Sermon Tone Analysis

#LoveLosFresnos

Over the past few years, the Table has been able to serve the community in some meaningful ways.

One of the ways we have done this is through Love Los Fresnos.

#LoveLosFresnos began as an idea in 2018 to serve the community of Los Fresnos through service and mission.

Over the past 4 years, we have cleaned up yards, built a handicap ramp, replaced a water-damaged ceiling, pressure hosed sidewalks and porches, and have provided Vacation Bible School at the Boys and Girls Club.

At one particular home here in Los Fresnos, we were able to serve a family whose yard had become quite overgrown because the main provider had suffered a heart attack and the wife worked full-time here in Los Fresnos.

That yard was transformed.

We had a team from the Houston area here that week, and that team served side-by-side with others from the community here in Los Fresnos.

When it was over, the yard looked transformed.

And one of the nicest trees in Los Fresnos now stood in the center of the yard with no more brush to hide its beauty.

The whole thing happened with the city, volunteers, a mission team, and the Table all coming together to the aid of a neighbor.

I tell this story for this simple question: what happened in that yard, what went down that week with all the different parties involved… is that what the church does or is that what the church is?

Over the next few weeks, we are going to look at this question from a variety of angles.

At this stage of the Table’s life, we’re in our second year as an established church, but we’re in our fourth year in our participation here in Los Fresnos.

And it becomes very easy for us to begin to think that all the different ways that we serve the community is just things that we do, especially because we are the new kid on the block.

But even in that light, is our community service a church planting method, or is it that who we are?

Here’s the Church

When I was a kid we had a game.

Here’s the church.

Here’s the steeple.

Open the doors.

See all the people.

We’ve all grown up with that, right?

The problem with that game is while it seems to be a fun exercise in teaching kids about church using very simple hand gestures, that game is also catechizing.

That game is instructing kids on how to think about church.

And very, very subtly, what have we taught them?

Here’s the church.

The church is a building.

If you want church, you have to come to this place here.

A location.

Those of you who have been in churches with church buildings.. when there’s something to be done in the middle of the week and you’re headed out the door, you tell your wife or husband, “I’m headed to the ________.”

Right.

I’m heading to the church.

And is the church gathering on a Wednesday at 2 in the afternoon?

No. Now I get we use the word church as shorthand for all sorts of things in those instances.

But we say those kinds of things often enough, and we condition ourselves to think of the church as a building.

As a location.

Even as a worship service for one hour.

This hour today: is this all there is to church?

How did we get here?

Jesus spent a lot of time talking to his best friends, the ones we call disciples, and among those things he talked about was the church.

He said he was going to build his church through his disciples, and in one famous conversation, he said that Peter would be the ringleader for the new church.

We read that passage a few minutes ago.

After Jesus death and resurrection and ascension into heaven, that’s exactly what happened.

At a festival called Pentecost, the church was born.

Peter preaches a magnificent sermon and at the end of that sermon, one in which he flat out told the crowd that they had crucified God himself, he says this:

Acts 2:37-41 “When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

With many other words he testified and strongly urged them, saying, “Be saved from this corrupt generation!”

So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them.”

3000 people added to the church gathering in one day.

And what were they doing soon after?

Acts 2:42-47 “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.

Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles.

Now all the believers were together and held all things in common.

They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need.

Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house.

They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.

Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”

We aren’t going to break this down because we looked at this passage a few months ago.

But this is where the church was born and this is what the church was doing.

Definition of church

Based on that passage, what is the church?

The church, at the very least is a gathering of people.

That’s what the term church actually means: gathering.

But what makes this gathering different than the Rotary Club?

Or the Essential Oils monthly get together?

The church has gathered there in Acts around the apostles’ teaching or what we now know as God’s Word.

And for the breaking of bread, the Lord’s Supper.

And all of this was created by The Word through the Spirit in baptism, in that passage we looked at just moments ago.

That passage and others in our New Testament, lead us to this definition of church:

Where God’s people have gathered around the Word faithfully preached and the Sacraments rightly carried out.

That’s the basics.

God’s people have gathered.

The Word is faithfully preached.

The Sacraments are rightly carried out.

If these things aren’t happening, we cannot call ourselves a church.

But this is only the beginning.

There’s a lot more going on there in Acts 2: they are going from house to house, they are eating together, they are spending time together, they are taking care of each other, and as we move through the book of Acts, they are spreading the Word and Christ’s kingdom is expanding all over the Roman empire.

That’s also church.

Our Table motto

This rhythm of the church coming to life and then being involved and engaged in the world is baked into our own identity here at The Table.

This is us: we are:

Loved by Jesus.

For the love of Los Fresnos.

Loved by Jesus.

Jesus, through His Word, loves us, forgives us, gives us life, and gathers us into a community.

We are loved by Jesus.

But it doesn’t end there.

We’ve been given life and salvation for the purpose of serving our neighbor, so we say that we exist “for the love of Los Fresnos”.

The Table doesn’t exist simply for itself, but for the community in which we reside: Los Fresnos.

Our identity is in Christ.

But that identity is always in motion toward our neighbors and friends and families.

Made for More: More Jesus.

We are going to spend the next few weeks in the book of Ephesians.

The book of Ephesians is a letter written by the great missionary Paul to a gathering of believers in the city of Ephesus, which was located in what we know as modern Turkey.

He writes because it seems as though there were those in the gathering who were teaching things that were false.

There were those who seemed to think in order to be right with God, you don’t need the church.

The church isn’t all that important.