Embracing Our Role in the Ekklesia Movement

And you surprised yourself and you did come back and you kept coming and then you really surprised yourself and you invited someone and now you're sitting in church and you're thinking, "Oh no, I hope they don't preach too long and I hope they don't sing too long," 'cause now you're experiencing what the person who invited you experienced and you're experiencing our church through somebody else's ears and somebody else's eyes, but they didn't hate it. [00:01:53]

Ekklesia is the word in Greek that was used to describe Jesus movement, his assembly, his congregation, the thing that he launched in the first century. The Greek word is actually translated in our English bibles as church but the word Ekklesia doesn't mean church. We talked about this in episode one. The word Ekklesia in Greek means assembly or congregation. It pointed to a movement. [00:05:07]

We are the church for our generation. Think about this. When people outside the local church, when people who are not Christian or people who used to be Christian, think about Christianity and think about the church, they think about you and they think about us. We are the church for our generation. We determine what Christianity looks like, what Christianity acts like, and what Christianity reacts like. [00:08:58]

You have to create and commit to a plan to support your local church financially. Everybody should have a plan for how they plan to support their church financially because here's why. Because some somebodies who didn't know you did that for you. Think about this. If you grew up in church as a kid, the first time they took you to church maybe as a baby or maybe as a child or middle school or the first time you showed up at church, isn't it true? [00:10:49]

The three little nots. Anytime you hear one of the following in the grocery store, when you're out in the mall, when you're in the neighborhood, when you're at work, anywhere you go, anywhere you are, whenever you hear one of these three little nots, I want you to respond. Here are the three little nots. Number one, I'm not from here. Number two, things aren't going well. Number three, I was not prepared for. [00:13:14]

If you are inviting, if you make it the habit of your life to invite, if you are inviting, you'll ensure your church remains inviting. In other words, you'll evaluate everything we do like sitting next to someone who's here for the first time. When you hear it through their ears and you see it through their eyes and you experience it through them as opposed to your Christian, I know what to do, where to park, how to get in the door and how to get out before the traffic experience, right? [00:16:50]

I want you to show up in host mode, not coast mode, okay? Coast mode is, you know where to park, you know how to get to the door, you get your seats, you put something on this side so nobody will sit there and you save somebody off this side and you got your whole thing all worked out and you know the four people that always sit around you and you get there and you have your chitchat. [00:19:47]

The easiest thing for us to do, the easiest thing for you to do, the easiest thing for me to do, the easiest thing for you to do is nothing. 'Cause I'm fine, you're fine. All God's children are fine. Plus more people, more hassle, right? But if the group that came before you, if the group that got here before you thought that way, served that way, gave that way, worshiped that way, facilitated groups that way, if the group that came before you is like, "Somebody else is gonna do it, somebody else is gonna pay for it, I don't need to give any money, that church doesn't need my money." [00:23:47]

And this is why when people say to me, and again, you can understand why I take this maybe differently than you do. "Well, Andy, you know, I don't give to the church 'cause the church doesn't need my money." Hey, if we didn't have this big of a vision, that works. But if this is what God has called us to do, and if this is what God has enabled us to do, and if this is what through your generosity and through your service and through your selflessness, we've been able to accomplish, this is a good, good, good investment. [00:26:22]

And do you know what they did? I mean, you know, the way I think about it, one thing they did is they bought an awful lot of chairs, an awful lot of chairs. Back during COVID, word got out that I had said in some interview that I didn't think the church was an essential service in the community. I'm like, are you kidding? Do you know how many chairs we bought? Of course, the church is essential. [00:27:47]

Serving at our churches is not just for the benefit of the people that you're directly leading, but can lead to a generational impact. And that's not meant to be said as a pressure. It's meant to be set as an opportunity. It's an opportunity to know your Heavenly Father and grow in a way that you cannot believe is possible. And really all we have to do is just say yes to taking a step. [00:38:17]

And he said, "Hey," he looked at our staff for this campus, for those of you at our other churches at North Point Community Church today, he looked at the North Point Community Church staff, but he really was looking at staff for all of our churches. He said, "Hey, I just want you to know if you go away, we go away. We can't do what we're doing in our difficult environment without you." That's what you're doing. That's the difference you're making. [00:33:44]