Introduction: There’s a story and a quote that I have shared with you before that continues to challenge me when I think about our church. It is from a sermon by Nancy Ortberg, formerly one of the teaching pastors at Willow Creek Community Church and wife of pastor and writer John Ortberg. She discusses several things that because of her busy life she chooses not to bother with. She relates the story of when some years ago as a nurse she was asked by a co-worker what she was going to do on her day off, which happened to be Sunday. She told him she was going to go to church. His response was, "Why on your only day off would you want to waste one hour going to church?" When she told him that her involvement in church was more than one hour on Sunday, he walked off in disgust and disbelief.

She states that, "I would not bother either with church as usual. I wouldn’t bother with church as usual either one hour a week. I absolutely will not bother with habitual inherited Christianity or a version of church with a weak, watered down faith where I come to a service and after do 20 minutes of small talk and gossip and then I go home and see you again next week. I will not bother with a religion that is about external rules that I get so tired of trying to keep and I can’t and that I know the truth about the inside of myself that I move to faking it. I won’t do it. I absolutely won’t bother.

"But I tell you what I will bother with, and that is what the Bible calls an internal relationship with Jesus Christ. A following of Christ on a daily basis as best I can, that touches me in the deepest parts of who I am and it touches me if I let it almost every hour of my day. I will bother for the rest of my life with an authentic, vibrant, shared ministry life changing church."

I believe that there is no reason for you either to bother with church as usual. I believe that her definition of what church is defines a definition of what you long for also. I know it is for me. I am continuing to come to a settled conviction that I have no interest in merely living out the most vital years of my life and ministry doing anything less than striving for the kind of definition of what church should be. Sometimes I feel my life is continually starting and stopping merely inching forward toward this dream. Yet I choose not to give up.

Our church is on the emerging edge of making some decisions and changes that are saying to our community that we are not interested in church as usual. Next Sunday night you are invited to come and see the proposal from our Building Committee for the future of our downtown campus. This plan involves both new and renovated areas of our church facility. It is bold, challenging and will allow us to function at a new level as a church both in the next two years and into the future. On October 17 we are change our schedule on Sundays to reach out to a new segment of our community by offering on Sunday morning an alternative style of worship at the same time keeping the 10:50 service as our traditional service. Each of these says to our community and our membership we are not doing church as usual. We are also implementing the chance for the developing of small groups that can meet Sunday evenings or any other time in the week for deeper spiritual growth. Again we are saying that we are not bothering with church as usual.

Let me give you some survey data that challenges us to realize we can’t just do church as usual. Currently 56% of our population in Jonesboro is between 18-54 years old. That number is going to grow by 18% by 2007. The age group with the next fastest growth will be the 55-64 age and they will grow by 16%. 61% of the people living within 5 miles of our church are between 18-49 in age. 38% are over 50. The median age in Jonesboro is 32. 66% of the people in our city make under $49,000 a year. By 2008 57% of the people within 5 miles of our church will be unmarried. That tells that as a community we are younger, unmarried, and middle income.

How does that affect us as a church? Currently there are over 30,000 people with know church affiliation on in our city. The average number of people in Sunday school in SBC churches in our city is 3700. The number of people in our city age 18-54 is 31,775. The number of people involved in SBC churches in the same age group is 3265. (Source: Outreach Demographics Trends, 6/14/2004 and Prizm Lifestyle Segmentation form the ABSC). It tells the highest population and the most unreached segment of people in our city that 29,000 of them are not darkening the doors of any SBC church. That tells us we cannot do church as usual and expect to make an impact on our community!

How are we going to do more than "show up" as a church? How can we maintain a clear course of direction with all the distractions and diversions to keep from merely doing church as usual? We do it by continually reminding ourselves the reason we are here. Our mission statement defines the reason we are here as First Baptist Church. Our mission statement defines our reason for existence. It calls us back to what we want to be. It is our purpose for our being located at the corner of Main and Jefferson. It is not about numbers, budget or building. It’s about something bigger. Ken Blanchard says, "Knowing where you are going is the first step to getting there." Our mission statement tells us and reminds us where we are going.

"The purpose of First Baptist Church of Jonesboro is to:

• Nurture, challenge and build believers for service and ministry.
• Honor Jesus Christ in a personal relationship through worship, prayer and study of the Bible.
• Share the unconditional love of God by proclaiming Jesus Christ as Savior to the communities of our world."

What I want us to see today from these words we have just read is that the reason we are here is to prepare, lead and enable believers to become disciples of Jesus Christ. In other words to become complete and competent followers of Jesus Christ. We want you to live like Jesus daily, encounter Jesus personally as well as with others and to influence others for Jesus with the Good News.

I. The reason we are here is to thoroughly prepare believers to live daily as an authentic reproduction of Christ. (Ephesians 4:12-13). In Ephesians 4:1-13 Paul tells us that the task of leadership in a congregation is to so prepare God’s people that they are an authentic reproduction of Jesus Christ. He says, "Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ, until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ."

We are to be so much like Jesus that we are as close to the real thing as humanly possible. For Paul nothing less than an authentic reproduction will satisfy. He says in verse 13 that the goal of all ministry or the responsibility of leadership is that believers be unified in faith, know God’s Son in a mature way and are full-grown in the Lord. How does that happen? He tells us in Ephesians 4:12 that leadership’s responsibility is to "equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ."

Leadership in a congregation is to "equip" God’s people. The word means to prepare or put right, set something that was broken or repair what needs mending. Leadership in a church is not here to entertain or carry on the forms of past methods. Leadership is to be intentionally applying biblical truth to our lives, continually holding up Jesus as our model so that more and more daily we look like him! Leadership is to think creatively and continually about ways to help you as a believer to do God’s work and build up the church.

Our mission statement describes how we desire that to happen by what we do for one another and what we do for others. First, we want to nurture, challenge and build believers. That means that as those in leadership and as members of the fellowship we are pledging ourselves to care for one another, admonish one another and develop one another. It means we realize and take seriously that the world you live in is hostile at its core to everything we believe. It means we realize and take seriously that you aren’t interested in just showing up. It means we realize and take seriously that the world needs you to be an authentic reproduction of Jesus Christ.

How are we doing that? Through GLOW, Sunday School, music and worship, small groups both men’s and women’s. On October 17 we will begin adding others for adults, youth both Jr. High and Sr. High and their parents. There will be others added over time but we are taking seriously the need for you to develop a deeper life spiritually.

Why? So that we can stand back in awe of how spiritual we might be? No, because the second part of that statement says "for service and ministry." It’s not what we do for one another that ultimately matters. What matters is what we want you to do for others—serve and minister in the same ways that Jesus did. There are places of service that are waiting for someone to fill. Not a Sunday School class or a committee position which are important. We have more needs in our community and congregation than we can afford financially. Ministry reaches a place where adding ministerial staff is not the answer. For that reason we are researching ways to get more people plugged in to places where they can serve. I believe we need a couple who would be committed to strengthening the marriages of our church and community. We need someone to say that the market place is a priority for me and lead out in that area. We need a person to coordinate the special events our church does and can do. We truly need a volunteer revolution. Places "out there" and countless others "in here" need a believer to step forward and say, "I’m here to serve and minister."

Col. 3:16 says, "Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. Use his words to teach and counsel each other. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts." Col. 4:2 says, "Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. The reason for our being here focuses on our worship personally and as we gather with others. We understand that your faith needs to be mature and maturing in respect to serving and ministering to others. But that service and ministry must have a constant source of renewal or it will run out. There is no question that we want you to be so mature that you will live daily as an authentic reproduction of Jesus Christ. Yet to do so demands that we do as he did and take time to restore our own soul. Even Jesus took time regularly and intentionally to encounter His Father personally and with others. Mark records how after an exhausting day and night of teaching and healing that "The next morning Jesus awoke long before daybreak and went out alone into the wilderness to pray." (Mark 1:35). Luke would write, "Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed" (Luke 5:16). Throughout his ministry He would as well gather with others in worship both at the temple in Jerusalem and in the synagogues to teach others and worship God. If you would live like Jesus daily then, my friends, you must encounter him daily personally and encounter him with others consistently.

The verses from Colossians describe the necessity of encountering Jesus Christ in worship, prayer and study of the Bible. The words of Christ are, he says, "to live in your hearts." That will not happen in your life or mine unless we deliberately provide a time and place for us to encounter Jesus Christ by ourselves and with others. The words of Christ are the words found, we would say as Christians, in the Bible. Those words will not magically be absorbed into your heart unless they are placed into the bloodstream of your soul. Somehow, some way, through your eyes and your ears you must encounter Jesus Christ and the words of Christ.

This is not something we can make you do or force you to do. We can use guilt or shame to motivate you but that will only last for a time. So how do we as a church accomplish this? We do it by leading you to encounter Jesus Christ through worship. Paul said the components of worship are to be centered on the words of Christ as they are taught, used to admonish each other and as they are sung through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. All forms of worship can become placebos for our real need of spiritual encounter with God. The method or volume of sermon delivery, the type of music styles, the instruments used and the emotions we attach to a place used for worship all can become what we substitute for worship. Worship is about your personal spiritual encounter with God not about how comfortable we are with one form of worship or another!

The words "lead" and "encounter" are very important. To lead means that those in leadership model what those who follow are to do. That means that ministerial leadership must themselves be people who are personally as well as with others encountering Jesus Christ in worship, prayer and study of the Bible. To lead defines the method or manner in which an encounter is provided for you. It means we are to seek under the Spirit’s leadership to create such quality experiences of worship, prayer and Bible study that you don’t want to miss them.

To encounter means "face to face." What we desire is that when you stop all the other activities of your day that you will personally encounter Jesus Christ both privately and with others. It means that when you are here in this place that you are encountering Jesus Christ as Paul describes by our singing songs to God, praying to God and teaching and sharing God’s word. You should expect that our worship is sincere, our praying is authentic and our study of the Bible applies to your life.

Let me say, though, that the primary reason that you need to encounter Jesus Christ personally and with others is that you will never hear the truth about yourself and your world without it. You will never be confronted with the truth unless you are encountering Jesus Christ personally as well as with others. If we never hear the truth then we will believe and live a lie. The world doesn’t need more Christians who are living a lie but those who have encountered truth. We are here to lead you to encounter Jesus Christ personally and with others.

Matthew 5:13-16, "You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it useful again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light of the world—like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see. Don't hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father."

Philip. 2:13, 15, "For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him...so that no one can speak a word of blame against you. You are to live clean, innocent lives as children of God in a dark world full of crooked and perverse people. Let your lives shine brightly before them.

Jesus’ words as well as Paul’s are powerful in describing the reality that as salt and light make their presence known so must those who are believers. Those verses describe the most effective way for you and for our church to fulfill our reason for existence—influencing others one life at a time.

Exactly one year ago we began what we call "Lighting the Journey Together" which is our emphasis on evangelism. We continue to pray for, share with, reach out to and include persons who have yet to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. While we do that as a church the key ones who are lighting the journey of our day are the influencers who understand what Christ meant when He talked about being salt and light in a tasteless and dark world, and they live it day in and day out. They live so effectively that others are compelled to ask how and why they know what to say is the source of their hope in a hopeless world. Influence you see is gentle, gradual and yet persuasive. And for believers, it is not an option.

For that reason we are here to enable you. We are here to give you the tools needed and necessary—to influence – to live and speak personally as salt and light – your community – from your doorstep to your school, relationships and work place to your place of residence, to your globe – one life at a time. You and I influence people personally one life at a time.

That’s why we say we are going to do this by sharing God’s unconditional love. That doesn’t mean that we deny the reality of hell by saying we are going to share his love. " God," John says, "so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son…." John 3:16. We do that by proclaiming Jesus Christ as Savior. We proclaim by our words and by our lives that there is no other hope for humanity but Jesus. Let others look for other saviors but we will only proclaim one Lord and Savior—Jesus Christ.

We share that love and proclaim Him to the communities of our world. That means from places and people near and a known to places and people unknown and unfamiliar. This means as Gene Wilkes describes that we change our concept as a church from thinking of ourselves as merely a church on the corner of Main and Jefferson to a mission outpost in our mission field whose base of operations is Main and Jefferson

It is my desire that we model for you and that you are provided opportunities to enable you to build an authentic relationship with a non-believer. We want you to be able to share a verbal witness with that person at some point. We want to provide places or services that will be specifically designed to influence them further. All of us working together to influence others one life at a time.

Conclusion: This past June I began my ninth year as pastor of First Baptist Church. On the birthday cards I send you it says, "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you" (Philippians 1:3) and I can’t say that to all of you enough. I owe you the deepest gratitude for your love, support, kindness, patience, understanding, and willingness to trust and follow. When I came here and didn’t have a clue (some would say I still don’t) and you have loved my family and me unconditionally.

There are different opportunities for change that are waiting in our future as a church. Gene Wilkes says, "Change is hard to experience the longer we live within the boundaries of our past. A life bound to family, tradition, and the expectations of both is not necessarily a bad thing. That life, left unexamined, however, can prevent followers of Jesus from experiencing the fresh expression of God’s work. If holding to the status quo becomes more valuable than following Jesus, we risk the missed opportunity of experiencing God in eternally significant ways." (Paul on Leadership by C. Gene Wilkes, p. 31)

For that reason we are not here to do church as usual. With the growth potential waiting for us we cannot turn our backs on any opportunity to experience God in eternally significant ways. We are a mission outpost and we have a mission field. We are here for a mission and that mission has a purpose. That purpose is to prepare you, lead you and enable you to become a complete and competent follower of Jesus Christ. I pray that this church year we would come closer to that ideal so that you decide this place and this family called First Baptist Church of Jonesboro is something you and I will "bother" with for the rest of our life.

Sunday, September 12, 2004

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org