Otterbein United Methodist Church

April 27, 2008

Scripture: Acts 2:40-47

Sermon: “WORDS Is the Word”

Point 1: Thank you! I begin today with a “thank you” to you! I also want to explain a basic human dynamic... Appreciation! What do you appreciate? Do you notice the beat of your heart, the comfort of a hot shower, or the milk in the refrigerator? My guess is that these things (and a million other things that are commonplace in your life) do NOT get your attention. And if they don't get your attention, then they don't get your appreciation.

· When was the last time you said to yourself, "Thank God my heart is beating?"

· After your last hot shower, did you jot a note of thanks to your local power (or gas) company? Many things essential to our lives go unappreciated. But as long as we have them, we don’t even notice.

· Imagine: you’re in a WW II concentration camp – for 2 years you never had a meal end without you still feeling hungry, or a week when your life didn’t hang in the balance. Then you’re released! Would you be grateful for that hot shower? How appreciated would the cook of your first meal feel?

· It’s UNUSUAL kindness that stirs gratitude in us. There exists an INVERSE relationship between frequency and appreciation. The more you receive “it” (whatever “it” is), the more you expect it and the less you appreciate it.

This explains why it’s so common for spouses to take each other for granted. As the frequency with which we do things for each other increases as the years go by, the experience and expression of gratitude decreases. It gets to the point where people peripheral to our marriage for instance may feel more valued than our spouses, because we express our appreciation to them for the one thing while saying nothing to our spouses for the many! (Husband/wife illustration…)

There’s an irony to this dynamic. We’re so appreciative when someone does something for us ONCE, right? So whatever it was that warranted our gratitude once, shouldn’t it warrant more gratitude a second time? Shouldn’t a home cooked meal (regardless of who cooked it), warrant even MORE appreciation the second time, and the third, and the fourth? But it doesn’t work that way, does it? It’s logical, but it’s not psychological. The psychology of it is that every time it happens it becomes LESS wonderful in our eyes. Isn’t it amazing that the blessings right in front of our eyes EVERY DAY are the ones we’re least likely to see. And the ones that surprise us every now and then monopolize our gratitude.

We crave appreciation; people can’t live fulfilling lives in our culture without it. The longer we are in relationship with someone else, the LESS likely it is to exist in our relationship. That is unless you are aware of this natural tendency and are PROACTIVE about defeating it. It's easy to be appreciative to occasional guests in our lives who sweep in and do a random act of kindness. It’s harder with the people who are closest to you.

This is not only true in marriage. It is true of pastors and churches – and I need to say to you, “Thank you!” Thank you, not because I’ve taken you for granted, but because you’ve been faithful as I have focused on new people and doing what it takes to get the gospel to seekers and newcomers to Otterbein Church.

Point 2 – Jesus had a process of disciple making! The New Testament Church was commissioned to make disciples (Matthew 28). They didn’t have great programs to accomplish this! They had a great process! It was the one Jesus had modeled to them.

· Connecting - Jesus had his disciples connect at three levels… with God; with the church and with the world. “Follow me (connect with God) and I will make you (plural – connect with one another) fishers of men (connect with the world).” Matthew 4:19.

· Equipping - Jesus equipped them at three levels… with God; with the church and with the world. (Consider Matthew 5 – the Sermon on the Mount). With God – helping the finite understand the infinite; with each other – trained to grow; to lead; and to equip others; with the world – able to share and willing to let your light shine.

· Ministering – Jesus equipped them to minister at three levels… with God; with the church and with the world. Minister to God in worship and obedience (John 4:23-24); minister to the church (“by this shall all men know… John 13:35); minister to the world (Luke 10:2 – he sent them out to all the places he was about to go.

Jesus did this with them as a group… a group of people committed to the process… then…..

The Holy Spirit births the church on the day of Pentecost, they saw thousands of people become Christians. They knew this was just the beginning of the journey for these new Christ followers. So Jesus first group of disciples went about the process of growing these new Christians into fully committed followers of Jesus Christ. How did they do that? Did they immediately build a huge worship center, and try to keep the people entertained until Jesus came back! NO!

They broke the larger group down into many smaller groups. Praying and seeking God together they forged bonds of fellowship and relationship that couldn’t be severed. They worshipped God together in these smaller settings. They studied the Scriptures together and not only learned “how to live,” but encouraged and challenged one another to live there! Recognizing their need to impact the world with the gospel, they shared the Good News of Jesus with their neighbors and friends in practical Outreach. And they cared for others! They served others and met the needs of those inside the church and with an eye to outreach, those outside as well!

Paul used this same process all over Asia Minor. Traveling from place to place, he began churches in one city and town after another. The strength of every one of those was planting a process! A process to take people far from God and make them fully committed followers of Jesus Christ! They used groups invested in the 5 things Otterbein Church has adopted as the acronym WORDS. It wasn’t a program, it was a process!

Point 3 – Revisiting the process. For more than a millennium the church had lost sight of its process. But with the reformation it would be rediscovered. Then along came people like John Wesley, George Whitfield, and Philip William Otterbein. They had a deep understanding of scripture and it was reflected in their preaching. But it also led them to rediscover the only process of Disciple-making ever known to produce lasting results…small groups! Wesley called them “Classes.” (Not Sunday School Classes – Sunday School wasn’t yet “invented.”). This process or method of taking the local church and using smaller groups to make disciples was derisively labeled “methodist” by those not a part of it! (And that’s what we’re called today)! But this “small group” method worked! It worked because it was God’s way of disciple making! It worked so well it impacted more than the Church, it impacted the culture (Motto became, “Spreading Biblical Holiness through the land!”)

Unfortunately, the Enemy is never happy with those kinds of inroads! Unfortunately what happened to the impact of the New Testament Church has also happened to Wesley’s and Otterbein’s vision.

· The church gets caught up in bricks and mortar.

· The church becomes the building rather than the people.

· We fall into the trap of trying to make disciples through a program, rather than proven Biblical Process.

For years the church has looked at disciple-making as having a program, doing something special, keeping people so busy with the work of the Lord they have no time left to connect to the Lord of the work. Their lives don’t get deeper in the Lord, Ten years later, their faith is no more mature than it was twenty years before that! They are simply going through external motions instead of really connecting to the person of Jesus Christ.

Our church has been guilty of this. Committees have asked, “Now what program can we come up with? Inspiration doesn’t necessarily produce transformation.

Point 4 – All along it’s been in having the right process, not the right program. I don’t want to just hold church to hold church. We need to understand that gathering for worship is critical to the spiritual health of the Disciple-maker, but worship, even great worship isn’t our calling! We’re called to make-disciples!

I want us to be committed to the process of disciple making. So what is our process?

See the insert. It describes our process. Our newcomers have been going through Connected for Impact.

Our leaders have been going through training designed to enable a great launch of WORDS Groups.

(Early Service: Call on Sue Hershey and Ron Walker; Late service: Steve Gross and Brian Noble).

See Connection Card.

Five reasons you should be in a WORDS Group?

1. Worship… you’ll discover that worship is a whole lot more than singing. It’s what we do with our lives.

2. Outreach…you’ll discover the joy of encouraging others into the most important eternal decision!

3. Relationships… you’ll connect with other people who are partnering with you in the journey.

4. Discipleship… you’ll grow spiritually! You’ll apply Scripture to your life in brand new ways!

5. Service… you’ll work together as a team to meet the needs of others.

I guarantee that my 5 reasons why you should be in a WORDS Group will trump any 20 reasons why you may think you shouldn’t!