a drop of water

Building a Community that Loves the World [Part One: Loving Our Neighbors]

A Message from the Parable of the Good Samaritan

Sermon by Jamie Wilson @ Coast Vineyard on October 19th, 2008

Some Reasons We Fail to Love When It Matters Most

1. We think we lack the time.
2. We think we that we lack the resources.
3. Fear.

Compassion in Action

1. Compassion is always a risk.
2. Compassion is a commitment to care regardless of the cost.
3. Compassion is a commitment to care regardless of the results.

Build a Church that Loves our Neighbors

1. We will need a willingness to love people in their place of need rather than our place of comfort.
2. We will need courage.
3. We will need Spirit given expectation.

Jamie opened up his sermon acknowledging that our culture is one that “passes by on the other side of the road” in respect to crisis.  We come to the point where we all too often avoid and secretly cringe in the face of friends sharing their problems with us, evaluating if we really have time and energy to deal with what they are dealing with, on top of the pressures that society has already placed on us.  We are already so stretched and our resources so expended, that we fear an overwhelming crisis to which we have no answer or solution for.  But Jamie encouraged us that it is in that “effxiating weakness that we can give God,” if only we would have the courage to walk off the road into the crisis.

Compassion definitely has costs, emotional, phyiscal, financial, etc.  But I would dare to say that compassion and its associates costs are more like investments.  I do not believe that they are just costs, where what we give goes into some void and is never seen again.  Instead I hold onto the idea that our compassion and its emotional, physical and financial costs have great returns even when the outcome is not what we might expect or even hope for.

Jamie closed his sermon acknowledging that our culture is trending towards one where “No one will come to the church without being loved first.”  Or maybe it has always been that way, if you consider what church really is.  When we consider that to love, is to set to achieve what is good for the object of that love, we realize that loving people in their place of need rather than our place of comfort is common sense.  I’m guilty of not looking to God for a Spirit given expectation for the results from investing in the Kingdom with compassion and the costs associated with it.  But it is time to change my vision of compassion and God’s power in respect to that!

A Community that Loves God – A Message from Mark 12:28-31
Sermon by Jamie Wilson @ Coast Vineyard on October 5th, 2008

Jamie’s sermon was focused on Mark 12:30, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength,” and challenged us to assess our spiritual condition against this passage.  The four questions he posed were:

1. What do I want the most in life?
2. Are there emotions that I hide from God?
3. Are my thoughts obedient to Christ?
4. Do I ever get exhausted serving God?

He explained the aim of each of these questions alongside the four aspects of loving God with your heart, soul, mind and strength.  What we love with our heart is what we want most in life; it is what drives us and what we hope for.  For me I know I hope for success.  Wresting with identifying and expressing our emotions to God is very much apart of loving God with all of our soul.  For me I know I hide my impatience and frustration from God.  Cleaning up our intentions and trying not to focus solely on how “we” performed in life is important in loving God with all our mind.  For me critiquing how well I do takes center stage too often.  The last connection was that we must be pouring and spending all our strength (our life) to pursue God.  This is not an argument for burnout, but an encouragement to love God with all of your strength.  For me, I err towards the side of burnout a little too easily. Jamie closed up the message with Matthew 13:44 in an encouragement to recover our passion for God by discovering our need for God, surrendering before God, and committing to God.

Sermon @ Coast Vineyard by Michelle Wilson on September 21st, 2008

Let Me In! Learning to Cry Out to God When We Need Help — A message from Revelation 3:14-22

Laodicea was famous for its wealth (banks with great capital and the ability to lend and be generously charitable with neighboring cities.)  When the city was completely leveled by an earthquake, they refused the Roman government’s aid because they didn’t need outside help to rebuild.  They were famous for fashion, specifically a finely woven black wool that was desired across the ancient world.  They were also famous for medicine, specifically their eye doctors and their medical school.  It seems apparent, that most Laodiceans had very few felt needs, were completely self sufficient and relatively lukewarm as far as Christianity goes.  They had so much that they were out of touch with what they truly needed.

These three aspects of the city of Laodicea plays into human condition where we are poor (ultimately material wealth is worthless), we are blind (we can have the best optometrists in the world but still not see God), and we can be in fashion but still covered in sin).  The three aspects were further lined up with what God offers us through Jesus death on the cross, namely spiritual wealth as heirs to God, cleansing from sin and new sinless coverings, and restored relationship with the triune God.

Michelle ended the sermon with the phrase “I stand at the door and knock…”, positioning Jesus outside our heart’s door willing to step into our messyness and transform our lives, redeeming and healing along the way.  She suggested that we’ve found a place to hide from God despite his knocking and that God’s provision and presence comes with us opening the door in admission that we need help.

A Message by Jamie Wilson @ Coast Vineyard on September 7, 2008 from Revelation 3:7-13 (To the Church in Philadelphia)

Jamie gave some background at the church in Philadelphia, that it was a community that was worn out and tired and in need of encouragement.  Located in modern day Turkey, on the road from Rome to India, they knew what it was like to experience rejection.  As Rome increased their persecution of Christians, the Jews began to shun and kick out the Christians from their synagogues in an effort to differentiate themselves from the Roman targets).  Despite their perseverance and patience, the community in Philadelphia had little success to hold onto.

Jamie went on to elaborate the visual idea of God opening doors of opportunity in our lives.  Two points stood out to me, 1. An open door doesn’t mean there won’t be opposition, obstacles and challenges to overcome; we should not be surprised but should expect that stepping into a God-opportunity will include a need for his supernatural help to get through it, and 2. We discover more of our identity as we step into God’s invitation.

These two ideas are very encouraging (to put in courage) to me.  So many times I filter out all the opportunities in front of me in my search for the opportunity that God wants me to move towards by looking at only those which seemingly have little to no obstacle, challenge, etc.  I associate the easy path with the opportunity that God has for me.  When there is no easy path (more often than not), I interpret that as God not giving me any opportunities.  But that is not the truth.  The truth is that God will often call me into an opportunity that he has provided for me with obstacles and challenges that will shape, mold and grow me into someone he can better use to others.

Regarding the second point, so many times I want to be given my identity, my calling, my destination before I take any steps in any direction.  I want to know all the test questions upfront so I can study for them before I take the actual test.  I guess its part of my need for control, to know not only where I am headed, but the final destination per se, before I leave.  But the biblical picture is of God calling us to take steps towards him, in failure and success, all the while unfolding our God given identities and callings.