WEBVTT 00:00:00.959 --> 00:00:04.719 Let me ask you a question as we get started this morning. 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:10.480 When you think of church, what do you think of? 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:14.560 Okay, I just want to do like a little bit of a popcorn shout-out if you're brave. 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:21.440 Okay, so close your eyes and imagine church and tell me the first thing that comes to your mind. 00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:23.120 Community, I think. 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:24.160 Community. 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:24.960 Awesome. 00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:25.920 Keep going. 00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:28.160 Okay, keep going. 00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:30.559 Family, keep going. 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:33.119 Be more literal. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:34.240 Coffee. 00:00:34.479 --> 00:00:35.359 Coffee. 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:36.320 Awesome. 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:37.200 That's a good one. 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:38.159 Safe place. 00:00:38.479 --> 00:00:39.359 Safe place? 00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:40.000 Okay. 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:41.119 Concrete things. 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:44.159 What do you think a church needs to have in order to be a church? 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:45.359 People, a building. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:46.479 A building? 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:47.840 What's the building look like? 00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:50.320 Steeple? 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:51.679 Thank you very much. 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:53.520 That was one of the answers I was looking for. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:55.679 Are you talking about foundations? 00:00:57.200 --> 00:00:58.880 Like a like the cement part? 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:00.000 Like this? 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:01.280 Yeah, we need one of those. 00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:03.920 I mean, the building doesn't stand up if you don't have one of those. 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:05.760 It's really interesting. 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:08.000 I mean, you guys are really good at this game. 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:11.200 Because the first like four things you said were people things. 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:11.760 Okay? 00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:17.359 But don't you think when you talk to people out in the community and you say, hey, I'm going to church? 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:19.760 Like, what do you think your friends think of? 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:22.319 They probably think of the building that you come to. 00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:26.640 They might think of the music that we play, they might think of songs, right? 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:33.040 They might think of this, the sermon, the pastor, the staff, right? 00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:38.400 There's lots of things that kind of the word church elicits from us. 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:51.280 And I would say that all of those things, short of the people, because I'm kind of ruining my game, short of the people, are not things that Jesus would have meant when he said church. 00:01:51.760 --> 00:02:02.079 There are so many things that we take for granted in our experience of church that I'm not sure, well, I'm entirely sure because they didn't exist. 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:02.719 Right? 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:07.200 The lights and the screens and you know all the stuff that's trying to betray me this morning, right? 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:09.599 Those weren't a part of Jesus' conception of church. 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:10.000 Right? 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:15.919 He didn't have any particular kind of building in mind at all because, well, the early church didn't have buildings. 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:16.800 Right? 00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:23.759 So all the stuff that goes into church was not a part of Jesus' conception of church. 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:36.240 All those normal things like steeples and stained glass, which of course we don't have any of here, but are a part of a lot of people's religious history, weren't a part of what Jesus meant. 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:37.039 Right? 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:43.360 And so we have to kind of think about that when we say that word for people, it elicits different things. 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:45.759 And some of those things are really positive. 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:49.680 Some of those things are not so positive. 00:02:50.080 --> 00:02:55.439 For some people, they think about an organization that's hurt them. 00:02:56.879 --> 00:02:57.520 Right? 00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:03.039 They think about religious obligation or guilt. 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:08.800 Sometimes they think of boredom, right? 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:12.719 Which is on me, I guess. 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:21.759 Sometimes they think of a church that they used to go to that they really wish they felt like they could keep going to, but they can't go to anymore. 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:29.520 Because something happened or someone happened, and they now had to leave. 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:42.719 But what I'm certain of this morning is that whatever you picture, when you hear the word church, the first followers of Jesus would have pictured something quite different. 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:47.520 No buildings, nobody came with a Bible tucked under their arm. 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:50.240 In fact, they didn't even have a Bible, right? 00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:57.919 No bands, no stages, no production, no kids' church so that you could actually pay attention over here. 00:03:58.560 --> 00:03:58.879 Right? 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:05.520 They met in homes, in gardens, in city squares, in ordinary places. 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:13.919 They gathered on the first day of the week, essentially Monday morning in their world, before going to work. 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:15.439 Why? 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:23.199 Well, because the first day of their week, now keep in mind, you know, like our weeks are actually supposed to start on Sunday. 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:25.040 You know, calendars are all wrong, right? 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:26.959 Sunday through Saturday, right? 00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:31.839 Because we think of Sunday as part of the weekend, if that's a conception that you have. 00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:37.600 But our our our Monday is the beginning of our week. 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:41.600 For them, their work week started on Sunday morning. 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:46.399 So we're still meeting at the same time the early church met, which I guess is a good thing. 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:48.399 But it was a totally different kind of thing. 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:52.879 They didn't have the rest of the day to go about doing other stuff. 00:04:52.959 --> 00:04:58.000 They got together, they did their meeting, and then they went about regular life. 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:06.000 And they weren't gathering together because the church was the cultural thing that they had been handed. 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:09.519 They didn't learn it from anyone in that way. 00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:19.199 Because the early followers of Jesus were Jewish, and Jewish people met on Saturdays, and it was a completely different system. 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:26.720 So some of the things that drive our behavior, most of the things that drive our behavior, didn't exist. 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:38.319 They were gathering together because they believed something happened that changed their world. 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:45.360 Jesus had died and then was resurrected. 00:05:53.360 --> 00:06:01.199 Jesus was king, and because that was true, everything changed. 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:08.079 Now, the expression of church has changed enormously in 2,000 years. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:10.240 And that's not a problem. 00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:11.040 Okay? 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:16.720 So if you think I'm going to let's get back to the early church, that's not where we're headed. 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:25.199 I firmly believe that every generation has to figure out how to do church in their days, in their ways. 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:40.240 But there is a danger when we replace what Jesus meant by the church with the stuff that we've attached to the church in our days. 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:52.560 When the expression changes so much that we lose sight of what and why Jesus came in the first place. 00:06:54.639 --> 00:07:01.600 Because we are, we are now the stewards of the church for our generation. 00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:11.439 We get to play with the format, but I hope not the intention. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:19.600 So, some of you have been doing this long enough now to know that the music changes. 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:22.639 Some of you really wish it hadn't. 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:24.319 I understand. 00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:27.680 Some of us are really glad it did. 00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:30.319 I understand. 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:33.120 The buildings have changed. 00:07:33.279 --> 00:07:35.839 You know, it's funny that somebody said steeples. 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:39.519 I've never been to a church with a steeple, I don't think. 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:42.480 I don't think I've ever attended a church that has steeple. 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:46.319 But it's part of our conception of what a church building looks like, right? 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:51.600 The technology changes and betrays us. 00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:58.800 The way we communicate, the things that we focus on change. 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:03.040 And the way we organize ourselves changes. 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:07.199 All of those are appropriate. 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:12.720 All of those need to be set as normal for the people who come. 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:19.600 But some things shouldn't drift. 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:23.600 Some things can't be allowed to drift. 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:29.839 The fact that we are centered on Jesus Christ cannot change. 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:33.279 I really wish I got an amen for that. 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:35.120 Thank you. 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:45.919 The intent, tone, and posture of Jesus cannot change in the way that we communicate with the world around us. 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:52.960 The mission that Jesus gave his followers does not change. 00:08:55.200 --> 00:09:13.759 The way Jesus called us to love people does not change, regardless of what has become the issue that causes our love to come into question in this day, in this age. 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:15.759 Because that changes, right? 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:22.799 Like when I went to church as a kid, I got the impression I wasn't supposed to love people who smoke. 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:24.399 That was like one of the no-nos. 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:25.600 Like, don't do that. 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:26.080 Right? 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:31.919 You don't smoke, don't drink, don't play cards, don't go to dances, don't go to the movies. 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:39.519 These were the things that I was told, like, you can't love people who do that, because they might affect your life. 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:42.480 Thank God most of those things have changed. 00:09:42.639 --> 00:09:44.000 I really like the movies. 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:54.399 And history has given us plenty of examples of what happens when stuff like that starts to be the most important stuff to us. 00:09:54.559 --> 00:10:04.240 In other words, when the church veers off course, when the things that cannot drift drift, there's a problem. 00:10:04.559 --> 00:10:10.240 Because when the church drifts, people get hurt. 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:21.919 And of all the things that offend God the most, hurting the people he loves is at the top of the list. 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:34.240 You go look at all the stuff the Bible calls sin, all the problems that God wants to deal with in the world, almost all of them come down to how we treat one another. 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:44.399 And so it is an absolute travesty that anybody gets hurt in the name of Jesus. 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:54.480 We stamp God's name onto all kinds of beliefs and attitudes and actions that look nothing like Jesus. 00:10:56.639 --> 00:11:01.360 So when the church loses its way, it loses its influence. 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:02.240 Right? 00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:07.919 It loses its ability to tell a story that people can hear and trust. 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:14.879 And our mission is to tell the story in some really significant way. 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:35.200 One thing we have to keep in mind is that people outside of our faith communities might not be able to quote the Bible a lot, but they do know enough about Jesus to expect you and I to look something like him. 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:39.120 And they should. 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:40.799 That's the point. 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:43.759 This is the uncomfortable part. 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:47.440 We, right? 00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:51.919 The people who come here regularly, by the way, this doesn't apply to you if you're new, okay? 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:57.039 It doesn't apply to you if you if you're if you're not if you're not in a place where you believe in Jesus yet, you're just checking it out. 00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:00.720 Like this is not this is not a thing that we expect out of you. 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:14.960 But for those of us who have come to faith in Jesus, we don't get to talk about the church as though it's somebody else. 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:22.720 It isn't the denomination, it isn't those naughty church leaders. 00:12:23.679 --> 00:12:25.679 It isn't Christians on the internet. 00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:27.679 Right? 00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:31.279 It's not the church in some other country. 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:33.919 It's us. 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:41.120 We determine what Christianity looks like to the people around us. 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:47.759 What it acts like, what it reacts like in our days. 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:57.279 Every person who claims to follow Jesus contributes to somebody else's picture of what it means to follow Jesus. 00:12:57.600 --> 00:13:01.200 So we don't just attend the church. 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:08.399 We are the church and we're responsible for it. 00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:12.559 Which brings me back to where I started. 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:20.159 What the heck did Jesus mean when he talked about the church? 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:30.720 Well, the first thing we need to do is look at the actual word that he used and how we arrived at the word church in the first place. 00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:33.039 So a word about the word. 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:46.639 When Jesus says church in the Gospels, he doesn't do a lot, but when he does, there is a particular Greek word that those authors used to describe the idea. 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:50.480 And that Greek word was ekklesia. 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:57.120 It was supposed to have a great big fancy looking graphic up here. 00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:00.399 But we've been there and I'll stop talking about it, okay? 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:04.639 It wasn't originally a religious word at all. 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:13.039 It was just a normal Greek word for people who assembled together for a purpose. 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:15.279 That's it. 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:16.639 That's all that it meant. 00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:19.200 People who gathered together for a purpose. 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:22.320 Any purpose, good or bad. 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:30.080 And we know that because it gets used in other places in the Christian scriptures in the New Testament. 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:32.480 It gets used in other places as well. 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:48.320 For instance, one of my favorites is in Acts chapter 19, when Paul is in Ephesus, and he is going about sharing what it for him is good news about Jesus. 00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:56.559 But that good news about Jesus and the one true living God threatens the economic threat of the city that he's in. 00:14:56.720 --> 00:15:03.840 Because Ephesus, among other industries, was an idol-making center. 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:11.519 And so, like often happens if you threaten people's livelihoods, they get angry, right? 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:15.440 And a riot breaks out for Paul. 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:17.919 They want his head. 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:26.320 And Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, describes the mob using the word ecclesia. 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:38.080 The assembly, this is the NIV, so other people will use other words, but in this case, the assembly, ecclesia, was in confusion. 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:42.240 Some were shouting one thing, some were shouting another. 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:50.559 Most of the people did not even know why they were there, which sounds like a few church business meetings I've been to. 00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:56.159 Fortunately, none of them that I've experienced here, praise the Lord. 00:15:57.440 --> 00:15:59.919 But notice what our English Bibles do. 00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:06.399 They don't say the church was in confusion, they say the assembly. 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:11.120 Because that's what ecclesia means. 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:17.200 An ecclesia is just a group of people gathered together for a purpose. 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:25.600 For Jesus ecclesia, that something was someone. 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:38.159 So if the New Testament word means assembly or congregation or people with a purpose, where did the word church come from? 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:42.879 A word that makes us think immediately about a religious place. 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:51.919 Well, for the first few centuries, Christianity had no public meeting places, right? 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:55.600 Because they were not officially recognized by the Roman Empire. 00:16:55.759 --> 00:16:58.559 In fact, the Roman Empire tried to snuff them out. 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:07.440 Then in the fourth century, Christianity becomes legalized, and then the official religion of the empire. 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:16.720 And so became deeply entwined with the very fabric of the identity of the Roman Empire. 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:23.440 So now Christians didn't have to hide, didn't have to find secret places to meet. 00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:25.279 They could worship publicly. 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:34.160 And the empire started helping the church, the people, to develop dedicated places for worship. 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:42.079 And they used this term associated with someone belonging to the Lord. 00:17:43.279 --> 00:17:46.480 I'm less good at this Greek word, so give me a second. 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:48.400 Huriakos. 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:56.960 K-U-R-I-A-K-O-S, which just means belonging to the Lord, okay, became connected with these places. 00:17:57.119 --> 00:18:00.319 So these places belong to the Lord. 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:03.279 K-U-R-I-A-K-O-S. 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:04.640 See where we're going here? 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:10.480 Ekklesia becomes something with a hard C or a hard K sound at the beginning. 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:22.319 And so then related German and Germanic terms like Kirsch or Kirk eventually contribute to the word that we have now church. 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:30.240 The focus gradually shifted from a people with purpose to a place. 00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:34.640 And places can be controlled. 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:43.119 You can regulate behavior through law in places. 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:46.880 This is why we hold on to religious freedom so passionately. 00:18:47.119 --> 00:18:47.680 Right? 00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:54.319 Because we want to be able to decide what's best for us, not have somebody decide it for us. 00:18:55.200 --> 00:19:02.400 Because if you control the place, you control the land, you control the taxes, you can control what happens there to a certain degree. 00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:09.599 You can control what's taught there to a certain degree. 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:14.400 Look at other countries that have much tighter regulations on the church than we have. 00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:30.160 In a world where ordinary people did not possess the scripture, regulations meant you could control access to the actual story of Jesus itself. 00:19:32.480 --> 00:20:06.480 The movement Jesus launched, it didn't disappear, but over centuries the church became increasingly institutional, increasingly powerful, and at times, like the 11th century, when we're selling relics to bless people and spending all the money that we took from the poor to make these elaborate chapels, which are beautiful, but maybe not the best use of the resources that the church had. 00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:18.720 In those moments, the church becomes almost unrecognizable when you hold up Jesus as what we're supposed to be moving towards. 00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:28.240 By the 1500s, Scripture remained inaccessible to almost all of the English-speaking Christians in the world. 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:29.200 Right? 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:38.240 So worship and scripture were bound up, controlled by not letting people hear it in their native tongue. 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:43.920 Most people who read had to read in Latin. 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:50.000 And then you enter this brave guy named William Tyndale. 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:53.920 William Tyndale had a conviction. 00:20:54.000 --> 00:21:01.200 He had a conviction that ordinary people should have scripture in their own language. 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:21.279 So instead of simply translating the Latin Bible into English, Tyndale starts working from the original manuscripts, the Greek New Testament, the older Hebrew scriptures, so that, in his own words, every boy driving the plow could read the Bible. 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:25.119 But this is a problem. 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:33.920 Because Tyndale has skipped over all of the people who started using the word church. 00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:45.920 So when he starts giving scriptures to people in England, the word church has disappeared. 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:49.440 And it's become a congregation. 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:59.440 It was not a good thing to the people who had gotten used to the power that the church gave them. 00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:03.920 So Tyndale has to escape from England. 00:22:04.160 --> 00:22:11.920 He finds printers, he creates small New Testaments, sends them back to England, but eventually gets betrayed. 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:17.200 Brought before the religious powers, refuses to recant. 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:19.200 Does this sound familiar to you at all? 00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:24.960 And then he's killed and burned as a heretic. 00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:35.039 Christian leaders acting in the name of Jesus killed a man trying to help ordinary people read the Bible. 00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:40.400 That's why drift matters. 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:46.720 That's how far we can drift if we don't keep ourselves in check. 00:22:46.799 --> 00:22:50.160 If we're responsible, we're responsible for the check, right? 00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:53.039 Nobody wakes up one morning. 00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:58.400 Nobody wakes up one morning and says, let's build a vision of Christianity that looks nothing like Jesus. 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:04.720 Drift happens a little bit at a time. 00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:11.279 Structures harden, things fossilize, power gets protected, assumptions become sacred. 00:23:11.440 --> 00:23:18.720 Eventually, we end up defending the machinery and miss the mission. 00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:33.839 That thing that Tim Tyndale did, taking ecclesia and making it congregation, was disruptive. 00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:38.880 Because he was moving the emphasis back to people. 00:23:38.960 --> 00:23:46.319 So all of you smart people who said you think of church as people should thank William Tyndale. 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:49.920 I mean, you can't really, but you should. 00:23:53.279 --> 00:24:00.799 Later, when the King James Version becomes the standard English Bible, guess what the king did? 00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:05.359 He took the word congregation out and put church back in. 00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:12.240 Again, the issue isn't whether we're allowed to use the word church. 00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:13.680 We're going to keep using it. 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:15.359 This is still Brunett Church. 00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:17.279 It's on the sign out front. 00:24:18.160 --> 00:24:22.240 The issue is what do we imagine when we think about it? 00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:26.799 What do we mean when we use the word? 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:32.160 How are we defining it for the people that we have influence over? 00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:40.240 Because we can keep all the church stuff and miss the entire point. 00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:51.200 Which is why I want us to go all the way back, not to William Tyndale or the Reformation, but to the early church fathers, back to Jesus. 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:53.440 And a conversation he's having with his friends. 00:24:53.599 --> 00:24:56.079 Here's what it says in Matthew. 00:24:57.279 --> 00:25:04.160 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, Who do people say that I am? 00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:12.160 And they replied, Some say John the Baptist, right, who's dead at this point. 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:14.079 So John the Baptist came back. 00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:19.839 Others say Elijah, who's a figure from the Hebrew scriptures, the Old Testament. 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.480 And still others, Jeremiah also Old Testament, or one of the other prophets also Old Testament. 00:25:25.119 --> 00:25:31.200 So a lot of people are saying that Jesus is the reincarnation of some other important religious figure from the past. 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:36.319 And Jesus is like, okay, guys, but you've been with me for a while. 00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:38.160 Who do you say that I am? 00:25:39.440 --> 00:25:41.920 And Simon Peter answered, You're the Messiah. 00:25:42.880 --> 00:25:44.559 The Son of the living God. 00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:54.000 And Jesus replies, Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 00:25:54.480 --> 00:26:00.160 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. 00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:05.039 I think this is a very confusing line of scripture. 00:26:05.359 --> 00:26:08.079 You are Peter, which means. 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:10.640 Somebody say it? 00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:12.640 Rock, thank you very much. 00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:13.359 Right? 00:26:13.680 --> 00:26:18.960 Simon gets this new title, this new name from Jesus, rock, okay? 00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:24.559 And then he says immediately, on this rock, I will build my church. 00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:34.880 Which Catholics still hold firm to this, that, that, that, that their spiritual authority comes because they're from the lineage of Peter. 00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:42.000 What they believe is that Peter was set up as the head of the church. 00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:48.559 And his authority passes from person to person through, anybody want to guess? 00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:50.160 The Pope. 00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:50.799 Right. 00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:51.359 Right? 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:56.319 The Pope is Peter's authority in our generation. 00:26:56.480 --> 00:26:58.000 That's why it's so important to them. 00:26:58.160 --> 00:26:58.480 Okay? 00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:09.680 They believe that this line, on this rock I will build my church, Peter's authority, Peter's essence is necessary in every generation to continue to build the church. 00:27:09.839 --> 00:27:16.799 So the Pope is very important, and the Catholics are the only ones that have it right because they're the only ones who believe the Pope is who the Pope is supposed to be. 00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:21.599 But I want to present something to you that I think makes a whole lot more sense. 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:33.279 The word this, this rock, is not this guy, but this guy's confession. 00:27:35.359 --> 00:27:37.680 This guy's confession. 00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:48.799 On this rock, on the confession that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, I will build my ecclesia. 00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:55.680 I'm gonna start a movement based on that confession. 00:27:57.200 --> 00:28:00.079 And historically, that's exactly what happened. 00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:00.640 Right? 00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:03.920 All those things that we talked about earlier, no buildings, no Bibles, no. 00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:10.799 What drove the early followers of Jesus to share the story of Jesus? 00:28:10.880 --> 00:28:20.400 It was the fact that God Himself had anointed Jesus to come and live and teach and die and be resurrected back to life. 00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:26.160 We're gonna start a movement on that rock. 00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:32.240 Not some person as important as Peter was to the story. 00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:37.759 It isn't built on Peter, then it would be the church of Peter. 00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:41.359 It's built on Jesus. 00:28:42.559 --> 00:28:55.599 It's built on the confession that Peter had, the epiphany that God had given man, that this is my son, in whom I am well pleased. 00:28:55.839 --> 00:28:56.559 Follow him. 00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:01.920 Jesus wasn't announcing a building campaign. 00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:08.720 He was announcing a movement of people gathered around Peter's confession. 00:29:09.279 --> 00:29:19.519 Jesus is the Messiah, he's the King, he's the Son of God, his ecclesia are the people who move in rhythm with him. 00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:25.039 A people who announce the arrival of a king in his kingdom. 00:29:25.920 --> 00:29:29.279 A people who model the king's way of life. 00:29:29.519 --> 00:29:33.759 A people who love like Jesus loved. 00:29:35.759 --> 00:29:38.400 A people who carry good news to the world. 00:29:40.799 --> 00:29:44.640 And Jesus says, not even death will stop it. 00:29:45.440 --> 00:29:46.960 His own death won't stop it. 00:29:47.920 --> 00:29:49.920 None of our deaths will stop it. 00:29:50.880 --> 00:29:54.640 In fact, his resurrection will launch it. 00:29:56.799 --> 00:30:06.240 So I want you to see today that we are something, part of something so much bigger than Burnett Church. 00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:09.119 Bigger than our building. 00:30:10.799 --> 00:30:14.240 Bigger than our budgets, bigger than Sunday attendance. 00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:27.440 We're part of something that Jesus started, the people, the congregation, the movement that has been going now for two thousand years and more. 00:30:28.880 --> 00:30:34.240 And is still being built today. 00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:45.680 Last week we I asked you to consider taking a posture of openness into this next season. 00:30:46.240 --> 00:30:54.240 And as we did that, we we saw that the first Christians wrestled with what kind of community they would be. 00:30:56.319 --> 00:31:00.480 What would they become as God brought new people into them? 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:03.680 That question never really goes away. 00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:06.640 Our days, our ways. 00:31:06.799 --> 00:31:14.319 We are responsible for retelling the story, contextualizing the story, and our days and our ways. 00:31:15.759 --> 00:31:20.960 The New Testament makes it even more personal than a community. 00:31:22.240 --> 00:31:36.880 Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, do you not know that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit? 00:31:39.440 --> 00:31:43.359 Therefore, honor God with your bodies. 00:31:43.519 --> 00:31:45.200 Honor God with your life. 00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:55.279 The point is that the vessel the church lives in, the movement of Jesus moves through, is not a building. 00:31:55.920 --> 00:31:56.960 It's you. 00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:02.079 Every single one of you. 00:32:06.480 --> 00:32:18.160 And for people who lived in a city full of temples, which is what Corinth was like at the time, that is an astonishing claim. 00:32:18.480 --> 00:32:22.480 We should not miss the metaphor that's going on. 00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:29.200 You carry the king with you. 00:32:30.960 --> 00:32:35.920 You are his walking, talking representatives. 00:32:37.200 --> 00:32:42.960 So church is not primarily where you go on Sunday. 00:32:45.680 --> 00:32:49.119 It is what you represent every day. 00:32:49.359 --> 00:33:01.599 In your workplace, in your school, in your neighborhood, to your family, in the way you speak, in the way you respond when things don't go well. 00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:11.440 And yes, there's a weight to that. 00:33:12.640 --> 00:33:15.039 We talked about that a little while ago, too. 00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:19.279 My load is easy, my burden is light. 00:33:19.599 --> 00:33:22.160 Still a load, still a burden. 00:33:23.119 --> 00:33:24.880 But we don't carry it alone. 00:33:25.200 --> 00:33:32.160 We carry it by the power of Jesus living in us. 00:33:33.279 --> 00:33:42.559 It does require us to invest effort and intention to carry it well. 00:33:44.480 --> 00:33:50.240 That might feel like a lot of pressure, depending on where you're at today. 00:33:50.720 --> 00:33:58.319 One of my favorite things that some of my favorite athletes say on a regular basis is pressure is a privilege. 00:34:01.519 --> 00:34:03.279 Pressure is a privilege. 00:34:05.680 --> 00:34:13.440 So as we wrap up this morning, look, there are a couple questions we could, should be asking. 00:34:14.320 --> 00:34:18.880 The first is, what kind of church do I want Burnett to be? 00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:23.920 That's an easy question. 00:34:24.559 --> 00:34:29.760 Because if being a pastor for the last 20 years has taught me anything, you all have an opinion about that. 00:34:31.119 --> 00:34:32.239 Me too. 00:34:33.440 --> 00:34:34.000 Right? 00:34:34.239 --> 00:34:36.079 We all have opinions about that. 00:34:36.480 --> 00:34:39.039 What kind of church do we want this to be? 00:34:39.440 --> 00:34:41.039 You've got preferences. 00:34:42.079 --> 00:34:49.280 Hunch is that most of the time we tick enough boxes for you to show up again? 00:34:49.760 --> 00:34:50.320 Right? 00:34:50.639 --> 00:34:54.639 And chances are there's some things we do that you don't like. 00:34:55.920 --> 00:35:01.679 I think a better question is: what kind of church am I helping Burnett to become? 00:35:04.800 --> 00:35:12.719 Because that question recognizes the privilege of pressure. 00:35:14.480 --> 00:35:22.880 It recognizes the responsibility that we take on when we come and say, I'm going to be a person of Jesus. 00:35:24.480 --> 00:35:25.119 Right? 00:35:25.840 --> 00:35:34.159 Because you can want Burnett to be active in our community without being in the community yourself. 00:35:35.119 --> 00:35:39.199 You can want us to be a welcoming place. 00:35:41.199 --> 00:35:46.960 But never make more room for somebody to sit next to you or join your small group. 00:35:49.119 --> 00:35:57.920 I can want really great events and programs, but leave the serving to somebody else. 00:36:00.159 --> 00:36:07.760 I can want this to be a place where people grow while resisting my own next steps. 00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.960 I can want Burnett to be generous without becoming generous myself. 00:36:17.119 --> 00:36:30.239 The church we will be is not primarily determined by the words on our walls or our screens when they work or the ones that I speak. 00:36:30.880 --> 00:36:37.039 It will be determined by the collective responsibility we decide to take together. 00:36:40.880 --> 00:36:45.360 So Jesus said, I will build my ecclesia. 00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:49.760 And thank God he has. 00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:53.440 And he still is. 00:36:56.000 --> 00:37:01.599 In fact, in every generation, he rebuilds it, he renovates it. 00:37:01.840 --> 00:37:03.760 New days, new ways. 00:37:14.800 --> 00:37:17.920 And you, if you want to be included. 00:37:20.639 --> 00:37:29.119 What he is doing in our generation, in our city, in this church, he allows us to play a part in. 00:37:29.199 --> 00:37:36.639 He is patient enough to wait for us to figure out his agenda and join him in what he's doing. 00:37:38.079 --> 00:37:46.079 And the question cannot be whether Burnett becomes everything we want out of a church. 00:37:48.000 --> 00:37:50.079 Perfect churches don't exist. 00:37:50.719 --> 00:37:52.320 This is not one of them. 00:37:52.960 --> 00:37:58.400 I am not a perfect pastor, and we say here all the time, there are no perfect people allowed here. 00:37:58.719 --> 00:38:03.039 So, if you think you're perfect, please don't come back next week. 00:38:04.639 --> 00:38:07.920 Bet you didn't think you were going to get uninvited to church this morning, did you? 00:38:10.480 --> 00:38:12.639 We all have steps to take. 00:38:13.519 --> 00:38:16.320 We all have room to grow. 00:38:19.679 --> 00:38:22.159 We don't just attend church. 00:38:23.280 --> 00:38:26.000 We are the church. 00:38:27.840 --> 00:38:32.079 And we're responsible for our part in it. 00:38:34.239 --> 00:38:35.360