SERIES: The Book of Romans
The State of the Church
Introduction: Four years ago today I preached a sermon with an identical title to today’s. I opened with these words:
In a few weeks President Bush will be addressing Congress and the Nation with his annual State of the Union message. In it he will undoubtedly stress his accomplishments over the past year, take credit for winning the Gulf War and for helping to end the Cold War, acknowledge some of the problems facing us, suggest a few painless, short-term solutions, and try to paint the opposition party in a bad light in preparation for the elections next Fall. At least that’s how most State of the Union messages have been in the past—more form than substance, more public relations than serious evaluation.
Today I wish to deliver a State of the Church address, but instead of playing to the gallery I want this to be a serious time of self-examination. I want to help us rejoice in what God has accomplished in and through us, but I also want us to be open to constructive criticism and change.
Well, President Bush delivered his last State of the Union message two weeks later. In the meantime, I have studiously avoided the subject of the State of the Church. I thought my sermon four years ago was encouraging, challenging, and even conciliatory, but not everyone agreed. Shortly after I preached it three families left the church. They were upset over my discussion of a certain tension in the church between those committed to home schooling and those who have chosen public school or private school for their children. Interestingly, the tension over that subject subsided soon after, and as far as I can tell there is a real spirit of tolerance and even cooperation today among our families when it comes to the question of how to educate our children.
But having gotten my feet burned once, I was reluctant to speak again about the State of the Church. Today, however, I wish to try again because I think there is a sense in which we are at a crossroads as a church. Plato wrote in his Apology, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” I believe that’s true not only for individuals but also for churches. May God help us this morning to think clearly and honestly about who we are and where we’re headed at this strategic point in our history as a church.
I do have a Scripture text today, by the way. It’s the next passage in our exposition of Romans, chapter 15:14-16. In fact, it was there that I got my motivation to do another State of the Church message. Here’s what the Apostle writes to the believers in Rome:
I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another. {15} I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me {16} to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
What is it about this brief passage that caused me to think about the State of the Church? Primarily it is Paul’s encouraging words to the believers in Rome found there in verse 14—it parallels in an amazing way my own thoughts about the church family here at First Free. I feel something like a physician doing a physical on a healthy man. Sure, the Doc can always point out a few things that could be improved—his cholesterol could come down a few points, he could lose 5 or 6 pounds, he could lower his stress level, he could get more exercise—but overall he’s a fine specimen and should live to be 90. That’s my evaluation of this church. So I would like to begin this morning with the question,
What are our assets?
God has brought together here at First Free a family of believers to whom it also can be said, by and large, “You are full of goodness, you are complete in knowledge, you are competent to instruct one another.” At first the Apostle almost sounds like Robert Schuler here. Schuler is a master at affirming people, and the reason he is probably the most popular TV preacher in the world today is that there is something terribly appealing about his positive message to people whose lives and jobs and marriages are crumbling all around them. People can stand only so much criticism and rebuke and admonition. They long to be told when they’re doing something well or that they are valuable in and of themselves.
But Paul is more balanced than Schuler in that he believes there is a place for both affirmation and admonition (which he has done earlier in the book). As one commentator put it, “Paul saw faults with utter clarity, and dealt with them with utter fidelity; but all the time he was thinking, not of the wretched creature that a man was, but of the splendid creature that he might be.”[i]
Three specific affirmations of the Roman Christians are made which I believe can be addressed to this congregation as well:
1. You are full of goodness. Now that doesn’t sound like the Paul of Romans 3 who wrote, “there is no one good, not even one.” But he is not thinking of innate goodness here; this is not the liberal doctrine of the pristine innocence of man. Undoubtedly he is referring to the goodness that is the fruit of the Spirit—not a native disposition but the moral excellence wrought in a person’s life by the Spirit’s indwelling. Paul saw much evidence of this in their lives, and so do I in yours. I see people reaching out to one another in incredible acts of kindness and love.
2. You are complete in knowledge. The desire to do the good thing is essential, but it must be coupled with knowledge of what the good thing is in God’s sight. Paul goes so far as to call his readers “complete” in this area. After all, he has just written his magnum opus to them to inform them of God’s will for their lives.
Well, we have spent nearly a year studying this great book of Romans. Not only that, but scores of our people are involved in Home Bible studies, in our own Tuesday Women’s Bible studies, in BSF, in Precepts upon Precepts, in Community Bible Studies, in Promise Keeper’s groups, in personal Bible study, and in mini-congregations. I’m encouraged by the hunger for the Word that is evident in this church. Nearly everyone brings his Bible to worship and most follow along as we teach. This is not to say that there is nothing more to learn, but frankly, the knowledge level is high and growing. That’s good.
3. You are competent to instruct one another. Dr. Jay Adams has translated this phrase, “Competent to Counsel,” and he entitled one of his best-selling books by that name. It is his contention (and, I believe, Paul’s as well) that most counseling need not be done by psychiatrists, psychologists, or even pastors. Rather lay people, in whom the spiritual fruit of goodness has been cultivated and who are knowledgeable in God’s Word, can and should counsel one another.
Now certainly there are serious situations which are beyond the expertise of most of us, and we must be willing to refer people to professionals in those cases. But ordinary Christians should not back away from instructing or counseling their brothers and sisters in Christ just because they don’t have a degree in counseling. Frankly, the three most important factors that enable any counselor to be effective are (1) a desire to help, (2) a knowledge of God’s Word and human nature, and (3) practice. And there’s nothing there that isn’t available to any mature believer. I thank God for the competency so many of you demonstrate in helping one another through pain and difficulty.
God has brought together here at First Free a staff that is committed to be ministers of Jesus Christ. I am extremely proud of the staff we have here at the church. Every one of them is uniquely gifted and totally committed. Karen, along with her assistants Laura and Debbie, have simply put together the best children’s program in St. Louis, bar none. Bruce loves our teenagers deeply and is presiding over a youth ministry that is growing not only in numbers but also in effectiveness and outreach. Jerry continues to provide great administrative oversight to the whole church and makes the rest of us look good by cleaning up the administrative messes we leave behind.
Paul is clearly one of the finest young preachers I know and could easily be the senior pastor of any number of large churches. (He could, that is, if I hadn’t threatened to send Bob Port, Bud Blossfield, and Brad Baraks over to his house late one night to break his legs if he ever left). Dick has done an incredible job with the music, and the fruit of that is evident for all to see. Merrit has added to our staff a dimension of experience in large churches and a gift of vision and strategic planning that we have needed for a long time. And our support staff and interns are of the same great quality.
I see here in verses 15-16 in Paul’s personal testimony some concepts that I think every one of our staff would agree with:
1. We want to be bold, not mealy-mouthed. (15) Paul was an affirmer, but he was not a flatterer. Every ministry needs to be characterized by bold reminders. People forget truth and it needs to be brought to their attention again and again.
2. We recognize we are ministers only because of the grace of God. (15) I think I speak for each member of our church staff in stating that we do not feel qualified for this ministry because of our resumes, our degrees, our experience, or our giftedness. It is God who called us here, it is God who forgives our own shortcomings, and it is God who graciously allows us to serve you.
3. We acknowledge the priestly duty of proclaiming the Gospel to this city. (16) In verse 16 Paul views himself as a priest serving in the temple and he views his converts as his offering to God. That’s not a bad analogy. We want to see people come to faith in Christ and to be built up in that faith.
There are a number of other important assets I see here at First Free, but I have time to only touch upon a few:
Other important assets
1. We are learning more about worship. I remember back to my first pastorate in Wichita when I used to feel cheated when once or twice a year a choir cantata or a missionary speaker took my preaching time, because to me preaching was the most important thing we did in church; in fact, I used to refer to everything else as “the preliminaries.” I no longer use that term because I have learned that worship is the most important thing we do in church, and preaching is just one aspect of worship. Our Fifth Sunday worship services, such as we had last Sunday, have been an incredible blessing, and I can’t wait until the next one on March 31.
2. Prayer is becoming a higher priority for many of our people. A number of prayer seminars this past year have awakened many to the importance of prayer. Our monthly prayer concerts have been very special times of intercession. Dr. Bakke’s ministry last July was so powerful that we have invited him back this coming November.
3. We have superb lay leadership. I continue to be so grateful for the Elders and Deacons of this church and the excellent spiritual, financial, and administrative leadership they provide. In addition, we have been blessed with great teachers to lay open God’s Word, with corporate planners to help us strategize for the future, with financial experts to manage our budget and cash flow, with administrators to ensure that everything works smoothly, with lawyers to keep us from making legal mistakes, and with shepherds who love and pray for and care for the sheep. Without exception these people are true servant leaders—not seeking self-aggrandizement but serving humbly and faithfully.
4. Our people consistently exercise a spirit of generosity. Once again this year God has motivated His people to give generously, without pressure, to the point that every need has been met. One week before the end of the year our expenses were outdistancing our income fairly significantly. I didn’t say anything about it, but our deacons were praying about it and I put a brief note in last Sunday’s Prayer Bulletin which said, “An excellent offering today will bring us very close to balancing the operating budget.” Well, $66,000 came in last Sunday for the general fund, enabling us to end the year in the black by about $6,000!
And that is in addition to the $24,000 that was given last Sunday to conclude the Next Step program and the $ 41,000 that was given for accelerated debt retirement. The result is that the mortgage balance stands at $650,000 (reduced from $1,030,000 last January. Your giving in December alone totaled $343,000! Amazing in one sense, and yet fairly typical of this church.
5. Our outreach vision is growing. The year 1995 saw us plant churches in Kazan, Tatarstan and in Kirkwood/Webster. A powerful ministry in Haiti was carried on by 17 of our young people. A prayer group for church planting in the inner city of St. Louis was launched. Our Missions budget grew significantly and will grow again in 1996. Many people came to faith in Christ through Christianity 101 and 201 and through various other outreaches.
So much for assets. I could talk all day about them. Let me mention just a couple of potential liabilities.
What are our liabilities?
Rapid growth is taking us through a difficult transition. Just a few years ago we were a small church, but no longer. Frankly, there are some things I like about a small church and there are times when I am tempted to look back nostalgically to our days at Sanford-Brown or Westminster Christian Academy. But I am convinced that the growth this church has experienced has not come from human effort but from God. So, I have no choice but to accept it and do my best to keep the growth from becoming a liability.
One of the most important things I did was to admit to myself that I didn’t know how to do this, but God brought across our path someone with a lot of experience in helping large churches stay small in the way they function. The staff and Elder Board are excited about a concept Merrit Rector is going to help us implement over the next nine months and to fully inaugurate this Fall.
As most of you know we have been committed for several years now to the concept that a healthy church will provide three major opportunities for its people: celebration, congregation, and cell. Celebration is the worship service, when all of God’s people meet together to praise him and hear a challenge from His Word. Size is no issue in a celebration; in fact, in many ways the bigger the better, especially for those who can’t sing but like to. Our celebrations here at First Free on Sunday mornings have been steadily improving for the last four years, and nearly every Sunday I hear someone say, “It just can’t get any better than this.” Then the next Sunday is even better.
Celebration, however, is not sufficient for growth to maturity. In a large auditorium filled to the brim you can’t make friendships or even interact sufficiently with those you know. That’s not even the purpose of it. Our purpose is to give our attention to God, not to one another. But we all need friendships and we need interaction, and that’s where “congregation” comes in. Our mini-congregations were designed to give adults an opportunity to get acquainted with other adults in their station in life and to interact with them in Bible study, prayer, and social functions. Most of them have worked fairly well, but we now believe that a few key changes will make them far more effective. As a way of bringing our adult mini-congregations to greater maturity we are planning this Fall to inaugurate about ten small churches within the large church. The change of name from mini-congregation to “Small Church” is not insignificant. We actually want these groups to function like small churches.
So important is the function of these Small Churches that we have talked about having people join them instead of joining the large church. After all, what is the value of joining a worship service? But when you join a family of believers with whom you have relationships and with whom you serve and socialize, there’s value to that.
Now all this talk about Small Churches does not minimize the importance of the third leg of the church stool—the cell. These are accountability groups, like Home Fellowships, Promise Keepers groups, Women’s Bible Studies, etc. The fact is the development of the Small Churches may actually facilitate greater growth in our small group ministries, because we anticipate that a lot of small groups will be formed out of the Small Churches, where people are already building relationships.
Our goal is to have 80% of our adults in a Small Church within one year (recognizing, of course, that many of our people serve in the Children’s and Youth Ministries on Sunday mornings, so their involvement in Small Churches will be more indirect than direct). At the same time, we would like to see 60% of our people involved in Home Fellowships or some other small group. The purpose behind these goals is not to generate more attendance or more meetings. The purpose is to facilitate genuine discipleship among our own people, plus more effective evangelistic outreach to others.
Our facilities are over-taxed and inadequate for some of our ministries. We have done just about all we can do with our current facilities to provide space for our various ministries. Our offices take up every room in the house next door. We remodeled the BIGG House this year, finishing off the basement to provide more space for the Youth Ministry. Virtually every room we have is used twice on Sunday mornings and on Wednesday nights, and portions of our facilities are used virtually every day of the week. We still have a little room to grow in the first service, but every Sunday morning the parking lots are full.
A decision is being forced upon us: either we expand our facilities or we choose to stop growing. Our Elders have wrestled a great deal with this matter. They recognize that there is an eventual limit to the number of people who can be accommodated on this site, but they feel very uncomfortable with halting the growth arbitrarily at this point. They have concluded that we should maximize the property God has given us here. We have about 15 acres right now with the possibility of an additional four acres at some point in the future. Studies have shown that a sanctuary with seating of 2,000 and parking spaces to support it could probably be built on this property. An auditorium of that size would also have a much larger platform—big enough, we trust, for a full orchestra, a choir of 100, and even room for a pulpit.
Obviously, however, we could not build such a sanctuary without a lot more educational space to support it. The Building Committee has been working hard these past few months and has arrived at a preliminary plan that would add about 100,000 square feet of space, or roughly twice what we have right now in all of our buildings. What we would get out of that is double the number of seats we have for worship (triple once the balcony is completed), at least double the number of classrooms, a full-size gymnasium (this room here) for children’s and youth activities, church league sports, dinners, etc., a foyer large enough to move around in, a larger library, and a larger nursery complex. Some of the space might be shelled in to be finished later, as needed.
Now if you know the frugal individuals who planned this present building, you have reason to be confident that no stone is being left unturned to provide the most bang for the buck, because Rich Keffer is once again the Chairman. Still, the cost of such a project is enormous—probably somewhere between $5 million and $8 million dollars. Humanly speaking I am blown away by the task of trying to raise that kind of money because we are not a wealthy church, at least by comparison to some churches I know. What I mean is that we don’t have anyone I know of who has the kind of resources that would enable them to give $5 million or even $1 million to help us with building expansion. If I’m wrong, I would be most happy to be disabused of my negative thinking.
However, I think we probably are a rich church when it comes to the average income of our members and attenders. I am convinced that if every regular attending family were to tithe (and were to give the bulk of their tithe to the place from which they receive the bulk of their spiritual growth, which I assume for most is the church), we would not only be able to meet our budget easily, but we would also be able to erect sufficient facilities without excessive borrowing. Sure, it would be a lot easier if someone would lay a huge gift on us, but it may be more healthy if we accomplish it by each just doing his or her part.
Our Elders have made a preliminary decision to launch a major capital stewardship campaign this coming Fall, with the goal of breaking ground for this major new facility the following summer. This would enable us to begin using the new facilities by the Fall of 1998. That’s still at least 2 ½ years from now. What are we going to do in the meantime? Well, we are willing, though not anxious, to start a third worship service this Fall. That will give us room to grow in celebration, but it won’t help with educational space unless we were also willing to add a third hour for Sunday School and Small Churches. All of us are going to have to be flexible and some of us are going to have to be willing to meet in inconvenient spaces and perhaps at inconvenient times. But with God’s grace at work in our Body I think we will make it.
One of the questions that often comes up when we talk about adding more facilities is, “Why not plant more churches?” Two things need to be understood here. First, planting new churches will not solve the attendance problems here. We didn’t get any relief at all when over 100 of our people left in September to start Cornerstone Church—their places were all taken within a few Sundays. And second, planting new churches is not quite as simple as falling off a log. An enormous amount of planning and work and energy went into Cornerstone. And we must not overlook that God sovereignly brought together a gifted intern pastor, then an extremely qualified long-term pastor, and a unique group of motivated leaders who had a special call for their community to form the nucleus of that congregation. If we were to rush into church planting without God’s sovereign direction, we could waste a lot of money and energy, and be very disappointed with the outcome.
All that is to say that our Elders are always open to God’s direction regarding new church plants, but right now they don’t feel led to proactively initiate a church plant. The Missions Commission isbeginning to explore an inner-city church plant possibility, but of course that will not serve as any kind of relief valve for our attendance. Finally this morning I would like to ask,…
What are some challenges for 1996?
I am not by nature a goal-oriented person, but I do have a few targets I would like to aim at in 1996. One is the goal of strengthening our families. I have been grieved the past few years to see a number of families break apart; the pain is severe in the lives of many injured spouses, and even more so in the innocent children of those marriages. Our Promise Keepers have done some things this past year to get our men to wake up to their responsibilities, and I’m encouraged by that. And Paul and I decided that when our Romans series is over at the end of January, we will do a series on marriage and family. So, God willing, for eight Sundays starting February 11 and going through Easter we will we devoting our preaching ministry to what God’s Word has to say to families.
Another goal I have is for us to continue to grow in our worship to the point that Sunday becomes the high point of the week for all of our people. I would like to see the time when people actually come home from vacation on Saturday instead of Sunday because they feel the need of corporate worship before they go back to work. Some do that now, so I don’t think that’s a pipe dream.
I would like to see more people make long-term commitments to ministry in the church. I’m talking about those who are willing to say, “I will teach 5th grade boys from now until God clearly moves me to some other ministry.” I would like to see more individuals who are willing to accept nomination to the very difficult and demanding jobs of Elder and Deacon. I would like to see more of our young people choose to be baptized, become spiritual leaders in their schools, and become so established in their faith that when they go off to college, they are ready to become Christian leaders on campus.
But none of that is intended to take away from what I said at the beginning. I consider myself more blessed than any pastor I know. I have been here for over 11 years now, and just six weeks ago my family and I moved to a new home where we hope to retire in another fifteen years or so. I don’t mean to presume upon God’s grace or upon your continued favor, but that’s an expression of how I feel about the privilege of being Senior Pastor of First Free.
Conclusion: Four years ago I ended my State of the Church message with these words:
I have talked a lot, meddled a little, and shared my heart. If you feel we’ve seen a lot of changes in recent years, it may be nothing compared to the changes we see during 1992. For the first time in our history we will have a home of our own. Many expect to see significant growth once we move in. It’s all going to take a lot of flexibility and a spirit of love and cooperation. More than that, it will take a willingness to let the Lord of the Church lead us through uncharted waters so that we can seize the inheritance He has planned for us.
Well, we faced those changes and I think most of us would say we are better for them. I expect that in the next four years we will face even greater challenges, but with God’s help we will meet them as well. I, for one, am excited about the future of FEFC.
I think it’s appropriate that we share communion together this morning. By its very nature the Lord’s Table is a symbol of unity. We don’t take it alone—we take it with the family, indicating our corporate as well as our individual commitment to the Lord of the Church.
DATE: January 7, 1996
Tags:
Worship
Prayer
[i] William Barclay, The Letter to the Romans, 201.