I LOVE MY CHURCH
WEEK 1
Scripture John 13:33-34
Projected Aim: To introduce the concept that loving the church means loving the people.
Key Passage: John 13:34-35
There are different places, locations, buildings that we eventually have to visit in life.
I’m not talking about some exotic destination, or a beach somewhere way south of our location- that’s a “want to” visit place. I’m talking about the places we need to go to just because they are necessary in life: school, for example, or the doctor’s office.
Some of these necessary places will invoke a variety of responses in us.
We feel different about going to the mall compared to say going to the doctor.
Let’s talk about a few of the necessary places
I’m going to put an image of a place up on the screen, and I want you to say the first word that comes to mind about how people typically feel in regard to having to go to these locations.
Give me a word.
• 1st image: DMV
• 2nd image: Dentist’s office
• 3rd image: Grocery store
***Have a dry erase board or something of the sort and write down the words that people say for each one.***
Not the most rave reviews, right? Some worse than others, but in all three of them you can see that we go to these places in most cases because we have to, not necessarily because we want to. And look at our list of words. No one said, “Love it!” did they?
(***Make sure this is true obviously, ad lib as necessary.***)
You’ll occasionally hear someone say they love their grocery store if a comparison with other places is going on, and the same for the doctor’s office is possible. But if anyone ever says they love going to the DMV, you’re going to assume they need help.
I wonder what people in Whitehall would say if we put a picture of our church up on the screen.
Now don’t say anything out loud for that one, but let’s think about it honestly. Do we think about church the same way we think about going to the DMV, the dentists office, or the grocery store?
Is this just a place that we feel we “have” to go to or is there more to it?
Think about people who aren’t here with us today or maybe people who haven’t stepped into a church in a long time or ever. I’d be willing to guess that some of them would describe coming to church like we describe going to the DMV, and based on their experiences with some church’s, they probably wouldn’t be far off from the truth.
Now the important question for this morning-
Is that what God intended when He created the church? Was that His idea about this community of people? I believe the Bible tells us – NO! That wasn’t nor is God’s plan for the church.
***God never intended any church to be a museum that showcases saints. The church is not somewhere you can look and not touch- cold and barren where the past is the only thing people talk about; because there is not any exciting future being put before them.
Has anyone been to the Field Museum in Chicago? It’s a great experience and you will learn a lot. They have a hall with full size dinosaurs that’s pretty impressive. One thing about The Field Museum- it’s a huge stone building with marble floors. While it’s very clean it’s also a cold place- everything echoes around the displays of the past, and the only life there is people who come to gaze at the things of the past.
I think that describes a few church’s I have known in my life. But that was never God’s intention nor His design.
I believe that God wants us to love the church.
Not love what we see in the news sometimes or maybe have experienced in the past, but love the church as He intended it to be.
That’s what this series is going to be about—that we’d learn to be the community God intended us to be.
Before we jump into this, I’d like to pray and ask God to speak to our hearts from His Word.
Let’s turn to John 13 and read verses 34-35 together. (***You could also have someone else read this out loud, an adult or a child.***)
John 13 34-35 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
***PRAY***
This verse is a prophecy and a description of this beautiful expression of God’s love and His grace to the people who will come to know and love Jesus as Lord and Savior.
The church will start in Acts, but here we find Jesus meeting with His disciples, telling them how His followers should be known, what the reputation will be of this community He is creating.
They will be a people known for their love for one another.
Church people are meant to love one another. It’s not optional, not an elective—it’s a command from Jesus. We are to love one another.
But what does that mean?
What does it mean to love one another? When we say we want to love the church as God intended it and us to be, what do we mean by “love”?
This last Christmas season Tammie and I were invited to a Christmas dinner with some of the local pastors in our section. Dale Hazard was there as well as a few of the other pastoral couples, and we met at a place in Fairchild called The BlackCreek Lodge. They have one of the best buffets in this area. All the food was quality food- not the box and warm up stuff you get with the chain restaurant buffets, but excellent in every way. We came home and told Kevin about it, and I raved about our experience when I went to work the next Monday.
I loved that restaurant and am willing to drive the hour just to eat there.
Another way to describe what I’m trying to say-
This last year we bought and shipped a bunch of presents to Kenosha for our granddaughter Emmy to open on Christmas morning. We woke up early and fired up the Facebook video messenger and watched her tear into the presents. Every time she opened a present, she’d look at us through the video and say, “I love it papa or nana” before being a typical 3 year old and throwing it aside and opening the next present.
When she was all done, she looked at the camera and threw us a kiss and said “I love you Nana and Papa!”
We love our family don’t we?
So I ask again-
What do we mean when we say, “I love my church”?
What does it mean to love one another?
Does He want us to love one another like I loved my experience at the restaurant, or does
He want me to love the church like I do Emmy?
With the restaurant I was experiencing something given to me, a place offering me something. The restaurant fed me and provided a moment in which I could participate. If the experience itself was excellent, I could rate it as so, give it a positive review online, and recommend it to others. If it was the opposite type of experience, I wouldn’t return and I’d tell others to avoid it.
With Emmy I was experiencing an important relationship. My family is someone I am intrinsically connected with. My love for them isn’t based on what I’m receiving or experiencing but based on who they are and what is involved in our relationship. Because I love them, I care for them, I try to spend time with them, we go through life together.
That journey might bring about some not so great experiences, but we work through those. I don’t rate or rant about my family online. I love them.
The church was never meant to be like a restaurant- Jesus didn’t intend the church to be a place where people come to pick something off of a menu and then enjoy it.
Church is meant to be based on relationships. This begins first and foremost in a relationship with Jesus, and through that we are connected to one another.
Jesus loves us and brought us into relationship with Himself (***share the Gospel***). Add significantly here as needed
Eden, fall, need to be saved, Jesus paid it all
His death on the cross was an act of love for us. Earlier in John we are told it was because God loved us so much that He sent His son to die for us, that we might have real life. He intentionally loved us, served us.
In being brought into that relationship, we aren’t only brought into a relationship with Jesus but also into relationship with one another. Being in a relationship with Jesus means being part of the church, part of His kingdom, part of the family of faith.
Many people treat the church like a restaurant. If the experience isn’t just to their liking, they’ll find somewhere else or not go at all. This is beyond unfortunate and it is not only unfortunate but deadly to their spiritual futures.
This way of thinking about the church sets up expectations that the church was never intended to fulfill. Also, and we have to be honest here, this way of looking at it isn’t relationships-focused; this is self-focused. This isn’t loving as Jesus loved.
This loves as I see fit, am comfortable with, and for my own gain. The church isn’t supposed to be like that.
Imagine what a intimate relationship would look like if it functioned based only on what the other person in the relationship was doing for the other?
Many people treat the church just like a lover that doesn’t meet your expectations.
When people do that They always got through the same steps-
Infatuation- wow, this church looks incredible. I can’t believe the worship, everyone is so nice, the pastor preaches so well.
The honeymoon- I’m joining this church. I’m excited to be a part. I’m fully onboard with the mission and can’t imagine being anywhere else.
The conflict- No one noticed that I filled in at the nursery and thanked me. I can’t believe the pastor preached too long during hunting season. I saw sister so and so yell at her kids the other day- not a very good Christian is she?
The breakup- You know, I hear this other church across town is getting started. Maybe they will meet my needs.
That’s not the way we are to view the church according to Jesus.
You will experience a love for the church when you intentionally love the church.
You will have a deep sense of love for the church when you actively and intentionally practice love for the church. The opposite is also true: When you don’t intentionally love the church, then you will not experience a love for the church.
You chose who and what you love.
We’ll love the church when it is about relationships, not when it is like a restaurant.
What does it look like to intentionally love the church?
To be in community with one another as God intended it to be?
Well, that’s what the rest of this series is about!
Let me give you an overview of what we’ll be looking at:
• Love by connecting. Being in community—in fellowship, in relationship—with each other is more than knowing people’s names and where they sit on a Sunday morning. We love one another when we stand alongside one another. Being connected with one another is ensuring no one stands alone.
• Love by serving. God has given each of His followers supernaturally empowered abilities to encourage and help one another and the community. Did you know you have superpowers? We’re going to talk about that.
• Love by giving. Yes, we’re going to talk about giving. But probably not in the way you’d expect. In fact, we won’t talk at all about tithing or percentages. We won’t even try any ill-planned guilt trips to get you to give more. We’ll simply talk about giving as an indicator of love.
• Love by sharing. The love that Jesus gives to us and that we can have for one another isn’t to be hoarded within the walls of the church. The love that we are to have for one another is also meant to show our community what the love of Jesus looks like. If we aren’t sharing the love of God with our words and deeds, then we aren’t truly loving. We’ll talk about this as well.
I invite you to stick with us for the next four weeks as we look at various ways that we can intentionally love the church as we see what it is God intended for the community of faith.
If you are with us today and don’t have a relationship with Jesus, I invite you to stick around as well. Some of you have had some negative experiences with church in the past, and for that I am truly sorry.
I want you to know that’s not what God intended. But what did He intend?
Why not join us for a few weeks to learn about this, what the church is supposed to be like.
There are two things I want to challenge you with as we leave:
Let people know that you love your church. We have these T-shirts available.
***Hold one up or put it on right then.***
Envision these shirts as an easy conversation-starting tool. Think about it like this: We see someone with a concert or sports team shirt on, and it becomes an instant opportunity for conversation. You see someone out and about with a concert T-shirt on of a band you like and you ask him or her what show they were at and how it was.
Strangers you normally wouldn’t talk to you’ll strike up a conversation with because they’re wearing the jersey of your favorite team.
Just think of the conversations that could come out of you wearing this shirt. Don’t think about it; pray about it! Pray for God to give you opportunities to talk to people when they see you with this shirt on, that people would ask about it, inquire which church, wonder why you’d love a church. I really can’t wait to hear what conversations happen.
This is going to be an exciting journey—and I’m excited we’re able to go through this together.
Jesus loves the church. He loved it and us so much that He went to the cross for our sins, and now wants to live inside us if we will surrender to Him and make Him the Lord of our lives. Before we go into our time of communion today I want to give a invitation for that.
Communion- Communion means a coming together in unity and I can’t think of any better way to celebrate the beginning of this series than by celebrating the LORD’s table.
