Check Your Vitals (Part I)

Last week we began reflecting on our vitals that are a part of our marks as a congregation in our Vital Congregations initiative. Today we’re going to look at specific marks and see what our survey results were, and recognize how God is calling us.

The two marks we’ll be looking at today are:

Lifelong Discipleship Formation

where we scored 74% on par with the denominations 75%, and

Intentional Authentic Evangelism

where we scored at 66% where we scored a bit below where the denomination came in at 71%. As we look at these closer today, let’s get to God’s Word.

Will you open your hearts with me in prayer:

Check Your Vitals (Part I)

Holy Creator, Sovereign Lord, Cleansing Spirit, Our Triune God, we come before you this morning in worship. We have gathered here with friends and family for the purpose of giving you the glory. We have gathered here this morning, offering ourselves to you with hearts ready to hear from you. We ask that you would speak to our hearts this day, that the words read from your Holy Word would echo within our hearts and minds. That they wouldn’t simply be heard today and forgotten, but that they would find their way into our way of being. We invite you to change us Lord, into the people you created us to be. Speak Lord, for your servants are listening. We pray this in the name of Jesus the Christ, AMEN.

Let’s hear now from God’s Holy Word.

Our reading this morning comes from the book of Acts, chapter 2, verses 42-47. It’s a familiar passage, so let’s pay particular attention so as not to allow it’s familiarity to take away from what God has for us today.

I’m going to invite Drew up here to read for us:

Acts 2:42–47 ESV

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

A reading from God’s Holy Word.

Thanks be to God.

Check Your Vitals (Part I)

As we talk about lifelong discipleship and intentional authentic evangelism, there could not be a more appropriate passage. It is all encapsulated in this passage, this story of the early church.

When I ask church going Christians when discipleship begins, the answers I most often hear are when a christian begins to take their faith seriously, or when a person joins a Bible study, or when a person begins to attend church.

I want to challenge those ideas among you. Let’s think back to the Gospels. Jesus called the disciples, if you want to look at the passage, you can turn to Matthew chapter 4, or Mark 1, or Luke 5, or John 1, and in all cases what you see is Jesus simply approaching the disciples where they are in life. He wasn’t in the synagogue, he was at the temple, he was walking along the shore and he see Peter and his brother Andrew, and the James and John - all of them are fisherman.

And Jesus shares that often quoted phrase:

Matthew 4:19 ESV

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

It’s interesting to note how our survey demonstrated the church’s role in discipleship:

77% affirmed that this church prioritizes faith formation and discipleship making.

94% said the church challenged them to become more Christ like to some extent or greater!

88% said the church helped them apply faith to everyday life (somewhat or very well).

And a whopping 92% said the church nurtured their spiritual development.

Those are great reports! And exciting for this pastor to read! That is a measure of how well the church is helping worshipers grow as disciples.

And then I get to the role of the individual, a measure of how well the worshipers are growing as disciples,

I'm not going to read all of these, but notice “I see myself as a disciple - 55% say that is true or very true. 85% say it’s somewhat true or better.

51% when they face a problem look to the teachings of Jesus (true or very true). That can seem discouraging. But it’s 86% true if we include the somewhat. As we read the scriptures isn’t that what we see happen again and again - the disciples, the very people who were with Jesus didn’t always look to Him when they faced problems. We’re no different.

Give yourselves a bit of a break here.

95% of you said it’s at least somewhat important that you make time to read the Bible.

95% of you said it’s at least somewhat important that you make time to pray or meditate.

95% said it’s somewhat important or more that you take time to deepen your relationship with God, and of that 87% said it was important or greater!

Clearly, we are a church that chooses to be disciples! Followers of Jesus with foibles, failure, fortitude and faithfulness. All of it. Discipleship, following Jesus, is messy. We’re not perfect.

In Acts we read:

Acts 2:42–45 ESV

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.

When we think of discipleship, we think of bible studies, prayer meetings, time for worship. And the reality is when we do this, and we hear one another’s stories and how God is working in our lives it brings about a sense of wonder. When we share how God has answered our prayers during our prayer times, can anyone help but be struck that an omniscient, omnipotent God would care about one life on this planet - and yet the evidence is clear that God does. That brings about awe.

And when we look at verse 44 we read:

Acts 2:44 “And all who believed were together and had all things in common.” This is not one socio-economic group, this all who believed. And they come together and they share what they have. I’ve been the recipient of such generosity. I know nothing about carpentry and yet I’ve had members of the church teach me how to make home repairs. I know for a fact that members of this church have shared their time, talent, and treasure to help others in our congregation as they had need.

More than that, we see them continuing to be together, not just in the temple, but in their homes.

Acts 2:46 ESV

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,

Our faith is not something that should be left in the church building. If COVID has done anything, it has reminded us that the church is not the building, but the people. AS you go home, the church goes with you. As you read your Bible at home, as you talk about your faith to whatever extent you talk about it, you are the church.

And that brings us to the point of Intentional authentic Evangelism.

Our survey participants when asked if our church engaged in evangelism gave us a generous score of 91% saying we did this slightly well, though only 46% said we did it somewhat well or better.

Yet 76% said the church encourages and equips them to share their faith somewhat well or very well.

And 72% said that the church encourages and equips them to share God’s love when engaging in mission work or community service.

When we then look at the individual in the church, you said:

I try and ensure visitors feel welcome - no one said they didn't. I believe that’s true. I sometimes am concerned about overwhelming visitors with our welcoming.

When it came to inviting people who do not attend church to visit our church, 56% said they don’t, or that they might occasionally.

79% see our service in the community and missions as true or very true. That’s awesome!

Yet 74% see discussing religion or spirituality with people who are not Christian as not important or only somewhat important.

Check Your Vitals

As I read through our report, it is easy to see a lot of great things about our church. And, it is also true that we can see some things that maybe we’re not as excited about. Yet this is a snapshot of who we are and how we perceive ourselves.

As I read through our Scripture passage today, I see a small band of believers being faithful. And God adding to their number. I don’t see church programs. I don’t see flashy presentations. I see people devoted to the apostle’s teaching, and it’s important to recognize those apostle’s were those called by Jesus. They were sharing what they’d learned from Jesus.

I see people devoted to fellowship - being in community with one another, but not segregated from the rest of the world. There is a sense of how to help their neighbors and care for their community.

I see people taking their faith out of the temple and into their homes, into the places where they lived and worked, and being glad and generous.

I see people praising God wherever they are.

I see people enjoying favor with the community.

As we as a church, check our vitals. Let’s continue to ask questions of our church, and of ourselves.

When does discipleship begin? What is a disciple? Am I a disciple?

Are we comfortable inviting people who don’t attend church to attend ours? Why or why not?

How can we as a church continue to worship God and be more inviting? How can we as individuals take that step to invite our neighbor?

These are questions I’m asking myself, and our leadership. These are questions for all of us to consider.

Let’s read once more from the passage for today:

Acts 2:42–47 ESV

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

To the glory of God.

AMEN