Sunday Service_1/19/20

You guys can go ahead and grab a seat. Thank you van if you guys are awesome. Thank you guys so much right. We're good morning. It's great to see you guys this morning. I was gone last weekend my family. We went up to Lake Tahoe sure many of you've been there before and kind of got a break and stepped out a Santa Rosa and missed a week here. And when I say it's good to be with you is when I really mean that I love being in the presence of God's people and specifically a people srcc and I hope you guys feel that too. I hope you really feel like this is family. I haven't been here long, but in that short. Of time, it is overwhelmingly felt like that for us and I just wanna courage you that if if you're new here this morning or you been here for a while our hearts desire is Manda this this would be family for you you experience that the true community of got here and it's more than just Sunday morning and the you would have a connection with the people here in such a way where Jesus Could speak to your heart we come together believing that Jesus is living and active in us and that God has brought you here today or whatever your situation would have your circumstance whatever you're going through whatever your background is and that the Living God speaks and he wants to speak to all of us this morning specifically on the top pic of community. this morning really looking at this picture of christ-centered community in and talking about how This is a important imperative and what directs and guides us as we think about where we going towards the future the only look at community in the world today in our contemporary culture that we see a society that is starving for it. There are so many people that feel alone. There are so many people that have not experienced true Rich meaningful community that are in a place of desperation. I just this morning as I've been preparing for sharing with you guys found some statistics that were very interesting in regards to this picture of community. One first of all that with technology and social media. We might think that we'd be more connected than ever, right. That's the picture that's portrayed of Hahira get the latest iPhone get the latest social media get connected to Instagram to Facebook to Snapchat get connected to all these ways and then you'll you'll sense true belonging where you're having a connection Beyond just the human interaction and it is disappointed so many it disappoints so many today and and we will look at the effects and what that's having Honor Society. We see a lot of people are experiencing aloneness up. That's really small. You guys probably can't read that will let me share some statistics with you guys. In 2014, when asked how many close friends do you have that you can turn to in crisis? The average answer was five. In 2019, the most common answer was no one.

In 2019. How many people do you know well? 50% answered nobody the most common root cause depression in our society is loneliness. And not being connected to a meaningful sense of work.

There are drastic effects that this has only looking physically we see that there's increased blood pressure in our lives cholesterol levels and it activates the psychological and physiological stress in our lives. Chronic illness is growing at a rapid rate. loneliness increases our chances of early death by 14% And 40% of Americans say that they are lonely 40% of Americans the wealthiest Nation on the face of this planet say that they're lonely and that is increase over 100% in the past 12 years.

We're facing an epidemic here people. Depression of loneliness of feeling a lack of worth in this world my brother-in-law Jeff who worked in a school district as a teacher and in Oregon in Portland, he left you left being a teacher because his heart is breaking over a students in one year. He had three students commit suicide.

My wife and I were talking about how can a person so young and have so much before them feel like their life does not have Worth or value.

This is a big deal.

I've experienced it in my own life. I was 18 or 19 19 my parents want to really bad divorce set me into a downward spiral of depression and feeling alone to the point where I felt like I didn't have anything to live for in and had thoughts of letting go in and training suicide myself and it was in that moment in my life. Thankfully that I had the Lord who spoke so profoundly into my heart that said You are not alone you do have worth you do have value. And was able to speak truth into my life to know. That I need Community. I need Community with God. I need Community with one another and how important it is to have.

And God has given us a mission of the church to share that good news to share that we are not alone to share that God has moved Heaven and Earth. The demonstrate to each and every one of us that we are not alone and that we are designed. We are hardwired to be in community with him. We are hardwired to be in community with one another. And the God wants us to give an understand and experienced a picture of what he is he has made us to be and there's good news in that.

Yeah, we gather here at the church on Sunday mornings, right? But yet so often it's easy to isolate ourselves. Even in this context. How often do we go through the motions where we don't share who we are with people. How often do we go through the motions where was so we lift up our hands and praise and we gather together, but we don't feel known. We don't feel understood. We're isolated in the midst of community. It is something that the enemy. Has a strong hold on. He wants us to feel that we're alone. He wants us to feel unheard unknown unloved and cared for. He wants to isolate us. What is the church we got to cut deeper? And that means each and every one of us saying you know what I'm not okay with the status quo. I'm not okay with being unknown. I'm not okay with being isolated and I want to put myself out there because I know if I want to grow if I want to know and experience the God of this universe and if I want to experience the life that he has called me to That we have to enter into a space where we can be transparent we can share who we are we can be authentic with people. We can open our hearts and our lives and not feel like we have to put together our church clothes and put together this this picture of somebody that were not but we can enter into a space as community and experience God's Redemptive work in our lives and grow through that process.

This morning. We're continuing in the series of talking about what is the God's calling us to as a church as a community. What is the vision that he's given us in and why we have these directives. These directives cost something. The guy that is towards what God desires for us and in us and through us as his people. And so this morning as we talked about christ-centered Community, we want to look at 1st, Peter 2:4 through 10 1st, Peter 2:4 through 10. So if you got a Bible Please open it up. There's versus 40 on the screen, which is awesome and that will jump into this passage and talk about why we have christ-centered Community as a director. Why does so important for us?

Verse for starting a chapter 2 as you come to him a living Stone rejected by men but in the sight of God Chosen and precious you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer your spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ Fort stand in scripture behold. I'm laying in Zion a stone a Cornerstone Chosen and precious and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame so the honor is for you who believe but for those who do not believe the stone that the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone. Eddystone of a stumbling in a rock of offense they stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do but you Church you are a chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation a people for his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of Darkness Into His Marvelous Light.

You play with me?

Heavenly Father we pray this morning Got that you would teach us Lord through your word. Got more than just a cognitive knowledge Lord that we would have a greater understanding and how you want us to live. That we would learn for the sake of putting it into practice not just gaining more knowledge. We pray father the power of your Holy Spirit as you teach us this morning Lord that you would bring conviction that you bring Clarity around the areas of Our Lives that you want us to grow in both individually and corporately and so God we give you this time this morning and we say Lord you teach us we praise in your name. Amen. I want the first thing that we see here in 1st Peter is that are our community. Our understanding of community is shaped by our our Theology and verse for the very first thing he says is as you come to him as you come to him. He Peter wants us to understand who it is that we're going to for understanding of what God has called us to in relationship to being his people. Soe point is first and foremost to Jesus Christ part of the godhead what we understand to be this Trinity that has been taught throughout Christendom. I understand. It's the goddess existing as three persons, but in one distinct from one another but equal in the God Hand, they're all fully God, but they play and function in different roles. And throughout scripture. We see it a picture. That's the God has existed in community for all of eternity within himself. It's part of his nature as part of his character is part of who he is. He does not exist isolated as an individual but he exists as three persons for all of eternity. We see this at the very beginning of scripture don't we as God created the Heaven and Earth would he say he says let us create man in our image after our likeness and there's this plural of let us the activity of creation itself. We see the spirit hovering above the waters and and. Interacting a different ways but in a unified way You see this throughout scripture that is plurality to the throughout the ages. God has always functioned with in this picture of community when it comes to Jesus. We see at the Gospel of John in the beginning was the word and the Word was God and the Word was with God they existed for all time.

throughout the Old Testament and even in Jesus is life. What is Jesus say I can do nothing without the father? I and the father are one.

His death is resurrection. We always see got acting within the community of himself.

So we see this picture of community and God. But he functions in distinct roles, but as unified as one they're equal. It is marked by love is marked by commitment. It is marked by intimacy and transparency in mutual submission. There's no Strife. There's no subordination. You see a beautiful picture of community. It is a turtle in nature. There is never a time as we said before that that Community didn't exist. God has worked out his purposes and plans for all of eternity through this community within himself. And then what does he do? He says, you know what we're going to create man in our image after our likeness. What we know is the Imago Dei that we are created to reflect the very nature and character of God and Humanity. That we are the image of God and and who we are in our substance in our meeting and how we function in this world. And so God says he creates man was he say it's not good for man to live alone. Why because he's like us he's not meant to be lonely. He's not let meant to be isolated. And so God creates man and women. And again, we see his picture in the garden where there's unification. There's no Strife. There's no wrestling for who is better who is greater there of one heart there one mind if there's no shame. There's no guilt. There is no condemnation. There is freedom. There's trust there's intimacy. There is transparency. We see a beautiful picture of the freedom of community the very beginning but as Sin entered into the garden and through that Disobedience immediately, we see fractured Community one of the first things Adam and Eve Do they hide cuz they see that they're naked their shame. There's still this condemnation no longer is there intimacy is no don't look at me don't see me. UC isolation a movement a part of God you gave me this woman. She's the one she's the Cause right there just blame game that even goes on and see we can we see the fragmentation where one at one point. They were fully loved fully accepted an intimate now, there's a complete lack of it the cast from the garden. And we see this Distortion that happens in human Community. It's broken by cenon and Community changes.

There's a breakdown. And we look at 2nd Peter 1st Peter 2. We see that the Peter wants to speak into a picture of a new community that is formed through and end Jesus Christ as a result of his life and his work and conquering the cross. Hedegaard wants to create a new people unto himself to restore the image of God. Inhumanity because of his work because of him going to the Cross. He frees us from the effects and the power of sin when it comes to fragmented and broken community. And so this morning we have to ask ourselves the question. What is christ-centered community what is christ-centered community in the very first one is a very obvious point. It's a community built on Christ Redemption. It's a community built on Christ Redemption and verse for Jesus is described as though that which has been rejected by men, but it's choice and precious in my sight of God goes on to quote him, but he just living Stone a precious Cornerstone. He says the stone that the builders rejected this became that Cornerstone the foundation the very core of Christian Community is Jesus Christ himself. It is in Christ and through Christ that we enter in this community. If we want to be a part of this Christian Community, we don't come on our own account. We don't come on. Our own righteousness will come on our own accord and say God look how much money I have. Look how much Social Status I have. Look how many friends on Facebook look at all the good things that I do right now.

Equals the level of the playing field so that every single person enters into this community not through our own work not through our own status not through our own origin but through Jesus Christ himself equally broken equally sinful equally in need of God's grace and redemption in our life. So let's just get that straight right there if you're coming to church this morning and you're thinking if I go to church on Sunday, it's going to up my pay grade in the kingdom of God, and I'm going to be at the superior place or I can come to God and earn my righteousness before him. You're grossly mistaken. We are all broken. We are all need about mercy and Grace in our lives and that's why we come to Jesus through Jesus and in Jesus into this place.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it this way. I love Bonhoeffer. He he was a man was a pastor during the Nazi escalation and during the times of World War II and was originally initially but his faith for standing up for Jesus. He says this Christianity needs Community through Jesus Christ. And in Jesus Christ. No Christian Community is more or less than this weather it be brief a single counter or the daily Fellowship of Years Christian Community is only this what does it mean? It means first that a Christian needs no one other because of what Jesus Christ has done. It means second that a Christian comes to others only through Jesus Christ. Let me see third that in Jesus Christ. We have been chosen from eternity accepted in time and United for all of eternity.

That's true Jesus as our foundation that he brings redemption in our picture in our understanding of community because of Christ because he has defeated the power of sin and death in this world. We have the opportunity to live out community in the way that God intended it to.

We can be diverse. We can have distinctions. We can have different giftedness. We can have different genders. We can have different languages and cultural background to different experiences, but we are unified in Jesus Christ. We can be once again. at a place or in a community where we serve and love one another not out of a sense of Duty out of a sense of like I owe God that's been at a sense of mutual love and affection. Why is responding to his love in our lives? We can serve one another we can be a community where we are fully known and fully loved we can be transparent we can walk into the space. We can walk into the words of one another so, you know what I am really broken and struggling in this area of my life and we can journey through that process and know that God is working in the midst of that to bring us bring about greater Holiness Our Lives greater faithfulness to him. There's not condemnation. There's not guilt. There's not shame. Acceptance and intimacy because of what Jesus has done on the cross. We have the opportunity to live out community and that way.

and this comes out of a place because we belong to him. We're not our own. We belong to him and we belong to him. We belong to one another as a people of God for all of eternity. Do we get that? We are gods family part of God's people for all of eternity. Our relationships don't end here. They only start here and they carry on for all the time. We've been purchased. We've been redeemed and brought back to life to Jesus.

And this is why Peter says in verse 9. You are a people into God's Own possession. Is Paul put this way to write the Titus for the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all men instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly righteously and godly in the present age looking for the Blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and savior. Christ Jesus who gave himself for us to redeem us from every Lawless deep to plant to purify for himself a people for his own possession zealous for Good Deeds. We live out goodness. We live out blessing this will it out righteousness? Not because we're trying to earn it back to God has already been paid for we live out those things as a result of what Jesus is already done in our lives. When I'm at war with one another not striving against one another. We're serving one another in the very love that Jesus Christ has demonstrated to us. And this is why it's so important that Jesus Christ is our foundation.

We're coming together in any other community other than a christ-centered priced founding type of community. Does anything else is always going to fall short?

secondly A christ-centered community belongs to God and therefore it takes up the mission of God's people because we are Jesus Christ possession. We take up the mission of God's people Peter also tells us in this passage. The in Christ. We are now declared a royal priesthood a holy nation you and me, we're royal priesthood and this was an original declaration made to the people of Israel back in the Old Testament and exodus 19:6 and now Peters taking that imagery and a declaration over Israel, and he's applying it to the church. He said yet. What is real was supposed to be you are now. And it's declaration over those who are in Christ is what meant that we would take up the very mantle the very purpose that Israel as set forth to be. The help us understand this we look at the characteristics of what a priest was. We saw that there was two main characteristics first there a person who has access to God and secondly is a person whose task it was to bring others to God a person who had access to God and a person who brought others to God. And now through Jesus Christ we have this way we have this declaration that has been made over God's people as a royal priesthood to accomplish those same things.

Where does through us this manifestation of the presence of God has experienced the present of the presence of God no longer lives in a temple is not only a secluded place. The only people specific people could go to and now lives in the in us which the New Testament called that we are a temple of the Holy Spirit. The presence of God dwells in each and every one of us can as we come together in community the people might see and no experience a very presence of God before them. That's why would you just says hey where two or more are gathered I am there with you. Because when we come together and christ-centered community and the foundation of what Jesus has done we come together and experience. The presence of the God is with us.

But there's a catch. It's a shame is not so that we could be consumers of the presence of God. It's not so that hey it's all about me. I want to come together so I can have my experience. I can have my moments to go deeper in God. That's not the purpose and well as a by-product that's not the purpose. The purpose is missional so that others might see and know God themselves. This was the task of the priest to be a bridge builder and bring others to him. Jesus Christ did that very thing. He gives us direct access to God because of what he has done. He is our great high priest and likewise because he is our great high priest. He has made for himself a people who are a royal priesthood and do the very same thing.

As a community we take up this role and it's all of us. It's not just an individualistic thing. It's seen as a role of the community of God.

teaches us More clearly here. That we cannot fulfill the mission of God outside of the community of God. Cannot fulfill the mission of God outside of the community of God. There are intricately connected to one another. We can't play Lone Ranger Christianity and just be go off on her own be like I got this me and Jesus that's not the way that he has designed.

I think there's a few things that we can really learn from this passage and take away first how has our viewing experience of community been tarnished by sin? How is our experience interview of community been tarnished by sin? We've grown up in a world of broken Community, haven't we? but maybe some of you You been hurt you've been judged. You've been mistreated. You been hurt by the church. You been burned by the church. Maybe you had a bad example in your upbringing in your family whether you is your mom or your dad. Maybe was a friends who turn their back on you and walked away from when you when you thought you had somebody that you could trust.

I first want to declare that's not in God. That's not him. That's in. That's the Brokenness of the world that we live in and that's what Jesus came to conquer once and for all. And I think we need to make that distinguishment because I think often specially in the church setting we tribute those things to God. That's not him. That's our fallen.

the enemy the devil what have you keep people at an arm's distance? He wants to isolate you he wants you to push people away and not let people and he wants you to be isolated. He wants you to give up and gauging if you want you to put up walls around your life and your heart.

Want you to believe more than anything that you're alone. And that is the LIE of the enemy. He twists the truth and I want to declare this morning.

But that's not God. That's not the message of the Gospel more than anything is that you are not alone. You're not alone. God has not abandoned. You got has not forsaken you and but in fact, I've given up everything so that you can be a community with him and with others. You have a family because of him. You have a community because of him. You're not alone. And just like Earthly families. We don't get to choose who gets to be a part of our family Dewey some of those might wish and hope that we could maybe you've got a brother or cousin or a parent that you just wish man. I wish I didn't have them my family, but that's the same way that the family of God words. We don't get to choose who's part of the church for the people of got God chooses that right? We are born into this faith. And it sometimes it can be messy. It can be broken. There is hurt. But that's not the end of the story. In the midst of that Menace messiness in the midst of that broken is the hope that we have in the reality of the movie that we have that we have the Lord. We have Jesus Christ Living inside of us and he tells us to bring our messiness to him. He said bring me your lame. Bring me your broken. Bring me your poor bring me your Outcast bring me all those as Society doesn't want to bring me all the messy people. So they because they can become my people. As we enter into this community broken with journey alongside of one another and it's precisely we find Redemption that's precisely we find reconciliation and healing and meaningful relationships meaningful growth. That's where we amateur. That's a place that were fully known and fully loved. And so Peter tells us this doing that is God building a spiritual house and you handed me.

He wants us to know and experience that we belong to him and that we belong to one another. Second-lien. How does God want to change and redeem your perspective not only a community but of him through Community. How does God want to change your perspective of him through Community belonging means that we enter into a clearing clear understanding of the very character and nature of God himself. The shorter Westminster catechism says that the chief end of all man is to know God and to love him more. The ability to know God his character and what his life is shaped by our understanding in our experience of Christ center community. Are part of the very nature of God himself is communal. Then if we choose not to engage a community we limit ourselves and how we can understand God more fully.

It's part of who he is. And so if we choose to disengage we choose to step back from the depth and understanding of what we can know of God. We limit ourselves in our understanding. We also greatly limit our experience of an insight into the new life that Jesus says that he comes to bring. 2 Jesus makes a lot of promises of what the new life looks like. If you want to know peace Everlasting Joy on ending what it looks like to live out in a redeem sense of what community is you have to be part of it. A part of it means that you're engaging you're not disengage. You're not isolating until christ-centered community. That is to know God if you want to grow in your depth in your relationship with God if you want to grow on your maturity, if you want to understand what God is like we have to be engaged and Community it works against the very nature of what Christ came to do. Ansible logging means then third. The we are committed to the mission of God through Christ centered community community. We are committed to the mission of God through Christ centered community community is not about us and what we get out of it. I've said that before no matter how much Western Society tells us that the world is all about us and revolves around us and amount how much are influence of consumerism is all about appealing to our desires. Church Community Christ center community its truest sense is a speedy that centered around 20 ourselves out to God and to others. He's first others are second. And see that the result of this is intrinsically that means it will be fed into we will be receiving if all of us are working together before our lives for the sake of others inevitably we will be a part of that. We will receive something beautiful and good and Christian Community, but that is not its end goal. It's not his priority. What are most powerful ways we can demonstrate the love of Christ is through this type of community desires to bring others into life-giving loving transparent Grace filled relationships a people Longing To Serve one another to love one another.

Imma show 9 we bought with experience this ourselves that we've been apart of community for Christian comedian. We're being part of the church for many years and there are many people out there that alone and in their longing for for this type of community you realize that I mean even in Calistoga when we were at the church out there my eyes were opened because there's a huge elderly population that are living in mobile homes, and we decided that he wants a month we want to do these work projects to go out and just pick weeds for people who can't pick weeds because you're not physically capable of doing it and more often than not what would happen is as we would go do this work service project for these elderly people they would come outside and they would just talk and talk and talk. Is there a long? They don't have anybody to talk to they don't have anybody to connect to. And a long and striving after a true sense of community and our neighborhoods in the people that we see around us there. So many people that are isolated whether they're married couples or not. And they're not connected to community and it's amazing how we just take steps to engage and bring Community to them how powerful is it? They can see Jesus Christ and alives.

God has called us as people.

To be missional through community and Jesus was doing this all the time. He was constantly eating with Sinners of something that he was judged for by religious leaders of his day the news constantly engaging and table Fellowship. He was bringing people into a sense of his community understanding of his community. And so likewise as high priest we are called as the church as christ-centered Community to bring others into that space in our lives. wheel statistically look at the world around us and how many people who are even open to for unchurched for open to coming into the space? If you were to invite them only 15 to 20% of the population would say that they're even open to coming and attending a church service. So what are we doing with the 80% of the other people? How are they going to experience christ-centered Community? How are they going to see the love of God and our lives? Because there's so many people out there that they're not about. Hey, I don't want to hear your message. I don't want to hear what you want to tell me. I want to know that you love me. I want to know that you care about me. I don't want you to come at me with just your messaging. I want to know that you see me. And so we have to as a church go outside of these walls and enter into these missional spaces and bringing christ-centered Community to those who are desperately needing it. As a church, I would ask us this morning. How are you doing at that? How we doing it live in missionally for Jesus in the city. and our neighborhoods The people that we rub shoulders, I mean I myself, you know, we're involved in sports Athletics and we're constantly connecting with people who are unchurched and there's opportunity for us to extend our door are open home to them and speak into build a sense of crisis center community to show them into partaken table fellowship with them and and to bring them into what it looks like to follow Jesus and see that the love of God in our lives.

Church the world needs us. Because the world needs him. I need to see what Christ's an authentic real. Kingdom Community looks like I got is called you and me to bring it. So we think about this next year in the years for the weenie challenge this morning. The God wants us to live more Michelin this place. Not just to come here and partake but to extend and serve and bring others into his community. Israel was to be a light unto the Nations. The purpose of God's people was to shine brightly in darkness. So that people be attracted to the life that they would see it and it would come and be part of the people of God, they failed at that mission, but Jesus overcame he fulfilled me has given us the same task as God's people to be that like a holy people distinct from the culture living out something different in this world. That we might bridge the gap.

We might bridge the gap for the sake of Jesus Christ. You pray with me Heavenly Father God. We thank you that you have called us to this sort of community Lord and God that might be scary. There might be risking that there might be risk of getting hurt there might be fear Lord.

Forgot I pray. That we would not be afraid. But I pray that you would give us courage to stake steps in the direction that you want from us in that. That we would allow ourselves to open our hearts including myself, Florida. We would not live in isolation amongst one another. Forgot that we would live in mutual dependence there would be transparent. Featherweight open our hearts with where we're at and what we're going through that you would come in and work through those relationships toward them. We might walk alongside one another presence of God In This Place Lord. We might be that royal priesthood a chosen people.

Can we pray? So desperately. We cry out to you and ask for that we would be your church and the way you called us to forgive us. For making it something else.

Forgive us. If we made it a show Lorde. And we just been going through the motions. Help us to live at Lord help us help us to declare it. God made you use us for your kingdom. May you use us to draw others into the light. May you bring Redemption and Reconciliation and healing in this place Lord. We love you my princess in your name. Amen.