This Sunday, I will conclude a four-week long sermon series on New Hope's mission, values, and emphases.  Our mission, once again, is to celebrate, cultivate, communicate, and demonstrate the grace of God that is in Christ Jesus.  For the past three weeks, I have spoken about how we want to celebrate God's grace through historic worship, cultivate God's grace through intimate community, and communicate God's grace through hospitable witness.  This Sunday, I will wrap up with a look at how to demonstrate God's grace through creative service. 

In over ten years of preaching, I have often had the experience of finding something - a book, article, or sermon from another pastor - that communicates precisely the point I wanted to make in a sermon.  Usually I find these sources  a week or two after my sermon, and they always express their ideas more clearly and concisely than me - saying in a phrase or two what I try to say in several pages.  Such has been the case this week, as I have been reading a book called To Change the World by Dr. James Davison Hunter, a sociologist at the University of Virginia.  I won't describe the book in any detail, except to say that I came away convinced that churches must be intentional about their worship, life, and outreach if they are to be faithful to Jesus in this present generation. 

Hunter affirms a very important truth - that wherever "the scripture is proclaimed, the sacraments [are] administered, and the people of God continue to seek to follow God in word and deed, God is at work; the Holy Spirit is still very much active."  The Gospel is indeed being proclaimed and lived out in remarkable ways.  And yet, Hunter argues that this work represents "just a fraction of the potential within the church to bear witness to the love, grace, mercy, and truth of Christ."  What accounts for the untapped potential?  "The problem for Christians," Hunter says, "is not that their faith is weak or inadequate...[but] that Christians have not been formed 'in all wisdom' (Colossians 1:9-10, 28)".  This kind of spiritual formation cannot be done simply by individuals having their quiet times, but instead requires local church bodies that "express and embody the renewal of all of life." 

This, however, raises another problem.  Local churches often neglect entire areas of life as they seek to make disciples, and churches are further hampered in their efforts by the freedom people have to change congregations like they change houses, cars, and jobs.  "Community is no longer 'natural' under the conditions of late modernity," Hunter writes, "and so it will require an intentionality that is unfamiliar and perhaps uncomfortable to most Christians and most churches."  

The church that I served in Virginia was established in 1946.  Multiple generations, living in the same neighborhoods, sat side-by-side in pews that they had helped install and refinish.  For them, their church was a natural extension of their lives, and community came easy.  New Hope is a very different congregation - only eleven years old, with members from a variety of places (Clemmons, Lewisville, Pfafftown, Winston-Salem, Mocksville, Yadkin County, and Davie County, just to name a few).  We come from many different religious backgrounds, some more closely related to Presbyterianism than others.  Our church's youth and our various differences conspire to make community difficult and elusive, and a weak community here at New Hope will produce weak disciples - not disciples with weak faith, but disciples lacking the wisdom to represent Jesus in every facet of their lives. 

That, in a nutshell, is why it is so important for us to have, know, understand, and embrace our mission, values, and emphases.  Once this series is done, you will continue to hear me, the elders, and the deacons referring to historic worship, intimate community, hospitable outreach, and creative service.  For one thing, there is way more to be said about each of these than even I can say in one sermon (amazing, but true!).  More importantly, this sort of intentionality has to continue, even if it seems awkward and unnatural, if we are to acquire the wisdom we need to see, reflect, and enjoy God in all of life. 

Come hear the last part of the series on Sunday, and then get ready to continue the conversation!