COMMUNITY: OUR MISSION

Sermon Notes, January 14, 2018

Rev. Garry McGlinchy

            Pastor Garry's sermon was titled "Community: Our Mission."  His text was Matthew 20:16-28, the Great Commission.  He briefly recapped last week's sermon, reminding us that the first commandment is to Love God--have no other gods before Him; to Rest in Him; and to Trust Him with everything.  Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and the second is like it: to love your neighbor as yourself.  All the law and prophets hang on this. (Matthew 22:34-40)  Jesus loved people.  He is the one who will be the bridges to our communities.

            The first building block is that we must believe, honor, and follow the teachings of the Bible.  Not just the feel-good parts.  If we forsake the truth of the Bible, then outreach and evangelism will never take hold.  The truth and authenticity of the Word of God should be the very backbone of every church.   We should be committed to the truth and authority of the Bible.  Kevin Harney says "A congregation that is wholeheartedly devoted to following the teachings of scripture will inevitably be propelled beyond what they want in order to be what God is calling them to be."

            The second building block is that we must love people and long for them to love Jesus.  When a church is more in love with itself, it most certainly will not consider reaching out beyond its walls.  However, when the Church has a true, authentic love for people, that love drives them forward.  It is only when our hearts break for the lost that we will be compelled to reach out to the community.  Love inspired by the Spirit of God propels us out of our comfort zones and into the world.

            The third building block that must be in place is to ask ourselves, "How much are we willing to sacrifice?"  What are we willing to sacrifice in order to make the change to embrace reaching out?  It's easy to embrace the authority of scripture, and it's easy to embrace the idea of loving our neighbor.  But when it comes to making sacrifices, that's when we hit the brakes and begin to look for a way out.  Especially when it comes to making changes.  We get set in our routines: we love people but not enough to change how we do things in order to reach them.  Are we willing to follow Christ into this broken world?  We need to re-orient our vision and practice around Christ's final lesson, the Great Commission.  Outreach must be woven into the very fabric of the culture of the church.  This requires sacrifice.  It is only when we incorporate a passion for outreach, for evangelism, into every aspect of our lives and ministry that outreach will move past a simple program or weekend event.  In order for outreach to become part of our framework things cannot stay the same.  "If we are to reflect Jesus' heart and mission, we must learn to love the world that Jesus died to save." --Kevin Harney

            Know this to be true: we were made to love God.  And as Jesus points out, loving God means that we love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  It is only when this love is growing within our lives that we will willingly--and naturally--sacrifice for the sake of those who desperately need Jesus.