Good morning.

Its really good to be here with you this morning and to be able to speak with you for a few minutes about what God has put on my heart. We have been through a rough couple of weeks together as a church family. Last week, I think Mike Fleming did a fantastic job of outlining some key tools that we all need as we move forward towards healing. The wounds that you feel and that I feel are still fresh, theyre still painful and theyre still difficult. Myself, I started weekly counseling this past week. Its important that we move forward as a church family but its equally and maybe even more important that we get healthy before we move on. So I encourage you to do that. If you are having trouble doing that, speak with me or with Pastor Jermaine or with one of the Board members or your LifeGroup leaders. Dont let pain sort of fester under the surface or try to push it down. Lets let it out, lets deal with it and then together well move forward. If you have unresolved questions, please take the time to get the answers that you need now, directly from the church leadership. Dont accept second-hand news about what has taken place and dont offer second-hand news. Please ask all of the questions that you need to ask and get all of the answers that you need to be able to heal and to be able to, in what limited ways that were able, to understand what has taken place. I want us to briefly together ask ourselves this question, collectively, as a church family: who are we? Who are we supposed to be? What are we here for? Why do we exist? Why do we do the things that we do? In this time of healing, one of the best things that we can do is to return to the most basic things. When youre lost, the best idea is to turn around and go back to the last place that you knew for sure where you werenot to act like a dumb man and just keep going and going, afraid to acknowledge that youre off course. So I want to do that together. I want us to come back to the basics of who we are so that you and I can remember, together, why we are here. So we are going to, for the next few weeks, focus on the theme of Back to Basics. Today, specifically, I want to address some VERY basic things to lay the groundwork for the next few weeks. You might be inclined to mentally check out and say, I already know thiswhy are we doing this. I hear you. These are basic concepts but I feel a responsibility, after what weve been through together, to focus right here for the moment. Lets talk for a minute about some of the reasons that we are not here for as a church: 1.) We are not here to pay the bills and keep the facility running. This is vital for usand vital for you to know. If you know our story, you know that we have a real challenge ahead of us in taking care of our financial responsibilities to take care of this building. Weve talked about it way more than you or I or anyone else wants us to. If youre sick of talking about paying for the building: join the club, Im the President. While we need

to fulfill our financial obligations with regards to this building, that is not and will never be our number one priority. Ministry to Gods people and serving our community comes first; all other responsibilities come after loving people. 2.) We are not here to just play church. What I mean by that is that we are not here to go through the motions or to just do church-looking things because thats what supposedly good people do. Im not interested in that. Were not here to pretend. So, when you come in the doors on Sundaystake off your mask. Loosen up, be yourself. We have to be an environment without pretentionwhere people can genuinely be themselves, say how theyre feeling and just flat-out be authentictrue to who God made them to be and where they really, truly are in their journey right now. Not who they want people to think that they are. But who they really are. Within the problems that were facing right now as a church, there existed a root problem of transparency and integrity from the pulpit. That cant be the case anymore. So I come to you telling you this morning that Im a broken, sinful person who in very real, tangible ways has failed throughout my life and who continues to fail and sin. There are broken parts of me and wounded parts of me. You dont need to put on anything when you come into this place. In fact, we should have no patience for anything that is put on or phony. 3.) Lastly, were not here to entertain. There has been a move within the church in the last 100 years or so to move away from true worship and truth-telling into entertainment. If you come here on Sunday looking for entertainment, Im afraid youll be sadly disappointed. There is always going to be more fun more entertaining places to be that you can think of. And thats okay. Because our purpose is not to entertain. Its not to make you feel good about yourselfnot solely. So, if you say to yourself: That church I know of is more fun or is more entertaining youre probably right. And thats okay with me. Thats not who God has called us to be. Im not the most outgoing or charismatic person in the world, its not in my nature. I wont entertain you for longso dont ever come expecting that. So, with all of that having been said, what ARE we here for. Whats the point of this group of people that we call The View Church. 1. We are here to worship God together as a family. We are here to worship God as a family. Worship is one of the really valuable things that we do together. Its the first thing that we launch into when you come into the service on Sunday. We even call it the worship service. From the beginning of the Bible to the end of the Bible we see people worshipping God. Worship is something that is built into the heart of who we are as people. In fact, in ministry, we say that everyone is worshipping something; it just so happens that oftentimes that something isnt God.

Lets look at what the Bible has to say about worship. Hebrews 12:28-29 says this: Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. Ive always loved this Scripture. If you look at it in the original Greek that it was written in, it says, so latreuo God acceptably Latreuo is an interesting word because it has its roots in a word that kind of means servant. So, we make a distinction here that worship is not about singing our favorite songs, it isnt about enjoying the music, it doesnt have to involve music at all. Worship is wrapped up in the idea of doing something for Godan act where we are offering ourselves to God. In worship, we are responding to all of the awesome things that God has done for us and given us and we are responding to that in the ways that we know naturally within us to show appreciationand everyone is differentevery person shows appreciation differently and every person worships a bit differently. Worship is consumingbecause God is consuming, just like Hebrews said. Some people worship quietlyreflecting and meditating on the goodness of God. Other people worship more loudlymore excitedly. They raise their hands to worship (which is totally good because Scripture talks about worshipping God by lifting our hands.) They clap. They might shout praises. And in between these two people there are a million other different ways in which people worship and feel that they are best showing their appreciation. None of these ways are right or wrong. And so, we as a church, worship together. Why does it matter that we do it together? People say to me a lot of times that they can just as easily worship God in their boat on a Sunday morning as in a church. And as someone who cant stand a lot that happens in the modern church AND as someone who loves to go fishingI hear what theyre saying. But let me tell you this: its not the same. It isnt the same within us. We are absolutely called to worship God in all things. And Im not the church warden. If you have somewhere that you truly need to be or you get made to come into work on Sunday, you dont have to worry about what I think about you or what anyone else thinks. I dont feel that way and its not about that. What I do feel is that I miss you when youre not here. Worship is not about obligation and its not about a building and its not about a song. Worship is about what happens in and what flows out of the heart. The heart is what we call this intangible thing within us that we cant see but that we know is there.the place where what we do and say generally flows from. We feel in our hearts. We hurt in our hearts. So why do we need to come together to worship as a church family? Why does it matter? God has called us to live in community with other people and not to be isolated. God created us for community and he created us for worship. Worshipping with others allows us to speak with a unified voice to God about how He has not only

blessed us as individuals but as His people in generalas his children. When I see other people worshipping, I am encouraged. I think thats natural. When we are feeling weak, being in the presence of other people who are worshiping lifts us up. When others are weak we stand in the gap and worship for them. We thank God for them. We do this together as a family. Just as there is great value in a family eating dinner around the table together even though they can eat sitting around the television, so there is value in Gods people worshipping together as a church family. 2. The second thing that we are here for is to learn about God and his purpose for us. We are here to learn about God and His purpose for us. Did you know that you were created with a purpose? You were. You were created by God with a purpose and the most important step in uncovering what that purpose is is to learn about Gods story as revealed in Scripture. The Bible is a living thingbreathing lifespeaking truth into us. Scripture reveals a great deal about who we were created to be and what we were created to do with our lives. There are a lot of different places that we should be learning from Gods word. We should learn on our own by studying Gods word and reading trustworthy Bible teachers. We should be a part of a small group where we study the Bible in a setting where we are able to take a passage of Scripture and examine it together and hear how other people see what God is saying. All of those different people in that small group have had different experiences and bring fresh perspective on what God is saying and how the story of Scripture applies to their life and to yours. Youve heard me say before that small groups (here we call them LifeGroups) are the backbone of the ministry that happens at The View. We really believe that. There is just something about the small group dynamic that God uses to grow His people. The Bible calls what happens there discipleship. Just as Jesus called a small group of people to be around him to disciple themto teach them and to live life together with themwe are called to do the same. Jesus taught his disciples and they learned together. We do the same thing together as a church family. On Sunday mornings, this is not the primary teaching that you should be getting. If you only come here on Sunday mornings and expect to grow in your knowledge of God and His word, youll be disappointed. We have just a few minutes here in an environment where youre only hearing from one man or womans perspective. We try to make sure that that person is skilled and trustworthy and we believe there is value to the teaching here. Otherwise I wouldnt be bothering to stand here and teach. But no teaching on Sunday morning can compare to the deep reflection and study that happens within a small group. Proverbs 27:17 says, Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Thats the dynamic that were talking about. We grow better when were growing together and learning together.

The early church, we know, put a lot of effort into teaching. Throughout the Book of Acts, which is a record of the earliest days of Christs church, it says that the Christian leaders went, in the temple and from house to house and they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. Learning is an integral part of growing in our faith. It isnt the only thing that mattersand this isnt about being smart or about knowing more about the Bible than other people. This is about learning who God is in the deepest parts of your heart and finding your place in Gods story. 3. The third point is this: We are here to commune together around Christs table. We are here to commune together around Christs table. Commune obviously being where we get the word communion from which we just celebrated together a bit ago. Often in evangelical churches like ours we dont place much emphasis on what happens around Christs table but throughout the New Testament this breaking of bread as it is often referred to is seen as one of the most important things that the early church did. Across the Christian spectrum there are a wide-variety of ideas about what happens here around Christs table. Even without our own body there are those of us who probably have degrees of difference in how we perceive Communion or the Lords Supper. Thats the nature of being an interdenominational church like we are. But, heres what we can know together: Communion is not something that happens as an individual. Its difficult to break bread together by yourself at home. We come together here to gather around Christs table meeting each other hereevery one of us coming as sinners in need of the grace that was purchased by the breaking of Christs body and shedding of his blood. Youll often hear me make reference to the fact that when we come to this table we arent just meeting one another within this local church here but were meeting with the millions upon millions of other Christ followers who do the same thing as they follow Christs command to do this in remembrance of me. We come to the table joining the tradition of the millions of Christ followers from centuries and millenniums pastthey arent ghosts showing up here literally but we are joining them by breaking bread just as they broke bread in their lives and looking forward to the day when we will break bread together, all of us, in the Kingdom of God. 4. The fourth thing that we are here to do is to serve God and our community. We are here to serve God and our community. Earlier, when I was talking about worship, I talked about the Greek word latreuo. I mentioned that it, like so many of the words that are used in the original languages of the Scripture, have a lot of meaning wrapped up in one little word. Latreuo has within it the context of serving being a form of worship. I am a big believer in the fact that one of the vital things that we do when we come together as a church family is serve the community. I couldnt care less whether people in the community are impressed with our building or our programsbut I care

immensely whether or not they are impressed with the way in which we love our community through serving them. One of the things that I feel the happiest about looking back over the last four years is that fact that we have, together, been a people of service. From Appalachia to Joplin to Cairo to Louisvilleand points in betweenwe have served God and our neighbor together. I dont say that to pat us on the back at all. I say that to remind you of who we arewhat we areat The View Church. It can be easy in times that are difficult such as the one that weve been going through to forget the good. Dont do that. We will not be robbed of the vision that God breathed into us as a church to go and to serve. We believe that every one of you, each of you, was born with gifts given by God to build His Kingdom hereto make a difference in the lives of Gods people and Gods creation. 1 Peter 4:10 says this: As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. To paraphrase that, Scripture is saying, Each of you has been gifted with special talents and abilities. Use these to serve one another, not wasting what God has given you but living in the great grace of God. Thats a beautiful thing and its one of the most important thin gs that we do together as a body. 5. Fifth point: We are here to share our joys, sorrows and our lives. We are here to share our joys, sorrows and our lives. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Galatia, Carry each others burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. He wrote to the church in Rome, Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Paul saw the immense value of coming together as a family to share in each others lives. Life is hard. Terrible things happen. Tragedy happens. We were not made to survive and get through these things on our own. We were made to deal with these things in communitylifting each other up when times are hard. On the flip side, there is so much joy in this world. Amazing, awesome things that God does in our lives. And we arent made to keep those to ourselves or only celebrate when good things happen to usbut to celebrate together as a family. As we go through this difficult time that we are in right now, we absolutely have a responsibility to grieve with those who grieve. Every person reacts to painful situations in different ways and each of you have had different relationships with Josh. Those of you who are deeply wounded: be honest about that and allow the people around you to lift you up. Those of you who arent hurting but are angrythats okay and it makes perfect sensebut use that anger to motivate you to do gooduse that energy to pick up those around you who are hurting and need you to lift them up. Dont spread your angerthats not the way to heal. But grieve with those who grieve. And as we see God use this situation to build His Kingdom and as God brings restoration one person at a timewe will celebrate those things together. Because thats what a family does.

6. The last point is this: We are here to experience true grace and freedom. We are here to experience true grace and freedom. Gods great gift to us as Christ followers is grace and freedom through the work of Christ. Weve been given grace and weve been given freedom from the things that would chain us down and hold us back. But within a church family, we are able to live those out in their healthiest ways. A church family is here to show you grace, we show each other grace when we fail. The world will eat you alive when you fall down. Thats how it works. But within the familythat cannot happen. Within this family we do not eat our own. We are people of grace and freedom. We want to see people forgiven of their sins and set free from the things that have enslaved them and kept them from God. As a family, we do this together. If you dont have a healthy church family, you will be consumed by the world around you where there are many people sitting and waiting for you to screw up. But within the family, let that never, ever be. Never, ever take joy or feel happy about the falling of another person but be ready and even excited to offer them a hand to lift them back up again. We dont shackle people to their past but we empower them to walk boldly into the future walking in the fullness of who God created them to be. Thats who we are as a family. Over the next six weeks, we will focus each week on one of these points. The teaching will focus around helping all of us to return to the basic aspects of who we are as a family. There are very few churches who experience the kind of awful experience that we are presently experiencing. And there are even fewer who survive them. Thats a sad reality. But Im telling you this: if you, individually, and as a family commit to living out the things that weve talked about this morning and will talk about in coming weeksif you live those things outnot only will we survive but the church will thrive. People are watching us. Tens of thousands of eyes around the region are on The View Church to see: what are these people going to do? And theres two basic options. We can become consumed with anger and bitterness. We can allow gossip and worthless talk to take over our time. We can battle and feud with one another over trivial things. And we can die an ugly death that robs Christ of the opportunity to show His power. Thats one option. The other option is that we can pull together. You can watch what you say and speak positive, uplifting things. You can fasten yourself to your brothers and sisters within this church family and commit to riding out the storm together and praying and believing that God is going to show up and do something great. Theres two options. My hope is that you will choose the second optionthe option that will allow God to heal your heart and the hearts of those around you and to put back together what has been broken and create something beautiful, a beautiful testimony to God being in control and able to do all things.