For The Sake of The Gospel: Breaking Down Barriers to Christ

Introduction:

History of HBC

Pastor Johnny Brewer preached for over 50 years and for most of that time he pastored a congregation known as Landmark Chapel, a “baptistic” non-denominational church. His reasoning for keeping “Baptist” off the sign was that he didn't want to erect any barriers that would keep people from the gospel. In 2001 Pastor Johnny had a stroke that left him unable to continue pastoring the Landmark Chapel. After quite a bit of time passed and the congregation dwindled in size the remaining members of this now struggling church reached out to the Maranatha Baptist Church for some help in finding a pastor. Maranatha refused to help this little struggling gospel focused congregation unless they added “Baptist” to the marquee. So, out of desperation, the Landmark Chapel became the Landmark Baptist Chapel. In 2010, the Landmark Baptist Chapel underwent another name change, led by my predecessor, to become the Heritage Baptist Church. Of which I became the pastor on Dec 2, 2018. Since then we have added missionaries and even partnered to plant a church in Richmond. The first of what I hope to be many more churches we help plant. But, despite this, we have still somehow allowed some small preferential issues and become barriers to our gospel focus.

There can be:

“No barriers between us and the Gospel.”

Culture shifts are hard. No one likes them. But when we elevate culture over the gospel we’ve made a huge mistake and we’ve lost our focus.

The reason culture shifts are hard is one little word:

C-H-A-N-G-E

Tell joke about Baptist and changing lightbulbs.

Jesus was someone who made a lot of people upset and uncomfortable because he bucked the religious culture of His day that was layered with barriers between the people and God.

1. The Samaritan Woman at the Well. (John 4:1-42)

John 4:1–10 NKJV

1 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), 3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. 4 But He needed to go through Samaria. 5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

John 4:25–26 NKJV

25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

John 4:39–42 NKJV

39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of His own word. 42 Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

Tell the story of the Samaritan woman at the well.

Imagine the conversation on the way to Samaria

“We don’t travel this way.”

Good Jews don’t go through Samaria, they go around it.

Jesus went against the barriers erected by the culture of His day to win a societal outcast.

He was more focused on the mission of the gospel than erecting barriers!

2. Mary of Bethany (Luke 7:36-50)

Luke 7:36–39 NKJV

36 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. 37 And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, 38 and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”

Luke 7:44–50 NKJV

44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. 45 You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. 47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” 48 Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” 50 Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

Tell the story of Mary of Bethany

She was likely a prostitute

Societal outcast.

No truly religious man would dare let a woman like this touch Him. It broke every cultural rule the religious elite had erected.

But Jesus tore down the barrier for the sake of the Gospel.

3. Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10)

Luke 19:1–10 NKJV

1 Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. 7 But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.” 8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Tell story of Zacchaeus:

Tax Collector (talk how despised they were).

Lowest of the low.

Societal outcast

“Publicans and sinners”

Jesus went out of his way to specifically call out to Zacchaeus and eat with Him. Tearing down all cultural barriers for the sake of the gospel.

4. Cornelius (Acts 10)

Acts 10:1–7 NKJV

1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, 2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. 3 About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!” 4 And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. 6 He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do.” 7 And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually.

Acts 10:9–15 NKJV

9 The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. 10 Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance 11 and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. 13 And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” 15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.”

Acts 10:44–48 NKJV

44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. 45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, 47 “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.

Tell story of Cornelius and Peter’s vision:

There was a barrier between Cornelius and salvation.

God communicated to Peter that the Gospel was for all.

Peter was told to tear down all barriers for the sake of the Gospel.

I hope your catching on to a common theme and can see just how important the Gospel is and just how damaging barriers are.

We should desire for our church to have no barriers between us and the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

5.Barriers

The funny thing about barriers is they seem pretty benign and safe. They are designed to keep the dangerous elements out and we get very comfortable really quickly behind them. We feel so safe in fact we thin that the more barriers we erect, the safer we become. So we build them everywhere. Then we sit back and feel all cozy behind them. The only problem is, that barrier that we think keeps us safe, prevents anyone else from getting into the safety it provides.

Our barriers tell others they are simply not welcome here.

Go through some barriers:

Dress Code- In scripture the only time that there is any prescribed dress code given for when we come to worship in either testament has to do with the Levitical Priesthood when they approached God on behalf of the people. No where else is it even mentioned.

Dwell on the danger of a “Sunday Best” mentality toward those who don’t have “Sunday Best.”

Charles Spurgeon was the first pastor to wear a suit in the pulpit and was roundly criticized for looking too much like the common man off the street. He did it to tear down all barriers between his church and the gospel.

Tell story about the little boy sitting on the step of the Metropolitan Tabernacle because he was not dressed right. Spurgeon carried the boy in and sat him on the front row before ascending the steps to preach.

Translation

Tell story of Tyndale and the plow boy.

Music

Music is very subjective.

Many of Fanny Crosby’s hymns were set to popular saloon tunes of the day.

The guy who wrote “It is well” eventually denied Christ.

6. Biblical Mandates Given to the church.

Gather on the first day of the week. (1 Corinthians 16:2)

Give.(Acts 20:35) and implied in other places.

Preach the Word. ( 2 Timothy 4:2).

Love. (John 13:34 and others)

Evangelize. (Matthew 28:19-20)

Serve one another. (Galatians 5:13)

Praise the Lord (all over the Psalms and NT)

7. Vision and Values:

Hear my heart on this. Yes, we have made some minor changes to decor, dress, pulpit, and music, but all of them are for the sake of tearing down any barriers that are keeping people from the Gospel.

HBC is a church for all regardless of what you wear or what preferences you may have. That is what we have to be or we will die as a church.

That’s why at Heritage we have CORE Values:

WE PREACH THE BIBLE

WE MAKE DISCIPLES

WE UNIFY ON THE ESSENTIALS

WE LOVE WINCHESTER AND FREDERICK COUNTY

WE PRIORITIZE FAMILY

WE PLANT CHURCHES

WE SERVE THOSE WHO HAVE NEED

WE SEND THE GOSPEL TO THE NATIONS

These CORE Values help us to accomplish our mission which is:

KNOW -Form a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

FOLLOW -Become a disciple of Jesus Christ through building a deeper relationship with Him.

SHARE -Learn how to tell others about how they can have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

GLORIFY-Becoming more and more like Jesus Christ so that we may reflect His greatness.

Conclusion:

Display T-chart and challenge folks to go home and make one for themselves. Everything about HBC they love and know is right. Every change they dislike connected to scripture. If any of the change we’ve made are in violation of scripture you bring it to me and we’ll talk, but if they’re not. I challenge you to examine your heart and motives.

I was hired to lead this church by following the leading of the Holy Spirit and I am confident that is exactly what I am doing.

Let’s Pray.

Announce that 5 minutes after the conclusion of the service I will gladly hold a Town Hall to respectfully discuss any concerns folks have regarding our direction and I will stay as long as is necessary.