romeochurch.com

Spiritual Life

Ephesians 4:11-16

[interview Bret] Bret, thank you for allowing our church family to celebrate how God is working in you to prepare you to invite people into the godly life. Bret is one of a number of men and women in our church who are taking their spiritual life seriously and are committed to be increasingly prepared and equipped to do godly work, and who have un-churched people they can work into. The spiritual life is a weighing scale; it is something that requires balance. On one side we need to be prepared to do God’s work, and on the other side we need to actually do God’s work. If we are heavy on the prepared side but are not actively using that preparation to share God and invite others to God then we are out of balance. We experience being out of balance in many areas of our life; for example, workaholics are out of balance, if we spend too much time at work on one of three key responsibilities then we may be out of balance, or if we spend too much time with one child showing favoritism the family is out of balance. Just like in everyday life, we can also be spiritually out of balance. As an individual, you need to have balance; and, as your church, our vision is to model and motivate you toward spiritual balance. That’s why, the church’s vision is to Prepare people to invite the un-churched to irresistible environments.

When it comes to spiritual life and what does our church believe about spiritual life we look to the book of Ephesians. [This is not what do I do from a personal vantage point, but what does a church do from its perspective for its people]. To understand, we point to the keystone text in the book of Ephesians. So, please turn in your bible to Ephesians. This text is so important that I and many other seminary students have written papers and theses on this text. Today, we want to consider spiritual life not solely from one person’s perspective; instead, we will discuss what this church believes and actively promotes about the spiritual life for its members and attendees. Ephesians 4:11-16 “It was [God] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”

From this text, we see two things – (1) God calls pastors and teachers to prepare God’s people and (2) the people are to do the works of service. Ephesians 4:11-16 “It was [God] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, When people do these two things, they achieve a spiritual balance. However, most of us experience the teeter-totter problem. You know what that is don’t you? [BOARD] The teeter-totter problem is when one side has too much weight it slams to the ground leaving the lighter side high in the air. Everyone experiences the spiritual teeter-totter problem with either too much emphasis on getting prepared and too little using that preparation to invite people into God’s life. That’s why, the church’s vision is to Prepare people to invite the un-churched to irresistible environments. This teeter-totter idea is different from weighing scales in that there is no perfect weight on each side; instead, there is momentum on both sides. Our spiritual life is in balance when both sides are going up and down.

To achieve spiritual balance, we need to consider the amount of preparation necessary to place on one side of the teeter-totter. In Ephesians, God first tells the local church to prepare the people. So, what does it mean for the church to prepare the people?

Our keystone text from Ephesians 4 states that to prepare people the goal should be, “that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Because of this text, our church mission for every one of you is to help people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. We are to point you and help you move toward spiritual maturity. 

We have two primary ways we prepare you. First, is Sunday morning. Our church leadership reads in the Bible that Sunday morning gatherings are commanded by God. We see the first church initiated by the apostles after Jesus’ ascension in Acts chapter 2. The early church met together regularly. Historical records evidence at least a weekly gathering on Sundays to celebrate the risen Savior. And we find in Hebrews chapter 10 the admonition for the local church to keep meeting regularly and not give up so people may be encouraged in the ways of God. Whether or not WE think Sunday church is worthwhile, God says it is. Our Creator has already made this decision for us. Even in the OT we see regular church gatherings; in the wilderness we saw the tent of meeting and then we saw the tabernacle gatherings. If you want to be prepared for the godly life, then Sunday church is absolutely necessary. Every Sunday, we lead you and teach you God’s holy word through Bible study, we lead you in songs that worship our God, we model and invite you into prayer to God, and we give you opportunity to obey God’s command to be good stewards of your time, talent and treasure. It is our hope that you have personal goals to take what we teach you and apply it into your life. We hope to teach and encourage you to read your bible throughout the week, and to pray continuously every day, and to listen to music that directs your mind and heart toward God.

The second primary way we prepare you is through small groups. While Sunday is absolutely necessary to getting prepared, it is not sufficient. More is needed. Attending Sunday mornings is not enough to sustain satisfactory spiritual growth. Did you know that statistically you will retain on average only 18% of what is taught through this method of preaching. Small groups on the other hand increase that learning percentage to 90% because small groups offer personal bible study, interacting with questions and answers, holding yourself accountable to other people. The small group environment offers a much greater learning retention rate of God’s truth, and it offers real opportunity to encourage, love, bear one another’s burdens, care for the people of God. 

God calls us to become disciples; followers of Christ, but that requires two things – your church must do its part and you must do your part. We will continue to work very hard to do our part, and I ask you today…will you step it up? Will you begin to take doing your part more seriously? Spiritual life is not something to fool around with; these are matters of the highest importance. If you are willing to pursue spiritual balance, then in your church’s evaluation if you are not regularly attending Sundays and in a small group you most likely are out of balance. We believe that spiritual balance requires both. Not doing either and not doing both will cause you to experience the teeter-totter problem – on the preparation side you will be too light and hanging in the air. Is it time for you to step up your seriousness about becoming spiritually prepared?

To achieve spiritual balance, the other side of the teeter-totter has to be weighed down with something. The other side is weighed down by prepared people doing the works of service. God tells us to be prepared and do something. God did not say come to church get prepared then go completely focus on work and the kids. It is this doing something that we need to appreciate in order to discover spiritual balance. 

Getting prepared is concrete and makes sense – learn the bible, pray, worship and give. But what are these works or these expressions of our preparedness? What exactly is God looking for me to do so that I can achieve spiritual balance? At this church, we like to say it like this: Prepare people to invite the un-churched to irresistible environments.

There are many works of service including sharing your faith, mentoring or discipling a younger believer, serving inside the church, and serving the community. This church will help prepare you for all of them, but the vision of this church is that we will partner with you to create irresistible environments to help you with your un-churched friends. Why is this invite to the godly life so important? It is because it is obedience to the Great Commission.  Matthew 28:18-20 “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."

We are commanded to invite. We are commanded to invite people to a life with Jesus. Jesus is telling us to go to our friends who are not connected to a Bible-believing, healthy church to come with you to a place that will prepare them in the ways of God. To obey Jesus’ great commission requires three things of you (1) you must continue getting prepared – no need to wait for greater knowledge just begin inviting; (2) you must invest in relationships with un-churched people – if all you know is churched people then you are disobeying God’s command to reach the un-churched. How do you do this? You can join book clubs, you can participate in the PTA, you could actually meet your neighbors. And, (3) you must invite them; maybe you should invite them to the life with God; maybe you should disciple them or mentor them; maybe you should invite them to Mainstreet, Marriedlife, Sunday morning or small group. If you are not developing relationships with un-churched people and you are not inviting them to a godly life, then you are spiritual unbalanced. The teeter-totter is not balanced.

You might be asking what are these irresistible environments we are suggesting you invite your un-churched friends to?

Each church has a vision. That is every church has a way or method for how it will achieve God’s goal to prepare people so they can share Jesus. Our church recognizes that this is an un-churched culture; it is not so much of an atheist culture but a casually believing culture. The casualness in faith results in ineffective faith or dead faith as James says, and casualness results in deteriorating faith. Faith that is not regularly practiced and exercised will deteriorate just like muscles. In light of that, we have created irresistible environments to partner with you for the people you choose to invest in. As you invest into peoples’ faith, you need to keep them moving along in the spiritual journey. We believe eventually you will need a place to invite them to so they can grow more consistently. What makes these environments invitable? Why would you want to invite a friend to one of these environments…because they are engaging, relevant, and helpful.

As a church, we believe that we are doing our part to help you and your friends achieve spiritual balance. Our vision is to prepare people to invite the un-churched to irresistible environments. It is our hope that God would fill you with the biblical desire to pursue spiritual balance. Is your teeter-totter high on one side and low on the other? It is only the movement and flow of the teeter-totter that will allow you to elevate to the next level of spiritual living. It is time to get unstuck because while you think learning and learning and learning is growing your spiritual life you are merely adding more and more weight to the already uneven imbalance.