Let's bow once more in prayer. Would you join
me? Eternal Father, we thank you that you have
placed in our hearts the Holy Spirit who stimulates
us to come to you, not only to address you as
Father, but even by that intimate term, Abba,
Daddy. How humbling it is for us to realize that
you, the great Creator, desire us, creatures,
to come. to worship you and to know you through
your Son. Oh, may today our hearts be drawn in
sweet fellowship with you. Open your word to
our hearts. Stimulate us to see what you would
want us to be as a congregation in the years
ahead. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. God has
put it in the heart of man to build. We start
out with blocks and graduate to Legos and Tinker
Toys and models and cakes and pies, but we like
to build things. We like to put things together.
One of the most fulfilling and challenging things
any of us can do is to build something. Those
of you who are architects or engineers, construction
workers, etc., know what I'm talking about. And
for that matter so do mothers and fathers and
counselors and teachers and pastors. That's a
different kind of building that's just as important.
I've had my share of building physical buildings.
I remember in the first pastorate that I had
when we as a church got a burden for a Christian
school. in our area of northern Kentucky. And
we began to search around for some land where
the church was locked in a city situation with
a shopping center on one side and houses and
a railroad on other sides so that there was no
opportunity to build there. And because of the
topography of the land in northern Kentucky,
it's difficult to find a level spot to build
anything. So we looked at the hilltops around
and finally went out five miles to where we saw
a corn field that had potential. But it wasn't
big enough to do the job, so we contacted the
landowner next to that. Well, he might be interested,
but still we had to have more land. We felt we
needed at least 100 acres to do the job. And
they said there is one other piece of land connected
to ours, but the lady refuses to sell to anybody.
Well, she was a widow lady, and a couple of us
went over to visit her and talk with her about
the possibility of buying some of the ground
at the back of her property that connected to
the other two pieces. And much to our amazement,
she said, you know, I have prayed for years that
God would allow the land that I own to be used
for a church or for a school. And she said, I
believe this is God's answer, and I want to sell
you that land. You know, the Lord allowed us
to put together 100 acres of land for about $79
,000, which even 15, 16, 17 years ago was a very,
very good price, even in northern Kentucky. And
I remember working with the architect and what
fun it was to begin to dream about a building.
I'd never done anything like this before. I was
28 years of age and had never built anything
beyond... models and tinker toys and those things
I talked about earlier. I hadn't built a house
or anything, even a dog house. But a group of
us in the church worked with that architect and
we began to dream to see what God might do and
we put together the first phase, an elementary
school, a simple one -floor plan, a U -shaped
building. In fact, a friend of ours here in the
Twin Cities was down to speak at the dedication
of that building, Mel Johnson. And after that
was up and the first few grades were functioning,
we realized we needed to build for the future.
We needed a high school. And so we began to dream
about that kind of a building and how that might
attach to the elementary structure, a two -story
building with a large gymnatorium that could
handle special occasions as well as athletic
events. And so we put the dreams to the paper
and the church saw the need and was challenged
by it and a church just a little larger than
this and very much middle class, even blue collar,
realized that this was something God wanted us
to do and in the end we were able to see a school
built worth about two million dollars. with an
indebtedness of only about $900 ,000 in our church.
It was a marvelous thing, a miraculous thing.
One of the Sunday school classes in that church
was called the Fidelis class, a group of ladies
who were all on Social Security. And I think
per capita those ladies probably, sacrificially,
gave more than anybody else in the whole church
because they believed in the children and they
saw the need for that school. I tell you that
was the most exciting thing that we did in the
nearly 10 years that I was the pastor of that
church. It took us a number of years to do it.
But then to see it up and then to see that first
graduation, the class that came through the first
time graduating with diplomas from Calvary Christian
School, what an exciting thing that was to see
that vision fulfilled. And today it's still functioning
with 400 plus students. I've had my part in that
kind of building, building this structure that
we're in today. And there is a certain excitement,
a fulfillment about that. But I want you to know
that there is even a greater thrill in seeing
one life come together. Or for that matter, seeing
a group of lives come together as in a church.
I think that was what was in Paul's mind as he
writes to us in 1 Corinthians, the third chapter.
and says in verse 9, we are God's fellow workers,
you are God's field, God's building. He says
the church is like a building. He calls it later
in this chapter a temple, a holy place for worship.
But he's not talking about the physical structure
in which the church meets. He's talking about
the body of people, lives of people that are
individually restored by the grace of God. and
which are then built with other lives to fashion
a body, a church. He says in verse 10, according
to the grace of God which was given to me as
a wise master builder, I laid a foundation and
another is building upon it. Let each man be
careful how he builds upon it. We, today, as
Paul in that day, are workers together in building
the church. Not merely as a physical plant, as
important as that can be, nor as an organization,
although organization is important in a church.
But we are fellow workers building an organism
that is spiritually vital because of its union
to Jesus Christ. As we enter the decade of the
90s, I would like for us as fellow workers in
Grace Church, Roseville to think about the kind
of local church that we are putting together.
What will we look like in the years ahead, as
the Lord should tarry? I've been doing some thinking
about that over the past several months and would
like to share with you today and for several
upcoming weeks. Some of my thoughts and my vision
for the building of Grace Church Roseville in
the 90s. In doing this, I want to speak to you
from my heart as your pastor about our building
together in this place. What kind of a church?
What will we look like as Grace Church Roseville
in the years ahead? Well, I believe that there
is an answer to that and it arises really out
of the text of scripture. It's not something
that comes outside of Scripture, but it flows
through the New Testament as we see the Church
of Jesus Christ described to us. And then as
we see that applied also to the culture in which
we live today in the 1990s. What will we look
like in the future? What kind of a church will
Grace Church Roseville be in the 90s? I'd like
to say in the first place that I would like to
see Grace Church Roseville be. a church where
the Word of God is faithfully taught, with relevance
to real life, and also where it is obeyed. Now
you say, well that's certainly nothing new, and
you're absolutely right. That's where we started
out, back in 1981. That's where we've been every
year since then. That's where we are today. And
I underscore that and say it first today, because
that's where I want us to be in the year 2000.
and 2010, and as long as the Lord allows us to
minister in this place in His name. I want us
to be the kind of church where the Word of God
is faithfully taught with relevance to life and
where it is obeyed by all of us. A pastor friend
of mine giving me counsel in my ministry said
to me, find the intersection where truth meets
life. in your preaching and stay at that intersection.
Well that is good counsel not only for me as
a pastor but for all of us who instruct others
and disciple others in the Word of God. Find
that intersection where the truth of God's Word
intersects with real life situations and problems
where people are living today. and apply the
Word of God there and stay at that point and
God will bless your ministry. Now when I make
the statement that I do, it seems to me that
there are at least two concerns that flow out
of it. They are proper interpretation and proper
application of the Word of God. As we come to
the Bible and as we teach it, we need to ask
ourselves the question, what did the writer of
Scripture have in mind when he penned those words?
There seems to be the attitude growing in the
Church of Christ today that the important thing
is to ask the question, what does this mean to
me? Now that is an important question, but there
has to be a question asked first. And that is,
what did that text mean in the day in which it
was written? That requires work on our part to
interpret Scripture. We have to understand something
of history to answer that question. What did
it mean to the writer? We have to know the events
happening in his day. We have to know something
about the culture in which the writer of Scripture
lived. It helps to understand something of the
geography in which he lived. There is benefit
in knowing a little bit about the language in
which he wrote, though we may not be able to
read it, at least to have some basic understanding
of that language, whether it be Hebrew or Greek
or in small portions of the Bible Aramaic. Daniel,
which we'll begin studying tonight, was written
partly in Aramaic. Now one doesn't have to be
a scholar in any of those languages to understand
what the Bible means, but it helps if you have
some insight as to what these languages are all
about. Because you see the first question we
have to ask when we come to Scripture is this,
what did the writer of Scripture mean when he
wrote that to that church or that nation, to
that person? Proper interpretation is important.
And just after that comes the question of, what
does this mean to me? That is proper application.
We need to ask ourselves, how does the Bible,
which we want to carefully interpret, apply to
our lives in the 90s? Some of us are better at
understanding how the Bible applied back in the
40s or the 50s. So are some of the authors of
books that are written. The question we need
to ask is, how does this text apply today to
where people are living in the 1990s in our culture?
We may come up with some fresh answers. Now in
doing that, we want to be careful not to compromise
the Scriptures just because it may cut across
the grain of our culture. One of the things I
fear is that we may allow our culture to twist
the interpretation of the Bible. We must be careful
about that. We must interpret it and then bring
it to our culture to see how it applies. There
are some people who are skilled at being able
to take away the authority of the Bible by trying
to coerce our culture upon it. We do not want
to do that. We want to interpret the Bible in
its culture and then bring that interpretation
to our culture today and see how it may apply
to us. And I can tell you that in some instances
at least it is going to run counter to our culture.
And when that happens then we must realize the
Bible is our authority not our culture. And we
will seek to bring ourselves, and to what extent
we can, our culture into conformity to the Word
of God and not the other way around. The authority
of Scripture is being subtly undermined not only
by what I've just talked about, but by some other
things today as well, I think. And I mention
these because I want us to be alert to them.
Because I want us as a church to faithfully teach
the Word of God. and apply it to our lives and
obey it. Some of the other things undermining
the authority of the Bible, I think, in our day
are, for example, the emphasis on experience.
There are some who say, I don't care what the
Bible says, I know what I've experienced. And
the bottom line in that is, my experience is
more important to me and has a greater authority
than the Bible does. Now the fact is that experiences
are important. Our feelings are important. God
has made us with feelings. Experience is a part
of the life He has given to us. But let's not
make our experiences the authority. The Bible
is the authority. Let's not undermine its authority
in our lives by making statements like I did
earlier. Our experiences must be conformed to
what the Bible says and not the other way around.
The authority of the Bible is also being undermined
by psychology in our day. There are those, even
some sincere Christians, who feel that psychology
has the answers that the Bible doesn't have.
Friend, that is not true. The Bible has the answers.
There may be some helpful insights into human
behavior found in psychology. I'm not throwing
the baby out with the bath water. But I will
say this, we must never allow psychology to dictate
to us over the Bible. I guess I am more firm
in this than I have ever been that I would not
ever suggest to a Christian that he go to an
unsaved counselor, psychotherapist, or psychologist
to receive help. Nor would I send a person to
a Christian counselor who does not point his
clients to the Word of God as the final answer.
We must be careful that we do not subtly allow
psychology to undermine what the Bible says about
what it is to be human. And what the Bible says
about the answer to the dilemmas, the troubles
in which we find ourselves in our sinful condition.
The answer is not ultimately found in psychology.
The answer is found in understanding what God
says to us. He is our Creator. and then applying
what he says to our lives as the Holy Spirit
gives us understanding and grace to do that.
One of the Bible teachers that many of us have
heard, John MacArthur, has a series of tapes
that someone recently loaned to me called, Whatever
Happened to the Holy Spirit? It's a pretty clever
title to that tape series. Because in some churches,
that's exactly the question we have to ask. Whatever
happened to the Holy Spirit, everything is now
going to counseling. The Bible is the authority.
We want never to allow it to be undermined by
psychology. Nor do we want it to be undermined
by that teaching that is prevalent in some circles
today called prosperity theology. where what
the Bible says about trials and sufferings in
this life are simply written out, and only those
passages that deal with prosperity and success
and blessing are applied, and oftentimes misapplied.
I fear for some Christians who are allowing teachers
like Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagelin, Hagen,
and Robert Tilton out of Dallas to influence
their lives. These men are false teachers. They
are undermining the authority of the Word of
God as it really is by extracting from it only
those portions of it that fit into their neat
little package of prosperity theology. A theology
that could only exist in an affluent America.
They could never make it overseas in a third
world country. The Bible can make it, if it's
interpreted properly, wherever it's taught. It
applies to life. Whether it be a country of affluence
or a place of deep poverty, the Bible speaks
to life as it really is. It is our authority.
We need to be careful the Bible is not undermined
by the ethic that says, what's good for me is
what I'll live for. This is perhaps the most
insidious one to Christians in churches like
ours. For we say, well, I'll do what the Bible
says if it's good for me. If it makes me successful,
if it helps me accomplish my plans, then I'll
do what the Bible says. But when the Bible tells
us to do something that doesn't fit into our
plans, then we say, well, God, sorry about that.
Do you see how that undermines the authority
of God and His Word in our lives? The what's
good for me ethic destroys the authority of the
Bible. And that is the ethic that's largely the
ethic of the baby boomers today. If it's good
for me, fine. If it's not good for me, forget
it. And there are churches that pander and cater
to that sort of thing. The real question is,
what's good for God? What does God want for me?
Whether I think it's good for me or not good
for me, what does God tell me? See, then the
Bible is the authority. I've started here this
morning at this point because I believe that
this is the essential foundation. And the churches
that neglect to faithfully teach the Word of
God in the 90s will ultimately crumble. Now why
will they crumble? Well because they have an
insufficient structure underneath them. And the
pressures of the world eventually will cause
them to begin to crumble and to collapse. Those
who are building themselves on prosperity theology,
what are they going to do when our economy does
what most economists thinks it's going to do
eventually and begins to collapse? And the standard
of living for everybody begins to go downhill,
like on a ski slope. Well, Christians who have
built their lives, churches that have been built
upon prosperity theology in that day are going
to collapse, and well, they should. Those who
have built their ministries upon experience,
those who have built their ministries upon psychology
and counseling, replacing the Bible, those who
have built their ministries upon the ethic, what's
good for me, will all collapse in the end. Today,
churches like that are sort of supported by our
culture, secondarily. because our culture to
some extent still has a Judeo -Christian flavor
to it. It's quickly disappearing, but it's sort
of still there. But as our culture becomes more
humanistic and then pluralistic, there will not
be that secondary support to those kind of churches
any longer, and they won't make it. The church
that is going to make it through the 1990s and
into the 21st century is the church that will
be careful to properly interpret the Word of
God and will then faithfully apply it to life
right down where the rubber meets the road. Come
what may, whether it's good for me or not good
for me, they apply the Word of God and seek to
obey it at that point. That's the kind of a church
that God will bless. I want to emphasize that
the Word and its doctrines, because they are
the revelation of the eternal God, do not change.
What God has called us to do as a church does
not change. But as we're going to talk, perhaps
next week, the form in which we do our ministry
needs to change with the age. No other foundation
but this. No other doctrine other than what the
Bible teaches period But the way in which we
do our ministry now, that's a different subject
The methods that we use the forms of ministry
that we use to teach the Word of God to present
and proclaim the Word of God Those forms need
to change with the times I've written a little
about that this morning in the column, but I
want to say a lot more about that probably as
I say next week. Well, I've started at what is
probably a very obvious point to most of you,
but I don't think we can say it too often or
too forcefully. As we think about our church
in the 90s, we want to be the kind of a church
where the Word of God is the foundation, where
it is faithfully taught with relevance to life.
and where it is obeyed, not just taught, where
it is obeyed by those of us who are part of this
church. And then as I think of the church in
the 90s, I want to see Grace Church be a church
noted for loving acceptance of hurting and needy
people while practicing holiness of life. The
Corinthian church was a church that got out of
balance in this regard. It was a church that
was so open to hurting and needy people that
they even allowed openly immoral people to remain
in their fellowship. That's being too open. And
so that's why I say we want to be the kind of
a church that is noted for loving acceptance
of hurting and needy people while at the same
time practicing holiness of life. There's an
important balance here, and I want to address
that. You and I are living in a time when there
are more people than ever who are hurting. Through
broken homes, through abuse, through divorce,
various kinds of addictions, loneliness, disillusionment
with life, there are people around us who are
desperate. And many of us reflect the same kinds
of needs. We as a church need to minister to
the hurting and needing in our community. The
danger that we face is that we allow ourselves
to become a little subculture within the larger
culture. And we do our own little thing and we
come together and we feel good about what we
do and we feel good about each other and ourselves
and that's as far as our vision goes. But I believe
if we're going to minister effectively in the
90s, we've got to be the kind of a church that
is willing to lift its eyes off itself and to
look more and more at those around us who are
crying out desperately in their needs. I want
us to be the kind of a church that is not characterized
by a judgmental attitude. I think most of us
realize that there is a place for proper discernment.
Never making any judgments leads to a lack of
health and even death in a church. There is a
place for the right kind of judgment. We are
to judge doctrine whether it is right or whether
it is false. There is a sense in which we are
to judge lifestyle. The Corinthians failed to
do that with this man mentioned in the fifth
chapter and Paul rebukes them for it. He commands
that they judge the man and remove him from their
midst that he might learn not to be immoral.
They did that apparently and it worked. So we
see in the Corinthian church a lack of balance.
We don't want that lack of balance. We want to
be the kind of a church that is concerned about
holiness. Folks, holiness is not rigid. I want
our spirit to be free from the kind of harshness
that legalism engenders. I don't want us to be
known for coldness that comes out of self -righteousness.
The kind of picky and cantankerous spirit that
some professing Christians have. The kind of
a spirit that produces strife and divisions and
splits in churches, and some of us have been
a product of those kinds of churches, I believe
that is unchrist -like. I don't want us to be
known by that kind of a spirit. I want us to
be known for loving acceptance of those who are
in need. When we have people come and visit our
church and they're obviously struggling, I want
us to have the kind of a spirit that reaches
out and embraces them and says to them, I'm struggling
too. Let me show you the Savior who is helping
me in my struggle. I heard recently about a man
who has been coming to our church for a while
and his His impression is that no one in our
church is struggling with the same kinds of things
that he and his family are struggling with. And
that's not true. There are some of us that could
identify very closely with what they're going
through. That doesn't mean that we go around
hanging our dirty laundry out so everybody can
see what our dirty laundry is and compare theirs.
That's not the point. But there needs to be the
kind of openness and transparency about it so
that when someone expresses a need and we can
identify with that, we do it readily. And we
put our arm around them and we say, hey, I've
been down this pathway. Maybe a few steps ahead
of you, let me show you what God's done for me.
A loving acceptance for those who are hurting
and needy. And yet, at the same time, I want
us to cultivate holiness and godliness in our
attitude and lifestyle. Holiness is not rigid.
I don't see holiness as being sterile. I don't
see holiness as harsh. But I see holiness in
the Lord Jesus. Perfect holiness. And I see Him
willing to reach out and embrace those who were
searching, those who were lost. I see Him being
gracious and kind to sinners. I see Him dealing
rather harshly, however, with those who are self
-righteous, those who are legalistic, those who
refuse to see their own need. Ah, but those who
are hurting and needing, the Savior was open
to them. As a church, we want to reflect Him.
I want us to see ourselves as a hospital for
sinners, not as a museum for saints. Not where
we put people up on the pedestal and say, oh,
what a perfect specimen this one is. There are
no perfect specimens of saints around. We're
all growing. None of us have arrived. Though
we may be saints, we still have sin that indwells
us. and to varying degrees affects our lives.
We need to be patient with one another in our
struggle and our pilgrimage. Let's be the kind
of a church noted for loving acceptance for all
of us who are hurting and who are needy, who
have not arrived. And yet at the same time pressing
on toward holiness. pressing on toward being
what God wants us to be. Not content simply to
be unholy. Not wallowing around in the mud hole
that we may be in now, but desiring to be clean,
desiring to be whole. Pressing on toward that
mark, yet patient with others as we work together
in that direction by the grace of God. Some aging
Christian wrote a poem that says part of what
I'm trying to say to you. And it captures it
well enough I wanted to share it with you this
morning. It's called A Prayer. Lord, keep me
from the habit of thinking I must say something
on every subject and on every occasion. Release
me from craving to straighten out everybody else's
affairs. Keep my mind free from the recital of
endless details. Give me wings to get to the
point. I ask for grace enough to listen to the
tales of others' pains. Help me to endure them
with patience, but seal my lips on my own aches
and pains. They're increasing and my love of
rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the years
go by. Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally
it is possible that I may be mistaken. Keep me
reasonably sweet. I do not want to be a saint.
Some of them are so hard to live with. But a
sour old person is one of the crowning works
of the devil. Give me the ability to see good
things in unexpected places and talents in unexpected
people. And give me, O Lord, the grace to tell
them so. Make me thoughtful, but not moody. Helpful,
but not bossy. With my vast experiences of being
put to the test, it seems a pity not to use it
all. But thou, Lord, knowest that I want a few
friends at the end." Well, that aging saint,
whoever he or she was, said it pretty well, at
least in part of what I'm saying to you this
morning, that I want us to be the kind of church
noted for loving acceptance of hurting and needing
people, while at the same time practicing and
pursuing and pressing on toward holiness. And
I would like to say to you that I see this church
largely in that category already. One of the
blessings that I have as your pastor is seeing
very little of the kind of judgmental spirit
in our church that I've warned about. I thank
God for that. I thank God for the warmth that
I see. I thank God for the reaching out in many
of you to others who are struggling along the
path. That says something to me about authenticity
in you as a Christian. And as that reflects our
church, it says something about the authenticity
of our church being the body of Jesus Christ.
Because we are an organism. We're not just a
meeting of people. We are an organism. We are
a functioning, living thing related to Jesus
Christ. And He is today desiring through this
body to express his likeness to the world. And
oh, I believe this spirit of loving acceptance,
a desire to help people, to reach out to them
in their needs. And not just passively, not waiting
for them to come in the doors, but going out
to where they are. Getting outside the walls
of our church. I want to talk more about that
next week. Into those pockets of people that
are in need. those groups of people that are
crying out, oh, that God would enable us as individuals
to say, Lord, what do you want me to do to reach
out? Where do you want me to invest my gifts
outside the walls of the church, touching the
lives of those who are hurting and needy? What
I'm saying is, in the 90s, I want us to increasingly
be known. as a church that loves people. There
could not be a greater compliment paid to us
that they should say that we faithfully teach
the Word of God in this place and seek to obey
it and that we love people here. I mean, really
love them. Not just with a hearty handshake and,
hi, how are you? But the kind of a spirit that
says, if you're hurting, I care. And I want to
do what I can to help you. I must stop. Let's
pray. You know, even right now, as I talk this
morning, I'm aware that there are some right
here in this body of people hurting. Maybe you
know somebody who's here this morning who's hurting.
Oh, some word from you, some loving act from
you could make a difference. Or maybe as we've
talked, God has laid some person or some ministry
in your heart outside the walls where you can
have an impact for the love of Christ. God helped
us to respond to these impressions that he lays
in our hearts. And it may be that you're here
without the Savior. That's why you're so hurting
this morning. You don't know Him at all. You
say, well if I come to the Savior, will my hurt
stop? Not immediately. I can guarantee you He's
the Healer. I promise you that He is the answer,
the only answer to your need. And He will immediately
care for your sin need. He will immediately upon
your receiving Him give you eternal life. But
the issues of your life may take some time. But
if you turn in some other direction, you'll never
find the answer, the healer. Turn to Him and
trust in Him today. Lord, so imperfectly has
this burden been spoken this morning. I pray
that you will enable us together, however, to
capture it. May the vision of the church you
want us to be in the nighties become clearer
to each of us as these weeks go by in the month
of January. And I pray that we'll not only see
that vision, but we will deeply desire in our
hearts to be the kind of a church you want us
to be. Effective, on the cutting edge, representing
you well in our world at the close of this millennium.
You are the eternal one. You never change. You're
the same yesterday, today, and forever. So, eternal
Lord, work in us, weak as we are. Work in us
by your grace that we might be your faithful
body in Grace Church, Roseville. In Jesus' name,
Amen.