Regathering

WELCOME BACK HOME MVC FAM!

Reopening the Church
Various Passages June 21, 2020
I. Introduction:
A. Greetings
1. I want to wish every father here today and watching on line a very happy
Father’s Day! May you have a day to be celebrated and refreshed!
2. And welcome to my brothers and sisters here at MVC Church today, our first
day back together after three months! It’s great to see you.
B. A lot has happened in the last three months that has changed our lives, church and
world!
1. COVID 19 has changed many of our lives and has kept us apart for three
months as our hearts cried out to be back together!
2. And the murder of George Floyd has made our hearts cry out for justice.
C. I believe God is using this time as an opportunity to grow His church in
discipleship!
1. He stripped away all our programs to help us see all the more clearly that
programs are designed to disciple people and we want to make sure as we
come back we can do that even better.
2. This time of heightened awareness of racial tension is a great platform to
develop us as disciples because the lessons we learn in this season are lessons
disciples can use all their lives in all relationships and injustices!
• So let’s start by looking at …
II. The cry to be back together!
A. One question our leaders and staff kept hearing repeatedly as we talked to people
during this time was, “When are we getting back together?” “The video services
are good but something is missing!”
1. There were two truths that kept ringing through my heart as I heard this:
a) Read 2 John 12 – as good as letters are, as good as social media is, as
good as a video is, only face to face gathering fill our joy tanks to
overflowing!
b) Read Ephesians 2:19 – we are God’s household, we are the family of
God, we are brothers and sisters in Christ.
(1) It is built into our spiritual DNA as new creatures in Christ to long
to be together just as we long to be together with our blood family!
B. So we put much work into coming back in a way that is timely, wise and as safe
as possible for everyone who longs to be here!
C. But I am fully aware that there are others who have that same longing to be
together but they do not feel it is wise for them to come back yet.
1. I want you to know that I fully respect the fact that it is not right for you to
come back now and we look forward to your return when the time is right for
you!
2. We are fully aware that MVC will be meeting on Sunday mornings live in the
auditorium, by video in different rooms throughout the building and in many
homes!
a) We are asking God for wisdom to:
(1) Minister well to all three venues on Sunday mornings
(2) Encourage all of us to connect with other believers because we
need each other as believers, especially in days like these!
(3) Encourage all of us in our faith because we need that in days like
these!
• The second cry we have felt is …
III. The cry for justice
A. What I am going to say is not all that needs to be said nor will it be the final word
that is needed regarding the unjust, brutal and cold-hearted murder of George
Floyd, and the aftermath of that murder. It will be just my two cents added to the
discussion and next steps for us at MVC.
B. Before I jump into my comments, I want to say a few more things so you know
where I am coming from.
1. I am aware that the racial problems are bigger than just in our hearts and it
reaches into our families, churches and culture.
a) But I am also aware that if our hearts do not change first then our
families, churches and culture never will!
b) Tony Evans said if the church is broken then we really have nothing to
say to the culture around us until we clean our own house!
2. I need to let you know up front that as a white person I cannot empathize
with blacks because I have not been where they have been.
a) Their experience in the United States has not been the same as mine as a
white person and they have experienced suppression, injustices and
inequalities in many respects!
3. While there are policies that the police department can still improve upon, we
need to recognize that there are many good police officers who love the
communities that they serve and whose hearts have been broken and repulsed
by what the officer in Minneapolis did to George Floyd.
a) Their reputations have been ruined by the few, the many are bearing the
consequences of the few, and many are hated and judged without being
known.
b) We must not forget them and appreciate our brothers and sisters who are
good and faithful ministers of Jesus on the streets of these communities
as they risk their lives to keep others safe!
c) Please be praying for them!
4. Ultimately, this is not a black and white issue or even police officers and
black community issue – it is a spiritual war where Satan is using people as
pawns to destroy one another, relationships and communities and especially
important to us today – even divide the church!
C. Let me share the two verses that have been rolling around in my heart!
1. Read Psalm 89:14a.
a) Righteousness and justice are the very foundation of God’s reign.
b) Righteousness – that which is morally good and right
c) Justice – the impartial and fair judgement and punishment of the
breaking of a law!
2. Read Ecclesiastes 8:11- I going to give you the Pat Peglow paraphrase of
this: simply if an evil deed is committed and justice is not administered
quickly then man thinks he can get away with it and does it all the more.
D. So let me tell you how I think we got to where we are today
1. So first, consider the fact that most of those who rule over us in our
community, state and nation do not lead from righteousness and justice but
rather have rejected God, His Word and His wisdom and think they have
better and wiser ways than Him.
2. Add to that when a policeman or a looter or rioter, when a wealthy person or
poor person, when famous or a nobody, when a white person or a black
person, when a person in position of power and those who are powerless are
not dealt with quickly and with equal (important word – equal – one more
time - equal) justice for all, not only do they but those around them see they
can get away with it and jump in with both feet so it spreads from the
individual to organization to the culture.
3. Compound this with the fact that this has been going on for decades; you
kind of get what we have today when it comes to racism and prejudice in
individuals, families, churches, cultures, organizations, and court systems.
4. If equal and fair justice for all would have been put in place decades ago and
administered quickly we would not be where we are today!
• So let me suggest a few, not everything that needs to be done but a few…
IV. Next steps for the people of MVC
Repent
1. The standard that God has called us to in our attitudes and relationships with
others that are different than us is the one we find in the Bible and displayed
in the life and character of Jesus
2. In light of this my guess is that everyone of us, black, white, police, rich,
powerful, etc. have places we need to repent!
3. Listen to your own thoughts and what you are saying at home when no one
else is around but your family and you will get a sense of where your heart
really is.
B. We need to celebrate what God celebrates – diversity in color and class and
ethnicity. I love what one speaker said, “Jesus did not just shed His blood to save
us but he shed His blood to make us siblings!
1. One black brother I spoke with told me that all his life he has not felt
accepted or valued as a black man in a white church. Simply the more white
he acted the more he will be accepted by the white Christians.
a) This is not a brother with an axe to grind; this is a man of God humbly
being honest with his pastor.
2. Stop saying you do not see color. Actually, start seeing different colors and
glory, delight in, accept, and learn from the diversity that God has built into
His church.
C. As disciples, we not only follow Jesus but we impact others! Many of us think
we need to do something big and significant to impact others and our world!
1. I want to remind you of the last sermon I preached before we went to videos
entitled “Changing our world – one life at a time!
2. Remember this quote from Jeff Manion – “Most of us desire to live great
lives. We fear we will fritter away our days without leaving any discernible
mark on our world. However, in our quest to live greatly, we search for
something great to do. Something big. I believe this to be a huge mistake.
Greatness is rarely achieved by doing great things but instead by doing good
things repetitively. Jeff Manion “dream big think small”
3. The first step we can do in changing the world is to be faithful on the circuit
of life and people where God has placed you.
a) Lovingly and humbly, challenge those of the same color as you who are
displaying words, attitudes and actions that are sinful racially.
b) And those of a different color from you use your words, attitudes and
actions to help heal and bridge the racial gap!
D. Our next step as a church – a community of people together
1. In July, we have a hands on opportunity that Ron Ovitt talked to me about,
that would give us a chance to provide diapers and baby food to help young
mothers in an area that was hit by riots.
2. On Sept 27, we are going to have Roy Patterson, the head of the urban
ministry at MBI, preach to us and we will follow that with a round table
discussion on race relations with Roy.
E. There is more that can and should be done but I think the best place to start is by
calling a black brother or sister, and calling a police officer. Just say I want to
hear your heart, and then really listen to understand them and then pray for them.
You do not have to have any the answers now as you are just learning.
1. I called seven different black adults that come to MVC. God used these calls
to do something deep in my heart and give me a better glimpse into what
their world has been like as well as how good hearted and biblically minded
our people are! I love the story one woman told me.
a) She had a white electrician at her house and he asked her what this thing
“Black lives matter.” He said, “I do not get it because all lives matter!”
b) She said, “White lives have always mattered here in this country but
what they should have called themselves is “Black lives matter, too!” I
thought, “Wow that is good!”
c) Black lives matter too because:
(1) Every human being has been made in God’s image
(2) When it comes to race, biblically there is only one race the human
race. Then they were scattered all over the world from Babel to
form the different nations of the world.
(3) God’s plan in beginning was to bless every nation
(4) Jesus died for the sins of the entire world.
(5) The great commission sends us to every nation
(6) When God’s purposes are fulfilled in the future every nation, all
tribes and peoples and tongues will stand before the throne of God
and before the Lamb saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the
throne and to the Lamb!
V. Send off
A. Brothers and sisters, commit yourself this week to begin to listen and learn!
Whites from blacks, blacks from whites, blacks from police officers, police
officers from blacks and let’s begin the healing at MVC.