Life in the Grove

Hopefully, all of you are aware of our mission statement here at Cedar Grove:

Cedar Grove Community Church exists to reach people for Jesus, teach people to be like Jesus, and release people to serve Jesus.

This statement summarizes our core: we are a church that orients everything we do around following Jesus.

During the last six weeks of our series The Church in Action, we have examined what following Jesus means. I began the series by encouraging us to recognize and respond to how the depth of Jesus’ love for the church as well as what Jesus actually did for the church as described in Ephesians 5. We then discussed how the pillars of prayer, Scripture, ordinances, fellowship, and music each play a unique and very practical role in our development as a church who follows Jesus.

Now, as we conclude the series this Sunday, I invite you to consider just how far we can and should go to make our mission a reality. Even as we follow Jesus by putting the pillars into practice each week inside these walls, how do we follow Jesus outside these walls? In our text from the Gospel of Mark, Jesus offers some very difficult ideas about what our life in the world should look like. His words provide us with the answers we are looking for, but not necessarily the answers we want to hear.

Palm Sunday marks the arrival of Jesus into Jerusalem to begin what would be the last week of His life on earth. This will be a week filled with confusion, pain, loss, betrayal, and ultimately, death. Despite all of this (or more accurately, because of all this), Jesus’ command for us is the same as it was for the disciples: Follow Me. Let’s discover what following Jesus looks like together.

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The Worshiping Church at some point becomes a singing church. We can’t help it. It just comes out. Just so you are not confused by what I am saying… Worship and music are not synonymous. Worship is the larger word. [All Salmon are fish, but not all fish are Salmon]. Worship expresses itself in prayer, contemplation, as well as singing; and there are countless other expressions of worship in our actions of service to the Lord (Romans 12:1,2).

Music has been an integral part of church gatherings since the beginning. The early church not only wrote some of their own lyrics but also used the hymnbook of the scriptures (Psalms) to give expression to their praise and prayer.

Throughout history, believers of one generation after another were moved to express their worship through new and changing melody, harmony and lyrics.

Sadly, music can create as much heat as light. Music is intensely personal.

Sunday morning I will journey into the realm of music in the church. We will think together about the purpose, the history, and the power of music. Below are some Scriptures to help set the stage.

• Ephesians 5
• Colossians 3

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I would guess that almost everyone listening to me is dissatisfied with the spiritual power and consistency and fruitfulness of your life. And I do not consider that anything I say is simple remedy to that spiritual weakness. God is sovereign. He changes times and seasons. And that includes spiritual times and seasons—in cultures and in families and in individual lives.

But one thing I know: There is a spiritual diet without which no Christian can be strong and healthy and fruitful. And that is a diet of the word of God.
- John Piper (Holding fast to the word of God in 2010)

On my drive into work I often try to fill my commute time with audio books, or podcasts, music etc. This morning I listened to this sermon from John Piper that was given back in January of this year. It ties beautifully into Pastor Keith’s sermon preached a few weeks back on the importance of the Word of God in a healthy Church in Action. In listening to the message I was encouraged even further about the importance of the Word of God and how vital it is to our spiritual growth. If you can find the time, maybe on your commute, take a listen.

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• It amplifies results.
• It awes spectators.
• It satisfies team-members.

Teamwork is an easily understood word that is amazingly difficult to live out.

Whether you are talking marriage, sports, or the corporate world, teamwork is to be admired, desired and acquired. But there is the rub… actually developing cooperation, trust in an atmosphere of single-minded effort toward a common goal. Now that is a challenge.

Jesus took on that challenge with his disciples. He had to deal with conflicting world views (Simon the Zealot, a political activist in favor of overthrowing Rome on the same team with Matthew, a tax collector for the establishment), with arguments about who was the MVP, and with generally inconsistent play from his main guys (remember Peter? Walking on water one minute, sinking in unbelief the next).

We all identify. We have experienced in our homes, businesses and in the church, those conflicts of world-views, differences of priorities and strategies, and the struggles for consistency in our performance.

Sports teams give a lot of time and energy to building a team. The better they do this, the stronger the team and the greater the results.

The Apostle Paul talked to churches about teamwork. He may not have exactly used that word, but he got close. He used often the word translated fellowship, participation, or communion. Koinonia and its related words communicate a sense of connection in a common purpose.

Fellowship was a hall-mark of the early church. Dr. Luke, in his written history of the early church (Acts 2:42) tells us that (t)hey devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Fellowship is one pillar of the church. Prayer, God’s Word, the Ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Table are all called out along with fellowship as pillars of the church gatherings of the first century. If we want to be a healthy church, growing and serving the Lord, we will embrace these pillars.

Our study this Sunday morning will take us to the book of Philippians for a survey of what it takes to be a team at Cedar Grove. Take a read through the verses below. I think you will get the idea. Let’s learn all we can about being team members of Jesus’ team. We want to get the best results we can.

• Phil. 1:3-6
• Phil. 2:1,2
• Phil. 3:10
• Phil. 4:15-19

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Life is worth celebrating! We celebrate physical life with birthdays. We celebrate relationships with anniversaries and family reunions. We celebrate milestones with annual awards banquets and retirement parties. We celebrate life… and that is good.

God has given us the means to celebrate spiritual life. Baptism and Communion are celebrations of God’s forgiveness of our sins and the privilege of being reconciled to our creator.

This is so common to those who have grown up in the church. It is confusing to those who have not. This Sunday we will take a fresh look at those two celebrations. We want to celebrate well. There is a celebration in heaven when spiritual life comes to another person (Luke 15).

Let’s learn to celebrate well.

Here is a little reading to prep you for this Sunday.

• Luke 22:13-20
• 1 Corinthians 10:14-22
• 1 Corinthians 11:17-28
• Matthew 28:18-20
• Acts 8: 26-39

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