August 8, 2010 Ministry: Share the Vision

Last week, we began a series entitled Share the Vision, in which we are looking at the vision that God is laying before us here at Sunrise.

The first component of the vision focused on worship, which we believe is our primary function as a church, to worship God. In it, we established three elements to accomplish:

1. Right Attitude – understanding that worship is about God, not us

2. Increased Participation – more people involved with conducting worship

3. Increased Attendance – benchmark of doubling our attendance by the end of next year (where God’s Spirit is, people are drawn to)

This morning, we will look at the second site of God’s vision: Ministry.

I am a visual person, that being that usually anything I think about is somehow associated with some type of imagery. So, as I was beginning to meditate on this component, I did what I usually do and began to form images in my mind of what ministry looks like. Immediately, hands came into view – hands at work, hands helping other hands, and the such, but then a rather unusual image kept coming to mind, this one:

Does anyone know what this is?

It is a picture of a banyan tree that we saw while vacationing on Maui a few years ago. This is just one tree, not several. The banyan is unique because as it spread out, prop roots emerge out of the bottom of its branches until they grow into the ground. It gives the illusion that there are many trees here, but it is just one.

Now, I know some of you are asking, “What’s that got to do with me, or Sunrise, or even ministry?” Well, bear with me for just a few moments and I believe you’ll see. But first, what is ministry? Who would like to define that word?

In the Bible, the Greek word diakonos was often used ministry or service.

It is from this where we get the term Deacon. In The United Methodist Church, a Deacon is one who is ordained to a type of service ministry.

But again, some of you may be saying, “I’m not an ordained minister and have no desire to be. So what does that have to do with me?”

Well, let me ask you to do something; I want you to point to the ministers of Sunrise.
(Allow people to point)
How many are pointing to everyone? Brothers and sisters, we are all ministers of the Good News of Jesus, not just the ordained ministers.

So how do we minister? How do we serve? Well, here is one person’s idea:

(video clip)

A Servant’s Heart

It is easy to forget our position in ministry. Even some of Jesus’ closest followers struggled with their place in ministry.

Let’s take a look at one example of this. From the Gospel of Mark, chapter 10, we read of this account:

Mark 10:35-45
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask." 36 "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked. 37 They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory." 38 "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?" 39 "We can," they answered. Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared." 41 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."


The brothers were asking Jesus a question that many followers ask – to be honored for their service and for Jesus to bless their actions. This is a sentiment that most if not all of us fall into from time-to-time. We do good things and ask Jesus to bless what we are doing, in his name.

But brothers and sisters, when we get right down to it, that is asking Jesus to fit into our plans instead of us fitting into his. I believe is was Dick Wills, who is now the Bishop of the Tennessee Annual Conference, who said in his book that while he was a pastor, he encouraged his church instead of praying, “God bless what we are doing” to pray, “God let us be part of what you are blessing.” That changes the focus doesn’t it. It takes us from being in charge, to being servants. That my friends, is what Jesus is calling us to do – to be servants, slaves.

When we accepted Jesus our faith was passive in nature; we were called, saved, and loved. But as we grow in our faith, it transforms from being passive to being active; we call, we save, we love.

As you have heard me several times now in my six-weeks as your pastor, we are blessed to be a blessing. I am extremely happy to be a part of you because you are blessing so many. Last week, I posted a blog for you to take part in asking for all of the ministries and missions that you are a part of through Sunrise. Of those who responded I have found out that Sunrise is actively engaged in at least fourteen ongoing ministries (those that help spiritual growth) and at least seventeen missions (where people actively engage in helping people with their physical needs). This later we will talk more about next week.

We are doing great things in our community and in our world. But, as I said last week about worship, we are doing good, but we can do better.

So, here is the Vision for us here at Sunrise:

1. Serve – not volunteer
This is more than just semantics. The word volunteer implies that we have a choice as to whether or not we do something. But Jesus calls us to serve, so the choice isn’t if we do or not, but rather where will we serve. So let’s go ahead and strike the word ‘volunteer’ from our vocabulary.


2. Every member in ministry
We need to set the standard for every person to be engaged in some type of ministry. We are starting to put together a composite of what all the ministry areas are so that everyone can find a place to serve. It will also help us to see that if there is a passion for some ministry we aren’t engaged in, we’ll look at starting it.


3. Unified Ministry
This is a vital component. We are involved in a lot of ministries right now, but they seem to be scattered and disjointed. We will look to put in place a system where we can not only identify each ministry, but also effectively resource them and fully connected them within Sunrise.

One of the ways that we will immediately begin to do this is by effectively utilizing our Coordinator of Lay Mobilization, Robin Hawkins. I want her to come a speak to you for just a moment about how she is planning to strengthen ministries at Sunrise.
(Allow Robin to speak about collecting the needed data on small groups, ministries, and missions)

That’s the vision for the next year or so. So, what do you say, Sunrise, are you willing to catch the vision?

Before we wrap up, let me finish telling you about the Banyan tree.

Remember that I told you about the prop roots that shoot off the branches and grow into the ground? Not only do they help supply the tree with the needed nutrients and water, but they also do like their name implies, they prop up the branches so that they don’t break off. This feature gives strength to the entire tree and greater still, allows tree to grow outward rather than just up. This one tree, in Lahaina, Hawaii cover almost 3/4 of an acre. What a visionary image for the church! To uphold and nourish each other as we spread out!

August 1, 2010 Worship: Share the Vision

(All messages posted here are rough sketches of the message given)

Last week, I introduced this series of messages: Share the Vision. Over the next several weeks, we are going to look at different elements of what the church is and does, but more importantly, where God is calling us to go and do. Well, this morning we are going to begin with probably the primary function of the church – worship.

Before we begin, let me ask you a simple question - What is worship? Well, maybe that is too big of a question right now. Let’s begin simpler. Give me a description of what worship looks like.
(ALLOW RESPONSES)

Worship has a myriad of descriptions
- Music
- Style
- When
- Where
- Architecture
- Dress

Next question, what happens in worship?
(ALLOW REPSONSES)

Well, I thought it might be a good idea to tune into a live church cam to see what goes one in another church. Let’s take a look

(video clip)

Now, let’s get back to the original question – What is worship?

In the simplest definition, it is to give adoration to someone or something. So what do we worship? Some worship a college basketball team, or The Dash, or a NASCAR driver. Some worship the spouse or girlfriend or boyfriend. Some worship their cars, house, or job. Some worship money. But when it comes to Christian worship, who are we to worship? Jesus (God)

In the Old Testament, the word used for worship meant to bow down or prostrate oneself to show extreme honor to God or a god. This was basically expressed by the term “serve.” That’s why the general term used for what we are engage in here today is “worship service.”

But friends, if that is true, then there is a problem in a lot of churches today. This diagram shows the Popular View of Worship today.

What’s wrong with this? God isn’t in it. The focus is on the “Audience” – that is, what makes them happy.




I believe a better way of understanding worship looks more like this

The pastor, worship leaders (think about that title) and band are the conductors helping you, the people who have come to worship, serve God in worship. This means that God is the Audience. It also means this:



Worship is Not about you!

Our wants, wishes, and preferences have plagued worship for, …well, as long as worship has existed.

In the Bible, John 4, there is a story about an incident where Jesus engaged in a conversation with a Samaritan woman while she was drawing some water from a well for him. Now, it’s important to remember that the Samaritans were not looked very favorably upon by the Jews. As a matter of fact, they were despised to the point that any good and decent Jew would go out of his way to avoid contact with a Samaritan. So for Jesus to be carrying on a conversation was a huge deal. When the woman realized that Jesus had something life-changing she became excited. Jesus told her to get her husband. She confessed that she didn’t have one and Jesus then told her more about herself than she was ready to reveal. This is where we will pick up with our scripture lesson for today.

John 4:19-24
19 "Sir," the woman said, "you must be a prophet. 20 So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?" 21 Jesus replied, "Believe me, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father here or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans know so little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. 23 But the time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for anyone who will worship him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth."


When the woman is faced with her own hidden problem, the woman quickly switches the focus of the conversation. She tries to turn the direction about religious customs, such as where is the proper place to worship.

That sounds rather familiar, doesn’t it? Many people would rather talk (and argue) about style and type of worship rather than get to the heart of worship - the meaning, the reason for it. The problem is that this leads to a failure in developing an authentic relationship with God.

But Jesus was not deflected from the point of the conversation. He quickly brought it to the crux by saying that real worshipers do what? Worship in spirit & truth. But what does this look like?

I believe a simple way to understand this concept is to think of Spirit as the Heart – and Truth as the Head. Our hearts yearn for a mystical experience of God and our heads crave knowledge of God. But in authentic worship, one can’t exist without the other. There has to be a connection between the head and heart. That connection is worship – when what we know about God meets our desire to be in God’s presence. As Jesus exclaims, that is what God is looking for in us.

So, how does all of this fit into the Sunrise Vision? Well, the course I believe God is laying out for us will comprise these three things:

1. Right Attitude – entering into worship with an attitude of being in the midst of God the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer. This doesn’t mean that worship will be somber, but instead a celebration of what God has done for you and me through Jesus. It means being open to letting God’s Spirit flow freely through the celebration and most of all it means keeping God the center of attention – not the band, not the leaders, not the children, or anything else. Just God.


2. Spirit-filled worship – To have a Spirit-filled worship experience is to be open to the direction God’s Spirit takes us. Now this doesn’t mean that we will not be planning out worship -not at all. I have found that God’s Spirit works heavily through intentional prayer, discernment, and discussion. This better affords that God is in control rather than a whim or personal agenda. So, in creating Spirit-filled worship experiences, some changes in what we are used to may occur.


3. Participatory – This is one that may cause a slight bit of discomfort for some of you. If you remember the earlier diagram

in authentic worship, God is the audience and we are the performers. We do this as our response to what God has done, is doing, and will do in our lives. But don’t get too stressed about this; I will not ask you to do anything that you can’t do or will cause you to lose focus on the purpose of worship.


Now to evaluate how we are doing grasping this vision, I am proposing some benchmarks – visible signs that will reveal progress.

A. Increase participation – possible examples
- Videos made by some of you for worship
- Skits – performed by some of you
- Interaction – You are already getting good at this – but we can always get better
- Varying venues of expression, such as liturgical dancing, various ways to express your feelings and passions (painting, prayer stations, healing stations…), interior designer for worship…


B. Increase attendance
- Spirit-filled, Spirit drawn – when God is present, people know it and are drawn there (consider reading Acts 2 to see what I am talking about)
- Invite friends – When authentic worship happens, you will be excited and will want to invite your friends, family, anyone and everyone
- Guests inviting guest – This is a real indicator of authentic worship and spiritual vitality – when our guests (those who are new to Sunrise) not only come back, but are coming back with their friends and family.

- I know some are wondering, so what does an increase in attendance looks like? Give us a number. Okay, I say we at least double our average worship attendance by the end o f next year (that’s 250-300 over the week).

Brothers and sisters, I earnestly believe God is casting this vision. But, in following this vision, we cannot, we must not forget to keep Jesus as the center of attention. It’s all about Jesus.