Home of the Brave

Introduction

We are going to be starting a Vision series across the church.

Important because we are going through huge growth - and not all growth is good growth. We want to make sure that we are growing in the RIGHT way

So over the next month we’re going to be locking down the vision of the church “Home of the Brave”.

We want you to catch something from this series.

You know the world constantly de-values the church. Even some Christians devalue the church, this much we know. “Church isn’t a place, it’s a people. It’s easier for me to believe in God on my own. Christians are the worst.” Dan will be speaking on this area, and it’s important that we correct this.

But I want to talk about something we may not mention as much - which is how the world has de-valued the concept of Home.

Home, Family - a place of belonging, a safe place.

We live in a time where having your home torn apart is not uncommon. Divorce, Domestic Violence, Abuse, The tearing apart of the family unit, the normalising of brokenness in the family, the culture of individualism that detracts from the concept of family.

The enemy is attacking our homes. Because if you can steal home from a person then you also steal their security, their confidence, their peace, even their identity.

But can I just declare this over us from the outset - here at Heart for the City our vision is to BUILD A HOME. We are here to bring value BACK to the concept of Home. We are here to BUILD a home for those without one, to BUILD a home for those who have had theirs stolen. We are here to RETAKE the concept of home from the enemy. To build a home for the lost, the homeless, the broken, the sick.

That’s a huge part of our vision - and today. I want to talk about how we’re going to do that.

Let’s pray.

There is no place like home

Psalm 84:1–2 “1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! 2 My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.”

The first thing that the writer of this Psalm states is that the temple/church is a DWELLING PLACE for God.

And here is where I want to start. Hear me on this. This is the first, and most important step in building this church into a home.

THE FOUNDATION OF THIS HOME IS HIS PRESENCE.

In other words if we want to make this CHURCH a HOME then we have to make it HIS Home first.

The one thing that is being stolen from the church nowadays is that we are distracting ourselves from this fact. We add lights, fancy buildings, elaborate programs, catchy phrases, expensive cameras to church, creative communities and then we get distracted from the fact that ACTUALLY these things are ALL secondary things.

But I would like to tell you that the HOME that we are building here at heart for the City has ONE foundation - it will always be, first and foremost a DWELLING PLACE for the Lord.

God is what MAKES this place a Home. He floods this place with love, fills it with His Spirit, blesses it with His favour, God it what makes this place a Home.

I love the word “DWELL” - because it’s permanent. This isn’t a place that God VISITS, it’s a place that He DWELLS.

We want to build a church where people can encounter God, WEEK IN, WEEK OUT, EVERY SINGLE TIME THEY VISIT because God DWELLS in this house. He doesn’t visit, he doesn’t pass through, no - God LIVES here. That’s the kind of house that we want to build.

Because THINGS HAPPEN when God is the foundation - things that we can’t account for, things that we can’t plan with logic or leadership. When we build God in as the foundation something SHIFTS spiritually. Something happens in the spiritual that becomes tangible in the Physical

Miracles start breaking out, people start getting set free, the sick start getting healed, salvation becomes a common occurrence.

You know one of the worst arguments to come out of church nowadays is the whole “Yeah but Jon, God doesn’t dwell in buildings or places, God dwells in people. I can experience God on my own.” As if that is a valid argument against coming to church.

Here’s the thing - it’s not WRONG theology, it’s just INCOMPLETE theology.

The bible doesn’t say God dwells in people INSTEAD of the church, it says that He dwells in people AS the church.

Don’t make it about the individual vs. institution, Because the Bible only talks about the individual’s need for interdependence.

Ephesians 2:19–22 “19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

See it? God Himself is the foundation - and on that foundation, the whole structure, each member of the household is JOINED TOGETHER - and is BUILT INTO THE DWELLING PLACE FOR GOD.

God’s DWELLING PLACE is the place where the individual bricks come together to form HIS HOME. It is the place we COME TOGETHER that God chooses to call a dwelling place.

That’s why I want you to catch what I’m saying from a vision perspective, the FIRST step to making this place a Home, is to ensure it is God’s Home first. To make sure that He is welcome here, with outstretched arms and surrendered hearts, with joyful voices, with open minds, with generous service, and loving relationships - THAT is how we make God the foundation of this Church. And when He inhabits this house - that’s when it becomes a Home.

ILLUSTRATION: The people who make this a Home, have made it His home first.

You know - I love this church. And every week I’m actually excited to be at church. Like I LOVE coming to church - you may think I’m full of crap for saying that, but that’s on you. I love this church. I love the people that make it up. I look forward every week coming and seeing Dan who gives me a gigantic hug and launches into some inane conversation about how I haven’t commented about the new jumper he’s wearing today. I love coming in and seeing Char and Leila - Char always hi fives me and and makes some random remark about how the shirt I’m wearing looks good on me. Leila will always give me a hug and ask in her usual lovely tone “how are you?”~ I love coming in and seeing James, who always has a red bull in his hand and will offer it to me even though I’ve told him multiple times I don’t drink that stuff - and force every youth standing around me to give me a hug. I love coming in and seeing people like Gading, with his typical deadpan face playing drums like it’s the easiest thing in the world, I love coming in and seeing Ryan hammer on the keys like the Phantom of the Opera, I love seeing Julie who will always make a stupid face at me, I love seeing Kay who gives the best hugs, I love seeing Freya and Centy who are always doing something dumb when I look over. Man this is HOME to me.

But I want to tell you a truth about these people today that I NEED you to catch - The same people who make this church a Home for me, have all made it a Home for Him first.

You may not see the times when Dan is on his knees at fight club, seeking God for confirmation that we’re moving in the right direction. You don’t get to see Char and Leila pray profusely over their leadership team, just to make sure that they select people that God sends, and not just on a whim. You don’t get to see James meeting me every monday asking me how he can grow more as a man of God, and live up to God’s calling for His life. You may not see Ryan who is always so passionate in worship - be just as passionate as he throws himself before God at the altar. You may not see Yewon give up her beloved violin school as an act of obedience to God so that she could spend more time building His house, you would not have seen Nick quit his highly paid job in HR to work a retail job so that he could respond at any time if God called him to ministry, you don’t see Sharon on her knees praying and interceding for the Holy Spirit to invade our church services.

But I’m telling you guys - These people are fighting every week to make this house first and foremost a dwelling place for God - because they know that GOD is the X-FACTOR that turns this from a church into a HOME. THAT’S THE KIND OF HOME I WANT TO BUILD.

Home is where the heart is

And this is why the Psalmist can be so vivid with their language in Psalm 84:2 “2 My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.”

Can you sense the excitement - the longing to come into the house of God? He’s filled with such a joy not just to encounter God but even to walk into the COURTS of the Lord - he’s excited even just to COME to church.

Man I look read this and I think - I want to build a Home that people are excited to come to, don’t you? I want to build this church into a Home where people are literally fainting to get inside of. I want to build a Home where people are so confident that they’re going to encounter the living God that they fight and squeeze to get inside!

And to be honest with you - I think this is where many churches can go wrong. We all want the same thing - to build a Home that people are excited about. But we go about it the wrong way, we get caught up in the wrong things.

The mistake we then make is by thinking about what PEOPLE would want to see. Instead of what God wants to see.

We start with a nice building, and then we add the lights, the sound, we pick a solid worship team, we only put up the best preachers, we build incredibly infrastructure to hold the whole thing up. And we somehow convince ourselves that THIS is the RIGHT way to build an attractive home.

Can I tell you something guys? I’ve seen this mistake made too many times for us to make this over here at HFTC.

This passage clearly reveals to us that the MAIN thing that attracts people, the X-FACTOR is the presence of the Lord. “How lovely is YOUR DWELLING PLACE, My soul longs for the COURTS of the LORD, my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God”

The CLEAR implication of this passage is that the PRESENCE OF GOD is what makes a Home attractive.

John 12:32 “32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.””

Jesus is talking here in the context of His death and victory over sin. He clearly says - when He is lifted up from the Earth in victory, that will be the main attraction, that will be what pulls people toward Him, toward the church.

We miss this so many times - we always somehow fall into the trap of thinking that it’s all the OTHER STUFF that brings people to church. But the bible remains clear that it is Jesus’ sacrifice and UTTER victory on the cross that should be the MAIN attraction.

When we make anything BUT Jesus the foundation for this Home, we take a wrong turn.

If we want to make THIS church a Home. Then we have to make it HIS home first.

Mary and Martha

I want to show you what this looks like in a story you may be familiar with. Turn to Luke 10:38–42 “38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.””

Many people read this story and immediately make the mistake of thinking that it is about busyness. Martha was so busy - don’t get too busy, it leads you to ignore the Lord in your life. While there is truth in that statement, I personally believe it misses the real point of this passage.

See the real point of this passage is about FOCUS. Look at Jesus’ response in v 41-42. “You are anxious and troubled about MANY things, but ONE thing is necessary.” Jesus didn’t say Martha was too busy, He didn’t say that she was doing too much. What He said was that she was DISTRACTED - she was anxious and troubled about MANY things that took her attention off the one thing that mattered.

See you could reverse this and Mary could have been sitting absent-mindedly at the feet of Jesus, distracted with her own thoughts about lunch, while Martha was serving away in the kitchen with the sole intent of serving her Lord - and I genuinely believe the rebuke would have gone to Mary instead of Martha.

But I also want you to catch this: Martha wasn’t doing BAD things. It was GOOD WORK that she allowed to distract her because she allowed GOOD THINGS to become the MAIN thing. Martha wasn’t killing puppies in the backroom - she was getting dinner ready, she was SERVING.

But even GOOD THINGS can become a distraction when they replace God as the MAIN THING. Even the best intentions can become our undoing when we get distracted from putting God on the throne.

The contrast is so stark - Mary got it right, because even though she wasn’t doing anything - all she wanted was more of God, all she wanted was to be in His presence, she wanted MORE of God. She was making her Home, His Home - in the only way she may have known how.

I think this can be an image of the church today - we get so easily DISTRACTED by the things that aren’t important. We get so worked up about sound, and lights, and the music, and the message, and the building, ALL GOOD THINGS. But man the moment these things DISTRACT us from the MAIN thing - we have a problem.

This is why I say that if we’re going to build a Home - then it must be God’s Home first.

If we’re going to build a Home for all then let the foundation be His presence.

We want people to fall in love with this Home, because of how in love this Home is with God.

ILLUSTRATION: Buffet

Do we have any buffet masters in the room? When I say that I mean - are there any people in here who are just like gifted in buffet eating? Like you go into a buffet and you just KNOW that they’re going to lose money on you, that’s how good you are.

I’m asian - my people were like born to do this. We’re great at maths AND we love good value, you know what I mean? Like when an asian walks into a buffet - they’ve done the maths, they know how many prawns and oysters they need to smash down in order to break even on the entry fee, you know what I’m saying? Like they know that the asian stir fry is a distraction at $80c/100g vs the steak which is $8/100g wholesale price.

I suck at buffets though. Like everytime I go with my friends (who are all like buffet professionals) one of them has to steer me away from the freaking tomato soup, and the bread rolls and the pasta. Like that’s where I live (like man infinite tomato soup with bread is actually epic)

But everytime I go near the stuff my friends will literally grab me and steer me away from those things and yell hurtful things at me calling me like vegetarian and stuff, But they’ll always be like “Jon, stop getting distracted by the soup - focus on the protein, eat more meat, get our money’s worth”

And I feel like I need to say something similar to the church as we build this Home together:

Stop getting distracted by the routine and COMFORT of church, where we just sit and watch — happy to tick off our Christian duty for the week, and focus on coming here and ACTUALLY building HIS house.

Stop getting distracted by the music and lights, don’t just sway there - focus on worshipping God genuinely and passionately

Stop getting distracted by just WATCHING the preaching, don’t just nod your head - throw yourself on the altar, drink and eat the Word with an open heart and let it change you!

Stop getting distracted by the show of the service, watching other people build the house - focus on serving God by serving the people that He’s bringing into the house!

Stop getting distracted by the comfort of your friends, focus on loving the stranger, the lonely, the lost, the broken - becuse God is always near to the brokenhearted.

Home, Not a Hotel

How do we build this into His home? Can I leave us with a phrase tonight that I want you to really just sit on? Something that I want you to catch, in your heart - I want this to challenge you, and move you.

Make this church your Home, and not a Hotel.

What do I mean by this?

I mean that when you call Heart for the City your church - you aren’t a guest here anymore. You’re family. You don’t expect room service to clean up after you when you go out, they don’t make your bed, restock your toiletries, mop the floors. That’s what you do in a hotel.

In a home - you OWN this place, it’s yours. So YOU make the bed, you restock the toiletries, you mop the floors, you sweep the floor, you tidy up. You serve when there is a need, you raise your hands and lift His name up in worship, you throw yourself at the foot of the cross and let Him work in you, you love on the lost one who comes in through the door, you love on the broken weeping at the altar, you get into a connect group, you lead connect groups, you vacuum the floor, work the projectors, sing on stage, you do it - because this is your HOME. This isn’t your hotel!

And that means that we ALL bear the responsibility of making this God’s Home first. If you see something that you want to add, if you see something that you think needs fixing - guess what? You bear the authority and the responsibility to add, to fix.

I want everyone who calls this church their home to lose the mindset of consuming. We’re not here to build a church of CONSUMERS, we’re here to build a church of CONTRIBUTORS. Because that’s what family does - we’re not here to just USE the church like a hotel, we’re here to BUILD it like a Home.

ILLUSTRATION: Char and Leila and baby Psalm

You know our Young Adults pastors are real exemplars of this. For those of you who don’t know, Leila and Char (mainly Leila) gave birth to baby Psalm barely 2 months ago. And I remember visiting them as soon as they got home with baby, and I told them - you need to take a break, Leila had a rough pregnancy, she needs Char around to support her as she recovers - I remember telling Char, you stay home with Leila and your baby boy, take time and rest. Come back when Leila is fully healed and better.

Do you know that specifically against my instructions Char was already back at work a couple of days after baby Psalm was born? Meeting and messaging people on 2/3 hours sleep? Do you know that Leila, despite still feeling weak and not having a fully healed wound - showed up to 5PM service the next week to watch one of her leaders preach?

And even though my heart ached with worry for them as a new family - I never intervened and forced them to take a break, or forced them not to come - you know why? Because I know what Char would say - because he’s said it to me many times before when I’ve asked him to take it easier. He’d say something along the lines of, “It’s calm broski (he can be incredibly disrespectful), this is our Home. It’s on us to build it.” Catch that.

Altar Call

Commit to building this into a Home. Everyone who calls this their church - to start building this into a Home. A Home, not a Hotel.

But not just any Home - we need to build it into God’s Home first. Christ as the foundation.