Reset Code: 2551

 

September 20, 2020                   NOTES NOT EDITED
Reset Code: 2551

Proverbs 22:3; 27:12; 1Chron. 12:32

 SIS—The Covid Crisis has signaled a “new normal (abnormal)” for our country going forward and the church must change and adapt to position ourselves for more effective ministry in the midst of an uncertain future.

 A few years ago a couple from Ohio were going to spend a vacation to the Carribean Islands.  They knew the weather was going to be hot so they were planning accordingly.  The wife had a business trip she could not get out of and was going to meet her husband in a couple days.  He flew to the destination first to make arrangements and would meet his wife after her business trip. When he reached his hotel, he decided to send his wife a quick email. Unfortunately, when typing her address, he mistyped a letter and his note was directed instead to an elderly preacher’s wife whose husband had passed away only the day before. When the grieving widow checked her email, she took one look at the monitor, let out a piercing scream, and fell to the floor in a dead faint. At the sound, the grieving widow’s family rushed into the room and saw this note on the computer screen:

Dearest Wife, Just got checked in. Everything prepared for your arrival tomorrow. P.S. Sure is hot down here.

 Typing in the wrong email address or reset code can cause a lot of trouble and unnecessary anxiety. That’s why I’ve spent a lot of time praying and studying to make sure I heard God correctly when He gave me the “Reset Code” for positioning our church to come out of the Covid Crisis better prepared to meet the challenges that will surely follow.

 Before I outline the meaning of the numbers, 2551, I want to speak a bit about “change.”  A “reset” for our church will require “change” in order for us to effectively position ourselves for ministry in the months and years that lie ahead.

Peter Drucker is perhaps the best-known, and certainly most prolific writer in the area of business management and executive leadership.  Drucker wrote about adapting to change in “The Effective Executive (1967).”  He said, “We can already see the future taking shape. But I believe the future will turn in unexpected ways.” How much of an “unexpected turn” has the Covid Crisis been.  I don’t think Peter Drucker could have imagined just how “unexpected” 2020 would be.  Drucker goes on to say, “The society of [the future] will be very different from today’s society. . . . To survive and succeed, organizations will have to become change agents. The most effective way to manage change successfully is to create it.”

 If we, as a church, want to “survive AND succeed” in ministry, and in fact thrive in ministry in the years ahead, we must not only embrace change, we must “create it.” We must get ahead of the curve.

It is at this juncture where our church is facing a drastically changing society, that the Bible becomes evermore important and instructive for us.  The Bible tells us, warns us actually, “A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences” (Prv. 22:3; 27:12, NLT).  Solomon repeats this warning twice in the Book of Proverbs.  We must take special note of this warning, and many others in Scripture, as we change our ways to meet our changing world.

 Another passage that instructs in the art of “perceiving societal change and making preparations” comes in an obscure list of “warriors” in the Book of 1Chronicles.  After many years of avoiding a confrontation with King Saul, Saul has died and David is about to be crowned king at Hebron.  A mighty army totaling over 300,000 soldiers was being assembled from the tribes of Israel.  The number of warriors from each tribe is listed, “From the tribe of Judah: 6,800 . . . from the Simeon: 7,100. . . from the tribe of Levi: 4,600” and so on down the list until we get to verse 32. There we read this about the tribe of Issachar:  “From the tribe of Issachar, there were 200 leaders of the tribe with their relatives. All these men understood the signs of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take.”  Notice that from the tribe of Issachar we see the selection of leaders, not warriors.  We see men chosen who can “identify the issues, challenges, and dangers of the present times and formulate a plan to meet those changes effectively.”  We need to be like the Tribe of Issachar and “discern the changes taking place and formulate a new plan.”

Today, we are “RESETTING OUR CHURCH.”  I will unpack the meaning of the Reset Code, 2551, that will guide us in ministry for the months and years to come. This massive reset will be as radical as the change from a manual typewriter to a Macbook Pro.  This sermon is a lot of information in a short period of time.  This morning may  seem like you are taking a drink from a firehose.  But, stay with me and you will see it is actually a very simple plan.

2551 refers to our Organizational Structure, Our Personal Development, Our Corporate Development, and Our Mission.

1.  First the number “2”:  Our Organizational Structure.

 About 313 AD (Edict of Milan), Emperor Constantine did something that “clipped one wing” of the Church and prevented it from continuing to fly.  Emperor Constantine took what had been an illegal religion, Christianity, and made it the religion of the Empire with favored status.  With this favored status came a new “building boom” and cathedrals designed for worship sprang up all over the Holy Roman Empire.

For over three hundred years prior to Constantine the Christian church had exploded in numbers without any “formal” buildings we would call, “churches.”  Instead, this massive movement met primarily in small groups in homes.  Small group gatherings were the “norm” of church life—the hub around which everything in the Church turned.  On occasion these small home groups would gather in fields, large houses, or anywhere that would hold their large numbers.  These large meetings were full of praise and celebration.   The Early Church was like a two-winged bird—one wing was comprised of small intimate home groups.  The other wing was a larger gathering full of praise and celebration.  The major emphasis, however, due to both design and necessity, was on small group gatherings.

Constantine and the ensuing building of “cathedrals” designed for large groups changed the emphasis of the Early Church.  A focus on large group gatherings in specialized buildings crippled the church and the explosive growth of the early church has never been reclaimed.  The Church became a one-winged bird or a one-winged airplane, to modernize the metaphor.  A one-winged bird or a one-winged plane simply cannot fly. 

The Scriptures speak of this “two-winged approach” to church life.  The pattern is repeated three times in Acts almost word for word.

Acts 2:46  Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. Again, in Acts 5:42, Every day in the temple complex, and in various homes, they continued teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. And yet once more in Acts 20:20, and that I did not shrink back from proclaiming to you anything that was profitable or from teaching it to you in public and from house to house.

 For far, far too long the main focus of the church organization has been on the Sunday morning large group worship service.  For years, Sunday School and Small Groups have worn thinner and thinner until now they are virtually non-existent in most churches.  God’s plan is for us to restore balance to the two-wings of our ministry program and put a greater emphasis on the Small Group Ministry of our Church.  As part of our “Reset” we are going to put a much greater influence on small, intimate, gatherings primarily in homes.  We are going to restore the small group wing of church life.

 2.  The first “5” in 2551 refers to:  Personal Development

 For well over 80 percent of a church membership in the overwhelming majority of churches, the only identifying mark of a Christian salvation experience is “attending worship once a week.”  For many church-goers, attendance is not even once a week.  I will say something that might sound shocking but it is most certainly true:  if the only mark that identifies you as a believer is your name on the roll of a church and your occasional attendance at a weekly worship service, you are in danger of spending eternity in hell.

This is what Jesus said about being a disciple, or follower of Him.  Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Lk. 9:23)

 I’m going to quickly survey five basic identifying marks of a true, cross-bearing believer from the Gospel of John, chapter 15.  These are “basic, daily disciplines” that should be the habit of every true believer. I call them the Five Holy Habits. Let’s stroll through John 15 to see these habits.  Sin leads to bad habits. Salvation must bring new habits.

 ❶WORSHIP.  Jn. 15:5 says, “I am the vine;  you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit,  because you can do nothing without Me.”  A heart of worship means that Jesus Christ is the absolute “love our Your life” and everything you are, everything you have, and everything you do is devoted to serving Him.  Worship means that a love for Jesus captivates “all of you for Him all of the time.” This certainly involves church attendance with praise and singing but worship is much more than our actions—worship is the attitude of the heart.

 ❷BIBLE STUDY. Jn. 15:7a says, “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you.”  The word, remain (or abide) paints a verbal picture of building a house in which you live.  A true believer is continually building upon his or her Scriptural knowledge through a daily quiet time, weekly Scripture Memory, personal and group Bible studies, and of course the “devotion to apostolic sermons.” 

 ❸PRAYER.  Jn. 15:7b says, “ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.” Notice in verse 7 the connection between the Word of God and effective prayer.  When we have a strong foundation in the Word of God, it empowers the words of our prayers—“ask . . . and its done!”

 ❹FELLOWSHIP.  Jn. 15:12-13 says, ¹² This is My command: Love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends.  We are commanded to develop deep and meaning relationships with other believers that are so deep that we would give our lives for those in our church family.  Not much chance someone would give their lives for someone if they don’t even know their name.  Fellowship means to “share everything considering nothing as yours alone.”

 ❺EVANGELISM.  Jn. 15:8 says, “⁸ My Father is glorified  by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be  My disciples.”  Fruit is not ornamental, but instrumental. Fruit is the part of a tree that brings into being other trees.  Many people can count the number of apples on a tree, but here God is asking us to count the number of trees in an apple. Are we bringing new disciples into the Kingdom? We we all know we need to do a much better job with this discipline.

That’s the Personal Development Plan that will guide how we evaluate whether or not we are personally growing in the Lord.  These are the Five Basic Disciplines of Christian Discipleship

 3.  The second “5” in 2551 refers to:  Corporate Development.

Just as the Bible outlines a plan for our personal development as believers, God’s Word outlines Five Basic Functions in the Corporate Development of Our Church.  These are summarized in the portion of Scripture we call the “Great Commission.”  We fulfill the Great Commandment by following the Great Commission.  Let’s look first at the Great Commandment.

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Mt. 22:37-39)

 As a church we fulfill this Great Commandment through Five Functions summarized in the Great Commission, Mt. 28:16-20. 

 ❶EXALTATION.  Mt. 28:16-17 says, “¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.”

 We’ve already looked at “worship” as part of our PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT.  It is also an essential element of our CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT as a church.  From a heart fully and passionately devoted to Jesus as Lord, we EXALT Him when we gather as His children.  EXALTING Jesus simply means we have put Jesus on the throne of our lives and we have crucified our self on the cross.  Our life becomes, “Christ-centered,” and our worship is all about Him and all about His glory.  The Bible tells us that we exist to EXALT Jesus Christ.  Eph. 1 tells us twice that we exist to bring praise and glory to God (vv. 6, 14) :

 Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory”

 Praise can mean, “to shine like a light.”  It could literally be translated, “sparkle for Jesus!”  So, how’s your sparkle these days!

 ❷EVANGELISM.  Mt. 28:18-19a.  The greatest form of EXALTATION for Our Lord is to “go preach the gospel.” As we saw with our PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT, evangelism is also to be a significant function in our CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT.  I’ll say more about this in a moment.  But, mark this down:  “a church that is full of disciples who are not growing personally will never be effective evangelistically.”

 ❸EDIFICATION.  Mt. 28:19b.  baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  To edify means to “knit together, build-up, or connect.”  Baptism is the act of “assimilating a new believer into the full fellowship of the church.”  It means to weave someone into the fabric of the fellowship.  Just like when a thread breaks on a woven cloth it leaves a hole, so when a believer does not fully assimilate into the life of the church they leave a hole.

 ILLUS:  Eddie didn’t leave no vacancy.

 ❹EQUIPPING.  Mt. 28:20.  “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  How much knowledge of history do you think you would have if you have been studying it for ten, twenty, thirty or more years?  Do you think you would be an expert?  So it should be for church members who have been Christians for ten, twenty, thirty or more years.  They should be “experts” in the Bible.  And yet, so many are still “babes drinking milk and not eating meat.”  (1Cor. 3:1)

 ❺EXPANSION.  Mt. 28:20b.  “to the end of the age.”  Any living thing that is healthy will grow. A healthy church will continue to expand her ministry beyond the walls of the church, the streets of the city, and into every corner of the world.  A church that is not expanding is dying.

 Now, let me tie all this up into one beautiful bow.  The most important number in this Reset Code is the number

 4.  “1.”  Our mission and Purpose.

Here’s where the proverbial rubber meets the road.  Jesus had one mission in His life that He left us to complete:  “Save Souls.”  Everything we do and every dime we spend must be directed at one single mission:  “Saving Souls!”  A church that is not seeing souls saved is like a oil refinery that uses all the oil they produce to keep the machinery running that produces the oil.  No oil ever leaves the refinery.  Or, a church that is not seeing souls saved is like a shoe factory that operates night and day but never produces a pair of shoes.

Evangelism isn’t one thing among many things that a church does—evangelism is the “Main Thing.”  Without a passionate, all-consuming drive to see souls saved, the church is nothing more than a “Religious Country Club restricted to members only.”

Jesus went out of His way to reach a man despised by the community in which he lived.  He was the First Century equivalent of an IRS agent. He became rich by cheating his own countrymen.  He was hated and considered a “vile, ugly sinner.”  His name was Zacchaeus.  Not only was he a vile sinner, but he was short.  So short that when Jesus was passing through town, Zacchaeus climbed a tree to get a glimpse of the travelling preacher and healer the whole town was talking about.  Jesus spotted this chief of sinners in the tree and said, “Hurry and come down, I’m going to have dinner with you today.”  Jesus took time to love whom the world despised.  All the people in town murmured because Jesus entered the house of such a hated person.  Here’s what Jesus told Zaccaeus (Lk. 19:9):  “Today, salvation has come to this house.”  Zacchaeus was gloriously and wondrously saved and became a devoted follower of Jesus.

Winning souls was the very purpose for which Jesus came into our world and died on a cross that should have been our death for our sins.  Jesus made it very clear what His purpose was and what the purpose for the church should be.  In Lk. 19:10 Jesus said, “For the Son of Man has come into the world to seek and to save that which is lost.”

That’s the mandate and mission for the Church Jesus is building.  If we are not “seeking the lost and leading them to salvation.” If God loved the world—an ugly, rebellious, vile sinful people—then, we should also love the world. We are God’s first responders.

As we Reset our Church to position ourselves for effective ministry in a world that has been forever changed, we must make God’s priority our priority—“seeking and saving the lost.” As I said, we are God’s First Responders.

Let me share a story that is a bit comical, but also deeply profound. Tori Matthews was an officer with the Southern California Humane society.  One particular call she had was recorded in the Arizona Republic Newspaper February 2, 1995.  She received an emergency call that a little boy’s pet iguana had been scared up a tree by the family’s dog.  I feel from a branch that hung over the family pool.  Not be a Galapagos Sea-going Iguana, the lizard sank like lead to the bottom of the pool.  Officer Matthews arrived at the scene and dove into the pool with her net to retrieve the limp lizard.  She later told a reporter what was going through her mind.  “Well, I’ve done CPR on a person and on a dog, why not an iguana?”  So, she locked lips with the lizard.  She went on to say, “Now that I think about it, it was pretty ugly animal to be kissing, but I didn’t have the heart to tell the little boy his pet was dead.” How did the story end?  The lizard revived and made a full recovery.

Now, how does this apply to “making soul-winning the driving passion of our church in this present RESET?” Well, Officer Matthews didn’t see an ugly, waterlogged lizard.  She saw a creature that was deeply loved by a little boy.  How much more should we be driven to rescue those perishing in sin when we realize that God loves the world so much that He sent Jesus Christ, His only Son to die on the cross so we could live forever with Him in heaven when we die?  God loves sinners enough to die for them—shouldn’t we?

 Our plan for a RESET is as simple as “2 5 5 1.”  But, none of this will matter if we do not develop a passion for see lost people saved.

The road ahead for our world is in many ways “uncertain,” but for a church RESET with God’s code for ministry, there’s nothing “uncertain” about OUR future.