Living Beyond Your Walls

It was 20 years ago, 2003, we were 9 years old as a church and meeting across the street at the YMCA. Everything was great … but we had stopped growing and we weren’t sure why. I was on my first sabbatical and having lunch with a local pastor, when I asked him what he thought about The Fellowship. He told me, “I think The Fellowship is a great church, but it seems like you have stopped going public.” I’ll never forget those words. You’ve stopped going public. I asked him to unpack what he meant, and he said, “you guys used to be everywhere. Wherever there was a need, whenever there was an opportunity, wherever there was an event, a party … The Fellowship was there.” That lead me to thinking, and asking, … what had changed?

We are in our series on our values that undergird our mission of becoming whole people who take the whole gospel to the whole world. Our values flow out of who we are as people of faith in the kingdom of heaven. Our core missional values spell the word … GREAT.

John 14:12 Jesus says …

Slide … whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, John 14:12

Our theme this year has been Greater Things! Believing that God is preparing you and I for and calling us to greater things. To live lives that are about Jesus and His Kingdom! What we value gets reflected in our lives. Values are important. They inform our thoughts, words, and actions. They are important because they help us growand develop. They help us to create the future we believe God is calling us to.

They serve as guiding principles that influence our behavior, decisions, and interactions with others. Values help us navigate life's complexities, make ethical decisions, and find meaning and purpose in our actions and relationships with God and others.

So far we looked at G – Gospel Centeredwhere we defined the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the good news that sinful people can be made right with God by repenting of their sin and calling upon Jesus as Savior and Lord. So, to be gospel-centered is to have Jesus at the center of our lives leading us and motivating us in this life.

and R – Relentlessly Relational… I hope you had the opportunity to drop in this week at one of our relational hotspots. Today, 4-6 at Kona Coffee will be our relational hotspot. Last week pastor Brian said that being created in the image of Christ makes us relational beings because at the very nature of God is a trinitarian relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

This morning we are looking at E – Externally Focused! The why, the what and the how of living beyond our walls.

So back to the question … what had changed?

Early on when we started The Fellowship we were everywhere, focused on loving and leading our community to Christ. Then we grew, and with growth we focused more energy, resources, and attention to pressing needs right here at The Fellowship and in many ways lost sight of our mission and mission field. we did less outreach, attention to the community, and more internally focused attention. Now, don’t get me wrong,we are called to disciple, to mentor, to invest, to grow, to equip all who would call The Fellowship their church home. We are the body of Christ, the family of God, brothers and sisters who need each other … but as, in Randy Frazee’s book the Connecting Church, he writes about three things that can seem good but that are really self-serving, and missionally self-defeating.

Slide Three problems that can plague all of us!

These three problems no only keep us as a church from being externally focused but they also keep you and I from valuing and living an externally focused life. The first problem is …

Slide Problem – We can become too Internally Focused.

We say to ourselves I don’t time, money, resources, people to make a difference beyond my family, my business, my church.

Maybe you can hear Jesus teaching a parable in Luke 14 …

Slide … A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. Luke 14:16–18a

Slide The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ Luke 14:18b–20

We want you to hear … this is an invitation to join the feast at the Father’s table. This is invitation to any and all who will come!

Slide And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. Luke 14:23

The solution to the internally focused life is to …

Slide Solution – Look Outward and follow Christ into the community!

It is so easy to make excuses and hard to hear the voice of the Lord tell us …

Slide Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:37–38

We are all called to an life that looks inward to see our need, upward to find our Salvation, and outward to accept our calling.

Slide God calls us to have a ministry in the church and a mission in the world.

You have seen the banners in the lobby, One + One = More. But then we also believe that God is inviting each of us to look around and see where it is that he is at work and join Him in serving your family, your employer or employees, your neighbors, your schools, your teams, a need meeting agency in our community … What if every one of us served one hour a week meeting a real need in our city? What might the impact be? What if every follower of Jesus Christ in the city of Katy and West Houston did the same. Tens of thousands of Christians giving tens of thousands of hours to mentor at risk kids in the school, visit the prisoner who has lost hope, work to set the trafficked free, coach a little league team, serve on the board of a nonprofit, help rehab homes for the disadvantaged, help at a food pantry, counsel young moms and dads through the pregnancy help center, serve the homeless, care for the widows, advocate for those experiencing injustice, and so much more! God calls us to look outward!

The second problem is consumerism …

Slide Problem – We can become Consumers of church.

What do you look for when you look for a church that is a good fit for you and your family? Maybe it’s the music? Maybe it’s the preaching? Maybe it’s the children’s ministry? Probably, you came to The Fellowship as a consumer. Here are some church reviews from consumers:

· I have two small boys ages 3 and 6 who can’t get ready fast enough to go to church on Sundays because of the attention they place on kids. From the pastor to the coffee shop, everything rates 5 stars!!!

· They may have the best stage set up I’ve ever seen in my life. I absolutely love the light show and the humongous TV screens! If you’re looking for a church with great music and message this is the place to go! 5 stars.

· On Easter after waiting in line for over 2 hours with my 3 & 4 year old to do the Easter egg hunt they couldn’t participate. I’m waiting for a sincere apology from you guys and/or an opportunity to correct your mistake or I will be going to every news station in the state explaining how a disabled veteran and his 2 toddlers stood in line for over 2 hours just to be turned away. IF JESUS WAS ABLE TO GIVE FISH AND BREAD TO ALL THE MASSES, YOU SHOULD OF BEEN ABLE TO MAKE SURE ALL KIDS HAD EASTER EGGS. 1 star.

I can understand how our first evaluation of a church might be about asking what the church offers us, whether that is the preaching, the worship, kids, students or various ministries. But the truth is that …

You were made for more than just consuming.

We all may start as consumers, but God calls us to something greater than just focusing on what we want or think we need! How do we make this move? The solution to the problem of consumerism is to recognize …

Slide Solution – Recognize you were created to Contribute!

Ask a simple question, “Where is God calling me to serve others?” Or, “How can I use my gifts to honor Christ and build up my brothers and sisters?”

You were designed by your Savior to be a contributor, not a consumer. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:10 …

Slide For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

Slide In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

The last problem is that we …

Slide Problem – We can become Independent from God and others.

I know, we live in Texas, and we pride ourselves as being the lone star state. We aren’t dependent upon anyone for anything. We know how to pull ourselves up by the boot straps, which is an idiomatic way of saying I can do it all by myself. The truth is that idiom was first in a physics book in the 1800’s demonstrating the principle that it is impossible to pull yourself up by the straps on your boots. We use the term today to express that you and believe we can … that is how insidious the idea of independence from anything or anyone is.

But, Jesus tells us ...

Slide I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

Slide Solution – Recognize that we are all Interdependent– we need each other!, we need God!

We are born dependent, we move toward independence and we mature into interdependence people who know the truth that no woman or man is an island. We need each other! From Inward focused, consumeristic, independent people to outward focused, contributing, interdependent people we move toward living the externally focused life!

Why Externally focused? Because we believe in a whole gospel.

Slide The Gospel is both word and deed! It is both truth and proof!

We say that the Gospel is an Integral mission which is defined as ‘the task of bringing the whole of life under the lordship of Jesus Christ’ and includes the affirmation that there is no biblical dichotomy between evangelistic and social responsibility in bringing Christ’s peace to the poor and oppressed. James, the brother of Jesus writes ...

Slide What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. James 2:14–17

And the Apostle John writes ...

Slide Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:18

The prophet Micah proclaims that …

Slide He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8

So how did we make the change?

It begins with prayer!

It was 2004The Fellowship elders had been praying about the question, where in the world would God call us to make a difference for the Kingdom of God? There were a group people who had been praying for Indonesia, right here in Houston when, on the morning of December 26, 2004, a powerful undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1–9.3 struck off the west coast of Northern Sumatra. The earthquake's epicenter was located approximately 155 miles south-southwest of Banda Aceh, the capital of the Aceh province of Indonesia. A tsunami, generated by the earthquake radiated outward from the epicenter in all directions, ultimately traveling across the Indian Ocean. Banda Aceh, located relatively close to the epicenter, was one of the first areas to be hit. The tsunami waves reached the city within minutes.

When the tsunami waves struck Banda Aceh and the surrounding coastal areas, they unleashed unimaginable destruction.Entire communities were engulfed by the powerful surges of water, and buildings were flattened. The force of the tsunami inundated areas up to several kilometers inland, leaving behind a landscape of devastation.

The loss of life was enormous, some 130,000 to 170,000 people were killed. The global community rushed in and by April of 2005, I joined a team of pastors from Texas who all wanted to see first-hand the destruction in Banda Ache to discern how we might help.

What we didn’t know, was that people had been praying for Aceh for years because it was closed the gospel. But know it was in need and the world was coming to help. We helped to start multiple ministries and nonprofits, developed a retreat center and sent Glenn and Karen Lerich to serve the many Muslim families who had suffered so much.

Slide Prayer opens the door as we look for ways to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

We joined God and for over 15 years we served the Acehenese people, where there were once only 5 known believers there are thousands. Jeremiah says that we are to ....

Slide But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. Jeremiah 29:7

In 2003 before we every went to Aceh we began asking some simple questions about where and how God might use us to make a difference in our city for His glory and the sake of the gospel.

Slide How can we become an indispensable blessing to our city?

That is the question that Robert Lewis asks in his book “Church of Irresistible Influence”. Which is the story of how Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock Arkansas began to serve their city. The truth is that the bigger question is … “If our church closed its doors tomorrow, would anyone even miss us?” What will it take to reconnect church and culture? The profit Isaiah spoke of a people who had become self-absorbed. He called them to a fast that is not about themselves or getting what they want, but rather a fast that leads to blessing others …

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Isaiah 58:6-7

if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in. Isaiah 58:10–12

As we pressed into our calling to make a difference in Aceh, another tragedy ensued.

On August 29, 2005, Katrina made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane near the Louisiana-Mississippi border packing 175 mph winds. Hurricane Katrina was one of the deadliest and most destructive hurricanes in U.S. history. The hurricane caused extensive damage to infrastructure, homes, and businesses, with the total cost estimated to be over $100 billion. The official death toll from Hurricane Katrina stands at over 1,800 people, making it one of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history. Thousands of IDP (internally displace people) flooded Houston and Katy.

And Compassion Katy was born! We asked how could we connect the body of Christ, the big C church in our city to serve those in need. Compassion Katy became a catalyst, an organization with a commitment to an integral gospel, that our church and the church would wake up and look outward to see that the harvest is before us … Jesus showed us that he cares for all of us … inside the church, we are loved, outside the church as those he loves that are don’t know it … you might say …

Slide Jesus cared for both the disciples and the defiant, the follower and the yet to be found.

Our journey as a church of becoming externally focused has lead us to make a difference in the world on so many levels.

Live 58 - we joined an organization called Live 58 where we called the church to fast, pray and seek justice on behalf of the least of these.

Advent Conspiracy - we called our church during Advent to worship fully, spend less, give more, love all.

Compassion International - we have taken responded to the plight of the orphan through orphan prevention by sponsoring children in poverty giving them what they need for education, medical, and most of all sharing with them and their families.

Adoption Ministry 1:17 - we have helped families adopt and currently have a goal of 100 children finding their forever home.

Friends of Sundown -

Katy Cares -

· Feed the Hunger

Then on August 25th, 2017, Hurricane Harvey made landfall near Rockport, Texas, as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph. Harvey's slow movement and meandering nature caused it to stall over Texas for several days, dropping an unprecedented amount of rainfall. The storm dumped more than 27 trillion gallons of rain over Texas, making Harvey the wettest Atlantic hurricane ever measured. Some areas received over 60 inches of rain, leading to catastrophic flooding in Houston and in Katy. In the Katy area over 1,000 homes and nearly 100 businesses were damaged by flooding from Harvey.

Because it is who we are as a church, a people, we went to work. Watch this.

Harvey - Video

It is hard to deny that at our core, we are externally focused! We care about the hurting, the hopeless, the hungry, the homeless, and yes those suffering from the impact of hurricanes like Harvey! Why? Because …

Slide God’s heart is for the hurting, hungry and hopeless.

Slide God’s heart is for those who have yet to find their way home.

Slide God’s heart is for His people to look inward, upward and outward.

Serve Fest - Video

Take out your phone, scan the QR take a minute and sign up for a project and let this begin your journey of living an external focused life!

What if everyone served some place in our city one hour a week? What might the impact be?

It’s simple, the integral gospel is an external focused gospel that says we are called to go into the world, to be the hands and feet of Jesus to do greater things than these … it’s simple gospel, a simple life of love, a life beyond the walls of your own life, of our own church …