 |
Get Involved |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Field of Dreams HELP US LORD TO BE SO CONNECTED TO YOU THAT WE MIGHT BECOME THE SERVANTS OF OTHERS. VOICES…VOICES CALLING IN THE NIGHT… PICTURE THE SCENE WITH ME… A FIELD IN THE MIDDLE OF IOWA… THE SUN GOING DOWN, THE WIND WHISTLING AMONGST THE EARS OF CORN… A MAN WALKS THROUGH THE TALL STALKS…. AND THERE HAS AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE OF HEARING A VOICE THAT WOULD CHANGE HIS LIFE… IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME… THE MAN HEARING THE VOICE WOULD LATER SAY… UNTIL I HEARD THAT VOICE, I HAD NEVER IN MY LIFE DONE A CRAZY THING… MAYBE YOU RECOGNIZE THIS STORY, AS THAT MOVIE… FIELD OF DREAMS, KEVIN COSTNER PLAYING THE ROLE OF RAY CASINELLA, AND AS THAT VOICE COMES TO HIM IN THE CORN FIELDS, IDEAS ARE BIRTHED IN HIS HEAD HE CANNOT DENY… IDEAS BIRTHED THAT WOULD LEAD TO THE BUILDING OF A BASEBALL FIELD RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF A CORNFIELD… A NEW FIELD OF DREAMS. LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT ANOTHER MAN WHO HEARS VOICES.. IT WAS THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT FOR THE APOSTLE PAUL. PAUL HAD LONG BEEN PLANING ON TAKING HIS PREACHING MISSION TO ASIA… BUT WE ARE TOLD THE HOLY SPIRIT KEPT HIM FROM GOING THERE… THAT NIGHT, PAUL FALLS ASLEEP- AND WAKES UP TO A VOICE AND THE SIGHT OF A MAN FROM MACEDONIA STANDING BEFORE HIM, BEGGING HIM… COME TO MACDEONIA AND HELP US! PAUL WOULD GO TO THESSSALONIA, A CITY WITHIN MACEDONIA AND THERE WOULD BE BIRTHED A NEW FIELD OF DREAMS, A NEW CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY THAT WOULD CHANGE ALL OF EUROPE! THERE ARE SO MANY MEN AND WOMEN WHO HEAR THE VOICE OF GOD IN SCRIPTURE…. TOO MANY TO MENTION NOW, BUT JUST ONE MORE PERSON WHO HEARS THE VOICE… APPROPRIATE AS WE LOOK AT CHRISTMAS 4 WEEKS AWAY. ON THIS ADVENT SUNDAY, WE THINK OF MARY--- WHO HEARS VOICES… ”DON’T BE AFRAID, YOU WILL GIVE BIRTH TO A SON, YOU ARE TO GIVE HIM THE NAME JESUS…” MARY RESPONDS, FIRST WITH DOUBT… HOW CAN THIS BE? I’M A VIRGIN! BUT LIKE PAUL, MARY RESPONDS TO THAT VOICE BY SIMPLY BEING FAITHFUL, LETTING THE CHRIST DO HIS WORK IN HER! AND A BIRTH WOULD HAPPEN THAT WOULD CHANGE THE WORLD FOREVER… THE BIRTH OF JESUS THE CHRIST THAT WOULD SAVE HUMANITY… A GLOBAL FIELD OF NEW DREAMS UNLEASHED! DO YOU SEE IT! THIS IS WHAT ADVENT IS ALL ABOUT! JUST AS MARY AND PAUL RECEIVED IT, SLOWING OUR LIVES DOWN SO THAT IN OUR LIVES, A NEW BIRTH, A NEW CREATION, A NEW FIELD OF DREAMS IS BROUGHT INTO REALITY… THAT’S ADVENT! AND I ASK YOU THIS MORNING MY FRIENDS, HAVE YOU EVER HEARD THE VOICE OF GOD IN YOUR OWN LIFE? MAYBE THAT VOICE WAS A LITERAL VOICE YOU HEARD IN THE DEEPEST PART OF YOUR HEART AND SOUL… OR MAYBE IT CAME THROUGH A HUMAN VOICE, AND WAS SO PROFOUND YOU KNEW IT WAS SENT FROM JESUS HIMSELF… MAYBE YOU HEARD THE VOICE OF GOD SPEAKING TO YOU THROUGH THE BIBLE, OR THROUGH WORSHIP… WHAT MIGHT HE BE SAYING TO YOU RIGHT NOW? AND I ASK YOU, HAVE YOU EVER ACTED ON THAT VOICE? BELIEVE IT OR NOT MY FRIENDS, I AM NOW GOING INTO MY 5TH YEAR AS YOUR RECTOR, AND FROM DAY ONE I HAVE DONE MY BEST TO FOLLOW THE VOICE OF JESUS CHRIST IN ALL THINGS.. SO THAT MY VOICE COULD BE TRUSTED. FOLLOWING THE VOICE OF GOD, WE’VE DONE SOME AMAZING MINISTRY TOGETHER… AND I BELIEVE IT’S NOW TIME TO ADD ANOTHER LAYER, AS WE CONTINUE IN OBEDIENCE TO THE VOICE OF CHRIST… THE BIRTH OF LIFE GROUPS HERE AT ALL SAINTS, SMALL GROUP MINISTRY WITH A TWIST… INDEED, THIS IS A MINISTRY THAT’S GONE ON HERE FOR GENERATIONS, BUT WE ARE NOW RE-STARTING IN A DIFFERENT WAY OUR MINISTRY OF SMALL GROUPS… LIKE PAUL, LOOKING OUT OVER THESSALONIA WITH NO CHURCH PLANTED YET…. MARY, LOOKING AT HER BELLY, NOT SHOWING…YET… THESE LIFE GROUPS ARE NOT IN OPERATION…YET… BUT LIKE THAT CORN-FIELD ABOUT TO BE TURNED TO A BASEBALL FIELD, I CAN SEE IT MY FRIENDS… CAN YOU? IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S CALL, THE BIRTH OF SOMETHING DEEPER HERE THAT WILL MAKE THE MINISTRY OF JESUS PENETRATE EACH AND EVERY HEART! AND OH THERE IS SUCH URGENCY… YES WE ARE IN ADVENT NOW, BUT ADVENT ISN’T JUST A TIME TO PREPARE FOR THAT QUAINT MANGER SCENE, IT IS ALSO THE REMINDER OF THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST, THAT DAY WHEN HE COMS BACK A FINAL TIME TO JUDGE YOUR SOUL AND MINE… YOU SEE, WHEN JESUS PREACHED ABOUT THE END TIMES IN OUR READING FROM LUKE THIS MORNING, HE WAS PREACHING TO A BUNCH OF PEOPLE WHO BELIEVED THAT HISTORY WAS CIRCULAR… THE STOICS OF JESUS DAY THOUGHT THAT EVERY 3 THOUSAND YEARS OR SO, THE WORLD WOULD BE CONSUMED BY A GREAT FIRE, AND THEN EVERYTHING WOULD START OVER AGAIN, AND HISTORY WOULD REPEAT ITSELF… THIS MEANT THAT IT DIDN’T REALLY MATTER HOW YOU LIVED YOUR LIFE… AFTER ALL, HISTORY WAS GOING NOWHERE AND HUMANITY LIVED ON A VIRTUAL TREADMILL. THIS IS WHY, WHAT JESUS SAYS IN OUR GOSPEL IS SO RADICAL. SO SPECTACULAR… JESUS IN TALKING ABOUT THE COSMIC END OF ALL TIME, IS SAYING THERE IS A BEGINNING AND AN END, AND AT THAT END, YES THERE WILL BE JUDGEMENT, IT’S TERRFYING TO THINK OF THAT DAY… WHEN MEN FAINT FROM TERROR, WHEN THE SON OF MAN IS SEEN COMING IN A CLOUD WITH POWER AND GREAT GLORY… BUT FOR THE CHRISTIAN, THIS WON’T MARK THE END OF TIME, BUT THE BEGINNING OF TIME! THE SIGNS OF THE END ARE SIGNS OF GOD’S NEW BEGINNING! WHERE DEATH SEEMED TO BE THE ONLY CERTAINTY, NEW LIFE BURSTS FORTH LIKE THE SRING! WHERE ONLY CORN-STALKS WAVED IN THE WIND, A NEW DAY WOULD BE COMING! A NEW BIRTH, A NEW FIELD OF DREAMS UNLEASHED! AND THE TIME IS URGENT… I BELIEVE THE TIME IS URGENT FOR US BOTH: PERSONALLY TO BE LISTENING AND ACTING ON THE VOICE OF GOD, AND CORPORATELY, WHY- 2 REASONS… THE FIRST, IS THAT WE ARE TOLD IN SCRIPTURE THAT THE END OF TIME WON’T COME UNTIL HAS HEARD THE LIFE SAVING GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST. YES WARS ARE GOING ON NOW, AND IT SEEMS THE CONFLICTS IN THE MID-EAST, THE FAMINES… ARE ALL PROOF THAT WE ARE IN THE LAST DAYS… BUT MY FRIENDS, AS MARCIA WILL PREACH NEXT WEEK, THERE ARE STILL 1200 PEOPLE GROUPS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN EXPOSED TO CHRISTIANITY! UNTIL THEY ARE REACHED WITH THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL, THERE WILL BE NO END TIME.. WE’VE GOT TO GET TO WORK… WHICH MEANS THAT DISCIPLESHIP IN ALL CHURCHES HAS GOT TO BE TURNED UP A NOTCH! WE NEED MORE MISSIONARIES TO THOSE UNREACHED PARTS OF THE WORLD! THE LONGER WE WAIT, THE MORE WE DELAY THE COMING OF THE LORD! AGAIN, THIS IS WHY WE HAVE MISSIONARIES, INDEED, ONE OF THE MAIN POINTS OF THE LIFE GROUP, ISN’T JUST TO BE A STUDY GROUP, BUT TO RELEASE YOU INTO SOME KIND OF KINGDOM BUILDING MINISTRY! FOR SOME IT MIGHT BE MISSION WORK, FOR OTHERS, TEACHING… FOR OTHERS WHO KNOWS WHAT! THERE IS URGENCY NOW! BUT SECONDLY, AND THIS IS SO MUCH MORE PERSONAL. WE WON’T WANT TO DO ANY OF THE ABOVE UNLESS OUR HEARTS ARE CHANGED. WE WILL IGNORE THAT VOICE OF GOD AND ANY ACTION, UNTIL OUR HEARTS ARE MOVED BY THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST. THAT 19TH CENTURY FATHER OF EXI-STENTIALISM, SOREN KIERKEGAARD SAID THOSE PROFOUND WORDS.. THERE COMES A TIME WHEN ALL MEN MUST UNMASK… YES THIS IS PERSONAL. A PLACE IN WASHINGTON WE CAN GO AND UNMASK BEFORE PEOPLE WE LOVE AND TRUST. UNMASKING OUR PRIDE, OUR SADNESSES, OUR DISCOURAGEMENTS, A PLACE WE CAN GO WHERE PEOPLE KNOW US THROUGH AND THROUGH… A PLACE OF NO SECRETS… NO MORE PRETENDING ABOUT OUR LIVES. PEOPLE YOU CAN BE VULNERABLE TO, UNMASKED, WHERE PEOPLE LOVE YOU ENOUGH TO HELP YOU TAKE THAT MASK OFF… HELPING YOU TO FORGIVE THOSE WHO HAVE HURT YOU, UNMASKED SO THAT WHEN YOU LOOK IN THE MIRROR EACH DAY, YOU SEE THE REAL YOU. LIFE GROUPS, THAT PLACE TO UNMASK, THAT PLACE TO DO REAL LIFE WITH PEOPLE.. THAT PLACE TO BE SHAPED AND MOLDED INTO THE IMAGE OF GOD, PRODUCING AN AMAZING FIELD OF DREAMS. I EXPERIENCED THIS SHAPING IN A SMALL GROUP BEFORE SEMINARY. WHILE I WAS STILL WORKING IN TELEVISION, I JOINED A SMALL GROUP BIBLE STUDY, BUT WE WEREN’T JUST THERE TO STUDY SCRIPTURE, WE WERE THERE LETTING IT MOLD OUR LIVES. LETTING IT UNMASK US.. UP TO THAT POINT, I WOULD HAVE CALLED MYSELF A CULTURAL CHRISTIAN, ENJOYING THE MUSIC OF THE CHURCH, THE SERMONS, BUT NEVER ALLOWING THE WORD TO CHANGE ME. NEVER ALLOWING IT TO MOLD, CARVE ME. THAT SMALL GROUP HELD MY FEET TO THE FIRE OF THE DESIRES OF JESUS CHRIST FOR MY LIFE… HEARING THAT VOICE, GETTING UNMASKED… AND SEEING JESUS BIRTH SOMETHING ANEW IN ME. AS I LOOK OUT OVER OUR BUSY CULTURE… I SEE THE RAMPANT LONELINESS, FEAR, SADNESSES, DISCONNECTED-NESS.. MY FRIENDS YOU AND I ARE NOT WIRED TO GO THROUGH LIFE ALONE, HARBORING ANYTHING. IT’S LETHAL! HEARING THE VOICE OF GOD, ACTING ON THAT VOICE.. DO YOU SEE THE URGENCY, BOTH FOR THE WORLD AND FOR EACH OF US PERSONALLY…? AND I KNOW ITS COSTLY. NO BIRTH HAPPENS WITHOUT PAIN. KEVIN COSTNER, BY OBEYING THAT VOICE NEARLY LOST HIS FARM TO BANKRUPTCY. THE APOSTLE PAUL HAD TO TELL THE ACCREDITED RABBI’S IN THESSALONIA, THEY WERE WRONG… IT FORCED PAUL OUT OF TOWN ON A RAIL! FOR MARY, LISTENING TO THAT VOICE LEAD TO PUBLIC HUMILIATION, HOW COULD A WOMAN UNMARRIED BE PREGNANT? CONSEQUENCES EXISTED THEN AS NOW FOR FOLLOWING THAT VOICE OF GOD. THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES FOR EACH OF US AS WE DEDICATE THIS NEXT CHAPTER OF ALL SAINTS’ HISTORY TO THESE LIFE GROUPS… WHAT WILL NEED TO CHANGE IN OUR SCHEDULES, WHAT WILL NEED TO BE FORSAKEN SO WE CAN MOVE FORWARD TOGETHER ALLOWING FOR A NEW FIELD OF DREAMS? LISTEN TO THE GOOD NEWS FOR A MINUTE! IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME… KEVIN COSTNER IS NO APOSTLE PAUL, BUT THE NEW BIRTHING COMES IN THE LAST SCENE OF THE MOVIE… COSTNER RECONCILES WITH HIS FATHER… THE BIRTH OF A NEW RELATIONSHIP…A FIELD OF DREAMS UNLEASHED! WE THINK OF THE FIELD OF DREAMS FOR MARY, COULD SHE EVER HAVE COMPREHENDED THAT WE WOULD BE STANDING HERE TODAY ON CHEVY CHASE CIRCLE 2006 YEARS LATER TALKING ABOUT HER SON IN THIS WAY? HER SON WHO GAVE THE WORLD A NEW FIELD OF DREAMS! I THINK OF HOW, DESPITE THE PAIN, PAUL PLANTED THE MOST AMAZING FIELD OF DREAMS IN THESSALONIA! THIS IS FASCINATING STUFF! YOU SEE, THESSALONIA IS MODERN DAY EUROPE! THESSALONIA, WAS IN A LAND RULED BY ALEXANDER THE GREAT… OVER TIME, IT EVEN BECAME A CONTENDER TO BE THE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD! BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT THESSALONICA…IS THIS… IT’S MAIN STREET WAS PART OF THE VERY ROAD WHICH LINKED ROME WITH THE EAST… EAST AND WEST CONVERGED RIGHT THERE… IT WAS CALLED THE LAP OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE…
IN FACT, WE CAN SAY BECAUSE PAUL PAYS ATTENTION TO THE VOICE OF GOD AND ACTS ON IT, WE CAN SAY IT WAS THAT MOMENT THAT CHRISTIANITY BECAME A WORLD RELIGION AND NOT SOME GEOGRAPHICAL SECT. CHRISTIANITY HITS EUROPE FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME, ALL BECAUSE PAUL HEARS A VOICE…AND ACTS ON IT! THIS IS WHY PAUL WRITES WITH SUCH AFFECTION TO HIS FRIENDS IN THESSALONIA… PAUL HAD JUST BEEN THERE AND WANTS TO MAKE SURE THEIR FAITH IS STILL STRONG! PAUL HAS HIS OWN FIELD OF DREAMS, TO HASTEN THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST, SPREADING THE CHRISTIAN FAITH THROUGHOUT THE WORLD! AND THE LORD BLESSES HIS MINISTRY IN THESSALONIA.. IT WAS AS UNPRECEDENTED THEN AS NOW TO HAVE A FLOURISHING CHURCH PLANT IN LESS THAN 4 WEEKS TIME. THE RESPONSE WAS REMARKABLE…! WE ARE TOLD IN THE BOOK OF ACTS THAT THE CONVERSIONS WERE MANY… JEWS CONVERTED.. A LARGE NUMBER OF WOMEN CONVERTED… IT WAS SUCH A SUCCESS, THAT THE JEWISH LEADERS GREW ENRAGED TO THE POINT PAUL HAD TO BE SMUGGLED OUT OF THESSALONIA IN PERIL OF HIS LIFE! DO YOU REALIZE HOW AMAZING THIS IS? CONSIDER THESE HISTORIC MISSIONARIES:
EACH OF THESE NOW FAMOUS MISSIONARIES WAITED 7 YEARS FOR THEIR FIRST CONVERT! PAUL’S OBEDIENCE PRODUCES A HUGE FIELD OF DREAMS… I SEE THOSE SAME FIELDS OF DREAMS HERE MY FRIENDS… A FIELD OF DREAMS WHERE EACH ONE OF YOU IS IN A SMALL GROUP, A SMALL GROUP WHERE YOUR LIVES ARE SHARED… WHERE YOU ARE LOVED AND CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER AND CHRIST… WHERE SCRIPTURE IS STUDIED AND APPLIED, WHERE CONVERSIONS AND HEALINGS ARE HAPPENING! WHERE YOU ARE BEING RELEASED
AND BECAUSE THIS VOICE OF GOD IS SO ON MY HEART.. AND BECAUSE I HAVE SUCH A DESIRE TO SEE THIS REALITY BIRTHED AT ALL SAINTS, HEAR THIS…PAUL WRITES TO HIS BELOVED: NIGHT AND DAY I PRAY MOST EARNESTLY THAT I MAY SEE YOU FACE TO FACE AND SUPPLY WHAT [EVER] IS LACKING IN YOUR FAITH MY FRIENDS, I ASK YOU THIS MORNING… WHAT IS KEEPING YOU FROM HEARING THAT VOICE OF GOD? WHAT MIGHT BE LACKING IN YOUR FAITH? IS YOUR CALENDAR CROWDING JESUS OUT? ARE YOU LIVING WITH A GREAT AMOUNT OF FEAR, ANXIETY, AND OR UNCERTAINTY? WHAT IS PREVENTING YOU FROM ACTING ON THAT VOICE OF GOD… WHAT ARE YOU REALLY LIVING FOR…. WHAT IS KEEPING YOU FROM UNMASKING? DO YOU KNOW THAT JESUS LOVES YOU? UNTIL I HEARD THAT VOICE, I HAD NEVER IN MY LIFE DONE A CRAZY THING… AS YOUR RECTOR I WANT YOU TO KNOW HOW MUCH YOU ARE LOVED, NIGHT AND DAY I PRAY FOR YOU, WHAT IS LACKING IN YOUR FAITH? SEVERAL WEEKS AGO WHILE ON RETREAT, I EXPERIENCED WHAT I BELIEVE WAS THE VOICE OF THE LORD ASKING ME TO SEE YOUR HEART… IN YOUR BULLETIN YOU WILL SEE A FIELD OF DREAMS INSERT. ON THAT SHEET, I’VE ASKED YOU TO SHARE A PRAYER CONCERN OR CONCERNS WITH ME ABOUT YOUR LIFE, ANYTHING YOU WOULD LIKE ME TO PRAY FOR, FOR YOU, NAME OPTIONAL.. HEALTH ISSUES, OR WHATEVER OBSTACLES TO FAITH MIGHT BE IN YOUR LIFE, WHATEVER IS KEEPING YOU FROM YOUR FIELD OF DREAMS… PUT THEM INTO THE OFFERTORY PLATE. I WILL TAKE EACH ONE OF THEM WITH ME ON DECEMBER 15, AS I WILL BE GOING ON A SOLO-PERSONAL-PRAYER RETREAT, MY PURPOSE SIMPLY WILL BE TO PRAY FOR EACH ONE OF YOU. PRAYER REQUESTS IN HAND. TAKE A MOMENT NOW… LET’S OBEY THAT VOICE OF GOD TOGETHER, AND SEE FIELDS OF CHRIST’S DREAMS BIRTHED IN OUR HEARTS AND LIVES, AND IN THIS PLACE. AMEN. |
 |