20080921 - Being church that looks outward

Sunday 21/9/08

Being church – that looks outward

Romans 10:14-15 and John 1:35-42

Aim: To equip people for mission wherever they find themselves day by day.

Intro:

Bob spoke last week about our vision.

To re-cap, our vision in very basic terms is:

·        To build our worshiping community

·        To equip people for daily discipleship

·        As a corporate body, our mission is to the school

·        As individuals, we see that our mission is wherever we find ourselves on a day to day basis.

We had a period of reviewing where we are as a church and we, that is the leadership team, accept that:

·        Some people may feel that it’s time to move on and we will respect your decision about that.

You should have all received “commitment” cards as you came to the service. This is so you can sign up if you feel that you can commit yourself to our worshipping community and our vision.

We give you space on the card to indicate if you don’t feel able, at this stage to commit yourself in the immediate future.

We fully understand that some may decide to change their minds in the future – that’s ok.

We will hand the cards in as we come up to communion.

·        We also accept that some people are leading very busy lives and helping on Sunday mornings is very difficult. That’s ok. Signing up to the worshiping community just means that you commit yourself to worshiping with us, not that you have to be involved in helping in any manner.

Today I want to look at our mission:

In our vision statement what do we identify as our mission?

There are two items:

·        Mission to the school

·        Mission to the places where we find ourselves on a day to day basis.

Mission to the school:

In what manner do we have a mission to the school?

·        Open the book assemblies

·        Lunch clubs

·        Serving refreshments at the school’s concert

·        Do a Christingle service for the school

·        Being involved in the summer fair

·        Helping children to read or as with Dot, being a library assistant.

In all these things, if we are doing this “as members of St Michael’s @ NS” we are involved in the mission to the school. So if you helped on the chocolate fountain this year, then you were involved in the mission to the school.

If you helped serve mulled wine and mince pies after their concert in December last year, you were involved in our mission to the school.

An important thing, is that people know why you are there. As with Chesterfest, if someone asks you why you are doing it, you can says you are doing it on behalf of the church, because Jesus would want you to do it.

·        Romans reading – how then can they call on the one they have not believed in? and how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?

By saying you are doing it on behalf of the church, because Jesus would want you to do it, they are starting to hear about Jesus. You don’t need to say any mare. If they ask you questions, answer as best as you can.

1 Pe 3:15 says you must always be prepared to give an account of the hope you have, but to do so with gentleness and respect.

If you have answered all you can, and they still ask questions, then suggest they come on an Alpha course.

So, who is involved in this mission?

·        Open the book assemblies: Joy, Clare Stapely of DR and myself. When we get a children’s worker, maybe that person too.

·        Lunch clubs: Greg, Lydia will be, Barry Tinsley of DR and myself. Again, when the CW starts , then he or she will be involved too.

·        Helping children to read or as with Dot, being a library

At present only Dot’s involved.

·        If anyone felt they wanted to give of their time to these events, please speak to Joy, Rory, Greg or myself. BUT, there is no “having to”

We also:

·        Serving refreshments at the school’s concert

·        Do a Christingle service for the school

·        Being involved in the summer fair

Many of you have got involved in these events, worked really hard and enjoyed yourselves. Thank you and I hope that you’ll get involved next time to. I’ll be setting some of these dates with Mark Griffiths, the head teacher, when I see him on Wednesday.

That is our corporate mission to the school.

We also have a mission to the places where we find ourselves on a day to day basis.

·        Reading from John says 1:41 “the first thing Andrew did [after hearing what Jesus had said] was to find his brother, Simon, and tell him, “we have found the Messiah”. And he brought him to Jesus.

·        Andrew was in a normal situation – a setting with a member of his family.

What are the normal situations in which we find ourselves on a day to day basis? It could be:

·        At school

·        At work

·        At the school gate with other parents

·        With our friends

·        Wherever we may play or watch sport. We could be running a marathon alongside someone else. If you’re fit enough, you should still be able to hold a normal conversation!

How do you bring up the subject to tell them about Jesus, as Andrew told Simon Peter.?

·        You use normal conversation. If you get asked “what did you do this weekend” or “where are you going on holiday” or “how did you get time off from school?”

Be honest in your answers, but don’t give too much detail.

Let them ask questions.

If they ask you “why”, then you can be candid about your relationship with Jesus. As previously mentioned, “you must always be prepared to give an account of the hope you have”. So maybe think to yourself, “what is the hope I have?”

Andrew also brought Simon Peter to Jesus.

How do we bring people to Jesus? We invite them to join us in a social event involving other Christians. If your house group decides to hold a social event, invite some of your non-Christian friends to join in. We hope to have a games evening on Friday 31/10 and a Christmas party on Saturday 6/12. Rory, I think, will give a notice about this. We could invite some friends to join us at these events. Brian and Joyce sometimes have events at which Christians and non-Christians mix. That’s a good thing.

When the time is ready, which we can tell by their questioning, we could invite them to a church service, or invite them to Alpha. You may even accompany them to Alpha. The food is normally very good.

So, who is involved in this mission?

We all are. Young, old or middle aged, “We must all be ready to give an account of the hope we have.”

But, How are we going to be equipped for this mission?

We, hopefully, will equip you for this on Sunday mornings during our sermons. We will be starting a new series in two weeks called “Christian life and work.” Look at the sermon card for the topics.

Hopefully, the house groups also equip you for daily discipleship and mission. Maybe you may want to ask yourself, “why do I go to house group?” or “Why don’t I go?” I hope that somewhere the answer may come out, “to be able to become a more effective disciple of Jesus.”

But we also have our own responsibility to grow as Christ’s disciples. By allowing his word to soak into us as we become familiar with it.

In the story about the armour of God at the end of Ephesians, it says that “we must take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

So we take up the word of God, which is the Bible and we seek to become familiar with it. In this way, we will help to equip ourselves for our mission to those round about us.

Conclusion:

Bob spoke last week about growing our community and the fact that our community exists for the benefit of others.

He looked at the parish vision, at worship, fellowship, prayer, teaching sand leaning, serving and today I have looked at mission.

Consider whether you feel that you are able or not able to join in this vision for our congregation as we seek to worship God both on Sundays and throughout the week.

Amen.