We will not be getting together at Mountain View Academy to worship God this Sunday. Instead, we’ll be getting together in our LTGs (small groups) to hang out, watch the Super Bowl, and eat food together. Invite friends and have a good time. If you’re not part of an LTG, use this as an opportunity to check one out. Check out the LTG page for details and more information about each of the LTGs that are currently running.
Our passage for this morning is a really familiar one: Luke 2:1-7, the birth of Jesus Christ. There are a few things about it that I think are easy to skip over because we’re so familiar with it.
The first is that this Jesus is Joseph and Mary’s first born child. For those of you who have kids, think about the time when you were having your first born. Recall the feelings. All that anticipation. All that excitement. And yet, at the same time, all that fear. All that anxiety. Joseph and Mary were likely an emotional mess.
The second is that the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem, that trip that they took late in Mary’s third trimester was an 85 mile trip through some steep inclines. And if you’ve ever ridden an animal, you know that that’s still a physical exhausting mode of transportation. Think of the time when you were late in your third trimester. How far were you able to walk? Jospeh and Mary were physically exhausted. They were running on fumes.
And lastly, Bethlehem was Joseph’s “own city”, verse 3. Though it’s unclear whether Joseph’s parents were still alive, it’s almost certain that Joseph still had close relatives in Bethlehem. And considering Middle Eastern hospitality, it would’ve been inconceivable for Joseph and his new family to stay the night in some random barn as it’s portrayed in many of our Christmas pageants and plays.
Joseph and Mary likely stayed in one of his relatives’ home as did many of his other relatives, hence, why there wasn’t enough room for their entire family to sleep. With everybody coming back to their hometown to be registered for the census, there was likely a family reunion in the house where Joseph and Mary stayed. There’s music, dancing, massive amounts of food, laughter, and hugging. Jesus is getting passed around the room from family member to family member. And at the end of the day, after the party’s subsided well into the night, Joseph and Mary lay him down in a manger, a step below the living area but under the same roof.
There is very little that’s silent about this night. Very little is calm. And there’s little sleeping in heavenly peace.
If anything it’s a chaotic night. They’re emotionally and physically exhausted before they even get to Bethlehem. And when they do get there, they’re greeted by Joseph’s extended family who are excited to see the new addition to their family.
But Jesus is there with them. And for that reason, one of the lines from Silent Night rings true. It was a “holy night”. Being holy isn’t about being composed and calm, about having it all together with your sins properly managed. Being holy is about being with Jesus, abiding in Him.
I know that many of you are in a place right now where you feel like life is too chaotic to be connected to Jesus. Well, our relationship with Jesus is a two-way street. Jesus reaches out to us as well. Jesus loves you.
But will you notice? Will you notice Jesus loving you in the midst of the chaos of your life?
To notice, consider group life, being part of an LTG. When we live life alone, in seclusion it’s all too easy not to notice Jesus. Our spiritual vision gets near-sighted as we just live through the routines of our lives. But as we share about our lives, chaos and all, others in our LTGs can speak into them revealing Jesus at work in it. And as we pray together through the chaos of our lives, we can tangibly feel Jesus ministering to us through His body, the Church.
Discussion Questions:
31 Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. 32 They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority.
33 In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, 34 “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
35 “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.
Following the open COT meeting on September 15th, we realized that it would be helpful for us to give some context and perspective as to why we have responded to Mike’s announcement the way we have, i.e. by asking the church to pray for a month and coming together on the 27th to continue to pray and listen corporately, and to help to frame what we expect to come out of this time.
Our heart
We feel that it is important for there to be a measure of spiritual consensus and unity as a community as we decide what to do in light of the Kims’ departure. So, in thinking about how to go about the decision making process, we thought that it would be appropriate to invite the whole church into the listening and seeking process. The easy thing would have been to start brainstorming ideas and then discuss the pros and cons of the different options, but we want to be a community that actively lives out seeking the Lord first, having Jesus as our Head and responding to His directives. Every situation of uncertainty or change is an opportunity to know and seek God. When we are forced out of our comfort zones, we have an opportunity to turn to God first, to follow His directives, and to see what He does as a result, and that is how we want to respond and help BayLight to respond.
One thing that we have been seeing and hearing as we process in our LTGs and with folks around us is that this time of seeking the Lord is bigger than just Mike and Leslie’s departure and the next steps that we are going to take as a church. It’s really about God guiding us all – individually, as G3s and LTGs, and of course BayLight as a whole. It’s very possible that you might feel like you are hearing something completely unrelated to the current situation, but that it is connected with things that other people are hearing or sensing. It might be personal to you, it might even be about someone else – God has a way of speaking in concert through different people and different ways. Be bold and share with people in your LTGs and the COT and anyone else – we’re in this journey together.
The 27th
One question that came up was what to expect when we gather on the 27th. While it’s hard to answer that question exactly, we can give some guidelines to help frame the time. One thing that we’re not expecting is for there to be any definitive decisions made. Based on what we’ve sensed so far, it seems like the 27th will be more of a launching point, and will set the tone for how we go about deciding next steps. Hopefully, we’ll have a better sense, as I mentioned above, of consensus and unity in where God is taking us. As Elbert has emailed out already, we want to encourage people who feel like they’ve heard something to share on the 27th, and to let us know. Even if you don’t feel comfortable sharing, we’d love to hear to help round out our view and understanding of how God is speaking to us. Depending on what is shared, there will be time to pray and meditate, and yes, we will worship too. We will spend time praying for our own hearts to be tilled and purified before Him, confessing if we need to, laying things down or grabbing hold of the things that God desires for us.
As you continue to pray and spend time with the Lord, some of these thoughts may be helpful:
1.) Form and Function — the conversation has primarily been about form — what structure should we be? should we replace Mike or not? etc. These kinds of questions can be hard to pray about because they are more of a binary answer of yes or no. Praying about function rather than form may be helpful. What unique role is BayLight supposed to be playing here and in this season? What are we to be about?
2.) The whole and how “I”(you) fit into the whole — God may be speaking to you about the church as a whole, but he may also be speaking to you about what YOU yourselves are supposed to be doing in this season. What is God asking of you? What is God wanting to give you in this season? How can God move BayLight closer to its natural design through you?
3.) Near future and Far future — Right now we’ve asked primarily for the near future steps. But God could also be giving you snapshots and pictures of the future of what BayLight is supposed to be and will eventually be. It may be so far ahead though that you may feel like it’s not the time or irrelevant. We want to encourage you to have the freedom to speak into both.
The last thought segues us into…..
The future
We’re not sure what the future holds, but we are committed to being a church that follows God’s heart, that seeks to know and love Him and seeks to be His ambassadors in this world. We feel like this is an important season for our church, that it’s a time to invest in. This is why we approved a budget that is in deficit – we know that this is not financially sustainable if this is the rule, but we feel a strong conviction that God has given us the surplus that we have for such a time as this.
We hope that though there is some uncertainty and perhaps trepidation during this time, that there is also a sense of hope in what God has been doing and will continue to do in our midst. There are great things happening all around us – if anything, I think we need to do a better job of sharing with each other what God is doing in our lives. He is alive and He is working in our midst.
with great love and affection,
the COT
Here are some notes on what I shared today. If any of you would like to explore further what this means and how to do it, let’s talk.
- “Teaching” in the biblical sense of the word (as it is explained and modeled) is not what we’ve made it into: long, doctrinal, monological preaching on a Sunday morning.
Titus 2 is a great example of “teaching what is in accord with sound doctrine.” It involves life-application (knowledge that leads to love), life-on-life, modeling, encouraging, and instruction.
The biblical writers assumed that many were involved in the teaching process; this was a sign of great health. More teachers is > than one “great” teacher.
Paul, as a pioneer missionary and church planter, usually spent several months on average in a city, during which he would evangelize, build up and leave a church. If teaching was the 21st century Western evangelical understanding of it, then those churches would be in some huge trouble. What did Paul know that we don’t? He had a more organic understanding of teaching in the context of making disciples and he expected everyone to be involved in disciple-making ministry.
- Who is to teach according to the bible? All of us.
1.) Every parent is according to Deuteronomy 6:1-9 (esp. vv.2, 7).
2.) Every older woman and man [inferentially] is according to Titus 2:1-8.
3.) Every Christian responsible for the Great Commission (i.e., all of us) is according to Matthew 28:18-20.
4.) Every person gifted to the church as a “teacher” according to Ephesians 4:11-16.
- Who do we teach?
1.) if a parent, our children and their biological and spiritual children (Deut. 6:1-9).
2.) if and older woman or man, “younger” men and women than us (Titus 2:1-8).
3.) if a follower of Jesus, not-yet Christians that God has placed all around us of every nation (Matt. 28:18-20) or Christians who will disciple others to reach the nations (2 Tim. 2:2)
4.) if a person with the gift of teaching, the church and other younger “teachers” in the church (Eph. 4:11-16).
When we put these together, biblical teaching in a broader, disciple-making sense becomes transmission of Jesus’ commands and obedience to them that is:
1.) trans-generational – Deuteronomy 6 and 2 Timothy 2:2 (four generations implicit)
2.) international – Matt. 28:18-20′s “nations” as the minimum unit being influenced
*** If this transmission of the way of Jesus is not carried out, the church is dead in the water.
On top of this, biblical teaching is also multi-layered:
- What do we teach? 3 layers Scripture speaks of:
1.) Layer 1 – content – truth, “doctrine,” values, relationships/causalities, spiritual realities, character and commands of God. Teacher here = “instructor.” Instructors share.
a. deductively – e.g., Paul’s epistles
b. inductively – e.g.., Jesus’ question asking in the gospels (“Why do you call me ‘good?’” “Which man was a neighbor to him?”)
2.) Layer 2 – implementation of content – skills, how-to, processes, patterns that help the disciple ingest and apply content. Most of this is modeled and coached and doesn’t happen in the classroom but in the midst of real life. Teacher here = “coach.” Coaches show/facilitate.
a. life example – little league baseball – how do kids learn which base is 1st, 2nd, 3rd and home? How do you help kids ride bikes? How do you teach them to swim? How do we learn about how to be a man? How to have a budget? How to date? How to parent? How to cook?
b. biblical example – Luke 11′s Lord’s Prayer is Jesus showing his disciples how they ought to pray. Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:1 – “Follow me as I follow Christ.”
3.) Layer 3 – encouragement towards implementing content – This is all relationship and little content. But the teacher here = “mentor.” Mentors impart.
a. Verbal – encouragement direct or indirect, perspective-offering, highlighting/focusing on right things.
– example – if your son is being bullied at school, you call out what you see in him as a loving person who listens to God and cares for people; you believe in him, bless him and pray for him out loud.
b. Non-verbal – presence, prayer, friendships
– son-being-bullied example - show surprise and joy when he takes small steps, openly model forgiveness and love to others yourself in front of him every chance you have, walk with him and support him with your presence in this delicate time.
*** A disciple-making teacher will engage another person in all three layers. As we take seriously our God-given design and commands to teach, let’s ask God to help us grow in these three areas.
One last bit that I didn’t say directly but is an extension of what I shared earlier. The health of a church is found more in the strength of its members ability to “teach” (and their commitment to always be doing it!) more than in its figure-head’s (i.e., the senior pastor) ability to teach/preach. All of you who have grown immensely in the last year or two probably have to thank not the Sunday preacher so much as those friends you “do life” with who have modeled godliness and love to you on a regular basis and walked with you in the highs and lows. What I believe bcc needs the most in this season is not more and better professional Sunday morning teaching; we need more and godlier instructors, coaches and mentors in our lives. It is the principle of multiplication at the core; the more contagion flying around, the greater the chance of an epidemic. YOU all hold the key to the disciple-making strength of the church — not the “professionals.”
So go for it! Take your growth and transformation seriously, and seize your God-given destiny as one who will impact nations and generations.
With so much going on, I thought it would be helpful to have a calendar of upcoming dates to keep in mind.
Sunday, September 6th – No congregational gathering
Sunday, September 13th – Discussion of budget and announcement of COT candidates
Tuesday, September 15th – Open COT meeting
Sunday, September 27th – Worship/Prayer gathering with emphasis on seeking direction for transition and next steps, vote on 09-10 budget and new COT candidates
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