The Church of 2020

Have you personally ever dreamt a dream that seemed larger than yourself? What I mean is, have you ever dreamed so large that for your dream to become a reality would nearly be impossible. At least for you to pull it off alone. For myself I label myself a dreamer. I like to believe I have many admirable dreams, but life comes crashing down on me and I realize what is stopping me from achieving my dreams is my body’s limited amount of energy and a lack of clear vision.

But what about yourself. Are you a dreamer? A vision caster? Do you believe in the impossible? Or you easily discourage about the nearly impossible?

When I was a young boy, I never thought about what turns a dream into a reality - effort and vision, because, when I had a dream, I went for it. I always had a passion for capturing reptiles, birds, and mammals. I can remember lifting up car parts to catch garter snakes at my uncle Ed’s backyard and at my house I created an elaborate bird traps with fishing nets by the bird feeder, hoping that the net would fall on the birds, which never work by the way.

But my favorite live capture was catching a very unique animal in my backyard. And I would make a bet that no one here has ever caught this animal without injuring or killing it. All I did to get this furry little creature was closes the gate in my backyard and then start chasing it. The little guy gave me a wild chase, but luckily the animal got stuck in our fence and I yanked him out. You want to know what it was? It was an adorable adult rabbit and I tell you, (what up, Doc) that rabbit thought it met his maker.

But what about you? Are you a dreamer? A vision caster? Do you believe in the impossible? Or you get easily discourage about the impossible?

My dream as young boy of capturing animals became a reality because I had two things in mind: First I kept a vision and secondly, I created an action plan. In my mind, it easy to reach towards your dream when you it’s short sighted. Just gotta catch that rabbit and there you go, mission completed. But what about dreams that you’re not able to easily able to grasp?

That dream of capturing animals came to a reality because I had a vision and an action plan. My vision was to capture

1. I had a thought out vision. 2.

I believe most of us aspire to do great things, but the reason why we often fail is not because our dream are out of reach and impossible to achieve, but because of our lack of creating a vision and formulating an action plan. Rather than being proactive and designing a game plan that will lead to succeed, we tend to be reactive to our dreams and let life slip on by.

Listen to this quote

One of America’s greatest voices for speaking for the blind and deaf once said...

The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision. - Helen Keller

I think Helen is right on this point. Living as a blind woman who has no sight is nothing compared to individual who can see clearly but lacks the vision for the future. Transition vision from a person to a church with me.

Do you know what happens to God’s people when they lack vision to further his kingdom? They tend continue to live in the bubble of mediocrity. The church becomes comfortable in keeping the statues quo. 1. Same church music, service order, style of preaching and etc. Then they look around and they notice church is shrinking, but rather doing being proactive and changing the methodology of connecting with new people. The church continues to go down the same path for the sakes of tradition until it eventually fades away.

Romans 1 ESV

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, 7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 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. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 16 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. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

And this is a global phenomena affecting all Christians. Churches are shutting their doors for the last service. A the newest generations are growing up in a society where attending church on Sunday is taboo almost anymore. Bible studies and mission trips are plateauing and people are becoming more biblically illiterate even though the bible is available everywhere. This trend has to stop and that’s only going to happen when we find God’s glasses so we can have an genuine sight of vision.

For I know God see potential in this church. Even if you don’t believe it, Jesus knows he can use anyone to make am extraordinary difference in changing the world. We need to unlock the door of opportunity and find the right vision moving forward. Which I believe for us in 2020 is a finding a vision and creating an action plan.

Taking a trip back to geometry class. In case you don’t remember what a right triangle looks like, it’s a three sided object. It has a vertical line, horizontal line, and diagonal line and all three are important to remember as we discuss God’s vision for his church in 2020.

Let’s talk about the first line

First thing for us to configure God’s vision we need to start with...

VERTICAL WORSHIP

The first line in God’s vision is you and your relationship with God. He is at the top of the right triangle and you are at the bottom. It is essential to understanding how our worship flows up to God in everything we do.

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

But take a moment and talk about what most Christian believe worship only is, most believe that coming to church on Sunday morning makes up their whole week of worship, but that is far from the truth. Worship is a daily practice with you connecting with God as your Lord. Listen to what Paul says what vertical worship appears to be like.

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Did you hear what Apostle Paul said about our worship? At it’s core, its spiritual. When we present reverence and adoration to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit we are worshipping him. A church that is living in continual worship, is a church that is going to thrive and make a difference for Jesus for everything they say and do directs others to God.

But the question we have to ask ourselves is “How do we worship God from Monday through Sunday?” Paul gave us a very robust and complicated answer, we are to give full control to God.

However, when we worship God we do it with

Our bodies are to a living sacrifice for the Lord. For God doesn’t take pleasure in receiving our worst behavior from us, but desires us to bring forth a heart that fixed on loving him and communing with him.

However giving a sacrifice is not a easy. In the Old Testament, when God’s people brought an animal sacrifice to communion with God. God gave a very specific requirement for the sacrificial animal which was to be pure without defects, to be the most valuable above the whole herd. This is the type of worship that God requires is for us to give pure and devoted heart to him.

And when we lose our vertical worship because of busyness of daily life. We are told how to bounce back. By the renewal of your mind. Sometimes when the world tries to consume our time and energy we are to fight back by unplugging from all the distractions so we can give back God our bodies to him. For the world is challenging you to take your mind and heart, but you have to remember, you have a vision! A vision to be God’s holy church.

And our action plan to continue in genuine vertical worship is present ourselves to God by being vessels for Christ, then we will know the will of God, what is good acceptable, and perfect.

So this week, when you feel disconnected, alone, or even agitated, the cure of fixing your vertical worship is by diving in God’s words and having intention time of prayer. Perhaps you feel like your living in a spiritual desert. Perhaps it time you join our tear up your bible reading plan, or attend our weekly small groups, because when give yourself fully to God. He rewards you by pouring his peace, joy, and love over every facet of your life. That’s vertical worship. But we need another side for our right triangle to connect this is… we need horizontal discipleship.

HORIZONTAL DISCIPLESHIP

This is a bit different from vertical worship for vertical worship is you connecting to God individually. Horizontal discipleship is when the church connects with one another and edifies and inspires others to become more like Jesus.

Maybe in your context you remember going to a mentorship

A disciple is someone who follows a master and learns from them.

In the Ne Testament, we see examples

Back when I was in bible college, Central Christian created a discipleship program in which in coming freshmen would connect with sophomores and juniors. Jed and I was both enrolled in helping freshmen and show them the ropes of how things were done. It wasn’t us lecturing them and forcing them to do things against their will, but our discipleship was an example of Jesus showing his friends how to live life. We taught them scriptures, we gave them advice for college, we did ministry together, listen to their problems. Ultimately we were training them, but walking beside them in life.

I think the church is missed out on discipleship because we many assume to be a disciple means coming to bible studies. But in all reality, it’s walk side-by-side with someone and teaching them to follow Jesus. And the church is called to make disciple for we are only one generation away from Christianity fading away. I know it’s a daunting task, but if have a healthy vertical worship, discipleship will flow out of you. Even Jesus gave us a command before he went back to heaven, the gospel of Matthew tells us.

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

So what do we do for discipleship making? According to Jesus, we are “go” and find people who want to follow Jesus. That means inviting our friends and family to church settings and seeing if they are receptive to the “good news.” Then we see that they are itching to for something more then we introduce Jesus and his saving grace. In response to their faith we baptized them and teach them the ways of Jesus and his kingdom.

Horizontal discipleship doesn’t have to boring, rather it can be the best thing in life. Teaching others about Jesus so they can break away from addictions, depression, violence, perversion should give us purpose. Rather than only working on myself and my relationship with God. I have an opportunity to live our Jesus and help free them from sin by directing their step to Christ.

A healthy church is one that is filled with these kinds of relationships of a mentor and disciple. So my challenge for us this year to for everyone to be both. We all need to be a disciple and learn under someone else, but also be a mentor to another. So as we engage in horizontal discipleship, remember we all need to connect to each other for the sakes of keeping us align with God and his church.

Finally the third piece to our vision for 2020 is creating a...

DIAGONAL KINGDOM

In which I explained the first two sides. Vertical worship connects you to God and horizontal discipleship connect you to the others in the church. Lastly, the diagonal kingdom connects all of us (the church) to God.

Which in one sense is the purpose of the church. Which paints the beautiful picture who we are to become in Jesus. We truly don’t remain the same, but in the process we become more like God and gain a heart and passion for what Jesus loves.

I believe the best way of expressing the diagonal kingdom is imagining a wedding ceremony. The bride walks down the isle to marry her groom and eventually they become wedded. The two become one flesh, so does the church become one with God.

Which paints the beautiful picture who we are to become

One of the ways that we all connect with God is reminding ourselves of who’s kingdom is to be spread upon the earth. Jesus taught us how we bring the kingdom here in one of his most memorized prayers.

Luke 11:2 ESV

2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.

This diagonal kingdom is lived out by the church when we choose to live in community with each other and God. Listening to Jesus prayer, we know that life is not about us, but about bring the reign of God on the earth and this happens when God’s church decides to do mission trips together in different communities, choose to have fellowship around dinner tables, go out and do fun activities together and grow together on Sunday mornings.

But the vision is only going to happen when we choose to embrace what the church is doing and we understand that we need everyone. Church, we need each other to grow closer to God as a family. Christianity isn’t a individual thing, but it’s a community. My faith will die if I don’t have community with my church brothers and sisters. That is why Jesus founded the church so we can live in harmony and connect to God as our savior.

The action plan of keeping the diagonal kingdom strong and alive is to embrace the family of God and choose to do events that will help us to grow closer to the creator of heaven and earth.

My prayer is you will find a way of being intentional with being connected with the church other than one day a week. For we truly make the biggest difference for the kingdom when we are a tight knit family. That’s why we at Ubly Christian Church make it easy for you to plug in and know whats going on through the website and faithlife app.

At the end of the day, we must keep the vision of the right triangle ahead of us as we fly through 2020. Let’s not be blind, but keep God’s vision for his church.

Lets focus on vertical worship, horizontal discipleship, and being the diagonal kingdom.