Recognizing Grace
So one of the things you want to be careful not to do is to overuse the word special — because if everything is special, then nothing is special, right? — and so you have to be choosy with the word.
But then sometimes, when you have a lot of special things happening all at once, what do you with that? What do you call it?
Well I think the worst thing to do is to just ignore it and call it nothing. I think it’s important for us to stop every now and then and reflect on where we are as a church. The idea is the we want to have a kind of corporate self-awareness. We want to be deliberately mindful of and sensitive to what’s going on around here. We want to ask the question: By the power of his Spirit, through the grace of the Lord Jesus, what is God doing in our church?
That’s the question to ask, and right now the short answer is: something special.
And because there’s a lot of special things happening all at once, I think it’s fair to say that God is leading us into a special season in the life of our church, and therefore I want to preach a special sermon that talks about that.
Now our normal practice, as you know, is that we preach through the Bible verse by verse, and the sermon emerges out of the passage. That’s good and right and normal, but today, I’m gonna do it a little bit differently, because I want frame the next 25 minutes as a reflection on God’s grace to our church past, present, and future. I’m gonna get to Romans 6 at the end, but the three parts of the sermon are on what God has done (and is doing) in our midst, past, present, and future.
First, let’s pray:
Father in heaven, you tell us in your word that it is your will that we give thanks to you in all circumstances — and if that’s the case in all circumstances, how much more thanks should we give you in times where you make your grace so clear to us?
Father, you have been so good to our church, and we thank you. Guide us this morning to understand your goodness even more, for your glory, in Jesus’s name, amen.
Okay, first, we want to recognize God’s grace to us in the past.
PAST: God has made us a church planted.
What do you think when you hear the words “church plant?”
We all have to think something, and whatever that is, I just want to remind you that every church that there has ever been, at some point, was a church plant. Every church had to be started, which means once they were not, and then they were.
And I think it’s important to keep this in mind. For example, we have in the New Testament, several letters that the apostle Paul wrote to churches — and he calls them churches, we call them churches — but technically, they were all church plants. They were startups. We just read from Paul’s letter to the Romans — well the church in Rome had not been there for multiple generations as an established staple in that city. It was brand new!
Every church at some point started as a new gathering of men and women and boys and girls who have been transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ, and who come together to commit to help one another follow Jesus in this world. That’s every church’s story — and it’s ours too!
The one little difference for us, compared to many churches, is that for right now we can still remember when we started as a new church (because several of us were there). [Who was at the first church service that Cities ever had?]
By God’s grace, we started as a new church in 2015 …
from a church that was started in 1871,
from a church that was started in 1853,
from a church that was started in 1849,
from English-speaking missionaries who had traveled here from a very long ways away.
And if we keep going back, like way back, eventually we end up in the year 33, when the risen and ascended Lord Jesus poured out his Holy Spirit on a church plant in Jerusalem. Acts Chapter 2 is where it really all started, and any historical account of our church that does not include Jerusalem is too shallow.
The church as the mystery of God “hidden for ages” was first revealed in Jerusalem, and that church is part of our story, which means — and I want to be clear about this — we have the right and necessity to say that Jesus Christ himself is behind the existence of our local church. Jesus knows about us because Jesus made us happen.
And whenever we think about our church having been a church planted, this is what I want us to think mainly: I want you to know that Jesus did this.
Now there are particulars to our story. There are all kinds of means and ways that God used, there were people with agency who were involved — because that’s how God works — but I really can’t overemphasize to you the fact that God did this. God has made us a church planted, and so we should give God thanks. We are here because of God. Praise him!
That’s the past: God has made us a church planted. Now the present:
PRESENT: God is making us a church rooted.
Now you’ve heard me talk this way. Over the last 12 months especially, we’ve really tried to name this and mark this moment in the life of our church.
At one point in our church’s history, we did not know where we were going to gather on Sunday. The building where we met for worship was suddenly destroyed, and so, for a bit there, we bounced around Sunday to Sunday — and throughout the week I was on the phone trying to figure out what we were gonna do —and in God’s kindness we found an interim space at Concordia University — [who in here was part of Cities Church when we were at Concordia?]
The whole time we were there it felt like clock was ticking — we knew it couldn’t last long, but we didn’t know where else to go. But then, in God’s kindness again, we found this building. And we started gathering here Easter 2018, and to be honest, it was a mess.
There was a lot of clunkiness behind the scenes, and things were over-promised, and we had to get attorneys involved. And that’s when I started getting gray hair. That’s when Pastor Joe lost his hair!
— but we knew that this building was meant for a church, and we knew its location was strategic for our church planting vision. And in an amazing turn of events, in Fall 2019 we had the opportunity to purchase this building, which we did, in January 2020.
And then for several months in 2020, like every church, we just tried to hold on for dear life, which we did, by God’s grace. And then, by God’s grace, we came into last year determined to freshly embrace what we’re all about as a church:
We’re here to make disciples of Jesus from all nations and to plant more churches like ours in the Twin Cities.
We exist to multiply and mature worshipers, servants, and missionaries of Jesus who live faithfully in the home, the church, and the world, and we want to start new churches all throughout this metro who to do the same —
— churches who are committed to the supremacy of Jesus and open-your-Bible relational discipleship, all so that, within the next thirty years, we do our part in making Jesus Christ impossible to ignore in these Twin Cities..
And toward that goal, toward that hope, we’re now in this special season where we, as a church, are called by God to settle in and drive the roots down deep. Okay, we’re here! We’re in this place. God has given us this to steward for his glory — to deepen and expand our ministry. God has given us this so that we would have more of Jesus together so that these cities might have more of Jesus through us.
We’re all here. But the question is: Who’s in?
As we recognize God’s grace to us in the past, and we’re aware of this special season in the present, we wanna take stock and know: Who’s in? Who are we doing this with?
Almost exactly a year ago, we invited everyone to freshly embrace what we’re all about, and to invest in our footprint here, and to commit to give toward this vision. And over the last year, God has given us amazing strides forward. Renovation plans are drawn up; construction contracts are signed; dates are in place — and we could have the entire project completed by December. The ball is rolling, okay!
And also in the last year, God has sent us droves of new brothers and sisters! Lots of you here today were not here last April, and so I want to invite you: be part of this with us. Let’s do this together.
If you’ve been attending Cities Church for a while but haven’t yet committed, I want to invite you to really consider being part of our church. Would you consider joining this family? Would you come be a help-needer and a help-giver with these people?
Presently, God is making us a church rooted — we want us all to be all in.
And I mean that in the deepest possible way. This whole ROOTED initiative, and your commitment to be part of it, it’s really just the tip of the iceberg — because the deepest and truest prayer in this season goes way beyond the physical renovations to this building and the physical provisions needed to make it possible. The greatest prayer for this season is for an extraordinary outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The real prayer, the real hope, is that our church would know more of the power of God — because what good is anything without the power of God? Who cares about a building that is more accommodating to ministry if that ministry lacks the supernatural, life-changing work of God?
I’m not interested! I don’t want it. We don’t want that.
We want more of the power of God! And all of this — all of the ROOTED stuff — is meant to serve that!
And so we should ask: what might that look like? If God were to give us an extraordinary outpouring of his Spirit — if he were to give us more of his power — how might that look?
We’ve seen our church’s past. We’ve seen our present. Now the future.
FUTURE: God will empower us to continue becoming what we have become.
We’re getting to Romans 6, but here in this last part, we’re going to divide it up into four questions. The first is:
1. What is the power of God?
Now when I talk about the “power of God” I don’t want to leave any question in your minds about what I mean by that. I mean by the power of God what Paul means by it in Ephesians Chapter 3 when he tells the church that he prays for them: Paul says he prays for the church, that God, according to the riches of his glory, would grant the church to be strengthened with power by the Holy Spirit. That’s the power of God — and what’s the power for?
It’s power to know the love of Jesus.
Paul prays that the church would have the power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge (see Ephesians 3:16–19).
Hey, I know right now there’s all kinds of stuff going on in our lives. We bring all kinds of things into this room. But no matter what that is for you — no matter what you have going on — the most important thing we all need is to be assured of God’s love for us in Christ.
More than anything, we need the power of God by his Spirit to know the love of God through his Son.
2. Where do we mainly look to see God’s love?
Now I want you to see God’s love for you everywhere … I want you to see God’s love in the rising sun and singing birds and food on your table and in that great parking spot you found. I want you to know God’s love for you in that, as Jonathan Edwards once said:
“Every atom of the universe is so managed by Christ so as to be most to the advantage of the Christian …
… Every particle of air and every ray of the sun” is for you so that you would enjoy God.
I want us to know God’s love like that. But where’s the main place we look to see God’s love? Where’s the fountain from which everything else flows?
It’s the cross of Jesus Christ.
We know the love of God, mainly, not by what he’s doing, but by what he has done. Our assurance of his love is not invested in our positive circumstances, because they come and go. If you’re basing your assurance of God’s love on how well things are going for you, or how you feel in the moment, you’re gonna be like this [up and down.] That’s not where we look mainly.
If we’re talking mainly, our assurance of God’s love is found in Jesus dying for us in our place. The cross is the definitive display of God’s love for us that never changes.
And that’s the message of Romans 5, verses 1–11 (and I’m going to preach Romans 5 in a few weeks — verses 8: God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us). That’s the definitive, historical event.
We look there to be assured of God’s love. We look to the death and resurrection of Jesus.
3. What effect does the death and resurrection of Jesus have on us at a personal, existential level?
So if we’re looking to the cross and resurrection to see God’s love, what does that actually mean for us? What effect does that have?
The short answer is that it makes us dead and alive.
Finally, Romans 6, verse 3:
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
Now when Paul talks about those who have been “baptized into Christ Jesus” he’s talking about all Christians. To be baptized into Christ is synonymous to trusting Jesus. And that’s because when we trust Jesus, when we put our faith in Jesus, we become united with Jesus. All throughout the New Testament, that’s the primary metaphor of our salvation. To trust in Jesus is to be incorporated into him; it’s to be united with him — which is precisely what baptism symbolizes.
Baptism, which we’re going to see here soon, is the visible expression of the spiritual reality that we have, by faith, been united with Jesus such that
when Jesus died on the cross, we died too;
when Jesus was buried, we were buried too; and
when Jesus was raised from the dead, we were raised too!
That’s Romans 6:4,
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
So see, there’s death and life. We were baptized with Jesus in his death, and then raised to life with Jesus in his resurrection. Then in verse 6 Paul explains that this death is of the old self, and this life is of the new self. Verse 6:
We know that our old self was crucified with him [sounds like Galatians, right!?]
our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
And then Paul goes on in verses 7–10 to basically restate what he has already said in verses 3–5, and he lands it all in verse 11 — and this is the fourth question.
4. Because we have been united with Jesus in his death and resurrection, how should we think about ourselves?
Verse 11 starts with “so” or “thus.” Which means what Paul is about to say is an inference. This is the conclusion Paul has reached based upon everything else he’s been saying. Because we are united to Jesus — because when Jesus died and was raised, our old self died and our new self began — we must consider ourselves, right now, to be dead to sin and alive to God in Christ.
And that word “consider” means to regard or to reckon. It’s to think about something a certain way. Paul is talking about how we as Christians think of ourselves.
Brothers and sisters, when you think about yourself, consider yourself, reckon yourself, dead to sin. Your old self was crucified. It’s no more. It’s over. It’s dead.
But now you are alive to God in Christ. Which means, the life of Christ, to whom you are united by faith, now lives in you as your life.
This means that the power of God to know the love of Christ is not what leads to life-change, but it’s the power to recognize that our lives have been changed in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Get this: Christian, the most defining moment of your life is when Jesus died for you and conquered death for you 1,989 yeas ago. What we’re doing now, and tomorrow, and everyday into the future, is that we continue becoming who we have become in Christ.
And that’s why, honestly, we really can’t be anything but hopeful about the future of our lives, and our church. Because the hardest work has been done. The impossible has already been accomplished. We live from a miracle.
And that’s why I can say with confidence that as we walk together in this newness of life that is the life of Jesus in us, we will be, Cities Church, a living, healthy, faithful church which is evidenced in a myriad of ways, such as:
Each of us, at home and in the workplace and wherever we find ourselves, will follow Jesus like Jesus is a real person, because he is;
We will build strong marriages, healed marriages, and we will have blessed children;
We will establish happy homes and whole persons — which does not mean that any of us are free from suffering, but that in our suffering the all-satisfying worth of Jesus is radiant because he gives us a joy that is inexplicable to the world;
We will fix our attention on the word of God, and we will be shaped by this Book,
We will learn and grow together to more deeply understand and wisely apply and winsomely communicate the good news of what Jesus has done;
We will have a high priority and capacity to multiply more churches like ours in these cities, and we’re gonna GO. We’re gonna send missionaries to the “all peoples” of this earth even as our church begins to reflect a little bit more the glorious multitude of Revelation 7;
We as a church are going to witness to the wonder of Jesus. People are gonna walk by this building, and they’re gonna see you throughout the week, and they’re gonna know that those people know Jesus. And we’re gonna say, Come on, we’ve found the bread.
What I’m saying is that God will do something special.
He’s gonna make us to be like a big oak tree, with deep roots and wide branches, and we’re gonna do our part to seek the good of these cities for the glory of God. We’re going to have more of Jesus together, so that these cities will have more of Jesus through us.
And we’re going to celebrate the gospel of Jesus through baptisms, like we’re about to do right now.
Let’s pray:
Father, thank you. Thank you for your grace to our church — for your grace to us past, present, and future. We say: thank you, Father; amen, Father; more, Father. More we ask, for your great glory, in Jesus’s name, amen.
