You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
Our passion is to experience and express grace.
Join us.
Thank you all.
Beautiful, beautiful reminder of our hope.
We started talking last Sunday about being a biblical community, the things that God's
Word tells us about a church that God would use to storm the gates of hell, to bring revival,
renewal.
And we saw last week that it must begin with our being Christ-centered, focused on Jesus,
His person, His cross, His Word, His body.
That's our first core commitment as a church, committed to being Christ-centered.
It has implications for us.
We're going to talk about those over the next few weeks.
What does it mean when you're Christ-centered?
What else does that look like?
This morning, talking about being a missional community, a community on mission together.
Now, when you think about it, most groups of people have a mission that brings them together
and unites them.
A sense of purpose.
A definition of success that the group kind of unites around.
In fact, you know, as we speak, there are football teams across the country beginning
to practice with national championship aspirations in mind.
All right?
That's where we want to go.
Every player on the team is working toward that goal of standing there in January, holding
the trophy with the confetti coming down around them.
That's what they're working towards.
Many of you work for businesses where being successful means making money, paying off for
shareholders, perhaps other things too.
But the bottom line is the bottom line.
You've got to make money to keep going.
Like my family, many of you are members of a neighborhood pool or a club of some sort or another
where the goal, the purpose of its existence is to provide benefits, services to those who are members of that club.
Right?
That purpose, that's what's going on, why they get together.
And that goal of benefiting those who are a part of a group is so normal to us, whether it's a team or a club or a business.
How can we benefit each other?
That's often the way we approach church too, isn't it?
It's the consumer mentality of how is the church making me feel?
What services does the church provide my family?
How does it reflect on me or contribute to my personal success in life?
Can we admit that those are often the things we think of as the mission of the church?
We might not call it the mission of the church, but we think that's the purpose.
That's why I would want to be a part of the church.
That's what I'm looking for in a church.
Don't we often look at it that way?
No, we're talking about being a community, a group, connecting relationally with each other.
And that's valuable, isn't it?
Having those relationships, but not merely community for community's sake.
That's not the mission of the church of Jesus Christ.
And in fact, the Bible says it's quite the opposite.
Did you know, for instance, that we could keep every single one of our members happy
and still not accomplish the mission of the church?
Did you know that we could meet budget 30 years in a row and fail to achieve the mission
of the church?
Did you know that we could grow numerically, double in size, and look like we're doing
great things and still not achieve the mission God has given to us as His church?
We see the mission of the church all over the place in God's Word.
But I want to read us just a couple verses from 1 Peter as we get started and then we'll
pray.
Peter is writing in chapter 2 of his letter about the church that God is building on the
cornerstone of Jesus.
And in verse 9, he gives us this clear statement of our identity and mission as those following
Jesus.
This is God's holy Word.
But 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.
Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people.
Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Let's pray.
Jesus, would you be with us this morning?
Would you, as we have just prayed in song, would you abide with your church?
Your church everywhere and especially, Father, would you abide here in our presence this morning
with this church for the sake of your kingdom?
God, would you abide with us?
Show us what you would have for us.
Show us Jesus by your Holy Spirit.
We ask in His name.
Amen.
Here's the bottom line this morning.
I'm not going to trick you or hide it from you.
For this aspect of being a biblical community, a church God uses.
Last week we said that the church God uses must remain focused on the person of Jesus.
Now, today, as we are, a church centered on Jesus, what does it look like?
It must be on the mission of God together.
Now, that's very simple, but it's a harder mission than you think.
And it's a more glorious mission than you could even imagine that we are called to and put here for.
So, before we come back to 1 Peter 2 and other passages that tell us about that,
let's remember briefly what God's mission in this world is.
We must be on His mission, not just whatever we want to do.
We must be on His mission together.
And the Bible tells us that God is up to something from the very beginning.
In the very beginning, God creates a world to display His glory,
to give Himself in relationship to people,
and those people then in turn are to reflect His glory over the whole creation.
That's God's mission, His glory being known in relationship and shared everywhere,
filling the earth.
But we messed that up, didn't we?
Looking at ourselves, we didn't reflect His image,
but instead rebelled against Him and wanted to do things our own way.
Brought a curse on the entire creation that was intended to display His great glory.
And so, God sets about, from early in the Bible,
a mission of redeeming and restoring all of His glorious,
now broken, creation.
Especially those broken people that He made in His image.
God is on a restoration mission.
He is making all things new, Revelation 21.
Bringing us back into relationship with Him that we were created for
and renovating all of creation, Romans 8,
so that it reflects His glory perfectly again.
His kingdom coming on earth as He always intended.
And just as God first created people to live in relationship with Him
and then to reflect His glory to the whole creation,
in that same way, God on His restoration mission is up to the same thing.
giving Himself for people in relationship,
to restore that relationship with them,
and then giving them to others
to restore those people in relationship.
Everyone and everything restored to the glory that He intended for it at first.
You can see this pattern in the story of Abraham.
Peter read for us earlier as we confessed.
God says, I will bless you.
We'll have this special relationship
and then you will be a blessing to others, to the nations.
And perhaps the clearest Old Testament image of this
is the entire nation of Israel.
All of them told in Exodus 19
what their mission is as God's people.
Verse 4,
You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians,
how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.
Now therefore, if you'll indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant,
you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples.
That's who they are.
They have this special relationship with God, right?
As His treasured possession.
God's brought them into that relationship,
but then they have this glorious mission.
All the earth is mine,
and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests
and a holy nation.
They have a glorious mission to be priests,
to restore relationship with the rest of creation,
to represent God and pass along His glory to everyone around them.
That's what that means.
You don't see it there maybe in that verse,
but that's what priests do.
They stand between God and the people.
In the nation of Israel,
there was one tribe out of the twelve.
They were the priests, right?
They stood between God and the rest of the nation.
Sacrifices,
prayers,
speaking for God to the people.
That was their function.
They represented Him to the rest of the nation.
But then God says here
that the entire nation
will be a kingdom of priests.
It's not Israel alone
that God wants to have relationship with.
Who's He interested in?
The whole earth.
All the earth is mine,
and so I need a group of you to be priests
to represent me to them.
You be priests, Israel.
Passing along the glory of restored relationship.
Restoring every person,
every plant,
every policy that's gone wrong
to the way I intended this world to be.
Israel struggled with that.
But that restoration mission reached its climax,
of course,
in the life,
death,
and resurrection of Jesus,
who restored relationship with God
ultimately through His cross.
He died to see us restored
in our relationship with God.
And He sends His followers,
His people,
out on that glorious mission of restoration,
doesn't He?
1 Peter 2 is just one great picture of that.
It actually quotes that Exodus 19 passage.
Who are we?
We, like Israel,
have this special relationship with God
because He restored it by His mercy.
That's the cross.
And now we have not only the relationship,
we have this mission as priests
to carry that on with everyone else.
To proclaim His excellencies.
To tell His glory, right?
Everywhere.
That's why we're priests.
We're a special people
in order that something might happen,
that we have a purpose and a mission
proclaiming His excellencies everywhere
so God's mission can be accomplished.
In other places,
the church is called ministers of reconciliation,
ambassadors of the King.
Jesus tells His followers before He ascends,
you will be my witnesses
to the ends of the earth.
And as you go throughout all creation,
what are you going to do?
Make disciples of all nations.
Others who reflect the glory of God
all over His creation.
Do you begin to see why it's not enough for us
as a community just to be about ourselves?
It's not enough, is it?
It's not enough just to exist
for making each other happy
and enjoying life together.
All of these descriptions that I just read
of the church's calling
turn us outward toward the rest of creation.
God's got a glorious mission
that He calls us into.
It's a mission of restoration.
That as we know His glories,
we declare His glories to others.
As we experience His justice,
we share His justice with others.
As we taste the wonder of His grace,
we offer grace to others.
Experience and express grace.
That's our shorthand mission statement here.
God gives Himself in relationship with you
over and over when you don't deserve it.
Experience grace.
And then God sends you to give yourself
in relationship with others
over and over again
when they don't deserve it.
That's what we're called to.
Being Christ-centered
means we must be outward-facing,
priests who represent God to others,
proclaiming His excellencies
so that the earth is filled with His glory.
See, that's why God created you.
It's why God called you into this community.
Did you know you were created
for greatness like that?
For glory?
For being a part of something that's eternal?
That will always matter?
Don't you want that?
It's what He made you for.
It's why He's in relationship with you
and loves you and cares about you.
He has something great and glorious for you.
Bishop William Temple said,
the church is the only society
that exists for the benefit
of those who are not its members.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said it this way,
the church is the church
only when it exists for others.
The sad thing is that through history,
the story of church history
is one of Christians and churches
forgetting this over and over
and needing to remember it
and come back to it.
They've neglected this mission
that God gives them.
But when a rekindling of love for Christ
has happened in the church,
it inevitably and invariably
involves the church being on this mission
as a result.
If you go back to the early church
and read through the book of Acts,
they go off on this mission
that Jesus has sent them on
with great passion, right?
Sharing the good news of a risen Savior.
Caring for each other in incredible ways
and as one Roman emperor even noticed,
caring for their poor too.
But as you study church history,
time and time again,
that's been forgotten.
What usually happens is something like this.
The church gets some cultural influence.
Having shared some of that good news,
it begins to take root
and they begin to feel comfortable
and see their impact on the society
and that missionary impulse fades.
It doesn't seem nearly as important anymore.
The church settles in
and gets comfortable
pursuing the same goals
and missions as everyone else.
Existing for themselves.
Personal success, wealth, power, comfort, fame
becomes the driving mission
for which individuals
and the church together exists
and with that as the driving mission
of people's lives,
the church is relegated
to spiritualizing birth and death
and maybe some occasional moral guidance
for how I'm supposed to live
while I run the same rat race
everybody else is running.
Church historian Richard Loveless
explains that this was exactly
what Jonathan Edwards found in America
in the early 1700s.
The people in his congregation
were respectable
and had a rote orthodoxy.
Quote,
but their ultimate concerns
were not God and His kingdom
but land and the pursuit of affluence.
Skip that, it's too convicting.
Let's see.
Actually, what he's describing
is an approach to life
that if we're honest,
most of us can identify with
pretty quickly, can't we?
It looks something like this.
An approach to life
where at the center of everything
is myself.
And everything else in my life
works to make me feel
like a successful self.
What I want to be,
this idealized version of myself.
Everything contributes to that
and it revolves around
that idea of me being successful
however I define that.
In Huntsville, Alabama,
you've got to acknowledge
that many people
have spirituality
as a key part of that.
Even Jesus.
It's important
to their overall image
of what a good self is.
You've got to sprinkle
some going to church
and some knowing some phrases
and being with the right kind of people
in order to be who you want to be.
But the biblical picture
is actually quite different.
It's just a small change
but Jesus actually
moves into the center.
His mission,
His glory
is what I'm about
and why I exist
and that defines my identity.
That changes how I spend my time.
Rearranges what relationships
I invest in.
It transforms my purpose
in the workplace.
It's an entirely reoriented life.
When Jesus is the hub
not merely a spoke on the wheel.
It makes all the difference.
It actually drives and changes
all the rest of
what I'm involved in.
And when what we call
the Great Awakening
came to Jonathan Edwards' congregation
the Holy Spirit
used the doctrines of sin
and Jesus' death on the cross
as we talked about last week
to show them
the glory of God
afresh.
They'd lost sight of it.
Here's what he writes.
The gravity of covetousness
which had drawn their hearts
to earthly concerns
was reversed
and merchants began
to neglect their business
to talk about God
and their souls.
The Word of God
suddenly had free course
in congregational worship
since the laity
were now in touch
with the reasons described
in the minister's sermons.
Hymns were now a delight
rather than a habit
and a duty.
The lay people's passivity
and witness
gave way to a new concern
for others.
You hear that?
Their restored relationship
with God
that they'd never really
experienced like this before
created a passion
to spread that restoration
to others around them.
And what happened?
the great awakening
was born.
A great revival
across a whole region
of this country.
Stop and think about that.
That may seem crazy.
You may think
that doesn't happen anymore.
Can you imagine
the impact
when not just one person
but a whole community
of people together
see Jesus move
from a spoke to the hub?
See Jesus move
from being something nice
to sprinkle on the top
to being what drives
everything that I do?
Can you imagine
how it impacts
not just a Sunday morning
worship service
but lots of your neighbors
and the city's business
and schools
and government?
we now see our homes
as mission outposts.
Our money
as mission ammunition.
Our jobs
and our free time
as mission opportunities
for Jesus.
It's all for Jesus.
The Bible says
God has made you
for so much more
than merely seeing
how much money
you can make.
Seeing how many people
you can impress
and get to think
you're great.
Seeing how early
you can retire
and with how many toys.
He's got more
in mind for you
than that.
He's made you
to know
and share
His glory.
And we haven't even
touched what it's like.
We're just getting
to know Him
and more and more
growing in that.
He's got that.
He wants you to continue
growing in that.
His word tells each of us
to offer our bodies
as living sacrifices.
Romans 12.
That whether we eat
or drink
or whatever we do
we should do it all
for the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10.
That whatever we do
in word or deed
we should do it
as unto the Lord.
Colossians 3.
And when a community
of people
facing outward
on mission like that
gathers together
it is a force
on God's mission
for God's glory.
glory.
That's
what He's creating
here.
And one of the
greatest challenges
to this
is that
God calls us
to stay
in many of the
same places
while we have
this uncommon mission
that we're pursuing.
He calls us
to very normal
jobs
to engage
with normal
people
to participate
in many normal
activities
and y'all
can we just be honest
it's simply
hard
to engage
in normal life
without normal
goals and motivations
isn't it?
It's really hard
to be a part
of a community
and a culture
where you're doing
everything
that everybody else
is doing
but your goals
and motivations
and the way
you go about it
is different.
That's just not easy.
And yet
it would in a sense
be easier
to find a mountain
somewhere
to go live
on the top
of that mountain
and just think
about Jesus
all day
every day
wouldn't it?
If Jesus
was going to be
at the center
it would be easier
up on a mountaintop
somewhere
and God
has put you
where?
Right here
in Huntsville
and he's called
you actually
to have
Jesus
and his mission
shape every moment
of every day
right where you are.
One of the most
important things
to remember
in that
is that it's
it's a mission
of word
and deed.
Whatever we do
in word
or in deed
those things
must stay
connected to each other.
We proclaim
his excellencies
with our words
and our actions.
Jesus did it
the Bible
teaches it
we say it
in our core
commitments
you can see
there in your bulletin
but what does that mean?
What does it mean
that we're about
God's mission
every time we speak
and act?
Well
think of it
this way
there's a reason
that grocery stores
give you samples
you know
you've had them before
don't act like
you haven't been
to Sam's
or Costco
there's a reason
they do that
it's not just
to keep you there
shopping longer
so you'll spend
more money
why do they do it?
Because they know
that you're more likely
to buy something
that you've tasted
and enjoyed.
One of our favorite
dinners that
Christy makes
our family
is a shrimp pasta
she may never
have tried
making it
but she
sampled it
at the grocery store
one day
and when she
tasted it
and loved it
she turned around
and walked back
to the counter
and did what?
Do you have a recipe
for that?
What did you use
to make this?
Can I have that recipe?
You see the recipe
tells people
how they find
the life
that God intended
for them
but the taste
makes them
long for it.
We are to declare
that true significance
is found
in the glory
of God
that's the recipe
and we are to
demonstrate
the glory
of His kingdom
in how we work
and love
and serve
that's the taste.
Think about it
people don't want
to hear about
a holy God
who's worthy
of everything
from someone
who lives
to please Himself.
People don't want
to hear about
a God of grace
and forgiveness
from someone
who condemns them
and looks down
on them.
People don't want
to hear about
a God
who loves
the poor
and the oppressed
from rich people
who try hard
to avoid them.
It doesn't
match up
does it?
The taste
and the recipe
the word
and the deed
churches that God
has used
in bringing revival
have kept both
aspects of that
restoration mission
together.
That both are
vitally important
word and deed
the recipe
and the sample
you could say
the blueprint
of your new home
that tells you
how to build it
and the model home
in that new neighborhood
that you walk through
and it makes you
long to live there
right?
The church
is to be
that model home
a taste
of heaven
on earth
and that
requires a community
living and loving
together.
That great work
that God is doing
is global
it's happening
all over the place
but he has placed us
right here in Huntsville.
We use this image
as a reminder
of that
that
Southwood S
in the middle of
Huntsville community
for the sake of
the city.
God's put us here
for a reason.
That olive branch
that you see up top
there and you see
in our logo
all over the place
is to be a visual
reminder to us
that we are here
to extend
God's peace
to share
God's restoration
mission.
We're not here
for ourselves.
We're here
to extend
God's grace
with all of creation
and every person
in it.
How can we do that
together here?
Mostly you're going to
get to talk about that
outside of this room
but just to whet
your appetite.
Turn and look out
those windows
for a minute.
Just
you're not going to
say anything unusual
but just so you'll
remember
outside
there's cars
driving by
right now
a bunch of them
just in these
few seconds
lonely neighbor
after lonely neighbor
drives by.
Some of them
have visibly
broken lives.
Some of them
look really
successful
when they drive
by or when you
drive by their
home but
they have broken
hearts.
People in our
city suffer from
generational poverty.
Schools in our
city struggle
with systemic
racial injustice.
Neighbors on
the street you
live on
battle addiction
and depression
and an eternal
sense of
emptiness
even though
life seems to
be going
really well.
And we are
sent.
We who know
what it's like
to battle
addiction
and suffer
depression
and feel
empty.
We who've been
oppressed
and poor
and who've
struggled
and still don't
quite know
how to make
life work
the way we'd
like to.
We are actually
called and sent
on a mission
of restoration
to them.
We have the
good news
of a kingdom
and a king
who will right
every wrong.
Y'all,
God sends us
to this city.
How can we
drive by and
slip behind
our garage doors
when Huntsville
cries out
for restoration?
They don't know
those words
to use.
Many don't know
who it is
they're looking
for but they're
desperate for hope,
for healing,
and you
know
the king.
I know you
can't combat
all this alone.
You can't go out
and fix
Huntsville,
save the city.
That's why God
gives us each other.
It's why we must
lock arms
in community
together
and be on
mission.
You need
brothers and
sisters with a
range of
different gifts
to run a
Jobs for Life
program.
You need
a small
group to
pray with
you through
how to
impact your
neighborhood
and labor
alongside you
for the
kingdom as
you do that.
You need
a connect
community
starting in a
few weeks
to spur
you on to
Christ-centered
missional
living and
equip you with
God's word
to know how
to love your
coworkers.
workers.
We're not
doing these
relational
community
building
things to
play church
or just to
make each
other feel
good for an
hour every
Sunday so we
can go back
to life.
We're diving
in here
together because
we can't
accomplish this
mission alone.
Community is a
catalyst for
this mission.
We need
each other.
Amen?
And the mission
is so big
that it must
drive us
to our knees
which is where
we'll pick up
the conversation
next Sunday.
We need
our Father's
help.
But as we
reorient our
lives around
our Savior
and His glory
and His
mission
we must be
on God's
mission
together.
Matter of
fact,
Jesus doesn't
just tell us
that that's
what we
must do.
He shows
us that,
doesn't He?
He keeps
word and
deed perfectly
connected to
each other.
Jesus comes
and calls
us to a
mission of
giving ourselves
away and
He demonstrates
for us what
that looks like
and empowers
us to give
our lives
away by
giving His
for us.
Jesus lays
down the
comforts of
heaven.
He takes a
hit to His
bottom line
so to speak.
He operates
on a schedule
that wasn't
His preferred
schedule for
us to
restore our
relationship
with our
Father.
If your house
is a mission
outpost and
your money is
mission ammunition,
if it's all
about Jesus,
His body and
blood is
mission fuel
for you as
you go out
where He
sends you.
He empowers
us for
what He
calls us
to.
That's what
this body
and blood
is about.
That as we
go out on
the glorious
mission of
restoration,
He goes
with us
and in us
as we live
for Him.
Remember what
Jesus said to
His disciples
the night that
He was
betrayed.
He sat
with them.
He took
bread.
He broke
it.
He gave
it to them
as I,
ministering in
His name,
give this
bread to
you.
He said,
take,
eat.
This is
my body
broken
for you.
Do this
in remembrance
of me.
Remember how
I've loved
you.
And in the
same manner
after giving
thanks He
took the
cup saying
this cup
is the new
covenant
in my
blood.
Shed for
many for
the forgiveness
of sins.
Drink from
it.
All of
you.
Jesus
gives us
Himself.
And so if
you've trusted
Jesus and
if you've
connected
with a
branch of
His church,
it doesn't
have to be
this particular
one.
This is His
table,
not ours.
Then come
and celebrate
together the
Savior who
goes with us
as He calls
us to join
Him in His
mission.
And if you
don't know
Jesus,
if you haven't
trusted Him
yourself,
I invite you
too to come
in just a
minute as we
gather around
these tables.
You're welcome
to come
too,
to pray with
us,
to watch
and consider
what Jesus
has said.
But I invite
you not to
take His
body and
blood.
Don't take
the bread
and the juice
as you come,
but rather
consider what
Jesus has
offered you.
Consider the
mission that
He says,
this is what
you were
created for
and how
significant you
are.
And you
have to
have me
to be
restored to
what God
intended for
you.
Consider that.
We'd love to
talk with you
and pray with
you about
that.
Let me pray
and then we'll
come to this
table together.
Jesus, thank
You for not
leaving us
alone to do
something too
big for us.
Thank You for
giving Yourself
for us and
for empowering
us for what
You have
called us
to.
Would You
set aside
these very
common elements
to a special
purpose in our
hearts that
we would be
strengthened to
live even
this afternoon
and then beyond
that for Your
glory.
We ask in
Your name.
Amen.
For more
information,
visit us online
at
southwood.org.
enter
in the
glimpse of the
eye see and
ämän
enter
into song