Vision Sunday - Part 1: Building the We
Use the material to go deeper into this Series on your own, or with your small group.
Group Goals Material
Genelle Guzman McMillan had a temp job as a Port Authority clerk on the 64th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. On that Tuesday morning, she was chatting with another worker over a bagel when she heard this strange booming sound, and then the terrifying feeling of swaying, as the top floors of the 110-story building swung back and forth. She and her co-workers started running down the stairs, counting each flight out loud as they went. 63…62…61…60…The firefighters running up assured them that if they kept running, they would be fine. When they reached the 13th floor, Genelle realized she’d run faster without her heels, so she bent down to take them off, and at that moment everything came crashing down around her. She felt something hit her chest, and then she was pinned to the ground. All she could see was blackness. In her words, “A hundred and ten floors were coming down around us. I knew I was being buried alive.”
Lying there, with her head wedged between broken slabs of concrete, she thought about her 14-year-old daughter, and she started praying: ‘God, please save my life. Give me a second chance. I promise I will change my life and do your will.’” She remembers saying that prayer over and over again until she passed out from the pain.
That day came and went. On September 12, the nation woke up to the shock of realizing what had just happened. And Genelle woke to the beeping sound of a truck backing up. The only part of her body that wasn’t trapped was her hand, so she found a place to wedge it through, and she tried to wave it in the air. Nobody saw it. She passed out again. When she woke up, she heard rescue workers again. She waved her hand in the air again. And this time someone grabbed it. She heard the voice of a man: “I’ve got you. You’re gonna be all right. I won’t let go until they get you out.”
Genelle Guzman McMillan was the last person to be rescued from Ground Zero alive. 27 hours after the North Tower collapsed, she was brought to safety. Since that day, her life has radically changed. She’s committed her life to Christ. She’s involved in the Brooklyn Tabernacle in New York; she sings in the choir. She’s written a book. She speaks at events all over the country, telling her story and reminding people how fragile and how precious this life is.
So today, on the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I want to remind all of us how fragile and how precious this life is. Your life! It is such a gift, and you get to choose how to live it.
I think it’s so fitting that Vision Sunday falls on 9/11. Because the whole purpose of Vision Sunday is to talk about what God is calling us to as a church, and to invite you to be part of it. So in light of 9/11, here’s the question we all have to ask: since life is so fragile, how can I devote myself to things that matter? And I believe the mission of our church answers that question in a beautful way. So let’s do this together—let’s all call out the Chapel’s mission as one voice. Are you ready? This is what our church is about—everybody together…
Building a family of Christ-followers who love God, love people, and serve the world.
I love our mission. I believe in it. It’s pulled directly from the pages of Scripture and especially the teaching of Jesus, and it guides every decision we make as a church. But here’s the thing: it’s not just the mission of our church, it can be the mission of our lives. I believe every one of us, in different
ways, is called to be a part of a family of Christ-followers, and that we are put here on earth to love God, love people, and serve the world.
So let me ask you a question: if you knew you had exactly 12 months to live, what would you do? I mean, besides quitting your job? I’ll tell you what I would do: I would throw myself into loving God, loving the people around me, and serving the world. There is no higher, more worthy, more urgent thing we could spend our time doing.
So for the next two weeks, Pastor Ted and I are going to give you a picture of how God is leading us to carry out our mission in this new season. The title of today’s message is “Building the We.” So I’m going to talk about what we are doing together, as a church. And then next week, Pastor Ted’s message is called “Starting with Me.” So he’s going to get specific about how you, personally, can be part of this.
Did you notice the two stools? Today and next week, the pastor is going to be in this stool, and this other stool is called the “Hot Seat.” So we’re going to randomly call people from the congregation to come and sit up here (no, I’m not going to do that. Did I scare you?). Actually, we have some very important guests from the Chapel staff and the Chapel family who are going to come up and share some exciting things with you. So keep your eye on the Hot Seat today and next week.
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.
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 like questions like that, don’t you? They bring 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 book of Deuteronomy, and quotes that commandment: “Love God with all that you are.”
So if Jesus says that’s the most crucial thing in life, then the most crucial thing our church can do is to help people to…what? To love God. If you walk out of here on a Sunday, and you say, “I learned some facts about the Bible—I understand now what David was going through when he wrote that Psalm,” 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. There is a difference between knowing about God and knowing God. So we preach the gospel. We are unapologetically evangelistic. We call people to make a decision for Christ. And then we celebrate those decisions of faith through baptisms. When I first got the Chapel many years ago, we baptized people twice a year; now we do it every month, and I love that—it should be a regular part of our worship. So this year we plan to continue baptizing every month, and I look forward to every one of those celebrations, don’t you?
We also nurture people’s love for God through musical worship. And that brings me to our first special guest. Would you welcome to the Hot Seat or brand new Director of Worship, Lauren Tapia?
1. How are you feeling about stepping into this new role?
2. Tell us a little about your background.
3. Why do you feel God is calling you to The Chapel?
4. Tell us what a great worship service looks like to you.
5. How can we support you?
Thank Lauren.
So…Jesus said there is nothing more important in all of life than loving God. And so through evangelism and baptisms and worship, 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, it 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 informal. After both services today, we’re holding our second Annual “Welcome Home Sunday” out on the Village Lawn. It’s an opportunity to gather over some (pastries/pizza) and just share life together. And that’s very intentional, because we want to create environments for people to grow in their love for one another, so you can look for more of those.
This year we plan to continue our priority of including people with special needs in everything we do: 1-on-1 buddies on Sunday mornings; “Night Out” events on Friday evenings; our Special Needs Community Garden. And I do have some wonderful news. For the first time in three years, this February 10, 2023, The Chapel will once again be a host location for the Night to Shine! Isn’t that awesome? So we’re going to fill this place with music and laughter and dancing and showing our guests the love of Christ in a way they’ll never forget. So put it on your calendar—February 10!
We also plan to continue our Chapel preschool. I want you to hear the words of Jasmine Knaus, our Preschool Director: “This is our largest year in well over fifteen years, with eleven classes and over 140 students! This still completely amazes me, given that that in the height of the pandemic, we were not initially sure if we’d even be able to reopen the preschool …Our staff is wholeheartedly committed to serving each of these preschoolers and their parents, with hopes of planting a firm spiritual foundation that will have a lasting impact on every family.” Can we just show appreciation for Jasmine and the Chapel preschool staff? This is an incredible team!
When we think about Loving People, the main way we accomplish that is through small groups. So I want to call our next guest. Would you welcome to the Hot Seat the Chapel’s Director of Discipleship, Susan Breitz!
1. A lot of your job here is to fan the flames of our Small Group ministries. Why do you believe so strongly in the power of small groups? Give a brief philosophy of the value of small groups.
2. Well, every fall our small groups all unify around our Common Ground topic, and I know you share my excitement about this year’s topic. So I want to give you the honor of officially announcing it to the Chapel family! Unveil the “Fruition” Series, show off the study guides.
3. So for people who are not yet connected to a group, how can they get connected this fall? Explain “Beginnings” Group. We can’t wait to meet people who are unconnected and help them feel more like family while they also grow in their faith. Also mention there are many new groups for women on multiple days at Sunset.
4. So speaking of Chapel Women, it’s been great to see how many young women in their 20s and 30s are getting involved. Can you tell us about that? Talk about how the 20s/30s group is thriving, and what’s coming up this year.
5. One more question: I keep hearing about this brand new thing called “Family Fridays.” What’s that all about? Explain Family Fridays!
Thank Susan!
So Jesus said the second-most important thing in life is to love your neighbor as yourself. And so much of what The Chapel does is designed to help us live that out.
So…The Chapel is all about loving God, loving people, and we can’t leave out the last phrase: Serving the World. 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 do we plan to serve the world this coming year? Well, we will of course continue our More than Conquerors group for addiction recovery; our Life Givers group for people with terminal illnesses; our Grief Share group for people grieving losses; our Loaves and Fishes food pantry; all of those are great services to our community.
We also plan to resume our work in Colombia. Right before the pandemic, we took several mission teams to the Bogotá area, and The Chapel was instrumental in six different church build projects. Let me show you two quick examples. This is a church called Patio Bonito—it’s in a suburb of Bogotá. if you look closely you can see several Chapel members standing over to the right of this congregation—so they were worshiping outside. And this is their church building now—just a beautiful place to gather. Here’s one called Mision Vida—“Mission Life”—in a Bogotá suburb called Gacheta. So here’s the “before,” and then through our partnership, this is where they gather now. Isn’t that cool? Ultimately it’s not about the buildings; it’s about connecting with the people and serving them in the name of Christ. So we plan to continue that ministry 2023—keep your ears open for those opportunities.
We’ll also be serving the world through our 12-Mile Bridge Initiative. It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since we launched 12-Mile Bridge, but in that time we have mobilized hundreds of Chapel people to join hands and serve with our friends in Paterson. It’s been really exciting. Speaking of 12-Mile Bridge, it’s time to invite up our last guest. Would you welcome to the Hot Seat our only non-staff member today: Nate Dorka!
1. Nate, tell us a little about what you do for a living. Talk about your role with Servant’s Heart and why you’re passionate about it.
2. So we are doing something brand new this fall called “WeServe.” I know you’re assisting Pastor Paul with this and you’re pretty fired up about it, so tell us about it. Talk about the date (11/5/22), the vision for the day: gathering in unity, then unleashing the Chapel family to serve across North Jersey. Mention some of the Paterson organizations, other groups we’ll be serving with.
3. So why do you think the day will be so valuable? Talk about giving people exposure to our ministry partners, building trust & strengthening the 12-mile Bridge, hopefully stirring a desire for our folks to serve on a regular basis. Maybe mention that you led a similar event at your previous church, and some of the benefits you saw it produce.
4. How can people get involved? Briefly mention that registration will be available online later this fall, and we’ll try to match people with the opportunity that fits them best.
Thank you Nate!
Now: obviously the WeServe event is just one day, but there will be opportunities all through the year to sacrifice you time, to use your gifts, and to make a difference in the name of Christ. So I encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and join us as we serve the world.
I’ll close with this. In two weeks, we begin our study of the Fruit of the Spirit. Somebody tell me what the first fruit of the Spirit is. “Love.” There’s a reason it’s on the top of the list. It’s by far the most important one. Jesus said there’s one way that people will know we’re his disciples: by the way we love. When I look around The Chapel, I see beautiful acts of love. When I’m over at our Wayne Campus, I thank God we’re using that parsonage to provide housing for a family of refugees from Afghanistan. A year ago they were fleeing from the Taliban; now, by God’s sovereignty they’re spending this season of their lives with us, and they will never forget our love.
When I look out my office window toward the Parker House, I thank God we’re using the missionary apartment to provide housing for the Peasley family from Ohio. Their two-year-old daughter Sara is receiving radiation for a rare brain tumor, and this home is a short drive from where she goes every day for treatments. But it’s more than just the house—this church family has mobilized to serve them in so many ways. Six weeks ago they never even heard of The Chapel; now they’ll never forget this church family, because of our love.
And I could give so many more examples, but here’s the point: this life is so fragile and so precious. Let’s use our days for things that matter. And in the end, what matters is love: the love that God has shown us, and the love we get to pour out by loving Him, loving people, and serving the world. Amen?