Rejoicing & Content | Sunday, August 9, 2020
August 7, 2020 · Pastor Miles DeBenedictis
In this teaching
Pastor Miles delivers a mid-year "state of the church" update, explaining how COVID-19 has fast-tracked cultural and church trends he had already been tracking, and how Cross Connection is adapting its online and in-person ministry. He closes with a study of Philippians 4:2–13, calling believers to gentleness, rejoicing always, and contentment through the strength of Christ.
- COVID-19 has not created new trends but accelerated existing ones in business, society, and the church by as much as ten years.
- Faithful church members have shifted from attending two or three times a week to two or fewer times a month, often due to economic and work pressures, without becoming less committed to Christ.
- Cross Connection is investing in a dedicated online venue and broader points of connection because the marketplace of the 21st century is online, just as Paul ministered in the marketplaces of his day.
- Church is not only preaching but also fellowship, breaking of bread, hospitality, and prayer, all of which must continue beyond online services.
- In Philippians 4, Paul calls for gentleness toward others, rejoicing always through an eternal perspective, and learned contentment by the strength of Christ.
- "I can do all things through Christ" is about enduring difficulty and remaining content and gracious, not a verse to be taken out of context.
Readable is a lightly edited reading copy; Verbatim stays close to the spoken words. The audio and video are the record of what was said.
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus... I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content... I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. ()
A mid-year update on a church learning to adapt, and a call to rejoice and rest content in every season.
Finding a Sweet Spot in a New Format
I've been trying to find a sweet spot in this new format of preaching over the last five months. I've preached to gathered groups of people for more than 20 years, and over that length of time you develop a pattern—an algorithm, if you will. But with our new online video format, with no immediate crowd response or feedback, I've been playing with it to figure it out. I hope and pray it has been landing correctly. We've made minor tweaks along the way.
I feel it is necessary to give you something of a state of the church address—a mid-year update—and to share something from the Scriptures as well.
COVID Fast-Tracked Trends Already in Motion
I'm convinced that church at home, due to the COVID-19 shutdown, has only forwarded trends that were already happening in business, culture, society, and the church. How far forward it has sent us remains to be seen, but let me explain.
My wife is bummed that the Nordstrom about ten minutes from our house has closed—the sign is gone, the building is dark, and it isn't coming back. But here's the fascinating thing: business statistics suggest that even with no COVID-19, by 2030 the sixteen stores Nordstrom is currently closing would probably have closed anyway. Nordstrom had already been downsizing its retail footprint in favor of online retail. COVID-19 just fast-tracked the execution.
Likewise, Amazon is delivering faster than ever. Drive by that old Nordstrom and you'll see dozens of Amazon Prime vans staged in the mall parking lot. Prior to COVID-19, Amazon had been purchasing distressed real estate at vacated malls to pre-position logistics and warehousing closer to customers. That was their five-to-ten-year plan; COVID-19 fast-tracked it. This is happening throughout society—in education, government, retail, health care, travel, and communication. And it's happening in churches too.
Why Change Feels So Unsettling
Some of these changes we don't like. We don't like change anyway, especially fast change. It is unsettling—it promotes a sort of future shock. If these changes happened slowly over ten years, we'd hardly recognize them until we looked back and said, "Remember when you had to drive to Nordstrom for your coffee? Now it just gets delivered to my house each morning by Uber—so much easier."
A lot of churches and pastors are working hard to get back to "normal" church, and that sounds pleasing to me as well. I like a lot of things about church as it was before COVID. But many leaders are forgetting a concerning trend we'd been watching since 2008—the year I became pastor of Cross Connection Church. There's been a clear trend in American Christianity: faithful members of churches go to church less faithfully.
A Generation Working More and Attending Less
That doesn't sound nice, but it's true, and you know it. If I weren't a pastor but a husband and father of four working 40 to 60 hours a week, often six days a week, I might be less faithful in attendance too. I'm not saying I like this trend—there are many trends I don't like—but whether I like it or not doesn't change its reality or direction.
For some of you who are baby boomers, this is where you get upset, because I made it generational. If you're 55 or older, you likely started raising a family and attending church in the 1980s, going two or three times a week, and you look at younger Gen Xers and millennials and wonder, "Where's your commitment?" But the trend from 2008 to about 2019 was a shift from attending two or three times a week to two or three times a month. Most people 18 to 45 came to church about three out of five Sundays—about 60 percent of the time.
After the economic downturn of 2008, many Americans saw increased work expectations. The idea of an eight-hour day and a 40-hour week has changed; many now work 45, 55, even 60-plus hours a week. With the advent of the smartphone in 2007, most workers are expected to be marginally on call even at home. I know people in our church who work six days a week, and if you have kids in sports, the demands on your time are excessive. That doesn't mean they aren't committed followers of Jesus—many of these people are deeply committed—but the demands make it impossible to be at church every Sunday, let alone three or four times a week.
Reading the Numbers Honestly
On an average Sunday at the end of 2019, we'd have about 570 people—adults, youth, and kids. But because of the new attendance patterns, our church, if everyone showed up, was really more like 900 people. And over the last five years the trend has shifted further: from three out of five Sundays toward two or fewer out of four—less than half the time. If you're a dual-income family working six days a week, Sunday becomes the only day off, the only day for birthday parties and taking care of the house. Even if you attend faithfully, with multiple kids there will be weeks when one of them has a cold or a fever and you can't come.
Why am I sharing all this? To identify a trend and to show you what we're doing and why. I've been watching this for a long time, and COVID-19 has fast-tracked every trend by as much as ten years. Most churches are unwilling and unable to rethink what they're doing. We won't change until the pain of staying the same exceeds the pain of change—and many churches would rather stay the same and die. I've watched many churches close their doors over the last twelve years, often because they fought against cultural trends and refused to minister to the culture where it is.
How Cross Connection Already Chose to Change
Calvary Chapel of Escondido chose to change in a big way. We became Cross Connection Church—and it wasn't just a name change. It was a massive shift from offering services nearly every day or night of the week to church on Sundays with small groups in homes throughout the week, all in anticipation of the trend I saw coming. When I became pastor in 2008, the church had experienced a steep decline and was on a trend line toward dying. That changed because we changed how we minister to the community God called us to.
In this 2020 fast-forward, every American church has become a video multi-site church in the last twenty weeks, and all of you have grown accustomed to engaging in this format. That means even when we gather again on Sunday mornings, more of you will sometimes choose to stay home and watch online—maybe a couple of times a year, maybe once or twice a month. So even when I begin preaching again from the pub table at our facility, some of you will watch from home.
Reaching the Marketplace of the 21st Century
That's why we're investing in new equipment to focus our online venue. When we return to the church facility, we won't just live stream Sunday mornings—we'll produce a specific online service. Why? Because the marketplace of the world in the 21st century is entirely online. Two thousand years ago the early church grew as Paul and the apostles preached in the marketplaces of Ephesus, Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth, Rome, and Crete. If the church in our day is going to keep growing and reaching the culture, it will happen at our facility—but also on YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and the Google Play Store.
But church is not only preaching and teaching. The early church continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, but also in fellowship, the breaking of bread—both communion and hospitality—and in prayers. So I encourage you to help us grow not only in online teaching, but in fellowship, hospitality, prayer, and discipleship. We want to help you grow as a follower of Jesus, which is why Pastor Mark led 31 days of prayer in July, and why you can join the prayer team or host a small group through our website.
God Is on the Move
If you're feeling disconnected, I understand. This is not ideal, but it is life in August of 2020. Baseball is weird, the NBA and NFL are trying to figure things out, many of you are working from home, and your kids' education—like mine—is up in the air. It feels absurd. But is God working in the midst of this? Yes, He truly is. Don't despair. One day we will look back and say, "Remember all that craziness in 2020? God had a plan."
No church has completely figured this out. I'm happy with what we've done, but we're not there yet. I beg you to bear with us, pray for us, and connect with me or our leaders with your questions. With all of that, I want to close with something from the Scriptures—.
Let Your Gentleness Shine
Three quick things. First, Paul closes his letter exhorting two prominent women in the Philippian church who were at odds with one another—hard to believe that would ever happen in a church. One preacher referred to Euodia and Syntyche as "Odious" and "Soon-Touchy," and Paul challenges them to get over it and be like-minded.
Some of you are upset with someone in the church—maybe with me, because we're not meeting. Notice Paul says, "Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand." If you knew you were going to see Jesus today, would your beef with that other person really matter? Let your gentle, kind, courteous spirit shine so all can see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Rejoice in the Lord Always
Second, Paul writes, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice." Always means always. We don't rejoice only when things are going well; we rejoice at all times, because we have the proper eternal perspective. "The sufferings of this present world are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (). "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (). "In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (). A proper eternal perspective promotes present rejoicing.
Learning Contentment in the Valley
Third, Paul writes, "I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content... I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." You and nearly everyone you know are facing challenges right now, and our inclination is to whine, murmur, complain, and pout. Stop being a pout-pout fish. By Christ's strength we can and should learn contentment.
Years ago, going through a challenging time, a friend reminded me that there isn't much fruitfulness and growth on high mountaintops; growth is found in the valleys. She was right. Even in what the Bible calls the valley of Baca in —meaning bitterness, weeping, lamentation—we find springs and pools of refreshing water. Between Egypt and the Promised Land, between Babylon and the Promised Land, lies a harsh wilderness. You may be in the wilderness now, but an eternal perspective and the strength of the Lord can bring rejoicing and contentment.
A Verse in Its Context
I saw a t-shirt not long ago that read, "I can do all things through a verse taken out of context." We do take this verse out of context a lot. It means we can go through difficult times and still rejoice; we can bear with people when we're upset with them or bothered by them—and we do it by the strength the Lord gives, so that we can grow.
There have been times these last five months when I've been deeply discouraged—by our culture, by challenges in our community, by my kids' education. It has driven me before the Lord to confess wrong things in my own heart: frustration, anger. Scripture says, "Be angry, and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your wrath." So there are times we must go to the Lord and say, "God, forgive me."
God's Purpose in This Season
It's my hope that as we come out of this and into a new season, we will be a little more—maybe a lot more—like Jesus in how we respond and interact with people, seeing the fruit of the Spirit developed in us: love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, self-control. God is using this challenging time not only to refine us, but to draw people to Himself. My prayer is that God would use it to bring revival, because the most important answer for our nation right now is Jesus Christ and the gospel—not new or better politicians, but new and better people transformed by the grace and power of God. The church has the answer this culture needs. On that point, would you pray with me?
Closing Prayer
Father, I thank You for this weird situation—sitting in my home office, sharing with the church. I don't think I've preached a message sitting down in twenty years. This is strange, this is out of the box, but I pray that You would use the work going on here at Cross Connection, and through the church body, to draw people to Yourself. Use Your Word by Your Holy Spirit to make us more like You, that those we interact with—family, co-workers, neighbors—would see Your transforming grace at work in our lives. Work in us, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.
God, we thank You for this time. Pour out Your Spirit fresh and anew upon Your church. Fill us to overflowing as we move into the fall, as kids go back to school—even if that means a dining room table and a Zoom meeting. Give us grace. We pray for a resolution to all of this—for therapeutic medications, a vaccine, whatever it may be—or simply, Lord, cause the coronavirus to disappear. But more than that, help our society to recognize that we do not need to have a spirit of fear. For those whose only hope is this life, I understand their fear; may even that fear stir them to seek You, and may they find their hope in You and see it shining in Your church. Cause us to shine as lights in a dark world. And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
Let praise be a weapon that silences the enemy. Let praise be a weapon that conquers all anxiety. Let it rise; we sing Your name in the dark, and it changes everything. We'll sing with all we are, and we claim Your victory. Let it rise; let praise arise.
We'll see You break down every wall. We'll watch the giants fall. Fear cannot survive when we praise You, the God
We praise You, God. We praise You, Lord.
This is what living looks like. This is what freedom feels like. This is what heaven sounds like. We praise You. We praise You.
This is what living looks like. This is what freedom feels like. This is what heaven sounds like. We praise You. We praise You.
This is what living looks like. This is what freedom feels like. This is what heaven sounds like. We praise You. We praise You.
This is what living looks like. This is what freedom feels like. This is what heaven sounds like. We praise You. We praise You.
We pray we will see You break down every wall. We'll watch the giants fall. It cannot survive. We praise You.
Good morning, Cross Connection Church, and welcome again to Church at Home from my home office. We are so glad that you are joining us this morning for a time of worship and study through the Scriptures. Just like we have been doing, I want to encourage you to send out a message to a friend or a group of friends to invite them to join us this morning. You can text them, email them, or share the link live.ccchurch.com on social media so that they can join us.
With that, let's join Pastor Anthony and the worship team for worship.
Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You for this day, Lord, for another day given to us by You. With our very breath, we are going to speak Your name and praise You, God. That is why we were created. We thank You for Your Word. In , it says, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" We know that the answer is no; there is nothing too hard for You.
Lord, You want to speak that to us right now. To everyone that is listening and everyone that is here, You are for us. You love us, You care for us, and You will bring us through every trial. You are faithful, so just hold on to those truths.
With that, we are going to turn around and sing to You, praise You, and thank You for what You have already done in our lives, what You are about to do, and for who You are. We praise You and worship You this morning in Jesus' mighty name. Amen.
Let's worship.
We are yearning for You; we long for You. It's when we see You that we find the strength to face the day. In Your presence, all our fears are washed away.
You are the God who saves, worthy of all our praises. In Your kingdom, You make us whole. Thank You, Lord. In Your presence, all our fears are washed away.
Jesus.
So, when we see You, we find the strength to face the day. In Your presence, all our fears are washed away. You are the God who saves us.
Welcome! Thanks for tuning in today to Cross Connection as we bring you Church at Home. I'm Pastor Garrett, and I'm glad that you could be with us today. Here at Cross Connection Church, we're all about living life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus Christ.
One of the biggest ways that we step into life in connection with God is through prayer. Every single one of us can do that, and I encourage you and strongly recommend that you do throughout the week. Praying is so simple; it's just us talking to God and hearing from Him. Honestly, God answers so many prayers here at Cross Connection Church.
If you have specific prayer requests or anything going on this week, we would love to be praying for you. We would love to know what's going on. You can simply give us your prayer requests at prayer.lifeinconnection.com. For all other points of connection, check out our main homepage.
You can find updates and all other points of connection at lifeinconnection.com. This week, on mission, we are asking you to pray for the kids who attended the Kids Party Club. This was our summer Vacation Bible School (VBS) that was hosted virtually with the Pilbans. Please pray for those kids; they all had an interaction with the gospel message. Pray that it soaks in, that it ministered to them, and that they would make a lifelong decision to follow Christ.
We have a quick video from the Philippines to show you what happened at this year's VBS, so check it out.
Hello there, I'm Ken Pilban, and this is my wife, Teresa. We are coming to you from the uttermost part—well, Fallbrook—but we are part of the ministry Kids Party Club. Kids Party Club is basically a Vacation Bible School that we run in our neighborhood. At Vacation Bible School, as you probably know, we do Bible stories, worship songs, crafts, games, and snacks, all centered around a Bible story and a Bible point for the day, leading up to the gospel message. We have so much fun doing that.
Over 20 years ago, God laid on our hearts that there were many kids and families in our neighborhood who don't have a church they are connected with, and that we had an opportunity to reach out to those kids. Of course, this year we normally do it in June, but we quickly realized that with the pandemic, things were going to be quite a bit different. We were concerned that we wouldn't be able to do it, but we decided to go ahead and try it virtually, which was certainly a stretch for us. However, it was a lot of fun. We recorded everything in our living room and had a good time doing it.
We also had the opportunity for families to come pick up their materials one by one, which allowed us to share with them and talk with them more than we normally would. We got to invite them to our connect group, which we are looking forward to getting back together with. So, there were a lot of good things that came from it that would not have happened if it were in person. It was very fun.
One of the great things that happened when we went online this year was that we were able to broaden the area we reached. It went beyond our neighborhood, and we actually had kids sign up from Escondido all the way up to Corona. We were able to reach a lot of families, which was exciting. The other good thing is that because it's on YouTube, it is there and ready to watch and re-watch, so these kids can enjoy it again.
Again, we sing these worship songs, watch these Bible stories, and hear the truth over and over again. With that said, if you know anyone who would like to take a look, especially if you have children or grandchildren in your sphere of influence, you can email me at tpilbin27@gmail.com, and I will send you the link.
As far as praying for us, we would love for you to pray for us. Certainly, pray for the pandemic to end so that we can do it in person next summer. Also, pray for the kids who were involved this year, that they have an opportunity to watch it more often than they normally would. Pray that the Lord would work in their hearts. We thank you so much. God bless you all; we appreciate you greatly.
In just a moment, we will be joining Pastor Anthony and the worship team for another song of worship. This will be a time where we set aside some moments to worship the Lord with our giving. I encourage all of you who call Cross Connection Church your home church to participate. If you are tuning in for the first time, please don’t feel pressured to give; this is for the family. It is a way for us to further worship the Lord with what He has given us.
There are a couple of different ways that you can give today. First, you can go to give.lifeinconnection.com. Second, you can text 84321 on your cell phones. Third, you can mail in your tithe this week to 1675 Seven Oaks Road, or you can always drop it by the church office. If we are not here, you can put it in the door.
We would love to worship the Lord with you. Let’s go ahead and join Pastor Anthony. We will catch you next week. You give life; You are love; You bring light to the darkness; You restore every heart.
That is in our lungs, so we pour out our praise. It's your breath in our lungs, so we pour out our praise. You restore every heart that is broken. It's your grace, so we pour our praise to you until the earth will shout your praise.
Our hearts will cry; these bones will sing. All the earth will shout Your praise. Our hearts will cry; these bones will sing. Great! Our hearts will cry; these bones will sing.
So we pour out our praise. Oh, He is so great!
Wait. Great! Yes, Lord God, we know that You are great, Lord, greatly to be praised. That's what we do; we praise You for Your goodness. Your mercies endure forever. Lord, bless Your word now. In Jesus' name, we pray.
I've been really trying to find a sweet spot in this new format of preaching. Over the last five months, I've been preaching to groups of gathered people for more than 20 years. Over that length of time, you obviously develop a pattern, an algorithm, if you will. However, with our new format of online video, with no immediate crowd response or feedback, I've been playing with this to try and figure it out. I hope and pray that this has been landing correctly. I think it is; I've been getting a little bit of positive feedback from some of you, and we've been making some minor tweaks and adjustments along the way, as you can see.
I do want to share with you some of the things that I've been thinking about as we go forward as a church. I feel that it is necessary to give you something of a state of the church address—maybe call it a mid-year update. I'll share something from the Scriptures as well. I'm convinced that church at home, due to the COVID-19 shutdown, has really only forwarded trends that were already happening in business, culture, society, and church. How far forward it has sent us remains to be seen, but let me explain what I mean a little bit.
One of the things that my wife is a bit bummed about—maybe you can relate—is that Nordstrom, which is unfortunate for me, is only...
About ten minutes from my house, the Nordstrom store has closed, and the Nordstrom sign is gone. The coffee shop is gone, the building is dark, and it isn't coming back. But here's the fascinating thing: when you look at business statistics, it's very likely that if there had been no COVID-19 in 2020 and we had jumped forward to 2030, the sixteen stores that Nordstrom is currently closing would probably be closed anyway. Nordstrom has already been on a path of downsizing their retail footprint in favor of online retail; COVID-19 just fast-tracked the execution.
One of the things that my wife and I, and probably you as well, are happy about is that Amazon is delivering a lot faster than they were. In fact, if you drive by the old Nordstrom building or the mall in general, you'll see dozens of Amazon Prime vans staged in the mall parking lot. What's that all about? Well, prior to COVID-19, Amazon had been purchasing distressed real estate space at old, vacated malls to pre-position their logistics and warehousing closer to residents who purchase their products. This makes it cheaper, easier, and quicker to get your order within 24 hours or even on the same day. This was Amazon's plan for the next five to ten years, but COVID-19 fast-tracked the plan.
This is happening throughout society right now in every sphere: industry, education, government, retail, healthcare, travel, and communication. Why am I bringing this up? Because it's happening in churches too. I'll explain what that means in a moment. Some of the changes that are happening right now are unsettling. We don't really like change anyway, especially fast changes; they promote a sort of future shock when changes happen rapidly. If these changes happened slowly over a ten-year period, we would hardly recognize them until we looked back and said, "Do you remember when you used to get your coffee at Nordstrom?" Oh yeah, I remember that! It was so crazy that you actually had to drive to get your coffee.
Over there, I love that it just gets delivered to my house each morning by Uber. It's so much easier. What does this have to do with church right now? A lot of churches and pastors are working very hard to get back to normal church, and there is something about that that sounds really pleasing to me as well. I like a lot of things about church as it was before COVID, but here's one of the things that a lot of pastors, churches, and leaders are forgetting about church.
We have been watching a trend that has been concerning since 2008, which happens to be the year that I became the pastor of Cross Connection Church. There has been a clear trend in American Christianity. There are a lot of ideas about why this trend has been happening, and maybe all of them or none of them are the cause, but the trend is clear: you faithful members of churches go to church less faithfully.
Okay, that doesn't sound very nice, but it is true, and you know it. Let me say, if I wasn't a pastor of a church and was just a husband and a father of four, working 40 to 60 hours a week, often six days a week, I might be less faithful in my church attendance too. Let me be clear: I'm not saying that I like this trend. There are a lot of trends in society that I don't like, but whether I like them or not doesn't change the reality or the direction of the trend.
For a number of you watching who are baby boomers, this is the point where some of you get upset with me because I made it generational. For those of you who are 55 years or older and probably started growing a family and attending church in the 1980s, you look at these younger Generation Xers and millennials who are attending church less regularly, and you think, "I used to go to church two to three times a week. Where's your commitment?"
Well, the trend from 2008 until about 2019-2020 was a shift from people attending church two to three times a week to two to three times a month. Most of the people who attend Cross Connection Church, and really every church, from 2008 to 2019, who are 18 to 45 years old, came to church about three out of five Sundays. That's about 60 percent of the Sundays. Again, if you're a baby boomer, you've been headed toward retirement or retired during this time.
You were accustomed to attending church in the past on Sunday morning, and maybe Sunday night, Wednesday night, or even a men's or women's study on Tuesday or Thursday. This doesn't make a lot of sense to you at all. However, after the economic downturn of 2008, many people in America experienced a shift in their lives and work as a result of this economic change.
Many Americans saw an increase in their work expectations after 2008. The idea of an eight-hour workday and the 40-hour workweek has changed in America. This has been cited in a lot of research over the last ten plus years. A significant number of working Americans now work 45, 55, or even 60 plus hours a week. Additionally, with the advent of the smartphone in 2007, most workers are now expected to be available and marginally on call when they are home.
I know a number of individuals in our church who work six days a week. If you have kids who play sports, then the demands on your time are excessive. I am not saying that this is necessarily a good thing, but it is reality, and it has drastically affected the way that people interact with the church. However, that doesn't mean that they are not committed followers of Jesus or committed to their church. Many of the people I am describing are very committed to our church, but the demands on their time make it impossible for them to be at church every Sunday, let alone three or four times a week as many did in the 1990s.
You may remember the last century. That was the trend leading up to 2020. On an average Sunday at Cross Connection at the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, we would have about 570 people, including both adults and youth and kids. However, because of the new attendance patterns, our church, if everyone showed up, was really more like 900 people. The trend in the last five years has been shifting again, meaning that the average person or family wasn't going to church three out of five Sundays. They were attending church two or less than two out of four Sundays. That's less than half the time. If you are a dual-income family and you work six days a week, then Sunday becomes the only day off and the only day for birthday parties and taking care of the house sometimes.
Sports and even if you do attend every week, if you have multiple kids, then there are going to be weeks where one of them has a cold or a couple of them have a fever. So, you can't bring the kids to children's ministry.
Why am I sharing all of this? I'm sharing all of this to identify a trend and to share with you what we are doing and why we are doing it as a church. I've been watching this trend for a long time, and COVID-19 has fast-tracked every trend by as much as ten years. Over the last fifteen years, churches have been forced to rethink what they are doing in a big way. Most churches are unwilling and unable to do so. We don't like change, and so we will not change until the pain of staying the same exceeds the pain of change. For a lot of churches, they would choose to stay the same and die over change.
I know this is true because I've witnessed it a lot. I've watched many churches close their doors in the last twelve years, many of them because of a desire to fight against cultural trends and being unwilling to minister to the culture where it is at. Calvary Chapel of Escondido chose to change in a big way. We changed from Calvary Chapel of Escondido to Cross Connection Church, and it wasn't just a name change. It was a massive shift of our church from offering services and opportunities to gather nearly every day or night of the week to church on Sundays and small groups at home throughout the week.
This has been a massive shift, and it was all in anticipation of a trend that I was expecting. When I became the pastor of this church in 2008, the church had experienced a steep decline in the previous five years. It was on a trend line toward dying, but that has changed because we changed. We changed how we seek to minister to the community that God has called us to.
In 2020, we have had a rapid shift in trends due to coronavirus. Every single one of us is feeling the pressures of these changes, and it is challenging and difficult. My family, like many of yours, is trying to figure out what that exactly means for us in the schooling of our four kids in just a few weeks. Every church is trying to reason through this as well.
What has changed in this fast forward with churches due to COVID-19? Well, every American church has become a video multi-site church in the last year.
Twenty weeks have passed, and all of you have become accustomed to engaging with the church in this format. So, what does that mean? It means that even when we return to gathering on Sunday mornings, more of you will decide to stay home and watch online from time to time. Maybe you will do it just two or three times a year, or perhaps you'll do it once or twice a month. The fact is, even when I begin preaching again on Sunday from the pub table at 1675 Seven Oaks Road, some of you are going to watch at home from time to time.
So, what does that mean for us going forward? As I mentioned over the last couple of months, we are investing in new equipment to make it possible for us to focus our online venue a little bit more. When we return to the church facility, we will probably continue to record separately for online services as well. We won't just live stream our Sunday mornings; we will produce a specific online service.
Why are we doing this? Because the marketplace of the world in the 21st century is entirely online. Two thousand years ago, the early church grew as Paul and the other apostles ministered and preached in the marketplaces of Ephesus, Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth, Rome, and Crete. If the church in our day is going to continue to grow and reach the culture, it will happen at our church facility, but it will also happen on YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and the Google Play Store.
That is what we are doing. However, church is not just about preaching and teaching. The early church continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, as stated in the Book of Acts, but they also continued in fellowship, the breaking of bread—which includes both communion and hospitality—and in prayers.
I want to continue to challenge and encourage you to help us grow not only in our teaching and preaching online but also in our opportunities for fellowship, hospitality, prayer, discipleship, and all the other purposes for which the church exists. If you want to be plugged into all the other things we are doing beyond online church at home, such as the offerings we are giving, we want to help you grow in your faith and practice as a follower of Jesus. We want to help you become more of a prayer, which is why Pastor Mark led...
In 31 days of prayer in July, you can join the prayer team by going to prayerteam.lifeinconnection.com. You can also begin or host a small group by visiting athome.lifeinconnection.com. All of this is available on our main website, so check the front page to see the points of connection.
If you're feeling disconnected from church, I totally understand that this is not an ideal situation, but it is life in August of 2020. Baseball is weird, and the NBA and NFL are trying to figure out what they're going to do. Many of you are working from home, which is a change, and your kids' education, like mine, is up in the air. This feels absolutely absurd, but is God working in the midst of this? Yes, He truly is. Don't despair; God is on the move. One day, we will look back on this and say, "Remember all that craziness in 2020? God had a plan."
We are trying to adapt to what is going on and figure out how best to fulfill the mission that God has given us in this new mission field. I don't think any church has completely figured it out. I'm happy with what we've been able to do over the last few months, but we're not there yet. I beg you to bear with us, pray for us, and connect with me or the other leaders of our church if you have questions or don't understand something. The phone number that we post on the screen goes directly to us. You can text us, and we see it immediately. Primarily, it's for the questions podcast, but we still see and respond as we can.
With all of that, I want to close our time this morning with something from the Scriptures. Next week, we will get back to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 4. I encourage you to read ahead in verses 32 through 40. As we close our time this morning, if you have a Bible handy, open or click to . I want to read from , beginning at verse 2 through verse 13. There, Paul says, "I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel."
Clement, also, and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the Book of Life, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report—if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now, at last, your care for me has flourished again. Though you surely did care, you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things, I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
So, three quick things before we close today. First, Paul, in this passage of Philippians, is closing his letter with an exhortation to two prominent ladies in the Philippian church who appear to have been at odds with one another. I know it's hard to believe that would ever happen in a church, but apparently, the Philippians were like your old church. I once heard one preacher refer to these two as "odious," which means unpleasant, and "soon touchy." So, Odious and Soon Touchy were having a disagreement, and Paul challenges them to get over it and to be like-minded.
There are some of you who are upset with someone else in the church. Maybe you're upset with me because we're not meeting. Notice that Paul says in verse 5, "Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand." Listen, if you knew that you were going to see Jesus today, would your beef with that other person really matter? Let your gentle, kind, courteousness be known to all people. Let it shine! Let it shine! Let it shine!
That they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. That's the first thing: let your graciousness shine so that all can see it.
Secondly, Paul writes, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!" Always means always. We don't rejoice only when things are going well; we rejoice at all times. Why? Because we have the proper eternal perspective that says the sufferings of this present world are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us, as stated in . Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, as mentioned in . In the world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world, said Jesus in . A proper eternal perspective will promote present rejoicing.
Thirdly, Paul writes, "I have learned in whatever state I am in to be content." I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things, I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
You and most every other person you know is facing challenges right now. When we are faced with challenges, our inclination is to whine, murmur, complain, and pout. Stop being a pout-pout fish! By Christ's strength, we can and should learn contentment.
Years ago, I was going through a challenging time, and a friend of mine reminded me that there isn't a lot of fruitfulness and growth on high mountaintops. The growth and fruitfulness are found in the valleys, and she was right. We may not like the valleys of life, but even in what the Bible calls the Valley of Bacca in , which means bitterness or weeping or lamentation, we can find springs and pools of refreshing water.
Always, between Egypt and the Promised Land, or between Babylon and the Promised Land, is a harsh wilderness. You may be in the wilderness now, but an eternal perspective and the strength of the Lord can bring rejoicing and contentment. That has been my prayer for you, our church, and I would ask that you would pray for me as well.
Pastor Mark, Pastor Nick, Pastor Jason, Pastor Anthony, and Pastor Garrett, along with all of our leaders, elders, staff, and the people who serve in various areas, are all part of this community. Many of you serve as ushers, greeters, and in hospitality. During this time, please be praying for all of us that we would have an eternal perspective. I think God really stirred Pastor Mark to share on this months ago.
We should not only seek an eternal perspective but also strive to be strengthened in the Lord. The passage that many people look back on for encouragement is : "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." It is important to look at the context of this verse, as many take it out of context. I saw a T-shirt not too long ago that said, "I can do all things through a verse taken out of context." This highlights how often we misinterpret this verse.
We need to understand that this verse means we can go through difficult times and still rejoice. We can bear with people even when we are upset or bothered by them, and we need to do this by the strength that the Lord provides so that we can grow.
This has been a challenging time, and there have been moments over the last five months when I have felt really discouraged by what is happening in our culture and in our own community. I have faced challenges with my children's education and various other issues. This has compelled me to go before the Lord and confess several wrong things in my own heart, including frustrations and anger. Scripture says, "Be angry, but sin not; don't let the sun go down on your wrath." There are times when we must go to the Lord, confess our feelings, and ask God for forgiveness.
God wants to transform us through these experiences. My hope is that as we emerge from this challenging season, hopefully in the not-too-distant future, we will enter a new chapter as a church and as individuals who make up the body of Christ. I pray that we will become a little more, or perhaps a lot more, like Jesus in the way we respond and interact with others.
I hope to see the development of more of the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, and self-control—produced in our lives. Additionally, as I have encouraged you before, understand that God is using this challenging time not only to refine you and me.
To make us more like Jesus, but to draw people to Himself. My prayer has been that God would use this to bring about something of a revival in our day. Ultimately, I think the most important answer for our nation right now is Jesus Christ and the Gospel. It's not new or better politicians; it's new or better people transformed by the grace and power of God through the Gospel and through the Word of God.
The reality is that the Church has the answer that this culture needs. I pray that God would use us to be able to share that with those around us a little bit more. On that point, would you pray with me for that?
Father, I do thank You for this weird situation where here I am sitting in my office at home, a place that I've spent a lot of time over the last four or five months. Being able to share with the Church, I don't think I've preached a message sitting down probably in like 20 years. This is strange, this is weird, this is out of the box.
I pray, God, that You would use the work that is going on here at Cross Connection Church, the work that is going through the Church body of Cross Connection, that You would use it to draw people to Yourself. God, continue to use Your Word by Your Holy Spirit to make us more like You.
We pray that those we interact with on a regular basis—our family, co-workers, neighbors—would see Your transforming grace at work in our lives. God, work in us, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Becomes and all I did was pay. All I did was bow down, and all I did was you have saved me so much. Defender, it is so much better this way.
Before I... is the shade of living land, and all I did was bow down.
You reintroduced me to Your love. You picked up all my pieces and put me back together. You are the defender of my heart. When I thought I'd lost me, You knew where I left me. You reintroduced me to Your love. You picked
You have saved me so much better in your way. So much better this way.
God, we thank you for this time that we've had this morning. I pray that you would pour out your Spirit fresh and anew upon your church. Fill us to overflowing as we move from summer into fall in just a few weeks. As we transition into a new season, kids in our church are going to be going back to school. However, going back to school might mean going to the dining room table to be involved in a Zoom meeting.
I pray, God, that you would give us grace. We pray for a resolution to all that is going on. We ask that you would move powerfully to either bring therapeutic medications, a vaccine, or whatever it may be, or just, Lord, cause the coronavirus to disappear.
More than that, I pray that you would help not just your church but our society to recognize that we do not need to have a spirit of fear. I also understand that those who have no ultimate hope in being with you in eternity, when this life is their only hope, may be filled with fear.
So, God, we pray that even that fear would stir people who don't know you to look for you, to seek for hope. I pray that they would find that hope and that they would see it.
In your church, Lord, cause it to be evident in us that we would shine as lights in a dark world. So, God, would you pour out upon your church?
Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
Well, that was easy.
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