The Open Door Church

     Last week we talked about the fact that Jesus’ Church is “One Weird Herd.”  So in today’s sermon we will take a look at “Life in the Herd.”  We need to start by establishing the fact that God wants all of His people to live in the Herd.  Luke explained that when people are saved, the Lord adds them to His Church—His Herd!  He wrote, “The Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47b, NKJV).  Obviously, God wants His people to live in the Herd!  He wants every believer to do life as a member of His Church.

     In order for life in the herd to be as good as possible, every member of the herd must behave in ways that contribute to the health of the herd!  Paul wrote the letter of I Timothy so Timothy could teach the members of the Herd at Ephesus how they “ought to conduct themselves in…the church of the living God.” He wrote to Timothy, “Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God” (I Timothy 3:14-15a, NIV).

     I want to spend the next few minutes offering you four thoughts about healthy behavior for life in the herd.

     In the animated movie Ice Age, when saber-tooth tigers attack a tribe of nomads, a mother and her baby attempt to outrun the man-eating beasts but are cornered at a raging waterfall. The little boy is discovered by a wooly mammoth named Manny, a sloth name Sid, and a saber-tooth tiger named Diego. These three unlikely companions unite on a common mission to return the baby to his father.

     As the trio treks through a mountainous terrain of ice and snow carrying the baby, at one point the mammoth, sloth, and tiger realize they're on an erupting volcano. The heat of the lava melts the glacier ice bridges, separating Diego from the others. Isolated on a quickly melting island of ice, Diego jumps to reach the others, but falls short. Dangling from the edge of the ice field, he loses his grip and falls.  Manny, unwilling to let Diego perish, leaps into a chasm after him and tosses the tiger upwards to safety.

      Diego, realizing the danger involved in the rescue, is moved by Manny’s compassion, courage, and sacrifice.  "Why did you do that?" he asks. "You could have died trying to save me."  Humbly, the mammoth responds, "That's what you do in a herd. You look out for each other."

     Amazed at the circumstances that had brought the three together, Sid mused aloud, "I don't know about you guys, but we are the weirdest herd I have ever seen."  One Weird Herd--what a great description of the church, especially our church!  No wonder Paul wrote,  “Our Saviour Jesus Christ…gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:13b-14, KJV).  You see, that’s what the church is - “a peculiar people,” or as Sid put it, One Weird Herd!

     This profound statement made by Jesus more than 2,000 years ago forms the basis of the mission of The Open Door Church—“Showing the way, Teaching the truth, and Experiencing the life in Christ.”  This sermon will be both a reminder and a challenge for all of us to focus on the three primary objectives in our mission statement:

• Showing the way—is evangelism.
• Teaching the truth—is discipleship.
• Experiencing the life—is worship.

     We are living in a day when a significant number of people, both inside and outside the church, do not understand the point at which God considers a couple married.  In my 43-year ministry, I have heard people make several statements that illustrate this fact.  Statements like:

• We love each other and are in a committed relationship.  That’s all that matters.
• We don’t need a marriage license.  It’s just a piece of paper.
• We don’t need a wedding.  It’s just a ceremony.

     The reason many people misunderstand the point at which God considers a couple married is that they do not understand that marriage is a “covenant.”  Even if they have heard that marriage is a covenant, they may not know what a “covenant” is.

     The ancient prophet Malachi declared that marriage is a “covenant” when he wrote, “She is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant” (Malachi 2:14b, NIV).  So in this lesson we will explore the meaning of a “covenant” in an effort to determine, from a Biblical perspective, at what point God considers a couple married.

     On Friday, March 1, Washington Governor Jay Inslee announced his intention to run for President of the Unites States in the 2020 election, promising, if elected, to make the country’s “number-one priority” the issue of “climate change”—the latest politically correct phrase for “global warming.”  Along with Governor Inslee, many of today’s liberal politicians are in favor of passing expensive, business-busting, economy-draining regulations to combat the impending threat of “global warming!”

     Before I say anything further, let me explain that the issue of “climate change” or “global warming” is not merely a political issue.  It is a Biblical issue, as well.  Our liberal friends would tell us that Pastors should not talk about such issues in their churches.  However, if God addresses an issue in Scripture, whether that issue is viewed as political or not, it is the responsibility of Pastors to preach what God’s Word says about it.  Paul wrote, “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27, RSV).

     As believers it is our responsibility to view such issues as “climate change” or “global warming” from a Biblical perspective.  So the question we must answer is: “What does the Bible say about “global warming?”  That’s the question we will attempt to answer during the balance of this sermon.

     Since our church is a very young church demographically, the vast majority of you have a Facebook page and use it often, probably make posts on your timeline multiple times each day.  The purpose of this sermon is not to demonize Facebook—declaring it to be evil.  The purpose of this sermon is to offer you some Biblical guidelines for your Facebook posts.

     Facebook is just like any other communication tool.  It can be used to promote good or it can be used to promote evil.  In order to be assured that we are using your Facebook page to promote only good, we need to review some basic guidelines God has established for communication in general—including our Facebook communication.

     Let’s begin by looking at three basic communication guidelines God established when He inspired Paul to write, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29, NIV).  So, what guidelines does this verse reveal?