A Connected Church for a Community in Chaos

I pray that all my fellow bloggers had a great time in the Lord on Sunday as the Lord certainly blessed us at Macedonia. I was apprehensive in preaching as I knew I needed to set the vision for 2009 which entailed a Pastoral emphasis but the Lord blessed.

"We are Macedonia and We are called to help somebody" is the motto at our church. This developed not as a gimmick but rather out of a careful study of who and what Macedonia was in the Bible. I believe that if a church has a Biblical name the people who represent that name ought to at the very least know something about the name they carry. A motto that is not attached to a mission is nothing more than a memorized mantra without meaning.

After much frustration, Paul discovered an open door of opportunity with the call to help from a man in Macedonia. Upon arrival he found a woman that needed to be made a disciple, a girl who had a demon and a jailer who needed to be delivered from himself.

God presents opportunities of service to us that some people view as a challenge but others see as their calling revealed. I wonder what we are doing with the opportunities God gives us.

Matthew 25:31-46 helps me open my 2009 Church theme at Macedonia, "A Connected Church for a Community in Chaos". God gave me this theme but it is not an indictment on South Bend but a real look at where we all live and Pastor. Most of us do not Pastor in the country home but rather in communities that are in chaos and in crisis. God doesn't need another church on a corner who shouts and sings but does not serve. God needs a church that is connected to the hearts of people that our communities might be transformed by the Power of God. How can this happen:?

CONTACT- suggests that we as churches cannot be isolated from the communities that we serve in but we should have communication that forms a bond.

I developed an appreciation for contact when I was young. I had a 1967 SS Camaro with a 327 engine( I must type quickly before I glory in sin). It was shiny, fast and it had all the bells and whistles. One day when I went to start it, it would not start. I looked at the battery and the eye was green, the starter and alternator was fine and everything looked perfect but when I put the key in, it would not start.

I called my Dad and when he looked at it, he said let's go to the store; however we didn't go to the parts store we went to 7/11. He bought 3 sodas, one for him, one for me and one for the car. He poured the soda on the battery cables and I watched the acid eat away at the corrosion that had taken place. He cleaned around the posts and the car started up. It was connected in theory but wasn't making contact in application and without contact, the car can't go.

When we look at our churches, many of us have corroded cables that inhibit our abilities to make contact with our communities. Corroded minds concerning the neighborhood, corroded hearts concerning spending money on ministry, corroded spirits hell bent on judgemental living on why someone needs helps instead of remembering we all have needed help at one time or another. We need God to clean us up so we can make CONTACT.

COMMON- VS. 35-36 Nothing special or earth shattering, no running into burning buildings, standing in front of bullets to save someone or giving away all of our money. Just common things, help the Hungry, Thirsty, Strangers who need a welcome, Naked who needs clothes, the sick and those bound in prison and everyone who is bound in prison is not in jail.

God uses common people who have common things but in the hands of God, he can do the extraordinary with it. There are witness in the Bible for this. Moses had a rod, David had a slingshot, Sampson had a jawbone, The little lad had 2 fish and 5 loaves, Jesus had 2 pieces of wood formed into a cross but when we give our common to God, he can do the uncommon with us and through us.

CAPABLE- God never expects us to do anything that he has not given us the ability or the resources to do. However, God will hold us accountable for what he has entrusted us with. James 2:15-17 speaks to this as in effect it says its not enough to say to someone who is naked and hungry, be warmed and filled and send them on their way without helping them when it is within your power to do so, for faith without works is dead.

COMPENSATION- "Inherit the Kingdom prepared for you". There is a reward for people who do things God's way and there is punishment for people who go contrary.

"If I can help somebody as I pass along, If I can cheer somebody with a word or song, If I show somebody that they are travelling wrong, then my living shall not be in vain"