A Church is Born
(Acts 2:1-24, 32-47)
Pentecost Sunday, May 19, 2013, Windsor UBC, J G White
Happy Birthday Church! No it’s not the anniversary of the founding of Windsor Baptist. That’s in December. Not It’s not Queen Victoria’s birthday. That’s on the 24th of May. Maybe one or two of you out there were born on May 19, a few years ago.
But I’m saying... Happy Birthday Church! Yes, seven Sundays after Easter is celebrated as the birthday of the whole Christian Church around the globe and across history. It all started on that Jewish celebration of Pentecost, in about 30 AD.
Jeff read most of Acts 2 for us to “hear again for the first time.” This story, with all its details - the gathering in the city, the rushing wind, the fire that appears over each person, the spontaneous preaching in different languages, Peter’s sermon - has filled churches with inspiration and encouragement and enthusiasm for about 2000 years. Each spring, congregations around the world look back at how the church began, and celebrate.
We seem to like birthdays here in Hants County. When you or I have a birthday, its natural to think: who I am, how far I’ve come, and where I am headed. So, we wonder that today, Windsor Baptist, and ask God. Jesus had said to the first disciples, “But when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power, and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Now, close to 2000 years later, we can hear Him speaking about the branch of the Church called Windsor Baptist.
Do you want a reborn church? A new chapter?
How do you see the near and distant future of our life?
New life in a fellowship like ours is like the arrival of a baby. When a child is expected, the time of pregnancy is filled with expectations and joys and preparations. Then the little one arrives - not our our schedule. In the case of our grandson, he was born six weeks early. Due on May 3, Teanna, the mother-to-be, had the 26th in her mind. April 26th. But Dryden was born on March 26th!
What he looks like is not up to any of us. How he develops, or how he naturally behaves, seems mostly up to him, but his parents and family will have a definite influence. What will his voice and laugh and personality will be like? What will be his skills and his challenges. What will his chosen life path be? These are all but dreams to us, yet to be revealed. We, Dryden’s family, will do our part to guide and bless him.
Our hopes for the congregation we are growing to be are like this. We have hopes and anticipation, we play our individual parts to contribute. What the Lord God creates with us, as a soft, clay vessel, is yet to be seen. He has already made us what we are today. Tomorrow is a new possibility. As with a baby, tomorrow may seem just like today, but in a month, a year, a decade, the difference is remarkable and beautiful. We change and grow.
I heard from a pastor the other day about some good things her small church is doing with the Lord. It’s and old church, like us, doing some new things with God. One part of their journey is a vision. A simple vision: to change their reputation in their community. Isn’t that interesting, to have that goal?
Was talking with another pastor friend too, on the phone. He is about to leave his church. Says he’s happy with how things are there. Lots of different people involved, in fact, quite a few odd ducks. He takes this as a good sign; his church family is healthy because they include a big variety of local people, including folk that don’t often fit in other places.
You who have been part of this faith family for a while may well see what my picture of Church is, my model for us to aspire to now.
I believe in a missional church. Jesus had said to his apprentices, And when the Holy Spirit comes to you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world. (1:8) Our church today is a people who have a mission. Actually, we might say, with Reggie McNeal, that God’s mission has a church. The mission is big, too, or complete. As the experts say, integral mission. Caring for people’s day-to-day needs, healing ministry, and saving souls all go hand-in-hand. All of this is Jesus’ ministry. What Amy spoke about is what concerns God; so it also concerns us.
Windsor Baptist has a mission to people in our communities, on several fronts. Our organized ministries are part, things like House of Hospitality, Drive-in Services, After School Program, Small Groups, LAFF, and Sunday morning Worship. Our teaming up with others is part: cooperating with Harvest House, or Windsor Plains Baptist, or Sparks. And the good work of each individual is part: how you minister to your neighbours, serve in the Rotary Club, do your job at the nursing home, support a Compassion child, or care for your own family members. All these are ministries of Windsor Baptist Church, in my eyes, because you are Windsor Baptist.
Secondly, I believe in a church that grows. In Acts we heard, Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved. (2:47) Now, I don’t simply mean a congregation that gets more and more people into it. I see us as a congregation that grows in three ways: people Gather, people Grow, and people Go.
I trust the Lord for a church that gathers people well. We include lots of kinds of people. We know how to get to know them and get them involved, and help them, and make them part of this family.
I trust Jesus for a church that grows people in the love and knowledge of Him. We call it discipleship, being a disciple of the Teacher, an apprentice to the Master, a student of the Rabbi. I am looking for a fellowship where people grow spiritually in wonderful ways - all the time.
I trust God for a church that helps people go. A sending church: we send people out on Sunday before noon to be the Church, be Jesus’ ambassadors, be missionaries in West Hants. We send our people out for special ministry, like a mission trip to another part of the world.
And, we can be a fellowship that knows how to send people away when they simply leave the area. The Lord prepares us here, for our next move - to Halifax, to Fort McMurray, to Wolfville, to a nursing home, to Heaven. We send. People leave. Every one of us will one day go from Windsor Baptist. Let’s do it well!
Thirdly, I believe in what a church is. On Pentecost, Peter preached: Change your life. Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is targeted to you and your children, but also to all who are far away - whomever, in fact, our Master God invites. (2:38-39)
Is our Church a where or a when or a who? And I don’t mean “Who’s on first, What’s on second, and I-Don’t-Know’s on third.” The Windsor United Baptist Church is not a where. It is not a place, a building. Now, there is not much else we can call 411 King Street other than Windsor Baptist Church, but the structure remains a beautiful possession of Windsor Baptist.
I also see Church for us not as an event, a when. I’m training you not to say “let’s have lunch after church.” After church? You may have to wait a long time to have lunch after church. The only way church will be over today is if every single one of us dies today. We are the church, you and I. When you have lunch together later, you are the church.
So I see church as a who. It is we, it is people, a group of sinners saved by the grace of God. So, if our building gets in control and becomes our church, Jesus is not controlling. If our Sunday morning event becomes our church, an attractive, spiritually entertaining and encouraging time, we may be alone the rest of the week, not one in Christ.
Many of you know these little “hobby horses” of mine, but this actually is some of my vision for Windsor Baptist. For me, this comes out of the New Testament, the pictures of a sharing fellowship, that sees believers gather and grow and go, and that joins God’s mission everywhere. Read the whole of Acts and see what happened then. God is doing this today: Church birth!
A week or so ago I attended a workshop/lecture by Shane Claiborne, a young, American, Christian author and leader. From his Philadelphia neighbourhood he founded The Simple Way... which is simple, but BIG. I guess it is an intentional community that sounds like it’s living a lot like Acts chapter two. A lot of sharing, and caring, and including, and justice-seeking, and bringing hope to part of Philadelphia where the factories have all closed and there are hundreds of abandoned homes.
One thing Shane talked about was healthcare. Many in the community have not much hope of paying for health care when needed. Many in the community give money to help others pay for hospital stays, and medicines, and therapies. They share the burdens of life. The Simple Way is the root of a wonderful little movement in Christianity right now. One new birth, among many.
It is good to long for new birth from the Spirit around here. The disciples of Jesus waited in Jerusalem long ago for the Spirit of God to break in and do some amazing things with them. Our waiting too must be with ready anticipation. And there is much for us to do as we work for a Church that Lives with a capital L. First...
A. Keep having conversations about your dreams for us, Windsor Baptist. Talk with some you have never heard from about this, someone you don’t yet know. Hear what’s on the hearts of others.
B. Be devoted as those first Christians were:
1. Devoted to the Teaching, which we have in the Bible.
2. Devoted to the fellowship.
3. Devoted to sharing food and hospitality.
4. Devoted to the prayers: personal praying, and praying together: worship, small groups, etc.
C. Consider what we share in common. They held everything in common. We do not. What do we hold in common, as a Church family?
1. We have a building, quite a spectacular structure.
2. We have staff: pastors, musicians, janitor, treasurer, secretary.
3. We have ministry programs we hold in common.
4. We share time/fellowship together.
5. We have a budget, shared funding for things.
What did those folks in Jerusalem, a couple millennia ago, share in common because of their unity in the Holy Spirit?
1. They clearly shared food.
2. The pooled other day-to-day resources.
3. They shared time/fellowship together.
4. They shared their spiritual practices, prayer, worship, teaching, etc.
5. Did they share the Good News?
D. Commune with God the Holy Spirit about the details of our Church family. Know that He has the big picture in hand.
A U.S. Lutheran bishop tells of visiting a parish church in California and finding a stirring red and orange banner on the wall. “Come Holy Spirit. Hallelujah!” it declared in words printed under a picture of a fire burning. The bishop was also interested in the sign directly underneath the banner which said: “Fire extinguisher.” So much for that church’s commitment to spiritual renewal.
As we dream our dreams for our Church Family, are our eyes on the fire extinguisher? Let us seek renewal for our church, not based on caution and protection, but based upon the uncontrollable Holy Spirit Himself. God can be trusted; and we can be reborn. Happy birthday.
