Engage Sunday 2018 Message

This is a big day in the life of our church. We are hosting our annual Engage Sunday event. And the theme is Star Trek, in case you haven’t noticed. I’ll explain about my badge at the end.

Engage Sunday is about three things:

Ministry, Community, and Church Life. 

Those three things should be important to every person who claims to be a Christ-follower, a Christian. For just a few minutes, that’s what I want to talk about. First…

Ministry

Yep, that’s right, pastor. Ministry is important. We couldn’t get along without you ministers. I am so glad I’m not called to be a minister!

That reminds me of a guy at one of my churches who thought he’d like to be one…

Look at Ephesians 4 where Paul writes to the Christians (as in the group) at Ephesus…

Ephesians 4:4–8, 11–14 (ESV) — 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” … 

That word there in the Greek for men is anthropos. It’s where we get the word anthropology, which is the study of man in the sense of mankind. So he gave gifts to men and women.

God is his grace gave us Jesus, and Jesus in his grace gave us gifts (grace gifts). Paul mentions certain gifts he gave (though there are many more)…

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 

Let’s read that again. Who are saints here? A special class of Christians? 

Reminds me of the pastor asked to do the funeral of a man whose brother promised $10,000 in donations for saying he was a saint.

Saints are not a special class of Christians. Saints means holy ones not in the sense of how we act but who we are. All those who know Christ have been made holy by proxy. Through Jesus’ righteousness put in our accounts.

According to this text from the Bible, my job as a minister is to equip you to minister, which means we all are ministers. 

Hold your hand up like a mirror, look in it, and say, “Lord, it’s hard to be humble…” No. Say, “I am a minister. And ministers minister.”

Ministers get involved in ministry. And here’s a freebie. Paul goes on to say… 

13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

Christians getting engaged in ministry is a part of us growing up in the faith, maturing. All this is behind what the Apostle Peter wrote…

1 Peter 4:10–11 (NIV) — 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

I realize you have to discover your gifts and all. But you have to start somewhere. All our ministries are represented in our fellowship hall this morning. Ministries you can get engaged in.

Two big ones are guest services and KidsView.

Can’t find what suits you? Maybe next year there’ll be a booth for a ministry you’ve started.

The next thing that should be important to us is…

Community

Community is defined as a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals. That’s us here for sure as the community of faith. But it’s also defined as a group of people living in the same place.

We are a faith community meeting together in these four walls - joined together by common interests and goals -  but we also are part of a local community. We live here in Pleasant View. That’s something we’ve tried hard to reflect here at PVFBC. We even changed our name!

As Christians, we have always been called to be engaged in our local community, where we live.

There are booths from local organizations you can get engaged in our there.

The last thing important to us today is…

Church Life

God never intended for a Christian’s church experience to be limited to worship once a week. Don’t misunderstand me. I’m glad you come to worship, but if that’s all you’re about you’re missing out.

Look at this verse that I call a snapshot of the early church…

Acts 2:42–47 (ESV) — 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

God intended for us Christians to be engaged in church life. That involves being together. Learning about God’s word together. Living God’s word together. Growing together in God’s grace. The early church was all about that.

One big function of the church is to provide an opportunity for everyone to come together and grow in grace.

Just as it’s part of human nature to seek relationships with other humans, it’s built in for believers to seek community with other believers. There has never been any such thing as a church of one.

On Engage Sunday you can find out more about ways to connect beyond worship and get engaged in church life. Three of those ways are highlighted at a booth I’ll host.

LifeView  - LifeView is about doing life together from a Christian point of view; it’s about setting aside all the stuff that gets in the way and just being real. LifeView helps you grow deeper in relationships with others on the same journey and deeper in your relationship with God.

We have LifeView AM (formerly know as Sunday school) & and LifeView PM, which happens twice a month on Sundays night Fall through Spring. You can sign up for either or both today.

There’s also a booth for…

20/20 - this is a great starting place if your new to us, and  even if you’ve been here a while. It’s a four-four-week class I teach.

On top of that, we have more focused ways to get engaged in church life with Women’s Ministry, Senior Adult Ministry, Men’s Ministry and more.

Conclusion: Engage Sunday is about Ministry, Community, and Church Life, three things that should be big-time important to every Christian. How could you pass up the opportunity today to get ENGAGED?

And it all requires of you is to walk down the hall and over to our fellowship hall. And on top of that, there’s a free catered meal just waiting for you.