Methodism Uncovered: Open Doors, 1/24/16

Jan 24 – open doors

Why I Am A United Methodist Part 3 2Kings10:15

¹⁵ Now when he departed from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab, coming to meet him; and he greeted him and said to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is toward your heart?” And Jehonadab answered, “It is.”

Jehu said, “If it is, give me your hand.” So he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot.

[after the welcome, stand shake hands and greet – meet someone you have never met]

The series on Methodism continues
Week one...John Wesley's heart was warmed. We still believe that God can touch, warm and change the heart by the power of the Holy Spirit
Week two...beliefs...

the simple gospel, nothing is added

respect and love for the scriptures

grace based...focus not on a persons sin, but on God's ability to help them

love is central, love is key, love is the mark of a Methodist

Today, I am a United Methodist because everyone is welcome

2Kings10:15 - Elisha the prophet, jehu the king
If your heart is with me, give me your hand

catholic spirit - essentials, not periperals
we will focus on the essentials
we will not be divided by peripherals...

why are there so many small churches?

Preach politics, carve of 1/3 of folks
Jesus was a Democrat...if Republican He would have rode into Jerusalem on and elephant.\

Methodist slogan: open doors, open hearts, open minds
Who will you vote for, what are your feelings on abortion, what is your opinion of stem cell research...I am not concerned with such things.
I have an opinion, but I am not in the business of causing u to agree with me
There is only one thing we must agree on, Jesus Christ and him crucified

Is your heart as mine? Then give me your hand...
We can learn from people who are different from us DJ Good & Leroy Cundiff
We are enriched when we love them and try to understand them
People are always more important than ideas.

who are you willing to give your hand to?

Wesley opened the church to the poor
He preached in the fields to coal miners as they can out after work

This message was unwelcome in the church
Who will you welcome into this church?
Is everyone welcome?

MLKjr We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.
The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and , therefore brothers.

We must never see each other as white. black, Asian, we must look and see a child of God

You don't have to believe in Jesus to attend church here
Non-Christians are welcome

Will you welcome those who do not sing
members tell me….I don't understand why people don't sing, something is wrong...

People that can only come 1 per month...welcome?
Pew renters vs time-share owners
Church competes for available time

Conservative vs liberal

Those with piercings

Fred Phelps? Jim Jones?

Boundaries...members can do something that staff cannot do.
Some behavior, staff must leave

Some behavior in congregation, under escort...stalker – not welcome

Back to who is welcome...
You are welcome but we have no room for your children

What if we tried to reach the 20 somethings are they welcome? Would you put up with their music so that we might win them? Let our church grow old and die...we do not want to change.

What if we brought 100 new people into the church and their presence caused a disruption to your friendships... what if you had to share your time, you had to split your Sunday School class...would they be welcome?

Who will sit at the banquent table? [how many stories like this are there?]

Scriptures...
Luke 7 Jesus feet are washed by a prostitute
Luke 8 Gerasene demoniac-from across the sea...
Luke 10 Good Samaritan [a Samaritan and good]
John 4 Woman at the well
Acts 10 Peter's vision of clean and unclean
Jesus hung with tax collectors and sinners
He drove religious people crazy

The church, especially the large church is a paradigm of Christian community.
Community is not longer about agreement
Biblical hospitality included
--Welcome with a kiss
--washing their feet
--food and drink

today during greeting, I asked you to meet people that you did not know.
Today I ask you welcome them
Buy them a cup of coffee
Take them to lunch
See the good in them and give them a hand up

Dear Lord,
May everyone feel welcome at this church. May everyone feel that they are loved. May then sense the feeling of family. Lord, let no one ever worry about race, wealth or age. May everyone who walks in this door find Jesus. and may they find Jesus in how we treat them. Amen

Hospitality Hebrew 13:1-5 7-14-96

Hospitality 7-14-96 Heb. 13 1-5

Paul closes his letter to the Hebrews with these words:
Read Scripture

Show Love one to another by being hospitable to strangers
exp. if they are having trouble
Remember that God has said, I will never leave you or forsake you

Story of preacher with eloquent sermon demello p. 81
two weeks ago I was gone, Mikki preached....*:00 at Adam's church

If we are going to reach people with the good news about Jesus, we first must be ultimately convinced that Jesus Christ and his church really matter in our human existence.

Are we as friendly as we should be to those who visit
We probably have room to grow
What is the rumor on the streets about our Church?
When was the last time we talked to someone about our church?

We have our own thing......it is a good thing
do we get too comfortable in our church setting?
1. spoke to folks that you knew vs did not know?
%of time and resources spent on selves vs spent on others

2. Assimilating folks into the Church
providing groups for them to find what they need
When was the last time your group intentionally sought new folks?

We have something to gain from them.....they may be angels.....
they may be here at the bidding God
they may have something for us that we do not want to miss

The Good new is Good.....it is good for us.....we savor it
It is not our sole possession
When you know a good story you want to tell it
telling folks about Jesus, embracing them with his love is a natural outgrowth of our faith

If we are going to reach people with the good news about Jesus, we first must be ultimately convinced that Jesus Christ and his church really matter in our human existence.

There is Good News....God has said he will always be there for us
We should be there for one another...esp for those outside.