Well, Good Morning to each of you. Thank you Brian for the ... - Bitly

Sermon Series: Fall Vision Refresh

Colossians 1:15-18 & Selected Texts “We’re Part of an Alliance”

Pastor Mike Brill: September 24th, 2017 Big Idea: “We are part of a Christ-Centered, Acts 1:8 family!"

Well, Good Morning to each of you. Thank you Brian for the introduction. As you have heard my name is Mike and I am the Young Adults Pastor here at Church of the Foothills. Before we get started I would like to extend a warm welcome to those listening online, as well as with Pastor Dillon in the Chapel and in Re:NEW with Pastor Phil. It is an honor to get to share this time with you all this morning.

Welcome to week 2 of our Fall Vision Refresh Series. This is a time for us as a church to hit pause and reflect on who we are as a body. Last week Pastor Brian walked us through our churches vision. Does anybody who was here remember the three words we use? To connect people to Jesus and help them grow to love and serve them.

This week, I am going to remind you that our church here in the foothills is a part of a much bigger alliance. No, this is not the rebel alliance from Star Wars. We are a part of a global movement of Churches called the Christian and Missionary Alliance.

This week, I want to spend our time getting acquainted with who the Alliance is and what our purpose is around the world.

In fact, there are over 2,000 churches and over 500,000 people who call the Alliance family here in the United States as well as over 22,000 churches and 6 million people around the world who are a part of our greater Alliance Family worldwide.

As we get started I want to tell you a story about just one of those Alliance churches. A little over 20 years ago an Alliance church was planted to be a witness to the community it was serving. As they did that, they reached and dramatically transformed the lives of a young couple in the area. That young couple accepted Christ and became a part of the church. Exciting right??? It gets even sweeter, not only was that young family reached but hundreds and even thousands of people were touched by a growing, vibrant church. Like many other families, that young couple decided to center and raise their family on Jesus Christ. A generation later one of their children is now actually being sent OUT as an extension of that church to plant a church in an unreached people group across the world.

I mean all this has taken place in such a short amount of time, isn’t that exciting? It looks like something out of the book of ACTS!

Friends, that church I just described…is THIS Church. That person I just described, the child in that story-is my beautiful bride Alyssa. Our church’s story is amazing, and we all get to be a part of something incredibly special in the coming years.

Together, and I want to emphasize the together in this-our church is going to send us abroad as missionaries, as early as next Fall. Alyssa and I have felt called to the mission field since shortly after we proclaimed our faith around 5 years ago.

I want to take a moment to talk about our journey since then. We have been passionate about missions and have dreamed about what that would look like. About a year ago, those dreams started to become more concrete when we were hired on staff last winter as part of an ALME program with the Alliance. It is a 2 year requirement for missionaries to serve as pastoral staff in the United States before being sent to the field. We have loved this portion of our journey and have grown so tremendously much the last year. We also have been working to fulfill some other requirements, while seeking the Lord with the help of our National Christian Missionary Alliance office towards where He is calling us.

We are taking a trip in November to 2 places that we feel called to, that our national office feels we would fit well with, AND where there is a specific need for the Gospel that matches our giftings.

Our prayer is that as we return from that trip, we have a clear sense of calling and can finish our appointment process to be sent out in the Fall of 2018. That would include passing an Ordination Panel Interview in January, and being voted in by an appointment committee in February to make it final. If we were to be voted in, we would then go through training next summer at Missionary Training Institute and then depart in fall for 4 years, during which we would go through at least 1 year of formal language study to become fluent in both culture and language in our new home. So there really is a lot that goes into this process, and we could not, would not even get close to being able to walk through it without having you to walk alongside us as a church family.

The amazing thing is that this is just one of the stories around you in this church, and our church is just one of the 2,000 here in the United States full of stories like this one. God is powerfully at work through this church and through the Christian and Missionary Alliance.

Today though, maybe you are sitting there and listening to this story and going I have never heard of the Christian & Missionary Alliance. So today I want answer the question:

Who is the Christian & Missionary Alliance? In other words, what makes us, us?

The first thing to know about the Alliance is that we are ChristCentered 1. The Alliance is Christ-Centered Turn in your Bible’s to Colossians 1:15-18. If you do not have a Bible this morning, you can find one underneath the chair in front of you.

Colossians 1:15-18 says, “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.”

He is the head of His Church!

With the Alliance it really is all about Jesus. He is the source of our love. He is the cause of our worship. And he is the core of our message. He is the Head of the Church, and he is writing his redemptive narrative here on earth, and the fun part is He most often uses His Church. We get to be a part of it.

An example of this Christ-centeredness is in the way that the Alliance allows the local Church the freedom to develop a contextually sound witness to the Gospel in their community. Now, this is not to say we don’t hold fast to the truth of Scripture. I can assure you, we do. This just means that when it comes to effective Gospel presentation, we keep the main thing the main thing. That is why, if you were to visit a church in an urban

European setting, or a rural setting in indigenous peoples in southern Asia, or even an Alliance church in the next state over, they would look a little different than the one we have here. That is extremely healthy, and ensures that we are communicating Jesus, not the form or structure we find him in our context.

It really is all about Jesus.

2. The Second thing to Know about the Alliance is that we are an ACTS 1:8 movement 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.” To be an ACTS 1:8 movement is to be filled with, submitted to, and empowered by the Holy Spirit in our personal lives, in our church, and in our ministry. And look at the promise for us as we go- “You will receive power when the Holy spirit comes on you” Friends we do not have to go alone. I am convinced it is only by the Holy Spirit’s empowerment that we can fully express Jesus love, compassion, and mercy to those who don’t yet know him.

Look at the second part of this verse. We have covered the “from,” now who is this witnessing “to”?

Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are being called to take the gospel to

1. Our Jerusalem (Neighborhoods)

I believe that one of the most powerful witnesses we can have are those we see every day in our neighborhood. Do we reach out to them? Have we invited them to share a meal with us? Do we even know their names?

2. Our Judea (Foothills Region)

(Folsom, Cameron Park, Shingle Springs, Pollock Pines) The foothill region-you could even extend this to the greater Sacramento region.

3. Samaria (People who are different than us)

Here is a fact that might surprise you this morning- We are a part of the 2nd most diverse metropolitan area in our country in the Greater

Sacramento Area. 2nd to only New York. What an opportunity we have with the people of different cultures coming to us! I believe one of the next great waves of missional movements will occur because of the diaspora of displaced peoples. How will we steward that?

4. AND to the ends of the earth

The stats on this are staggering- at the time that I wrote this, there are 4,075 unreached people groups. Of those, 126 are groups of over 5 million people. So imagine the entire Greater Sacramento Area and then some. Imagine our whole city without one church. Most of these people have no churches, few to no Christian workers amongst them, and some do not even have any portion of the Bible translated in their language.

But! The good news is that the Alliance is doing everything it can to answer this call! Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we CAN fulfill our calling to every segment of society. Maybe you are a part of that this morning.

SO, the Alliance we are a part of is Christ-centered, we are an ACTS 1:8 movement and lastly

3. The Alliance is a Family In other words, what we do together is far better than what we could do on our own. Whether that is serving here in our local church or our church fulfilling it’s role among a community of local churches. The Alliance realizes that we will fulfill our God-appointed role more powerfully and effectively if we work together rather than independently.

And this is Biblical! Jesus commanded this! Be one as I and the Father are one. John 17. Paul uses the illustration of the human body in 1 Corinthians 12

He writes, picking up in verse 14:

14 For

the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the

body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. Just like in our church, where we realize we are better together. So the Alliance realizes that when we come together as churches, we are at our best together! A church may be particularly strong in worship, or missions, or the ability to teach, but together as a movement we have a greater ability to advance His message.

Personally as I have been in and around the Alliance this last year, I have gotten to rub shoulders with the Alliance people at several different levels- Here in our Local Church, at a District Level with other church leaders from the Central Pacific District, which we are a part of, and at a National Level with the National Office Staff. And it is AMAZING how connected the Alliance is from top to bottom. You can hardly go to a conference without bumping into someone from another part of the country who you have seen already. This is not just an ideal we want to hold as the Alliance, the reality is that when you are in the Alliance, you are a part of a family.

So this is the Alliance we get to be a part of. It is a Christ-Centered, ACTS 1:8 Family. Now that we recognize who we are as the Alliance I wanted to talk about our role as the Alliance. What are we called to do?

Recently, John Stumbo, President for the Alliance in the US said he believes “The Alliance is one of God’s end-times families that he has raised up to complete the Great Commission.” And having seen the Alliance firsthand, I would have to agree.

I also believe that we are up to the task. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, I believe that we can be live out that assignment. In the time remaining I will give four ways that we as an Alliance church can fulfill our role in our community.

1. The first way is that WE WILL LOVE

The whole essence of our calling as Christ-Followers can be boiled down to this one word: LOVE. We see it all throughout Scripture.

- The Greatest Commandment is Love (Matthew 22:34-40)

-The Greatest of these is Love (1 Cor. 13:13)

-Love is the most excellent way (1 Cor. 12:31)

-They will know you are my disciples by your LOVE (John 13:35)

-The fulfillment of the law is LOVE (Romans 13:10)

It seems like this is pretty basic right-love! We have all heard that before. Yet I think that when we get down to steps 3, 4, and 5- you know, the really complicated stuff- that sometimes, we can lose the very thing that we are called to give-LOVE.

So, before we move on. We HAVE to ask ourselves the question. Are we a loving church?

Those in the workplace-do you love your co-workers?

Students, do you love your teachers?

Parents, do you make time to love your spouse?

Do we love our neighbors?

How are we loving those around us. We must love. and the only way we can do so is through connectivity with Christ.

Not only is the Alliance we are a part of committed to loving, it is committed to proclaiming the transforming message of Jesus.

2. We Will Proclaim As part of the Alliance we are called to proclaim God’s message not just in deed but through God’s word! These first two are so interconnected! How can you claim to love someone if you don’t introduce them to the one who loves best? And if you proclaim to them the Good News but don’t love them…well then why would anyone want to be a part of that.

3 weeks ago, over Labor Day Weekend Alyssa and I had the privilege of being able to be a part of an outreach to refugees. We took 20 refugee families, over 100 people up to a camp for a weekend. And they loved it. They had a blast. Many of them have very limited mobility and to be able to get away for a weekend and enjoy all of the fun camp activities, they LOVED it. Way more than you or I would. Clearly, they could see that they are loved. But what a wasted opportunity that would have been if we did

not preach the Gospel to them. None of them likely have heard the Gospel, in fact many people there were opposed to it. But we are not called to save, we are not called to a result, we are simply called to PROCLAIM. And as our proclamation of the Gospel matched our demonstration of the Gospel, there were some awesome testimonies. 4 adults and 1 child accepted Christ, with many more open. One story from my group, and I was with the Teenage Boys, was from a young man who lost his father just a couple weeks earlier. Our sessions would often focus on just one aspect of the Gospel, and then the remainder of the time would be spent on differences or questions or opposition that they had towards what we were saying. But the last night, this young man stayed behind and asked really good questions. Despite the ridicule of his peers for almost 30 minutes we shared the entire Gospel with Him, he asked one final question “Where does Jesus claim to be God?” We showed Him in John 8 where Jesus said, before John was, I am. And the significance of the connection to what God had said in Exodus- I am that I am. As he left, preparing for the negative responses of his peers for his curiousity, with a big smile on his face he said “This makes sense. Now I am very interested.”

But none of this would have been possible if we were just content to show the Gospel but not tell anybody about it.

In the Alliance we are committed to not just the demonstration of the Gospel, but in the proclamation as well.

So, The Alliance will love, the Alliance will proclaim, and now our third call:

3. We Will reach! As we have already seen this morning, ACTS 1:8 makes it clear that Christ’s followers in the Church are called to reach people in every segment of society.

John Stumbo, President of the Alliance has specifically called our attention to emphasize 3 groups of people.

• The first is People Lacking Access

We talked about this earlier a bit. 4,075 completely unreached people groups of all sizes, no spoken or written testimony of Jesus. We are

committed as the Alliance to reach these peoples. We are currently working in 70 of these peoples with a desire to launch more.

• The second is People of all ages

The Alliance is also committed to reaching the sometimes overlooked peoples in our own culture. This may include children, the disabled, or senior adults. We have a ton of opportunities around here in some of these areas including our childrens ministry and AWANA programs. Sr. Nutrition luncheon every Tuesday and Thursday and of course our ASL ministry who translates for us each week. I’d encourage you, jump in with one of these ministries!

• The final group is People on the Move

The world’s population is ever shifting and we now have unreached peoples coming to our neighborhoods. One tangible way for us reach this group is about 30 minutes from here with the Arab American Learning Center. They serve the Arabic Refugee community and help them integrate to their new life here in the United States, which provides tremendous opportunities to show and tell the Gospel. If you are interested in that ministry, they are currently looking for people to start a weekly ministry to Muslims- follow up from that camp outreach I mentioned a moment ago- contact myself or someone on our staff for more info. That is an opportunity- a privilege really- that people work for YEARS to have in the middle east. We have freedom here that we would not abroad. Lets take advantage of it.

Transition: So, as the Alliance We Will Love, Proclaim, Reach, and as the Alliance

4. WE WILL LAUNCH. We are focused on launching new waves of Godly, Holy-Spirit filled people as God’s servants- evangelizing, teaching, church planting, generously giving, boldly praying, and joyfully creating. As a church I have seen and am currently a part of this launching process.

BUT as we talk about launching today, I want to focus on launching you into your Kingdom assignment.

Imagine with me that we were to go somewhere in our city and start knocking on doors and asking people who Jesus is. How long do you think it would take before we found somebody? If we knocked on 1 door every 15 minutes, it would take us about an hour and a half. Not bad.

If we were to do the same thing in Post-Christian Europe, we would be knocking on doors for a day and a half. Okay, kind of a long time but maybe if I am really desperate-I keep knocking.

BUT if we were to do the same thing in places like N. Africa or Indonesia, every 15 minutes knocking on a new door, it would take you over 3 YEARS before you knocked on the door of someone who could tell you about Jesus.

Listen, I don’t know what your Kingdom assignment is, I just know that you have one. Maybe you are a prayer warrior. Maybe you send. Maybe you teach. Maybe you disciple.

But trust me, you HAVE a Kingdom assignment. The world is DESPERATE for the hope that you have!

As we close, I want to speak specifically to two groups of people I believe may be in the room today:

To the first maybe you are sitting here today listening and someone is knocking on YOUR door this morning.

Let me tell you about Him.

In Rev. 3:20 Jesus says “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to eat with him, and he with me.” This morning would you open the door? There is no time like today. He loves you! He is pursuing you even now. He sees the pain that you are walking through, He has seen the wrong that you have done. It is not too much for him, it is not too late to open the door to your heart.

He saw you, as He walked up that hill to die on a cross for you, He chose you. He wants a relationship with you. He wants you to open that door.

When He died, do you know what He had done wrong? Nothing! He is God! But He had to die in your place so that you could trade in all of the sin that you have committed for His perfection.

He sacrificed His life so that you can be set free. And this morning, He stands at the door knocking. Will you answer Him?

If that is you this morning, would you do me a huge favor. After our last worship song in a moment. Will you come up and pray with a pastor or elder up in front? God wants for you to open the door to your heart. He loves you.

Awesome. Okay, there is another group present here this morning who already has answered that knock. This second group-you already have Jesus living in your life. Yet here he is, knocking on the door of your heart again.

This time, He is beckoning to you-

“Look at all of the people who have no access to me, who don’t believe in me. They might be around the world, but they also might have moved in next door.

His word in Romans 10:13 says “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. It seems so easy… BUT- How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?

My friends, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news, who travel to hills not yet touched by those who carry the Gospel of Christ.

Do we understand the weight of our Gospel?

The Gospel that

-Saves the sinner.

-Heals marriages.

-Breaks Addictions

-Gives hope to the Hopeless

-Comforts the broken-hearted

-And gives one an eternity in the presence of God.

Church of the Foothills family, if you are a follower of Christ Jesus this is our call.

Jesus asks in John 4, “There are yet four months, then comes the harvest?” Look! Lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper may rejoice together.

We often have all kinds of reasons why we are still in the four month before the harvest. Oh but God, I have a busy work schedule this week. How will you provide if I step out like that? I should have done it when I was young. I do not have the gifting, I am not capable. I am too old. I am too young.

Church of the Foothills family, Lift up your eyes! The fields are white for harvest! Jump in! Our King is inviting us to rejoice eternally with Him over the harvest.

As we close, if you are in one of the two groups that I mentioned either in live or in one of our venues, would you come up to the front right after worship? We have pastors and elders who would love to pray with you.

Let’s pray.

© Church of the Foothills 2017