It's Not Going to Church

They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:46

Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another. Hebrews 10:24-25

Many years ago, Alan and I were buying yet more parts for one of his old Volkswagons when we saw some great sturdy boxes stacked in the back.  We asked the store owner if we could have them for our friends who were moving back to Illinois for a year, the Alderinks.  And he said, “Phil and Cindy Alderink?  They go to my church.”  And we said, “No, no.  They go to our church.”  And we found out that Barney Brenner had been going to the same church as us for ten years and we really hadn’t ever seen him before.

Another time, long ago,  I was setting up our school play The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at Gaslight Theatre.  And the sound guy mentioned that his pastor always read out loud from Narnia during the sermons, and I said, “No way.  Our pastor always reads out loud from Narnia during his sermons too.”  And that is how I met Dave Darland after going to church together for almost five years.

I know that there are people out there who only know me as the tall lady who sits up front.  And there are people here, that I have gone to church with for months or even years that I simply don’t even know their name.  And certainly even more people that I have gone to church with whom I have never had a real conversation.  And then there are the folks with whom I have shared an important experience or we were actually intimate friends who have drifted off of the mind map... with whom I have not spoken or shared for far far too long. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are not here in this building to go to church.  And we need to stop acting like we are going to church.  The Vineyard isn’t even a church- its name says that it is a Christian community.  Yesterday community was built at Roskruge and in the neighborhood as we gathered together to pray and pick up trash and paint sheds and straighten up library books.  And I have some more opportunities to help us form community so that we don’t look like and act like and feel like we are just going to church.  

One distinctive of Christian community is described in Acts 2, where they broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:46

This is our third year of the Vineyard Cafe.  This Sunday I am going to pass out clipboards for people to volunteer as hosts.  I will then email you or even call you if you prefer and get your specifics: part of town, days that would work, and possibly even a theme.  In the past groups have shared meals, and other times they have shared desserts.  This year we will let you choose which you prefer.  Then for the next two weeks, there will be sign up sheets and you will be able to sign up for groups.  You can even cheat like I am going to cheat, and sign up to host and sign up to go to someone else’s home.  And then we will do out best to deepen and broaden our community.

And there is another model of Christian community in Hebrews that says Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us encourage one another. Hebrews 10:24-25

The Vineyard has a monthly devotion.  It is a simple thing.  A meditation on a verse of Scripture of what the LORD is saying or doing in your life right now.  And a question or two and a shared prayer.  But over and over I hear that God is indeed using this in our body to spur one other on toward love and good deeds and encourage each another.  Another deadline is coming up in a week, and I would like each one of us to consider submitting a piece and deliberately step into building community. Once again we don’t want to look like or act like that we are just going to church.  Email devotions, art, photos or poems to me by a week from tomorrow, next Monday.  

Last night, as Nicole and I pulled into our driveway after a pleasant afternoon at Epic Cafe where we managed to stumble into an art opening and the most amazing spanakopita ever- we were mulling over what is eternity, how will we pass the time, and even more importantly, how should we really be living life now.  And really what truly matters in this age as we await the return of Christ or death is intentional relationships.  That is where Jesus invested his few years.  He showed us what is important and what will burn up like dry buffa grass.  It was a quiet pause of repentance and recommitment to what matters.