The Gift Of Belonging – Part 2 of 2

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. It's an incredible feeling to belong with others in a common cause. Christians find their sense of belonging in a local church, but that church is only a small part of a much larger group, the Body of Christ, the worldwide fellowship of believers in Jesus. Today, more about what being in that group entails.

Stay with us. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, Moody Church is a microcosm of planet earth. People from many nations call Moody Church home. And you know, Dave, it has been such a privilege for me to have been the pastor of the Moody Church because of that very reason. On any Sunday morning, we had more than 70 different countries of origin represented.

We did several surveys and we discovered that to be true. What a wonderful privilege to think about the Body of Jesus Christ from different tribes, different parts of the world, different colors, all brought together under the gospel. And that's why I believe so deeply in the church and in belonging. I'm holding in my hands a new resource that we're making available to you. It's entitled Conquering the Fear of Failure, Lessons from the Life of Joshua.

No matter what your fear is, you'll derive strength and encouragement from the experience of Joshua, even as given in God's Word. For a gift of any amount, this book can be yours. Here's what you do. Go to RTWOffer.com. That's RTWOffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337.

Ask for the book Conquering the Fear of Failure. Now let us go to the pulpit of the Moody Church, even as we think about the Body of Christ worldwide. We took a survey here at the Moody Church and discovered that we have more than 50 different countries of origin, 50 different kinds of ethnicity that is represented here at the Moody Church. We want the Moody Church to be as diverse as our community. We want the Moody Church to be as diverse as heaven. So if you're not into that kind of diversity, you're not ready for heaven where there are going to be people from every tongue and people and nation all gathered together, all singing praise to the Lamb.

So diversity. But also the body represents interdependence. We need one another. The foot cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee. After this service, I'll probably be going for lunch. My feet will take me where I want to go.

But when I get there, my hands are going to have to pay for the food and to eat the food and my mouth will have to be involved in the process at some point. Why? Because we're all interdependent and pulses, even the weak members of the body are necessary. You know, sometimes here at the Moody Church, we have people who may lack a lot of the gifts that we think are necessary.

They may be weaker members of the body going through their own struggle and pulses. He does not say put up with them. He says they are necessary. Interdependence. We all need each other. The weakest among us is needed by the rest of us. Interdependence.

Also, of course, unity. The unity of the body. I just thank God that my body is coordinated. When my mind says be sure to go somewhere and gives direction to my feet, my hands cooperate. Think of all of the cooperation that is happening right now as I speak to you. My tongue is cooperating with my mind. My hands are cooperating with my mind.

There's a sense of unity of the body. Now, what if I wanted to go in one direction and one foot says I'm going to follow, but the other foot says I'm not going. I'm not going. What if my hands said I'm not going. I'm tired of you lifting me up like that. I'm sick of people seeing me. I'm not going to do it anymore. You can understand I'd have problems in the body and we have problems in the body of Christ when we have members that are renegades saying I want to do my own thing independently of the body.

I don't need to be part of the community. What the body illustration signifies is that we have we share a common life. We are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones. And Jesus is the head of the church. And as best as we can, we take our orders from him and we're coordinated as our physical body. So we are coordinated as a spiritual body that God created uniquely that is different from any other relationship. Look at verse 18. The apostle Paul says that for through him, we have access by one spirit to the Father. God does not have one Holy Spirit for African Americans, another Holy Spirit for Asian Americans, another Holy Spirit for Anglo Americans. No, it is through one spirit that we all, Jew, Gentile, all of us have access to the Father.

Why? Because he created, he created a brand new entity called the church, the body of Jesus Christ. And we represent him in this world. That's the first image. A second image is new family. Now actually there's a another image that I will comment on briefly. It says in verse 19, so then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens.

Let me comment on that. He's saying God created a new nation, a new nation. In fact, Peter says, we are a new nation created by God. Do you realize that that new nation means that we have an identity of citizenship that transcends our country of origin. It transcends our racial, economic, and educational backgrounds and vocations. It is found in that which God created a brand new nation. And right from the beginning, God wanted to say, that's what I'm up to.

I'm up to creating a transnational community. Think of this in the book of Acts. Acts chapter eight and Ethiopian is converted. He is a descendant of Ham. You know that there were three sons of Noah that basically populated the world. The sons of Ham, who went down to Mitsrayim, as it says in Hebrew, into Egypt, the sons of Ham. You have the sons of Shem, who are the Jewish people, and then Japheth, the Indo-European peoples.

Alright, now notice. Chapter eight, a descendant of Ham, the Ethiopian, is converted. Chapter nine, a Shemite, a Jewish man by the name of Paul, is converted on the way to Damascus. Chapter 10, you have a Gentile representing Japheth. He is converted and God is saying right from the beginning that the gospel is for everyone and it unites anyone who trusts in Christ, who comes by way of the blood, as it mentions here, and there is a unity that is created, a brand new nation. I've talked to people who try to work with Palestinians and Messianic Jews, Palestinian Christians and Messianic Jews. I mean, can you, in fact, I attended a conference where it emphasized the Palestinian side of the equation. Do they get together with their Jewish brothers and sisters?

Yes, but I've been told that what they need to do is to put on the table or put on the shelf all of their political agendas, but they can still come together as brothers and sisters in Christ because they have a unity that is greater than even their political and historical differences. Only God can create that. And then a new family. It says we are members of the household of God, a brand new family.

Why? Because we share the same Father. God is our Father. That's what God was trying to communicate.

Jesus was trying to communicate to Mary. I send to my Father and your Father. Well, if God is the Father of Jesus and the Father of Mary Magdalene, it is clear that Mary Magdalene and Jesus are brother and sister, and so they are. God is our Father. Jesus is our brother. And the Holy Spirit is our companion. And it is this relationship that at times even transcends our earthly family relationships. And so it should be. I've had more than one person say to me, usually single mothers who have said to me, Moody Church is my only family.

And may that be the case. That in the lives of those who perhaps do not have a family, in the lives of broken homes, may this be the family. We share the same brother. We share the same Father.

And we have the same companion. May it be said that Moody Church is the family, the community of God. And so what the Apostle Paul is saying is very, very clear. Always remember, if you belong to a club, a music club, sports club, you give a part of yourself. But when you belong to Jesus, you're giving everything to him and to one another.

Now, what does Moody Church have to say to the city of Chicago? How are we able to give them the gift of belonging? Remember the words of a teenager that I read, I would like to belong to someone, but there's nobody out there for me. How do we give the city this gift of belonging?

First of all, let me speak candidly. If we are like bushels of apples who roll into Moody Church on Sunday morning, roll out Sunday afternoon and never see each other and never have community, we really can't be the people of God the way in which God envisioned it. It is not living out the unity about which I have spoken. God doesn't want us to simply be independent apples.

He wants to make applesauce, and that's going to take something more than simply connecting in a worship service. You see, you can praise God and you can worship with 2,000 people or more, but you can't have fellowship with 2,000 people. And you can't overcome sin unless you belong to some kind of a small group. Now for some here at the Moody Church, the small group might be the choir. For me, it is my prayer partners with whom I met yesterday morning for two hours as we shared requests and as we prayed for one another and as they prayed for me. I've often thought to myself, where would I be without my prayer partners who are part of my group, who help me, who pray for me, who exhort me, who encourage me?

So we all need to be a part of this. You can't overcome sin and we can't influence the world unless we have community. The early church, when you look at it, it seems as if, from our standpoint, they overdid this business of community. Imagine, the Bible says in Acts, they sold everything that they had and they gave it to the apostles and they said, we trust the apostles to look after us and to do right by us. And the scripture said they had everything in common. I don't think we could do that in our society, but that's what they did.

And then, they always had community. The Bible says that they went from house to house, breaking bread. That doesn't just mean communion, that means that every night they had potluck and they ate in somebody else's home. Tonight, it's going to be in your home.

I'm going to bring the lentils, you bring the bagels and somebody else brings the meat and we're going to eat together. And the church in Jerusalem was watched by the world and the world said, where in the world are they getting all that love from? When there's a widow, they take care of her.

When there's an abandoned child, they fight over who's going to take care of the abandoned child. When there's sickness, the church gathers around and prays. They have become a family, a community living out what Jesus created when he says, I've created a new body, a new family and even a new temple as mentioned in this passage. And so the early church lived it out.

And in living it out, the early church had a great impact because they were seen by the world of caring for one another in a way that the world can never do, a unity and a concern created by God. Now, I need to say that we live in a society where people don't want to belong to anything. That's why some of you aren't members of Moody Church. You love Moody Church, you come to Moody Church, but you don't want to belong.

You want to keep your options open. That's the American way. It is not the biblical way. The biblical way is to say, if I belong, I belong. I become a part of what is happening. I join the family. Do you have a relative in your family who refuses to join the family?

Even on Thanksgiving, he goes off alone because he doesn't want to connect. That's what weakens the family and it weakens the family of God. We could do anything we wanted here in the city of Chicago in advancing the gospel. If we had more people who said, this is my church, this is where I commit, then this is where I connect. And remember a promise statement where anyone can connect with God and others. And it might be encouraging for you to know that we have 35 small groups or just slightly more than that, 35 small groups.

And many of these, you become acquainted with them as you attend the adult Bible fellowships. And then when you think of our vision statement where anyone can connect, we believe that there needs to be places at the Moody Church where people can just hang out together, get a bag lunch, sit down, talk, eat together, and connect. We wanted to have a God-honoring vision.

Not that we might be a purpose-driven church as much as a people-driven church. And therefore, what we wanted to do is to have a place that was friendly. I look at it as a handshake to the city of Chicago and the neighborhood. To have people come in here who are observing us wondering who we are, seeing our love, seeing our opportunities so that together we might be able to say to this city, we care about you. We care about your relationship with God but also your relationship with others.

The Christian Life Center, the CLC, has been built at great personal cost with blood, sweat, and tears, so to speak. But it's because of the larger vision of what we believe God wants to do in this city. I'll tell you, when you walk out there and you're walking on the roof of this building and you're looking at the city of Chicago, wouldn't it be wonderful if we were the church that could change the city in a city that could change the world? God has brought us to this moment, to this hour, to this opportunity to extend the glory of the gospel to many others.

But I need to say today that, let's remember where this all begins. In Ephesians chapter 2, the Apostle Paul says that God brought us near. God brought us together through the blood of Christ. To put it very clearly, it is not until you are connected with God do you experience the in-depth connection with one another. And you know, the gospel actually has that kind of connection.

I was reminded of that this past week. I was in a place where we were meeting with some workmen, and over a period of 10 or 15 minutes, two of them came to me and said that they listened to our broadcast. So, I discovered that they were believers, so I introduced this believer to this believer. They'd been working together, but they didn't know that they both were believers.

And a few moments later, they went off to the corner and talked. There is something about meeting a Christian. No matter where you meet them, you immediately have that sense of oneness. You understand one another.

Why? Because you're members of the same body, of the same nation, the same family, and the same temple. And God brings that about. But it begins with responding to Christ, receiving him as Savior and believing in him, and coming to him and experiencing the redemption that Jesus died to bring us, to put your faith in him.

And you can do that even as you are seated here. Even as you are listening on the radio or on the internet, you can say, today, I receive Christ as Savior. Because there are some of you whose hearts God is opening and you know who you are, and you can respond to that message of grace and be saved, connected with God, and then connect with others. Great days are ahead for our church, great opportunities, but also we need great sacrifices. And let us say to this city that this is a place where you can connect, where you can belong, and somebody is going to care about you. May God grant it, we pray. And let us pray. Our Father, we thank you today for everyone who is here. We pray that those who perhaps are on the margins, so to speak, may say to themselves, if this is the place where God has brought me, if this is the place where I'm to serve, where I'm to connect, Father, grant that sense of commitment.

We ask that you shall lead people here with the same sense of urgency and commitment as members of the staff or the elders whom you have led here. And grant, oh God, that this shall be a place where many people shall have the opportunity of connecting with you and connecting with one another, because you've created a body, a family, and a temple. Grant that to us, oh God, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen. Well this is Pastor Lutzer. No matter where you are, no matter where you are listening to this broadcast today, I hope that you are a member of a local church.

I hope that you have found a place where you can connect. And sometimes churches aren't what we wish they were, we have our differences. But at the end of the day, it is so important that all who are members of the body of Christ recognize their commonality. I'm holding in my hands a book entitled Conquering the Fear of Failure.

Now we're making this resource available to you because we believe it is going to be a tremendous blessing and a help. I don't have to tell you that we're living in an age where indeed men and women are experiencing fear as never before. We look at the world politically even as we begin this new year. We look at the world morally.

We look at what is happening in the media. It is very important that we recognize that in the midst of fear, there can be faith. I believe that this book will help you. Now for a gift of any amount, here's what you can do. I hope that you have time to get a pen or a pencil to write this down. You can go to RTWOffer.com.

That's RTWOffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Now I'm going to be giving you that contact info again, but I want to emphasize that even as we send you this resource, it is with the prayer that it will build faith in your heart. Because we don't know what the future holds, it's so easy for us to have financial fears, health fears, relational fears, and the list can go on and on.

And in the midst of that, we need faith. The title of the book is Conquering the Fear of Failure. Here's what you do. Go to RTWOffer.com.

That's RTWOffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60614. Running to Win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life. We're born, we live, we die. All of us wish our short lives will mean something to someone else. Our need to matter to others drives much of the why of what we do. Next time we look at another gift we can't live without, the gift of significance. Join us then as Pastor Lutzer explores what can make us significant. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.