We Are The Church

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be the head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

So, Heavenly Father, today we say, We’re grateful. Thank you for this opportunity. Thank you for a new year. Thank you for a new chance to represent you to a hurt and dying world. We pray that you would make our minds open and our hearts ready to receive from you. We ask that you speak to us and that you help us to listen and to receive. And send your sins, let me pray. Everybody said amen.

A year of change

Well, I’m wondering if you would allow me just to spend a few minutes before we jump into the sermon to talk about this coming year and what you can expect and what you can be believing for this year. And so I’ll say it like this that for this church, this 2025 is gonna be a year of change. You know, we’ve spent the last three months kind of navigating the transition and we’re working, we’ve worked to make it as seamless as possible. Or we’re just trying to not, you know, wreck the ship, trying not trying to make the church crash. We feel like we’ve done that successfully.

In fact, for out this throughout this transition, the last three months, we’ve gained more families than we’ve lost. We’re grateful to God for that. This past December was our highest numbers since pre-COVID. Every church is trying to rise up, everyone’s trying to. So, you know, great. Not that that influences our decisions. We want to let you know, like that’s not it, but it is something that we try to monitor, not just so that we can feel good about ourselves when numbers go up, but knowing that each number represents a real actual person, and we want to reach as many people as possible. And also we’ve completed the transition with no financial hardship on the church. We’re just as strong financially now as we were before the transition was announced. So we’re grateful to God and grateful to you for that.

And so I feel like we have spent the last three months appropriately, where we’ve just been trying to kind of like stick the landing and care for people through the transition and get people used to the idea and we’re grateful to God. With that said, though, 2025 for us is going to be a time where we’re shifting focus from sticking the landing of the transition to entering into the next season that God has for this church. And as I’ve told you this a hundred times before, we will never ever change just for change’s sake. Just so you know when it’s never gonna happen. We will always and exclusively change for the sake of being more fruitful, and that’s a phrase you’re gonna hear a lot this year: fruitful. Fruitfulness, fruitfulness, fruitfulness. The staff, the staff is already here in that, the staff’s already sick of hearing it, but fruitfulness.

But we’re asking this question of us of ourselves as a staff all the time. What does it look like to be fruitful as a ministry, as a department, as a staff member, and as a church, what does it look like for us to be fruitful in 2025? Because while it’s true that we come to church amongst other things to receive from God, it’s also true that we are the church to be fruitful. To be about our Father’s business. In fact, in Matthew chapter 7, Jesus is talking, he’s talking about fruitfulness, and in this particular context, he’s talking about it in context of recognizing false prophets and false teachers, but the principle that he teaches applies to lots more than that. And look at what he says, Matthew chapter 7, verse 17. I made myself a little hoarse during worship, so I’m gonna have to drink a little water, y’all.

Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit, you will recognize them.

So how do you recognize the good church? By its fruit. And so my prayer as I wake up and I come to work and I study and I plan and I strategize is God help me to be fruitful. I pray that all the time. God help this church to be fruitful. I’m praying that constantly. And because of that, 2025 for us is going to be a season of change. Because to put it bluntly, I think that we can do more than we’re currently doing. Come on. That’s right. I’m not dissing anything. But I think we can do more. But I think we can push harder than we’re currently pushing. I think I think we can reach more people than we’re currently reaching. That’s what I believe. I think that we can use more avenues to spread the gospel than we’re currently using.

And because of that, there’s going to be some changes. And just to let you know, there’s going to be some changes that we know and we’re happy for you to know. And then there’s going to be other changes that we know and you don’t know yet. And that’s appropriate. And then there’s other changes that you don’t know and we don’t know either. Right? But God knows. And so we’re planning and we’re praying and we’re prepping and we’re learning and we’re growing as a leadership team. But there are still things that we don’t know yet. And so that’s why we always have to be dependent on the leading of the Spirit to lead us and to guide us.

And so something that we would ask as the leadership team of this church is that you would help us in praying that the Holy Spirit continue to lead me. Please pray for that. Pray that the Holy Spirit would continue to lead Pastor Jordan, the executive, Pastor Marshall, Pastor Cindy, Hannah, Pastor Dobb, Pastor Javi, Pastor Shirley. I shouldn’t have started listening, people. The whole staff, pray that God would that God would lead us, that the Holy Spirit would lead us, and that we would have the discernment to hear, because it’s not about him talking, it’s about us hearing. So pray for us that we would have the discernment to hear the leading, and also that we would have the courage and the clarity to follow the leading.

And so that’s what we want you to do, but we also want you to do one other thing, and that’s start preparing your heart and start preparing your mind to embrace new things that God would want to do in us. You know, I work out not as much as I should. That’s why I don’t look good at as good a as Garrett and Noah and all that, but I do work out some. And one thing that I’ve noticed now that I’m in my 40s is, and some of y’all are like, you’re just a spring chicken. Just chill, okay. Now that I’m in my 40s, I have noticed that if I don’t stretch, just how quickly I can become inflexible. Am I the only one? I’m like my hamstrings. I can’t believe it. Like I take, I you know, when I was a 20, I would just, you know, never stretch, never hurt myself. Now, if I don’t stretch, I become inflexible quick. And so if I if I want to remain flexible, I have got to stretch.

And I’m just gonna let you know that I will not lead an inflexible church. Come on. Come on. I’m not saying that I’ll leave, I’m saying some of you might. Because I believe that God is always doing something new. Not for the sake of change, not for novelty, not to appear cool to the people on Instagram, but because I think we have a limited time to be as fruitful as we can. And so we’re gonna have the humility to admit that maybe we can be doing things better. Right? Like like sermons. I don’t know if you know that you probably can’t tell. I actually work hard at this. I work really hard, you know. But I God, if there’s a way for me to do this better, and there are, I’m open to it. Because I’m not I’m not so proud to say that like oh, you know, like there’s no chinks in my armor. There’s chinks in my armor. Like how we do worship, how we do media, how we do social media, how we do outreach, how we do groups, how we do Tuesday night. Like it’s all for God to come in and instruct. Not because we just want to change things, but because we want to be fruitful.

And so this year that there will be an opportunities in a thousand different ways to be flexible and to stretch. And so we would ask you in the coming days and weeks and months, as you have your quiet time with God, that you would pray that we would continue to be able to hear from the Holy Spirit, and that also that he would help you to be flexible and to stretch in what we do as a church to reach more people.

We are the church

You probably notice on the way in here, there’s a big banner. We replaced it, and it said this that we are the church and this is our city. We are the church. Come on, we are the church, and this is our city. In fact, that’s that’s our theme for the year, 2025. The theme for the year is this. We are the church. Won’t you say that with me? We are the church. Say it again. We are the church. And that’s gonna be a thread that throughout this year we’re gonna be deliberately focusing on and remembering both the privilege and the responsibility that we have as being Christ’s church.

You know, I’m gonna talk about this more here in a minute, but technically speaking, I don’t know if you know this, that that the church is not something that we visit, and the church is not something that we attend. The church is something that we are. Not individually, but collectively. Collectively, we form the church, the ecclesia. It’s the gathering of a people with a purpose. And in Ephesians 1, Paul is talking about Jesus and his church. Let’s read verse the two verses again. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 22. It says this,

and God placed all things under his, Jesus, under his feet, and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

So here Paul says that the church is Christ’s body and the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. He says it like this. Peripheral. So let me see if I can explain it. So when you’re driving, if you’re driving a vehicle, you’re focused on something. It might be your phone. Hopefully it’s the road. But you’re focused on something when you’re driving a car. But then there’s also things, there’s other things that you see on the side of your vision. Right? Like, like on the outside, and we would call that your peripheral vision. And so when something’s peripheral, it means that it’s on the edges. It’s not, it’s not the center. It’s on the edges.

And so Eugene Peterson, when he’s paraphrasing Paul, he says, what Jesus is focused on is actually not the world. What Jesus is focused on is the church. And what Jesus sees on the outside of his vision is the world. But what he sees, what he’s focused on is the church. That’s the people don’t think like that. Because God is very concerned and very committed to the world. But if you want to know what is smack dab in the middle of his gaze, it’s the church. Not you as a person, but us gathering together as a people. If you want to be smack dab in the middle of what God sees, you do it right here. If you want to be right in the center of God’s work in the world, you’ll find yourself in the church.

And we actually see a precursor of this verse in 2 Chronicles. It’s where God consecrates the temple. If you don’t know the temple, it’s this thing that’s in that’s in David’s heart. He’s he Jesus is, or God’s been really a tent kind of deity. He was fine with a tent. David was like, no, you can’t have a tent. We need you to have a great grand temple. It’s in David’s heart. It’s in his heart, but he doesn’t complete it. It ends up being built and completed by his son Solomon. And the temple is a, listen to me, deeply imperfect parallel of the church. It’s so we don’t overdo parallels of the temple and the church, but we can in some cases. And in this particular case, God is expressing his heart for the temple. And it’s not because he loved the building. In fact, we’re very confident he did not. But what we know that he was passionate about was the gathering of people. And so he’s talking about the gathering of people in the temple. Now we gather together the gathering of people in a building like this, but we can see his heart here that’s for the temple, and we also know that this is how it is for the church. Second Chronicles chapter 7, verse 16. God says this

I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

My heart and my this is what God says about the gathering of people. My eyes and my heart will always be there. This is exactly what Paul is saying when he’s saying the world is peripheral to the church. The center of what’s happening in the story of humanity is the church. God’s focus is the church.

And so that’s why for me, like if I go, you know, I go downtown and I’m talking to people, and I talk to someone and they say, like, man, I love God. I just don’t believe in church. Like, I still love them. I’m still merciful to them, I’m still gracious to them, but I know that they’re not biblically literate. Come on. Come on. And that’s fine. That’s just, I know that’s the type of person that I’m talking to. Because you simply cannot understand scripture and think that you can be central in God’s focus and not be a part of the church. That’s not an intelligent position. Right? Because the center of God’s heart, the center of God’s work will always be not in the building, but in the gathering together of people. The gathering of a people with a purpose. And so I’ve got three points, and then we’ll wrap this baby up. Y’all can get to your and if football and also the golden globes, it’s a it’s a big day. I know, so here we go. Three points if you’re taking notes. Write these down.

The church is not a place, the church is a people

Number one is this the church is not a place, the church is a people. The church is not a place, the church is a people. Say say this with me again. We are the church. We are the church. Say it again. We are the church.

You know, it’s funny if you were to ask people like, where is the church? Well, they’ll probably give you like some kind of address, you know. Oh, it’s that big building up there, 320 Waterfall Drive, Southeast. And we don’t fight over language, broadly speaking. Like, like that’s not where you that’s not where you want to spend all your attention. And I know that we use this, we say, like, where are I? I’m at the church, and we mean the building, and that’s fine. And we also know, like what Javi said last week is that churches need a place to meet. And so that’s why we’re grateful. That’s why we’re grateful for the sacrifice of the people that came before us, so that we could have this like unbelievable facility to meet it to meet, and and so we’re in the church in a sense, but technically we are the church.

So let’s say this building, as amazing as it is, for whatever reason, was destroyed. Someone puts a bomb in here or it’s a fire, and so something happens to this facility, and so we have to move down the street, let’s say. Well, are we a different church at that point? No, no, no, it’s we’re the same church, we just relocated because the church is not a building, the church is not a location, the church is a gathering of God’s people. And when I say people, I mean plural collectively, right? Not just you, not just you, all of us together. We’re the like you don’t take a selfie and call it a family photo. You know, like if someone comes comes up to me and is like, look at this beautiful family photo, and it’s just you. You’re not your family. You’re a party, but you’re not your family, you know? In the same way, you’re not the church. Just like you’re not your family, together, you’re the family. And together, we’re the church.

Let me blow your mind here for just a quick second. There is currently just over four million Christian churches worldwide. Four million. And I don’t know about you, but sometimes I think like I drive around the city and I’m like, I cannot believe how many Starbucks are here. There are so many, it’s I feel like we’re at the saturation point. There is no possible way there could be any more Starbucks on the planet. They’re literally everywhere. How many Starbucks do you think are on the planet? About 35,000. Right? 4 million 35,000. That means for every Starbucks, there’s a hundred and fourteen churches. Now, how many of those four million churches you think have a big old building like this with all these fancy lights and the smoke machine and the LED wall? Probably 1% of 1% of 1%. So we’re very blessed and we’re very privileged to have this. But but we are the top 0.001% of churches. But that does not make us any more of a church than they are. Right? They are just as much of a church as we are, because the church is not a place, the church is a people. And so whether it’s here or whether it’s five people meeting underground at a church where there’s in China where there’s persecution and they’re high, like they’re just as much church as we are, because it’s not about one person, nor is it about a building. It’s about the gathering together of people to form the church.

Peter says this, 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 10.

Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.

Notice he doesn’t say a person of God. He didn’t say, like once you were not a person, now you’re a person of God. He says, no, once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God collectively. And so, like before you came to Christ, you probably had a name, you had an ethnicity, you might have had a job title, might have had a political affiliation, you probably had a like a social status. But now you have an identity that transcends all of that, which is you’re a member of God’s family, of Christ’s church.

And so if you think about like your own family for a second, I think about my family. I’ve got a beautiful wife, a beautiful daughter here, we’ve got extended family here. If you think about like your family, for a second, when you’re part of a family, it changes how you think, it changes how you act, and it changes what you value. Like you don’t just show up for big events. Not if you’re really a family. Like if you’re a family and you want your family to be strong, well, it’s not just about what’s best for you, it’s about what’s best for the family. Right? Like, imagine I only did what was best for me, and I never did what was best for my family. Right? I would be no man at all. But and that that’s how it is with the body of Christ, right? Is it’s not just about what’s best for you. It’s not just about what’s best for you in your week, it’s about what’s best for the family. We’re not attenders of a conference or attenders of a concert. We’re we’re family members gathering together under the name, under the umbrella of Jesus. So say say this with me. The church is not a place. The church is a people. One more time. The church is not a place. The church is a people.

The church is not perfect

Number two is this. The church is not perfect. The church is not perfect. And you might be thinking, well, that’s bad news. It’s good news. Because that’s what lets you be in it. Like if you find a perfect church, I am begging you, don’t go. You’ll ruin it. The second you go, it’s not perfect anymore. There’s no perfect church. And there’s no perfect human pastor. And I say human because some of y’all would be like, well, doesn’t scripture say that Jesus is the good shepherd? Stop. You know what I mean? Like there is no perfect pastor. And so, and so you’ve got to come into this relationship knowing that. Knowing that we’re gonna be imperfect. And I’m not talking about some big old moral failing. I’m saying that like we’re not perfect people. You know what I mean? Our sermons are not gonna be perfect. Like the decisions that we make are not gonna be perfect.

And so it’s important to your long term success as a church member to know that nobody in here is perfect. Not me, not Pastor Marshall, not Pastor Sidney, not Jordan, not John Woods, if you can believe it. None of us are perfect. And so, like, like I’m not always telling I’m not gonna tell you that like our church is always right because we won’t be. I’m not telling you that we’re gonna have all the answers because we don’t. I’m not gonna tell you that every service is gonna be awesome because it’s not. I’m not gonna tell you that like every message is gonna change your life because it’s not. Did you know that like when a sermon’s bad, we know it too. We bore ourselves too. You know, it’s like we just can’t leave. There’s nowhere to go. Who know it? Right? Church isn’t perfect, right? I I’m not telling you to trust every person in here. You shouldn’t. That’s right. When when you go to the bathroom, take your purse. We don’t know who’s walking around in here. Right? Church isn’t perfect. You say it like this. We are imperfect people, imperfectly following a perfect God. We are imperfect people, imperfectly following a perfect God.

You know, a few weeks ago, I won’t name any names, but there’s a family member of mine that was dying her hair. And she didn’t notice that when she was dying her hair, that a little glop of the hair dye fell off of her hair and onto our light colored carpet. And so now we have a permanent memento of the great hair dyeing of 2025, because it will always be on the carpet there. So what? So should I should I get mad? Should I get mad? Should I, you know what I mean? Should I yell? Should I like pout about it? Look, that’s just a part of living in a house with other people. Come on. And sometimes other people stay in the carpet, and look at me. Sometimes you stay in the carpet. And sometimes we stay in the carpet.

Sometimes we’re going to let you down. Sometimes we’re going to set a goal and we’re not going to achieve it. It’s going to happen. I’m going to say, this year we’re going to do and it’s not going to work. We’re going to try it and we didn’t do it because we didn’t organize right. We heard wrong. We tried something and it didn’t work out. Like that’s going to happen. Sometimes you’re going to walk in here and the music’s not going to be on in the hallway and it’s going to feel like a really awkward library when you bring your friends. Like it’s going to happen. Sometimes the coffee’s going to be bitter. It’s going to happen. Sometimes there’s going to be like a big old loud screech in the middle of worship coming out of the speakers. It’s going to happen. But here’s what I love about family. We stick together anyway. It’s not about you being perfect. It’s not about me being perfect. But what’s amazing about family is this. We’re here for each other. And if we get mad at each other, we pout about it, we talk it out, and we’re still family. I don’t leave, I don’t abandon my family every time they let me down. The church is not perfect. The strength, the strength of our gathering is not in flawless execution. It’s in sticking together as a family. Number one, the church is not a place. The church is a people. Number two, the church is not perfect.

God has great affection for his church

Number three, and I’m wrapping it up. God has great affection for his church. God has great affection for his church. Ephesians chapter 5, verse 25.

Husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

Isn’t that interesting? Jesus gave his life for the church. People don’t say that a lot, right? Like most Christians know what Jesus gave his life for me. Jesus gave his life for you. But very people, very few people will quote this verse and say that Jesus gave his life for the imperfect church. But the church who doesn’t get it right. He gave his life for the church. Why? Because he has great affection for the church.

Did you know that in Scripture, the church is described as the bride of Christ. The bride of Christ. And husbands are going to feel me on this one. I hope. Now listen to me. That’s not because I think my wife’s perfect. I know my wife’s not perfect. She’s probably closer to perfect than I am, but I know that she’s not perfect. But but you can’t badmouth her and be cool with me. If you’re not a fan of my wife, I’m not a fan of you. You don’t get me without her. Why? Because two shall become one. And on September 26th, 2008, is that right? Okay. September 66, 2008. Jordan and I entered into a covenant that surpasses anything I have with any of you. Right? So you don’t get me without her. Did you know that Jesus entered into a covenant with the church? And he sealed it not with a ring, but by his blood. And he’s still committed to its beauty. He’s still committed to its flourishing.

You know, this past Friday I was getting a haircut by my boy Solomon over there. How’s that look? Oh, yeah, look. I was talking to him, love him, and he was telling me that sometimes he’ll do like 25 to 30 haircuts in a day. I’m like, how do you have the energy for that? Like I would do two and I’d be exhausted. But he’s like the energy energizer bunny. He just goes, he’s just going. Sometimes he’ll ask me, he’d be like, hey, you want to go to the gym? I’m like, sure, yeah, what time do you go? He’s like 4 a.m. Like, get behind me, Satan. 4 a.m. He just goes, goes, goes. But, anyways, he’s and he was telling me, he’s telling me all the things that he’ll hear from people that are sitting in his chair. Right? I remember Melinda, she she has a salon and she calls the cape that she puts on people the cape of truth. She’s like, Well, you put that cape of truth on, people just start talking. It’s like barbers are the new bartenders, I guess. Just talk, talk, talk. But he was saying all these different things that people will will share with him, and then he told me this just past Friday. He said, he said, but you know, one thing I will not tolerate in this chair is people bad mouthing churches and bad-mouthing pastors. He says that he says, I don’t he says, I don’t play like that. He says, So I’ll tell him, like, man, you get up right now, but I I don’t I don’t play like that. And he’s he said, he said, because that’s God’s place, and that’s God’s man. He said, and that’s between them and God. He says, I don’t mess, I don’t mess with that. I don’t mess with that.

You know, and like, don’t misunderstand me. As a pastor, I can tell you this that as pastors, we are called to live a life above reproach. We are called to live a life that’s set apart because we’re held to a higher standard when it comes to judgment. But I do think that there is something beautiful about that posture of like, you’re not gonna catch me bad mouthing the bride of Christ. I’m not gonna do it. I’m not saying they’re perfect, but that’s not what I’m gonna do.

You know, my my generation, I’m 42, I’m a elder millennial. I’m the oldest of the old millennials. My generation is obsessed with church hurt and church trauma. And I’m not trying to minimize any of that. People’s lives can be ruined by the abuse that can happen in churches. That is straight up true. And we’re gonna talk about it more this year, but I just want to make one really simple point, and it’s this the church has never traumatized anyone. People in church did. The church never hurt anyone. People in the church did. And that’s why that’s why abuse and mistreatment that happens in the church can be in particular wounding because it’s so contrary to what we’re supposed to be. And so I’m not minimizing or ignoring any of that. But what I am saying is the church deserves more than just hate and criticism. Like we deserve better than that. The church deserves more than just having your bad experiences told over and over and over. Because there’s so much good. But God chose the church in all of its expressions, all of its places to bring his message of love and light to the world. People of all ages, people of all ethnicities, people of all backgrounds.

And so if you would allow me to say, I hope you have great affection for the church. Like, and if you don’t, my prayer is that God would awaken that in you. That you would get a revelation of how important this is in the life of your family. That you would get a revelation of how important this is in the life of your children. And that church, one way or another, is how you came to faith in Christ. And you might be thinking, no, not me, it was my mom. Like, well, we’ll follow the thread. You don’t have to follow the thread very long before it’s like, oh, there’s the church. Christianity doesn’t long survive outside of the church. That’s just the way that it is. Says who? Well, scripture and history. Dies, Christianity dies. And you might be thinking, I don’t like that. Well, that’s the individualistic American in you.

But but I pray that this place, that there would be something that would rise up on the inside of you that you’d want to protect and care for the church during your lifetime. And you would care about passing it on to your children and your children’s children. And you’d want to support the church because you see value in the church. And that there’s people, we go out, you know, there’s people supporting all kinds of different things, all over lots of activists everywhere, you know, that are loud for their cause. And whether you agree or disagree with their causes, I think their strength and their boldness should inspire us. Not to be rude, not to be inappropriate, but to be bold. And so I’m saying that the church should not shrink. I’m saying that the church of Jesus Christ should be big. Should be big in the world. The church should be the church. And the members of the church should hold our heads high with esteem and value, knowing that what we bring to the world is important.

Right? So like I walk around and I’m a member of the church, and I’m not ashamed of that. My generation, oh blah, blah, blah, no one wants to. Like, I don’t care about any of that. I’m proud to be a member of the church. I’m proud of what the church has done. I’m proud of what the church stands for. I’m proud to be a part of it. And if culture continues to change and church just gets less and less cool and less, fine. But man, I will hold my head up high as a pastor of a church, as a member of a church, because this place matters. And even if people, if people don’t see that, then they’re wrong. And this is our time. This is our turn. And I’m grateful for all the generations that came before us that got us here. But it’s our time to do the best that we can to keep the church moving forward. To keep the church healthy, to keep the church strong. It’s not something to be ashamed of, it’s something to be proud of. But you get to walk around and be a member of the body of Christ, the bride of Christ. And we get to do life together, you know? We get we get to raise our children together. And I think that’s beautiful. We get to celebrate young love and witness marriages together. It’s beautiful. We get to bury our loved ones together. And I think that’s beautiful. It’s a blessing to have the privilege of being a part of the church.

Here’s my closing statement. God chose his church to bring his kingdom from heaven to earth, and Jesus demonstrated his great love by giving his life for this gathering of people. One, the church is not a place, the church is a people. We don’t just attend church, we are the church. Family members gathering together, united in an identity that transcends every boundary and background. Two, the church is not perfect. We are imperfect people, imperfectly following a perfect God. Our strength lies not in flawless living, but in sticking together.