A "City within a City" that is striving to reveal and reflect Christ as we love and serve the city...

This week we are looking at a section of an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible, called the gospel of Matthew, where Jesus provides for us a timeless goal that we should strive towards, both as individuals and as a church. As part of perhaps the most famous sermon that Jesus ever preached, which we call the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus painted for the crowds listening to Him a word picture to describe what the world should see when they come into contact with His followers. Jesus explained to the crowds listening to Him that those who follow Him are the light of the world.

Jesus point was that, as the light of the world, followers of Jesus are to reveal and reflect Jesus and help provide the guidance and direction necessary for people to be able to navigate life here on earth. Jesus then challenged those listening with two additional word pictures. First, Jesus reminded the crowds listening of a timeless reality that they were all too familiar of: a city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 

Jesus then provided a second word picture, this time of a lamp that would be used to provide light in a home. Jesus point was that for the light to fulfill its purpose to reveal, display, and to provide the opportunity for those in the house to navigate an otherwise dark environment, the light needed to be in the right position. After painting these two word pictures, Jesus made His challenge to the crowds who were listening unmistakably clear in Matthew 5:16:

"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Just like a city on a hill; just like a lamp that is placed on a lampstand, as Jesus followers we are to live our day to day lives in a way that reveals and reflects Christ to those around us. But Jesus does not simply tell the crowds to reveal and reflect Christ: Jesus also tells the crowds how they will reveal and reflect Christ. Jesus explains that we will reveal and reflect Christ when we live our lives in such a way that the world around us may see our good works and glorify God who is in Heaven. Jesus here is calling the crowds listening, and us here today, to reveal and reflect Christ by how we love and serve the world around us. Jesus calls His followers to engage the world by loving and serving those who God has placed around us.

Did you know that the church is the only organization that does not exist for the sake of its members? The church has been divinely designed to be the vehicle that He uses to reveal His Son Jesus to the world. And God places the local church in distinctive environments to be distinctively different. We believe that God has placed City Bible Church in Bullhead City to be a city within a city that loves and serves those around us.  And when we love and serve others in a way that reveals and reflects Christ, the result is that we glorify God in Heaven.

That is why, as a church, we partner with Bullhead City to love and serve the city during our annual Saturday of Service project. That is why we partnered with the Boys and Girls club to sponsor over 46 children for their summer program. That is why we Adopted Desert Valley Elementary School to provide technology for their classrooms. That is why we love and served over 2,100 people from our community this Halloween during our Candyland Carnival. That is why we loved and served 94 children this Christmas during angel tree.

And that is why we believe and are focused on the goal that God has given us as a church to be a city in a city that is striving to reveal and reflect Christ as we love and serve the city. We believe that as we live life together in community with a focus on engaging those in this city in a way that reveals and reflects Christ by loving and serving those in the city, we will be the vehicle that God uses to advance His kingdom mission and bring Him glory.

Now you might be wondering “well that’s great Dave, but how do we reach that goal as a church? And how do I get to a place in my life where I am following Jesus is a way that reveals and reflects Christ”? If you are asking those questions, I just want you to know that they are great questions to be asking. And my answer to those questions would be this; when we read the letter that make up the Bible, we consistently see that followers of Jesus who are involved in a growing and maturing relationship that reveals and reflects Christ invest their lives in three specific ways.

First, we see that those who are involved in a growing and maturing relationship with Christ consistently invested their time with other Christians as they gathered corporately for regular weekly worship gatherings and as they scattered to experience community in homes throughout the week. Second, we see that those who are involved in a growing and maturing relationship with Christ consistently invested their talents serving God by serving others through the exercise of their spiritual gifts. Third, we see that those who are involved in a growing and maturing relationship with Christ consistently invested their treasure to support God’s kingdom mission through regular and proportional giving.

And we believe that as individual followers of Jesus consistently invest their time by being involved in a regular worship gathering and a community group; as individual followers of Jesus consistently invest their talents serving God by serving others through being a part of a ministry team; and as individual followers of Jesus consistently invest their treasure in order to help create environments where people can explore and grow in their faith while experiencing community, we will continue to be a city in a city that is striving to reveal and reflect Christ as we love and serve the city.

Our vision as a church is to create environments where people grow in their relationship with Christ and are able to move from being consumers who view the church as a place where they receive spiritual goods and services to being investors who embrace and invest their time, talent, and treasure to advance the kingdom mission that God has given us. And because followers of Jesus grow and mature in their relationship with Jesus when they  are investing their time in a community group, their talents in a ministry, and their treasure in a way that reveals and reflects the generosity of Jesus, as a church, we believe God calls us to plan for the future with three specific goals that will help you grow in your relationship with Jesus from being consumers who are searching and shopping when it comes to Jesus to owners who own a genuine and authentic relationship with Jesus to investors who reveal and reflect Christ in their character and conduct and who have fully embraced and are fully engaged in God’s kingdom mission. 

First, we have set as a goal that everyone who attends the church is investing their time, in addition to attending one of the worship gatherings that we have on Sundays, in a community group. We feel strongly about this goal because we believe that transformational spiritual growth occurs in circles, not rows. And community groups create those transformational environments where people can develop loving and supportive relationships that challenge us to take that next step when it comes to our relationship with Jesus. Currently, 56% of those who regularly attend City Bible Church are involved in a community group.

Second, we have set as a goal that everyone who attends the church is investing their talents serving God by serving others as part of a ministry team. We feel strongly about this goal because we believe that transformational spiritual growth occurs when we are leveraging the spiritual gifts, talents, and abilities that God has given us in a selfless way that serves others. We encounter God as we use the spiritual gifts we have been given to help others encounter God. We experience God’s transformational activity in our lives as we help others experience God’s transformational activity in their lives. Currently approximately 62% of the people who attend City Bible Church regularly invest their talents serving God by serving others in a ministry.

Third, we have set as a goal that everyone who attends the church is investing their treasure in a way that reveals and reflects the generosity of Jesus. We feel strongly about this goal because we believe that transformational spiritual growth occurs when we are leveraging the treasure that we have been given to create environments where people can explore faith, grow in their faith, and experience genuine and authentic community. Over the past year, the average adult gave $37 per week.  As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to be generous because Jesus Christ is generous. And when we reflect the generosity of Jesus by being generous, we reveal and reflect Jesus to others.

So, at the church where I serve, we are inviting people to join us in the kingdom mission and vision that God has given us by planning for the future in three specific ways with three specific goals. As a church, we are not inviting people to commit to more than this, but we are not inviting people to commit to less than this. We are inviting people to plan for the future by partnering with us in the kingdom mission that we have been given as a church by investing your time in a community group, your talents in a ministry, and your treasure in a way that reveals and reflects the generosity of Jesus.

So here are some questions for you to consider as we launch into 2019: Where are you at when it comes to a relationship with Jesus? Are you a consumer who views the church as a place where they receive spiritual goods and services? Are you a consumer who is shopping when it comes to a relationship with Jesus because you are searching, seeking, or skeptical? Are you an owner who owns a genuine and authentic relationship with Jesus but is simply treading water when it comes to your relationship with Jesus and are not investing in the mission He has given us? Or are you an investor who is embracing and investing their time, talent, and treasure to advance the kingdom mission that God has given us?

And based on where you are at when it comes to your relationship with Jesus, what is the next step that you need to take in order to take the next step in your relationship with Jesus? Is that next step to invest your time in a community group? Is that next step to invest your talent in a ministry? Is that next step to invest your treasure in a way that reflects the generosity of Jesus?