Contemplating the 4th Chair

The 4th Chair

 

 

As a church family, Elevate Church in Murphy, Texas is reading through the Gospel of John during the month of August.  In our 8th year as a church plant in Murphy/Wylie, Texas, this is an exciting time in our community.  We are seeing God work in our midst, and people coming to know Jesus for the very first time.  For me, the past year has been one of the richest and sweetest times in my Christian life, and I can never say enough, how grateful I am the Lord brought me on a long and winding road to just this specific family of believers.

 

 

If you don't already have a plan for your daily Bible reading, or like me, sometimes you struggle to come up with something that looks anything like a plan...I invite you to join us in August and read the Gospel of John.  It is 21 chapters, so you can begin today, and finish by month end.  Simply start with chapter 1 and read a chapter each day.  We invite everyone to post the verse each day that speaks to them, and share with us on Facebook, using the hashtag #Elevate21DOP. If you live in our area, please come join us for worship. If you are not in this area, simply join us for a time of encouragement and growing in the scripture and prayer.

 

 

Together we are reading a chapter each day, memorizing John 6:35, and praying fervently for God to soften our hearts and the hearts of those who need Jesus.  Each Tuesday in August, we have groups meeting at either 6am or 7am, or between 11am-1pm for prayer and worship.  We call this time "PUSH," "Pray Until Something Happens."  For me, there are very specific needs in the lives of my family and friends for which I am praying, and I am praying that God would continue to give us opportunities to share the love and truth of Jesus with people.

 

 

Our sermon series this month is called "The Table," and I'd like to share some notes with you that were deeply challenging for me today.  We talked about the miracle of Jesus' feeding the 5,000, which is such an important story of His ministry, it is the only miracle told in all four of the Gospel accounts.   As the story begins, Jesus is talking to this enormous crowd of people, and they are in a remote location where no food is available.  It is approaching meal time, and the disciples come to Jesus with this problem - they want Jesus to send the people away so they can find food to eat.  Jesus responds by saying, "you give them something to eat."

 

 

You may know the story already, how Andrew (a disciple of Jesus) sees a boy with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes in a lunch basket.  They bring this to Jesus, and essentially they say, "this is all we've got to work with..."  Jesus prays and thanks God for the food, and then has the disciples hand out the food to eat.  There is enough for all, plus 12 baskets of leftovers.

 

 

What are the lessons we can learn?  I found our Pastor's sermon especially powerful today, as it brought to mind things I have never considered from the passage.

 

 

First, it is important to notice that Jesus (1) refuses to send the hungry people away, and (2) Jesus calls on His disciples to feed the people.  Our calling today is the same as it was for those disciples - we live in a world of hurting and hungry people, and it's easy to say, "let's send them somewhere else to get their needs met."  Jesus however, says to us, "You feed them."  This is the calling on our lives when we follow Jesus.  Is Jesus talking about physical food, and feeding the hungry?  I believe it is part of our mission and calling, but just as physical food and miracles were not Jesus' primary focus, meeting physical needs is not our primary calling either.

 

 

Jesus says four different times in the 7th chapter of John, "I AM the Bread of Life."  He is about the mission of feeding our hunger in a way food can never satisfy.  And we can know with conviction that Jesus calls us to this same primary mission when He says to us, "You feed them."

 

 

Finally today, we talked about what a truly healthy church family looks like...in a phrase, "who is at the table" for our family meals each week. 

 

1. We have spiritual leaders. They shepherd the flock and cast a vision for the community. Of the seats at our table, these leaders should only represent about 10% of us.

2. We have mature believers in Christ.  Disciples who have followed Jesus for many years, and have steadily learned and applied the truth of scripture to their lives in such a way, they are able and willing to mentor and encourage younger believers in their faith.  In a healthy church body, these mature believers should represent about 30% of us.

3. We have new believers; either new in their faith, or perhaps young in years and maturity.  These believers are just learning what it means to follow Jesus, they may be very new to the scripture and how to apply it in their lives.  In a healthy church body, we should also see about 30% of the family at our table be young believers.

4. Finally, we have the 4th chair at our table, and this 4th chair represents the lost and unbelieving.  Those who are looking, seeking answers and meaning...or perhaps they aren't looking at all. These lost and hungry people are the passion of Jesus.  These lost are the "one sheep" He leaves the 99 sheep to find and bring home. 

 

It is Jesus' desire that all come and sit at the table with us. What is our purpose if not to feed the spiritually hungry? To share with all of them, and with each one of them, the Bread and Water of Life.  A healthy church should be about the work of filling our 4th chair, because in the economy of God's love, at least 30% of those at our table should be those lost people who are in need of food.  If they are to come, we must go out and find them and invite them to join us.  It is our mission to feed them.

 

 

In a new and fresh way this morning, I heard God's voice speaking through our Pastor - reminding me and all of us together: we must find those people who can fill our 4th chair. Invite them. Bring them. Serve them. Love them.  Feed them.