Where is the Lord's house?

My trip to Myanmar made me think deeper about the issue of "places of worship."  In John 4, the Samaritan woman questions Jesus about the proper place for worship.  His response to her is that the Father is looking for worshippers who worship in Spirit and Truth.  But what about all of the examples in the OT where God calls His people to come worship Him in the Temple?  Or where the Psalmists long for worshipping in the Temple in Jerusalem on Mount Zion?  This seems to create a yearning for location specific worship.  Psalm 122 really had me thinking about this:

A Song of Ascents. Of David.  

I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!” Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem! Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together, to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord. There thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David. 

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! “May they be secure who love you! Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!” For my brothers and companions’ sake I will say, “Peace be within you!” For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.

David had such a longing to go to the house of the Lord.  He loved the city, the brothers and companions there, and he longed for the peace of the city.  David's heart is not to be lost.  It carries into the life of a Christian.  But Psalm 122 is no longer about the city of Jerusalem.  It is about the church!

In Hebrews 8-10, the author goes to great length to explain that the tabernacle, sacrifices, and law are all only a shadow of heavenly realities.  They were given to show us how dim everything is in comparison to the magnificent glory of God.  That glory was fully displayed in Jesus Christ.  What He came to do was to shine light on the shadows so that we could see clearly.  And that is why we see Psalm 122 in light of Hebrews 8-10, the church IS that city bound firmly together, the church IS the house of the Lord (I Corinthians 3:9-17, Ephesians 2:11-22, I Timothy 3:14-15).

So let us walk back through Psalm 122 through the lens of a church reconciled to God through the redemptive work of Jesus.

1)"I was glad..." - Someone who has been bought by the blood of Jesus has been born into a new family. The church is that family.  The Scriptures really do not entertain the idea of a lone ranger Christian.  Our heart is that we are glad to "go to the house of the Lord!"  And by house of the Lord we do not mean the church building.  We mean that we are glad to be gathered with our church family whether it be in corporate worship, dinner, serving our neighborhood, rejoicing over the birth of a child, or mourning the loss of a loved one.  A follower of Jesus is GLAD to be with the people of Jesus.  You will not know this gladness unless you've lived among the people, unless your feet have stood in the gates.  So taste and see that the Lord is good.  Enjoy the company of the house of the Lord.

2)"A city that is bound firmly together" - The church is united in the bond of peace through the power of the Holy Spirit.  You know that you have found a true church family when nothing can shake them.  It was recently shared with me that about 50% of the churches in New Orleans ceased to exist after Hurricane Katrina.  Why?  Because the storm washed away their buildings.  But those that continued to exist had a bond stronger than brick and mortar.  They were firmly bound together by brotherly love and service.  Our churches are only as strong as our dependence on the unifying work of the Holy Spirit.  If we have to manufacture community, then whatever we are being, we are not being the church.

3)"The tribes go up... to give thanks to the name of the Lord." - The church is a people made up of those giving thanks to the name of the Lord.  Thanks for what?  Not only thanks for His numerous gifts in our lives, but one particularly unifying cry of praise.  We thank Him for His unparalleled gift of salvation!  This is why there is no one like our God.  What sets our Lord apart is that Jesus came to die for us, defeated sin, death, and Satan, and is reigning in His church even now.  We give thanks for this!  A church must be characterized by their praise of the glorious name of Jesus.

4)"Pray for the peace..." - there are 3 areas that David prayed for peace and the church should follow suit.

• Bring security to those who love the church!  The Lord has given us much strength within the church, providing living stones (Christians) who stand firm for the sake of the Gospel.  Pray that their steadfastness will not waiver.  Pray that more believers will be secure stones in the wall and not be tossed to and fro by the cares of life.
• Peace among brothers and companions.  Pray for the unity of the church!  The glory of God will be displayed among the church if we are unified in Him.  If we have no love for one another, then the love of God is not in us at all and we are liars.  Pray for the kind of love that would cause God to die for His creation.
• Pray for the good of the church.  When was the last time you prayed that the church would be successful in God's mission to the world?  Pray that God would give the church favor in the workplace, marketplace, schools, and neighborhoods.  Pray that the church would be given opportunities to bless the city she lives in.  Pray for the GOOD of the church!

The Lord's house is His people.  The church is the Temple of the Living God, Jesus.  Do not look to this mountain or that mountain to find worship, worship the Lord in the midst of His people!  You will find many glorious, messy, truths about God among His church.  I hope that you will come and find Him among us.

The Path of Discipleship

Once a month I take a day to get away, pray, read, study, and just enjoy some time with God.  This past Tuesday I walked down to the Mount Dora Mountain Bike Trail and decided to walk it.  It was a beautiful day and allowed me to free my mind from all the noise up there.  The Spirit told me to just simplify and listen.  I was able to enjoy the trees, birds, the water still in the trees, and all of God's creation.  But as I walked the trail, the Spirit began to share something else with me.  So I thought I'd share it here with others.

After a slight distracting phone call, this thought overwhelmed me.  Walking that trail is just like the walk of a disciple.  In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus says, "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."  It is not the straight and narrow, it is the hard and narrow.

You see a path has some very distinguishing features.  First of all, a path is a distinct way cut through the woods, the desert, mountains, etc.  However, most paths do not feature "guard rails" to keep you on it.  There are definite boundaries that mark the path, but nothing to stop you from wandering off if you so wish.  However, to get where you are going, you need to stay on the path.  The way to follow Jesus is hard.  It bids a man to come and die to himself and follow Jesus forever.  Along the way, there will be many distractions in relationships, money, cares of this world, anxiety, and so on.  We will grow weary and tired.  We will stop for a rest.  We will stop to pray.  Sometimes we will look back and wonder if you should go back the way we came.  But the path calls us to keep walking so that we can get to where we were going.  And for us, this is to the Father.

At some points, the boundaries of the path are very unclear.  You can vaguely make out where you are supposed to go, but it seems that the difference between the path and not being on the path are not easy to figure out.  The longer you have been on the path, the easier it is to notice the distinguishing marks of the path.  What would be really helpful would be to have a guide, walking you down the path.  Someone that made the path, that knew more intricately than you ever could.  Jesus gave His followers His Spirit to guide them on His path.  In John 14:26 Jesus says, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."  The Spirit is given to us to walk us down the path, teaching us the boundaries and showing us the way.  He is guiding home to the Father.

Sometimes the path gets dark, making it nearly impossible to see.  It is always nice to have a light with you in those moments.  It is no accident that the Psalmist writes in Psalm 119:105, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."  God's word lights up the path for us.  The word will not walk the path for us, but will show us where we are walking and the help us see what lies ahead of us and behind us.  It illuminates the boundaries and helps us to discern our surroundings.  It keeps darkness off of the path.

The path of discipleship is hard.  Along the way are many distractions that Satan uses to distract us.  But remember, Satan can not push or pull us off the path.  The lusts of our hearts may cause us to go after the distractions, but as long as we are on the path we are walking in the peace of God.  So maybe today you need to raise up your head and let God's word illuminate your way.  Maybe you need to get back on the path of the Gospel.  Maybe you need to listen to the Spirit guiding you along.  Hopefully you can walk the path the way I ended my time.  Joyfully singing praises to God, clearly seeing where to go, and content to be right where you are.

What is a Gospel Community?

What is a Gospel Community?

A Gospel Community is a community of people continually encountering God in the gospel and engaging in God's mission in the world, as they enjoy God together.

We believe that God's people are meant to be communal and therefore are to live out the gospel in community.  This has to do with both encountering God regularly and being engaged in mission.  But ultimately, we live this way because we know that it is for our joy.

What is the Gospel?

Why use the term gospel?  Because the church is a people formed by the gospel and sent for the gospel.  So in order to understand who we are and what we do, we must understand the gospel.  This is how we talk about the gospel at Round Lake.

The Gospel is the good news that, for God’s Glory, Jesus died for our sin and was resurrected so we might move from death to life.

What is our mission?

To be witnesses for God’s Glory in the world by continuing the work of Jesus in word and deed through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Gospel Communities have 5 main identities:

1)Worshipers

We worship Jesus as God by living out the other 4 identities.

(John 4, Romans 12:1-2, Hebrews 13:15-16, Revelation 4-5)

2)Family

        We are children of God who live and care for each other as a family should.  

        (John 1:12-13, Galatians 4:4-7, I John 2:28-3:3)

3)Missionaries

We are sent by God to present the Gospel to all people.

(Matt 28:18-20, Acts)

4)Servants

We engage in serving God by serving others.

(Phil 2:1-11, John 13:1-7)

5)Learners

We engage in discipleship by teaching scripture to one another.

(Matt 28:18-20, Eph 4:11-13, II Tim 2:2)

The Hezekiah Commitment

Last month I preached a sermon on Biblical Giving.  At the end of that sermon (you can see the notes here) I reference a commitment to lead like Hezekiah does in II Chronicles.  I wanted to take some time to expand on that here.

Too often, churches accept the current state of things because that's the way they have been.  Leaders are guilty of the same drift.  Churches and leaders both get tired, worn out, and become paralyzed from continuing to pursue Godly change and repentance.  We stop asking the hard questions, stop looking for the areas to grow in.  I believe that giving and finances are one of those areas in the church.

We have accepted "giving to the church", the tithe, the need for buildings, programs, and debt as proper uses of how the church should handle her finances.  But in studying the scriptures on this subject I found some eye-opening realities.

The first and most challenge was the relative smallness of the "tithe" in all of scripture.  The tithe (meaning tenth) only consisted of a portion of the overall giving to the tabernacle/temple and priests in the Old Testament.  The tithe did not include sacrifices, offerings, freewill offerings, and many other forms of giving or sacrifice.  Why did we zero in on the tithe?  The NT only references in 3 locations, twice speaking against the legalism which it represented and once in referring to Melchizedek and Abraham.  So why do we perpetuate this concept?  I believe it limits our freedom in giving, uses a concept that is strange to people not raised in the church, and is not true to the NT heart of giving.  There is no where in the New Testament the idea that a tenth of what we have should be "given to the church".  You just won't find it.

So what does the NT say about followers of Jesus and giving (since it says so little about tithing)?  Well first and foremost it covers the same themes from the Old Testament.  Giving should be for the benefit of widows, orphans, those in hardships, the poor, and those working on the church (preaching, teaching, etc).  Too many churches today make business decisions with their money, not spiritual decisions.  I know the arguments against this stance.  That spending money on programs and buildings allows us to reach more people for Jesus.  Make that argument if you want, but the bottom line is you won't find support for that kind of thinking in the scriptures.  Money is meant to be a means of grace in the lives of those around us, not a way to attract the masses.

So my commitment is this.  As far as I am concerned, 4 categories take precedence in all financial decisions using money given by the church:
1)Caring for widows, orphans, and others in hardships.
2)Caring for the poor and impoverished.
3)Supplying the needs of those working on the church.
4)Supplying the needs of those spreading the Gospel globally.

I understand this leaves off a lot of what we do with money in the current church environment.  Am I saying the other uses of money are evil?  No, but what I am saying is that we have lost our priorities.  And I believe that when we pursue this kind of integrity with our spending as a church, we will see God move like He did in II Chronicles 29-31.