TOGETHER
A preaching guide for S PRING 2 0 1 6
Together Is T
By Rev. Dr. Tim McConnell
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here is a Kenyan proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” I didn’t understand what that meant until one day when our mission team was on the open plains of the Maasai Mara taking a nature walk with our local guides. One of our party stepped out of the group, hoping to go behind a rock for a moment of privacy. The guide shook his head. “No. We don’t know what’s there. It’s better to be together.” A few minutes later we were in our vehicles again and drove up on a pride of lions. You could have thrown a rock from where we had been walking to where the lions bedded in the grass. Go fast, or go far. Together is better. The church is God’s idea. We are called together. The word for “church” in the New Testament is “ekklesia” and it means “called out.” The Holy Spirit calls us out to join the body of believers and follow His voice in the mission of God. Alone is no good; together is better. This spring we are going to study how God makes the church. The church is called together to form a unity with beautiful variety. In Exodus, God instructed Moses to make a Tabernacle. Great pains are taken to describe every detail, the material, form, images, decorations, colors… if you have tried to read the Bible straight through, maybe this is where you gave up! It seems to matter to God that there is beauty and variety. The people of God needed to understand that the presence of God was a joy and a responsibility, and it required their best.
Better The church is the living temple, built with just as much care, just as much variety, just as much beauty and with just as great a purpose. As the living temple, we come together under the power of the Spirit to manifest the presence and love of God. Each of us is unique. God has given us individual gifts to share for the common good. We see this outlined in 1 Corinthians 12-13. At the heart of Paul’s theology of the church is a theology of “together.” The individual gifts of believers cohere to form the body of unity. At First Pres we are committed to using our gifts for the Kingdom together, and we are committed to recognizing and growing the gifts of those around us. When we say that as a church we strive “to collaborate in every challenge,” we are simply recognizing the multi-giftedness of the church and the call to co-labor with one another for the good of God’s creation. No person is here by accident, just as no part of the body is an accident. If every part will play its part, the body will live and move and participate in what is eternal — the Kingdom of God. I want to invite you to commit to this study with us. We will look each week at a bit of the Tabernacle in Exodus, and a bit of the living church in Corinthians. If you will walk with us week by week, you will find a new confidence. The Body of Christ is a beautiful creation, filled with ornate splendor. The Body of Christ is a living temple, bearing the presence of God. The Body of Christ has a place for you. This isn’t our idea, and it isn’t our project. The church is something God did, something
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God has given us individual gifts to share for the common good.
God is doing and something we get to participate in by God’s design. Before the throne in Revelation, the creatures and elders sing a song to Jesus: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain, and with Your blood You purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.’ (Revelation 5:9-10) Worthy is the Lamb Who claimed His church by His blood. Worthy is the One who called us from darkness to light, from every nation to the Kingdom of God. Once we were no people; now we are God’s people. Glory to the Lord who called us — Together!
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Tim McConnell is the Lead Pastor at First Pres. 4/16 | www.first-pres.org | 3
Four Attributes of the Peopl L
ast summer we began to talk about the four ways we are formed spiritually as followers of Christ at First Pres. Having begun my spiritual formation journey here at First Pres in the nursery at three years old, I have a bit of history to draw upon 1 when it comes to observing the kind of people Christ is calling us to be as a part of this local church. Session has been working hard in the past years to understand our unique call as a downtown church in Colorado Springs. We are committed to being a teaching body, a partnership-focused organization and an intergenerational presence. Last July I began to write down my observations about our church and how God is using us to be Gospel witnesses in our context. Four identifiers emerged:
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2 3 community 4 We create wherever we go.
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3 4 hope where hope is at risk. We bring
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4 We collaborate in every challenge.
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We passionately learn what we do not know.
This is the way we show up in the world. These are our growing edges, the ways God is forming us as a body of believers to bring the Gospel into a fast-changing world. You may have noticed that our preaching series’ for 2016 have emerged out of these four markers. In January we looked at James, and “Our Life Together.” This series highlighted our call to be a witnessing community that shows forth the redeeming and reconciling work of God in our life together.
By Rev. Jennifer Holz
e at First Pres During Lent we focused on the Lord as our “ever-present hope in times of trouble.” (Psalm 46:1) Wherever hope is at risk, we point to Christ and bring His hope wherever we go. After Easter, we move into our series “Together.” Tim’s article in this issue takes us deeper into our call to collaborate in every challenge. Finally, we are learners. As we head into the summer series, we will focus on our call to be life-long learners of Jesus and life-long learners of the context and culture where we are sent. Jennifer Holz is the Senior Executive Associate Pastor for First Pres.
Preaching Series Sunday, April 10 “Called,” Exodus 24:18; 1 Corinthians 12:1-3 Preacher: Tim McConnell Sunday, April 17 “The Giver Glorified,” Exodus 24:12-18; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 Preacher: Tim McConnell Sunday, April 24 “A Complete Set,” Exodus 25:1-9; 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 Preacher: Jennifer Holz (Traditional); Katie Fowler (Contemporary) (Get Set Sunday) Sunday, May 1 “Doing Your Part,” Exodus 31:1-7; 1 Corinthians 12:27-31 Preacher: John Goodale (Traditional); Nate Stratman (Contemporary) (Compassion Sunday) Sunday, May 8 “In the Way of Love,” Exodus 33:12-17; 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 Preacher: Tim McConnell Sunday, May 15 “Building What Lasts,” Exodus 36:2-5; 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 Preacher: McConnell (Pentecost)
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Special Sundays this Series
Life After Death Sunday, April 3 About: Each year on the Sunday after Easter we celebrate Life After Death. Easter represents Jesus’ ultimate victory over death, and the promise of Eternal Life for all those who believe. While we experience pain and suffering in this world, we know this life is not the end. Our hope is in life everlasting, the Salvation provided by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. On this Sunday we celebrate that hope in the eternal while remembering those who’ve moved on to the next step in their faith journey. On Life After Death Sunday we celebrate those who’ve gone home to be with the Lord since last Easter. The service includes a reading of the names of those who died in the last year.
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Get-Set Sunday, April 24 About: On-Get Set Sunday we celebrate the Get-Set Preschool program at First Pres. Get-Set Preschool is a mission of First Pres that reaches out to children in the downtown community, granting them the opportunity to learn and get ready for kindergarten, while also learning about Jesus! During the morning we get to hear a special performance from our Get-Set students, bring goods to help stock their pantry and learn about volunteer opportunities.
Compassion Sunday, May 1 About: On this special Sunday we celebrate our partnership with Compassion International. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Compassion International is a ministry dedicated to ministering to children in poverty throughout the world. Everyone can participate in this mission by sponsoring a child living in poverty. On Compassion Sunday, the packets of children in need of sponsorship will be available in the narthex and in the plaza. Compassion Child Development Centers are based in local churches that understand the real needs of their community, are child focused and Christ centered. The simple act of sponsoring a child and corresponding with him or her can transform you and can make a spiritual, economic, social and physical difference for that child. Through sponsorship, you can help a child become a responsible and fulfilled Christian adult. Child sponsorship is also an effective way to help children and grandchildren develop compassion for others. First Pres’ partner church, Presbyterian Free Church in Kalimpong, India, hosts a Compassion Child Development Center that we typically visit yearly. First Pres sponsors more than 150 Compassion children in Kalimpong, and more than 800 children around the world.
Pentecost Sunday, May 15 About: Pentecost is a day that celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit 50 days after Easter. Before Jesus was crucified, He told his disciples that the Holy Spirit would come after Him. And 50 days after Jesus was resurrected (10 days after He ascended into heaven), that promise was fulfilled when Peter and the early Church were in Jerusalem for Pentecost: “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:1–4)
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a d d r e ss
S ER V ICE
Life
conference
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April
15-16,
2016
Non Profit Org. U. S. Postage PAID Colo. Spgs. CO Permit No. 419
FEATURING Andy Crouch, Executive Editor of Christianity Today
RE Q UE S T ED
Christian