rethink church

8/8/2019 Rethink Church

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A study in the book of Acts

By Remy Diederich

Cedarbrook Church


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This document contains:

Part One - Acts 1-11:Including Others Part Two Acts 11:19-28:New People, New Ideas Part Three Acts 12: Confronting Your Powerlessness Part Four Acts 13 & 14: A Church for Outsiders Part Five Acts 15 the church is for everyone by Andy Stanley. (audio only) Part Six Acts 15 R-E-S-P-E-C-T in the church Part Seven Acts 15, 16 Four Lessons from the Journey Part Eight Acts 16: Infant or Believer Baptism? Part Nine Acts 17: Are We Relevant? Part Ten Acts 16: Its not about religion. Its about the power of God.

Rethink Church

Part One;Including Others

Acts 1-11Remy DiederichCedarbrook Church

6.27.10

What do these three movies have in common; The Empire Strikes Back, The Bourne Supremacy,

The Dark Knight? They are all movie sequels. Sequels are stories that follow an original story.

The Empire Strikes Back is a sequel to Star Wars. The Bourne Supremacy is a sequel to TheBourne Identity and The Dark Knightis a sequel toBatman. If you are lucky, the sequel is just as

good as the original.

Did you know that there are a few books in the Bible that have sequels? Moses wrote a series of

books. Paul wrote a series of letters. And this summer I want to look at the sequel that is a follow

up to The Gospel of Luke. Its called the book ofActs.

Both books were written by a doctor by the name of Luke. Luke traveled with the apostle Paul

and so he heard a lot of first hand stories about Jesus and the early church. And thankfully hedecided to write many of those stories down into two books. The first one we call The GospelAccording to Luke that tells the story of Jesus and the second one is just called the book ofActs.

It tells the story of the early church.

I think the book of Acts is one of the most interesting books in the Bible. In fact when people askme where to read in the Bible I recommend reading one of the gospel stories (Matthew, Mark,

Luke, John) and then Acts because Acts is full of stories about God moving; there are miracles,there are jail breaks, there are shipwrecks and stonings, there are fightsits great spiritual

action adventure.

But what I really like about the book is that it gives us a glimpse of the church in its infancy.Studying anything in its infancy helps you understand its DNAwhat makes it tick. And I think


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we always need to keep the early days of the church fresh in our mind so we dont lose our way

and start to drift. Its so easy to drift isnt it? Its so easy to just get religious and neveraccomplish what God has called us to do as a church.

I want to use our study this summer to help us rethink what church is all about. Weve been

rethinking church for the last seven years here but a lot of us are new to Cedarbrook over the pastfew months and I want to get everyone involved in rethinking what church is about.

Let me warn you; its uncomfortable to rethink church. Rethinking church makes you ask hard

questions; questions that you may not want to answer; questions that might force you to see a

shallow side to your faith and your church experience and questions that might cause you to stopold behaviors or start new ones.

Now, Ive taught my way through the first ten chapters of Acts over the last two summers. So

today I want to summarize those chapters with five points that youll find in your notes.This is what Luke says in the opening verse

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teachActs 1:1Look at that word began. Luke is implying something here. Hes sayingin my first book I

told you what Jesus began to do. Now, in this book, Im going to tell you what hes still doing.

Thats my first point; Jesus is still working in peoples lives. The book of Acts is one story after

another of what Jesus was still doing on the planet. And Jesus is still working today. Lets watch

a video that talks about that. visit

http://www.theworkofthepeople.com/index.php?ct=store.details&pid=V00564

The first thing we see Jesus do in the book of Acts is send his Spirit into the lives of his people.

Up until the book of Acts people went to the temple to experience God. In fact there is a verydramatic story told about how God filled the temple with his Spirit in the Old Testament. But in

Acts Jesus sent his Spirit to live inside of people not a building. Gods new temple was his

people. Thats very important to understand because the transformation that you see in thesestories comes from the Spirit of God living inside of them.

And when Gods Spirit filled his people it had a powerful impact on them. Listen to what

happened nextAnd all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. They sold

their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need. They worshiped together at

the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with

great joy and generosity --all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the

people. And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved. Acts

2:44-47

There are four words here that really stand out. together. shared, generosity and joy. When a

church is full of the Spirit the people want to be together, there is a lot of sharing and generosityflowing and that brings joy. Ive seen those things around here and I love that because these

qualities are a sign of a healthy Jesus-centered community.


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Some of the leaders around here have been talking about what the marks of a growing believerare. In the past people have used markers like Bible reading and prayer and church attendance to

talk about spiritual growth. Those things can be signs of growth but I think togetherness,

generosity and joy can also be good signs to judge whether or not you are growing spiritually.

So let me ask you; do you find yourself being drawn to Gods people? Are you growing in

generosity? And is joy increasingly becoming a part of your life? As you open yourself to theSpirit of God those are things that youll start to see more of in your life.

Now look at what happens with this church when it is together, generous and joyful. First, itsays that they enjoy the goodwill of the people or the community at large. When I was a new

Christian I was a part of a church that almost prided itself on irritating people and being

misunderstood. Theyd say things like,

Well the Bible says that we are a peculiar people. We are strangers in a strange land. So

we cant expect people to like us. Jesus said he didnt come to bring peace but a sword.

Maybe some of you have been in a church like that. It was like they were using the Bible to justify being weird and contentious. But I disagree. I think that, more often than not, if we are

being the church that Jesus wants us to be that people will like us. They may not agree with what

we believe. They might argue with our theology. But they wont argue with our good works.They wont argue with changed lives. Theyll respect who we are. Weve seen that.

And that leads to the second result that I see in this text. It says here that God was continually

adding new people to their group. And that tells me that the church was always growing. I dontthink the church will always be popular but I do believe that it will always be growing because

there are so many people that need good news about Gods lifechanging love. Whenever a

church stops growing I think something must be wrong. You need to stop and see whatsmissing.

So, can you get the feel of this early church? Its not boring. Its not religious. Its a happeningthing. Its giving people a sense of purpose in life like theyve never had before. Its dynamic.

Theres a sense of expectancy that God is on the move. Is that your church experience?

But heres the thing that I find so interesting. For the first few years of the early church thechurch was just for Jews. In fact, it was just for Israeli JewsJews that lived in Israel. For

whatever reason they never thought to go and tell other people about Jesus. They kept the story

to themselves.

But as you read through the book of Acts you can see how the story slowly spreads;

God's message was preached in ever-widening circles. The number of believers greatly

increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too. Acts 6:7

But then there was a time of persecution against the church and many people started to run awayfrom Israel and when they left, they brought the story of Jesus with them.


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someone the other day that gave me some insight into how people think about church. I was

talking to someone and they were suggesting that they might visit Cedarbrook some Sunday andI said that would be great. But then they said,

So, is that okay to just, like, ya know, show up on Sunday?

That question really took me back. It took me back because it told me that they didnt assumethat they were welcome. They thought Cedarbrook might be some kind of an exclusive club

where they wouldnt fit in. And so coming here was a scary thing for them. I forget that manypeoples experience with church has been very exclusive. Maybe they went to a church where

they were made to feel like an outsider. If you werent born into that church or married there or

baptized there then they let you know it in subtle ways (and some not so subtle ways) that youare not one of them. And God forbid if you are divorced or a single parent or an addict or

struggle with any kind of emotional pain.

My point is that if you are new to church its only natural to fear rejection. So we have to be likePeter and stand up for them. We have to defend the newcomer and make room for them in the

church. We have to let newcomers understand that we dont have a hierarchy around here.Everyone is welcome to speak into the life of the church no matter how long or short theyvebeen here.

You know, there are all kinds of people that weve worked hard to help feel accepted here. Wework hard to make spiritual seekers welcome herepeople who arent so sure they believe in

God or Jesus. Weve let them know that faith is a process and they can take as much time as

theyd like without feeling any pressure to conform.

We work hard to make sure women know that their leadership gifts are welcome here. We work

hard to make sure young people feel welcome here. Sometimes people want us to tone down our

music but we wont do it because it helps us reach young people. Most churches lament that theydont have any young people. But we dont have that problem, do we? Look around. I think it

has a lot to do with our music. People know that Cedarbrook is a church that welcomes young

people.

Weve worked hard to make people who struggle with addictions feel welcome too and people

that have had a bad church experience.

But to be honest there is one group of people that Im not so sure feel welcome and thats people

of color. I wonder if they know that they are welcome here. I used to excuse us from being such

a white church because this is rural Wisconsin. Thats just the way it is. But when I drive downthe street I see Hispanic people. I see African Americans. I see Hmong. The demographics say

that about 5% of the population is people of color. Thats not a lot. But in a church of 500 that

means we should see 25 people of color. We dont have that and it bothers me.

For some reason Cedarbrook isnt a place where people of color feel comfortable. I hope that

bothers you. I want to change that. And I wont be satisfied with just 5%. I want to see more than5% . I want Cedarbrook to be known as the place that people of color want to go because they

feel so accepted here. I want to look out in the audience in a year or so and see a different


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complexion. I mention this because I think we can do better. We need to let everybody know that

they are welcome here. If you have any ideas how we can change things I hope youll let meknow.

You see, what we often fail to understand is that God is a big God. God is always on the

movealways reaching new people. Hes not thinking about who he can keep out of hiskingdom. Hes thinking about who he can bring in. I mean if your son died on a cross to save

people wouldnt you want as many people to take advantage of that gift as possible? You dontwant one drop of his blood to go to waste.

But that kind of inclusive thinking makes people uncomfortable, doesnt it? So we have to fightagainst this natural tendency that we see in our Jewish believers. But Im encouraged how this

story ends because after Peter explained what happened to these Jewish believers it says

When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then,

even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life." Acts 11:18

They were critical at first but they were open to the new thing that God was doing. I think this isso important. What we dont want to do is work against God. There are churches all around theworld today that are collecting dust because they resisted what God wanted to do in their midst.

So lets pray that we wont be one of those churches and that well be a church where God is

moving.

Well, thats a brief overview of the first third of Acts. But I think it gives you a sense of what

Jesus was still doing on earth. I hope youll come back as we tackle new stories next week and

keep rethinking church.

Prayer: Father, help us to rethink church. We see how you were radically inclusive. Help us to be

the same. I pray that no matter what category people belong to, no matter what color they are,that theyd feel welcome here. Amen.

Going Deeper

Use the following questions for personal reflection and/or to discuss with family, friends and/or

your small group.

1. Compare your church experience (past and present) with the five points from themessage. How is it the same and how is it different?

2. Reaching Gentiles was a ground breaking event in the church. Read Acts 10 for the fullstory. List out at least four things God did or said to convince Peter that God was behind

this revolutionary event.3. In Acts 10:15 God told Peter, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."Over the years, have you called any person or any category of people "impure" thinkingthat God couldn't reach them? What is it about us that makes us want to keep Jesus for

ourselves and not for others?

4. In Acts 10:39-44 Peter gives a brief recap of the gospel. List out the main components ofthe gospel message that he mentions.


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5. Read Acts 11:1-18. Acts 11:2 tells us that people in Jerusalem were critical of reachingthe Gentiles. Have you ever been in a church or a discussion with Christians thatcriticized people being reached for Jesus? What were their concerns?

6. Peter graciously answered their criticism which led to a good end. How could thatconfrontation have gone differently if Peter wasn't so gracious?

7.

What made the critics change their mind about the Gentiles and Peter's ministry?8. Are there situations where you think you could be more understanding and supportiveregarding new types of ministry?

9. Read Acts 11:21-30. What are some words that describe the church at Antioch.10.Pray and ask God to help you/ us see what He sees so you/we will work with God and not

against him.

Rethinking Communion

(pre-sermon)July 4, 2010

Were going to celebrate communion here in just a minute but before we do Id like to take a

minute to rethinkcommunion.

I was at a communion service the other day at a conference in the Cities and to be honest it was

depressing. The ministers were so sober. Im sure they thought they were being reverent. But

Jesus didnt die so wed sit around and lament his death. Jesus died so wed celebrate beingrestored to God. Thats what communion is all about. I mean, turning cart wheels down the aisle

during communion would be more appropriate than everyone being sad and sober!

In the New Testament church communion was more like a block party than a five minute ritual.

A block party is where everyone in the neighborhood is welcome. There are no bouncers

checking IDs. In fact, most block parties have some questionable types floating in and out. Ithink thats a good picture of communion. So many churches restrict communion to just a select

group of people like a private dinner party. But the more I think about it the more I believe

communion should be just the opposite. Communion is a proclamation of the radical acceptance

of God so we need to be dropping the barriers not raising them.

In the story of the Prodigal Son the boys dad threw him a block party when he returned home to

communicate his absolute acceptance of his son. He invited the whole town to be there. Thatswhat communion means. Comm implies community. Union means a coming together. So,

Comm-union means the coming together of the community. Thats what happened at the

Prodigals block party. The whole town came together to celebrate his return. I like what HenriNouwen said about receiving back prodigals

How do we welcome home our lost brothers and sisters? By running out to them,

embracing them, and kissing them. By clothing them with the best clothes we have and

making them our honored guests. By offering them the best food and inviting friends and

family for a party. And, most important of all, by not asking for excuses or explanations,


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only showing our immense joy that they are with us again. forgiving from the heart

without a trace of self-righteousness, recrimination, or even curiosity. The past is wiped

out. What counts is the here and now, where all that fills our hearts is gratitude for the

homecoming of our brothers and sisters.

So, communion is a home coming party. Its a party for prodigals. That means that no matterwho you are todayno matter what youve doneno matter how far you feel from God - Jesus

death made you right with God. If this describes you I hope you wont leave this offer on thetable. I hope as you hear me this morning you are saying, I want in on that! God has offered

himself to you but you need to respond. You need to engage. And so now is your chance.

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his

disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."Then he took the cup, gave thanks and

offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant,

which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Matthew 26:26-28

Rethink Church;

Part Two:New People, New Ideas

Acts 11;19-28

By Remy Diederich7.4.10

This summer we are reading through the book of Acts in the Bible to help us rethink church. Its

important to rethink church because over time we tend to forget why we do what we do and

church can slowly drift into meaningless ritual if we arent careful. But the book of Acts gives usa fresh perspective. It helps us understand what church is meant to be because its a firsthand

account of the early days of the church right after the time of Jesus.

Now last week we learned something that might surprise you and that is that in the early years of

the church it was exclusively Jewish. If you werent Jewish you werent allowed in. Then one

day God directed Peter a leader in the church - to tell a Roman soldier about Jesus. That is a

non-Jew. It seems uneventful to us now 2000 years later but at the time it was shocking. I

compared it to the time in history when black children were allowed in schools with white kidsor when women were allowed to vote.

So, thats the background. Lets keep reading

Now those who had been scattered by the persecution traveled as far as Phoenicia,

Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. Acts 11:19


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So there we see the way it was. The Jesus story was only for Jews. But now in the next verse we

see the big change.

Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to

speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand

was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. Acts

11:20, 21

Now, that last sentence interests me. Luke described the church as having the Lords hand with

them. Thats how I want people to describe us, dont you, that the Lords hand is with us. And

look what happens when the Lords hand is with a church. It says that a great number of people

believed and turned to the Lord.

But thats not all it says. Luke the writer of this book mentions a number of things that

characterize this church. Im going to walk us through that list in a minute but I made one note

before that. I said thatThe church was not only growing in size but in understanding .

What I mean is that the church wasnt perfect from Day One. We often make the mistake ofputting that on the early church, thinking that they did everything right. But they didnt. Thats

how they could exclude Gentiles. They didnt understand Gods will. Excluding Gentiles wasnt

right. It wasnt Gods plan. But they were in process. They were slowly hearing Gods voiceregarding what it meant to be inclusive. They didnt turn to Jesus and suddenly understand all

truth. It was a process. They were in process.

I point that out because I think it explains Christian behavior at times. Have you ever looked at aChristian and said, I thought they were a Christian. How can they call themselves a Christian

and do that? Well, they are in process. They might have the truth but that doesnt mean tehy

always understand it or apply it fully.

New People

Okay. That was an aside. Now let me get to the marks of a church that has the hand of God withit. The first mark is that there are new people involved. Up until now the church consisted of

mostly Jerusalem Jews. The church was very centralized. But here youve got some guys from

Cyprus and Cyrene. Youve got new blood. And theyve got new ideas. I think wherever you

see the hand of God youll see new things happening.

New Approach

That leads to the second mark. These new people took a new approach. Think about it. Up untilnow Jerusalem was the epicenter of the Christian faith. No one did anything without the approval

of Peter and the other apostles. Its kind of like the Catholic Church and Rome. Thats where

they look for their authority. But these guys from Cyprus and Cyrene had good news burninginside of them. They werent interested in waiting for the Jerusalem powerbrokers to take

action.. So they decided to think outside the box. The decided to innovate. They took it upon

themselves to go to a new place and talk to new people.


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Now, I really like this. They didnt just sit around complaining about how the church never

reached out to Gentiles. They tookaction. They didsomething. And look what happened. Theystarted a whole new church movement. Antioch became a new center for the church. Antioch

was the new place where God was moving.

You see, new people make things happen because they arent tied to whats always been done.They see with new eyes. They arent confined by old ways of thinking. Thats why Im excited

right now about our church because we have all kinds of new people coming through our doorsand I know that they are going to bring new ideas because they will see what the rest of us dont

see.

Good NewsNow the third mark of a church that has Gods hand with it is that they preach good news, with

an emphasis on GOOD. It says here that these preachers told the GOOD NEWS about Jesus.

What do you think the good news about Jesus was? Well, in chapter ten it gives us an idea ofwhat the message was.

You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news ofpeace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

All the prophets testify about him that

everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. Acts

10:36,43

Put simply the good news message is that Jesus death restored us to a relationship with God.

Anything that separated us from God has been bulldozed out of the way and we are now

acceptable in his sight.

Can you imagine being a Gentile and hearing that message for the first time? All their lives

Gentiles heard from Jews that God rejected Gentiles. But now, they heard that God sent his Son

to save them. They are acceptable in Gods sight. Do you think that message was good news?You bet it was. And Gentiles started to flood the church.

You know, sometimes I wonder if the message that we preach today is really good news. Or is itsomething less?

Let me give you an example of the difference between good news and bad news. Imagine that

you got a letter inviting you to come to the White House to have dinner with the president. Ithink most of us would consider that good news. Even if you dont like the Presidents politics it

would still be good news to sit down and talk to the president.

Now, the first thing you might think is how unworthy you are. You might think about how you

dont have the right clothes. Or you might think about how you dont have the right education or

enough intelligence to converse with such a smart man. Or you might think you dont have theright politics. But anticipating your concerns there is a p.s. in your letter that saysp.s. dontworry about anything. Come as you are.

Now, thats good news. There is no down side to that message. Its all good.


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But now imagine that on the same day you got another letter from the same political party as the

president. But there was no invitation to a dinner or to even meet the president. Instead, theyinvited you to join their political party. And then they invited you to their weekly political rally.

And then they told you what their political platform was that they were working on. And then

they asked for a contribution. Now, is that good news? Not so much. My guess is that most of

us would toss that letter before we finished reading it.

Let me ask youwhich letter sounds the most like the message of the church; the letter invitingyou to eat with the president or the letter inviting you to join a political party? I hate to say it but

I think its the second letter.

But the early church didnt have that problem. They had good news and thats why they grew so

fast. They invited people to a relationshipwith God not to a religionaboutGod. Weve got to

get this right. What we often do wrong is that we proclaim a contractIF you do certain things

THEN God will accept you. Or we proclaim an organization saying, Come join us. Be like us.

I hope you see the difference here. The minute you qualify the message with rules or a list ofthings to do it stops being good news. Theres a place for rules but rules come after therelationship is established. Rules help guide the relationship. But rules never create a

relationship.

Good OversightWell, I hope that gives you a little idea of the good news and why so many people responded in

Antioch. But lets move on. Another marker of this church was good oversight. Look for some of

the attributes of good oversight in these verses News of this reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to

Antioch. When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and

encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man,

full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him

to Antioch. Acts 11:22-25

Theres a reason that Barnabas was sent to Antioch. Barnabas was a great leader. I listed out a

number of his attributes in the notes. But the thing that really stands out to me was howpositive

he was. When he arrived in Antioch Barnabas didnt see what was wrong with the church. Hesaw what was right. It says he

When he saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all

Im not surprised that it says here that a great number of people were brought to the Lord. I

think a lot more people would turn to the Lord if the church was more positive.

Im not naturally a positive person. I tend to see the negative a lot. But God has chipped away at

me over the years to make me more and more positive. So Ive done ministry negatively and

positively and theres a big difference. When Im negative I can see people shut down. Theirdefenses go up. But when Im positive its just the opposite. Defenses come down and people

open up. Positive is definitely the way to go!


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Use the following questions for personal reflection and/or to discuss with your friends, familyand/or small group.

1. What is progressive revelation? Have you seen in your life how something that isobvious to you now was once hidden to you? Have you seen that in the church?2. Think about the marks of the Antioch church. Which came first; Gods hand of blessingor the marks? In other words; did the marks produce the blessing of God or did Godsblessing produce the marks?

3. One of the marks was that of new people and a new approach. Throughout the Bible Godis seen doing a new thing or asking us to sing a new song , etc. Why is new oftenassociated with God?

4. Did growth come by reaching more of the same kind of people or reaching a new groupof people?

5. Think about the message that you hear from the church at large or individual Christians.Is it GOOD news or something less than good? What are some of the things that you

hear the church offering as part of its message to the world?6. How does this message contrast with the Good News in Acts? (For a short synopsis ofthe Good News message read Acts 10:36 -43 and note especially in verses 36 and 43

what makes the news so good. Peace in verse 36 means restored to wholeness.)

7. Follow the progression of Barnabas in the story of Acts. See Acts 4:34-37 and Acts 9:23-28 and Acts 11:22-26. Barnabas was the first teacher officially sent out on a mission from

the Jerusalem Church. Why do you think they chose him?

8. If Cedarbrookers were living in Antioch at this time would we be accused of being littleChrists? What about yourself? Do you follow the teachings of Jesus enough to beaccused of being his student (follower/disciple)?

9. Though these new believers were only a year old in the faith Acts records them asshowing generosity? On a scale of 1-10 how generous are you? In what areas do yousense God calling you to stretch your generosity?

10.What can we at Cedarbrook learn from the church the church in Antioch?


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Rethink Church

Part Three; Confronting Your Powerlessness

Acts 12

By Remy Diederich

7.11.10

This morning I want you to imagine something. I want you to imagine that you are in prison. But

its not a nice new prison like we have here in Menomonie. Its an ancient prison. Its dark. Its

cold. Its damp. Can you feel it? It smells like a latrine. Thats putting it nicely. Can you smellit? And there are rats eating on the rotten food that you were unwilling to eat yourself. Can you

see them? Or maybe feel them as they crawl over you?

To make things worse you are handcuffed to two Roman guards. One on each arm. And theydont smell so great either. Plus there are two more guards outside your cell. These guys resent

you for having to be in prison with you. They could be home watching the game but its the onlyway the king can be sure that you wont escape like the last time you were in prison. The guardsspend their time cursing you and cursing your God. Can you hear them?

What Im describing is the story of Peter that is told in the book of Acts, chapter twelve. And thereason Im having you imagine yourself in Peters story is because I think that imagination is the

first step to making your Bible reading come alive. I know a lot of people struggle reading the

Bible. So today I want to not only tell you this story but show you three things you can do to

make your Bible reading come alive.

The I is for imagine. Weve been doing that already. Lets get back to imagining for a few more

minutes.

Most people in jail wonder what will happen to them. They wonder how their trial will go and if

the judge will go easy or go hard on them. But not you- remember you are Peter - you know

exactly what will happen to you because it just happened to your friend, James, a few days

earlier. He was led before the court, accused of his crimes and then given a chance to state his

defense. It was rejected, of course. It was just a show. Everyone knew the outcome before thetrial even started. It was a set up. And then a man stepped forward with a sword and in an instant

James was beheaded, right there in front of everyone 1. You probably had a front row seat. It

made the crowd so happy that the king (Herod) decided to arrest you next. And thats why you

are in prison today. You are awaiting the same fate as James. In less than 24 hours your head will

not be connected to your body. I know its a gruesome thought but thats Peters reality.

Youd probably like to know what you are accused of doing. Let me back up a bit. You see, forthe past ten years you and James have been part of a group of Jews called the church, which

1Second century writers record that the officer who led James to his death was so impressed by the testimony that

he gave on behalf of Jesus that he too confessed Christ and was beheaded with James.


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means the called out ones. You are the people that believe that Jesus really was and is the

messiah of God. And your hope is that one day every Jew will see what you see in Jesus.

You have had a big role in the birth of this new movement. You were one of Jesus closest

friends and now you have been one of the main leaders. You were the one who preached the first

sermons where thousands believed and were baptized. In fact, so many people turned to Jesus inthose early days - even the Jewish priests that it looked like every Jew would join the church.

But of course, the powers that be would never let that happen. They were too invested in theirreligious system. For years they persecuted the church. But then something happened just

recently that sent their hatred of the church into orbit and it involved you. You see, God spoke to

you through a vision. He made it very clear that the message of Jesus wasnt just for Jews. It wasfor Gentiles too. So God sent you to the house of a Roman soldier to tell the Jesus story and he

and his whole family were baptized as followers of Jesus.

That was an exciting day for youreally a glorious dayto see God move in such a dramaticand historic way. But it was also a terrible day because you knew that there were many many

people who would not see this as good news. Jews have always considered Gentiles as enemiesof God and so you knew this would not set well with them.

And sure enough, when the Jews heard that you and your church were now including Gentiles

and promising them a place in heavensitting at the same banquet table as them that was toomuch. That was the last straw. You had pushed it too far.

Seeing this intense hatred, Herod, the king of the region, took advantage of the moment to gain

political support from the Jews. He executed James and put you on deck. And thats why youare in prison today. And now, everything that you thought God was doing is on the verge of

extinction. All your hopes and dreams are about to be extinguished by one power hungry king.

And the worst of it is that you are powerless to do anything about it. You are at the mercy ofHerod and the prison guards that surround you.

So how is your imagination working so far? Are you feeling the weight of Peters situation?You see, the better you can imagine the emotion of the story the better you will understand the

story and be able to apply it to your own life.

Now, I realize that none of us here are on death row. You live in a totally different would thanPeter. So heres the next thing you want to do. Its COMPARE. You want to compare your life

situation to the story and see if there are any similarities. Is there anything in the story that is

similar to your life right now?

At first you might say no. This is all interesting but I dont share anything in common with

Peter. But think harder. Is there any situation in your life right now where you feel powerless tochange? Is there any situation that you have resigned yourself to a negative outcome? I bet there

is. Think about your relationships. Think about your finances or your career or your health.

Maybe youve told yourself that youll never get married or youll never have a goodmarriage.Or that youll never have children or the children that you have will never get out of trouble. Or

that youll never be able to overcome that addiction or your depression.


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No matter what happened they trusted in God. And Peter had the same attitude. He knew that

God COULD deliver him. But obviously there was no guarantee. James didnt get that deal.Thats the strange thing about our faith isnt it? There are no formulas. God doesnt promise us

anything except to be with us. He was with James in his death. And as we are about to see, he

was with Peter in his rescue. Only God knows why he let one live and the other die.

Years later Peter wrote these words about Jesus but they could have been equally said about

himself

When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no

threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 1 Peter 2:23

Maybe you feel trapped today. Maybe you havent heard a word Ive said because you keep

trying to solve your problem. Some of you like Peter - might even have something hanging

over your head tomorrow. A meeting with your lawyer or judge, a meeting with your boss, a

meeting with a doctor, a meeting with the bank and right now you dont see any way out of yourpredicament and you arent sleeping.

So the first thing you need to do in your powerlessness is to readjust your attitude. You need toremember that God is in control. God is able to make good out of whatever happens in your life.

The second thing I see in this story is that Peter was connected to a powerful faith community.

Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him . Acts 12:5

This sentence is written in a way that implies that prison doesnt have the final word. God does.

Peter was kept in prison BUT the church was earnestly praying to Godfor him. Theres a powergreater than prison. We shouldnt cower in the face of prison because God is greater. Luke is

telling us that God was up to something and it started in the prayers of his people.

God doesnt like to act alone. He likes accomplices. He likes a team. Its a group effort. We

pray. We act. And God acts.

If you are feeling powerless today let me ask you who is praying for you? Who have youshared your powerlessness with? Have you only complained about it at work or have you asked

people of faith to support you in prayer?

Thats what happens in a lot of the small groups that meet here at Cedarbrook. People pray for

each other. Its hard to feel powerless when you have a group of people praying for you.

The next thing I see here is that Peter obeyed what he was told to do.

Suddenly an angel of the LORD appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter

on the side and woke him up. "Quick, get up!" he said, and the chains fell off Peter's

wrists. Then the angel said to him, "Put on your clothes and sandals." And Peter did so.

"Wrap your cloak around you and follow me," the angel told him. Peter followed him out

of the prison Acts 12:7-9


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Peter did what the angel told him to do. You know, the Bible is full of good advice. But you need

to do two things to activate that advice. First you have to read it. And second you need to do it.Do you know what the Bible says about relationships? Do you know what it says about finances

or other areas that we often struggle with? And if you do know what it says are you doing what

it says? Jesus said that people who listen to his words and puts them into practice is like a man

who builds his house on a rock. (Matthew 7:24)

The fourth thing I see is that God does the impossible.

the chains fell off Peter's wristsThey passed the first and second guards and came to

the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself,and they went through it.

Acts 12:7,10

Peters obedience would have meant nothing if God hadnt gone before him. The chains fell off

and the gate opened by the power of God. This isnt a story about self-help. This story stands as

a constant reminder that with God all things are possible so we should never give up hope. Yes,people divorce. Yes, people die. Yes, people get fired. Good things dont always happen. We

know that from the fact that James was beheadedbut that doesnt mean that we shouldntpray. We should always give God a chance to do the impossible. I mean, think about Peterschurch. Im sure they prayed for James just as hard as they did for Peter. But they didnt throw

up their hands and quit praying when James died. They went right back and prayed for Peter.

They kept looking to God to do the impossible.

The fifth thing here is very simple; Peter took one step at a time. Its so easy when you are

overwhelmed by something to feel paralyzed and do nothing. I heard a good tip the other day.

The person was talking about being overwhelmed by a dirty house. They said what you need todo is have a five minute cleaning spree. They said, just attack one corner of your house. Do as

much as you can in five minutes without stopping and youll be amazed at how much gets done.

And that gives you hope to go on another five minute spree later. And after you start stringingenough of these sprees togetherguess what? Your house is clean. Its a simple point but if

you put one foot in front of the other youll eventually get where you want to go.

Peters story is surprisingly mundane apart from Gods work. Peter put on his clothes. Then he

put on his sandles. Then he wrapped the cloak around himself. Then he passed one guard. And

then another. But eventually he was free.

The next thing we see in this story is that Peter tells his story.

Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the LORD had

brought him out of prison. Acts 12:17Peter told his story and it encouraged the church so much that he got a chapter in the Bible! And

we need to tell our God stories to each other. Thats why I asked you to tell me your story and

we printed it in a booklet. You cant read that book without being encouraged. I hope youll notonly read it but give it to your friends to read too.

The final thing I see in this story is that Peter was no fool. He left his trouble behind.

he left for another place. Acts 12:17


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Peter didnt wait around to get thrown back into prison. He got away from the trouble.

Sometimes we get out of trouble and then jump right back in it. We get out of one badrelationship and within a month we are seeing someone else just as bad as the person we left.

Addicts go back to their drinking friends. Dieters go back to their food. Debtors go back to their

credit card. Its another simple lesson but we need to get as far away from trouble as possible.

Well, I hope this method of Imagination Comparison and Examination makes the Bible more

relevant for you. If you take the time to embed yourself in the story I think youll be amazed athow God will speak to you about your particular life situation. Plus I hope you learned

something about facing your feelings of powerlessness.

Theres a final thought to this story. It doesnt end with Peters release. It ends with the death of

Herod. It concludes by saying

an angel of the LORD struck him down,and he was eaten by worms and died.but the

word of God continued to increase and spread. Acts 12:23,24Its an interesting contrast . The chapter opens with James dead, Peter in prison and Herod

triumphing; it closes with Herod dead, Peter free, and the word of God triumphing

2

.

God is telling us something very important here. When the Spirit of the living God is inside of

you you are never defeated. No one and nothing has power over you. Or maybe Peter summed

it up best himself in his second letter where he said

the LORD knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for

punishment on the day of judgment. 2 Peter 2:9

PrayerFather, we all face a sense of powerlessness from time to time. Thank you for Peters example to

us. We will all face fire. Some of us will avoid the fire. Some of us will go through it. But when

you are with us it will never destroy us.

1But now, this is what the LORD says-- he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O

Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.2When

you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will

not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not

set you ablaze.3For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; Isaiah 43

2John Stott, Acts Commentary


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Rethink Church

Part 4:A Church for OutsidersActs 13 & 14

By Remy Diederich

Cedarbrook Church

Theres a new church in town. I dont know if youve seen it. Its downtown around the corner

from the Chamber of Commerce and its called G.O.D.s Church (I dont know what the

acronym stands for). I have no idea who they are or what they are about. If you know anythingabout them let me know after the service today. But their tagline is interesting. It says living

the book of Acts.

That tells me a little something about them. It tells me that they have been rethinking church.My guess is that they dont want to be just a typical, run of the mill church rather they have

turned to the book of Acts in the Bible to help them decide what church should be like. You see-the book of Acts tells the story of the very first days of the church after Jesus left the scene.

Now, again, I dont know anything about that church but in theory I think they are onto

something. I think every church should turn to the book of Acts for guidance. Its kind of atemplate telling us who we should be and what we should look like. It helps us to understand the

DNA of church and it can offer us lessons and principles that we can apply in our churches

today.

This summer weve been working our way through the book of Acts and Ive called this series

Rethink Church and hope that it will be a tool to help us assess ourselves as a church and think

about what we are doing right and what we can do better. So far weve been tracking the historyof the church after Jesus left the scene. We are in chapter 13. Page 755.

Its been about fifteen years since Jesus died and was resurrected. (We know from otherhistorical documents that the death of Herod in Acts 12 happened in A.D. 44. Jesus died about

A.D. 30). And what we have seen is that the church stayed in Jerusalem for the first few years

but they only reached other Jews. But then after a few years that started to change. The messagestarted going beyond Jews in Israel to Jews in other countries. But the real shocker was that

about the twelfth year of the church - God told the church to start sharing the Jesus story with

Gentiles. And as a result a new church got started up the road about 300 miles from Jerusalem in

a city called Antioch. The amazing thing was that it didnt get started by the apostles sent out

from Jerusalem (the mothership) but by a couple of unknown Jews from the island of Cyprus.We dont even know their names. That was radical stuff. Totally unorthodox.

Its like if two guys up in Duluth decided to start a second Cedarbrook Church in Canada. Youd

go Wait a minute. They cant do that. Theyre not leaders at Cedarbrook. In fact, theyve

never even been to Cedarbrook. Plus we dont have any plans for a church in Canada. And theyrespond,yeah but we know the Jesus story and weve read the Cedarbrook story and so we thinkwe are good.


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Wed probably have a little problem with them going off in our name like that, right? But thats

basically what happened in Antioch and this is what we read in Acts 11men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also,

telling them the good news about the LORD Jesus.The LORD's hand was with them, and

a great number of people believed and turned to the LORD. Acts 11:20,21

News of this reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to

Antioch.Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul,and when he found him, he

brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and

taught great numbers of people. During this time some prophets came down from

Jerusalem to Antioch. Acts 11:22-27

Now, what we are going to see today is that this church was not a sleepy little church that was

content to just sing kumbayah on Sunday and have a potluck once a month in their basement.

This church wanted to reach the world for Jesus. They were an outreach orientedchurch. Andso I want to point out a few things this morning that we can learn from them.

Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon calledNiger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and

Saul. Acts 13:1

It talks about prophets and teachers. A prophet doesnt necessarily mean someone who tells thefuture. A prophet in the Bible is someone who speaks words of challenge and encouragement. A

teacher is someone who relays helpful information while a prophet is someone who motivates

you to apply the information to your life. Saul and Barnabas were probably the teachers and the

other guys were the prophets based on the verses above.

Now, Antioch was an international crossroads filled with about a half a million people from

around the world as well as a Jewish community of about 70,000. It was a city rich in cultureand language and various traditions, very different from Jerusalem where the Jewish faith

dominated the culture there.

Heres a strategic question for you; if you want to reach a diverse population like Antioch do you

want to have its leaders be all Jerusalem Jews or would you want to have a variety of ethnic

backgrounds in the leadership? I guess it really depends on what you want the church in Antioch

to look like. If you want it to look just like the church in Jerusalem then you would probablywant to stock it with Jewish believers from Jerusalem. They would do a good job of carrying on

all the traditions. But if you are willing to let the church look a little different and start some of

its own traditions then you would probably want to commission leaders with a variety ofbackgrounds so different people can identify with the leaders. And thats exactly what we see

here.

Lets look at this group. Barnabas is from Cyprus, an island off the coast of Antioch. Simeon is a

black man from Africa. Lucius is from Cyrene which is on the north coast of Africa. Manaen

grew up with Herod so he must have been from Rome. And Saul was from Tarsus. This is notyour fathers one dimensional plain vanilla Jewish church. This is a multi-ethic 31 flavor


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church with leaders from around the Mediterranean. It must have had a completely different feel

than the Jerusalem church yet still preached the same message.

So the first thing we learn about an outreach oriented church is that it values diversity. Every

leader represented a different region and culture and not one of the leaders in this church was

from Jerusalem. Thats amazing because up until now the church was very inbred and tightlyoverseen by the apostles of Jesus. But if you want to reach a bigger group of people your

leadership should reflect the diversity of the people you want to reach. The greater the diversitythe greater your capacity to reach others.

The second thing I see in this church is that they sought God through worship and fasting.

While they were worshiping the LORD and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me

Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Acts 13:2

Worship is associated with giving God our praise and thanks while fasting is associated withseeking God for direction. This tells me that the outreach oriented church is dynamic. It doesnt

box Jesus into living in the past or coming again in the future and sits around being religious. Itsees Jesus as living with them in the present moment. Jesus is with them in the here and nowand ready to guide their next move in ministry.

You see this church understands their purpose. They understand that Jesus is fulfilling hismission through them. They are the hands and feet of Jesus on earth and they are looking to

Jesus for guidance. And we see here how its in the middle of their worship and fasting that the

Spirit speaks to them. So my third point is that they hear from God.

Its so important for us to see this. How many of us come to a church service expecting to

encounter God? How many of us come expecting God to give us specific direction for our lives?

I hope all of us do because thats what God wants to do with us. Hes got good works and goodwords for each of us to offer every week but we need to be listening. Thats what the church in

Antioch was doing. Listening.

The next thing I see here is that an outreach orient church sends people.

So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them

off.The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, sailed to Cyprus . Acts

13:3,4We see the church and the Holy Spirit working together to send off Saul and Barnabas. Its a

community venture directed by God, not just someone feeling led to go and do something for

God.3

3Notice here what happened. Barnabas and Saul didnt just stand up and say Were leaving. God told us to go.

God spoke to everyone. Theres a big difference between leaving and being sent. When you are sent people feel

like they are a part of what God is doing. I just point that out because over the years Ive heard people say God

told me to leave or God told me to start this ministry. It sounds spiritual but I just have to wonder why God

didnt tell anyone else. How come no one else feels good about what they were doing? Its a lot nicer when we pray

together for direction and hear together what he wants us to do. That way we have a lot more unity when we do

things.


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You know, theres really no good reason for them to send Paul and Barnabas away. Im sure that

the church in Antioch could have used Paul and Barnabas at home. They were the most giftedteachers. It was a lot more interesting listening to them preach than some of the new guys. Plus

there were plenty of people in Antioch yet to reachit was a big city. And there are always

weddings and funerals to perform. But the Holy Spirit told the church to send them off. Why

would God do that? Why would he send away their best leaders? You see, at the heart of God isa desire for justice. He created everyone on the planet. He loves everyone on the planet and God

wants everyone on the planet to experience his love and blessing.

But to do that he needs his church to take responsibility. They need to become the hands and

feet of Jesus. Jesus needs people to step out of their comfort zone and say

Here I am Lord. Send me. Youve blessed me. Now use me to bless others.

And he needs the church to surround these people with support and encouragement.

The outreach oriented church gets this. They get that they cant keep good things to themselveswhen other people are living without Jesus or without clean water or without justice. And so the

outreach oriented church actively listens for the call from God because they understand that Godis always speaking to his church. Hes always calling us to help others. Hes always sending.4

Now where does God send Paul and Barnabas? Let me show you a map of their travels in

chapter 13 and 14. They first go to the island of Cyprus, which makes sense because thats whereBarnabas came from. And then they went across to the mainland which is modern day Turkey.

And thats where Paul was from. 5

Well, thats the where. Now, let me insert another point here. I dont have this in your notes. As Ilooked over my outline this morning I saw a glaring oversight. There was no mention of the

message of the outreach oriented church. The outreach oriented church shares good news. The

reason this was omitted is that I just talked about this two weeks ago but it dawned on me thatmany of you werent here and so I should at least mention it.

In Acts 13:32 Luke relates a sermon that Paul preaches and he mentions the Good News. Italked about this in detail before but put simply the good news is that everyone has been restored

to God through the death and resurrection of Jesusperiod. No buts or ands or asterisk.

Unfortunately we often add our own personal agendas into our message and it quickly becomes

boring news or outright bad news. Its interesting that the Greek word for good news isevangel. Thats the root for our words evangelist or evangelical. Many people dont think of

good news when they hear those words. They think of TV preachers asking for money or

politicians forcing a conservative agenda. The word has lost its goodness. So we have to reclaimthe goodness of the good news!

4 Notice who God sendsnot the least experienced but the most experienced. We have a tendency to send

inexperienced people and justify it as a good learning experience. But its questionable how effective they are at

helping others and it might actually give them the wrong kind of experience because they arent prepared.5

A teaching point hereGod doesnt always send us to the farthest and the hardest place. Sometimes we think

thats true. God often sends us to a place that we are familiar with so we have better results. Barnabas and Saul

knew this area well because they lived in this area and probably had many contacts.


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Okay, lets get back to my outline. We know where they went and what they went with. Who did

they go to? They went to outsiders not insiders. In every city theyd start by telling the religiousJews about Jesus but then theyd move on to tell the unreligious Gentiles. When they came

home this is what it says

they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them

and how he had opened a door

of faith to the Gentiles. Acts 14:27

You see, even though they spoke to Jews and Gentiles, the news was that they reachedGentiles the outsiders. My point here is that outreach orient churches arent interested in just

reaching believers. They want to reach people that have never heard about Jesus or maybe they

heard but never understood the message. Archbishop William Temple once said that

The church is the only cooperative society in the world that exists for the benefit of non-

members. Church, Why Bother? Page 33.

Thats an interesting statement. Can you imagine a country club that exists to benefit non-members? Can you imagine a fitness club that exists to benefit non-members? Or Sams Club

existing for the benefit of non-members? I mean, that doesnt even make sense, does it? Itsself-defeating. But the church exists for non-members.

I know that might sound ludicrous. But the best analogy I can think of is a foster home. Foster

parents choose to exist for the sake of outsiders. They are committed to opening their homes andstructuring their lives so disconnected and troubled children can have a home. They dont make

their foster children eat on the porch or sleep in the garage. They welcome these kids into the

inner circle of their family at their own expense. And thats what it means for the church to exist

for the benefit of non-members. Membership is for those who are committed to helping non-members.

I think every church has to struggle with why they exist and who they exist for. Do we exist foroutsiders or do we exist for insiders? For church people or unchurched people? For believers or

unbelievers? Do we primarily exist so we can encourage each other in the faith and have a place

to marry and bury each other? Or do we exist, like our mission statement says, to help people

connect to a growing relationship with Jesus? How we answer those questions will determine

the entire culture of this church.

We might be quick to say, well, of course, we exist for others. But then you have to realize whatthat means. That means that if the church exists for others then you might not like everything

about church because its no longer for you.6

6

I walked into a church not too long ago and I felt like I was back in the seventies. Thats when the church wasbuilt and they had the same carpet and upholstery that was there in the beginning. It was like a museum where

everything was carefully preserved and my first thought was "this church is for insiders. They clearly arent

interested in welcoming new people. They are happy just the way it is."

Can you imagine going to a restaurant that still had the same dcor and menu that they had when they opened 40

years ago? Well, the truth is, you probably can imagine a restaurant like that because most of us have gone to one.

They exist. But not for long! Who typically goes to that kind of restaurant? People that have been eating there for

40 years right? Its comfortable for them. But you dont see many young people there because the dcor screams

We dont want new people. (There was a restaurant like this that recently closed in Menomonie). That kind of


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If a church is made for outsiders it will do things to make God more approachable andunderstandable for outsiders, which means, it might deemphasize some of the rituals that you

grew up with and hold dear. The church might introduce music that outsiders can relate to but

you abhor. Or it might make their building look more like a lodge than a church to help people

feel more at home. You see, there is a cost to being outreach oriented. And weve felt that here.Weve had people leave because they didnt like our focus on outsiders.

But I still think focusing on outsiders is the right thing to do. In his book about why he left

church and then came back, Phil Yancey says

When I look for a church, I look for one that understands the need to look outward.

Indeed, I have come to believe that outreach may be the most important factor in a

churchs success or failure. Church, Why Bother? Page 31,33

But I have to warn you. Churches that orient themselves to outsiders can be messy. Thats whatwe see here in Acts. You see, up until now in Acts the church people were good Jews. They

knew their Bible. They were generally moral people. They understood the God of the Bible andhow to worship. They knew all the holy days and how to celebrate them. They knew how to prayand they knew how to talk spiritual. They knew the lingo.

But as soon as the church started attracting Gentiles that all changed. Things got messy real fast.Those Gentiles were crazy. In fact in one of the cities the people mistook Paul and Barnabas for

the gods Zeus and Hermes because of the miracles that they performed.

When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The

gods have come down to us in human form!"Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they

called Hermes because he was the chief speaker.The priest of Zeus, whose temple was

just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd

wanted to offer sacrifices to them. Acts 14:11-13

Is that crazy or what? Jews would never do that. Plus the Gentiles were sexually all over the

place. I mean, anything went. Orgies were part of the nightly routine. Prostitutes were a part oftheir worship in their temples. They had no concept of keeping sex inside of marriage. That was

a foreign concept to them. Paul lists some of the kind of the people in the church in Corinth

the sexually immoral idolaters adulterers male prostitutes practicing

homosexuals thieves the greedy drunkards slanderers swindlers that is

what some of you were 1 Corinthians 6:9,9-11

The church wasnt for prim and proper spiritual people who knew their Bible inside out. Thechurch was for sinners. Paul said, youre not that way now but thats who you were. Thats what

restaurant eventually loses its customers, the business gets sold, and what does the new owner do? Changes the

dcor and the menu and what do you know? A whole new group of customers show up. People complain that the

previous business failed because of the economy or bad location, etc. But the truth is that the culture was geared for

insiders and not outsiders. When a culture is geared for outsiders you grow. When its geared for insiders you

shrinkin business or at church.


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you were like when you first came to church. And these are the kind of people that were flooding

into the church in Antioch and in every church that Paul and Barnabas started.

The crowds alone were enough to drive the Jews nuts. Listen to the kind of turn out they were

getting

On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the LORD. Whenthe Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. Acts 13:44,45

You see, having big crowds doesnt make everyone happy. The Jews were thinking, who are

these pagans taking our parking spaces and making us walk a mile? Who are these pagans

taking our seats and making us stand in the lobby? Who are these pagans drinking our coffee andfilling up our Childrens Ministry rooms? An outreach oriented church can be messy and

uncomfortable and inconvenient and so we each have to count the cost. Are we willing to give up

whats important to us to help reach outsiders with good news about Jesus?

The final thing that I learn about the outreach oriented church is that its blessed.

And the disciples

were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Acts 13:52

As messy as things wereas awkward as it was to be focused on outsiders instead of insidersit was the place of Gods blessing. It was the place where God was moving and acting.

I really believe that God wants every church to be an outreach oriented church. He wants us allto make room for outsiders. Thats our calling. Thats our purpose. And thats what weve tried

to do here at Cedarbrook. To be honest it gets awkward at times. The needs of insiders and

outsiders are different. Its almost like having two churches; one church for the established

believers who want to grow their faith and another church for people who are in process andexploring their faith. Its hard to make everyone happy. But I think what makes Godhappy is

when we agree to humble ourselves, lay aside our rights and our agendas and our preferences

and work together to reach outsiders with good news about Jesus.

Prayer;

Father, we have so much to learn as a church. We want to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Wewant people to see Jesus when they us. Thats our desire. Holy spirit we invite you to come and

have your way in our hearts. Help us to humble ourselves so that we might seek to serve others

and not ourselves. And might we be listening for you call to send or be sent. We want to bring

the same blessing to others that youve given to us. Amen.

Going Deeper

Use the following questions for personal reflection and/or to discuss with your family, friendsand small group.

1. In your past church experience has there been much of an emphasis on reachingoutsiders? Describe the nature of those churches.

2. Which churches had the most life and signs of Gods presence; ones with or withoutoutsiders? Give examples. Were there people in the church that didnt want to reachoutsiders? Which churches had the most problems?


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3. Read Acts 13:1. Based on the leadership diversity imagine how the church in Antioch feltdifferent from the church in Jerusalem. In other words, what does diversity bring to achurch?

4. Why do you think that the first missionaries were sent out from Antioch and notJerusalem? That is, what was it about the climate of Antioch that was more receptive to

the idea of evangelism (sharing the story of Jesus)?5. Is Cedarbrook more like the Jerusalem church or Antioch church? Why?6. What was Pauls habit upon entering a city? Read Acts 13:5, 14. Why do you think that

was? (See Romans 1:16)

7. Read Pauls sermon in 13:16-41. What two verses summarize the Good Newsmessage? What characterizes these verses as Good News? And what enabled the goodnews to exist? (see Acts 13:32-37. Is this the message that you hear the church at large

sharing or is it different? How so? (Paul will later write a letter to this church

Galatians- where he discusses the good news in more detail. See Galatians 2:16 for

comparison.)8. Read Acts 13:42-52. The Jews were initially interested in what Paul had to say. What did

Luke say was the reason for their change of heart? Why do you think that was? Do yousee this in churches today?9. In the face of Jewish resistance, what did God do? Read Acts 14:2,3.10.Remy said that church is for outsiders and not insiders. Do you agree? Why or why not?11.Acts 13:52 shows that God blesses churches that reach outsiders. What can you and

Cedarbrook do to help reach more outsiders and not settle as being a church for insiders?

Rethink Church

Part 6- R-E-S-P-E-C-T in the church

By Remy DiederichCedarbrook Church

8.01.10

Do we have any vampire fans out there? Dont raise your hands. I dont want to know! I ask

because Anne Rice became a bestselling writer with her book Interview with the Vampire. Shehas a big following and what makes her interesting is that she talks openly about her faith.

Thats why it was especially interesting this past week when she posted a couple revelations

about her faith. I thought it would be good to look at them since we are talking about rethinking

the church this summer. The first one was this

For those who care, and I understand if you don't: Today I quit being a Christian. I'm

out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being "Christian" or to being part

of Christianity. It's simply impossible for me to "belong" to this quarrelsome, hostile,

disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I've tried. I've failed. I'm an

outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.


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I'm out. In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse

to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular

humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit

Christianity and being Christian. Amen.

My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in aworld I didn't understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained

by a loving God is crucial to me. But following Christ does not mean following His

followers. Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no

matter what Christianity is, has been, or might become. Thursday at 4:06pm

When I read something like this I go through a range of emotions. Im first sad for her

experience and everyone like her. It sounds like her church experience has only been negative

and if I was her Id want to quit too. In fact, I didquit church for five years a long time ago out

of disgust. So I can relate.

The second emotion is anger. Im mad at the church for taking something so good and making itso bad. Theres absolutely no excuse for this. The church is meant to be this compellingcommunity of broken people humbly offering Gods love to the world. How it could ever come

to be defined as anti-anything is a failure on our part.

But then my third emotion is being disappointed with Anne for giving up on church. She might

be disgusted with a part of the church but its not fair to judge the whole church because of a

few. Its a bit self-centered to think that her small church experience represents all of

Christianity. She shouldnt give up that easily.

But my final emotion is feeling challenged to work harder at making the church better. It takes

time. It takes work. It takes dedication. It gets frustrating. Speaking personally I think its reallyhard to develop a true church community in our culture because our culture is so independent

and self-centered and materialistic. Producing a counter culture community is like pushing a rock

up a hillthe minute you walk away the rock slides back to the bottom and you start all overagain. Thats made me want to quit. But it doesnt matter how hard it is. Thats what God has

called us to.

Its not all bad. Ive seen a lot of great things happen in churchespecially here. When thechurch is healthy it does so much good - it literally brings heaven to earth. It brings the presence

of Jesus to hurting people. It brings purpose to people that are lost and looking for meaning. And

most of all it helps connect people to Godand thats a good thing! The church is a good thingwhen its done right.

I mention Anne Rice because her reaction to church is exactly why we need to rethink church.The church is losing its audience and we need to get it back. To do that we need to rethink what

church is about and how we lost our way.

The book of Acts has been our guide this summer. It tells the story of the early church and gives

us a picture of what the church can be. In the book of Acts it doesnt say that people were


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quitting church. It says that people were being added daily to their number. Lets take a look at

why that was.

Today I want to revisit the story we were in last week in Acts chapter 15. I want to drill down

into this story and show you one thing that is easily missed. Its so obvious most people look

right past it. And when I tell you, you might not be impressed because its so basic. But before Ido that let me give you the context of whats happening in this chapter.

There was a church in the city of Antioch, 300 miles north of Jerusalem. Some Jewish believers

came to the church and said

"Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be

saved." Acts 15:1

Paul and Barnabas, the leaders in that church, disagreed.

This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and

Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see

the apostles and elders about this question. Acts 15:2

So they all traveled to Jerusalem to talk to the apostles and the elders. Both sides presented their

case and then a decision was made. James said

"It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are

turning to God. Acts 15:19

In other wordspeople didnt have to become Jews first (i.e. men being circumcised) before

they became Christians. So they all got back on their camels and went back to Antioch with thegood news. And as Andy said last week, the men very happy.

Thats the story. But in between the lines of the story is something that a lot of people miss and alot of churches lack. In fact if there was more of this present in churches there probably wouldnt

be people like Anne Rice quitting church. What Im talking about is an attitude. I think we take it

for granted when we read the story but its central to the success of the early church. Do youknow what that attitude is? Its respect.

As I read through this story again this week I was impressed with how the leaders handled the

Jewish believers who thought circumcision was necessary. You can tell from the story that therewas no doubt in the minds of Paul and Barnabas and Peter that God welcomed the Gentiles into

the church just as they were. No circumcision was necessary. God had showed Peter that truth

through a vision and God had showed Paul and Barnabas that truth by blessing their ministry tothe Gentiles with miracles and healings.

But when the Jewish believers raised an objection in Antioch Paul and Barnabas first confrontedthe false teaching but then they immediately took the matter to Jerusalem. Thats impressive.

They didnt have to do that. Paul and Barnabas knew they were right. Why should they waste

their valuable time and travel up and back to Jerusalem to settle an issue that has long beensettled in their mind? They could have easily dismissed these guys as flakes that didnt know any

better. Paul and Barnabas could have belittled them in front of the churcheven laughed at


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thembut they didnt stoop to that. They respected these believers and took the discussion to the

apostles in Jerusalem to get this settled once and for all.

And then look what it says once they got to Jerusalem.

The apostles and elders met to consider this question.After much discussion, Peter got up

and addressed them: Acts 15:6-7

Do you see those two wordsconsiderand much discussion? They took the Jewish believersconcerns seriously. As just an asidehusbands, when was the last time you took your wifes

concerns seriously? And wives, how about you? Or parents. Do you consider your childrens

concerns. And how about the bosses here? But thats what Paul and Barnabas did. Theyreopened the can of wormstalked through the whole issue again from top to bottom and made

a decision.

I find it amazing that they didnt brush these guys off but acknowledged their concerns and tooktime to talk this all through again. It says that Peter addressed them. Then it says that James

addressed them and finally Paul and Barnabas addressed them. They didnt just say, Wewalked with Jesus, how dare you question us. No, they didnt play that card. Or they didnt sayYou can agree with us or leave. Thats what happens in some churches, isnt it? Ive been in

a church like that. When the leadership is challenged they power up and shut down the

discussion.

But the apostles didnt do that here. They showed these misguided teachers respect. By listening

to them and taking their concern to the apostles they validated them and said,

We value who you are and what you think. Your opinion matters to us. We may not agree

with you but we want to do all we can to make sure we get on the same page.

In your relationships do you work hard to make sure you are on the same page with people?

You see, Paul and Barnabas werent willing to just throw these guys off the bus and move on.

It was important that they win these guys over and help them to be a part of the church. I like

that. Ive been in many situations like this where someone was clearly wrong. They wereslowing things down and causing problems and I just wanted them to get out of the way but God

wouldnt let me do it. He wanted me to listen to them and try to win them over. And it takes a lot

of work.

But the Bible says that we should do everything we can to be at peace with each other (see

Romans 14). And to the Ephesian church Paul wrote

I urge you to live a life worthyof the callingyou have received.Be completely humble

and gentle; be patient, bearing with one anotherin love.Make every effort to keep the

unityof the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-3

I think thats what these leaders were working toward, keep the unity. You see, unity is given to

us by God. We dont have to pray for it. We have it. Our job is to keep it. To preserve it. WeHAVE a bond of peace. The Spirit has bound us together with other believers. We need to be

careful not to breakthat bond and I think thats what the apostles were working at here in Acts

15. And it must have worked because when it was all said and done this is what happened


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Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own

men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas . Acts 15:22

No one quit the church. No one was thrown off the bus. There was no church split.

You know, its so easy to use positions of power to slam dunk your viewpoint, isnt it? And Idont just mean in church. That goes for husbands or wives or parents or bosses or politicians.

When people in authority use their power to shut people down, what happens? They actually losetheir authority, dont they?

People stop listeningnot because they are rebels but because they dont like beingdisrespected. They dont like being dismissed as a fool. And so they walk away. They walk

away from jobs. They walk away from families and they walk away from churches.

But the early church was sensitive to these power issues and so I want to make sure we see thisbefore we leave this chapter. The apostles walked with Jesus for three years and I think they

learned something about conflict resolution, dont you? They learned something about honoringand respecting people who disagree with you after watching Jesus deal with conflict. So theapostles were modeling what they saw Jesus do.

Jesus talked about going to the person that you are at odds with. He talked about humblingyourselfabout loving and blessing others. He talked about walking in unity in order to honor

God. These are the kinds of teachings that echoed in the brains of the apostles and we see in this

story how they lived them out.

You see, in a world led by dictatorsin a world ruled by iron fists engaging trouble makers in

a discussion was unheard of. No one did that. You just eliminate the problem and move on. But

not the church. Thats not the way of the kingdom. The church slowed down and engaged thetroublemakers and won them over if possible. There was peace and unity and the church was

stronger for it.

Thats what the world needs to see more of in the church, isnt it? Dont you think that more

people would believe in Jesus if they saw the church walking in unity instead of division? I

think so. Didnt Jesus pray that we would be one just as he and the Father were one?

I want to encourage us todaywhatever conflict you are indont power up over someone.

Dont toss them aside or go over them or around them or ignore them. And dont quit on them.

Theres no glory in quitting. Theres glory in trying to reconcile. Theres glory in humility andmeekness. But not in quitting. At least do your best even if the other person doesnt want to

engage with you. Jesus said go to the person and talk it out. Show them respect. Seek peace.

Seek restoration if at all possible.

As people of Gods kingdom we arent supposed to follow the worlds model. Were supposed to

follow Jesus model. Were supposed to bring heaven to earth with our behavior and ourattitudes. And when we do that people will watch and be amazed. Thats the kind of church that


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people are looking for. Thats the kind of church that people will line up to get into rather than

run from because people see Jesus there and be drawn to him.

Prayer:

Father, thank you for the example of the early church. They didnt just mouth the teachings of

Jesus. They lived them out. They allowed the Spirit to bring peace and unity through them. Theybrought heaven to earth. I pray that we would do the same. I pray for every conflict represented

here today that we would call on you for the courage and the wisdom and the grace to go to the

people causing us problems and allow you to work peace and unity between us. May your

kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

Going Deeper

Use the following questions for personal reflection and/or to discuss with your family, friends

and/or small group.

1. Have you been in work or church settings where your opinion wasnt welcome?Describe.2. How did that make you feel personally?3. How did that make you act? In other words, how did it impact your

involvement/commitment?4. Read Acts 15: 1-22. List off what the apostles and elders did right in treating the Pharisee

believers.

5. Consider a scenario (real or made up) where you could apply these same principles toyour own life. What can you learn about dealing with conflict

rethink church

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