This Week's Sermon Illustrations
Fellowship?
Source: Bill Hybels, Rediscovering Church, p. 159-160
Contributor: Matthew Rogers
Bill Hybels recalls a time when Dr. Gilbert Bilezikian was speaking for a leadership conference at Willow Creek Community Church. He writes about it like this…
"Dr. Bilezikian said there's life-changing fellowship in biblically functioning community. That was a far cry from the childhood experience of a lot of his audience! The only kind of fellowship that many of his listeners had witnessed revolved around the fifteen or twenty minutes after the service when the men would stand around the church patio and ask each other superficial questions. 'So how's it going at work Jake,' one of them would ask. 'Fine, Phil. Say, you driving a new pickup?' 'Used,' Phil would reply. 'What do you have going this week?' 'Not much.' 'Well, great fellowshipping with you, Jake.' 'Same here.' That was about it. They'd (find their wives who) were having similar conversations, and go home until next week.
But the Bible says true fellowship has the power to revolutionize lives. Masks come off, conversations get deep, hearts get vulnerable, lives are shared, accountability is invited, and tenderness flows. People really do become like brothers and sisters. They shoulder each other's burdens - and unfortunately, that's something that few of the people in that audience had experienced while growing up in church.
In many churches it just didn't seem legal to tell anyone you were having a problem. Families that sat in the same pew for years would suddenly disappear, because the husband and wife were in turmoil over marriage problems. Instead of coming to the church for help and prayer and support, they fled the other way, because they didn't feel the freedom to say, 'We love Jesus, but we're not doing very well. Our lives feel like they're unraveling. We need some help!' The implicit understanding was that you shouldn't have a problem, and if you did you'd better not talk about it around the church.
I learned that lesson well. When I got old enough to stand on the church patio after services, someone would say, 'So, Bill, how are things in high school?' And I'd give the response that I thought was expected. 'Fine, Ben,' I'd say. 'They're just great.' I didn't feel I could tell him that my heart was being ripped to shreds because my girlfriend and I had broken up. Or that I was flat-lined spiritually. Or that I had and older brother who was drinking too much and driving too fast, and I was scared about where his life was heading. I didn't say anything, because I felt that a good Christian just didn't admit to having those kinds of real-life difficulties. And in many churches, that's called fellowship. It shouldn't be."
What is the Goal?
Contributor: Wade Hughes, Sr.
What is the goal of playing football? Well, of course, we would say winning. But there is a clearer point than winning; it is scoring points. We might score six points in a touchdown, three points in a field goal, two points in a safety, or one point in a point after the touchdown. What if I told you of a man that played football 23 years—15 years in the NFL, four years in college, and four years in high school— and he never scored a touchdown or made a point? This man would have to be a failure, wouldn't he?
Well, let's look at this? This man never made a touchdown, but he played in 245 games in his career. Why start a man that can't score? He made 1,032 tackles—pretty impressive. He blocked 86 passes. He made 19 fumble recoveries, but still no touchdowns. He made three interceptions, but no touchdowns.
While in a football game everything centers on the football and the goal line, but there is more to the game than that. The man's name is Ed "Too Tall" Jones, and he's in the Football Hall of Fame, the reason he never made a touchdown was his position—Ed was an All-Pro defensive end, he played 15 years for the Dallas Cowboys. Ed was a team player; he never played to make touchdowns, he played to help his team win. Not everyone that plays football is there to make touchdowns.
The Church for the Non-Committed
Contributor: Toby Powers
A man called a pastor's office at a church one day to inquire into membership in the church. He stated that he would not be able to get involved or anything, but he felt it was important to have some religious affiliation. The pastor advised this man that the church he pastored might not be the best fit for him, but he knew of a place where he would fit in quite nicely. The man asked about a phone number, but the pastor only gave him an address. On Sunday morning, the gentlemen followed the directions and pulled up into the yard of a delapidated building. The roof was falling in, the doors were locked, and vines were growing into the windows. This gentlemen called the pastor and told him that he had given him the wrong directions. "Oh no," the pastor replied. "Not at all. That is the place. That church has a membership roll filled with people who did not want to get involved or committed. That is what will always happen to a church whose members do not care about its success."
We're with a Global Enterprise
Contributor: Dennis Selfridge
A minister named Russ Blowers was once asked to speak at Rotary Club about his profession. He wanted to say more than "I'm a preacher." So this was his talk, "Hi, I'm Russ Blowers. I'm with a global enterprise. We have branches in every country in the world. We have representatives in nearly every parliament and boardroom on earth. We're into motivation and behavior alteration. We run hospitals, feeding stations, crisis pregnancy centers, universities, publishing houses and nursing homes. We care for clients from birth to death. We are into life insurance and fire insurance. We perform spiritual heart transplants. Our Original Organizer owns all the real estate on earth plus an assortment of galaxies and constellations. He knows everything and lives everywhere. Our product is free for the asking, There is not enough money to buy it. Our CEO was born in a hick town, worked as a carpenter, didn't own a home, was misunderstood by his family and hated by his enemies, walked on water, was condemned to death without a trial and arose from the dead. I talk with Him everyday."
This Is My Church
Contributor: Rob Ross
This is my church. It is composed of people just like me. It will be friendly if I am. It will do a great work if I work. It will make generous gifts to many causes if I am generous. It will bring others into its fellowship if I bring them. Its seats will be filled if I fill them. It will be a church of loyalty and love, of faith and service. If I who make it what it is, am filled with these, Therefore, with God's help, I dedicate myself to the task of being All these things I want my Church to be.
|
