Sermon #15 @ St. Paris UMC (10.04.09)

Pastor Dave Kepple

Text: Acts 2:41-47

Title: “Cultivating Fruitfulness, Part 3 – Intentional Faith Development”

Date: Oct. 4, 2009 (World Communion Sunday)

Internet Link for primary scripture text used in this sermon:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%202:41-47&version=NIV


For those of you who missed Bible Study last week, you can get extra-credit by paying close attention to this message. :-)
As it happens, we studied the 2nd chapter of Acts at our new Bible Study Tuesday night. Perhaps as no other segment of the Bible, Acts 2 demonstrates what the Church of Jesus Christ is all about.
This chapter records with electrifying clarity how this miracle called the Church – the Body of Christ on this earth – came to be formed. It happened on a Jewish feast day in old Jerusalem, when the city was packed with religious pilgrims from every corner of the world.
When the day of Pentecost came, those who believed in the resurrection of Christ were all together in one place. All told, they numbered about 120 – not that many more than we have gathered here today. It was then that the miracle happened.
Just as the prophet Joel had foretold, and just as the Lord Jesus had promised, the power of the Holy Spirit was poured out from Heaven in dramatic fashion. The transforming power of God filled those who believed in Christ, and bubbled over to touch the lives of others.
Less than two months earlier, Simon Peter had grossly failed the Master by three times denying that he even knew Jesus. Sick with guilt and shame, Peter then joined the other disciples in hiding – fearful for their lives because of their association with Jesus.
But now, filled with a holy boldness made possible by the Spirit of Christ bursting alive within the believers, Peter courageously proclaimed the Truth of God’s saving grace in the streets of the holy city – surrounded by a throng of eyewitnesses. It was the first Christian sermon, and it hit the mark. “Those who accepted his message were baptized,” and the fledgling Church added about 3,000 people in a single day.
Acts 2 is an ideal chapter to focus on as we continue our series on “Cultivating Fruitfulness,” because it’s all there – Radical Hospitality, Passionate Worship, Intentional Faith Development, Risk-Taking Mission and Service, and Extravagant Generosity. We see:
* People of all nations and races being added to and included in the faith community.
* People receiving the Good News and being saved.
* People being cared for as they had need.
* People demonstrating wonders and signs of God’s Kingdom power.
There they are in glad and passionate worship that praises and magnifies God’s presence, and in devotion to the teaching of the apostles, as they fellowship and pray together – growing as believers -- drawing strength from one another, and from the Lord.
Isn’t it amazing what God can do when His people come together as one in the Spirit?
Some people think they can practice the Christian faith without being part of a community of believers – but they’re just fooling themselves. As John Wesley put it, “The Bible knows nothing of solitary religion.”
Filled with the Holy Spirit, the apostles and the earliest disciples of Jesus bore much fruit for the Kingdom of God. As members of the very same Church – the Body of Christ on this earth – we, too, are called to bear fruit, and plenty of it.
If you’ve been keeping up with your daily devotions in the “Cultivating Fruitfulness” books, you know we’re concentrating on “Intentional Faith Development” in today’s worship.
Of all these five practices of fruit-bearing congregations, this is the one with the clunkiest name. Intentional Faith Development – what the heck is that? Well, what does the book say?
The author, Bishop Robert Schnase, defines Intentional Faith Development as being “all the ministries that help us grow in faith outside of weekly worship: Bible studies, Sunday School, small groups, and retreats where we learn in the community of other Christians. By these practices we mature in faith; we grow in grace and in the knowledge and love of God.”
Schnase add that Intentional “refers to deliberate effort, purposeful action, and high priority. Growing in grace does not come without purposeful commitment to learning the faith and cultivating our love for God.”
You know some people think all they need to do is believe in Jesus, maybe join a church, and then they can kick back and relax. Friends, it doesn‘t work that way.
Being saved is just the beginning of the journey. It’s not about getting our ticket punched for heaven. It’s about living for Jesus Christ here on earth, and knowing that come eternity, He’ll hold us in the everlasting arms of grace.
Following Jesus Christ isn’t the golden path to an easy life. He never said it would be. But it is the path that brings abundant life here on this earth – life filled with meaning and purpose. And it is the path that ultimately leads us home to our King.
There are many opportunities for Intentional Faith Development here at our church, or related to our church. We have Sunday School classes for all ages, and a regular Bible Study, too. There’s Vacation Bible School, and the School of Christian Mission. There’s the Friendship Class, and the great ministry of United Methodist Women, not to mention our various choirs, and the potential for youth activities.
Each of these groups, in some way, contribute to and strengthen our life as disciples – helping us to grow in grace.
But there’s always room for improvement, always new ideas and possibilities to explore, with the Holy Spirit as our guide.
For example, I am thinking about offering a Confirmation Class next year for some of our older children, to help them prepare for a deeper level of commitment to Christ.
Now I’m tempted to run through a bunch of other suggestions off the top of my head. But you know what? I’d rather see what the Holy Spirit brews in your hearts and minds over the coming weeks and months. I bet some of you will have ideas for wonderful new ministries that could be led by anyone here with God’s help, and with the backing of this congregation.
You know prayer can be a really dangerous thing, especially if we pray for knowledge of God’s will, and the power to carry it out. In the same vein, Bible Study can really mess with your life. Because when we learn together in small groups, it helps us explore possibilities that God may have for us that we never would have considered on our own.
Intentional Faith Development isn’t for the faint of heart – but then if we’re serious about it, neither is being a Christian. Like Simon Peter, we may find that being a disciple will lead us into places and situations where we might not normally go. And that’s a good thing. Remember, Jesus doesn’t call us to be successful. He calls us to be faithful.
Rev. Allen Bevere, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Cambridge, Ohio, told an interesting story about Intentional Faith Development in one of his recent sermons. He writes:
“Many years ago in a previous church I served, I had a parishioner who, though very faithful in his weekly worship attendance, never attended Sunday School or one of the several weekly evening studies being offered. Over time I managed to strong-arm him (in a pastorally loving way, of course!) into taking DISCIPLE Bible Study. He came the first night reluctantly, saying boldly to all the other participants that he was far too busy to do all the reading required, and that he received all the Bible he needed in the sermons each week.
Rev. Bevere continues:
“I asked him in front of the group if he would agree to attend the study for a month, do all the assigned reading during that time, and complete the lesson each week. In other words, if he promised to be intentional in giving his best to the group and to the experience, I promised him that I would not protest if he wanted to quit after a month.
“After four weeks of DISCIPLE he not only chose to continue for the entire 34 weeks, but he also readily signed up the following autumn for DISCIPLE II and then, the year after, for DISCIPLE III; and he eventually moved forward in his faith development to . . . (be a leader for) future DISCIPLE groups.
Bevere concludes:
“Intentional Faith Development had opened up the world of discipleship in a way this man had never experienced before. He went from being content in his faith to being hungry for God. He truly exhibited what the psalmist said so many centuries ago: ‘As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.’ ” (Ps. 42:1) (1)
What about you? Are you hungry for God? Do you have all the faith you need? Or is the Holy Spirit stirring within you a desire for more faith? Stirring a desire to experience more of who God is?
Rev. Gary Bullock of Florida notes that if worship lights our fire, “being in a small group with others keeps the fire burning and makes it stronger.” (2) That is what Intentional Faith Development is all about.

Would you like to go a deeper level in your walk with Jesus Christ? Or perhaps, if you’re new to the church, offer your life to Him for the first time, putting it all in His hands?
It can begin right here, right now – this morning – as we come to His table, share in this holy meal, and make a commitment to be a disciple of Jesus.
That same Holy Spirit that gave birth to the Church all those years ago is here with us. With great power – wonder-working power – the Spirit stands ready to give us new life.
Thanks be to God!

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1. Allen R. Bevere, Five Practices Leader Manual, p. 117, Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2008.
2. Gary D. Bullock, Five Practices Leader Manual, p. 120, Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2008.

Sermon #10 @ St. Paris UMC (8.30.09)

Pastor Dave Kepple

Text: Mark 7:1-8; 14-15; 21-23

Title: “An Inside Job”

Date: Aug. 30, 2009 (13th Sunday after Pentecost)

Internet Link for primary scripture text used in this sermon:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%207:1-8;%2014-15;%2021-23%20&version=NIV

This is an old, old book.
But through the power of the Holy Spirit, it is alive in our hearts – and our minds – this morning, this very day.
When I was in seminary, I once had a professor of Christian history – a wonderful man named Jim Nelson – who compared the words of the Bible to freeze-dried coffee.
I know that sounds a little odd, but actually I think it makes a lot of sense.
Dr. Nelson said this book contains within it a living, breathing Truth – the Word of God.
But just as freeze-dried coffee only becomes what it is fully meant to be when piping hot water is added to it, so, too, the wonders and treasures of the Bible can only be fully experienced when the Holy Spirit is added.
When we read and hear these words, with the Holy Spirit alive in our hearts, it can change everything about our understanding and appreciation of God’s Word for us today.
There’s a chemical reaction – or more precisely a spiritual reaction – that occurs when these ancient words are liquified and brought to life by the Holy Spirit within us. Suddenly, we can smell the sweet aroma of the gospel – the good news of God’s love, mercy and grace. This is one of the many blessings of our faith. God speaks to us anew.
So this book – and these words of the Master which we just heard – have a message for us today. Can we discern it? Can we hear Him speaking to us?
Some of this story from Mark’s gospel seems strange to us – this discussion of rituals and tradition. How can we relate to it in the here and now?
I need your help. Actually, I think we all need God’s help, as we try to sort this out together. Would you bow your heads and pray with me, for a moment, as we invite the Spirit of Truth to illuminate our hearts and minds? Let us pray. . . .

Let's take a moment and set the scene in and around Mark 7.
Jesus is still operating in his home region – Galilee – in the northern part of Israel. But his reputation is growing rapidly. King Herod has gotten curious about this fellow from Nazareth who is attracting so much attention. An enormous stir is caused when Jesus feeds 5,000 people -- gathered in a remote area to hear him teach – with just five loaves and two fish.
As chapter 7 opens, we are told that a group of Pharisees and legal scholars has come all the way from Jerusalem to investigate Jesus.
The Pharisees don’t come off very well in the New Testament. You can almost imagine people hissing at the mention of their name, when this story was first told in the early Christian communities.
Jesus, who shows kindness and concern for all people – especially the lowliest of the low – reserves his harshest words for the Pharisees and other religious leaders, such as the scribes and teachers of the law. At different times in the gospels, he calls them a bunch of snakes. He says they’re like whitewashed tombs, and that a fresh coat of paint can’t cover up the death and decay that lies underneath.
Often, Jesus says, these religious leaders are hypocrites – phonies. They talk a good game, but inside their hearts are far from the LORD. They claim to be godly men, but the truth is they’ve made an idol out of self-righteous, man-made rules and traditions that have nothing to do with the commands of God.
A good example is the controversy in today’s lesson. The Pharisees are appalled that the disciples of Jesus were eating without the ceremonial handwashing – one of many traditions which devout Jews practiced to set them apart from the pagans all around them. By failing to do this, according to the Pharisees, the Lord’s disciples allowed themselves to become “unclean,” or in the words of some other translations, they were defiled.
To say that someone was unclean was basically to say they weren’t fit to worship God.
I don’t suppose we have any traditions like that today . . . Or do we?
Do we need to have people look good on the outside before they can come to this house to worship?
I’m very pleased by the fact our church makes a point of inviting people to dress for worship in a way that makes them comfortable. “Casual is OK if you so desire,” the bulletin states.
I decided to test that myself earlier this month, as some of you may have noticed. For two straight Sundays, I came to preach wearing jeans and a T-shirt. I’m happy to say no one asked me to leave!
But I have to admit I felt a little self-conscious. I knew I wasn’t doing anything wrong, but I did have a sense that I was going against the grain of longstanding tradition, perhaps violating some unwritten, unspoken rules.
And if that’s the case, then I’m glad I did – because I don’t know of anything in scripture that says we have to impress God – as if we could -- with how good we look on the outside. And I’m pretty sure there’s nothing in the Bible that says we need to impress each other, as brothers and sisters in Christ, with how good we look on the outside.
Now don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing inherently wrong with dressing up for church – if you so desire. I do own a couple suits – and have even been known to wear one now and then. I even have some priestly robes hanging downstairs in the choir closet.
One of them is a dazzling white robe – I sometimes wear it on Easter or Christmas Eve, just to accentuate the joy and magnitude of the occasion.
I’ve even thought of wearing that robe for Rachel and Nick’s wedding in a couple of weeks. But I don’t want to upstage the bride!
Yes, I can look the part of a United Methodist pastor (whatever that is supposed to be in the 21 century). But you know what? If I’m not “right with God” in my own heart, then none of it matters.
In Mark 7, Jesus says the Pharisees have it all wrong. They’ve put too much emphasis on human tradition, while distancing themselves from the commands of God. They have distanced themselves, in other words, from the things God actually cares about.
And as Jesus would say later, the commands of God aren’t all that complicated. They don’t involve rigid adherence to 745 rules and rituals layered on top of the Mosaic Law.
As a matter of fact, Jesus says elsewhere, the commands of God come down to this: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matt. 22:37) And “love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt. 22:39) The entire Law – and all the godly teaching of the ancient prophets – hang on these two commands, according to Jesus.
After criticizing the Pharisees, Jesus turns his attention to the crowd and continues his teaching. He tells them nothing from the outside has the power to defile a person – to make them “unclean.”
Rather, the things that make us unclean . . . the things that erode our relationship with God . . . the things that eclipse the sunlight of the Spirit in our lives – all are generated from within people. These dark shadowy thoughts are born in our hearts – which means they come from the core of our being. It here that all of us, most desperately, need the touch of His saving grace.
It turns out salvation is an inside job.
This was foreshadowed in the Old Testament, by the Prophet Jeremiah, who prophesied:
“The time is coming,” declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. (Jer. 31:31) . . . This is the covenant I will make . . . I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.” (Jer. 31:33)
Elsewhere, Israel’s King David – having committed adultery, and then murder and having lied repeatedly – acknowledged in his sinful brokenness that all the evil he committed had come from inside.
In Psalm 51, the repentant king cried out in prayer:
“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” (Ps. 51:10)
And as David goes on to say: “The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
So there’s the heart of the matter.
It’s what’s inside of us – in our hearts – that determines who we really are.
Did you notice Jesus quoted from another prophet -- Isaiah -- when he criticized the Pharisees as hypocrites? Jesus cited Isaiah’s words, saying: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain.” (Isaiah 29:13)
That passage reminds me of a disturbing quote from Brennan Manning, the author of The Ragamuffin Gospel.
Manning states that “the greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”

Friends, Jesus doesn’t call us to be successful. Jesus calls us to be faithful.
Jesus doesn’t care so much if we talk the talk. (I suspect the Lord would rather “see a sermon” than hear one any day.)
Jesus wants us to walk the walk.
And the journey of faithfulness begins in our own hearts.
The basic question for all of us today is this:
Do we have Jesus in our hearts?
Have we welcomed Jesus into our hearts, to be the Lord of our lives?
Is Christ the center of our lives – our interior lives – and do we try to operate on that basis every single day – with God’s help?
It could be that some of us here today look pretty good on the outside, but may be struggling on the inside. We may be feeling far removed from God’s presence. Perhaps we feel embarrassed or ashamed by some of the things we’re carrying around in our hearts – things that make us feel “unclean.”
If so, we have come to the right place.
God is still in the business of forgiving – and renewing. If we are feeling lost, disconnected, confused, hopeless . . . if we are feeling discouraged because we keep thinking things or doing things that are “unclean” in the sight of God, then help is just a prayer away.
For God wants nothing more than for us to turn to Him in humility, and ask Him from the core of our being:
“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” (Ps. 51:10)
The Church of Jesus Christ isn’t a hotel for saints. It’s a hospital for sinners.
The Divine Physician is always ready, willing and able to touch us with His healing grace, if we ask Him.
But he likes to be asked.
What about you? Will you ask him today?
Will you give your heart to Jesus?
Oh, and by the way – for those who think this is a nice message, a good sermon, for those folks who need it . . . I’d like to close by saying – just maybe – this one is especially for you!
Amen.