A Better Message
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Introduction
Introduction
Review Mission
Review Mission
Last week we began an important sermon series regarding the direction of the church. We have been asking the church to pray for the last year for God to give us a vision for the future, and we believe that he has answered those prayers.
Last week I attempted to answer the question of why? Why do we exist as a church?
I revealed
This led to the adoption and explanation of our new mission statement: to invite all people to life under a better King.
Clarifying what our mission is as a church will help us to keep the main thing, the main thing.
Next week we will be answering the question how? How are we going to carry out our mission? But before we get there, I want to answer the question of what? What is it that drives us? Or, what is it that makes us who we are as a church?
Essentially, what I want to define for us are a set of core values that will shape everything we do together as a church moving forward.
What are values?
What are values?
The values of an organization can be a somewhat abstract concept to wrap our minds around. Let me give you an example of one of the other organizations I mentioned last week that have stated values.
Dunkin’ Donutes
DD’s values are honesty, fairness, transparency, responsibility, respect, integrity, humility. We saw last week that their mission statement was to make and serve the freshest, most delicious coffee and donuts quickly and courteously in modern, well-merchandised stores. Their values are essentially the manner in which they carry out their mission of making us coffee and donuts.
Sure, DD could try to make and sell us coffee and donuts in a way that isn’t honest, in a way that rips us off or takes advantage of us. But because they value honesty and fairness, they charge us fairly for their goods.
The values also show us in a way what they are not. Notice that one of their values is not health or nutrition. So consequently, DD is not one of the healthiest places to get food. But this is freeing in a way, because they do not need to seek to craft the healthiest food, but the tastiest. If nutrition were a value, they would likely need to scale back on the donuts and cream and sugar in our coffees, and whatever they would make instead would be that much more expensive. Plus, their values help distinguish them from other companies in the restaurant industry. There are countless restaurants who have a similar mission to Dunkin’ Donuts, but their values help distinguish who they are.
So when we are talking about values we aren’t talking about the things we do. Rather, we are talking about the things that characterize what we do.
Clearly stated values serve as guardrails that will keep us on track as we carry out our mission. They will help shape our culture as a church and will become a part of the unique DNA of our church. They will be what drives us we invite all people to life under a better King.
When speaking about values, we are talking about those things which will be non-negotiable in our church’s ministries. They aren’t so much what we do together. Rather they will characterize all that we do.
Our values are a part of our unique DNA as a church.
At this point these values are somewhat of an aspiration. We do not embody them as fully as we’d like. That being said, I believe each value we will cover over the next few weeks are present in our church in some form or another. We have identified four values that will shape our mission to reach our community for Christ. They are:
A better message
A better family
A better job
A better party
Our values are the guardrails that keep us on track as we carry out our mission.
Value: A Better Message
Value: A Better Message
Our first value that will define us as a church is a better message. Part of what makes life under King Jesus so good, is that we have a better message than anyone else has to offer: the gospel. By stating that we value a better message we mean that we value the gospel as central to everything we do as Christians.
The gospel of course is the good news about Jesus. Paul sums up the gospel this way in his first letter to the Corinthians.
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
1 Corinthians 15.3-
This is the gospel message in a nutshell: Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead. Paul tells the church that this message is of first importance, and we would do well in keeping the gospel message of first importance in our church.
Too often churches and Christians treat the gospel as something elementary that we move beyond as we mature in the faith. Yes, yes, Jesus died for our sins, and I am glad he did, but now we must move on to this, or that.
But notice what Paul says right before this summary of the gospel in 1 Corinthians:
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
Who is it that Paul is writing to? Believers or non-believers? Believers. And Paul wants to remind them of what? The gospel! Paul tells them that yes, they received the gospel, but they currently stand in the gospel and are being saved by the gospel as they hold fast to the gospel.
What does Paul mean when he says that we are being saved by the gospel? He is speaking about the ongoing work of sanctification in the life of a Christian, the process of us becoming more and more like Jesus. And the way that we become more and more like Jesus? Through the gospel.
The gospel is central to all we do as followers of Jesus.
The gospel is not just the ABC’s of the Christian faith. It is the A to Z. The gospel is central to all we do as followers of Jesus. All of life must be viewed through the gospel. Earlier in this letter Paul makes this claim about the gospel for believers:
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.
Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
1 Corinthians 8So when we talk about our church being gospel centered we mean that all ministry must be done in light of two realities: Our ongoing struggle with sin and our ongoing need for grace.
The gospel is power for those who are being saved. The gospel fuels our growth as Christians. We can never outgrow the cross. We do not grow by trying hard. We grow by resting in the message of the cross. Only then will our lives begin to truly change.
All of life must be viewed through the gospel.
So when we talk about our church being gospel centered we mean that all ministry must be done in light of two realities: Our ongoing struggle with sin and our ongoing need for grace.
Ultimately, when we talk about our church being gospel centered we mean that all ministry must be done in light of two realities: Our ongoing struggle with sin and our ongoing need for grace.
So when we talk about our church being gospel centered we mean that all ministry must be done in light of two realities: Our ongoing struggle with sin and our ongoing need for grace.
The ongoing struggle with sin
The ongoing struggle with sin
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
We must recognize in everything that we do, that the central problem of every person we encounter is their struggle with sin. This applies to both believer and nonbeliever alike.
1 Corinthians 1.
For the non-Christian, they are cut off from God because of their sin. Their lives are in shambles because they have rejected God as King and have not received the sacrifice of Christ on their behalf. Their greatest enemy is not a lack of food or shelter, or relationship problems, or financial instability. Their greatest problem is they are at war with a holy God.
For the Christian, sin stills wages war in our lives. Christ has paid the ultimate penalty for our sins, but sins effects still remain. My greatest problem isn’t my circumstances. My greatest problem is me. Even though Christ has made me his own, sin still wreaks havock in my life.
The ongoing need for grace
The ongoing need for grace
The greatest need of every person that we encounter is the same as well, the grace of God in Christ.
For the non Christian, they need the blood of Jesus applied to their sins. They are destined for an eternity in hell if they do not receive the forgiveness of sins that God offers them in Christ.
For the Christian, they need continual grace from God as well. They need to bring their present burdens and struggles to the cross of Christ. They need to be reminded again of what Christ accomplished for them at the cross.
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
So if we truly value the gospel as central to all we do, we will keep both of these realities in mind as we minister. Our goal will be to help people realize their problem with sin and then to help them find relief in the grace of Christ.
I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Romans 1.13-17
Enlarging the Cross
Enlarging the Cross
Essentially, what we want to be doing in all of our ministry together as a church is to enlarge the cross in every person’s life. Here is what I mean.
When we become a Christian we have an elementary understanding of our sinfulness and Christ’s sacrifice for us. As we mature in our faith one of the things that ought to be happening is an ever increasing awareness of the depth of our sins. A mark of Christian maturity isn’t that we believe ourselves to become less sinful. No, a mark of maturity is that we believe ourselves to be even more sinful than we could have ever imagined.
Now why on earth would we want people to become so much more aware of their own depravity? To enlarge the cross. See, as I understand more fully the depth of my sin I begin to realize how much greater Christ’s sacrifice was for me. I begin to appreciate more fully the grace I have received. The understanding of the cross in my life must get “bigger” so to speak in order to fully cover my transgressions. An awareness of our sins shouldn’t lead to crippling guilt. It should lead to grateful praise of Jesus the crucified.
What this means for us
What this means for us
One of the things that encourages me most is how much in the last five years the people of this church have grown in their understanding of the centrality of the gospel. For many of you in this room this is not new. We have been emphasizing the centrality of the gospel for the last several years. One of my greatest joys as a pastor is to hear you guys connecting life back to Christ and his death and resurrection for us.
We will be in a group praying and I will hear some of you thanking God for sending his Son, even if we are praying about someone’s medical issue. Or, I will be in a Bible study and I will hear guys admit to their failures in one breath and then in the next speak of Jesus’ work for them. Or we will encounter someone who is not a Christian engaging in questionable behavior and someone will say, “Well of course they are acting that way. They don’t know Jesus yet.” Guys, nothing thrills my heart more as a pastor than hearing you talk about the gospel. That is the culture I want to encourage at WSBC. I want us saturated with the gospel.
Moving forward expect more of the same. I will continue to preach the gospel every Sunday. You can expect that I will preach the gospel from whatever text we are in and that I will attempt to apply it to both believer and non believer alike. You can expect sermons, singing, prayers, and more here will attempt to address our ongoing struggle with sin and our ongoing need for grace. You can expect that we will make every effort to enlarge the cross in each of our lives. But the gospel won’t just be on display during Sunday morning worship.
When we teach our children in kids ministries, we will be teaching them about Jesus death and resurrection for them.
When we serve people at the gathering, we will be sharing the message of Christ’s work on the cross.
When we watch toddlers we will be pointing them to Jesus who gave his life for the least of these.
When we minister to youth we will be sharing with them about God’s love in sending his Son for their sin.
When we have Bible study during the week we will bring every message back to Christ crucified.
When we give counseling we will ground all of our counsel in the work of Christ for us.
When we pray with one another we will be praying for a greater awareness of the cross.
When we meet in small groups we will be pointing one another back to what Jesus has already done for us.
When we minister to married couples we will point them to the gospel pictured by our marriages.
When we hang out together at different times, our conversations will drift back to the cross.
We are a church that values the centrality of the gospel. We must continue to be a church that values the centrality of the gospel. So as we fulfill our mission to invite all people to life under a better King, we do so knowing we have a better message.
Individual Application
Individual Application
If you are not yet a member but have been attending our church for a while and you are sold on our mission to invite all people to life under a better King and you believe that we have a better message to offer this world, I want to invite you to join us for our new members luncheon following worship today. This class is a requirement for membership, but you don’t have to become a member to come. It would be a great opportunity to simply find out more about our church. You will also get a preview of the rest of our core values as well.
Some of you here are not yet followers of Jesus. If that is you I want to encourage you to embrace the good news about Jesus. In his love for you, God sent his Son Jesus to die for the penalty you and I incurred for breaking God’s commands. Then Jesus rose from the dead victoriously, validating all he said and did. If you want to know God you have to come through his Son. If you would like to know how to do that, speak with me following the worship service.
So church, let us take up the gospel message and apply it to every situation. Let’s never forget that we have a better message than anything the world has to offer.