Plowing Match Excitement: Prominent Parade not Plowing
• Former Pres. David Crouse visiting IPM: excitement, acres of Tented City, miniature metropolis, noisy calliope in huge parade
• at end of day, getting into car: "Is there actually plowing?"
• plowing has become an excuse for a much bigger, more exciting event
• danger in church life of putting on production eclipsing real reason for being
Jesus in Jericho: parade breaks out
• Jesus 'passing through' en route to Jerusalem / destiny (Triumphal Entry next event in ch.19): parade broke out in response to His presence, anticipation of Kingdom
• worship ought to be exciting if aware God is there
• "crowd" v3 so hard for short Zacchaeus to see: yet in the midst of the crowd, Jesus spotted him, He noticed a low-profile individual
• Zacceus' place would be the least likely lunch spot: crowd muttered / grumbled, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner'." (CHIEF tax collector v2)
• despite public protest, Jesus did the opposite of what people expected:
Gave Zacchaeus the gift of Significance
• accepted him as a man, a person, without passing judgment on past actions
• broke silly social / religious protocols in order to eat with a tax collector, despised government official (half traitor - agent for Romans)... We may get the same reaction from people who think, "That's not how you do church."
• didn't set conditions & say, "IF you'll make restitution, I'll come to your house": Zacchaeus' generosity developed as a response to Jesus' initial grace in accepting him
• like a wise investor, who looks for the UNDER-valued stock, Jesus invested in the wicked man, the one everybody else scorned; "God couldn't use HIM!..." -- v10:
Came to seek and save what was lost
• 'this is what it's all about' - redemption, buying back; Jesus was rejected as a stumbling-block but God raised Him up to be the cap-stone
• as God sent Jesus for this mission, Jesus sends us - to seek (spot) & save the lost
• church is not a Christian cruise ship or luxury liner BUT a search & rescue ship
• everyone is a crew member, no passengers ‘along for the ride’
• have to be a co-ordinated team, each one takes the training so familiar with first aid, CPR, planting & reaping, how to study the Bible for strength (our air-pac)
Motivation for success in a perilous operation
• 1971 fishing boat floundered off coast of BC; treacherous conditions - high winds, rough seas
• search & rescue vessel saved 9 people despite danger to crew’s own lives
• captain reflected afterward: “Failure was never an option”
• Jesus was bound for Jerusalem & the cross, but had time for overlooked Zacchaeus on the way: EMCC needs to be a crack search & rescue team
• Pres. Phil Delsaut’s report, re being “Relevant Churches” (adapting to the Zacchaeuses):
“God delights in the passionate, heartfelt worship of His people. We constrict the flow of His blessing when we think that He approves only one form of worship! We miss the heart of God when we fail to understand that He is far more interested in His servants “doing mission” than “doing church”. His heart is big enough to reach ME! His tolerance level of the things that offend Him is Amazing Grace! Our Saviour was known as the “Friend of Sinners”. Relevant churches do not compromise on truth, but they make sure they have a delivery system that will actually work. Some simple examples: When Hudson Taylor went to China, he learned to speak Chinese, he dressed Chinese, he ate Chinese, he styled his hair Chinese. If we are to reach GenXers we must go - learn - dress - eat - style - to reach GenXers. If we are to reach Golden Agers we must... This is ‘mission shaped by God’s heart’. God speaks to me in the language of my heart. God sings to me in the language of my heart. If we want to be relevant to the purposes of God we will reach the people – the people, He loves to death – in the voice, in the culture, in the music of their hearts! Relevant churches - bringing the presence of God into every village and neighbourhood, to every town and city in our land!”
Highlights from EMCCED Conference
Bethany EMC, St. Catharines, May 2-4
Marriage Amendment: Article 2.6 of Faith & Practice
“Since the EMCC believes the Bible defines marriage as being a covenant union of one man and one woman, the EMCC only recognizes covenantal heterosexual unions as marriages. Therefore, ministers are forbidden to perform ceremonies or make any public comment that would give any indication to the contrary.”
Article 5.8: “High standards should therefore be set for [believers’] personal and collective life including the following: ....2) their social relationships bear witness to Christ, their conduct reflecting the spiritual ideals of Christianity rather than the world; they shall not engage in sexual relations outside the bonds of marriage; shall not marry unbelievers, shall not hold membership in oath-bound secret societies, and shall not compromise Christian principles in partnerships...
• approval was UNANIMOUS
• not to save money but put resources closer to front-line ministry provider (140 congregations)
• eliminate current duplication of 1 national office & 2 district offices each with own administrative & secretarial staff
• ‘ministry’ function of districts shifts to national level through 5 ‘regional ministers’ / field reps (e.g. Joel Zantingh)
• Pres. & RMs mobile; RM resource broker, spiritual / relational / coaching role rather than supervisory
• smaller span of care: DS - 70 churches, RM - 28
• national office relocates to Kitchener; World Partners office remains in Calgary
• districts have 5 directors; continue for practical reasons to hold assets, receive bequests, restrict exposure to liability
• local churches hold title; “History shows that the biggest ‘real world’ check on doctrinal slippage is ‘who holds the deed’.”
EMCC Missions - Keith Elliott / Paul Brander
• 157 missionaries in 37 countries with 33 agencies (increase of 20 in past 5 years)
• 26 missionaries in 10-40 window, several sensitive areas
• proposals for “creative access” countries - Tunisia, Libya
• missions income $1.1M, up 35% over 6 years
• Relief & Development: CFGB 500 mt wheat Ethiopia (80% food for work); 705 mt wheat flour North Korea; 800 mt wheat Liberia
• 8 CFGB growing projects raised over $57,000
• El Salvador 18 pre-fab homes in 2004 (75 to date)
• support 1 home with 4 HIV/AIDS children in S Africa
• 17 short-term mission teams to 8 different countries (esp. Quebec, El Salvador, Mexico, Haiti; Volunteer Service applications at emcc.ca)
• Women’s Ministries “Bridges to Haiti”: four new Sewing Centres running with treadle machines & materials
• Lloyd Fretz, “Rock by the Road”
• Rob Abbott, emerging church in Kitchener arts community
• Alan Wilson, Chesley church plant from Hanover
• Rob Gulliver, Ethel children’s outreach from Listowel
• Tim & Kathy Elliott, House of Prayer for All Nations
• Simon Yung, Brampton EMC
• Solomon Arumainayagam, Tsunami Relief - Sri Lanka