21 March 2010 – Wayne Austin
Reading: John 14:1-6
At our Parish Diocesan Consultation last week the opening question we were asked to consider was - "What is your best recent experience in sharing faith conversations?"
The question was designed to be provocative and challenging - to make us think - what are we about? And the question challenged many of us - but it did really make us think:
What does my faith really mean to me?
What am I doing with my faith?
Does it mean so much that I am willing to share it with others? Or is that too hard?
And those conversations led onto us thinking…………………
What then is church all about? Is it coming here on Sunday to be fed, or topped up to enable us to get through the next week? Is it coming together as a church family to bring our united worship to God? What is our role in being a member of Christ's church?
What do we want our church here in Churton Park to be?
What does God want our church in Churton Park to be?
And that was the question that really needed to be answered.
About 2 hours later we arrived at this conclusion of what we believe God would like our church to be……….
"At its best, Churton Park parish nurtures and equips people in God’s love to go and be community transformers, actively missional, connecting people and Christ to bring healing, hope and life through the power of the Holy Spirit."
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This is very much in keeping with the message that Susan Blaikie left with us last week that the missional church is incarnational, not attractional. An attractional church expects unbelievers to come to it in order to encounter the gospel. But, the incarnational church goes out and gets involved in our community, in order to be Christ to those who don’t know him.
That is challenging isn't it? But that is what we are clearly saying is that is what we believe God wants us to be as this church in Churton Park. We even made sure in that Provocative Statement that we included the word "actively" - actively missional - to ensure this wasn't just a statement of words, but that it was an action statement. That we ARE going to be that missional church out there in society.
This also follows on from the findings of the Natural Church Development survey our church completed late last year …………………some of those findings were:
We are:
§ Catering very well to needs/spiritual growth of current congregation on Sundays.
§ Welcoming/friendly towards visitors who seek us out but not generally active in bringing non-Christians in.
§ Risking becoming inward focused rather than outward focused.
§ Needing to improve relationships with the local community and strengthen our presence wherever possible.
How do we do this? First and foremost the getting of new ordained leadership is not going to do all this for us. It is not the sole responsibility of any new ordained leadership of our church to reach out into the community. In fact I think any prospective applicant would be scared off by the 14 point wish list we came up with for them. But I know the Parish Nominators will adjust that to a more realistic expectation.
Even so it is still not their sole responsibility. Ephesians 4:12 says we are to be equipped, prepared, and actioned to spread the Gospel. The ordained leadership is to do just that - equip, empower, and LEAD us out into the world. That last part is still a challenge isn't it? We have to GO and be.
It is similar to setting out on a journey - you may know the destination - but are not sure what will happen in getting there. Example of driving in London - we knew where we had to get to - weren't exactly sure how - didn't know what we might encounter - might get distracted and take the wrong turn - as a result we weren't at all confident………………..we weren't exactly sure of the way.
What is The Way for us as followers of Christ?
Followers of Christ in New Testament times were actually known as belonging to the Way. It is not just a way, but the way. Why??
We just need to go back to the Gospel reading. Jesus said he is the Way to the Father - to God. That he is the only Way. But it isn't just that Jesus said he is the Way. He also showed the Way, and how to live it. Remember the Great commandment………Love the Lord you God with all your heart, mind, soul, strength. And love your neighbour as yourself.
And the New Commandment of Jesus………Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. BY THIS all men will know you are my disciples if you have love one for another.
LOVE is the answer………and The Way! And Jesus was the perfect example of love and how to love others.
The natural way the universe was designed to function was in perfect unity - everything and everyone working together. So actually then if you think about it, to live a Christ-like life is the way life should be - because that is what it is about - living in love and unity. If we try to do that, it isn't going against what we have been attuned to understanding is normal accepted living. Rather it should be the normal accepted way of living - the way it was designed to be. When Jesus came to earth he knew we would need help to live this way so he showed us how, and then he left us with the Holy Spirit to prepare us and enable us to spread his good news to others. Jesus left us, his disciples, with that responsibility. The Great Commission - GO therefore and make disciples of all people………
From the question in the consultation "What is your best recent experience in sharing faith conversations?" it is really interesting that the top values we drew from those experiences that we shared were:
· Building relationships with others in order to share faith - 24 votes
· Love for God in order to show his love for others - 21 votes
· Being Spirit led - 11 votes
WE are saying ourselves that we must know and share God's love personally - not leave it to the church ministers. But we are acknowledging that we need the Holy Spirit to lead us.
Susan shared with us last week about the ministry they have in the community of Newtown. The demographics of Churton Park are vastly different, but there are still needs in our community. I am sure we all know of needs of people in our street - our neighbours - and in our community. For example………………
Ø There is a ministry I believe we could be more involved in - at Churtonleigh.
Ø I can guarantee there are lonely people in our community………the wonderful initiative of starting the drop in centre in the Lower Room at Church House will provide a place for people to have a chat and build friendships.
Ø Children and young people
Ø Busy business people - how to reach them - don't have time to come to us - even to marriage/parenting courses………how do we reach them?
Explain re proposed ministry to business people - "pals for Christ". In the middle of May a group of us are going to launch this ministry to business people.
To effectively be Christ's presence in the world there are ways that are more fitting for some than for others, depending on your personality and particular situations, and how God chooses to use you. But I believe there are four essential actions necessary that can be identified by using that acronym PALS ………
Pray
Prayer is foundational to everything we do. It is our starting point. It is essential so others will connect with Jesus so it is very important to pray for those people you may meet. Jesus started his day in prayer (Mark 1:35). We too need to start each day genuinely seeking the Lord. Perhaps use a prayer like: "Lord, I submit my will to you today to fulfill your purpose for me. May your Holy Spirit help me with my thoughts, the words I speak, the actions I take, and for me to meet the people you want me to meet."
When you do this you are welcoming God, by the Holy Spirit, into your situation to help you to be His presence wherever you are. You are making yourself available to be used by God - but actually putting the responsibility onto Him to do what He wants to do through you!
That will please God because He just longs for your availability and your willingness to be used by Him.
Acknowledge Christ to others (Matt.10:32) and live to please him (2 Corinthians 5:9-10).
An opening for letting people know you are a Christian may be as simple as saying you went to church if someone asks you what you did at the weekend.
Give examples…………………..
However you do it, your acknowledgement of Jesus must be supported by your attitude to the way you live your life to please Jesus. It won't be perfect. No-one is.
Give example…………………….
We need to try, as we go about our daily activities, to think of doing them as though we are doing it for Christ; showing love and consideration to others in our thoughts and actions, and what we say; seeking to provide a good role model of faith, integrity, consistency, reliability, caring, and balanced living; doing things wholeheartedly, willingly, and cheerfully with the attitude of Christ.
What is that attitude? (Philippians 2:1-7) This does not come about by living according to a legalistic set of do's and don'ts, but is apparent in a life lived when the Holy Spirit is involved.
Love others for Christ
St Francis of Assisi famously said … "At all times be prepared to share the Gospel. When necessary use words." Jesus said that our heart dictates how we live and what we say (Matt.12:34). This tells us how our thoughts, attitudes, and actions must be given the right shape by the love in our heart. Our actions must come from love in our heart, not just the mind. A heart felt friendly smile or a kind word to someone, even a stranger, can help make the other person feel appreciated and valued. Take a genuine non-intrusive interest in their lives; join in social activities with them; be willing to listen. In doing these things bridges of understanding, respect, and trust are able to be built that create opportunities for the person to see in you the hope you have in Christ that makes a difference.
Share with others the hope that you have in Christ
When you have built bridges of friendships, people will begin to respect and trust and value you, and want to know what seems so special in your life. You may not actually go looking for opportunities to share your faith but you are earning the respect and right to do so when opportunities present themselves. When they do you need to be prepared to "share the hope that is within you" (1 Peter 3:15). Note the caution given by Peter - with gentleness and respect - we mustn't force our beliefs down people's throats. But if we try to have the attitude of Jesus………to do everything with love - then whatever we say will come out right.
Read the prayer of St Francis of Assisi.
The mission of the church, as the body of Christ, is to do that - to be missional. But we must accept our own responsibility to be missional also - and not leave it all up to the ordained leadership and those seen as being "evangelists". It is incumbent on each one of us, as Christ's followers, in our daily living to show The Way. Jesus left us with that responsibility - it was his last instruction before he went up to heaven.
The challenge for us here at Churton Park Anglican Church is not who is going to lead us out into the community for Christ, but are we willing to be led? To go and be as Christ to our community.
I pray that we will.
