At the Church-Wide Family Night several weeks ago, we played this video and announced our plans to start a Building Fund later this fall.
Below are some comments Pastor Walt made after we watched the video together.
INTRODUCTION
Before we talk about the Building Fund, I want to talk about disagreement.
Acts 15 recounts a surprising disagreement among the apostles.
“And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.” Acts 15:36-41
One of the things I love about the Bible is its candor.
The Bible is blunt. The Bible is honest. The Bible does not sugar-coat the realities of life in a fallen world. If you were looking to write a book about about the rapid growth of the church, you would not include this scene.
But it is included so that we can learn.
The history of paul & barnabas
We are first introduced to Barnabas early in the book of Acts in about AD 30.
He was a part of the church in Jerusalem. He experienced some of those wonderful days of teaching & fellowship, the breaking of bread & the prayers, & all the sharing of everything they had in common.
In fact, Acts 4 tells us, after converting from Judaism to Christianity, Barnabas sold a field belonging to him & gave all the money to the church, to share with anyone who had need.
Barnabas appears again in Jerusalem in about AD 35 or 36.
After the Apostle Paul was converted on the Damascus Road, after the scales fell from his eyes, he began preaching. He preached for many days in synagogues & then came to Jerusalem to try to join the disciples there.
But they were afraid of him. And rightly so! He was a murderer & persecutor!
But Barnabas vouched for him. He took him to the apostles & declared to them how Paul had seen the Lord & was preaching boldly. If you’ve ever had someone vouch for you, you know what this meant to the Apostle Paul.
10 years later, in AD 43 or so, Barnabas reappears.
After Peter had preached in Antioch, the apostles in Jerusalem sent Barnabas there. Barnabas began preaching there & saw the grace of God in the gospel spreading to the Gentiles.
Before long, he went & found the apostle Paul in Tarsus & brought him to Antioch.
Together, as partners in the gospel, for 1 whole year, they met with the church in Antioch & taught a great many people.
Then, in AD 46 or so, the church in Antioch sent out Paul & Barnabas.
They went out on Paul’s first so-called missionary journey.
For the next three years, they worked beside each other day in & day out. They carried the gospel forward to Selucia, Cyprus, Salamis, Paphos, Attalia, Perga, Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, before returning to Antioch.
But, in AD 50 or so, Paul & Barnabas had a sharp disagreement.
As Paul was making plans to go on another missionary journey, he had a disagreement with Barnabas.
Apparently, the disagreement was over John Mark & what he did or didn’t do in Pamphylia. But, we don’t know exactly what it was about.
But we do know, Paul & Barnabas split ways. Barnabas taking John Mark & Paul taking Silas.
THE REALITY OF DISAGREEMENT & DIVISION
One of the sad realities of the church in this world is disagreement & division.
“Human conflict is one of the dreadful consequences of sin entering the world. Because of sin, all human relationships are a struggle and are prone to conflict. We can trace the unrelenting plague of human conflict through the endless wars and divisions of human history, and sadly, church history as well.” Alexander Strauch
Because of sin, there will always be conflict in our relationships.
Because of sin, there will always be conflict in the church.
I have said it before, & it bears repeating: I will fail you. I will not make it to hospital on time. I will not remember to call you back. I will not be the pastor you need. Not for lack of trying, I promise!
And, if I don’t fail you or sin against you, someone else in this church will.
BUT, THE GOSPEL UNITEs US
I pray that we continue to heed the commands of Ephesians 4: to work through conflict & guard the unity of the church.
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:1-3
Along these lines, I want to encourage you.
I am amazed at our unity around the gospel of Jesus Christ.
This year has been the most divided year nationally & culturally of my life. The pressure to draw lines & vehemently define where you disagree from those around you is incredibly great. Whether it is on masks or no masks. Vaccine or no vaccine. Trump or no Trump. Black lives matter or all lives matter. Or whatever.
But one of the things that is remarkable to me is how united our church is. United in the gospel & therefore gracious in allowing significant disagreement in the little things.
“The union of Christians is marred . . . by not keeping sufficiently prominent the great things. Did it ever strike you that the early Christians also differed on minor points . . . but they were so absorbed in thinking they knew God as their Father, that Jesus was their Saviour, that they were possessors of the Holy Ghost, that nothing could separate them. Thus it is that when we go to a meeting where Christians meet as Christians, we feel as if we lost our asthma, we can breathe.” Adolph Saphir
conclusion
These are exciting days for us as a church. Adding another full-time pastor. 4 wonderful deacons. Another humbling fiscal year, in which we see God’s blessing financially. A recent Membership Class of 22+ people.
And the start of a Building Fund.
Are you tired of bouncing around? Are you tired of setting up?
We are going to take 4 weeks, from October 31 to November 21, to kick off our Building Fund.
It’s time for us to ask God for wisdom. It’s time for us to consider again where God has placed us. It’s time for us to consider again what God has called us to do. It’s time for us to dream a bit. And, we believe, it’s time for us to start a building fund, to help us in building a church that outlives us and thrives long after we are gone.
That’s pretty cool, right?
But, you know what, there’s a lot of dead churches with buildings.
It is not a building that gives us a message.
It is not a building that gives us a mission.
It is the gospel that gives us a message & mission. So, as we turn to this next season as a church, let’s not forget what unites us.
