Sunday, June 14th, 2009 Sermon Summary

For the next three Sundays, I want to lay out as best I can my vision for Aydelotte.  Vision helps define who we are and where we want to go.  It helps direct our focus.  It helps clarify what we are all about.  I’ve been sowing seeds of this vision ever since coming to Aydelotte – in sermons, in newsletters, in casual conversations, etc.  Now I feel that I need to share it more directly.

We live in a culture that is constantly changing.  New discoveries and new technologies are made every day.  We’ve come to expect innovation.  A world without innovation is boring and irrelevant, so we think.  We love what is cutting edge and popular.  “New” excites us.  That’s why businesses market themselves around new products, new approaches, new designs, new devices…even new management.

The church in America also loves what is cutting edge and popular.  In an effort to be relevant and attract seekers, churches track with the newest trends, incorporate the newest methods, and market themselves around the newest programs.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against innovation.  I’m glad for new discoveries and technologies and innovation has it’s place in the church.  But the vision I have on my heart is not new or innovative. 

What’s new and exciting and popular and cutting edge changes every second.  Today’s innovations will be yesterday’s news very shortly.   Everything new is replaced by something even newer – you know it’s true.  But there is something old that is valuable, relevant, and powerful in every age and every context.  It may use innovation, but it’s not defined by it and it’s not dependent on it.  It’s exciting without being novel.  And it will never be replaced or become obsolete.

“The word of the cross is folly to them that are perishing, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God.” (I Corinthians 1:18)

The Cross-Shaped Church
The vision on my heart for Aydelotte is the vision of a cross-shaped church; where the gospel changes everything; where Jesus Christ and His death in our place affects every member and every ministry.   In an age that seeks the newest, latest, trendiest methods; the word of the cross is still the power of God.   Here’s an overview of what I see.

The cross-shaped church is the kind of church that hasn’t only been redeemed by the gospel, but has never gotten over the fact that they’ve been redeemed!  The cross-shaped church is the kind of church where the gospel isn’t only central to evangelism but is also central to discipleship and every other branch of the church.  The cross-shaped church is the kind of church where the gospel isn’t in people’s past but in people’s present, every day life.

It is the kind of church that doesn’t just know about the gospel but knows the gospel so well, so deeply, that they cherish and treasure the gospel as the most precious truth in all the world.  It is the kind of church that doesn’t just talk about the gospel or talk about the cross, but live lives transformed by the cross.  It is the kind of church that doesn’t just wear cross jewelry or have a cross in it’s name, but lives and breathes the cross.

I believe that if the gospel were really understood – if our salvation was really understood – and not just understood but applied – then every area of our lives would be impacted somehow and every area of our church would be impacted somehow. 

The cross shapes the way we see God and understand what He’s like.  It shapes the way we approach God and worship Him.  The cross shapes the way we see Jesus and how we feel about Him.  It shapes the way we understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  It shapes the way we see history and eternity.  It shapes the way we see the world and the purpose for all creation.

The cross shapes the way we see ourselves and the way we understand mankind.  It shapes the way we see our sin and the way we deal with our sin.  It shapes the way we see the stranger and the foreigner and the murderer and the lost.  It shapes the way we see each other within the church and how we treat each other.  It shapes our job description and purpose in this life. 

The cross shapes why and how we study the Bible.  It shapes the way we understand and apply the Bible to our lives.  The cross shapes the way we pray, the way we serve, the way we give, the way we sing.  The cross shapes the way we meet together as a church and why we meet together and what we do when we meet together.  The cross shapes the music ministry, education ministry, children’s ministry, outreach ministry, and so on. 

The cross shapes the way we parent our children.  It shapes the way we understand marriage and the way we treat our spouse.  The cross shapes our attitudes, our thoughts, our affections, and our ambitions.  It shapes the way we deal with discouragement and loneliness and temptation and failure and hurt.  The cross, the gospel, shapes everything - if we let it. 

That’s my heart for Aydelotte, that we let the cross shape us inside and out.  My heart is that we become a commuinity of gospel-centered people; a people who know the gospel, treasure the gospel, proclaim the gospel, and grow in the gospel; a church that looks at each other and looks at the world through the lens of the cross; a church transformed by the gospel; a church of this one thing – the gospel.

“For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (I Corinthians 2:2)

This is not a superficial head-nod in favor of the gospel.  This is not a sentimental feeling you get when you sing the “Old Rugged Cross.”  This is a life, a ministry, a church shaped by a deep grasp of and love for what God has accomplished through Jesus Christ.  This is where the real power is.  It is nothing new – except the change the gospel can make.