Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: RSS
Party is not a bad word in Christianity. In fact God invented the Celebration. The people of Israel were instructed to throw BIG parties that took days to complete. Jesus’ first miracle was at a party. Heaven is a party.
Jesus people are party people.
For too long Christianity has avoided the parties of this world. Perhaps Jesus wants us to bring message, ministry, mission to the party.
Party People 1 – The Mission | Redemption Church Plano Tx from Redemption Church on Vimeo.
Party People 1 – The Mission
sermon notes by Chris Fluitt
Redemption Church Plano Tx Nondenominational Spirit Filled Bible Church
**Bumper Video – Party People
Party People
Jesus People are Party People
Good afternoon and welcome to Redemption Church… Home of the rocking Afternoon worship service. We are glad you are here as we kick of a new sermon series called PARTY PEOPLE.
Party is a word that is not used much at Church. Saying party might even make some of you uncomfortable. I am not all that comfortable with the word myself… Growing up in Church it was kind of an unspoken agreement amongst everyone that Christians do not belong at parties… They belong at Church service, Youth Service, or Bible Study… it was probably sin if they were at a party.
This led to a belief that serving Jesus Christ is no fun. Or a belief that fun of any kind was probably sinful.
I want to tell you today that parties are not evil. In fact God likes to party and Jesus people are Party People
Let’s support this claim…
- God creates the world and rests on the 7th day. He does not sleep all day… The Shabbat or Sabbath is not a 24 hour nap… It is a celebration of what has been completed. And this same God told the people of Israel to remember this day. He instructs them to put down their work… to rest from their labor and to celebrate together. Still today they gather on Sabbath and celebrate over dinner.
- The Children of Israel know how to party. They were instructed to hold feasts. These were not little get-togethers. They were big parties! They would last all day. Some would last for multiple days. They would have 7 day long parties! And God was cool with it! They would dance, sing, eat, drink, and laugh…
- Jesus shows up and does His 1st recorded miracle at a Party. He was at the wedding at Cana. We just studied weddings in our Bachelor series… Weddings were all about parties! They partied at the betrothal. They partied for 7 days at the at the wedding ceremony. They partied even more at the feast
And Jesus shows up at this Party in John 2. The party had run out of wine and Jesus makes the best batch of wine out of water. Because of Jesus the party continued.
A word about Alcohol.. There are some that say a single drop of alcohol is a sin… but your Bible does not say that. One of the criticisms levied against Jesus was that He drank wine and was called a winebibber (matthew 11:19), one who habitually drinks. I feel comfortable saying that alcohol isn’t sin and that if you wanted to have a drink, Jesus wouldn’t have turned you away. He might have even joined you.
- In the book of Acts believers would gather together in their homes and break bread. You have the wrong picture of this gathering if you imagine people sitting silently and solemnly as they took communion. When they took communion it was a time of remembering the Lord’s sacrifice on the cross, but it was also tied to a dinner party atmosphere. It was a gathering of fellowship.
These believers lived life together, and a life in Christ is filled with Joy! The fruit of God’s spirit is JOY!
- And I don’t know what your picture of Heaven is. You might imagine angels with harps… But Heaven is a party!
Jesus People are Party People
Church needs a party atmosphere. It needs to be a celebration. It is alright to have a good time in the house of God!
Jesus still gives the best wine. It is still ok to Dance like David and to sing Hosanna and to experience a Joy that is like fire shut up in your bones! Redemption Church, have we forgotten how to party.
When I mentioned party some of your minds went back to a time BC… before Christ. You might be saying “But now I am in church and we can’t have that fun anymore…” Wrong. The fun you had before Christ was destructive… But God redeems the destruction and still brings the joy without regret.
God knows how to party! And you can have a Holy Ghost high that no drug can duplicate. He gives courage and boldness without liquid courage. He gives a joy that is unspeakable and full of Glory!
However in this 21st century we have compartmentalized our lives. We have this box where we deposit our faith life, our life in Christ, our Church life… and then we have other areas… Our job. Our friendships. Our social life. Our hobbies…
And because we don’t know that God is a God of parties… we relegate the faith box to the boring un-fun box. We relegate the God who invented the celebration to a chore… instead of a joy. No one wants to invite their friends to a chore.. they want to invite them to a joy.
And because we view the things of God as a chore we never share our faith…
Is your God a Chore or a Joy?
Everything and everyone in your faith compartment ends up staying separate from the other areas of your life. In fact you are really careful that people in your faith compartment don’t meet people in your social life compartment. We can’t invite Pastor Chris to that party… because well… It’s going to be fun.. Someone might tell a dirty joke and we can’t have Pastor’s ears disgraced by the filth of that…
It is time to get rid of your compartments and let Jesus be Lord of everything.
We have a Mission.
We talked about the great commission last week. The Great commission is delivered by Jesus 5 times in your Bible. (Mathew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20, Acts 1) This is not a suggestion by Christ, it is a command for everyone who wants to be His follower. It is a command to Go into the World! You see you can’t reach the world if you never come in contact with the world. Once in the world we are to make disciples, teaching them about repentance, baptizing into Jesus, and seeing them filled with the Holy Spirit.
Where in your Bible is the Great Commission fulfilled for the first time?
Acts 2:38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.(NIV)
All the aspects of the 5 great commission verses are fulfilled in Acts 2.
Is soul winning fun? Is sharing Jesus Christ with others fun? Have you compartmentalized it to a not fun place… alongside tax preparation?
For the last part of this sermon I want to speak to you in a very down to earth way. I won’t quote a lot of scripture at you or beat you down for not sharing Jesus… I want to tell you that if you will get rid of the compartments you will find that fulfilling the great commission is easier than you thought. ..That sharing Jesus doesn’t belong in the not any fun, boring as heck compartment.
You don’t have to leave the party… Jesus will come to your party. And you don’t have to pull people out of a party and into boring, restrictive, judgmental religion… You don’t have to leave the party.
You can bring the mission to the party. This great co-mission might look different than you think..
- You could be watching a football game with a friend and during a lull in the action they start to talk about life and how hard something is in their life. BOOM! That is a missional moment. Bring Jesus into your football game.. Have a talk with your friend. Follow up with them afterward… pray with them.
- Do you like to have people over to your house or get out of the house and do things? Bring Jesus along. In fact bring some Jesus people along. Introduce your friends who don’t have a church to your friends that go to Church with you.
- We see people that we don’t know.. But if you pay attention you will see that same person you don’t know so many times. There comes a point where you ought to know who they are. This happens at that restaurant you go to often. This happens at the convenience store, starbucks, the grocery, the gym, or the bank. TAKE A MOMENT FOR THE MISSION to show up in your daily habits and routune.
A lot of times we don’t think about the mission. Perhaps because it is compartmentalized to the boring un-fun box. I want to tell you Redemption Church – We don’t ever need to stop thinking about the mission.
Sometimes we are worried about bringing Jesus to other areas of our lives… like work. What if I offend? I don’t want to cause problems. AGAIN I want to tell you that the Mission can work without being un-fun, without being offensive, without being combative.
The Apostle Paul brought the Mission into his work place…
In Acts 18 Paul meets a Jewish married couple named Aquila & Priscilla. Paul had something in common with them…
Acts 18:3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.(NIV)
They had tent making in common, so he worked with them. Things we have in common bring us together… So when we are brought together with others, will we bring the mission with us? Is Jesus invited to the party? Is it ok for the mission to show up while with other people… doing seemingly unchurch things?
Obviously while working with Aquila & Priscilla, the mission showed up on the job. Later in Acts 18 we see this couple traveling with Paul on a missionary journey and we see them share their own Jesus mission with a man named Apollos.
Be Missional
Whatever you find yourself doing. Bring the mission along. BUT ALSO… We should plan to be deliberately missional.
- Go back to that same restaurant and ask for that same waitress we had a good talk with…
- Let’s go to the store closer to our Church. We may run into someone to invite…
- Let’s throw that watch party at our house for that show we like… let’s invite those people we have praying for and inviting to Connect Group.
- Don’t share that political post on social media…
Be Missional!
- You will be surprised about what opportunities will open up…
- You will be surprised about who you stand face to face with…
- You will be surprised by the difference you can make…
Check out the impact a man on vacation made on well-known atheist and magician Penn Jillette.
PENN JILETTE
Could you do that? That guy did not go to Las Vegas planning to witness to Penn. He just saw a moment to be missional. Will we do that?
Are you fulfilling the great commission? If you believe this mission… If you believe the Bible then why aren’t you sharing Jesus Christ? You believe in Hell yet you don’t share the one way to escape Hell?
We need to be about the mission.
MUSICIAN
We are about to open these altars but first I want to drive home a point…
Jesus told you to go… He sent you the Bible says. We sometimes have it backwards… We try to bring people to the MISSION… to yank people from their party and bring people into our religious experience… But Jesus has sent us into their world… into their party.. and we are to carry the Mission with us.
What does that look like?
To whom are you going to carry the mission? We want you to fill out a card today, pledging to bring the mission to them.
Before you come let’s look at our Memory Scripture one more time…
Colossians 4:3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.(NIV)
Colossians 4:4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.(NIV)
Colossians 4:5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.(NIV)
Colossians 4:6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.(NIV)
Come tell us who you are going to bring the mission to… and come ask God to help you.
Redemption Church Plano Tx North Dallas
Nondenominational Bible Based Church
Rocking Afternoon Worship Service
Jesus is Lord