January 6, 2026 • 24 mins
Ever spent time actually looking at what a church should be? And what implications might there be for each of us as we look deeper into what a Biblically based church looks like? We’ll head that direction in this study.
Acts 2:42-47
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
So if your question this morningas you come in here is what is
actually going to be different after this, then the answer I
hope and pray is going to be we are going to be different after
this. That is, with a vision of God
and His gospel, we will be different.
(00:21):
Welcome to the God Centered Lifewith Josh Moody.
And with a new year, we start a new study.
We're calling it 2020 Vision, the installment today, Vision
Sunday, we're taking a look at the book of Acts chapter 2
verses 42 through 47. Josh Moody is senior pastor of
College Church in Wheaton, IL. My name is Todd Bastille.
(00:43):
Thanks for joining us, Josh. It's almost a given.
You start a new year, you look for something to do differently,
something to improve on, something to get rid of,
something to change. And to that end, we're queuing
up a series that on the surface,talks about church life, but has
a whole bunch of relevance for each of us individually, doesn't
it? Well, yes, and because it's
(01:03):
about church life, it has that relevance.
It's Acts 242 to 47 is paradigmatic of church life.
But in that description, as as he point out, Todd, the the idea
is that there's a personal transformation that takes place
as we understand what the churchis, as we understand our part in
the church, as we understand howwe are members of the body of
(01:26):
Christ, use language from elsewhere in the Bible.
And all that takes place as we begin to get into this this
passage we're looking at today. Fantastic.
Let's jump in and get to it. Acts Chapter 2.
Here's Josh. I don't have a vision for
college church. Neither do the elders, nor any
(01:50):
of the pastors, staff, boards orcommittees.
At least I hope not. Vision is a word that you see
can conjure up human ideas of what we want the future to be
(02:10):
like. But as everyone knows, the
business of prediction is difficult, particularly when it
comes to the future. Now, we use the word vision this
morning because it is the commonterm for what we're thinking
about. But that word vision carries
with it expectations, dreams, and sometimes human orientated
(02:35):
issues that I hope none of us have.
You see sometimes when people hear the word vision, we, you
and I can think what's this really about?
And so we can talk about vision and values and commitments and
(02:57):
yes, we have that. But cynics that we are and very
used to human orientated vision speak as we have become in the
world. It's easy for us to think that
this is really about something else.
But you see, that is not biblical vision.
Biblical vision, in the end, is not a program, much less a
(03:22):
building or an event, much less a staff hire.
All of these things may come outof biblical vision, of course,
but they're not vision itself. They're more the tactics which
we will need to have and do havepeople working on and coming up
(03:45):
with strategies and deadlines and goals and all that.
But vision is something more to do with who we are and what we
see about God. So if your question this morning
as you come in here is what is actually going to be different
after this, then the answer I hope and pray is going to be we
(04:11):
are going to be different after this.
That is with the vision of God and His gospel, we will be
different. Now of course we do have a
vision statement and we do have a logo and we do have 4 values
and we do have our five personalministry commitments.
But the first thing I want us tosee is not the nuts and bolts of
(04:32):
what we are planning. If that is all our vision, then
well, it seems we're we're on the wrong track.
We could become human orientatedthen, not God orientated.
And part of what we're saying this morning and, and throughout
the ministry of this church overthe many years is that we need
to have a vision of God and his glory.
(04:57):
And that is true for us at the beginning of our life.
We need that because it stops usfrom seeking selfish ambition.
And it's true for us also at theend of our life, we need it then
too. Why?
Because it stops us from being frightened of the future or
trying desperately to still holdon to power or influence or
(05:17):
things. So the first part then about the
very foundational nature of biblical vision is really in a
sense the most key. And that is why in our vision
statement we begin with saying the God centred gospel.
That is what we have a vision for.
(05:41):
We have a vision for this gospelthat is about God's honour and
that is good news for us. But it's not a human orientated
manipulative vision is out to get something from us.
You see, if you mean by vision this what's my human ambitious
(06:04):
desire for college church, then I really don't have one.
I don't want any more barns. I don't need any more
responsibility, thank you very much.
I'm a young man and I already have far more responsibility
than I ever dreamt of, and I'm just done with any sort of
(06:27):
ambitions now. One of the things that happened
to me when I was praying about coming at all to Cottage Church
a couple of years ago now was almost as it were, and I speak
metaphorically, seeing a vision of a mantle from the Lord being
put on my shoulders. That is a heavy vision, but it
(06:52):
has nothing to do with me. It is, I believe, the Lord's
calling. So in that sense, I have no
vision, but I am compelled by a vision of God and his love and
his gospel for for you, for thischurch that I am to express and
(07:12):
be a vehicle for the expression of that love and send through us
with all our many resources through us to the whole world.
And a sense this is nothing new.College church is not a broken
machine that needs fixing. And we are healthy church.
(07:39):
And if you look at the passage from Acts 242 to 47, you'll see,
probably you'll remember that this is the same.
Perhaps you remember this is thesame passage that I preached on
when I first preached here. And actually, it is also the
same passage that we restructured our staff team
around a year or so ago. And also, it's the same passage
(08:01):
that was the foundation for the 2020 Vision family gathering
back in the spring of this year.And it's the passage that's
foundational to this morning. So, So first of all, I've
reminded us that this vision is about God and his gospel, not
us. Now I want us to look at this
(08:21):
passage, and I'm not going to exegete it this morning word for
word, because why is that? Because I've taught on this
passage so often in the life of college church, and now we're
really thinking of his application to us.
But as this vision of God, it needs to come from God's Word.
It's a vision of God. It must come from his word.
(08:42):
So let's look at it and I'll read it for us.
Acts 242 to 47 reads. They devoted themselves to the
apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of
bread, and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe and
(09:04):
many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.
All the believers were together and had everything in common,
selling their possessions and goods.
They gave to anyone as He had need.
Every day they continue to meet together in the temple courts.
(09:28):
They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and
sincere hearts, praising God andenjoying the favour of all the
people. And the Lord added to their
number daily those who are beingsaved.
Let's see how that passage turnsinto a vision statement.
(09:50):
We'll do that in just a moment. But first, as we're fresh in
this new year, we would love to hear from you.
We're celebrating the growth that God has provided for us in
the previous year. And looking ahead, we'd love to
hear where you're listening, howyou're listening.
That would mean a lot to us. God Centered life.org has a
contact page. We'd love for you to use it.
(10:12):
Back in Acts Chapter 2 now here's Josh.
Well now we summarize this in our vision statement.
The God centred Gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed in us as a
church and through us to the world by the transforming power
of the Holy Spirit. And you see, we thought about
the God centred Gospel first. That is what formed this church,
(10:37):
what transformed these people and what took them from
Jerusalem to the very centre of the world at the time, to Rome.
Wheaton is a Jerusalem of sorts of the evangelical world in
America today, and we need to pray that God would renew this
Jerusalem in order to reach thatRome.
(11:02):
They were the church that turnedthe world upside down.
Luke tells us later in his account because of this gospel.
Now, part of what we're saying here philosophically, if you
like, that is a little distinct,is that this gospel is not just
the ABC of the Christian life, but the A-Z Christ is the Alpha
(11:28):
and Omega, the A-Z. And so this gospel, A-Z, Alpha
to Omega, this gospel goes through everything.
And you can see that in the wonderful logo that's been put
together for us. Then we have our 4 core values,
Fellowship, learning, outreach, and worship.
(11:48):
These are the four things that the early church was devoted to,
and hence we should be devoted to them.
And if we are devoted to that aswell, then we will become under
God's sovereign will, or other things being equal, we will
become a church with their kind of dynamism and attractiveness
and service to the surrounding world.
(12:10):
So yeah, we want a big and growing church and all that.
But the point is, this is not for us.
This is for other people. This is for the world, for
Wheaton, for Chicago. So the gospel influences all
that we do and it influences each of these 4 core values.
(12:34):
So first we have a God centred gospel.
It is God centred. It's a vision about him, not us.
Then second, we have this gospelthat goes through all of church
life and from us and through us to the world.
So it's not just about us, it goes through us to other people
as as a as a movement. Well, how does that happen?
(12:58):
Well, that's third, where the core values come in the
fellowship, learning, outreach, and worship.
When we were talking about thesewith the elders, the mnemonic
flow was thought up for them. You can use that if you like to
remember it, but you don't have to.
And on the logo, you can see then how the cross is at the
(13:18):
heart of it. And then that flows through each
of these 4 core values of fellowship, learning and
outreach and worship that they were devoted to, that we are to
be devoted to. So that's the third thing.
And then come the five personal ministry commitments.
And the point of that is this, when we get this vision, God
(13:42):
centred, when we get the gospel,when we see that impact us in
these four areas, fellowship, learning, outreach and worship,
then what's happening is we are being asked to grasp onto that
vision and commit to it with these 5 personal ministry
commitments. If you like pictorially, like a
hand grasping onto the vision with those 5 personal ministry
(14:08):
commitments. So the godsend, the gospel of
Jesus Christ proclaimed in us asa church through us to the world
by the transforming power of theHoly Spirit.
What's going to be different? God willing, we're going to be
different. You see, if we commit to this
through those 5 personal ministry commitments, we're
(14:30):
going to be different as a result.
So this is a clarification of what we've always been about.
It's a simplification of structure so that it's a little
clearer what we're really askingvery busy people to be involved
with. It's a focus upon the
(14:51):
transforming power of the gospel.
So it's God centred from him andhis word, his vision and a
vision of him. It's about the gospel that he is
commissioned, going through all of church life.
And that means that we'll be joyful and reverential, joy and
(15:13):
awe, joy and fear, fear and joy.More grace filled and living
because of this gospel. The gospel for all of life, A-Z,
not by works, but by grace that is proclaimed in us from the
pulpit, through the church, through flow, the four values,
fellowship, learning, outreach and worship.
(15:33):
And that is all represented by our logo tells us pictorially
that the crosses of the heart tells us about the four core
values that are the four quadrants, the four squares on
the sail of the iconic ship. And all that is not just for us,
but for God, for praise of the Lord, and for the culture and
(15:59):
world around us. So here's a question that comes
out of that What kind of church would college church have to
become to make Wheaton and Chicago glad that we exist for
someone to say, oh, Oh yeah, I Iknow about them and I'm really
glad they're there. What kind of business people,
(16:26):
what kind of artistic people serving in government people
would we have to become to live out the gospel in the daily
calling of our work impacting culture with Christ?
What would that look like? So that's the heart of it, this
(16:46):
cross and the four quadrants. And we're asking this morning to
grasp onto it with the the five personal ministry commitments,
like a hand grasping onto the vision.
That's what we're asking now. It's not going to be the only
chance that you have to do that to grasp onto that vision.
We have 2020 vision this week. We have vision this Sunday.
(17:08):
Then we have giving coming out of that next week and then
mission. And so there's a little section
of focus here that's coming up this full season on these core
matters of vision, giving and, and mission.
And then next year, 2011, is College Church's 150th
(17:30):
anniversary, and Professor Blumhofer from across the street
has written a book for us celebrating that.
And we'll spend the whole year celebrating the past and looking
forward to the future with 2020 vision.
So we have this great past and College Church is a healthy
(17:52):
church. It's not broken, but with all
this massive change taking placein society and culture all
around us, what would it take for us here?
It is. What would it take for us now to
launch a movement so that in another 150 years college church
(18:17):
has 150 times the impact on the world or by 2020 has 20 times
the impact? That's the question that's
driving this. Now, I hope I've made it clear
that this is not human orientated, but God oriented,
(18:39):
God focus, God centred. But there's another matter as
I'm calling us all to commit to this vision, and me included,
every single one here this morning by personal commitment,
with the personal ministry commitments, what's going to be
different? We're going to be different.
There's another aspect I want tobring out and that's this all
(19:00):
this talk I hear about the future of Christianity in
America being in trouble. I want to stand against that
this morning. The false prophet says peace,
peace where there is no peace. And no one could doubt that
there are many causes for alarm in our world today.
The economy for one, wars and rumours of wars for another.
(19:26):
But while it is wrong to say peace, peace where there is no
peace, it is also wrong to say bad news, bad news when we have
good news, good news. Yes, we live in a new reality
today, there is no doubt and we could all come up with different
statistics that would prove that, but this new reality is
(19:49):
the greatest opportunity. I believe under God's Providence
that College church has ever been given with people from all
around becoming our neighbors all over the nations of the
world. If we are a gospel centred
church and are about that mission here and all around the
world and college churches commitment to global mission is
(20:14):
unaltered. If we commit to this vision of
the gospel changing us and through US changing our
neighborhoods, our cities, our suburbs, our world, then I think
history will look back on this moment and say not they had a
dream, but they were faithful toGod's vision from His word when
(20:39):
others were turning their back on it and God was faithful to
them. In 2020, if we commit our time,
our talent, and our treasure to this vision, we will, God
willing, be 20 times deeper as achurch.
(21:00):
That is, we will be more connected through a flourishing
small groups ministry. We will have a training centre,
not just a programme for other people, but one that is there
for training all of us in our daily Christian lives and
working responsibilities and which provides what some
seminary presidents, I'm told, are saying churches need to do
(21:24):
in the 21st century. With this changing culture all
around us, which is to be the place where or a place where
future ministers are trained, this will need to develop
massively. We will worship God in fear, in
awe, in reverence, in fear and in joy.
(21:44):
With this combination that you find in Acts 242 to 47,
reverence and awe for God, dignity at the same time, not
dullness, but joy and exuberance, that brilliant
centre of true worship of God that is awe and joy, hands
joined together. You won't get all bent out of
(22:05):
shape by contemporary worship ortraditional worship.
We will still have a biblical worship service drawing out of
the Bible the fundamental categories of congregational
singing, of God centred materialand and and and words to the
singing and all and all that with with that biblicals, the
(22:27):
fundamental category so that oursongs will be new and old, great
hymns, ancient and great hymns, recent, moving beyond the
worship wars of the 1970s to a more deep approach, more mature
approach to Christian worship. That's Josh Moody, and this is
(22:51):
the God centered life. A lot more to explore in this
vision series, but we'll pause there for now.
Our first glimpse of the acronymas well, FLOW fellowship,
learning, outreach and worship. We'll explore each of these
further in the coming days. Josh, you ask a question.
What kind of church would you need to make the surrounding
community glad that you exist? Some might be prompted in
(23:15):
today's culture to answer a quiet church, but that's not
where we're going, is it? That's not where we're going and
obviously we're not going to be determined by the expectations
of people around us, but I do think it's helpful to think in
those terms to some extent. There are so much need in the
world around and we are to be the kind of church that meets
those felt needs with the real need of the gospel of Jesus
(23:36):
Christ. And as John Stop would say, have
the Bible one hand, the newspaper and the other.
In other words, yes, we're committed to Christ and His
Word, but that doesn't mean we don't love our neighbor.
And we need to love our neighborby communicating the gospel.
And definitely a provocative question.
What could we do in the community so that someone would
say we're glad they're there? Yeah.
Perhaps regard that as an inroadfor the gospel.
(23:57):
Thanks Josh. Fresh into January and we're
excited to be making Josh's brand new book available.
It's called our firm foundation Bible verses every Christian
should know. Scripture is a foundation to
everyday life. Absolutely love to send you a
copy. You can make that happen by
swinging by God Centered life.org God Centered life.org
(24:20):
next time, fit or fat. Fat Christians are fed
Christians who are not serving Christians.
Fit Christians are fed Christians who are serving
Christians. And so there is a balance of
course, but the very least one area serves.
We'll continue our vision serieswhen we get together next time.
(24:42):
God Centered life.org resources for you.
And this is your warm invitationto join us for the next edition
of The God Centered Life with Josh Moody.
So if your question this morningas you come in here is what is
actually going to be different after this, then the answer I
hope and pray is going to be we are going to be different after
this. That is, with a vision of God
and His gospel, we will be different.
(00:21):
Welcome to the God Centered Lifewith Josh Moody.
And with a new year, we start a new study.
We're calling it 2020 Vision, the installment today, Vision
Sunday, we're taking a look at the book of Acts chapter 2
verses 42 through 47. Josh Moody is senior pastor of
College Church in Wheaton, IL. My name is Todd Bastille.
(00:43):
Thanks for joining us, Josh. It's almost a given.
You start a new year, you look for something to do differently,
something to improve on, something to get rid of,
something to change. And to that end, we're queuing
up a series that on the surface,talks about church life, but has
a whole bunch of relevance for each of us individually, doesn't
it? Well, yes, and because it's
(01:03):
about church life, it has that relevance.
It's Acts 242 to 47 is paradigmatic of church life.
But in that description, as as he point out, Todd, the the idea
is that there's a personal transformation that takes place
as we understand what the churchis, as we understand our part in
the church, as we understand howwe are members of the body of
(01:26):
Christ, use language from elsewhere in the Bible.
And all that takes place as we begin to get into this this
passage we're looking at today. Fantastic.
Let's jump in and get to it. Acts Chapter 2.
Here's Josh. I don't have a vision for
college church. Neither do the elders, nor any
(01:50):
of the pastors, staff, boards orcommittees.
At least I hope not. Vision is a word that you see
can conjure up human ideas of what we want the future to be
(02:10):
like. But as everyone knows, the
business of prediction is difficult, particularly when it
comes to the future. Now, we use the word vision this
morning because it is the commonterm for what we're thinking
about. But that word vision carries
with it expectations, dreams, and sometimes human orientated
(02:35):
issues that I hope none of us have.
You see sometimes when people hear the word vision, we, you
and I can think what's this really about?
And so we can talk about vision and values and commitments and
(02:57):
yes, we have that. But cynics that we are and very
used to human orientated vision speak as we have become in the
world. It's easy for us to think that
this is really about something else.
But you see, that is not biblical vision.
Biblical vision, in the end, is not a program, much less a
(03:22):
building or an event, much less a staff hire.
All of these things may come outof biblical vision, of course,
but they're not vision itself. They're more the tactics which
we will need to have and do havepeople working on and coming up
(03:45):
with strategies and deadlines and goals and all that.
But vision is something more to do with who we are and what we
see about God. So if your question this morning
as you come in here is what is actually going to be different
after this, then the answer I hope and pray is going to be we
(04:11):
are going to be different after this.
That is with the vision of God and His gospel, we will be
different. Now of course we do have a
vision statement and we do have a logo and we do have 4 values
and we do have our five personalministry commitments.
But the first thing I want us tosee is not the nuts and bolts of
(04:32):
what we are planning. If that is all our vision, then
well, it seems we're we're on the wrong track.
We could become human orientatedthen, not God orientated.
And part of what we're saying this morning and, and throughout
the ministry of this church overthe many years is that we need
to have a vision of God and his glory.
(04:57):
And that is true for us at the beginning of our life.
We need that because it stops usfrom seeking selfish ambition.
And it's true for us also at theend of our life, we need it then
too. Why?
Because it stops us from being frightened of the future or
trying desperately to still holdon to power or influence or
(05:17):
things. So the first part then about the
very foundational nature of biblical vision is really in a
sense the most key. And that is why in our vision
statement we begin with saying the God centred gospel.
That is what we have a vision for.
(05:41):
We have a vision for this gospelthat is about God's honour and
that is good news for us. But it's not a human orientated
manipulative vision is out to get something from us.
You see, if you mean by vision this what's my human ambitious
(06:04):
desire for college church, then I really don't have one.
I don't want any more barns. I don't need any more
responsibility, thank you very much.
I'm a young man and I already have far more responsibility
than I ever dreamt of, and I'm just done with any sort of
(06:27):
ambitions now. One of the things that happened
to me when I was praying about coming at all to Cottage Church
a couple of years ago now was almost as it were, and I speak
metaphorically, seeing a vision of a mantle from the Lord being
put on my shoulders. That is a heavy vision, but it
(06:52):
has nothing to do with me. It is, I believe, the Lord's
calling. So in that sense, I have no
vision, but I am compelled by a vision of God and his love and
his gospel for for you, for thischurch that I am to express and
(07:12):
be a vehicle for the expression of that love and send through us
with all our many resources through us to the whole world.
And a sense this is nothing new.College church is not a broken
machine that needs fixing. And we are healthy church.
(07:39):
And if you look at the passage from Acts 242 to 47, you'll see,
probably you'll remember that this is the same.
Perhaps you remember this is thesame passage that I preached on
when I first preached here. And actually, it is also the
same passage that we restructured our staff team
around a year or so ago. And also, it's the same passage
(08:01):
that was the foundation for the 2020 Vision family gathering
back in the spring of this year.And it's the passage that's
foundational to this morning. So, So first of all, I've
reminded us that this vision is about God and his gospel, not
us. Now I want us to look at this
(08:21):
passage, and I'm not going to exegete it this morning word for
word, because why is that? Because I've taught on this
passage so often in the life of college church, and now we're
really thinking of his application to us.
But as this vision of God, it needs to come from God's Word.
It's a vision of God. It must come from his word.
(08:42):
So let's look at it and I'll read it for us.
Acts 242 to 47 reads. They devoted themselves to the
apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of
bread, and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe and
(09:04):
many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.
All the believers were together and had everything in common,
selling their possessions and goods.
They gave to anyone as He had need.
Every day they continue to meet together in the temple courts.
(09:28):
They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and
sincere hearts, praising God andenjoying the favour of all the
people. And the Lord added to their
number daily those who are beingsaved.
Let's see how that passage turnsinto a vision statement.
(09:50):
We'll do that in just a moment. But first, as we're fresh in
this new year, we would love to hear from you.
We're celebrating the growth that God has provided for us in
the previous year. And looking ahead, we'd love to
hear where you're listening, howyou're listening.
That would mean a lot to us. God Centered life.org has a
contact page. We'd love for you to use it.
(10:12):
Back in Acts Chapter 2 now here's Josh.
Well now we summarize this in our vision statement.
The God centred Gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed in us as a
church and through us to the world by the transforming power
of the Holy Spirit. And you see, we thought about
the God centred Gospel first. That is what formed this church,
(10:37):
what transformed these people and what took them from
Jerusalem to the very centre of the world at the time, to Rome.
Wheaton is a Jerusalem of sorts of the evangelical world in
America today, and we need to pray that God would renew this
Jerusalem in order to reach thatRome.
(11:02):
They were the church that turnedthe world upside down.
Luke tells us later in his account because of this gospel.
Now, part of what we're saying here philosophically, if you
like, that is a little distinct,is that this gospel is not just
the ABC of the Christian life, but the A-Z Christ is the Alpha
(11:28):
and Omega, the A-Z. And so this gospel, A-Z, Alpha
to Omega, this gospel goes through everything.
And you can see that in the wonderful logo that's been put
together for us. Then we have our 4 core values,
Fellowship, learning, outreach, and worship.
(11:48):
These are the four things that the early church was devoted to,
and hence we should be devoted to them.
And if we are devoted to that aswell, then we will become under
God's sovereign will, or other things being equal, we will
become a church with their kind of dynamism and attractiveness
and service to the surrounding world.
(12:10):
So yeah, we want a big and growing church and all that.
But the point is, this is not for us.
This is for other people. This is for the world, for
Wheaton, for Chicago. So the gospel influences all
that we do and it influences each of these 4 core values.
(12:34):
So first we have a God centred gospel.
It is God centred. It's a vision about him, not us.
Then second, we have this gospelthat goes through all of church
life and from us and through us to the world.
So it's not just about us, it goes through us to other people
as as a as a movement. Well, how does that happen?
(12:58):
Well, that's third, where the core values come in the
fellowship, learning, outreach, and worship.
When we were talking about thesewith the elders, the mnemonic
flow was thought up for them. You can use that if you like to
remember it, but you don't have to.
And on the logo, you can see then how the cross is at the
(13:18):
heart of it. And then that flows through each
of these 4 core values of fellowship, learning and
outreach and worship that they were devoted to, that we are to
be devoted to. So that's the third thing.
And then come the five personal ministry commitments.
And the point of that is this, when we get this vision, God
(13:42):
centred, when we get the gospel,when we see that impact us in
these four areas, fellowship, learning, outreach and worship,
then what's happening is we are being asked to grasp onto that
vision and commit to it with these 5 personal ministry
commitments. If you like pictorially, like a
hand grasping onto the vision with those 5 personal ministry
(14:08):
commitments. So the godsend, the gospel of
Jesus Christ proclaimed in us asa church through us to the world
by the transforming power of theHoly Spirit.
What's going to be different? God willing, we're going to be
different. You see, if we commit to this
through those 5 personal ministry commitments, we're
(14:30):
going to be different as a result.
So this is a clarification of what we've always been about.
It's a simplification of structure so that it's a little
clearer what we're really askingvery busy people to be involved
with. It's a focus upon the
(14:51):
transforming power of the gospel.
So it's God centred from him andhis word, his vision and a
vision of him. It's about the gospel that he is
commissioned, going through all of church life.
And that means that we'll be joyful and reverential, joy and
(15:13):
awe, joy and fear, fear and joy.More grace filled and living
because of this gospel. The gospel for all of life, A-Z,
not by works, but by grace that is proclaimed in us from the
pulpit, through the church, through flow, the four values,
fellowship, learning, outreach and worship.
(15:33):
And that is all represented by our logo tells us pictorially
that the crosses of the heart tells us about the four core
values that are the four quadrants, the four squares on
the sail of the iconic ship. And all that is not just for us,
but for God, for praise of the Lord, and for the culture and
(15:59):
world around us. So here's a question that comes
out of that What kind of church would college church have to
become to make Wheaton and Chicago glad that we exist for
someone to say, oh, Oh yeah, I Iknow about them and I'm really
glad they're there. What kind of business people,
(16:26):
what kind of artistic people serving in government people
would we have to become to live out the gospel in the daily
calling of our work impacting culture with Christ?
What would that look like? So that's the heart of it, this
(16:46):
cross and the four quadrants. And we're asking this morning to
grasp onto it with the the five personal ministry commitments,
like a hand grasping onto the vision.
That's what we're asking now. It's not going to be the only
chance that you have to do that to grasp onto that vision.
We have 2020 vision this week. We have vision this Sunday.
(17:08):
Then we have giving coming out of that next week and then
mission. And so there's a little section
of focus here that's coming up this full season on these core
matters of vision, giving and, and mission.
And then next year, 2011, is College Church's 150th
(17:30):
anniversary, and Professor Blumhofer from across the street
has written a book for us celebrating that.
And we'll spend the whole year celebrating the past and looking
forward to the future with 2020 vision.
So we have this great past and College Church is a healthy
(17:52):
church. It's not broken, but with all
this massive change taking placein society and culture all
around us, what would it take for us here?
It is. What would it take for us now to
launch a movement so that in another 150 years college church
(18:17):
has 150 times the impact on the world or by 2020 has 20 times
the impact? That's the question that's
driving this. Now, I hope I've made it clear
that this is not human orientated, but God oriented,
(18:39):
God focus, God centred. But there's another matter as
I'm calling us all to commit to this vision, and me included,
every single one here this morning by personal commitment,
with the personal ministry commitments, what's going to be
different? We're going to be different.
There's another aspect I want tobring out and that's this all
(19:00):
this talk I hear about the future of Christianity in
America being in trouble. I want to stand against that
this morning. The false prophet says peace,
peace where there is no peace. And no one could doubt that
there are many causes for alarm in our world today.
The economy for one, wars and rumours of wars for another.
(19:26):
But while it is wrong to say peace, peace where there is no
peace, it is also wrong to say bad news, bad news when we have
good news, good news. Yes, we live in a new reality
today, there is no doubt and we could all come up with different
statistics that would prove that, but this new reality is
(19:49):
the greatest opportunity. I believe under God's Providence
that College church has ever been given with people from all
around becoming our neighbors all over the nations of the
world. If we are a gospel centred
church and are about that mission here and all around the
world and college churches commitment to global mission is
(20:14):
unaltered. If we commit to this vision of
the gospel changing us and through US changing our
neighborhoods, our cities, our suburbs, our world, then I think
history will look back on this moment and say not they had a
dream, but they were faithful toGod's vision from His word when
(20:39):
others were turning their back on it and God was faithful to
them. In 2020, if we commit our time,
our talent, and our treasure to this vision, we will, God
willing, be 20 times deeper as achurch.
(21:00):
That is, we will be more connected through a flourishing
small groups ministry. We will have a training centre,
not just a programme for other people, but one that is there
for training all of us in our daily Christian lives and
working responsibilities and which provides what some
seminary presidents, I'm told, are saying churches need to do
(21:24):
in the 21st century. With this changing culture all
around us, which is to be the place where or a place where
future ministers are trained, this will need to develop
massively. We will worship God in fear, in
awe, in reverence, in fear and in joy.
(21:44):
With this combination that you find in Acts 242 to 47,
reverence and awe for God, dignity at the same time, not
dullness, but joy and exuberance, that brilliant
centre of true worship of God that is awe and joy, hands
joined together. You won't get all bent out of
(22:05):
shape by contemporary worship ortraditional worship.
We will still have a biblical worship service drawing out of
the Bible the fundamental categories of congregational
singing, of God centred materialand and and and words to the
singing and all and all that with with that biblicals, the
(22:27):
fundamental category so that oursongs will be new and old, great
hymns, ancient and great hymns, recent, moving beyond the
worship wars of the 1970s to a more deep approach, more mature
approach to Christian worship. That's Josh Moody, and this is
(22:51):
the God centered life. A lot more to explore in this
vision series, but we'll pause there for now.
Our first glimpse of the acronymas well, FLOW fellowship,
learning, outreach and worship. We'll explore each of these
further in the coming days. Josh, you ask a question.
What kind of church would you need to make the surrounding
community glad that you exist? Some might be prompted in
(23:15):
today's culture to answer a quiet church, but that's not
where we're going, is it? That's not where we're going and
obviously we're not going to be determined by the expectations
of people around us, but I do think it's helpful to think in
those terms to some extent. There are so much need in the
world around and we are to be the kind of church that meets
those felt needs with the real need of the gospel of Jesus
(23:36):
Christ. And as John Stop would say, have
the Bible one hand, the newspaper and the other.
In other words, yes, we're committed to Christ and His
Word, but that doesn't mean we don't love our neighbor.
And we need to love our neighborby communicating the gospel.
And definitely a provocative question.
What could we do in the community so that someone would
say we're glad they're there? Yeah.
Perhaps regard that as an inroadfor the gospel.
(23:57):
Thanks Josh. Fresh into January and we're
excited to be making Josh's brand new book available.
It's called our firm foundation Bible verses every Christian
should know. Scripture is a foundation to
everyday life. Absolutely love to send you a
copy. You can make that happen by
swinging by God Centered life.org God Centered life.org
(24:20):
next time, fit or fat. Fat Christians are fed
Christians who are not serving Christians.
Fit Christians are fed Christians who are serving
Christians. And so there is a balance of
course, but the very least one area serves.
We'll continue our vision serieswhen we get together next time.
(24:42):
God Centered life.org resources for you.
And this is your warm invitationto join us for the next edition
of The God Centered Life with Josh Moody.
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