Built To Last - "An Interdependent Life"
[powerpress] Transforming Truth: Your Christ-centered relationships are to be built to last for the purposes of God.
Becoming an effective community of faith is a challenge in our times as it was in the apostle Paul's. As in our day, Paul was ministering to a culture that was largely unfamiliar with God's biblical manners of operation. The people of Corinth had heard stories about God, but were unfamiliar with His ways. Paul had to teach the Corinthians how God established the church to function for the kingdom of Christ to advance. In this next segment of his letter to the Corinthian church plant, Paul demonstrates how interdependent giving, building, and sending of people is the key to effective ministry in order that Jesus might bring transformation to cities and nations.
Interdependence through Giving
Jesus wants to biblically reorient the way that you handle your resources.
Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me. (1 Corinthians 16:1-4 NIV)
Things that we can notice from Paul's instructions to the Corinthians are: 1) Frequency - There was a weekly frequency in the giving. Just as we gather together weekly for worship in our celebration service to recalibrate our life's direction, so does giving do the same for our hearts. It is the act of worship that tangibly says, "God your word and your gospel are of preeminence in my life. Please use this offering and me as I leave this place for the advance of your kingdom."
2) Proportionate - Both tithing and offerings are proportionate to your income. Obviously, the 10% plus that comes from a student is not going to equal the contribution of that which is from the CEO of a company. However, what matters is that all tithing and subsequent offerings made regularly are pleasing to the Lord as they are done cheerfully. When we are determined to live with the same generosity that Jesus has shown us in giving His life, we become useful in helping to change other lives as He multiplies our contributions.
3) Useful to continue gospel ministry - There was a regular custom among the Jewish people of the time to send gifts to the people of God in Jerusalem. Paul was encouraging the Corinthian church, made of many new Gentile converts, to think in the same interconnected manner (Romans 15:25-28). Paul was receiving not just the tithe, but offerings from the Corinthians to help their brothers and sisters in Jerusalem who were in need. Because of their faithful, weekly giving, the love of Jesus was able to spread, continually impacting lives with the gospel in the city of Corinth and abroad.
The same is already true for Second City Church.
We were excited to plant the church to be able to mobilize people to be a blessing to others.
Two examples:
Many of our people from Second City participated in the Box of Love Thanksgiving Outreach (http://www.hlicchicago.org/boxoflove#sthash.5temT88x.dpbs). As we worked to put together Thanksgiving boxes for needy families in Chicago, teams were mobilized to deliver not only food, but the gospel of Jesus Christ. Each box contained whole Thanksgiving meals, fed around a family of 8, and included a very nice Bible from Tyndale for the families. This year alone, over 2250 families in Chicago were able to receive these boxes, and many of the recipients committed their lives to Jesus for the first time as a result of your generosity!
We were also able to deliver Christmas meals as a part of an outreach to needy families at KIPP Create College Prep Middle School. We took an offering for this Dec. 20 and received several hundred dollars that went entirely to feeding another 5 at-risk families identified by the school. Two of the larger families are homeless. The director was literally brought to tears as 39 people were going to be the recipients of the love of Christ, along with Bibles, Bible Studies, and invitations to become a part of the community. The charter school is now looking for ways that we can collaborate and serve them on an ongoing basis.
All of this is pleasing in the sight of the Lord! Thank you, Second City!
"If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one." -Mother Teresa
This Easter, we will continue this with an outreach catalyzed by Oscar, Kartika, and their amazingly delicious restaurant, Rickshaw Republic. Isn't it just better to live an unselfish life?
Interdependence through Building Enduringly
Jesus wants to biblically reorient the way that you think about your impact on a city. You should build your life in such a way that you can stand firmly in the gospel with other believers and that your impact is felt in a location for generations to come.
After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you—for I will be going through Macedonia. Perhaps I will stay with you for a while, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go. For I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me. (1 Corinthians 16:5-9 NIV)
In the Old Testament, two things were given to the people as an inheritance - land and children. In the same way, God gives His people today a charge to impact cities for the gospel through their vested efforts. In doing so, they have spiritual sons and daughters as people are brought to Christ through their efforts. With the mobility offered us through globalization, we need to pause to resist a transient mentality. Instead, we need to see the place we live and the lives of the people there as a part of the inheritance of God to be transformed by our ministry. Before we make school, career or geographic moves, we should take the time to ask God if we have fully vested what He wants us to in our present locale. Most people don't even bother to ask.
As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. (1 Timothy 1:3, 4 NIV)
The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. (Titus 1:5 NIV)
Both Macedonia and Crete were cities where Paul instructed Timothy and Titus to plant roots so that the Kingdom might be built in that place. The influence of Christendom throughout the world are a product of these efforts and focus.
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jeremiah 29:4-7 NIV)
During the 70 year captivity in Babylon, God gave an example to the Israelites about how to establish roots in a place to transform a city. He was planting the Israelites knowing that it takes time to make a difference in a culture. They were instructed even in their exile to build homes and settle down, to plant gardens that take time to receive a harvest from, to marry and have children so that the work becomes multi-generational. The underbelly of globalization, the reverse benefit if you will, is that individuals in the U.S. don't have a people or a sense of home. You must stay in a place to make it home in your heart and affect it. If you don't feel at home here yet, give it time. It is worth it. It is the difference between an oak and a maple. The root system of the oak is strong, enduring, while the maple can be pulled up easily. We are called to be oaks of righteousness for the display of God's splendor.
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord ’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. (Isaiah 61:1-3 NIV)
Whole cities and the people that are in them are important to God. We see that he began by placing Adam and Eve in a garden and told them to cultivate it (Genesis 1-3). However as they did so, we see that everything ends in a city, the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21), as a culmination of all that God designed. Jesus cares about cities and wants to transform them by the consistent ministry of His people within it.
Interdependence through Sending Strategically
Jesus wants to biblically reorient the way that you serve God through the relationships that He's given you in the church.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eJRyXdScpeg
Many Americans today are determined to live an independent life, where they are accountable to no one but themselves, and they ignore the impact that their decisions have on anyone else. God has called us to live an interdependent church life. It is the difference between the maverick and the sent-one. Jesus was sent by the Father to serve the world. We are to be sent by and with the backing of our churches as we move in the same fashion.
When Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is carrying on the work of the Lord, just as I am. No one, then, should treat him with contempt. Send him on his way in peace so that he may return to me. I am expecting him along with the brothers. Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to go to you with the brothers. He was quite unwilling to go now, but he will go when he has the opportunity. (1 Corinthians 16:10-12 NIV)
You are being sent into your sphere of influence for the glory of God, but you are not to do it alone. Take someone from the church with you, even if they are not normally in the same circle. When Jesus sends us into our jobs, schools, and neighborhoods, He utilizes the relationships that He built for His purposes. There is chemistry, safety, and strength in these relationships built through the history of going through the fires of life together.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34, 35 NIV)
The question is, "How did Jesus love and relate to His disciples?" Was it casual and flippant, or full of heartfelt commitment and strategy? When you spend time with a co-worker, neighbor, or classmate you want to reach, bring one of your friends from the church.
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love. You know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the Lord’s people. I urge you, brothers and sisters, to submit to such people and to everyone who joins in the work and labors at it. I was glad when Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived, because they have supplied what was lacking from you. For they refreshed my spirit and yours also. Such men deserve recognition. The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house. All the brothers and sisters here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. If anyone does not love the Lord, let that person be cursed! Come, Lord ! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen. (1 Corinthians 16:13-24 NIV)
As we continue to grow, we want to see more done for the kingdom of God as all of the gifts of God are brought into unity to accomplish Christ's goals. There are many professing Christians, but many are not unified toward a common goal. Therefore, our efforts are diminished. Paul taught how this could function differently. The promise of God is that we would have a multiplication of efforts as we work in a committed and unified fashion to serve our cities.
You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you. (Leviticus 26:7, 8 NIV)
Let's be the people of God who function in the interdependence of community and pull in the great harvest that Jesus has for this city!
We invite you as we begin our vision setting the Christ. Community. Culture. series for the church to join us the next three Fridays for a time of prayer and fasting for the city of Chicago. You can fast during the day, come to the prayer meeting at 8 pm (or at 9 pm on Feb. 7th), and break fast as a part of the Anti-Hibernation Campaign over a meal out in the city.
Second City Church- Built to Last Sermon Series 2014