Pastor Mark
\nMikels – September 24, 2006<\/p>\n
“THESE PEOPLE
\nARE SO SPECIAL TO ME”<\/p>\n
Church Under Construction – Relational Phase #1<\/p>\n
Intro … Today is the day that this whole series “Church Under
\nConstruction” starts to be fun … I say that because today is the day
\nthat we actually begin to talk about the kind of life that the family
\nof God is intended to enjoy and I firmly believe that it was from the
\nheart of Jesus that Walt Disney stole his key description of Disneyland
\n– “the happiest place on earth”.<\/p>\n
God never intended Disneyland to be “the happiest place on earth”. He
\nintended His Family – Christ’s Church – to be that place. Scattered
\nthroughout the New Testament is an entire collection of descriptive
\nphrases that highlights the kind of life that members of Christ’s
\nChurch are intended<\/p>\n
to experience.<\/p>\n
And believe you me … anyone who experiences the kind of relational
\nlife that the New Testament describes will be living an incredibly
\nhappy and blessed life.<\/p>\n
Are you ready to check it out? Or do you already know it to be true?<\/p>\n
Now here’s the deal … these blessings only come to those who are
\nconfidently living their lives inside the security of the church
\nstructure Christ is building …<\/p>\n
Now that structure requires a foundation … and we have seen over the
\npast few months that the foundation upon which Christ’s Church is built
\nand upon which we stand as we live our Christian lives is formed out of
\nthe Basic Doctrines of the Christian Faith.<\/p>\n
That why we spent eight weeks or so working our way through our Sonlife
\nStatement of Belief – we’ve come to know exactly what it is that Christ
\nis building His Church upon – we’ve come to know just<\/p>\n
how solid a foundation we stand upon.<\/p>\n
Those who reject or deny these basic Christian doctrines are unable to
\nenjoy the blessings of the family life because they have not yet
\nentered into the structure … they have not yet committed themselves
\nto take their stand upon the foundation that underlies the structure
\nitself.<\/p>\n
They are still on the outside looking it – they might observe the happy
\nfamily inside but they will not share that delight themselves until
\nthey definitely decide to come in.<\/p>\n
Now there’s a second thing … in addition to a solid foundation, this
\nstructure that Christ is building called “The Church” also requires a
\nwell-laid out framework … a carefully defined set of behavioral
\nstandards that establishes the understood boundaries within which the
\nfamily life will be enjoyed – the walls and ceilings, if you will.<\/p>\n
To that end we spent several more months working our way through our
\nSonlife Covenant of Behavior – a series of statements that define the
\nboundaries of the Christian Life – a series of statements that define
\nas well the family that will be sharing this home together.<\/p>\n
And now, finally, we are ready to talk about the quality of the life
\nChrist intends to be experienced inside this well-designed, carefully
\nconstructed structure He has built.<\/p>\n
We are ready to move into the relational phase of His Construction
\nProject … it’s in this phase of Christ’s work that His House becomes
\nour home.<\/p>\n
I want you to imagine that each of the messages in this section of our
\nseries is taken from plagues that might be found hanging on the kitchen
\nwalls – you know like the Pennsylvania Dutch wall hanger that says,
\n“Kissing don’t last, cooking do”.<\/p>\n
Each of these messages will focus on one Biblical Relational Directive
\nthat, if followed, will cause the church family to truly be “the
\nhappiest and the most blessed place on earth”. We might call them the
\n“One Another Directives”” of the New Testament.<\/p>\n
The truth is … if followed, they will make your own personal family a
\npretty happy place as well.<\/p>\n
So then let’s consider …<\/p>\n
Biblical Relational Directive #1 …<\/p>\n
“Be DEVOTED To One Another In BROTHERLY LOVE”<\/p>\n
Romans 12:10<\/p>\n
Now who wouldn’t be happy and feel blessed to live in a place where
\neverybody is devoted to you … where everybody thinks you are pretty
\nspecial … where everybody treats you like you are<\/p>\n
someone special?<\/p>\n
Now turn it around … who wouldn’t be happy and feel blessed to live
\nin a place where all the people<\/p>\n
you are devoted to also live? Everyday you get to hang around with the
\npeople that you think are the greatest!<\/p>\n
What a blessing that would be. The family of God – the church – is to
\nbe just such a place.<\/p>\n
Notice the family terminology that Paul uses … “Be devoted to one
\nanother in “brotherly love” … here Paul employs the Greek word
\n“Philadelphia” … it’s because we are “brothers in the Lord” that this
\ndevotion is possible.<\/p>\n
We are to see one another in relation to the Lord to whom we are
\nabsolutely devoted – thus our devotion to the Lord spills over to those
\nwho belong to Him.<\/p>\n
Here at Sonlife Community Church this devotion should express itself
\nboth generally … we are devoted to every member of the Body … and
\nspecifically … we are devoted to every member of the particular<\/p>\n
Cell Group or family group to which we belong.<\/p>\n
Human beings who are devoted to one another – who are genuinely
\ndelighted in one another’s company – not only feel blessed, they
\nattract attention.<\/p>\n
Though we might all have a pretty good idea of what it means to be
\n“devoted to someone” or to a “group of someones”, let me flesh it out
\njust a bit more by sharing from other New Testament Scriptures …<\/p>\n
Three Examples Of Devotion In Action …<\/p>\n
1. ACCEPT ONE ANOTHER … Romans 15:7<\/p>\n
“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to
\nbring praise to God.”<\/p>\n
People who are devoted to one another, accept one another just as they
\nare … we might say, “warts and all”. It doesn’t matter what they look
\nlike – what they dress like (within reason) – how much education they
\nhave … how big or small their bank account is … what background
\nthey come from.<\/p>\n
The thing that makes them acceptable is that they share a bond with us
\nin Christ … they have been accepted by Christ just as we have been.
\nWe didn’t earn His Acceptance and our fellow believers don’t need to
\nearn ours. It comes automatically with our entrance into the family.<\/p>\n
To use our image of the moment … acceptance comes to every person
\n“living in the house that Christ is building”.<\/p>\n
Now keep in mind that all those who are, in fact, living in that house
\nChrist is building have already shed themselves of a lot of otherwise
\nunacceptable things …<\/p>\n
They have shed themselves of their own intellectual pride – they have
\naccepted God’s Word to be the final word on all matters it addresses.<\/p>\n
Listen carefully … God doesn’t tell us to accept or be devoted as
\nbrothers to those who deny the clear teachings of the Christian Faith
\nor who are still in the process of coming to grips with it.<\/p>\n
To them we witness and for them we pray as we seek to lead them to full
\nfaith in Christ. Them we love even as Christ has loved us but we can’t
\nyet “accept” them for they are not yet members of the family.<\/p>\n
They are still “outside the house” as it were – they are the lost and
\n“acceptance” is something that is conditioned upon their decision to
\nyield their heart and mind to Christ.<\/p>\n
Those living “inside the house” are those who have shed themselves of
\ntheir own intellectual pride – they have accepted God’s Word to be the
\nfinal word on all matters it addresses.<\/p>\n
They have also shed themselves of their own willful, sinful ways – they
\nhave adopted for themselves the lifestyle laid out in the Scripture.
\nThey are seeking to live a life that is pleasing to God and thus are
\nhighly motivated to follow the guidelines for living laid down in the
\nScripture. (Perfection is not in view here but persistence is.)<\/p>\n
Thus those who are “living in the house” – those whom we are to “accept
\nas Christ has accepted us” are those who have (to use the terms that we
\nfind familiar) embraced both the Doctrines laid out in our Sonlife
\nStatement of Belief and the Standards laid out in our Sonlife Covenant
\nof Behavior.<\/p>\n
It’s those very life decisions that underlie our sense of devotion to
\nevery house member … we accept them sincerely – warts and all –
\nbecause we can distinguish between that which is substantial and<\/p>\n
that which is merely superficial.<\/p>\n
To feel accepted in Christ and by Christ’s People is a marvelous
\nfeeling. To communicate acceptance to those around you – to those you
\nknow are your fellow believers – is an almost magical thing. It creates
\nin the midst of this highly competitive and suspicious world a very
\nhappy place.<\/p>\n
Now here’s a second example of “devotion in action” and it surely is
\neasier to do once we have learned to “accept one another” …<\/p>\n
2. LIVE IN HARMONY WITH ONE ANOTHER … 1 Peter 3:18<\/p>\n
Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic,<\/p>\n
love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.<\/p>\n
One way to live “in harmony with one another” is simply to refuse to
\nlet every little thing become a big deal … (example – you come in on
\nSunday morning and someone is “sitting in your seat” … now that
\npresents a real potential “threat to harmony”!<\/p>\n
It also presents a real opportunity to practice saying “No big deal”
\nand simply go sit in “someone else’s seat” and let them also
\nparticipate in this Biblical Directive!<\/p>\n
However, the best way to “live in harmony with one another” is for us
\nto consciously keep our focus on the things that we all hold in common
\n– our common faith in Christ and our common commitment to live lives
\nthat are pleasing to Him.<\/p>\n
When we do that we just automatically “live in harmony” because we
\n“are” in harmony … we are like “peas in pod” … and there’s nothing
\nthat feels better – that can better generate feelings of gratitude and
\nhappiness than to truly be “living in wholehearted harmony” with your
\nfellow man.<\/p>\n
And it all comes of “being on the same page” and “valuing the same
\nthings” and “experiencing the same reality” … and in this fallen
\nworld, God intends it to happen in the Family of God – the happiest
\nplace<\/p>\n
on earth!<\/p>\n
And now we come to a third and final example of devotion in action …<\/p>\n
It’s an action that pretty naturally occurs when people who “Accept One
\nAnother” and who “Live In Harmony With One Another” – that us, when
\npeople who are “Devoted To One Another” – encounter one another …<\/p>\n
3. GREET ONE ANOTHER … Romans 16:16<\/p>\n
“Greet one another with a holy kiss.”<\/p>\n
Now, of course, the form the greeting takes must be culturally
\ndetermined … (kissing may not be the most acceptable form) – the
\npoint is, there is warmth and delight communicated when one member of
\nthe Family of God sees another.<\/p>\n
Think of the person that you cherish more than any other … think of
\nhow your heart leaps when that person comes into view. Do you not run
\nto greet him or her, especially if you spotted him\/her before he\/she
\nspotted you?<\/p>\n
Anyone watching can tell pretty easily how you feel about the person
\nyou have just “greeted”.<\/p>\n
Now, members of the same household of faith should feel something like
\nthat for one another<\/p>\n
when they encounter each other. The thought process might go something
\nlike this …<\/p>\n
“Here is one of my own family … here is someone who believes as I
\nbelieve – someone who seeks to live the same way I am seeking to live.<\/p>\n
Here is someone who reinforces and confirms everything about my own
\ncommitment as a follower of Jesus Christ … Here is someone to whom I
\ndo not have to explain myself – or defend myself … Here is someone
\nwho doesn’t consider me to be weird or old-fashioned or out of step
\nwith the times or living in some sort of fantasy world.<\/p>\n
Here is a brother or sister in Christ – a member of my own local
\nfellowship – one who has committed him or herself to the very same
\nbelief system and behavioral standards that I have. How fortunate that
\nI have encountered him or her – how good it makes me feel!”<\/p>\n
Those kinds of feelings should only be multiplied when we enter the
\nfellowship of a Sunday<\/p>\n
Morning or into the smaller fellowship of a Cell Group.<\/p>\n
“These people are so special to me … I am devoted to them … I am
\nblessed to be part of their company – they help make this place for me
\nat this time, the happiest place on earth.”<\/p>\n
Final Thot … Our DEVOTION to God will be revealed
\nby our<\/p>\n
DEVOTION to the members of our CHURCH FAMILY.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pastor Mark Mikels – September 24, 2006 “THESE PEOPLE ARE SO SPECIAL TO ME” Church Under Construction – Relational Phase #1 Intro … Today is the day that this whole series “Church Under Construction” starts to be fun … I say that because today is the day that we actually begin to talk about the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"template":"","meta":[],"categories":[9,3],"archive_item":"http:\/\/archive.org\/details\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com--church-under-construction---relational-phase-part-1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermons\/188"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermons"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sp_sermon"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}