Grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Psalm 122:1
“I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”
Dear friends in Christ,
It truly is a blessing to be able to gather together this morning in this place of worship. What a privilege it is to be here in God’s House. This is the place we assemble each week to listen to God’s word and to offer him our thanks and praise.
Members of TrinityEvangelicalLutheranChurch have been doing that for a long time. I wonder though, how much to you really know about this congregation?
- Founded: October 31, 1882. In its nearly 128 years, this congregation has grown from a handful of people to:
- Members: 1,120
- Communicants: 890
- Households: 487
- Average weekly worship attendance: 548
These are all impressive numbers. I think we’d all agree: God has truly blessed this congregation. Over its history God’s word has been faithfully proclaimed and God has blessed it. But again, how much do you really know about your congregation? If I were to give you all of you a piece of paper and ask you to write down the reason this congregation exists, its mission and purpose, what would you write?
Is the purpose of this congregation to hold services on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings? Is the reason we exist to teach the children of our elementary school how to read and write? Do we exist to have the best potlucks in the area? No. The mission of this congregation has clearly been articulated from the words of Scripture. We exist to make disciples for Christ. That’s what Jesus has told us to do. He said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).
We exist to make disciples. The reason we’re here is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. We exist to share it with you the members of this congregation. And we exist to take the gospel beyond these walls and out into our community. Amid the hustle and bustle of every day life, and in our own work as a congregation, we cannot lose sight of our mission.
In an effort to enable us to carry out our mission, we have created a vision for our congregation as well. The vision is our desired outcome, where under God’s guidance, we’d like to be. Our vision statement says:
It is the vision of this congregation that our entire membership be connected constantly to the means of grace and to each other; and that we strive by all possible means to bring that same gospel to our community and world.
Our mission says to make disciples. Our vision recognizes that if we’re going to do that, we need to get our people connected constantly to the means of grace, that is: God’s word and the sacraments. For Scripture tells us, these are the tools the Holy Spirit uses to create and strengthen faith. That’s why we emphasize the need to be in worship where we hear God’s word proclaimed. That’s why we encourage you to be involved in some form of Bible study. It’s why we encourage frequent trips to the Lord’s Table. And why we want you to be constantly thinking about our own baptism and all the blessings God supplies through it.
We have even taken it a step further. We divided the work we do as a congregation into eight different areas of ministry:
WorshipOutreach
Spiritual GrowthFamily/Youth
CommunicationFellowship
StewardshipMercy Ministry
And then through a series of twenty-seven Listening Visits in members’ homes conducted in 2007, we listened as you shared your thoughts on how we might improve in our work of making disciples for Christ.
Your suggestions and concerns helped to create a plan for future ministry. We’ve now scheduled Cottage Meetings to be held October 13-27. The purpose of these meetings is to share with you our vision, priority of ministry and our three year plan. In an effort to build momentum to go forward, today marks the first of a three part sermon series based on the theme:
Reach Up
Take a moment and look around you. Gathered here are people who have been led to believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We all believe the same thing. We all have the same hope. We believe that one day we’re going to live forever with our Lord in heaven; not because of whom we are or what we have done. We believe we are saved by grace through faith. And so we’ve come together in Christ to reach up in worship. This is an exciting thing! This is a reason to rejoice! That’s what King David was talking about when he said, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD”(Psalm 122:1).
It is also an exciting thing to get people together to talk about our mission. During a series of seminars conducted over the last two years, we asked members to prioritize our ministry. In other words, we asked them to tell us where we need to concentrate our time, energy, and resources to carry out the mission of making disciples for Christ? The gauge we used to measure is how the word of God touches the lives of the most people, most often, in the most intensive way. Number one on the list is worship. That makes sense. On any given weekend we will have 500-600 people in worship, focused on the word of God.
So now let me ask you this: why do you come to worship? Would you answer?:
- It’s just something I do – habit.
- My parents make me.
- It’s where I go to find peace.
- It’s where I see my friends.
- Nice to be with people who believe what I believe.
- I get to hear God’s word.
- I get to thank Jesus for what he’s done for me.
I’m sure it could be argued that at one time or another, we could say every one of these apply.
So as you sort through which answer fits you best right now, let me ask you another question. What exactly is worship? If you’ve never tried to think that one through, let’s do it together.
What takes place in worship is really a dialog or a conversation between God and man. In worship we speak to God:
- Confession of sins
- Apostle’s/Nicene Creed
- Prayers
- Hymns
And God also speaks with us:
- Absolution – the pastor speaking for God pronounces our sins forgiven.
- Scripture Readings – the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel Lessons all carry the theme for the day. Today the theme is worship.
- Sermon – God’s word is proclaimed and applied.
- Hymns
- Blessing
What exactly is God trying to get through to us in worship? Although the words may change from week to week, the message, the content remains the same. He wants us to know that we are sinful human beings, hopelessly lost and in need of a Savior. He reminds us that in love he sent his son to give his life in payment for our sins. As a result of what Jesus has done, our sins are gone. We’ve been forgiven. We now have the hope of eternal life. That incredible news now compels us to live our lives for him. Lord willing, that’s why we come to worship. We come to hear that same message again and again, so that when we leave this place, we’re now strengthened to face the world, until we meet again.
As mentioned earlier, 500-600 people seize the opportunity to be here for worship. What a blessing that is! That right there is a reason to thank God! But at the same time, it raises a question. According to my math, if 49% of our members are here in worship on a given weekend, where is everyone else?
I realize there are people who can’t be here one a regular basis due to health concerns. Others might be working, vacationing, or a number of other legitimate reasons. But when over half the congregation isn’t here, the numbers suggest there is more to it than that. In my opinion, what it comes down to is that there are some who have not made worship a high priority in their lives at this time. There are some we haven’t seen in years, some for months, and some for weeks. For some reason they haven’t discovered the joy and peace we’ve found in worship.
So what do we do? We do what we can. We’ve identified ways to strive to make worship even better: from pastors and musicians making the time for worship preparation – to how we can enhance our use of technology, hymns and liturgies. And if we have members who aren’t coming to us, then let’s work on going to them. We want to invite, encourage, and educate our entire congregation to the joys of worship.
And this is where you can help. Set the example for your family. Invite, encourage and educate those you know and love to the joys of worship. What we’re talking about here is building relationships – people talking to people about Jesus – recognizing that we’re all in this together – together in Christ.
As you look over the long history of this congregation, one thing stands out more than anything else. God has blessed the work being done here. For nearly 128 years, God’s people have been gathering for worship and have been strengthened in faith: from the infant at the baptismal font to the saint called home to heaven. Make no mistake – this is why we exist. This is our purpose and our mission. So now when you walk through those doors and take your seat, think of what is really taking place in worship: God speaking to you and you to him. And then think of all that he did so that you might have the gift of eternal life. And then look around. Notice all those who are here believe the same as you. And then think of all the ways the Lord can use you to share his gospel with those you know and love, and with those you meet. And when that all happens, may the words of David come from your lips, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD”(Psalm 122:1).
Amen.
And now may the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding, keep our hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.