More Than Resolutions: Running the Race Set Before Us Pt.1

Introduction

When I was writing this sermon for today, I realized towards the end of it, it’s going to be a two-parter. Our text this week and next week will be Hebrews 12:1-3. We will read it this morning. But before we launch into it, there are some things I want to discuss with you as we walk into this new year.

I want to talk about what City Chapel is. What is our vision, what is our mission, and what might that mean for you and I are who are a part of what God is doing here.

But first, I want to show you this…

[Hold up the dead branch from my yard]

You know, I found this branch in my yard the other day after the rain and wind we had. It came from our apple tree that we have. And I thought it would make a perfect object lesson for us today. Look at this branch - it's a pretty good size, seems sturdy enough. Let me ask it to do something...

[Speaking to the branch] "Hey branch, could you produce some leaves for us? Maybe grow some fruit? Come on, just a couple of apples or something?"

[Pause for effect]

Nothing. No matter how much I encourage it, no matter how many motivational speeches I give it, no matter how many times I tell it "you can do it!" - this branch isn't going to produce anything. Why? Because it's disconnected from its source. It's separated from the tree that gave it life.

You see, before we talk about running our race with endurance, before we discuss all the things we need to "do" as Christians, we need to understand something fundamental: A branch cannot produce fruit by trying harder. It can only bear fruit by remaining connected to its source.

Jesus put it this way in John 15: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

So as we dive into Hebrews 12 and talk about running our race, I want us to keep this dead branch in mind. Because all our spiritual "doing" - all our running, all our serving, all our ministry - must flow from our "being" in Christ. Otherwise, we're just like this branch, trying to produce fruit through our own effort, disconnected from the very source of life itself.

[Place branch on pulpit where it's visible throughout the sermon]

If you have your Bibles or on your devices, would you turn with me to Hebrews 12:1-3… if you are willing and able would you stand with me as I read God’s word this morning.

Let us pray.

You may be seated.

Our Mission and Our Vision

Our mission statement as a church is "Love God, Love People, and Share the Gospel."

This is rooted in what is often called the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.

Great Commandment: Matthew 22:37–40“Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.””

Great Commission: Matthew 28:18–20 “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go (lit. or in your going) and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.””

This is a whole lot of doing verbs in our mission statement. There isn’t anything wrong with “doing”, (FOR GOODNESS SAKES IT IS THE GREAT COMMISSION AND GREAT COMMANDMENT) but if our doing is not rooted in anything, or in the right thing, it can be unhelpful… even when we are doing the “right” things. More on that in a moment.

Our vision statement is:

“We seek to connect people to God and to each other through the gospel of Jesus Christ, worship, fellowship, and community for the benefit of growth and maturity for the believer, salvation for the non-believer, and the betterment of the community and the world.”

Again, I’m inspired by this. Our vision and mission statement have their roots in the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. I what I love about the Great Commandment and the Great Commission is that they keep the vision and mission simple. They are not simple missions, but mission itself is not complex.

Again though, this doing is rooted in something.

Another piece to our vision that I feel strongly about and I think is deeply Biblical is church planting. This is to me is an inseparable piece to the Great Commandment to go make disciples.

Slide: Releases new leaders, allows for fresh vision, reaching people not previously reached, releases innovation and creativity, helps promote life in surrounding existing churches, and they tend to be more culturally compelling. (I have friends that might push back on me on that last one… I think I’m right though)

As church history has borne out, it is this, that culture and communities change over time. We don’t do change well. We look back often and think, ahhhh, those were the good ol’ days. This mindset tends to keep the church insular because we are trying to protect it from the “world”.

This is part and parcel as to why the church is dying in the West. We fight that mentality here. I hope we don’t succumb to that… we believe:

- It is not us vs. them… it is just ‘us’ - You can belong before you behave or believe - We only overcome culture by creating more (and better) culture - As we seek the shalom of the city, we’ll find our shalom

These few axioms help us in understanding that we are reaching who we are reaching. We are not reaching those people we are not reaching. Other churches in our community are so important because they are reaching who they are reaching, and we give thanks to God for that. But guess what? They are not reaching who they are not reaching.

Now I’ve got great news… if I’m reading the data right, we’ve seen religious affiliation increase from 30% in 2010 to 43% in 2020! This is beautiful! That still means there are 57% of people with no religious affiliation at all who live in our neighborhoods and communities. Lots of work to be done! 158,265 people.

We need new leaders, fresh vision, communicators, teachers, people who are able to speak and be with others being able to share the gospel with them. Every culture has those things that speak to them… we’ve seen it in music, we see it in method/ministry, we’ve seen it in the focus of the questions that a particular culture is asking. Every culture has a compelling narrative, an ideal sense and story of how things should be, an understanding that something is wrong with the picture, and a yearning for things to be made right. We struggle to find a cure, the solution that brings hope of redemption and restoration. What was satisfactory for me is not always satisfactory to others. Unlocking and unleashing a generation of other believers to create gospel centered communities who are impacting the people around them is how we see the book of Acts play out, and I’m convinced it’s what God is still doing today.

One church can’t do it all. Some might think they can, but they would be mistaken. We need new, thriving, and exciting works of God. It helps us because we become inspired what God is doing; we can collaborate on fun events and ministry opportunities; we are challenged by the work of the Spirit in our community and have the opportunity to partner with Him in ways we may not otherwise have had.

Again though… church planting is another thing we want/get to do.

Our doing MUST be rooted in our being.

Our Doing Flows From Our Being

All of our doing flows from our being.

What flows out of us reveals what's within us - just as a healthy tree naturally produces good fruit, and a diseased tree can't help but produce bad fruit.

Healthy examples of doing flowing from being:

A person who deeply experiences God's grace naturally extends grace to others who wrong them

Someone who abides in God's love has patience with difficult people not through gritted teeth, but as a natural overflow

Someone who knows they're deeply loved by God can admit mistakes readily, as their identity isn't tied to being perfect

Someone abiding in Christ's peace brings a calming presence to crisis situations, not through technique but through overflow

Unhealthy examples of doing flowing from being:

A person driven by approval-seeking appears to serve selflessly, but their actions stem from a need to be valued

Someone wrestling with deep insecurity becomes controlling in ministry, because their actions flow from fear rather than faith

A person harboring bitterness may serve in church, but their critical spirit seeps into every interaction

Someone whose need to be needed manifests as never letting others lead or develop their gifts, always making every scenario about them

Implied in all of this is our ability and desire to abide in Christ (John 15). Our doing can only extend from our being. Often times our being in and with Christ is overlooked and taken for granted. But our abiding in Christ is tantamount for any good thing to come about.

John 15:5–8 ““I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

Often times we can mistake doing for being. This is the basis for:

Legalism: following rules for rules' sake, believing our standing with God depends on our performance

Moralism: reducing faith to ethical behavior, doing good things to be a "good person" rather than from love

Perfectionism: believing we must maintain a flawless spiritual record

Works Righteousness: deriving our sense of worth from our spiritual achievements and that our righteousness comes from what we do rather than who we are in Christ

Self-Righteousness: pride in our own spiritual accomplishments

Pharisaism: criticizing others who don't meet our standards of performance

When we are in Christ, that fruit that comes out, that we bear to the Father’s glory, can only come through abiding and being in Christ. What is that fruit… we’ve talked about it before… it extends into who we are and everything that we do:

Galatians 5:22–23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

The focus needs to be that our vision and mission of City Chapel of Bremerton flow out of our being in Christ. It is then we can run the race with perseverance the race marked out for us!

Conclusion

As we close today, I want us to remember this branch [hold up branch]. Just like this branch can't produce fruit without being connected to its source, our mission and vision at City Chapel - loving God, loving people, sharing the Gospel - can only flourish when it flows from our being in Christ. Next week, we'll dive deeper into Hebrews 12:1-3 to see what it looks like to run our unique race with perseverance, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. But for now, let's examine our hearts: Are we trying to produce fruit through our own efforts, or are we truly abiding in the Vine? Are we running our race from a place of striving, or from a place of being rooted in Christ? Because everything we do - every ministry, every outreach, every act of service - must flow from who we are in Him. Let's pray.