorify Him and to enjoy Him forever.

The only way we can fulfill that purpose is to come into relationship with Him.

When we believe Him – not just believe that He exists, but trust Him, believe Him, hold onto Him in faith – He forgives us completely and begins to transform us into His own image.

He gives us the Holy Spirit as our counselor.

He calls us righteous in His sight, and He begins to root out the sin nature in us.

Where once it was impossible to please Him in our sinfulness, through Jesus the Father makes it possible to truly love Him and to find real joy in Him.

Friends, this is our first night together as CrossWay, but I’ve known many of you a long time.

Many have gone through struggle and heartbreak recently.

For some, it’s the loss of a church building where a lot of memories were made.

For others, it’s our illness or that of a loved one.

Some are dealing with the deaths of those very close to them.

Others are dealing with the ramifications of sins coming back to haunt them.