EKKLESIA

Series: EKKLESIA

May 21, 2018
Rev. Jason Gaskin

This Sunday we are starting a new sermon series on the book of Acts called EKKLESIA. Ekklesia is a Greek word that means church. An Ekklesia is a gathering of ordinary people who have all been transformed by God's Spirit and are committed to embodying the teachings of Jesus Christ on this earth. That is a mouth full for sure! The early church was simply a group of people who met together in people's homes. They gathered together because they each had a common desire to know Christ. It wasn't complicated. There was no trustees committee, no nurture committee, no choir, and no building. They were a group of people who believed that the world was not as it should be... but had the audacity to believe that they might play a part in the transformational work that God was doing through them. The church was a radical idea. God's idea. So what happened? We now spend our time daydreaming about future building improvements... fighting over what songs we sing in worship... complaining about our fellow parishioners on the other pew... sulking over the status of our world... dead bolting our doors to people... while saying "All are Welcome" This is a grand indictment. Yet it isn't very far from reality. A recent study showed that missional spending is the lowest budgetary expenditures in most churches while our buildings expenditures are our highest. Yet there is still hope. It isn't too late. Not because I say so... but because Jesus does. Jesus chose the church. Jesus gathered the church. It was the church that was the main means to bring Good News to the world. And I hope we might rediscover this kindling fire. I hope we might rediscover that our gathering of people can make a transformational difference and impact in the world!

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