Vision Sunday - Part 2: What We Do
Good morning Chapel family! Great to be with you today. Congratulations and blessings to those being baptized today—isn’t that awesome? I also want to thank everyone who played a part in last Sunday. We called it “Welcome Home Sunday,” and I have to tell you: it exceeded my expectation. My wife, Norma Jean, wasn’t here—she was away with some friends. So she called me that afternoon—very eager to know how everything went. And I said, “You know—it really felt like family: I saw so many people I haven’t seen in months; I met a bunch of new people; it was just an atmosphere of joy and fellowship. And I think everyone appreciates being together more than they ever have.” So thanks to all of you who served and gave out food. We actually polished off almost all 120 pizzas—I think there were three left over. So thank God for a great day.
Today is part 2 of Vision Sunday. So I’m teaching through the Chapel’s mission statement, which is—everybody: Building a family of Christ-followers who love God, love people, and serve the world. So last week we talked about Who We Are: we are a family of Christ-followers. And we said that what makes a family a family, more than anything else, is: families love one another. So I hope this past week you had some great opportunities to show loyal and sacrificial and pursuing love to the people in your life—even people who might be hard to love. So last week was all about who we are; today we’re going to talk about What We Do: we love God, we love people, and we serve the world.
Our anchor Scripture for today is from Matthew 22, starting in verse 35. I invite you now to hear the Word of God…
35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” This is the Word of the Lord.
So today let’s talk about how Jesus teaches us to love God, love people, and serve the world…and what that’s going to look like for The Chapel this coming year.
So, first: Loving God. This religious expert asks Jesus to give his opinion: of all the commands in the Scriptures, which one would you put on the top of the list? I love questions like that, don’t you? Because they bring clarity and simplicity out of complexity. And without even stopping to think, Jesus says, Easy: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. So he reaches all the way back to the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, and quotes that commandment: “Love God with all that you are.”
St. Augustine taught that life is all about rightly ordering our loves. Because we love lots of things, right? But sometimes we put them in the wrong order. So a wise person loves God more than they love Jersey Mike’s subs, and more than they love the Yankees, and more than they love their own comfort…and here’s where it starts to challenge us: they love God even more than their own family, and even more than their own life. I’m not saying they don’t love those other things, but their love for those other things pales in comparison to their love for God. They have no other gods before Him.
So if Jesus says that’s the most crucial thing in life, then the most important thing our church can do is to help people to…what? To love God. So if you walk out of here on a Sunday, and you say, “I learned some facts about the Bible—I understand the purpose of the Jewish tabernacle,” if that’s all you got, we have failed. If you walk away saying, “That worship band was on today,” or, “Pastor Dave was really funny today,” if that’s your takeaway, we have failed. If you walk away from your small group, and you say, “I met some nice people and I had some good conversations,” if that’s all you got, we have failed in our mission—because our mission is to direct your attention away from lesser things, and onto the glory and the beauty and the holiness and the love of God. Amen? To help you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. According to Jesus, there’s nothing we need more in life! So we better make that our business, as a church.
So how do we help people love God better? Well, first we help people to meet God personally, by receiving what Jesus has done for them on the cross. Because there’s a difference between knowing about God and knowing God. So we preach the gospel. We are unapologetically evangelistic. John 1:12 says “As many as receive him—to those who believe in his name—he gives the right to become children of God.” So you’ll hear the invitation to receive Christ in sermons; you’ll hear it in Chapel Kids and Chapel Students and Chapel women, etc.—the first step to loving God is to put your faith in Christ and be saved. There’s a decision to be made.
And then we celebrate salvation through baptisms. Baptism is the outward symbol of our inner faith. Last year, because of Covid, we got creative: we baptized people in rivers and lakes and pools; then when things got a little safer we started baptizing here at The Chapel. Every single baptism is a great celebration. So this year we plan to continue baptizing people every month, just like we’re doing this morning. If you’ve never been baptized, we’d love to help you make that step. Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit…” So it’s a joy to live out what Jesus called us to do.
We also nurture people’s love for God through musical worship. I cannot tell you how thankful I am for the worship leadership of Taylor Reinhard and John Boronow. There’s something about those guys, that people just want to serve with them—I think that’s called good leadership. So they’ve put together an amazing team of volunteer musicians; singers; choir members. Can we show our appreciation for Taylor and John and their team? (applause) But can I tell you what I appreciate the most? Our worship leaders are very clear on what their purpose is. When they get up here on a Sunday, or at a Night of Worship, their goal is not to sound really good and get the harmonies just right. The reason they are here is to draw us—the congregation—into worship. That’s their measure of success—they’re not here to perform; they’re here to invite us into the presence of God. To reminds us why God is more awesome than any of those lesser loves, so we can love God with all our hearts. So worship will continue to be a high priority here at The Chapel.
And then we help people love God through our preaching. That’s pretty close to my heart. The book of Hebrews says the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword. 2 Timothy says All Scripture is God-breathed, and is useful for teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training in righteousness. And after preaching for 25 years, I believe that more than ever: when the Bible is faithfully communicated, supernatural things happen. So every fall, we do a series that we call “Common Ground.” So for six weeks, the entire church family is on the same page—sermons, small groups, kids, students—everybody studying the same thing, learning and growing together. And this year, the theme for Common Ground is “Encounters with Jesus.” I’m so looking forward to this series! We’re going to dive into the Gospel of John and look at six different encounters that Jesus had, with very different people: a religious man, a secular man, a lonely woman, a moral failure, etc. We’re
going to see how that encounter with Jesus was the turning point in their life, and how Jesus still encounters the same kind of people today. It’s going to be a great series, and that starts next week.
So…Jesus said there is nothing more important in all of life than loving God. And so through evangelism and baptisms and worship and preaching, we’re going to fan that flame of our love for God. And that will affect everything else we do.
Jesus went on to say: And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ If we truly love God, that will always lead to Loving People. Our marriages will get better. Our friendships will become more quality. In our families we’ll have more of this thing called shalom. So at The Chapel, the main way we learn to love people is by gathering together in different kinds of groups.
Some of those gatherings are very informal. If you were here last Sunday, you saw hundreds of people gathering out on the Village Lawn, talking and sharing life together. That whole thing was very intentional, because we want to create environments for people to grow in their love for one another. Throughout this year, you can expect to see more opportunities just like that—some for the whole church, some for different groups of people—young families, singles, etc. You might even see food trucks out there; you might smell grills cooking food; we’re making plans to put up a beautiful pavilion, so people can gather in all kinds of weather.
And then speaking of the Village Lawn, last Christmas the pandemic forced us to think out of the box, and we came up with this crazy idea to offer a Christmas Village. What a beautiful event, wasn’t it? Thousands of people gathered and experienced the wonder of Christmas. You know what the number one comment we heard was? “We’re doing this again next year, right?” And the answer is…definitely. So here’s how it’s going to go. Thankfully, we’re able to resume our indoor Christmas Eve services. And this year, we’re going to combine the Christmas Village with our Christmas Eve services. So when you come on Christmas Eve (or Christmas Eve Eve, or Christmas Eve Eve Eve—yes, I’m serious), you can come early or stay after, and spend time enjoying the Village—which includes the live nativity with the petting zoo, and great music and fire pits and hot chocolate etc., and last year we were just figuring it out so this year it’s going to be even better. Anybody feeling a little Christmas spirit?
So every time we gather people together, the goal is to nurture relationships and form this loving community. Some of our gatherings are more structured. For example, our Chapel Kids ministry officially re-launched last Sunday, and it was a great start for the new year—lots of kids. Can we show our appreciation for Bria Gabriele and our Chapel Kids volunteers? (applause)
Next Sunday, our Chapel Students small groups start back up—let’s show our gratitude for Cory Daniels and the Chapel Students team! (applause)
And just last weekend, Susan Breitz, our Director of Discipleship, gathered our small group leaders together for a pre-season training event—let’s show our love for Susan and our small group leaders. (applause) So please: if you are not yet part of a small group, you still have a week to get plugged in. And I always tell people: if you’re unsure, just commit to six weeks. Just the six weeks of Common Ground, and see how it goes. We have so many options—men’s groups and women’s groups and MOPS groups, etc., and you can see what they are by going to our web site, thechapel.org; click on “Connect” and “Small Groups,” and you’ll see all kinds of options. Give it a shot.
Let me mention one other group of people that are helping us to love better. Here at The Chapel, we are passionate about including people with special needs in the life our church. We have a full-time Director of Special Needs Inclusion, Ingrid Flannery. And I know a lot of you were wondering about the Night to Shine, which is the prom-like event for special needs folks, sponsored by the Tim Tebow
Foundation. I’ll be honest, we were really hoping it would be back to live next year. We just found out a few days ago that it’s going to be virtual again next February. So yes, that’s disappointing, but it’s also wise because lots of the participants have some unique health issues. But listen: “virtual” doesn’t mean they just watch it on TV! We had deliver special packages to each person’s home; there are lots of personal touches; it’s done really well. So you’ll hear more about that soon
And there’s so much more we do for the Special Needs community! One-on-one buddies for kids in Chapel kids. Quarterly “Night Out” events to give parents a break and spend time with their kids. We’ve recently built this: this is our brand new Sensory Room, where we gather on Sunday mornings. And then this past year, over at our Sunset Ministry Center, we planted a community garden specifically for people with special needs to learn the joy of gardening, but it’s also just another way to draw people together and nurture their love for one another. Isn’t that a beautiful sight?
So Jesus said the second-most important thing in life is to love your neighbor as yourself. And so much that The Chapel does is for that exact purpose.
So The Chapel is all about loving God, loving people, and the last phrase is so important: Serving the World. This is the part of today’s message I was most looking forward to giving. Now, maybe you’re thinking, “But Pastor Dave, Jesus only called out two things: Love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor as yourself. Why are you adding a third thing?” Good question! And the answer is: We have a strong tendency to turn inward and focus on ourselves. It’s just human nature to get comfortable and complacent. So we intentionally added this third thing, and just like the first two, it comes right from the teachings of Jesus. Jesus said, “Even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” So if we’re following him, we will be an outward-focused church. We will care deeply about the brokenness around us, and we’ll be involved in helping to heal that brokenness.
So how are we planning to serve the world this coming year? Well, we will of course continue our More than Conquerors group for addiction recovery, and our Life Givers group for people with terminal illnesses, and our Grief Share group for people grieving losses, and our Loaves and Fishes food pantry—and all of those are great services to our community.
We also plan to continue our outreach to nearby colleges under the leadership of John Dere, our Pastor of Young Adults. One of the ways we do that is a gathering called “Coffee on Campus,” where we spend time with college students. So this is a recent Coffee on Campus gathering at Montclair State; we also do it at William Paterson, and this year we’re looking at adding a third college. It’s a great way to build relationships with students and help them take next steps in their spiritual lives.
We will continue to invest in The Chapel Preschool. Did you realize that this year, the Chapel preschool has ten different classes, and 16 teachers, and 125 students? Even with the pandemic, and all the hard decisions that has required, we are serving 125 students—which is more than we’ve had in more than 13 years. Many of those families are not from our Chapel family—so it’s a great outreach into our community. Jasmine Knaus and her team are doing a fantastic job under some really tough conditions—can we show our appreciation for them?
Now that the Pandemic is coming to an end (hopefully!), this year we plan to bring more teams to serve in Bogotá, Colombia. We’ve already helped seven churches in some pretty rough neighborhoods to construct facilities, so we have the joy of providing that financial help. But the most joyful part is visiting these churches, and worshiping with them, and serving alongside them, and building relationships with them. Many of you have expressed interest in coming on a future trip, and we’re finally getting close to resuming those So keep your ears open. If you come on a trip to Colombia, you will never forget it.
There are so many other things I could mention, but let me tell you about two very concrete ways we’re going to be serving the world in the coming weeks. First, you all know about the humanitarian crisis with all the Afghani refugees that have recently come to our country. Throughout Scripture, God calls his people to show kindness to refugees, and we have a great opportunity to do that. We are teaming up with Emergence Church in Totowa, and working with the nearby refugee resettlement agency, to collect two things: baby strollers and blankets. They can be new or slightly used. So we have until next Sunday—a week from today—and there’s going to be a collection point on the front porch of our Lincoln Park Campus. So you can bring donations throughout the week, or bring them with you to church next Sunday. Great opportunity to show the love of Christ to people in a really hard situation.
Okay—one more thing I want to mention. Over the past year or so, there’s been a burden on my heart that I can’t shake. I believe God is pushing me to get out of my suburban bubble, to connect and serve and learn from people in more urban areas. And if God is stretching me in this way, maybe through me he wants to stretch The Chapel. So I started praying about it, and I started spending time in Paterson. Do you realize that Paterson is only 12 miles away from our Lincoln Park Campus? A lot of people drive further than that to come to The Chapel every Sunday. 12 miles! But to most of us, it might as well be 1,000 miles away. Because it seems so different. We know all about the drugs and the crime and the homelessness and the broken families. And I think a lot of us want to somehow reach out and connect with Paterson, but we have no idea how. So the closest we get is when we drive past it on Route 80.
So I contacted some of The Chapel’s ministry partners in Paterson, and I started setting up lunches with them, and walking the streets with them, and talking about what God is doing. I started inviting other Chapel pastors and elders to come with me on those visits, and they joined me in praying and dreaming about how God might be leading. And I’ll tell you what: God is at work in Paterson. Yes, there are all kinds of problems there, but there are also some amazing people who are absolutely sold out to bring blessing and change to the city. It’s exciting to be around them.
So through that process, we developed an idea that I’m so excited to share with you today. It’s called “12 Mile Bridge.” A bridge makes it easy to get from one place to another, and I want to make it easy for people from the suburbs to serve in Paterson. Right now we have a handful of Chapel folks serving in different Paterson ministries; I want to see hundreds. I think we have so much to offer, if we just direct it in the right way. So we are strengthening our relationships with about seven key ministry partners, and we’re creating clear on-ramps for people to serve. But also, a bridge goes both ways—so this is not about the suburban church coming and rescuing the poor city people. We have as much to gain from them as they do from us! So as we serve alongside them; as we hear their stories and meet their families; as we hear their voices in video interviews, or on our social media, or in our pulpit, we are going to be blessed. If the idea of going into Paterson is a little scary to you, I’m praying that God will replace that with a sense of excitement and a sense of love for the people.
Now, speaking of hearing some Paterson voices in our pulpit, let me introduce you to someone. I recently met a strong leader named Charles Salinas. He’s a pastor in Paterson, and he’s got a great vision for how God can transform the city. And here’s the exciting thing: he’s inviting us—the Chapel family—to join him this Saturday—September 25—to do an outreach to the homeless population of Paterson. So I want you to hear Pastor Charles explain it…
Charles Salinas Interview (3:30).
Isn’t that exciting? So we can bring up to 40 people; the food will be provided, so our job is to split up into teams; every team will have a leader who’s from Paterson and knows the city; each team will go to one of these 16 different locations; we’ll set up tables, give out food, give out backpacks with toiletries, talk with people, hear their stories, pray with them, and just see what God does. If it goes well, I’d love to consider taking a team and doing this every month, and I think that kind of consistency would do a lot to build trust. And I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but we’re also building a relationship with an organization called The Great Falls Center, which is right by the famous Great Falls, and part of what they do is run a trade school—so people from Paterson can learn carpentry or welding or culinary arts. It’s a Christian-based trade school, and listen to this: it’s free. So as we connect with people from the city, there are resources like that that can help put their lives on a different path. So you’ll hear more about that in the days to come. But please consider joining us this Saturday—just go to our web site, and you’ll find it under “Events.” And again, we can only bring 40, so if you want to come, sign up quick. Maybe this is the year that God is going to break you out of your suburban bubble, and use you in ways you never thought possible.
So…who are we? We are a family of Christ-followers.
What do we do? We love God, love people, and serve the world.
One of my favorite parts of the Bible is Acts chapter two. Because it’s a picture of the early church, right after they received the Holy Spirit, and look what it says—Acts two, verse 42… 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. This was a family, right? They were spending time together, eating, studying the Word, praying. Family! And then look at the next verse: 43a Everyone was filled with awe… Because everyone in this church knew there was something supernatural going on. This was the risen Jesus Christ, building his church, and it was awesome to be a part of. I have experienced some of that awe here at The Chapel, and I’m ready for more of I this year. Amen? I love this church; I love what God is doing here; it’s a privilege to serve with all of you. Would you rise and pray that with me?