Always Only Jesus

I would be lying to you if I told you that I did not have some mixed emotions today. Exited, exhausted, optimistic, grief… there’s just a lot of things going in my heart today. Some of you know the complex and complicated story of the Church of the Brethren, and for quite a few years that complex and complicated story has played itself in my heart as a follower of Jesus, a man of faith, and the pastor of this church.

Now please hear me, for some here today is not all that big of a deal- CoB, CBC if does not matter to you. You love this church and you come here because you feel called to this church- and God bless you and I respect that and I hear that.

For others you have an opinion and a passion. This was a decision that you were invested in and you were passionate about and you are feeling a lot of emotion today about a lot of things- God bless you- I respect that and I hear that.

But there is something that I want you to peek into today if possible- this decision and the past 2-3 years of discerning it and walking through it has literally been life altering for me.

I have been Brethren my whole life; my entire world is saturated in it. All my friends are Brethren; all of my education and training has been Brethren; all of my ministry has been connected to Brethren; and for me and handful of others in this church leaving the CoB was like selling my childhood home, the place where I was raised, and learned to walk, and was formed into a person and to leave that has cause pain, and sleepless nights, and anxiety, and hurt. And in moments I found myself feeling like Abraham who was asked to leave his home and his people to follow the call of God while having no clue where he was actually going.

And then as the pastor of the church, the shepherd of this flock I know that I am accountable to God for the decisions that I make regarding the path of us a body and one day I will stand in front of the Lord and give an account of what I have done as the pastor of this church, so what I did in this season and how I led this church was not just about my preference or my opinion, but it has eternal consequences for me and Jesus and in some ways every soul of every person who calls this church home.

And so for just a moment today I want to invite you to look not only into the Word of God, but also into a piece of my heart and I want to share with you some of the principals that God has ingrained into my heart to keep me afloat and guide me as we have walked through the past 2-3 years regarding our relationship with the CoB and now connecting with the CBC.

For a long time now as I have wrestled with these things I have found Jesus continuing to draw me back to his words in John 15.

The Definition of our call is found in Jesus

John 15:15–16 “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”

This may come as a surprise to anyone under the age of about 25 in here, but there was a time in this world when you could not find the answer to all of life’s questions on your phone. There was no “googling it.” In fact, the only thing a phone was good for was the thing we use our phones the least for these days…calling people. And if you wanted to know the definition of a word you would open up the pages of the family dictionary and any word you wanted to know about you could find all the relevant information- spelling, tense, a definition, etc.

So lets take a look at an example. I have provided today the definition for a common word- orange. (Slide)

Now, here is the trick. For all of the words- millions of words- that the dictionary defines and tells us the story about; there is one word it does not define properly at all; the word CHURCH. (Slide)

Here’s the problem- in all of these definitions, all the words here; there is one word missing----- Jesus.

If we want to define what the church is called to be we should not look at the dictionary, we must look to the Scriptures. It is the words of Christ, the decrees and framing of the Scriptures; and the movement of the Holy Spirit that define us as a church.

Friends, before I was pastor here at Mt Zion I was the leader of a church plant in Verona, and so many people would ask what our goals were as a church- a kind of “what do you want to be when you grow up?” question. And at first I would answer the questions with things that I thought the community needed- but as time went on and God chipped away at my own issues more and more the answer for us became- we want to be the kind of church Jesus makes us.

Many a church has lost the very thing that defines them in searching for there mission and purpose by taking congregational surveys, hiring fancy consultants, reading and studying books, and never turning their eyes to the words of the Scriptures, the literal source of our calling.

Now hear me, surveys and books, and all those things have their place, but the primary source of our call is rooted in the Word of God.

The Fuel for our call is our Connection to Jesus

John 15:5 “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.”

Jesus tells us that if we abide in him we will have all we need for ministry. Like gas in a tank Jesus propels us to all good things in his name. Now many of you know that I pride myself on being a pretty mediocre shade tree mechanic. And if there is one thing that I have learned its if your motor is not firing the first thing you should do is check to make sure it has gas- because if you are like me, there has been a time or two I have spent too much time trying to diagnose an engine problem to crack the gas tank in frustration and look to see an empty tank.

As a church, and as God’s people the most important evaluation we can make is our connection to Jesus. Are we connected to him in our prayer life, in our time in the Bible, in our service to one another? Are we intentionally seeking him in what we do and how we do it?

And let’s be honest, no one runs out of gas on purpose. It is usually completely accidental and quiet embarrassing. I can still remember one morning with old Shane Biller bailed me and my empty gas tank out on Long’s Pump Rd. I felt so dumb calling him that morning. If you are like me I have run of out gas because I convinced myself I could make it a little longer, or because I wasn’t paying attention to the gauge; but never because I wanted to.

Friends, if you are feeling disconnected from Jesus today, can I first say- he sees you and knows you, and knows your heart and I am betting he knows you didn’t get to this place on purpose. And secondly, can I give you some good news today- you can reconnect with him right here and right now.

Now, here’s the trick- sometimes there can be fuel in the tank, but still no flow. Why? Because there is gunk in the lines, or the carb is gummed up. Plenty in the tank, but the delivery system is not in working order.

2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

Sin in our lives can get in the way of the flow of Christ in our lives. This is why we must take time to examine ourselves. To ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us if there is anything that is blocking the flow of Christ in our lives.

The Point of our call is to Bear Fruit in Jesus

John 15:8 “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

As a church our #1 task for the world is to bear fruit to bring God’s Kingdom to Earth. It can be so easy to get caught up in the shallow things. How many people when looking for a new church look for things like- good music, if they have child care, if the facility is new and shiny- and it is a list before they get to- is this church furthering the Kingdom of God? Or this church is bearing fruit in Jesus’ name.

Many times we look at preachers and teachers and many assume that the are bearing good fruit based on the size of their church; that preachers like Osteen or Furtick or Falwell are somehow better than others or their ministries are more viable or they have so many people on a Sunday. But let me tell you I know some pastors who have churches of less than 50 who are bearing amazing fruit.

Or I think about us as a church- I have so many people say to me since we bought the Meeting Place- Wow! God must be up to something; and I tell most of them- yes he is and buying a building isn;t even the biggest thing he is up to. I am more amazed at what God is doing in peoples hearts than anything he is doing in a building at this moment in our ministry together.

The point of our call, friends, is not to get the most people in the door; or collect bigger offerings, or accumulate more stuff; or anything else like that- the point is to bear fruit in Jesus. We could take $100,000 offerings every week, build a sanctuary that seats 1000 and fill it 5 times a weekend; we could open close closets and soup kitchens on every corner in the county, and if it does not bear fruit to connect people to Jesus it is all a waste!

And in this fruit bearing we glorify Jesus. Don’t miss it, friends. When you are bearing Spiritual fruit in your life you are glorifying God.

The Purpose of it all is JESUS

Day’s like today can be tricky, friends. We are joining a new fellowship with CBC and in a few minutes Andrew and I are going to get ordinations, and there is just a lot of stuff today- but the point of it all is Jesus.

Colossians 1:16 “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”

The point of it all is Jesus, and we can never take our eyes off that

Our primary identity is not Mt Zion Covenant Brethren- it is Mt Zion a Body of Jesus Christ

The point of Andrews and I’s ordination is not to lift us up but that we might lift Jesus up.

In 2012 I was Ordained to Ministry in the CoB in this same Sanctuary. And many of you were here that evening, and there was one thing that I knew I wanted to do that evening; it was the very first thing that I did as an Ordained minister, and today it will be the first thing that Andrew and I will as CBC Ordained ministers- we will officiate Communion. Why? Because the first intentional thing I wanted to do that day and the first intentional thing I want to do today is point to Jesus.

Consider the words of Philippians 3:8 “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ”

Paul says that compared to knowing Jesus it is all rubbish, literally trash. In fact, the literal Greek is Sco-ba-lawn and means dung.

We are going to do some cool things today, and even some important things, but to be clear today

The most important thing we do today is not sign a Covenant Agreement; or Give out Ordinations; or any of the things- the most important thing that we will do is connect to Jesus in relationship and call and encourage others to do so too.

And so before we do all the other things today, I want to end this sermon with where my heart is at by quoting the words of “Only Jesus” by Casting Crowns

All the kingdoms built, all the trophies won Will crumble into dust when it's said and done 'Cause all that really matters Did I live the truth to the ones I love? Was my life the proof that there is only One Whose name will last forever? [Chorus] And I-I-I, I don't want to leave a legacy I don't care if they remember me Only Jesus And I-I-I, I've only got one life to live I'll let every second point to Him Only Jesus