Sanctuary Covenant Church, Minneapolis, MN
Sanctuary 5 Series | Invite; Acts 7
(audience applauding) - You may be seated. Good morning, sanctuary. It is an honor and privilege to have a couple minutes today to share from God's word with you. If I have not had the opportunity to meet you, say hello to give you a hug. My name is Edron, lead pastor here at the sanctuary, Covenant Church, and I am grateful that we get to be together in the house of the Lord. Can we bring the lights up just a little bit? I want to see these pretty moisturized faces, if possible, to know who I'm preaching to. Y'all didn't get up and wash your face to sit in the dark, amen. (audience laughing) (audience applauding) I'm glad that we were church where we can laugh 'cause I would be in trouble if we could not laugh in church. Church is one of the funniest places I've ever spent my time, and so I'm grateful that we can do that together. We are today concluding a series through the sanctuary five that we are simply calling we are. We are. It has been an opportunity for us here at the end of summer as we move into the fall to remember the five values and the discipleship rhythms that shape our life together as a congregation. And week one, Pastor Jennifer taught us and reminded us that we are a community, that we were not meant to do life alone. She pointed us to our value, that first value in the sanctuary five of connect. And I love that we are a church that you can belong even before you believe. That there is space for you as you are wrestling with your faith here at sanctuary. As you are asking hard questions about your faith, there is a space for you here to be a part of what God is doing in our church. We're also lifelong disciples. Pastor Seth reminded us of that in week two, as he pointed us to the value of grow, that we are called to equip the saints for the work of the ministry to grow as followers of Jesus. And week three, Pastor Rose reminded us that we are good neighbors, that each of us has been given gifts and talents from God to be used to bless the church and bless others. And last week I had the opportunity to look to God's word and remind us that we are generous people. We are generous people because we serve a generous God. And today as we close out this short series, it is my privilege to be able to remind us that we are missional people, that we have been joined with God in the mission of the church. And so if you have your Bibles, would you join me in Matthew chapter 28? Matthew chapter 28 is where we're gonna spend some time today, just before we get into communion together. Matthew chapter 28 verses 16 through verse 20 is where we're gonna spend some time. I wanna encourage you whenever you come to church to bring a Bible, bring something to write with so that you can continue to eat on God's word throughout the month and the week. Don't just take our word for it. Like we really do wanna equip you to be able to engage with God's word throughout the week and throughout the month. And so bring your Bible with you when you come bring something to write with so that you can continue to engage. Matthew chapter 28 verses 16 through 20, if you haven't and if you're able, could you stand, we're gonna read that together. Matthew chapter 28 beginning with verse number 16. Now I'm actually gonna ask if we could read it out loud together, reading from the NIV and that's also what appears on the screen. And the people of God said, then the 11 disciples went to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw Him, they worship Him, but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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 and surely I am with you always to the very end of the age, amen. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God shall stand forever. Amen, you may be seated. I wanna speak for a few moments today from this subject open to invitation. Open to invitation. Pastor Laurel, just over a week ago, the Barnard group released the findings of their newest research study entitled "Spiritually Open." If you're unfamiliar with Barnard, they are a leading Christian research firm that provides survey and research-based data that helps churches and leaders and ministries to understand how people in society and even within the church are engaging with matters of faith. They help us to understand what people believe and not believe, and they help us to understand how societal changes impact the spiritual lives of people. And in this spiritually open research study, they explored the current spiritual landscape specifically in the United States, wrestling with the question of whether or not people are open to faith, spirituality, and religious exploration. They looked at the lives of those who would not call themselves Christian, perhaps would call themselves more spiritual or would call themselves either atheist or agnostic, and they'd ask questions about their openness to matters of faith. And so between December of 2020 and 2023, this multi-phase, mostly point study drew nearly 20,000 participants with significant effort made to make it relevant across age and race and region and education and income and gender. And the study highlights a growing trend where people, especially younger generations like Millennials and Gen Z, are more open to exploring spirituality, but less committed to traditional religious institutions. People are willing to engage with God, but they don't really mess with the church. The key finding of the study, the first key finding was this, that many perhaps most Christians don't share their faith. The study says that evangelism is facing a huge challenge in America. And one of those challenges is the fact that the majority of practicing Christians, those who would say they have given their life to the Lord, those who attend church regularly, the majority of them, according to the study, do not consistently support evangelism. They point out specifically the group known as the Millennials. And sometimes we say Millennials and we think about the kids who are in the youth group, but that's not who the Millennials are. The Millennials are those born between 1980 or about 1981 and 1996. And so today they would be between the ages of 28 and 43. I'll turn 44 on Wednesday. I'm not in the youth group. And so when we talk about Millennials, we're not talking about like kids who are like, I don't want to risk my reputation, so I'm not going to share my faith. 47% of Millennials believe it is flat out wrong to evangelize, believing it is inappropriate to try to persuade other people to believe anything they don't already believe. Many, perhaps most Christians, don't share their faith. The second finding of the study was this, that even while Christians are reluctant to share their faith, many non-believers, those who would not call themselves Christian or ascribe to almost any traditional religion, many non-believers are spiritually open. According to the study, 77% of all those surveyed believe in a God or a higher power. 75%, almost three out of four would say they want to grow spiritually in some way. And 44% say they are more open to God today than they were before the pandemic of 2020. According to the study, among U.S. adults, most people are searching for inner peace, hope and life's meaning. The research shows what I especially see here as a pastor in the Twin Cities, and that is people are searching deeply for something. For peace, for hope, for purpose. You see the rise of mindfulness practices and the rise in popularity of meditation apps. You all may have heard of the app called Calm, C-A-L-M, Calm. During 2020, they experienced exponential growth with the app being downloaded more than 100 million times. People are searching for peace, hope and purpose. We see in the African American community the rise of alternative spiritual practices like the use of crystals and the building of altars in homes for ancestral worship. People are searching for peace, for hope and for meaning. We see in communities like North Minneapolis, the resurgence of different cultic practices and various forms of worship. If you go out this door this afternoon after service, there's a very good chance you'll see a bunch of brothers in purple and gold and it's not Omega Sapphire. This Hebrew Israelites, their experience of resurgence in communities like North Minneapolis and they're winning people to their beliefs because people are looking for peace, for hope and for purpose. But friends, there's a dilemma. You see on one hand people are searching, the world is searching for meaning and hope and purpose and they're trying to fill deep spiritual needs but they're often running to superficial quick fixes. At the very same time the church has a terrible reputation and the church for many is no longer the first place to turn even though Jesus offers exactly what many people are looking for. Right there in that dilemma I believe friends is our great opportunity. There is an opportunity for us sanctuary to simply invite. There is an opportunity for us to be a truly inviting church. The value of invite, this fifth part of the sanctuary five it speaks to our call as disciples who are called to go on and make other disciples. Invite says that there is a world full of people with deep spiritual longing. Invite says that there is at the very same time a need for the church to get its act together, to act more morally, ethically, honestly, to not be hypocritical, to not be so judgmental and to not be so thirsty for power and acceptance that we're willing to ignore the teachings and model of Jesus. When we say invite, we're talking about both an opportunity and a responsibility to pray for and connect with unbelievers, sharing your faith and inviting them into a relationship with Jesus. Friends, when we talk about invite, invite is an announcement to some and a reminder to others that where God's grace is concerned you are not just a recipient of God's grace, you're also a partner in sharing God's grace with others who desperately need it. And I believe that's what we see in Matthew chapter 28, our text for today, we see God's people being called not just to receive God's grace, but to partner with God to intentionally share God's grace all across the world, to all nations and to all people groups, to every ethnos, we are called to not just receive God's grace, but to be agents of God's grace as well. The book of Matthew is the first of the four gospels that we find in the New Testament. And it is a traditionally attributed to Matthew who was once a despised test collector who has become one of Jesus' 12 disciples. It's written to a primarily Jewish audience and it seeks to demonstrate that Jesus is the king of the Jews, the long awaited Messiah, he is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, he is the one that God's people has been waiting for, he is the new Moses, he is the one who will usher in a new law and a new covenant. Matthew begins his book by sharing a long genealogy that links Jesus to King David and to Abraham. He underscores his royal lineage and his role as the fulfillment of prophecy. And the book then ends with instruction. A resurrected Jesus gathers his closest followers together in Galilee and he gives them and us marching orders. He says to them, "Don't just stay here, go make disciples of every nation." Jesus tells his disciples and he calls you and I to go and invite. But he doesn't simply send us out to figure it out on our own, Jesus gives us a few gifts even as he's sending us into the world. Jesus first has given us authority. If you're taking notes today, write that down. Jesus has given us authority. Here's what the text says, "Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, 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." Jesus, throughout his earthly ministry, had shown great power. He had healed the sick. He raised the dead. Y'all are quiet as if that happens every day. I don't know. He healed the sick. He re-raised the dead. I don't know. I don't know. It's beautiful to be. It means something to me. Jesus taught with greater authority than anyone the world had ever seen. He turned water into wine. And it was said of him that even the winds and the waves obey this man. And then as if that wasn't enough, in the greatest show of authority and power the world has ever known, Jesus goes to Calvary on our behalf. He bears in his body the punishment for our sins. He's buried in a borrowed tomb. And then early on Sunday morning he gets up with all power in his hand. Having overcome death, hell and the grave. Jesus has shown great power throughout his entire ministry. But in this moment, as he prepares to ascend back to the Father, Jesus tells his disciples that this power that I have the same power that is raised, Jesus from the dead, he says I'm giving it to you. He says I'm sending you out in my name. I'm sending you to all the world and I'm sending you with authority. If you've been around sanctuary, you've probably heard me talk once or twice about my cousin Kevin. Kevin was my older cousin. He was about 10 years older than me and he was by far the coolest person I'd ever met in my life. He was a basketball player. He was an incredible star. He looked like Michael Jordan. He walked like Michael Jordan. If you walk like Michael Jordan in the black community that means something. There's some rep that comes with that. Kevin was the coolest person I'd ever known. He grew up in the town right next to the town that I grew up in. And while I was cool in my town, I didn't have any reputation in his town. And so whenever I went there, I was kind of on my heels because they didn't know me. I didn't want to get jumped. But then I realized that I was accepted in a different way in that place if people knew I was Kevin's cousin. And so everywhere I went, I didn't go and say my name was Edgerin. I went and said, "Hey, you know Kevin?" That's my cousin. You see, Kevin was so cool that all the guys want it to be like him and all the girls want it to be with him. At least that's what he told me. And so I went and I leaned on the authority. Somebody's really laughing hard over it. I leaned on the authority of my cousin's name and it worked out in my favor. Now, if I could do that and be accepted and even elevated in some way because I went in Kevin's name, imagine how much more it means that we go into the world in the name of Jesus. You see, being called to go and make disciples is too great a work for any of us to do in our own name. I know you're cool. I know you're smart. I know you've built your brand platform online, but if you're gonna make disciples, you cannot do it in your own name. You've never raised the sick or the dead. You've never healed the sick. You've never gone to Calvary, but Jesus has. And he says, as you go and invite others into the kingdom, don't go in your own name, go in my name. Jesus, as he sends us into the world, doesn't send us empty handed, he sends us with authority. He sends us with authority, but he also, he gives us an assignment. He gives us an assignment. I grew up in the South, and there were no summer programs in most times. And so summer programs was getting dropped off at grandma's house. That's what we did in the summer. And there was something that happened around 11 o'clock when Price is Right came online. As much as she loved us, grandma would say, "Go somewhere." That was the instruction. That was her loving instruction. Go somewhere. She didn't tell us where to go. She didn't tell us what to do. She just wanted to make sure that so that she could have Price is Right, young and restless, as the world turns, and the bold and the beautiful that we weren't in the way making noise. And so as kids, we learned to go somewhere. That's not what's happening here in Matthew 28. Jesus is not just sending us to go somewhere. He sends us with a specific assignment. Here's what the word says. I'm not making it up. He says, "All authority in heaven and on earth "has been given to me, therefore go "and make disciples of all nations baptizing them "in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, "and teaching them to obey what I have commanded you. "Many of us have been busy going, "but we actually haven't been doing what Jesus told us to do. "Jesus gave a power and authority, "specifically so that we might go and make disciples, "not so that we can make great productions on Sunday. "He said, "Go and make disciples. "He gave us great authority, "not so that we can be professional conference putters honors. "He gave us this authority so that we might make disciples. "And it matters that we actually go, "and it matters that we actually go and do what he says do." Jesus says, "There is a greater work that must be done. "There is a greater work for my followers," he says. And so he calls us to go beyond our comforts, beyond our safety, beyond simply sitting and listening to great preaching every Sunday, God has given us an assignment. Yes, we come together. Yes, we sing together. Yes, we encourage one another. Yes, we remember the gospel and allow the gospel to work in our lives, but the work doesn't end at the benediction. Jesus said, "Come together, gather as my disciples, "and then go into the world and make disciples of all nations." Friends, let's not forget that we've been given authority and given an assignment. You may be wondering, Pastor, I've heard this before. Somebody else stood in the same place you're standing and told me I'm supposed to make disciples, but nobody's ever taught me how to make disciples. And that's fair, that's fair. We're better at announcing things in church than we are at actually discipling people. I wanna give you just one quick model of how you, regardless of whether you've been following Jesus for a long time or you just said yes to Jesus on Tuesday, I wanna give you a model that you can begin to use to introduce those around you to Jesus. That there's a model that we in our denomination developed a few years ago, it's called the bless model. Bless model, B-L-E-S-S. And bless is an acronym that describes five practices that any of us can take to begin to introduce others to Jesus, to invite others to come and know who Jesus is. Bless is an acronym and the B in bless stands for begin with prayer. Begin with prayer. If we are going to invite others to follow Jesus, we don't just go and start doing stuff, begin by praying. When we begin with prayer, it reminds us that Jesus is far more concerned with the salvation of the world than we are. That Jesus has been at work in the lives of people drawing them unto themselves long before we began. And so when we begin with prayer, we begin simply by asking God, Lord, help me to know how I should be a part of what you're already doing. Begin with prayer. And perhaps you wanna say today or ask yourself today, who are three to five people that I know are not walking with the Lord and how can I begin to pray daily for them to be drawn closer to Jesus. Begin with prayer. You can do this whether you are someone who's 60 years old or if you are 14, like my oldest daughter and you're wondering how do I live up my faith in the world? Begin by praying for the salvation of the people around you. Begin with prayer. The second part of bless, the L is to simply learn to listen with care. Listen with care. Friends, you will not love your neighbor if you refuse to listen to your neighbor. A part of being an invited is learning to listen to the stories of others, to get to know people, to hear how faith has played a part in their life or not, to hear how their beliefs have changed over time, to hear what they're searching for, to hear the questions that they are wrestling with, if we are going to be invaders, we've got to learn to listen with care. One of the ways that you can learn to listen and create space for listening is to eat together. And the church said, amen. God loves us so much that He gives us good food to use as a part of inviting others. Sit down at the table with someone. Share a meal that you both love and then begin to just listen to their story. Begin with prayer, listen with care, eat together. And as you hear, look for opportunities to serve with love. Many people are far from God and not walking with God because they've experienced terrible traumas in their life. They've experienced terrible disappointments even in the church and it's become a barrier to them from walking with the Lord. And as you hear of these things, there are ways in which we can tangibly serve the needs of others and God will use that to draw people to Himself. Begin with prayer, listen with care, serve with love, and then and only then look for opportunities to share your story. Many of you have said if evangelism means grabbing a bullhorn and going out on the corner, I'll never do evangelism. And I think you're right. Far too many of us have jumped straight to that. This model, I like it because, one, it takes time. You will not squeeze your inviting, your making invitations to others to come and follow. You will not squeeze it into 30 minutes on a Tuesday morning. It takes time to live in the world in the way that God calls us to, and you have to earn the right. I learned this from young life many years ago. You earn the right to speak into people's life. Far too many of us are sharing advice nobody ever asked for. And we're answering questions they aren't asking because we haven't taken time to listen. But if we would slow down, if we would begin with prayer, listen with care, eat together, serve with love. And then and only then share our story, it would change us and the people around us. And here's the thing, sharing your story requires you to actually be honest about your story. Some of us have tricked ourselves into forgetting how jacked up we were when Jesus saved us. And if we're gonna share our story, we don't need the cleaned up policy version. You know that one that they share at New Year's Eve services? Like as if Jesus did it all in three and a half minutes. The world needs to know that we were jacked up when Jesus found us. And if we're honest, we're just not, perhaps not as jacked up as we were. We're not doing the thing as often as we were, but we are still sinners saved by grace. And if we could get that part alone, right? I believe it would change the world's attitude and posture towards the church. It's so disappointing when people who've presented themselves to be holier than doubt and condemned everyone around them, then they fall and there's no sense to apologize for the lie up front of pretending we're something that we're not. And then we expect people to be more gracious than we were to them in the first place. You don't have to be perfect to share your story, to share Jesus with somebody. Nobody believes you anyway. Friends, you are called today to be an invider and you don't have to get perfect before you begin. You can do it right now. Jesus gives us authority. He gives us an assignment. Finally, he gives us an accomplice. He gives us an accomplice. Most of us won't do this because we think, I don't want to do it by myself. But if I mess it up, you will. If you do it in your own strength, you'll mess it up. But he promises here, he says in verse 20, teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you. And he says, "And surely I am with you always "to the very end of the age. "Jesus is preparing to leave, to return to the Father. "And at the very same time, he's saying, "'I'm gonna be with you always to the very end of the age.'" Was Jesus schizophrenic? What did he have in mind? And if he's leaving to return to the Father, he was pointing to the fact that even as he transitions back to sit at the right hand of the Father, making the sessions for us, he is sending the Holy Spirit as our comforter and our God. He is saying, "I'll never leave you nor forsake you." As you go into the world to invite others to follow Jesus, you're not by yourself. You have the visitation of the Holy Spirit, which empowers us to do this work. We have each other in the body of Christ to live our faith together. He has given us an accomplice. We're not by ourselves, praise God. It's not just up to us, praise God. He will not leave us without a comfort or praise God, but he calls us out of our church huddle, out of our comfort, out of this place of just coming and receiving, he calls us to go and make disciples. I'm glad the church is not a country club. And I don't have a thing against country clubs. I'm a little bit bougie, just a little bit. I'm country and I'm bougie. I'm working it out. And so if you have a country club membership, God bless you. Let's talk out of service. We can work something. But the church has never intended to be a country club. We don't buy in and then just get served for the rest of the time that we're affiliated with the thing. The church we're called to come and receive the grace that God has for us, received the love that God has for us and then go into the world, into whatever space and whatever environment, whatever relationship he has given you, he is calling us to live a life of faith there, live in such a way that others will wanna know what in the world is different about that person. Inviting others is not about having all the answers. You don't have to go to seminary to invite people. (audience applauding) It's about being willing to live a life as a disciple of Jesus, a life of integrity and owning up to the fact that we are still in progress but we serve a God who is making us brand new. And the same God who's willing to put up with our imperfections is calling others into the kingdom right now. That is the good news of the gospel. That Jesus never has never stopped calling the loss, the lonely, the last, the least of these. He has never stopped calling us unto himself. And you and I, even with our imperfections, even as we are working things out, we're called to join with God and inviting others into the kingdom. The question is, what are the places God has blessed you to be in? What are the relationships that God has blessed you to have? What will you do with those? Will you begin today, this week even, to pray for those who you know are far from God? Will you begin, perhaps the step for you this week is to begin to listen differently to the people you're in relationship. For and with. Maybe for you, it is to eat with somebody. Come out of that office with your little tupperware, go into the bin, go into a common area, eat with somebody. Serve somebody. Look to be a blessing to somebody. And then when they've asked for your story, not a second before, learn to share your story. Here's who I was. Here's how God found me. Here's what God is doing in my life right now. Does it make me perfect? No, but does it make me redeemed? Does it make me saved? Absolutely. And that's what matters. If that's what matters. So thanks your word today, I pray that you will give God your yes, that you will say yes to the work he set before us to live as his disciples. And I would argue that we are not really disciples until we've made disciples. Salvation is not life insurance. You get it and then just wait to die. Salvation is an invitation and invited people can't help, but also invite others. That's what I believe. I want to pray for us today as we transition to communion. A part of being an invider is to really be mindful and honest about who Jesus is and what Jesus has done on our behalf. And I'm grateful that we have practices as a church, such as communion, where on a regular basis, we can remember together who Jesus is and what he's done. The world is busy. Our lives are full. There's a lot of stuff going on around us. And if we're not intentional, we'll get so caught up in the rat race of life that will not be mindful of who Jesus is and what he's done. Many of us are not sharing our faith, not because we don't care about it, but we literally have jam packed out of life with so much stuff that there's not space to do what we're called to do. When we come to the communion table, it helps us to remember the significance of the life, the death and burial of Jesus Christ. So not just some empty practice we do because we need to fill space at the end of service. This is worship. So I want to invite us today, first and foremost, to remember your own salvation. Remember, remember what God has done on your behalf. Remember what God is doing right now, how much there still is within you that he has to change and transform. And as you are remembering God's work in your life, I pray that you'll come to the communion table today with a thankful heart. Thank you, Lord, for saving me. Thank you, Lord, for seeing me. Thank you, Lord, for not turning away from me even when I mess up. Thank you, Lord, that when you look at me, you see me through the work of Jesus Christ. I'm redeemed. I'm set free. I'm healed. I'm delivered. That's who we are in the eyes of God. So as we prepare it now for communion, I want to invite you to just take some time and think about that. Think about what God has done on your behalf. Here at Sanctuary, we practice an open communion. And what I mean by that is you don't have to be a member of our church to practice communion. If you are a baptized believer, you've been baptized someplace else and you're here visiting today or you're checking our church out. If you're baptized, you're a believer, you can receive communion today. We want to invite you to come. We practice through intention. That's a fancy word to say as you come, that there'll be a plate perhaps like this and there'll be some pieces of bread on it. Grab one, dip it in the cup, and just eat that piece. We're a growing church and there are a lot of new faces around and the servant team is telling me, "Hey, people are trying to drink out of the cup faster." I want to welcome our Catholic brothers and sisters. (congregation laughing) We're glad to have you here. But we're gonna grab, dunk, eat, move. All right? (congregation laughing) No judgment at all. I am so glad there's beautiful diversity of who's in this house. (congregation applauding) But don't grab the cup, please. (congregation laughing) If as you're coming for communion, if you want to receive prayer, there'll be someone from our prayer team over by that exit sign. And then there'll be another person over here by the band as well. We would love to pray for you as you head it back to your seat. Our prayer team will also be around the altar after service. So after service is another opportunity to pray. We want to ensure that every one of you who needs to be prayed for today receive prayer. I want to invite the worship team to come back up. They're gonna lead us in a couple songs or in a medley of songs. I want to invite you even now to go ahead and stand if you'll stand where you are at your seats. We're gonna enter back into worship. A member of the hospitality team is gonna come to the end of your role and invite you to come forward, come receive communion, and then make your way back to your seats. On the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread and he broke it. And he said, "This is my body which is given for you." Do this in remembrance of me. Not same night after supper he took the cup and he said, "This cup is the new covenant, "the new agreement between God and man in my blood." He says, "As often as you drink it, "do this in remembrance of me." The Apostle Paul says that, "As often as we eat of the bread and drink of the cup, "we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes again." We believe by faith that even as today on this first Sunday as we share in communion with billions of others around the world, we believe that God in some mysterious way is present with us by his spirit today. So this is worship. This is healing. This is transformation all happening right here. And we invite you to come to the table. Lord Jesus, thank you for who you are. Thank you for your love for us. Thank you, Lord, that you found us while we were lost, that you picked us up, brushed us off, you poured out your grace on us, and today, Lord, you send us out into the world as healed, as invaders, as those who know of God's grace and want to share it with others. Lord, as we come to this table, would you meet us here? Would you use this traditional practice of communion, this sacred practice even? Use it to draw us closer to you and make us into the people you've called us to be. Lord, I pray with excitement for what you're going to do in our lives together as we continue to grow as a church. In Jesus' name, we pray. All guys, people say together, amen, amen, amen. Let's participate in communion. (gentle music) [MUSIC PLAYING]