Movement | Inviting Our Neighbors to Join Us - James 2:14-26 | August 4

GENERATED TRANSCRIPT

Well, good morning, everyone. I'm here to preach my second sermon ever, so I'm very excited about that. I think I've got Josh beat by one sermon still. We've been going over the mission statement, and I'm going to read it over here. Then we'll get into it. We want to be a place where heaven meets earth by proclaiming the universal reign of God, embodying Jesus to our community, and inviting our neighbors to join us in becoming real people who are part of a real family and who worship the real God. I'm going to talk about the second half of the mission statement today. So, thanks, Zach, for that. I assume you wanted me to freak out partway through my sermon writing, which I did. And yeah, that's the part about inviting your neighbors to join us in becoming real people who are part of a real family and who worship the real God.

What I didn't remember, to be fair, is that Zach actually preached about "real people, real family, real God" in January, and I just wasn't here. That was partly on me. Thankfully, Zach, Josh, and Jake covered a lot of ground in the last four weeks, which gave me a lot of material to work off of as I was preparing. To start, I want to talk about becoming real people. As I'm discussing that, I want you to think back to Zach's sermon about heaven meeting earth and the concept of the temple being a place where heaven meets earth. God is now expanding that through the Temple of His people, as we're called a temple of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament.

Just like with that week, I want to go back to Genesis 2 to get started. In Genesis 1:26-28, it says, Then God said, 'Let us make mankind in our image, according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.' So God created mankind in His own image. In the image of God, He created him; male and female, He created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.' This is probably a very familiar passage to most of you. A couple of things I want to call out here to discuss the concept of becoming real people. First, the term "image." The word translated as "image" here is the same word often translated as "idol" throughout the Old Testament.

Part of the reason for this is that when the people around the Israelites—and occasionally the Israelites themselves—made idols, those idols were supposed to be the image of their god. More specifically, they would place an idol in a temple. If we go back to thinking about how the temple is a place where heaven meets earth, the image or the idol was to represent and, in many people's minds, actually was the presence of whatever god was being worshiped in that temple. So when God tells the Israelites (and by extension, us) not to make any image or idol for ourselves, part of the reason is that He already did. There was no idol in the Israelites' tabernacle or temple because they themselves were meant to be the image bearers of God.

God created this temple in Eden in the form of a garden. The reason I say that is we see garden imagery carried out in the instructions for building the tabernacle and later the temple. These were calling back to the Garden of Eden with the imagery displayed in their decorations. God places His image in the garden, in that temple. Mankind is meant to be fruitful and multiply, taking God's presence and expanding it out into the rest of creation as God's representatives on Earth. This brings me to the language of "rule." Back in that time, many kings in the nations around the Israelites would have called themselves the image of God. That was something reserved just for the king in many of those cultures—a bit of a power grab, maybe a little egotistical. This teaching from God was quite subversive because He said all mankind was God's image and was supposed to rule the earth as God's sub-regents (a fancy word that means sub-rulers).

In the words of a Bible Project video I like, "The task that once belonged to elite kings now belongs to every human: to rule the earth." What does that ruling look like according to the passage? In Genesis 2, we see, The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. It looks like gardening. Of course, it's not only gardening; I may be a bit biased, but gardening is surely part of it. We can extrapolate that it's about taking creation forward. God repeatedly says it was good, good, good, very good. He doesn't necessarily say it was perfect. Perhaps I'm extrapolating here a little, but I picture a world of great unrealized potential, much raw material. God starts this project of taming the raw world with the Garden of Eden, putting mankind in it, and saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth." At that point, they were just in this little garden, so they were to fill the earth and subdue it, taking God's presence and expanding it out, carrying this project forward as His sub-rulers, making this beautiful world with Him.

The word "work" in The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it often translates to "serve" throughout the Old Testament. For example, Jacob loved Rachel and said, 'I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter, Rachel.' Exodus 8:1 says, Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Go into Pharaoh and say to him, "Thus says the Lord, 'Let my people go, that they may serve me.'" Numbers 8:15 says, After that, the Levites will go in to serve at the tent of meeting, when you have cleansed them and offered them as a wave offering, and so on. It's not always translated that way; it's often translated as "work" or "till" and "cultivate." Some translations use "cultivate" in Genesis 2:15, which is totally appropriate for gardening. What I want to point out, and something for you to bookmark as we move forward, is that the word used to describe work— the purpose that God created mankind for and put them in the garden for—has a strong connotation of service.

What happens next? Humankind says, "This is awesome; God's given us this great world," and they do exactly what He said. They're fruitful, they multiply, they take the project of creation out, they make everything better, and whatever they touch prospers. Oh wait, no—they actually start to be ruled by the very beasts they were meant to rule over and act like beasts themselves. An example of this is a theme that runs throughout the Old and New Testaments. They were tricked by a beast. They let themselves be controlled, in a sense, by the serpent. Instead of doing what they rightfully should have done and saying, "Hey, you're out of line; we rule over you, not the other way around," they failed to exercise their given authority.

That God tells Cain that sin is crouching at his door, waiting to devour him, right? Obvious beast imagery, like a bear or a lion waiting. I guess bears aren't really ambush predators, but you get what I'm saying. A lion, we'll say, waiting to devour him. We see this imagery carried throughout the Bible quite quickly with Cain's descendants. It's also very prevalent in Daniel, Revelation, and elsewhere. Obviously, humans didn't rule the way God intended them to, and we're going to jump forward a bit for the sake of time. We're going to talk about God's solution to that problem. He had to send a representative who would carry out the human role the way they were designed to do it. The way He did that was by Himself taking flesh, incarnating, and dwelling among us in the Son—one of the members of the Trinity, Jesus. He came and showed us what it means to truly rule as a human.

He comes and preaches the Good News of the Kingdom, saying in Matthew and elsewhere, "The kingdom of God is at hand." The implication, and what we learn, is that He is that King. He is the ruler, the Son of Man, who is to be seated at the right hand of God in that co-ruling throne created for mankind. But He's a King who's enthroned not by a violent military victory—at least not His own violent military victory, though you could argue something like that happened to Him. He's actually enthroned on the cross. Throughout the New Testament, His crucifixion is His coronation. He rules by service, by the washing of feet; those who will be greatest in the kingdom of heaven will be servants. He shows us what it means to rule as God designed us to rule: to serve. So, remember that word: to work it and care for it, to serve and care for it. Not that we exist to serve creation—let's not get weird with it—but you get what I'm saying, I hope.

He is the first human to overcome the beast. He does it not by a violent military victory but by submitting to a humiliating, violent death on a cross and overcoming through life and love, by resurrection. He shows the beast—the beast of sin and the beast that humans become when they submit to sin—to be the toothless thing it really is in comparison with the power of God's love. So, zooming in on this, we see that in Christ, we are part of a new humanity. Jesus is the first of a new humanity. Colossians 1:15-20 talks about this: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent.

What I want to focus on here is the language of Jesus being the firstborn. It says He's the firstborn of all creation. Does that mean He's the first created being? No, that's heresy. The Bible addresses that. He's not a created being; He's a member of the Trinity, eternally coexistent with the Father and the Spirit. John 1 is one place you can look for that, and it's elsewhere as well. So, it's not talking about that. He's not the first created being; He's the firstborn of all creation. So, what does that mean? At the end of this passage, it says He's the firstborn from the dead. He is the first of the new humanity, the first real person, as we're using the language in the mission statement. In Him, we are becoming real people as well.

We're talking about a way of living that's totally counter to the way of the world. It's not an easy way; it's extremely difficult. But there's no more beautiful way for a human to live than by following the way of Jesus. It is, in fact, the only way that counters the ways of this world, choosing love instead of power. To truly rule as a human, to be real people, is to live in a serving, self-sacrificial, loving way. We're talking about a love that is willful—not willful in a negative sense, but a love of the will, not just emotional. It's a love that allows us to rule the world as Jesus does, as servant kings, sub-rulers to God, humbly serving and gardening the world, building beauty and wholeness. After the Fall, it includes justice and reconciliation, rebuilding, and bringing healing to the world we have broken.

Jake talked last week about becoming like Jesus and doing what Jesus did, how that's part of discipleship. That's exactly what we're talking about here: becoming little Christs, spreading light and love around the world. But we're not just a bunch of individuals doing this on our own. It's not just me and God. The Bible teaches that we're saved into a community, into a family—the realest family we could ever be a part of: the family of God. So, we're not just doing this individually; we're part of this family that's more real than even our biological families. Jesus shows this, for example, in Mark 3:31-35, where it says that Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call Him. A crowd was sitting around Him, and they told Him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you." He asked, "Who are my mother and my brothers?"

Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother." Now, Jesus did love his mother and brothers, guys. One proof text for that is when He entrusted His mother to John while He was on the cross. Right? So, He's not saying that our biological families aren't important. What He is saying, though, is that our true family is the family of God. Hopefully, our biological families are part of that family as well. I'm blessed to have that be true for me. But that's not always the case, right? Sometimes you might experience division between you and your family because you're a believer and they're not. But Jesus frames His movement in terms of family, and it shows us the kind of love and loyalty He expects within the church.

At that time, the family was the core social unit. It wasn't like how we think of it today, where we might imagine a husband, wife, and kids. It was actually your patrilineal family, meaning the family line through your father. Your closest social relations would be your brothers and sisters, as well as your father. And I guess your mother, though the emphasis was particularly on brothers and sisters. That's one reason why it's particularly important that throughout the New Testament, Paul and others frequently describe believers as brothers and sisters. They're constantly saying "brothers and sisters," "beloved brother," and using other similar language. This emphasizes that the closest social bond among humanity is the brotherhood and sisterhood of believers. That's what we're saved into when we're saved into the family of Christ.

This idea challenges the way of the world, depending on where you are. For us here in America, it challenges our individualism. We have a tendency to make decisions based on looking out for number one, as they say—making decisions based on our own individual freedom. But what we're actually called to do is, as was customary in that world and time, look out for our brothers and sisters in all our decision-making. In everything we do, we put the group first. This is called a strong group culture or strong group mentality, where you're not putting the individual first, nor your individual freedom, rights, likes, or desires. You're putting your brothers and sisters before yourself.

This also challenges the tribalism we see in our culture and in many cultures around the world. We adhere to social tribes of some kind, and this sorting might happen differently in various parts of the world. Sometimes we put that even before our loyalty to our brothers and sisters. This is addressed in the New Testament, for example, in Galatians 3:26-28. Although I belatedly realized I should have had a slide for it, it says: "So in Christ Jesus, you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

Paul addresses some of the major social dividing lines in his culture and even within the church at that time. The division between Jew and Greek, in particular, is a major theme in several New Testament books. These divisions weren't just between non-Christian Jews and non-Christian Greeks but between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians who were clashing within the church. Paul says, "Hey, you all are family. Whatever ethnic or religious background you come from, it doesn't matter. Whatever tribe you're part of in this world, it does not reach the level of importance that the family of God should hold in your social sorting." In our time, we might say, "There is neither Republican nor Democrat, Israeli nor Palestinian, rural nor urban," etc. We could come up with many different divisions that people put weight on in our world, different tribes that people join, sometimes even before their faith. That's flagrant idolatry. We're called to look beyond that and have our first loyalty to the family of God, not to any tribe or kingdom of this world.

Now, moving on to the next phrase: "worshiping a real God." What does it mean to worship? The phrase doesn't say "our real God"; it says "The Real God." There's only one. The immediate inclination is to contrast the term "real" with "false," right? Other religions worship false gods, or people worship themselves, which is a form of a false god. People worship sex, power, money, or leisure—all false gods of this world. Yes, part of worshiping the real God means we worship the one true God and not a false god. But we need to understand what it means to worship. Often, without really thinking about it, we equate worship with belief. We implicitly change the term "worship" to "believe in the real God." While belief is part of it, let's talk about what belief really means.

Partway through 2021, I started memorizing the book of James. I highly recommend scripture memorization for many reasons. It's a great spiritual practice, and I'd love to talk about that more, but that's not the focus here. What I do want to point out is that as you memorize, you end up meditating. You say the words repeatedly and think about them. As I memorized this book, I repeatedly meditated on a passage in chapter 2, repeating it over 100 times since 2021. I've probably meditated on it even more as it becomes part of my mental background understanding of the world. That's one of the benefits of Scripture memorization. The passage, James 2:14-26, says:

"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled,' without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, 'You have faith and I have works.' Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness'—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way, was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead."

This passage has been somewhat controversial in the history of theology. Martin Luther famously struggled with the book of James, feeling it conflicted with the doctrine of salvation by faith alone. While I'm not here to delve into the history or the conclusion of that debate, what I want to focus on is the relationship between faith and works. The text emphasizes that true faith is not just intellectual assent but is demonstrated through action. It's a living, active faith that naturally produces works. Faith and works are not separate entities but are deeply intertwined. As James points out, even demons believe in the existence of God, but that belief does not lead to righteous action. True faith, then, goes beyond mere belief; it manifests in how we live our lives and how we treat others.

What I want to talk about is what faith and belief look like. The word "belief" and "faith" are actually the same word in Greek, "pisteuo." It's translated as "belief" often, for example, "Whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life" is probably the most famous use of the word. The way I've come to understand this passage, partly through memorization and other things that have happened in my life, is this: you believe what you do. Now, that probably needs a little explanation, so I'll attempt it. Your actions reveal what you actually believe.

If I sin, let's say I lie on my timesheet at work, and maybe I justify it by thinking, "They're not paying me enough to live here in Boone. I have to buy groceries and pay my rent, so I don't know what else to do." I have all the reasons that make me feel I need to commit this fraud and steal from my employer. What I'm actually saying, though I might not intellectually believe this, is that my way—this sin I'm about to commit—is better for me and more justified than God's way, which He commands. Whether I intellectually believe that or not, I'm showing by my actions what I actually believe when I commit that sin. This applies to any sin we commit; we're showing a lack of faith. When we sin, we're demonstrating that we believe something contradictory to God's word.

On the other hand, let's say someone sins against you, offends you, or mistreats you, and you want to get them back, to give them what they deserve. But instead, you treat them with kindness and turn the other cheek. You may not even believe it's going to work, but by obeying Jesus' command, you show that you have faith in His way. Even if intellectually you're thinking, "This will just mean they mistreat me more," you're demonstrating your belief in Jesus by your actions. When the world offers you the power to force others to submit to what you think is right, even if it's for a good cause, but you choose not to use that power, you're refusing the corrupting grasp of power and following the way of the servant King. You're showing that you believe in Jesus, even if it doesn't make sense to you. That's what I'm trying to convey here.

Maybe a quiz will help get my point across. Raise your hand if you believe in chairs. Come on, hands up; play along with me here. Keep your hand raised if you believe in them enough to sit on them. Good, everybody has faith in chairs, right? Now, raise your hand if you believe it's important to wear a seatbelt when you ride in the car. Good. Keep it raised if you always or usually wear a seatbelt. Good, James, I see you're not lying. Now, here's the real test. Raise your hand if you believe flossing is good for your gum health. Raise your hand if you floss every day. Some of you have dead faith in dental floss.

That's my point: when you're worshiping a real God, it means more than just believing the right things about God or believing in the right God. It's more than that; it's giving Him the respect of taking what He says seriously. It's seeking to live more like Jesus, who showed us not only who God is but also what it means to be a real human. He showed us the real God and what real humanity is like, inviting us to be part of this real eternal family. So, it's a faith that's revealed by action, as the passage about Abraham says: his faith was revealed by his works. That action is following the way of Jesus.

Some of you might have noticed that I skipped a part of the mission statement. Did anyone notice? Yes, why did I skip "inviting your neighbors to join us"? Good job, Julie. I didn't skip it because I don't want to talk about it, but I wanted to set the stage for what we're inviting people into. What I want to say about this is, how could we not invite people into this? We've been brought into the greatest story ever told, and it's ongoing. We're invited to be active participants in it. How could we not be active participants in this? What else is there even to do with our lives? How can we keep it to ourselves?

Josh and Jake already talked quite a bit about how we do this. Josh talked about proclaiming the universal reign of God—the Kingdom of God. It's something we do in both word and deed, telling people with our mouths the good news of the Kingdom and living as Kingdom people by Kingdom principles. This includes helping your neighbor, sacrificing yourself when there's no obvious benefit to you, like Elizabeth, who spends a lot of her time with the Jewish community in Boone, being a light among them. It's like Rebecca opening her home to both us and those outside the family, inviting people in, even though she has the best reason to be closed off.

Jake expanded on that, talking about living incarnationally, embodying Christ, and being His hands and feet to the world around us. Just like Jesus, we enter into people's lives, living incarnationally, and being like Him, doing what He did. We're to be salt and light in this world, filling it with beauty, striving for wholeness, justice, and reconciliation.

That's kind of the how in very short of this. And yeah, I guess to end, I just want to tell a personal story from when I was a kid. It might sound like it's going in a weird direction at first, but bear with me. When I was 12, I read Matthew 12, where Jesus talks about the unforgivable sin—blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. I quickly began to wonder what that could be and soon started to obsess over it. Before long, I thought I'd committed it, and though I didn't, I was, of course, very distraught.

This is actually fairly common, as I've learned through the popularization of the internet, and perhaps it has happened to some of you. But at the time, I figured this meant I was going to hell, which was probably my worst fear. Part of what I realized and feared was that somehow, even as a 12-year-old, I recognized that I had my whole life ahead of me, and it wasn't even worth living if I wasn't going to serve Jesus. So, I decided that even if I was going to hell, I would spend my life telling other people about Jesus. In hindsight, that was probably a pretty good realization for a 12-year-old, but I'm not saying this to toot my own horn.

Pretty quickly, I became distracted by dreams of being a Navy SEAL, and a lot of weeds grew up in my heart over the years—things God later had to pluck out. For a long time, I didn't rightly prioritize telling other people about Jesus. Thankfully, God held on to me despite my stupidity over those years and eventually renewed my heart, for which I'm grateful.

But I think what I want to point out is that 12-year-old me grasped something crucial that I had to relearn later. It's the idea that my life would be wasted if I didn't spend it following Jesus and inviting others to do the same. That's true for all of us. This is the mission God has given us, and really, why do anything else but worship God, glorify Him, and invite others to do the same? So, to paraphrase John Piper, let's not waste our lives. Let's be a part of God's mission.

Movement | Embodying Jesus to Our Community - John 1:14 | July 28

GENERATED TRANSCRIPT

Well, good morning. After Zach talking now on the microphone, it sounds really loud. But I'm really glad to be here with you guys. Continuing this talk of vision casting of mission, it's something that I'm really passionate about, about talking about what is to come. How can we join together in the mission of Christ as a body? Listening to Zach and Josh talk about what it means for us as a church, what our goals are, and how we are going to accomplish what God has called us to do is really exciting. So to get to be a part of talking about this with you guys, as a church, is really exciting to me.

Before we dive in, I'm going to read our mission statement, and then we'll dive into embodying Christ. Our mission as Mountainside Community Church is to be a place where heaven meets earth, by proclaiming the universal reign of God and embodying Jesus to our communities, inviting our neighbors to join us in becoming real people who are part of a real family, who worship a real God. Today, we're going to be talking about embodying Christ to our communities, and we're going to break it up into two ideas or two parts. We're going to talk about the reality of what it means to embody Christ and our response. What is the reality? What does it truly mean to be the body of Christ?

What I have here is the reality that you and I, the church of Mountainside, as part of the global church, are the very presence of Christ on earth. We're going to break down what that means. Our response is to take up that calling of embodying Christ so that our communities and the very cosmos would know the eternal reign of our King.

A quick caveat, I am still learning. I am super excited to share what I have learned, but we as a church get to go on this journey together, figuring out what it means to embody Jesus. If there are things that I say you're like, "No, I don't know about that," then let's talk about it. I think that's what the church is for. A lot of these ideas are foundational and perhaps very familiar. If we go through and you finish thinking, "Oh, I knew all that," well, that's great. I am seeing this with new eyes, it feels like. I think we're going to be talking about some very foundational or familiar ideas. My prayer is that God allows us to see more of his character.

Before we dive in, we are just going to pray really as a group together. So Father, we just want to see you rightly. We want to know what it means that we are your body here on Earth. As we study your word and as we go out this week, when we meditate on truths, would your spirit be revealing who you are to us?

One of the foundational verses for the idea of embodiment or embodying Christ in our communities comes from John 1. As the body of Christ, we're going to actually stand up and read John 1 and 14 together. This isn't the totality of it, but we're just going to read what's on the screen together. Ready? "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." Before we sit down, if you are interested and want to grab a Bible, they are at the end there. I made it easier for you guys to walk over there and get them because you're already standing. If you don't, that's fine as well. We are going to be taking a good trip through Scripture together.

I remember the first time that I learned what "dwelt" meant. Zach talked about it two weeks ago, that it means tenting or tabernacling. It was Christmas 2019, and my mom had my family doing a talent show. It was high stakes. My cousin moved an Oreo from his forehead to his mouth, so it was a big deal. I was in college at the time, and I was studying Arabic. I thought, you know, I'll read John 1:14 in Arabic to my family. I thought that was going to be nerdy and cool. I'm in my room studying, and I come across a word that I don't really know. I didn't know many of them, to be honest, but this one I really didn't know. I Google translated it, and it came up "camping." I thought, that's weird because I don't know where camping is in John. I don't have a framework for camping in the Bible. We know that the Israelites camped in the wilderness, but I did a bit of digging, and it turned out the word was related to "tent." Then it clicked in my mind.

This was before the Bible Project. I don't know if any of you know the Bible Project. Seeing something like this, where my mind realized that John was talking about the tabernacle without having the Bible Project to help me get there, it was like an epiphany. It made me really excited to see Scripture come alive in this way. What we see now, what Zach really identified, was that when Jesus came and dwelt among us, he was meant to be the fulfillment of the tabernacle. For many of us, this passage is familiar. We've memorized it, studied it, and written it on home decor during the Christmas season. It's a foundational verse to being a Christian. It's central to this idea of living incarnationally or embodying Christ in our communities. It's the very reason we are Christians. We believe that this man from Nazareth, born of the Virgin Mary, was the very image and being of Yahweh made flesh. That idea alone, the unseeable God becomes seen, is truly enough for us to end on today.

That being said, we're going to continue to press into this mystery of why God would do this. Why is God a God in pursuit of humanity, of men and women, me and you? John's writing is not written in a vacuum, but it is drenched in the language of the Hebrew Scriptures. We're going to look at a few of those scriptures today to help fill out our framework for what John was calling Christ, the tenting of God among us. We're going to start, as Maria von Trapp would say for those of you who are fans, at the very beginning, in Genesis 1.

In Genesis 1, it says this: "Then God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Then God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. The image of God is manifest in humanity with the mandate to fill the earth with the image of God. It is a humanity blessed and sent to rule and reign over the earth, perpetuating and advancing the image and nature of God.

As our topic this week is embodying Jesus to our communities, we start at the very beginning to see what was the original design. We find that it was humans ruling and reigning in the image of God, ruling over the whole earth. This is crucial to understanding Christ and our role in the current historical moment. While we don't necessarily see the tabernacle in the image here, the narrative is rife with imagery. Humans are created as the very image of God. In the lines and pages following, we see that Adam and Eve, instead of ruling in accordance with God, step outside of God's design and decide to grasp after power in their own way, leading to a fracturing of the design that God had.

But the story continues. Even then, God is not done with humanity or his vision and call for humanity to be his image. The story picks up with Abraham, and that's where we'll pick up the story. God says to Abraham, "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." This blessing is repeated to Isaac and then to Jacob. It's repeated all throughout the rest of Genesis. It's this idea that through the offspring of Abraham, all the families of the earth were going to be blessed. The descendants of Abraham are going to be a family, a nation that carries out the original call to Adam and Eve, to be the image of God that fills the earth.

The story really gets exciting for what we're talking about today. It picks up in Exodus. Israel has just fled from slavery and they're at the base of Mount Sinai, where God met Moses in the burning bush. They are meeting with God. The cloud of God, the glory of God, is on the mountain. God says to them, "And you, Israel, shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." A little while later he says, "Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst." This is where the idea of "dwell" really picks up steam. God wants to move towards humanity and make His dwelling place among them.

God says that He will make Israel into a nation of priests. Israel will now be the group of people that intercede on behalf of humanity before God, and they will reveal God to humanity, and so on. It's interesting in this passage that God says that He will make His dwelling place in a tent. I want to make a note here that I think John was trying to articulate in his Gospel, and that is that God dwells in the same manner as humanity. Here in Exodus, what were the Israelites dwelling in? They were dwelling in tents. And so what did God choose to dwell in? He dwelt in a tent.

In the time of David and Solomon, I don't think it's a coincidence that it's only after David has built his house that God builds the temple. That's something we can think about and meditate on. Maybe that is just a coincidence, but as I read Scripture more and more, I find that, like Zach says, there really are no coincidences. Then Jesus comes on the scene as the image of the invisible God, and in what manner does He come? He comes as a man; He comes in the same manner.

Perhaps one of our first takeaways for living incarnationally is that we are, as the body of Christ, to be in the same manner as our community. If we're called to inner-city missions, then we live in the inner city. If we are called to the mountain climbing community, then we mountain climb. If we're called to be soccer moms, then we engage with the soccer mom community. We know this through Paul's writings too; as Christians, we are to seek to be like our communities in the same way that Christ became human to restore humanity.

We know that the tabernacle became the place where God dwelt, where the infinite God was among humans. Israel was meant to be a unique nation, a nation that pursued righteousness, right relationships, and hated injustice. Israel was meant to be a nation that protected the orphan and widow, the stranger and the foreigner. They were to be a nation that lived according to the wisdom of God, not grasping after their own knowledge of good and bad. But we know they did not do that. They oppressed the poor and the vulnerable. They made military alliances instead of trusting in God, and they failed to represent God to the world. They failed to intercede on the world's behalf before God.

So God hands them over to the consequences of their choices, which is exile. Even through exile, God was not done with His vision for humanity. God was still working to make a dwelling place among humanity. So we pick up the story in Ezekiel. Even in the moment Ezekiel is writing during exile, and it seems that all hope is lost, the prophets enter the scene and begin to describe that God is still in pursuit of man.

Here's what Ezekiel says. It's a long passage, so we're gonna read it together: "And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name," says God, "which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes." Notice God's preoccupation with how the nations perceive Him. God's vision was always for all people to see the character and goodness of God. So God says to Israel, "I will take you from among the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. And I will sprinkle clean water on you," that's baptism imagery, "and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules."

A little while later, he says, "And my dwelling place will be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore." What Ezekiel is looking forward to is the day in which God's presence is not distant from humanity but present within them. God is speaking to an exiled people, encouraging them that He has not abandoned them. He is working through history for the fulfillment of His ultimate plan. Here in Ezekiel, God says that He longs for His dwelling place to be with humanity forevermore.

This is where the narrative of the Hebrew Scriptures and the longing for the restoration of God's dwelling place among humanity intersect. Through the Hebrew Scriptures, we see that God is a God in pursuit of humanity. He made humans in His image to spread across the whole earth, to rule and reign with Him. The offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were to be a blessing to all the nations. God chose Israel to be a kingdom of priests where His glory would dwell. Even through exile, God still wanted to dwell with humanity.

This is the environment, the stage, in which Jesus actually enters the scene. Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the idea that God is in pursuit of humanity, God dwelling among us. Jesus takes it a step further. In John 14, He says to the disciples, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, for He dwells with you and will be in you. In that day, you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you." A little while later, He says that if we love and obey the instructions of the Father, then His home will be made with us. Jesus seems to be saying, not just "I will dwell among you," but now "I will dwell in you."

We actually see this displayed in Acts 2. The disciples are all gathered together after Jesus has ascended into the skies. They are praying together, and it says, "On the day of Pentecost, when it arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting." And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each of them. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. This imagery here is replaying the moment where God's glory fell on the tabernacle and fell on the temple. It reveals that these disciples have now become the very temple of God.

Paul uses these words in Ephesians: "Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him, you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit." There is so much that we could say about this topic, specifically the idea that we are to embody Jesus by literally, perhaps in some symbolic and real sense, being His body. I would encourage you guys over the next week to really look into the rest of the New Testament to see where this theme comes alive. Look at the writings of Paul’s thoughts on the body of Christ, or Peter saying that we are a royal priesthood, quoting from Exodus.

I believe that the New Testament authors truly believed that the church had become, and still is, the physical manifestation, the very presence of Christ on earth. This is fully realized in Revelation when the reunification of heaven and earth is complete. It says that there is no more a temple in the city, for the presence of God dwelt there. "For its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb." This idea is fully realized in that future moment. But for now, we live in the present because that's where we are. So in the present, what is the reality? Where we are now, where has the story come to at this point?

I believe that the story of the Hebrew Scriptures is one where God desires to dwell with humanity. In Christ, the Hebrew Scriptures are fulfilled, and humanity has become the very dwelling place of God, the church. So not just all humanity, but the church has become the very dwelling place of God.

God doesn't just want to dwell with humanity but to make the church and humanity His dwelling place. The church has become the very presence of Christ on earth. As I read this and thought about it, I wondered, are we saying that we've become God? That would be like saying the tent of the tabernacle became God when God's glory dwelt there, which we know isn't true. This reality is worth meditating on. It's not a trite metaphor that we are the body of Christ; it's a deep and mysterious reality.

So then, what do we do if we are the presence of Christ on earth? How do we respond? How do we do this? I think there are two ways. We could probably talk about this for the rest of our lives, but today we're going to focus on two ways. The first one is that we become like Jesus. How do we become more like Jesus? Well, we grow. There’s this diagram that I borrowed from John Mark Comer, the growth diagram. Maybe many of you have seen this from his "Practicing the Way" or are familiar with it. There are several different aspects: teaching, practice, community, time, and experience, all under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit. We're going to break these down a bit, one by one, to think about how we can grow to become more like Jesus.

In Matthew 28, Jesus instructs His disciples to teach future disciples how to observe His instructions. Learning at the feet of Jesus through sermons, podcasts, books, etc., is critical to our growth and becoming more like Jesus. In the New Testament, Jesus gives long speeches and parables to instruct His disciples on how to act more like Him and how to operate in the kingdom of God.

That being said, in modernity, we're descendants of the philosopher Descartes, who said, "I think, therefore I am." We tend to believe that sometimes, especially when it comes to Jesus: "I believe, therefore I am." Yet we know that even the demons believe in Jesus. So there must be something different about us as a body of people, as a group, as we embody Jesus to become more like Him. I think this is where practice comes in. We don't just learn but we actually implement; we practice. We have these holy habits that shape our lives.

We know we cannot just think "I'm a runner" and be a runner. Nor can we say "I want to be a runner" and be a runner. To truly be a runner, we have to run. Depending on how far we want to get into the culture, it can really transform our lives. It can transform the shoes we wear, the clothes we wear, what we eat, when we sleep. Our practices and our habits can shape our affections as we pursue what we love.

A modern philosopher and Christian thinker named James K.A. Smith talks a lot about these practices. His retort to Descartes is, "We don't think, therefore we are. Rather, we become what we love." Smith takes it a step further, saying our loves are shaped by our habits, or maybe our habits shape our loves. He uses the example of a teenage consumerist. What teenager watched a good lecture about being a consumer and then became a consumer? No one. It was through their habits, their daily life, what he calls cultural liturgies (aka habits), that the teenage consumerist is created. Whether that's watching television, looking at their phone, or seeing their friends wear new shoes, through the practices and habits that we have, our loves are shaped.

As believers, we know this to be true. It's why we value worship, why we value coming to church, reading scripture, fasting, praying, or practicing solitude. All of these things shape our affections for Christ. It's important to know that each of these practices is just that: a practice. Paul uses this idea of substance and shadows. The shadows reveal the outline of the substance, but the substance itself is Christ. As we engage in practices, it's important to always desire the deeper thing. As we fast, we should be fasting so that we might encounter Christ. As we read Scripture, we read Scripture so that we might see and understand who Christ is. The question we can ask with practices is: What habits are fueling or stirring my affections for Jesus? And what habits are robbing my affections for Jesus?

This leads us into the next idea: community. I won't belabor this point. I think our churches at Mountainside know and value community. We know that growth occurs through community. Brothers and sisters in Christ support us, call us out, help us see our blind spots so that we might look more like Jesus. You see the words "high control, low control." All that means is you and I can choose what teaching we listen to, what community we're a part of, or what practices we engage in. So we have some semblance of control over that. But there are also things that shape our growth that we don't have control over.

The next one, time, is something that I am passionate about and I think is important for us in our current age. I don't know each of your stories or backgrounds, but some of us likely came from a Christian tradition where the immediate and miraculous working of God was seen as His primary form of working, His Plan A, His primary form of growth and deliverance. Yet the sentiment that God's Plan A is outside of time, I'm not sure if that's a holistic view of the movement of God. We spent the first part of this sermon traversing literally thousands of years for God to accomplish His goal. I think that proves the point that God loves to work through time, bringing us individually, humanity, and the cosmos into looking more like God and being nearer to God. I'm not claiming that God does not intervene outside of time or doesn't work in the miraculous or the immediate, but I do think that God created us to be creatures who inhabit time, and we grow with Him through time.

Our current cultural moment seeks to war against time by making all things accessible now. Yet scripture appears to argue that God is willing to work over thousands of years to accomplish His mission. I wonder, could the same be true about how He moves in our lives? This understanding leaves us extending grace to ourselves and to each other as we each are growing more like Jesus through time.

In his book "How People Grow," Christian psychiatrist Dr. Henry Cloud describes his battle with depression. He often prayed and sought God's Plan A, what he thought would be immediate deliverance from depression. But it wasn't until many years had passed and he engaged with the community of God that he found he was no longer struggling with depression. For him, it was a big awakening to realizing God's movement through time.

The last idea here is experience. John Mark Comer uses the idea of the Hard Knocks of Life, but I’m not a millennial, so that didn’t really resonate with me. I think experiences, good and bad, shape us. They teach us to be resilient or teach us about who God is as we experience life. They have a massive impact on our psyche and spirit. Whether it’s our childhood family life or our adulthood experiences, what we experience shapes us. As Christians, we should seek to have tender hearts that work alongside the Holy Spirit, allowing those experiences to shape us into being more like Jesus.

So, if becoming more like Jesus is one way that we embody Jesus in our communities, perhaps the other way is doing what Jesus did.

Jesus prioritized people. He cared about their deeper needs and moved towards them. No longer was the dwelling place of God in an immovable temple. It was among the people, moving towards them, healing them, and calling them into the kingdom of God. As image-bearers from Genesis 1 and descendants of Abraham, we are called to bless all nations. In Christ, we have become a royal priesthood, meant to intercede on behalf of all people. We are called into a unique kingdom that elevates the lowly, seeks righteousness, and hates injustice. We have become the dwelling place of God, where people encounter God. Our body at Mountainside is part of a global, trans-temporal body that God's Spirit has chosen to dwell in. We prioritize people because that's what Jesus did and that's the character of God who dwells in us.

So, if prioritizing people is essential, how do we do this practically? Here are some intangible, perhaps more ethereal, ways to think about advancing the Kingdom of God in Boone, North Carolina. Whether it's wholeness, justice, beauty, or reconciliation, as Jesus sought wholeness, we too can work towards wholeness. He carried out merciful justice, cultivated beauty, and fostered reconciliation among people and between people and God.

This vision for a new humanity should inspire awe and wonder at the majesty of our King, the King who has made us His dwelling place. Father, there are mysteries we do not understand, that Your Spirit has been placed inside of us and is present among us as Mountainside and as part of the global church. How do You invite us to see You and Your character? Stir our hearts and affections for You. May we grow to become more like Jesus. Through our love for You, may people encounter You as they encounter us and see You for who You really are. Amen.

Movement | Proclaim the Universal Reign of God - Romans 10:13-15 | July 21

GENERATED TRANSCRIPT

Good morning, everybody.

So, a couple of months ago, God was speaking to me in my quiet time. I was listening and jotting down some things He was saying. I kept hearing the same thing from the Lord. After a few days, I had written a lot, and it looked like a sermon. I thought, "God, this looks like a sermon. I don't know why you're telling me this because you know I don't talk to people much, much less in front of people." But here we are.

When I was looking at it, I felt like it was a sermon. So, I said, "If you want me to speak this at some point, if it comes up, I'll just say yes." A couple of weeks ago, Zach asked me, and I just said, "Yeah," and here we are.

Before I got into construction, I was in nuclear power for 10 or 15 years. We traveled around the country, taking fuel assemblies out of the cores of reactors. This is a reactor core. This is a fuel assembly going into the core. You can switch to the next one. This is a reactor core with a lot of fuel assemblies still left in it. I was a project manager and a fuel handling supervisor in nuclear power. Our division specialized in taking the fuel out and replacing it. This particular story involves taking the fuel out of a reactor and putting it in the spent fuel pool.

Different groups have to work together to do this. Our group had just three people on the core side: me as the fuel handling supervisor, Caleb as the manipulator crane operator, and another person. Caleb drives the crane that's moving the fuel in and out. He can't really see down into the core, so he relies on me and others to see all four cameras of exactly what's going on underneath.

On the plant side, they have what's called a senior reactor officer (SRO). The SRO has the license for the plant and is in charge of everything that goes on in the plant. Every decision goes through him. He makes sure the plant is in the right condition, that there's no reaction going on that shouldn't be, and that the temperatures are correct for what we're doing.

Today, it's Caleb's first time ever running the crane by himself. He just got his certs a couple of months ago. He had been moving fuel for probably six months in training, but always with someone beside him, usually me, telling him what to do and making sure he's doing it right. But today, it's all his responsibility, and he's nervous.

The process for moving a fuel assembly is that Caleb drives the crane over the core, takes it down to a specific location, and gets several indications on his crane that everything is correct. Once he gets those, he checks with the SRO, who communicates with the control room to make sure everything is safe. The SRO gives permission to latch, and then Caleb is supposed to check with me before latching. It's a very important step to ensure everything is in the right position, there's no debris, and nothing can obstruct us from latching.

Today, Caleb gets to the first fuel assembly. He drives the crane over, takes it down, gets all his indications, looks at the SRO, and says, "I have all my indications. Do I have permission to latch?" The SRO checks with the control room and says, "You have permission to latch." Caleb says, "Understood, permission to latch," and reaches over to latch the fuel assembly without checking with me. I'm a little aggravated. I come up off the floor and walk up to him while he's raising the fuel assembly.

I say, "Caleb, look at me." He goes, "Yes, sir." I say, "You have to check with me before you latch the fuel assembly." He says, "Yes, sir. I'm sorry, Palmer. It won't happen again." I say, "Alright. Don't let it happen again." He says, "Yes, sir."

We drop it off and come back for the second fuel assembly. He gets over, gets all his indications, checks with the SRO, and the SRO gives him permission to latch. Caleb says, "Understood, permission to latch," and latches the fuel assembly without checking with me again. I climb up on the crane and say, "Caleb, look at me." He says, "Yes, sir. I'm sorry, Palmer. It won't happen again." I say, "Look at me." He says, "Yes, sir." I say, "Do not let it happen again." He says, "Yes, sir. I won't do it."

We drop it off and come back for the third one. This time, I'm ready. I'm going to catch him. He's getting more nervous each time he makes a mistake. He comes back over, gets all his indications, the SRO gives him permission to latch, and I say, "Caleb, look at me." He says, "Yes, sir." I say, "Look at me." He says, "Yes, sir." I say, "I'm infinitely more important than this guy right here. Do you understand?" He says, "Yes, sir." I say, "Now you can latch the fuel assembly." He says, "Understood, latch," and reaches over to latch the fuel assembly. For the rest of the day, he doesn't miss the step.

We finish moving fuel all day. I go into the supervisor's office to do some paperwork while the crew gets ready for lunch. When I'm done, I go into the crew area, pull out my lunch, and look up at the whiteboard. It says, "I am infinitely more important than this guy right here - Josh Palmer." I look over at Caleb, and he just smiles at me. I say, "You won't miss it again, will you?" He says, "No, sir." I say, "Ever?" He says, "No."

I told the story to my family one night, and Maddie made me a painting that says, "I'm infinitely more important than this person." It reminds me of the situation.

God was talking to me through this story. He said, "Look at me." I said, "Yeah." He said, "Look at me. I'm infinitely more important than whatever you're talking about with your people at work, or your friends that you're spending your hobbies with. I'm infinitely more important than that."

The mission statement for Mountainside is we want to be a place where heaven meets earth by proclaiming the universal reign of God, embodying Jesus to our communities, and inviting our neighbors to join us in becoming real people who are part of a real family and who worship a real God.

Last week, Zach talked about being in a place where heaven meets earth and where those two overlap. He discussed the Israelites in the desert following God in the cloud and the pillar of fire. When God stopped, they would stop, set up camp, and set up the temple. God's presence would come down on the temple. That's what we're talking about—God's presence coming down and being with us like today, right now.

How cool would it be if, as a family and community, we prayed every Sunday morning for God's presence to fill our room, our gatherings, our small groups? If we prayed for that as a family, God would overwhelm us with His presence.

Let's pray for that right now. God, we just ask that you fill this place, bring your presence where we're at as a body, as a family, here at Sky Ranch today. Just be with us, speak to us, give me words that you want me to say, and let everybody hear what you would have them hear. Just be with us today. Amen.

Today, I'm talking about proclaiming the universal reign of God. What is that? It's pretty simple. It's just sharing the gospel—telling others what Jesus did for you, what God did for you, and what Jesus did for all of us so that they have the same opportunities we have. We shouldn't just keep our salvation to ourselves; we should be telling it to others so they have the same opportunities.

It should be infinitely more important than whatever we're talking about. We should be intentional about having real conversations that lead to God conversations that lead to gospel conversations. God's speaking this to me, saying, "You need to have some God conversations, Josh. The buck can't stop with you. You need to have real conversations that lead to gospel conversations."

I think the reason we don't share the gospel as much as we should is that we don't have God's eyes and heart. We often see people with our own eyes, not God's eyes, and that can be unkind, impatient, and frustrated. But if we saw people with God's eyes, we'd be overwhelmed with the desire to tell them about God.

So, how do we do this?

First, we have to live out the gospel. Matthew 5:16 says, "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." We should live in a way that makes people question why we do what we do and draw them to the difference they see in us.

We should share the good news. Mark 16:15 says, "He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.'" We should be sharing the gospel in our daily lives.

We should serve others. Matthew 20:28 says, "Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Serving others can be impactful. I remember when we lived in Garner, we had new neighbors, Matt and Tristan, who were trying to lay sod in their yard. God told me to help them, so I did. It was hard work, but it led to many conversations about God. Even though I didn't initially share the gospel, I planted seeds.

We should also disciple others. Matthew 28:19-20, the Great Commission, says, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Discipleship is critical. Our small groups are a great starting point. We learn from each other and should take that out into the world.

Why should we share the gospel? Because Jesus commands us to. We should also be motivated by God's love. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 says, "For Christ's love compels us because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again."

We should also obey the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:8 says, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." The Holy Spirit will guide us and prepare the way.

We should share the gospel to bring salvation to the lost. Romans 10:13-15 says, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?"

Lastly, we should share the gospel for the "Calebs" in our lives. I worked with Caleb for years but never talked to him about God. Six months after our story, Caleb passed away suddenly. It was a wake-up call for me to not miss opportunities to share the gospel.

Let's be bold and share God's love with those around us. Look at God. He is infinitely more important than our insecurities, anxieties, and fears.

So today I'm talking about proclaiming the universal reign of God. So what is that? It's pretty simple. It's just sharing the gospel. It's telling others what Jesus did for you, what God did for you. It's telling others what Jesus did for all of us so that they have the same opportunities we have, that we're saved, and it shouldn't stop with us. It shouldn't. The buck shouldn't stop with us. Once we gain our salvation, we should be telling it to others so they have the same opportunities. We should be.

It should be infinitely more important than whatever we're talking about. If we're at work, we have to do things that work, but we should also be running it through the filter of somehow working it into that conversation. Julie was listening to some podcasts, and they talk about having real conversations that lead to God conversations that lead to gospel conversations. And it's just being intentional about letting that happen. Somehow look for the opportunity. And so God's speaking this to me, like I'm processing this in front of you, like this is God going, "Hey, you need to have some God conversations. The buck can't stop with you, Josh. You got to have some real conversations that lead to gospel conversations."

Or you're just holding your salvation to yourself and not letting somebody else have it. And that's pretty selfish. And I think the reason why we don't necessarily spread the gospel as much as we should, or share as much as we should, is we don't have God's eyes. We don't have God's heart. We don't look at other people with God's eyes. I look at other people with Josh's eyes. Sometimes, if I've spent time with God, I see other people as God sees them and have a heart for them like God has a heart for them. But oftentimes, I'm busy and I get interrupted by things I'm doing, and I get distracted. And I see people with Josh's eyes. And sometimes that's pretty ugly. Like, it's not very patient. It's not very loving. It's not very kind. It can be very aggravated, angry, and frustrated.

But I would love to have what God sees in the guy in the grocery store or what God sees in the guy that I'm working with. And then I think we would be overwhelmed with the desire to tell them about God.

So how do we do this? First of all, we have to live out the Gospel. Matthew 5:16 says, "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." So we should be taking what we're learning, we should be taking what we're seeing in our quiet time, we should be listening for the Holy Spirit. And we should be living in a way that makes people question why, why do we live that way? Why are we doing acts of kindness? Why do we love on strangers? Why do we do whatever it is? But it should be because God's speaking to us and we're obeying. We're obeying Him, and then they will see a difference, and they'll recognize it. And that will draw them to whatever the difference is. And that'll give us the opportunity for those God conversations and those gospel conversations.

We should share the good news. Mark 16:15 says, "He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.'" So He's telling us we shouldn't be doing this, or God's telling us we should be sharing the gospel. We should be teaching others, we should be proclaiming the universal reign of God to others in our daily lives and everything we do.

We should serve others. Matthew 20:28 says, "Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." So to me, serving others is probably the most impactful way that I've seen it affect people. When we lived in Garner, we had a little cookie-cutter neighborhood with 50 houses with a loop and everything. And Julie and I would walk around the loop, and we got some new neighbors at one point. They just bought a house and they'd been working on the yard. We hadn't met them yet, and the yard was just topsoil. You could see he was trying everything, watering it every day, but it just wasn't doing anything. Well, one day I was out walking, it was about 92 degrees, probably in Garner, just completely miserable. And I look out there and there, him and his wife, his name's Matt, and Tristan, they're out there in the yard. And they've got two, three big piles of sod. And they're just huffing it, putting it in wheelbarrows and putting down sod because they couldn't get the grass to grow.

And I was walking, and God was like, "You need to go help them lay some grass." I was like, "Okay, that sounds fun, I guess." A lot of times, the Holy Spirit will say something to me, and I go, "I'm good. I appreciate it. But I'm not gonna lay sod today." But today, I said, "Okay." I went back to the house, and I put on some work shirts and pants, and I walked over there, still hadn't met them yet. And I introduced myself to Matt and Tristan. And I just started grabbing grass, and he's like, "What are you doing?" I was like, "I'm gonna help you lay this grass, man, it's miserable out here." And he's like, "Really?" And I was like, "Yeah, let's go." He's like, "Okay." So we laid grass all day. We set up the sprinklers, we did the whole yard. It was awful.

And we got done, we sat on his porch, we had a couple of beers, we hung out. And he was just like, "I've never, I can't believe you, like, started laying grass, like, what's wrong with you?" And I was like, "I don't know." And to be honest, that's the spot where I should have turned it into a God conversation and said, "Because God loves you and He loves me, and I'm doing it to love on you," but I didn't. But eventually, we did have those conversations, and it came up all the time. Like, he would tell everybody he met. If somehow the Palmers came up in the conversation, he would tell that story. So it was super impactful. Just listening to the Holy Spirit and going and laying grass, which doesn't sound like a big deal, impacted him so much. And he talked about it all the time. And we became good friends with him. And he would ask questions, and we would have God conversations. And I'm not sure if Matt and Tristan are saved, I have no idea. They've moved, and we've kind of separated now because I've moved to different cities, and we have too, so we've kind of lost touch. But I know that it brought him to those conversations, which is all we can really ask for, is given the opportunity.

Another way is by discipling others. Matthew 28:19-20, the Great Commission, says, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." So Jesus, before He left, told His disciples, and is telling us virtually the same thing: go and make disciples. That's what He's telling us to do. That's the last thing He told us to do.

And we're doing this with our small groups. We're discipling each other, we're making new disciples, we're bringing people in, we're talking to them about God, we're trying to disciple each other. Our small group is amazing. There's so much input from every direction. Andy will say something that'll impact Brianna. Maddie will say something that'll impact George. And everybody just interacts left and right. It's awesome. And we should be taking what we're learning in those situations and helping to make other disciples, and therefore grow the kingdom of God.

So we talked about the how. Why do we share the Gospel? Why do we proclaim the universal reign of God?

Well, Matthew 28:19-20, the Great Commission, says, "Jesus commands us to do it." It's a direct command from Jesus to His followers. We are to obey His instructions and spread the gospel to all nations. So that's one of the main reasons: God told us to do it. If we are followers of Christ, we should be doing what He told us to do, what His final instructions were for us to do.

We should also be motivated by God's love, and this is what I was talking about with salvation not ending with us. We should be overwhelmed by God's love for us, we should be overwhelmed with our own salvation, and it should pour out to others. It should fill us, and then we should be going, "Hey, Ben, I gotta tell you something, man. I love you as a brother, and this is why, and this is what God did for me." We should be telling that to people at work, at the golf course, wherever, looking for ways to do that.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15, a little nod to the pastor, says, "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and was raised again." When we understand the depth of what God did for us, it should motivate us to spread that to others. It should be just like a waterfall, filling the fountain and then pouring it out.

Another reason is we should do it to obey the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:8 says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." We should be listening to the Holy Spirit when He says, "Hey, look at me. I'm infinitely more important than the conversation you're having right now." Yes, Lord. "I'm infinitely more important than the football game this afternoon. I'm infinitely more important than the job you're working on this week." We should be listening to that and act on it. We should be looking for those opportunities.

The Holy Spirit directs us to witness, and when He does, He will have it set up for you. If the Holy Spirit asks you to go lay grass for Matt, when you go lay grass for Matt, he's gonna talk about it for years to come. The Holy Spirit will lay the path for you. If He asks you to go pray for somebody because their husband had an accident last night and they're working in a hotel changing sheets, or whatever, and you feel like the Holy Spirit tells you to go, they're gonna go, "I can't believe I needed somebody to pray for me." It's gonna be ready for you. So listen to the Holy Spirit. He will tell you, He will direct you, and He will also lay the groundwork so that it's not going to be a stumbling thing; it's going to be something that's already set up for you.

We should be sharing the gospel to bring salvation to the lost. This is a repeating pattern, but Romans 10:13-15 says, "For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the news of Jesus to them?

It's a humbling statement. There's a lot of people that are saved but aren't sharing their salvation. I'm one of them. God's talking to me; this is for me. I've rarely shared my testimony or shared anything. I don't talk a lot, so it's just part of my nature. But God is saying, "Look at me, Josh." Yes, God. "Look at me. I'm infinitely more important than your insecurities. I'm infinitely more important than your anxiety, your fear, your work, whatever it is. God is infinitely more important than all those things."

And also, if we don't share it, how are they going to hear it? We're relying on other ways for it to happen. My best friend in the world is sitting right here. I never really shared the gospel with Jordan, but Jordan is saved. He heard it from somewhere else, but I spent many years hanging out with him and never talked to him about it. If something would have happened to Jordan, I would be devastated. So we need to use that, we need to understand that, and to love the people we love and see them with God's eyes and love on them and share the stories, or else they might not hear.

I wasn't planning on crying, jackwagon.

The last reason is for the Calebs in our life. I worked with Caleb for many years, kind of a similar situation. We were good friends. We talked about everything. Caleb was a Georgia football fan, and I was a Clemson fan, and we were kind of rivals. We talked about how Caleb loved to hunt. He had a camp that they went to every year for two or three weeks, and they hunted, a bunch of men, his dad, and everybody. We talked about different weapons. We talked about conspiracy theories. We talked about being ready if something happened to the economy. We talked about how he loved BMWs and how he was doing this modification to his car. We talked about how I loved poker and different theories of how to play poker. And I never once, after hours and hours and hours of sitting in a nuclear power plant with him, said, "Do you know Jesus Christ? Do you know what God did for you? Do you know what God did for me?" I could have just said, "Do you know what God did for me?" and just told him that story. I never did that.

About six months after this story with Caleb, we were at a new nuclear plant in Missouri. He was on night shift. Caleb got off work. He was about 36 years old, very fit, very healthy young man. He came home, ate dinner with two of his roommates who were working with him, went and took a shower, they went to work. They said, "We'll see you in the morning." He went and laid down. He didn't get up. It was a brain aneurysm. I've talked to Caleb's dad. Caleb's dad is saved; I believe Caleb was saved, but I never talked to him about it, and I let that opportunity slip.

That's heavy. And it can happen quickly. It can happen to young people; it can happen to anybody. We just don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. So we have to seize those opportunities, and we just have to make God infinitely more important than anything else. Let's share and make it important, and then we can talk about football, and then we can talk about whatever else we're talking about. But let's make that what we're doing: we're listening and we're sharing that.

For communion today, as we get ready for communion and the worship team comes up, there will be somebody in the back and somebody in the front with the elements. As you're taking it today, just listen for God saying, "Look at me." Look at me, Mountainside. Let's be a place where heaven meets earth, and we proclaim the universal reign of God. Let's make that part of our soul, part of our body. Let's make it very important. Let's make it infinitely more important than everything else we're making important. Let's make it the stepping stone, the first thing we're doing.

So that's all I got.

Movement | Where Heaven Meets Earth - Revelation 7:9-10, 21:1-5 | July 14

INTRO

Hey family!

We are talking about our mission as the Church once again. Last week we started down this road that we have a mission as disciples of Jesus to make disciples. This idea of mission is a purposeful movement that we as the body of Christ, as the family of God here in Boone are moving toward – we are committing ourselves to it.

This mission is to be a place where Heaven meets Earth by proclaiming the universal reign of God, demonstrating Jesus to our communities, and inviting our neighbors to join us in becoming real people, who are part of a real family, and who worship the real God.

We want to be a place where Heaven meets Earth by proclaiming the universal reign of God, demonstrating Jesus to our communities, and inviting our neighbors to join us in becoming real people, who are part of a real family, and who worship the real God.

I promised last week that we were going to start unpacking what this means, and what this looks like for our lives, for this church. What does that mean for us? So here we are.

We want to be a place where Heaven meets Earth.

WHERE HEAVEN AND EARTH COLLIDE

What are we talking about? What on earth is this crazy guy standing in front of me talking about?

We’re talking about vision. We’re talking about the future. We’re talking about the present. What is, what was, and what will be.

God has a vision for the future.

God has a vision for the future. And if we’re going to see disciples made, we have to begin with God’s heart and God’s vision for what He wants to see happen.

We have to ask the question, what do you long to do God?

If God is moving in this place, in this small mountain town, in the High Country, in

North Carolina, and the nation, and the world, then where is it you are going Lord? What do you want to do? What is your will? What is your purpose in the world?

We don’t have to guess.

If you’re thinking what is God’s will for my life, why are you guessing? God has revealed to us what He desires, what His will and purpose are. We have the revelation of God’s prophetic vision for our lives. And that is for Heaven and Earth to overlap. That God’s space and our space would be one. In the Bible, the ideas of Heaven and Earth are ways of talking about God’s space and our space.

The union of Heaven and Earth is what the story of the Bible is all about — how they were once fully united, and then driven apart, and about how God is bringing them back together once again.

The problem is we’ve become comfortable here with life outside of Eden. This is our experience. This is our norm. So we don’t expect Heaven to come here. We long for a future that is different. We are looking forward to what is to come. We long for a Heaven that is still separate.

But the story of the Bible longs for an overlap. Where God’s space and our space become one. God wants to live with his people. And the ultimate joys of a future Heaven are not that Earth isn’t there, it’s that God is there.

The prize of Heaven is the presence of God.

We need to reimagine what is and what should be, what has been and what can be. We can’t be limited by our experience or by our vision. We need a greater vision. We need God to lead us into His vision. And His vision is happening here. And it’s happening right now.

God wants to live with his people!

God wants to live with his people, so He made a place.

IN THE COOL OF THE DAY

It says in Genesis…

I’d love for you all to follow along with me as we read these passages this morning. If you have a Bible and don’t already have it open, go ahead and get it out now. If you didn’t bring a Bible, keep your devices in your pockets. There are Bibles at the end of each section. I’m sure someone would be happy to pass you one of them. As we flip through the pages, it’ll be a much more tangible illustration of the picture God is painting across history and to the vision He’s leading us to.

It says in Genesis starting in chapter 2 verse 8, 8 The Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. 9 The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

Verse 15, 15 The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. 16 But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— 17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” (Genesis 2:8-9, 15-17)

Flip over a page, chapter 3 verse 8, 8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:8-9)

This is what the Bible’s description of the garden of Eden is all about. It’s a place where God and humanity dwell together perfectly. Heaven and Earth overlap completely. There is no separation. God’s space invades our space. His presence fills the atmosphere. His glory covers the Earth. It’s a place where humans partner with God in building a flourishing, beautiful world.

The garden of Eden was the first place where God’s space and humanity’s space were one. God came and walked with His children. It says in the “cool of the day” or in the “wind of the day” the time when God would come walking through the Garden with His creation.

God’s presence would come down to be with Adam. He expected to see His beloved son. He desired to be with him and walk with him, that they might abide together.

The story of Eden is not necessarily the story of perfection that you might assume. It’s not presented to be utopia. We may think of it that way – but that’s not really the point. It was good. That’s the point. And God was there – that’s the main point. It was good because God was there.

That’s the vision God has. We hear it echo throughout the Scriptures. “I am with you. I will be with you. Do not fear. I’m right here. I’ll be your God and you will be my people. Abide in me. Dwell in me. Be with me. Make me your home. Behold, I am with you always – to the end of the age, I am with you.

But as humans, we wanted to do things a different way. We wanted to go it alone. We wanted to create a world apart from Him. We looked at each other. We looked at ourselves. We lost the desire for His presence.

We’re a lot like our own children in that way. My kids still love to be with me, to do things with dad. Sometimes it doesn’t even matter what we’re doing, they just want to be with daddy. It’s all I can do to keep them away from me.

At some point though, I imagine, it won’t be so cool to be with dad anymore. They’ll go it alone. They’ll pursue their desires and leave. Then I’ll probably miss them constantly on me – maybe. Maybe they’ll never get there. But that’s the way it goes. That’s the trend.

God’s desire has never lessened. He’s still longing for that day. Throughout history He has continued to carve out these little Edens – these places and these times where His presence would come and He would beckon us to enter in.

GOD MEETS WITH US

Let’s turn over to Exodus chapter 33, “1 The Lord said to Moses, “Get going, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt. Go up to the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I told them, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’ 2 And I will send an angel before you to drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 3 Go up to this land that flows with milk and honey. But I will not travel among you, for you are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I did, I would surely destroy you along the way.” (Exodus 33:1-3)

Skip down a few verses. Verse 7, “7 It was Moses’ practice to take the Tent of Meeting and set it up some distance from the camp. Everyone who wanted to make a request of the Lord would go to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp.

8 Whenever Moses went out to the Tent of Meeting, all the people would get up and stand in the entrances of their own tents. They would all watch Moses until he disappeared inside. 9 As he went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and hover at its entrance while the Lord spoke with Moses. 10 When the people saw the cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, they would stand and bow down in front of their own tents. 11 Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.” (Exodus 33:7-11)

The Tent of Meeting. The Tabernacle. The Tent of Meeting was a place where the people of Israel could plead their needs before the Lord. They could interact with the divine in a way. It was a space where God dwelt here on Earth – where Heaven and Earth overlapped.

Actually there were two tents. The first was temporary and erected outside of the camp. Moses would enter into God’s presence and then return. God’s presence would descend only for Moses to convene with the Lord, then it would lift again. When the Tabernacle was finished, it was placed in the middle of the camp and all of Israel surrounded it (Numbers 2).

Like the tree of life, it was at the very center. It becomes the heart of the community. God's glorious presence is revealed in the midst of His people.

And God’s presence would remain. He was there – in their midst. When His presence lifted the people would set out and when they camped it would remain filling the Tabernacle.

Exodus 40 says, “34 Then the cloud covered the Tabernacle, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. 35 Moses could no longer enter the Tabernacle because the cloud had settled down over it, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.

36 Now whenever the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out on their journey, following it. 37 But if the cloud did not rise, they remained where they were until it lifted. 38 The cloud of the Lord hovered over the Tabernacle during the day, and at night fire glowed inside the cloud so the whole family of Israel could see it. This continued throughout all their journeys.”

God’s glory now fills the Tent of Meeting at all times. Previously, God’s glory remained apart from the people and would only descend when Moses entered the tent. Once the Tabernacle is established, God’s glory is constantly present. It lifts only as a sign that Israel will embark on the next phase of their journey.

God desires to be with His people. It’s God’s enduring presence with His people. The Tabernacle. The Tent of Meeting.

In Hebrew it's the “ohel moed”.

Mo’ed is a beautiful word. It’s a beautiful concept, if we understood Hebrew, that we can trace through from creation to Jesus. It is the word that is used here for the Tent of Meeting, it means meeting. It’s also the word that is used to refer to the various festivals celebrated by Israel.

The funny thing is that there are other Hebrew words that mean festival or meeting. It’s not really the word you would expect to be used. Mo’ed has a more specific meaning that is more accurately “an appointed time” or “an appointed place”.

These appointed times and appointed places are holy. They are holy because they are set aside. They are times when God meets with His people. He connects with us, on our level – in our space.

The Tent of Meeting was a physical representation of a Heavenly reality. It was a manifestation of the Heavenly Kingdom come to Earth. And so, to make use of the Tent of Meeting was to commune with and enter into the Kingdom of God.

The “Ohel Moed” was the appointed place on Earth where God would physically connect with His people. That is until Jesus.

JESUS CHANGES EVERYTHING

It’s easy to dismiss the Tent of Meeting. Its description in the last few chapters of Exodus seems boring and irrelevant. Yet when we look at these things from the eyes of faith, tracing the various elements throughout the scriptural witness, we see how the tent of meeting points to the temple and the temple points to Christ.

Let’s turn over to the New Testament, to the Gospel of John. Chapter 1, “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”

Verse 10, “10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

Verse 16, “16 From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.” (John 1:1-5, 10-14, 16-18)

In the Gospel of John, we hear this claim that God became human in Jesus and “made his [home], his dwelling among us”.

This is really cool. What this literally means is that God, in putting on flesh and becoming human, “he set up a tabernacle among us.” And so what John is claiming right here is that Jesus is a temple. He is now the place where Heaven and Earth overlap.

Only now, He’s not just doing it in one place for people to come to Him. He’s doing it out there in the midst of the sin and darkness, He’s creating little pockets of Heaven. He’s doing it out there in the middle of the world of sin and death. He’s bringing life. He’s creating the space for people to encounter God’s presence. To be with Him – dwell with Him.

Heaven has come to Earth.

In the tabernacle there was the show bread, the bread of the presence which was a physical sign of God’s care and sustenance, His nourishment and forgiveness.

Jesus comes along and says, “I am the bread!”

33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.” 35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:33-35)

Jesus refers to himself as the source of spiritual and physical nourishment for the faithful; he is the visible sign of God’s care and provision. Jesus himself is the “bread of presence.”

Jesus teaches His disciples to pray, “Lord, give us this day our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11)

We need the daily sustaining presence of Jesus – the bread of life.

In the Temple and the Tabernacle, there was a curtain that separated the inner court area from the “Holy of Holies” the place where the Ark of the Covenant was, the mercy seat, and where God’s presence dwelt.

It created a barrier, and with it, an understanding that experiencing God’s glorious presence was reserved for the holy few.

But when Jesus was crucified the curtain of the Tabernacle was torn in two (Mark 15:38). The very barrier that separated Israel from God's glory is destroyed. The spirit of God came to dwell with all people. It’s for everyone. God’s presence is available to all people who abide in Him and the salvation of the cross.

Jesus changes everything.

Jesus isn’t just talked about as being a temple. He’s also talked about as being the temple sacrifice .

It says in Hebrews, “11 So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. 12 With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.” (Hebrews 9:11-12)

So now, He’s not just seen as God who took on flesh creating pockets of Heaven as He goes. Now, Jesus’ sacrifice has the power to keep spreading and spreading and reuniting more and more of Heaven and Earth.

He told His followers to long for this. He taught them to beckon its coming. He told us to pray that God’s Kingdom would come and that His will would be done here on Earth just as it is in Heaven. In Boone as it is in Heaven.

He told us to long for the day when Earth would look just like Heaven.

UNTIL THE EARTH LOOKS JUST LIKE HEAVEN

So in the book of Revelation, we get this beautiful image of the garden of Eden, now in the form of a city, coming to end the age of sin and death by redeeming all of human history in a renewed creation. And God’s space and human’s space completely overlap once again.

Let’s turn there and read these glorious words of what will be. Revelation 7 verse 9, “9 After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. 10 And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”

Real quick, flip over to chapter 21, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” 5 And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!”

Who do we see in this vision?

All peoples. Peoples from every nation and tribe and people and language. A vast crowd, too great to count.

You and I aren't enough. We’re not enough to account for the depth of Jesus’ sacrifice. It takes the nations. Listen, God loves you deeply. He loves you so, so much. But you and I aren’t enough. We’re not a worthy trade. It’s for all people. We have to have greater vision – a vision that extends outside of ourselves and reaches to the ends of the Earth.

Until the Earth looks just like Heaven.

Until all the Earth is filled with the glory of the Lord as the waters fill the sea. (Habakkuk 2:14).

OUTRO

We know what Heaven is going to look like. We have God’s vision for the future. We know the end result. God’s desire is that we would be with Him. Dwell with Him. Abide in Him. Tabernacle together.

What happens in between?

In 1 Corinthians Paul challenges us, “16 Don’t you realize”, he writes, “that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?”

We are the place.

Right here. Right now. We are partnering with Him to create. We are becoming.

God’s Spirit now tabernacles among us. He dwells with us. We, as the church and individually, are the little pockets, the little places where Heaven and Earth overlap. We are creating those places where people around us can come, enter in, and encounter the presence of God.

We are creating and experiencing Heaven now, even as we wait for eternity.

God has placed eternity into our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We long for this vision of God’s. We ache for it. We believers groan for it, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of this future glory. We long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We wait with eager hope… (Romans 8:23).

The joyful anticipation deepens with each breath.

We want to be a place where Heaven meets Earth.

To be disciples who make disciples so that we may stand around the throne together and sing with everything that is within us, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!”

God’s will for your life is that you would give literally everything you have to accomplish His vision.

Resources (*the views expressed within the following content are solely the author's and may not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Mountainside Church):

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/heaven-and-earth/#:~:text=The%20Temple

https://hebrewwordlessons.com/2018/09/16/moed-the-creators-appointed-times/

https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/what-is-the-tent-of-meeting.html#:~:text=The%20tent%20of%20meeting%20was%20the%20location%20of,God%20throughout%20Israel’s%20journey%20to%20the%20Promised%20Land.

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/meod-strength/#:~:text=Loving%20God%20with%20your%20me%27od%20means%20devoting%20every,the%20Shema.%20Me%27od%20can%20refer%20to%20almost%20anything

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-disciple-maker-s-podcast/id1122212520?i=1000661020078

https://www.gotquestions.org/tent-of-meeting.html

https://www.amazon.com/Great-Divorce-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652950

Movement | We Have A Mission - Proverbs 29:18, Matthew 28:19-20 | July 7

INTRO

Hey family!

It’s so good to see you all. I hope you had a great 4th.

I didn’t really make the connection until later this week, but it’s interesting that we find ourselves here, after all we’ve come through in Corinthians and where we’re headed in just a couple months. To be here on the 4th of July weekend. I would say it’s a coincidence, but I have learned not to believe in coincidence.

Of course, the 4th of July doesn’t really have anything to do with what we’re going to talk about today except for this. As those 56 or so men sat in that room in Philadelphia on a hot summer's day in June of 1776 with the windows nailed shut, they set their hearts, single mindedly, on one specific mission – independence.

Committing treason, knowing they could be hanged and their families destroyed, they gave themselves completely to that mission. There was no turning back.

We too find ourselves at a similar crossroads, not against tyranny, but a mission lies before us nonetheless. We have a mission! It’s not independence. Perhaps it’s more akin to a greater dependence. But we have a mission!

The next five weeks, we’re going to be talking about our mission. What is it that we are setting our hearts to, single mindedly, as this expression of the family of God? What vision do we have of the future that motivates and compels us forward? What’s our focus? What’s our mission? Mission, put simply, is a purposeful movement. Purposeful movement. We are making purposeful steps, purposeful movements toward something.

WE HAVE A MISSION

We have a mission!

Proverbs 29:18 says, “18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he who keeps the law is happy.” (KJV)

This may seem like an obvious choice of Scripture for us this morning, if you’re familiar with this particular proverb.

I could have gone even more obvious. Matthew 28. The great commission. We’re going to get there.

But this verse in proverbs is an interesting verse. It doesn’t quite mean what you may think it to mean, or at least what it seems to be communicating on the surface. There is an even deeper truth to be grasped.

The King James, of course, reads “Where there is no vision, the people perish…”

Most other translations say something to the effect, “18 Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.” (NIV)

It’s not really talking about vision then is it, at least not in the broad sense of any old vision. There is a specific idea in mind here and that is revelation. The revealed word of God, it’s a prophetic vision of God’s purpose and mission for our lives.

Where that doesn’t exist, people are lost. Lost and restless souls, wandering without purpose. Worshiping whatever they turn their minds to. But there's no life there. This is a picture of the golden calf in Exodus 32. Moses goes up to commune with the Lord. He’s up there a long time, at least longer than the people believed was reasonable. But of course they were impatient, so what can we gather from that? They begged for Egypt after a page of the wilderness.

At this time, Moses was Israel’s link to the revelation of God’s mission and purpose. Moses spoke to the people the very words of God. When that was absent even for the shortest period of time they set their mind to whatever they thought up. A golden calf, here’s your god – yeah, okay, why not? The people had cast off restraint and wandered wherever seemed good to them. But there was no life in that gold cow.

“God has given us the written Word, the Bible [which points us to His living Word – Jesus]. When we fail to read God’s Word and live it out in our lives, we become people “without vision.” When we ignore God’s Word, we begin to live without restraint to our own peril. Conversely, when we heed God’s Word, we are blessed.”

We, as humans created in the image of God, long for life. We desire purpose and meaning. We crave it.

If you were to poll the graduating class at ASU, what are the top three things you want most as you head into your adult life, among those answers would be a resounding desire for meaning and purpose.

Studies have been done with actual statistics and numbers. I’ve seen them. I didn’t quote them because then I’d have to cite them and reference them to prove that I’m not making it up and that it’s actually 78% rather than 80% or whatever the actual numbers are.

I know right, such a hassle.

We crave meaning. We desire purpose. The reality is that we search for it relentlessly. The book of Ecclesiastes is Solomon’s pursuit of meaning in all the ways that you could possibly hope to find it. And in the end, Solomon concludes that life is about doing God's will. The only meaning and satisfaction to be found is in submitting yourself to God’s mission for your life. “13 That’s the whole story… Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

We are lost without the vision of God’s purpose and mission for our lives.

We see this in the world, we see this in the church when the word of God is not understood or prioritized we lack vision and end up doing any manner of things that we deem to be good missions but are not God’s ultimate mission. His mission.

We need His mission. That’s what fills our tank of meaning and purpose. It’s who we are. It’s why we were created. Without it we are restless souls as Augustine wrote, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

God has revealed to us in His word a beautiful purpose for our lives, a mission – purposeful movement. When we lose sight of that purposed movement, we are no longer functioning as the body of Christ.

As we learned from Corinthians, to be the body of Christ we must all be working together in coordinated movement. What we’re talking about here is that we must all be headed in the same direction with purposeful movement.

Missio Dei - what is the mission of God?

THE MISSION OF GOD

The mission of God is the answer to the question why? Why do we do this? What’s it all for? The Church exists because God has a mission. The Church exists because God has a mission, not the other way around.

According to some, God became the first missionary shortly after creation, at the beginning of salvation history. To rescue us from our slavery to sin and death. To redeem us from our guilt and shame. To transform us that we may reflect His glory as His image bearers. To transform our culture, this world into His kingdom.

I do want to say this before we get too far. Worship is the destination. Worship is the goal of life. I don’t want us to lose sight of that. Micah 6:8 communicates it. Matthew 22 says it. The purpose of mankind is to love God passionately and love people purposefully.

There has always been a doxological intent to humanity's existence. We are here for God’s glory. We have been brought into the glory of God and He has made us to be that glory in some strange way that we can’t really understand. We express our love and thankfulness for all that God has done. It’s about the glory of God.

There is a famous quote that says something to the effect of the mission exists because worship doesn’t. In other words, we don’t have a clear picture of revelation where every knee is bowing and every tongue confessing so the mission, the call will be necessary until that appointed time is fulfilled.

There will be some time in the future where the mission will cease to exist, but worship will continue. Worship is the destination. The mission of God is the vehicle.

And so, it is such that God’s mission is central to His being because God desires that all would be saved. Peter writes, “8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:8-9)

This mission is at the heart of God’s very self. Mission is His task not ours. We are His chosen instruments, but it’s His mission. We see this from the very beginning.

THE MISSION IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

This may be surprising to you.

God’s mission hasn’t changed that much over the years.

In the last eon of human existence, it’s still the same. God is still winning back the hearts of His people.

God told Abraham, “17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” (Genesis 22:17-18, ESV)

God has called out a people so that the world might know and experience Him. That the nations may see and encounter the presences of the real God. That’s what He told Abraham.

Yes, Israel failed so many times. But there are still glimpses of this picture throughout the Hebrew Bible. The beautiful picture of Ruth just to name one. “Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God” (Ruth 1:16).

It’s always been about the nations. Not one of them – all of them!

We see it in Egypt. Even as the people of Israel walked out of slavery, thousands of Egyptians went with them. It’s never been about one people. It’s about all peoples. Everyone needs Jesus. You will never meet a person in this life or the life to come that doesn’t need Jesus.

If you’ll permit me the potential risk of misinterpretation, I see the beginnings of the mission even there.

God created mankind on the first page of the Bible, in the first chapter, to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth, and to subdue it. (Genesis 1:27-28, ESV)

He created us in His image that we might multiply ourselves. From the very beginning, God’s command to humanity has always been creating a family. Be fruitful. Make more of yourselves.

It’s interesting. We see Jesus in John 15 tell His disciples, “8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” You’ll see quite a large number of well known pastors teach this as a rallying call to go and make disciples.

I’ve always seen it much more a statement to let the fruit of God’s Spirit increase in your life. I always wondered where they were making the connection for this to be about evangelism and discipleship. Here in Genesis is where we make this connection. Make more of yourselves.

“You have often heard me teach. Now I want you to tell these same things to followers who can be trusted to tell others.” (2 Timothy 2:2, CEV)

Teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. Go forth. Be fruitful. Multiply. Fill the earth with My glory.

This is an invitation from God. Rule with me. Be with me. Let’s do it together. I am with you always. This is my mission. My purpose in the world. Join me in it.

THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH

“There are people, maybe you’re one of them, who are trying to figure out God’s will for their lives. You're trying to figure out God’s will for your life without first considering what God’s purpose in the world is.”

God’s purpose for the Church is to multiply ourselves, expand, and fill the Earth with His glory.

Jesus said, “19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20, NLT)

Make disciples! That’s God’s purpose in the world.

Make disciples.

This is such a great verse. Isn’t this a great verse.

I don’t know, maybe you don’t think it’s a great verse because now you have to go do something you don’t want to do. Or something you don’t know how to do.

You know what’s so great about this verse?

There’s only one command here. There’s only one verb. Make disciples. That’s it. That’s God’s mission. That’s God’s purpose. Multiply. Expand. Fill. Make disciples.

The rest of the sentence answers the how. In your going – make disciples.

In your neighborhood. Down your street. In the grocery store. At work. Wherever you are going, whatever you are doing, make disciples while you’re doing it.

Baptizing them. Teaching them. What should we teach them Jesus? Everything! Everything, as it pertains to Me and life and holiness. Teach them everything about Me. help me win their hearts anew.

How do we make disciples again? That might not really clear it up for any of us.

Here’s what it means to be a disciple who makes disciples. That's what we’re after.

“To be a disciple means to do what you do well for the glory of God and to do it somewhere strategic for the mission of God.”

That your ability would meet God’s ambition for His lost children. That’s what it means at its simplest.

“Local churches are signposts pointing the way to Christ’s kingdom—embassies of heaven on earthly soil. As we gather for worship, teaching, and table, and scatter for global witness, the goal of missions is the worship of God. And worship necessarily drives us to establish faithful churches of disciple-making disciples among all peoples.”

That’s the mission of the Church. As followers of Christ, our mission is to be disciples who make disciples.

I know that many of you, maybe most of you, did not end up here in the High Country because of God’s mission. Maybe a lot of this has taken you by surprise. It is too rare for people to be confronted with this reality in many churches today. It’s just unfortunate. But this is what we are setting our hearts toward.

And “my heart for you, my heart for us, is that the Gospel would multiply deep in our lives and wide throughout the High Country and the world.”

Whether you came here because this was a strategic place to join the mission of God. That God was calling you here. Or if you ended up here by coincidence. Which I don’t believe in, remember. I pray that the Gospel would take root deep down into your hearts and change you in such a way that it spreads wide among your neighbors. Through Boone, Blowing Rock, and to the ends of the Earth.

OUR MISSION

We have a mission.

Whether you like it or not, we are on a mission.

Jesus came proclaiming the universal reign of God – that the kingdom is here, the kingdom is now. He came to seek and save the lost. He came that the prodigal Son might find his way home and the older brother might rejoice in his inheritance. He came for you.

And Jesus tells us, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” (John 20:21, ESV)

That’s the mission of God, the sending of God. Purposeful movement.

We are trying to respond to what God is doing in the world – and this is what God is doing. It’s His mission. So, we’re just asking the question, what do you want to do in me? What do you want to do through me?

The elders got together a few weeks back now and we’ve been asking that question. Lord, what do you want for Mountainside?

Here’s what we feel God calling us to:

We want to be a place where Heaven meets Earth by proclaiming the universal reign of God, embodying Jesus to our communities, and inviting our neighbors to join us in becoming real people who are part of a real family, and who worship the real God.

We want to proclaim Jesus with our words and demonstrate Jesus with our actions in such as way that what we speak and how we love ar in agreement with each other and don’t cause confusion as we invite our neighbors to join us in this family, creating places in our communities where the distinction between Heaven and Earth becomes very thin.

That’s what we are setting our hearts to. That’s our single minded pursuit.

Do you want to know what that means? Well, come back next week and find out. Where going to spend the next four following weeks unpacking this statement.

We want to be a place where Heaven meets Earth by proclaiming the universal reign of God, embodying Jesus to our communities, and inviting our neighbors to join us in becoming real people, who are part of a real family, and who worship the real God.

Why not make our mission statement: we want to make disciples, a whole bunch of them, as many as we can? Why not that?

Well it is that.

The phrase making disciples by itself also opens up that all to familiar question, how do you do that? How do you make disciples?

WHY WE NEED VISION

And we may lose that fervor that, “our mission as Christians is nothing short of incredible. It's a mission that calls us to live out our faith in every aspect of our lives and to spread the love of Christ with every step we take. It's about being agents of change, living embodiments of grace, and illuminating the darkest corners [of the world].”

We have a mission!

And what an incredible mission it is.

Unfortunately, the church in our culture has in many ways lost sight of the mission. We have lost our vision. There are sort of two ways this happens. Maybe more, I don’t know.

We as the church can often tend toward being a bit too myopic or a bit too hyperopic. It’s the two sides we veer off. Nearsighted or farsighted.

We lose our vision for God’s mission when we become a bit too caught up in the details and maintenance that we forget the focus, the heading, the direction, the mission. We become good at being spiritual as Paul might say to the Corinthians, but we end up being really bad at following Jesus.

The other problem is that we can zoom so far out that we either begin to make every good mission God’s mission or we become paralyzed to inaction and ultimately say that’s not how I’m gifted. We can get wrapped up in social justice, which is a good mission and arguably has a role to play, but it alone is not God’s mission for us. It’s not our purpose. It’s not what we were made for. In fact the Bible repeatedly says that ultimate justice is God’s thing. That’s His bag. Yes, we seek the good of all people. We seek justice and reconciliation. But in the end, vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord.

Similarly, we can get so focused that there is a mission, that even if it is God’s mission we lose sight of our role in His mission. We may even think, that’s what we pay you for Zach. You’re our role in God’s mission – right? After all, I’m paid to be good, as Roy would say. You’re good for nothing.

And so you can lose sight that this is your job. It’s His mission and it’s your job. And maybe you just need to preach that to yourself on repeat. This is my job. This is my job. Until it sinks in deep.

Do you mind if we just have a quick activity? I know these kinds of things usually come at the beginning of a sermon, but I’ve seen this work pretty well at another church, so maybe it’ll serve to drive this point home for us as well. I think this is going to work. I have high hopes. Let’s give it a shot anyway.

I’ll need four volunteers to come and help me out though.

Okay, what we need to do collectively now, is suspend our disbelief and imagine that you four are firefighters and that there is a fire engine here before us.

Now, I’m going to give each of you your riding assignments, these are your responsibilities as you are putting out a fire, bear with me. Alright, this varies from state to state and company to company, but applies generally enough.

A Seat - The Truck Captain: You’re in charge. Can you do that? When we arrive at the fire you're going to be calling the shots, sizing-up the task, and making sure everyone else is doing their part.

B Seat - The Irons Man: Not Ironman. You’re in charge of busting down the doors when we arrive. What are our points of entry? You’re getting our people in to contain and control while making sure everyone else is getting out.

C Seat - The Hook and Can Man: You’re the assistant to the regional manager. You got that? You are assisting the irons man in entry and the primary search and recovery. You’re following behind with a pressurize water can or hose making sure all remnants of the fire are dealt with. You’re the hoser.

D Seat - The Driver: You’re responsible for everything outside the fire building. You’re carrying the ladders. You’re directing the hoses. You got that?

Tell me who you are again so I’m sure you got it. A Seat? B Seat? C Seat? D Seat?

Perfect, what’s your primary job, again?

No! Your primary job, your mission is to put out the fire.

The church has one mission.

Thank you all, you can go ahead and sit back down.

“The church has one mission. That “those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.” (Romans 15:21)

We can’t get distracted from this. We can’t veer off and get lost with a lot of good things. We have a mission.

“Making the mission of the church central to who you are means encouraging and preparing every member to share and embody the gospel in every aspect of life. The mission of the church is not just the work of faraway missionaries or even pastors. It’s for the whole body of believers.”

“We are so excited about what God is doing… we see the opportunities. [It is at times slow, tedious, painful work that can go unnoticed by people at first.] But He has blessed us so much.

God has put us here. God has put you here at this time, for this hour. We understand His purposes in the world, and He’s given us a vision for the future, a heading, a course to reach the High Country and expand our reach into the world. Step by step God is revealing his even greater plan for us to do that. “

I love this verse in Isaiah 30, “21 Your own ears will hear Him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.”

We want to be a place where Heaven meets Earth by proclaiming the universal reign of God, embodying Jesus to our communities, and inviting our neighbors to join us in becoming real people, who are part of a real family, and who worship the real God.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

Why is this important? Why now? Aren’t these messages better suited for January? Like a resolution for the new year or something like that? More than half of our people aren’t even here to hear it? Why now?

In just another month, yes summer is almost ever, I can’t believe it either. It also just started so that’s weird. Time really speeds up the older you get.

In just another month, there are 18 - 20,000 people who will enter this small mountain town, nearly doubling our population. 20,000 people who find themselves at critical decision points in their lives. 20,000 people who desperately need Jesus.

Now is the time. Now is the time for our neighbors who are here year round, for the transient young professionals who come and go, the “Boonerangs”, for the college students. The time is now for us to step into our mission as true disciples of Jesus.

Resources (*the views expressed within the following content are solely the author's and may not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Mountainside Church):

https://www.cornerstonewestford.com/sermons/the-mission-of-god-acts-181-17-misseo-dei/

https://churchonthemove.com/parterning-with-gods-grand-mission

https://summitchurch.com/message/my-role-in-the-mission

https://summitchurch.com/message/the-mission-making-disciples-matthew-2819

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-goal-of-missions-may-not-be-what-you-think/

https://www.gotquestions.org/without-vision-people-perish.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzwEFyNMzgo&ab_channel=TheVillageChurch-FlowerMound

https://www.faithward.org/what-is-the-mission-of-the-church-today/#:~:text=While%20the%20Bible%20might%20not,share%20what%20Jesus%20was%20proclaiming

https://www.missiondiscovery.org/news/what-is-the-mission-of-a-christian/#:~:text=Our%20mission%20as%20Christians%20is,and%20illuminating%20the%20darkest%20corners

https://www.amazon.com/Master-Plan-Evangelism-Robert-Coleman/dp/0800788087

https://www.firefighternation.com/firerescue/riding-assignments-for-the-first-due-truck-company/#gref