Sermon Tone Analysis

“A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE COUNT”

*Jesus: Head Of The Church – Part 2*

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Luke 13:18-35

            Big’s Discount Store in Middletown, Texas, closed several months ago.

According to a company spokesman it closed simply because of a lack of profit.

And when asked why they thought this particular store didn’t make it, residents of the town made the following comments: “It’s too big;” “It’s too hard to find things;” “It’s too impersonal.”

But the local Wal-Mart is huge and still thriving.

Why does Wal-Mart continue to do such a good business when Big’s did not?

Well there are several factors, but the primary reason Wal-Mart does well is personal attention I think.

People seem to matter.

There’s a greeter at the door.

There are personnel eager to help you find what you need.

And Wal-Mart is noted for giving good service and treating people right.

Paul Harvey recently told of an elderly couple who borrowed their neighbor’s truck to go to Wal-Mart and they brought home a truckload of mulch.

But several days later they realized they still didn’t have enough mulch and they discovered that in the interim their neighbor had sold his truck.

So they called the local Wal-Mart and asked if they would deliver the mulch.

And the manager said, “Well, we’ll see what we can do.”

And several hours later he came with a truckload of mulch.

When they offered to pay him for the delivery, the manager said, “Well actually Wal-Mart does not deliver.

I borrowed my neighbor’s truck to bring this to you.”

You know, when people matter like that a business will continue to grow and thrive, regardless of its size.

Now my question for you today is this: Will the future of Oakwood Park Christian Church be like the local Big’s, or will it be like Wal-Mart?

Will people count, or will we just count people?

This is such an ongoing critical issue that we need to revisit it again and again.

If we want God to bless this church in the future then we’ve got to be the most people friendly church we can be.

*In Luke 13, Jesus talked about His vision for the church.

Jesus intended the church to be a foretaste of what the eternal kingdom of God would be in Heaven—a place where every individual is valued and loved.

And in Luke 13:18-35, I see five characteristics that the Lord wants in His church.

And when these qualities are present they guarantee individual significance.*

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*I.

THE CHURCH IS TO BE A /GROWING/ PLACE.

(Luke 13:18-22)*

* *

*            First, the church is to be a /growing /place.*

Verse 18: /“Then Jesus asked, ‘What is the kingdom of God like?

What shall I compare it to?

It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden.

It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches’”/ (vv.

18, 19).

Now the mustard seed was so tiny that it could barely be seen on the tip of a finger, but when it was planted in the ground it would grow and expand until it was a fairly large tree, a large shrub, about the size of some Redbud trees – so big that birds could build their nests in it.

*And Jesus was just saying the growth was /massive/ in comparison with a small beginning*.

Verse 20: /“Again he asked, ‘What shall I compare the kingdom of God to?

It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough’”/ (vv.

20, 21).

Now when a little bit of yeast is kneaded into the dough it works unseen until it causes the entire loaf to rise.

And Jesus said the church is like that.

It began with a tiny baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger in the little village of Bethlehem.

Almost no one even noticed.

Then 30 years later, that young man gathered around Him 12 disciples, and they weren’t very impressive.

Then 3 years later, that small core had grown to 120 dedicated people who, after the ascension of Jesus, waited and prayed in an upper room in Jerusalem.

And the book of Acts, the 2nd chapter, relates that the Holy Spirit came on in them in power and they went out into the streets of Jerusalem and began to proclaim that this Jesus of Nazareth had died for sins and had risen from the grave.

And 3,000 people believed the message and were baptized.

And the kingdom of God began and it rapidly exploded in growth.

Acts 4:4 says the number of men in the Jerusalem church grew to about 5,000.

Now if there were 5,000 men, it’s generally speculated that there must have been, counting women and children, about 20,000 people in the church in Jerusalem.

And its growth continued until the church spread throughout the whole world.

Acts 17, verse 6, reads that some of the opponents in the city of Thessalonica said, /“These [people] have caused trouble all over the world [and] have now come here.”/

The tiny mustard seed had become massive.

The yeast had worked quietly to impact the whole batch of dough.

You see, folks, that’s what Jesus meant the church to be—to be a growing place.

* *

*But you know what, when a local congregation grows to be large—say several hundred or several thousand in attendance—so often the perception by many people is that it’s /too/ /big/.*

I just don’t understand why that is.

I mean, people will say, “You know what, such and such university has expanded the seating at their football stadium.

And you go down there and there are 75,000 plus fans all dressed the school colors rooting for our team.

You really ought to go, you know.

It’s so inspirational!”

And yet, they look at a large church and say, “Boy, I could never be happy in a church like that.

It’s too big.”

And I always want to respond, “Well don’t go to heaven, then, because you’re going to hate it.

Because there are going to be more people there than you can count!”

*But realistically, the larger we grow the more we will need to guard against being /cold/ and /impersonal/.*

Because a church is not like a football game where 75,000 people are spectators and they sit in the stands and watch.

The church is to be a family where every member is loved and involved.

So a danger any growing church has to avoid is this spectator mentality.

There are so many people who come to church and say, “I don’t have to give.

I don’t have to work.

Somebody else will do it.”

Home Depot is another company that’s often held up as a model for corporations.

Though it’s large, Home Depot has continued to be effective.

They have a motto: “Cultivate relationships.”

That’s why Home Depot doesn’t even put numbers on their isles.

They want their employees to walk with the customers to the isle and assist them personally.

*Now as a church that wants to grow, we have to work hard to /cultivate/ relationships.

*We need to have greeters at the doors to make people feel welcome when they arrive.

We should encourage people to participate in Adult Bible School Classes, and small groups, women’s and men’s groups, special activities and work projects, where people get to know one another and can be ministered to.

But the most important factor is that individually Christian people who are a part of this church make the effort to give special care to people who need it.

The Lord wants a growing church to be a caring place.

But the church is to be a growing place.

God wants His church to grow to try to reach as many lost souls as possible.

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*II.

THE CHURCH IS TO BE A /SAVING/ PLACE.

(Luke 13:23-38)*

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*            Secondly, the church is to be a /saving/ place.*

In verse 23, someone asked Jesus, /“Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”/

Now that’s a question we hear asked a lot—*/Who/ is going to be saved?*

Who’s going to go to heaven?

According to /World/ magazine the second best-selling author in the world right now, behind John Grisham, is Paulo Coelho.

His books have sold 18 million copies worldwide and he’s becoming more popular here in America—selling about a million and a half copies here.

Among his fans are Julia Roberts, Madonna, and former President Clinton.

But Coelho proposes an amalgamation of world religions.

He wrote: “I believe that each and every religion, when chosen with sincerity, leads to the same god.”

Now this syncretism—some good in all religions, so let’s combine them all—is becoming increasingly popular in this age of tolerance.

The Dalhi Lama encourages, “Accept all religions.