The Vineyard Church of North Grand Rapids, MI

1. We're launching our Fall Spiritual Growth Campaign. For the third year in a row, we're urging you to join us in breaking out of your Sunday-morning-go-to-church routine, and personally invest in two of the Bible's values: (1) personal spiritual growth or discipleship and (2) corporate unity-stepping into sync with pastors and other members of the church.

a. Personal Growth. Growth makes life worth living. It restores hope and stirs vision. Happy fulfilled people are growing people. Men and women like us can go to church for years-even decades-without breaking out of attitudes and practices that hold them in bondage to past regrets and resentments . . . without breaking free of habits and life-patterns that destroy dreams and undermine relationships . . . without getting to know God as a friend, worshipping him as a King, without serving him. Stay in that rut too long and you become a cranky Christian with a diminishing circle of friends. Growth is almost always intentional, the result of focus and discipline. A small price to pay for waking up in the morning fully alive, living an adventure.

b. What about unity-that vision Jesus passionately prayed for? People can sit in rooms like this for years-even decades-in deeply entrenched individualism: I'm here to pick and choose what I will believe. I decide for myself what is true and what I will do with my time and money. The needs and struggles, hopes and dreams of the men and women sitting around me really aren't in the circle of my concern or responsibility.

This may sound shocking, but there are people like me . . . maybe you . . . who fall into these traps from time to time, who even waste years living in personal dullness and fruitless independence. Each fall, we ask God to help us shake ourselves out of the status quo and step up into a season of spiritual growth and authentic unity. I hope you'll get on the train; it's leaving the station!

2. You may have missed this weekend's Naturally Supernatural conference (WOW), but you can still purchase the NS book today and read chapter one this afternoon. You can jump into a home group this week as we all discuss chapter one and urge each other on to take some personal risks to touch the people at school, work, and in the neighborhood in Jesus-like ways. If you couldn't get to the conference in Midland this weekend, you can still participate in prayer ministry training later this month here at Vineyard North. Mark your program tab: call me about the prayer ministry training. "I want to grow by doing, not just sitting through 8 teaching sessions". PRAY: spiritual growth and unity.

3. As Mike spoke last week, we're going to spend the next two months talking about God's kingdom and taking steps to participate in Jesus' mission. You might have noticed, the Bible doesn't tell us too much about church services. The Bible doesn't include too many recorded sermons. The Bible doesn't give very much instruction about worship music and youth groups and children's ministry. In God's plan, church happens along the way to something else. The focus of God's plan in every generation is his kingdom . . . his ever-advancing rule . . . his person-by-person mission to seek and save the lost, heal the sick, cast out demons, free people bound by bitterness, and care for the poor. Church happens along the way as we join Jesus in the market place, touching the lives of men and women in our circles of influence with the good news of God's love and grace.

4. If church has become the focus of our spiritual lives, we're not living as biblical Christians. This weekend's Naturally Supernatual conference was like a wake up call to me personally. Isn't it strange, how you can doze off and not really know it? I've dozed off into that dreamy place where church becomes the central focus of spiritual. Jesus' personal focus wasn't on running a church, but on seeking and saving the lost (people who were not in church on Sundays and didn't want to be there). He said that he didn't come to hobnob with the healthy, but to bring healing to the sick. He didn't come to care for people on the inside, but to search for and save those on the outside. John writes that Jesus' didn't come to market God or run God programs; he came to destroy the Devil's works. His mission was to advance God's cause-forgiveness and freedom, reconciliation and restoration, healing and deliverance, among people who are on the outside of the church, living in ignorance, bondage, or even rebellion. Church happens (and the Bible reveals that church should be a high value in our lives), but church is not the center of Jesus' brand spirituality.

TRANS: Let's turn back to the text that Mike introduced last Sunday. Check to see that it's underlined in your Bible. Mark 1:14-15. Before writing the next 16 chapters describing Jesus's words and works, Mark wants us to know what Jesus' life and ministry is all about. The miracles weren't about the miracles; they were about the coming of the kingdom. So he hands us a snapshot from a moment in Jesus' life when he is talking to people like us in a place like Grand Rapids. Jesus' isn't in the capital city-Jerusalem; he's in a town like ours. He's not talking to religious scholars; he's looking people like us in the eyes, declaring-no more business as usual. The times are changing. Opportunity is knocking on your door. The future is here. It's decision-time.

Jesus makes three short statements: (1) God's Kingdom is here. This is new. (2) Repent . . . reorient your thinking . . . change your lifestyle. Stop living like it's yesterday, last month, or last year. (3) Believe the good news. Lift your expectations. The kingdom is here whether you believe it or not, but your decision to believe it will open a door for you to participate. Let's examine these three statements

I. GOD'S KINGDOM IS HERE (Mark 1:15)-What does this mean? (well tease this out week by week)

A. God isn't far away. He's come close. He's here with us. In the Gospels, he came as a man-Jesus, God's own Son, Israel's promised King. Today God has come in the person of the Holy Spirit. Just as close as if Jesus were sitting in the chair next to us. God isn't distracted, too far away, disinterested, or resentfully preoccupied. He's here and he's happy. This is the season of his favor.

B. The future has invaded the present. God has invaded our world ahead of schedule-not with judgment but with grace; not with wrath, but mercy; not with condemnation, but a gentle invitation to trust him and receive the gift of eternal life. We can glimpse heaven and taste the powers of the coming age (Hebrews 6:4-5). We don't see miracles every day, but we can live with the expectancy that they can happen any day to any one. True, not everyone is being saved and healed and delivered. There are profound mysteries; but there are real victories.

ILLUS: Gary Sherwood's healing. Being challenged on a leadership level. Others claim to be hearing God more clearly than him. Suffering from 7 years of tinninitis.

God is now doing on earth the things once done only in heaven, and Jesus himself has encouraged us to ask God for more-to pray boldly and persistently, "Let your kingdom and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven".

C. No one is beyond forgiveness and freedom from a life of bondage. Hence all the stories in the Gospels-tax collectors and prostitutes, political revolutionaries and religious leaders, women and children, the poor and the outcast. No one has to remain locked in the past. No one has to live in lonely isolation. Prison doors are breaking open because the kingdom is here. By his own power and authority, God is forgiving men and women crushed by regret and guilt, and freeing people like us from addictions and self-destructive lifestyles, from sickness and poverty and injustice . . . to be part of his loving, forgiving, accepting, growing, holy community-the church.

D. We live in a world at war-a cosmic clash between two kingdoms: God's kingdom and Satan's kingdom, a kingdom of light and a kingdom of darkness. Everyone one in this room . . . everyone in our schools or workplaces . . . everyone at Meijers or the Mall . . . is part of one kingdom or the other. Everyone is serving one Master or enslaved the other. Don't be deceived, there are no free agents, no no-combatants, no men and women without scars and prison tatoos. God is calling everyone in his kingdom to join the battle for others' freedom and restoration. In this war, in God's kingdom, everyone who has been rescued from the kingdom of darkness is called to become a rescuer of the others who are still trapped in blindness there.

E. Religion is being redefined. Our faith isn't about hanging on to the past, but welcoming the future. Our faith isn't about maintaining traditions, but walking in step with the Spirit of God. Our focus isn't just the creeds; it's the promises. Our faith isn't furthered by playing it safe at church, but taking the personal risk to proclaim Jesus' words and perform his works in our circles of influence at school and work, in our neighborhoods, with family members and friends who are still on the outside.

TRANS: For these reasons and more, we need to repent of ‘business as usual' (whatever business we've been up to).

II. TURN AROUND.

A. I grew up in church, and when I hear the word REPENT, I usually think of alcoholics pouring Jack Daniels down the kitchen sink. I usually think of sexually promiscuous men and women deciding to get married and be faithful to their spouse. I think of thieves going to prison and getting right with God. I think of doctors who performed abortions deciding they were deceived and joining the Right to Life speaking circuit. When I think of repentance, I think of rebellious teenagers going to camp, crying and hugging around a camp fire as they dedicate their lives to Jesus. I think of husbands and wives who've cheated on each other, saying their sorry and coming back home to rebuild their dreams.

B. But while Jesus' audience included some pretty broken people-tax collectors and prostitutes-most of the people who heard this announcement (the kingdom of God is here), were very, very religious (cf 1:17; 2:6). They were the kind of people who were in church on time, doing what they were told to do. Many of them were extremely strict in the personal and community application of the Bible's OT laws and Jewish traditions. They didn't need to repent of doing drugs, stealing from the company, sleeping around, abusing animals, vandalizing neighborhoods, cursing
God, or voting Democrat. The majority of the people to whom Jesus was speaking were highly conservative, red state, religious men and women who all sent their children to private schools.

C. So the $64,000 question is, what did they need to repent of? What did they need to turn away from? What sort of reorientation did they need?

1. The problem for most of Jesus listeners wasn't immorality or criminal behavior. It was just the spiritual rut they were in; Jesus was calling them to turn away from their comfortable, theologically fortified status quo. They needed to turn from their empty religious routines, their flimsy faith, their small expectations, their fears and doubts about God, their religious prejudices, their cynical unbelief, and their fear of rejection. They needed to turn from beliefs that bore no good fruit in their daily lives, routines that didn't include love for others, assumptions about God were that as far from the truth as any false religion.

2. Most of us are more like the Pharisees of Jesus' day than we are like the tax collectors and sinners he ate and drank with. If the kingdom is here, and it is . . . folks like us need to repent of . . .

a. The diestic lie that God is far away, too busy to care, and probably angry any way.
b. Nothing is ever going to change-in our marriages, with our parents and children, our health, or our finances.
c. God's instructions and promises, warnings and invitations in the Bible are interesting, but not compelling.
d. People don't change. I can't change. "I am who I am, Baby; I'm a Freebird. I just can't change".
e. Worship, prayer, and obedience have no real value in the real world of education, science, and business.
f. The heart of our faith is avoiding sin and being good-or at least better than others.
g. If, God forbid, you have a serious problem with sin, it's best to keep that to yourself and tell people you're fine.
h. If you're good enough and go to church enough, you can escape life's pain, overcome sin, and get rich.
i. God is more concerned that we keep the house rules than that we love outsiders.
j. Some people deserve to be sick, to suffer, and live in poverty. They're not our problem or responsibility.
k. Going to church meetings is our primary contribution to God's cause.
l. We have all the time in the world to listen, debate, and make up our minds.

D. Repentance goes far deeper than bad habits and moral compromises. For some of us, our religious heritage may be slowing us down. In Jesus' day, tax collectors and prostitutes-and their types-were streaming to Jesus in rivers of repentance (Matthew 21:31). We think we're closer to God's heart and his cause because we haven't struggled with an addiction or had an abortion or been arrested or been part of a cult. That's a common belief, but its not true. The kingdom has come and religion and has been redefined. Many who are now first will be last, and many of the last will be first. Everyone needs to repent and reorient their lives around Jesus, the King. HAVE YOU DONE ANY REPENTING SINCE LAST SUNDAY?

III. Believe the Good News

A. When the Apostle Paul first traveled to Ephesus, he met some disciples who were stuck between repenting and believing (Acts 19:1-7). They saw their need to leave behind empty forms of religion that focused on cleaning up the outside of their lives, while neglecting the realities of their hearts-their inner lives and private relationships. They were stuck between John the Baptist's message, "Repent for God's coming is coming" and Jesus' message: "Repent and believe because the kingdom is now here". So, they took the step from turn away from empty routines to deciding to receive Jesus into the lives as King. The even went public and were baptized. And at that moment, God filled them to overflowing with his Spirit.

B. The good news then is the good news today! That was the message of John Wimber's life. That's the message of our book, Naturally Supernatural. That's what Mark, together with the other Gospel writers, is calling us to believe. The Gospels don't just tell us what Jesus did, but what he is still doing through the Holy Spirit.

1. God isn't far away. He's not too busy. He's not angry. In fact, this is the season of his grace.
2. You can change. You can be healed. Your marriage and finances can change. Your destiny can change.
3. Miracles don't happen every day, but they can happen any day. So, we keep repenting of fear, unbelief, cynicism, passivity, isolation from people in need. We keep deciding to believe Jesus and not the many voices around us that urge us to get back into line with our low expectations. That's why we're going to pray for Annamaria Campion's life and health, either until she is healed or we walk with her right up to heaven's door.

CONCLUSION:

Let me tell you what I'm repenting of, as we begin this series. I'm a leader (the lead pastor, even), so it's only right that I go first.

1. Making church the center of my ministry. Living or dying with the happiness of the church, the performance of the church, the criticisms of the church. Judging God and his word by the weaknesses and struggles of the church. I love the church and have lived my life in it. But, I must have dozed off sometime in the winter of 2007. The church is here to steward the kingdom.

2. Undervaluing our own ministry leaders here at Vineyard North. Bringing Matt on staff this year with Mike has allowed me to travel about once a month, checking in with other Vineyard churches-some of them a lot bigger and older than VN.

Want to know what I'm discovering? Our prayer team leaders, Dave and Sue Gage, are a rare gift. They are not status quo ministry leaders. They are imparting (for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear) kingdom life and kingdom skills. I am asking them to join me in giving the next five years to training up a younger generation of prayer ministers. Last week I traveled to the WOW Vineyard with Steve and Dorothy Magrum. Their prophetic ministry is exceptional. I've admired their growth over the years; I am honored to partner with them. Robyn Dykstra's discipling ministry among older and younger women is a rare gift to any church, combining humility and excellence. Robin is an exceptional teacher who is giving it out as she herself is taking personal steps of growth. The notes Robin teaches from are fresh-not yellowed. Ron Spoelstra and Carol Taylor, emerging out of the valley of the shadow of death, full of fresh vision, sharing their faith and hope, renewing themselves in God and speaking life to a younger generation. God has invested his treasure here at VN! Somebody needs to repent and believe the good news!

3. Telling other people's stories. We all do it . . . "You should have been there. That man, that women was really anointed. You should have seen what God was doing at the conference". I'm going to do whatever it takes to get my own Naturally Supernatural stories. Pray for me.

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