Luke #3: God of the Impossible (1:26-56)

Again, welcome to Family Worship with the church family of Eastern Hills. It’s a blessing to gather with such a wonderful church family this morning. I’d like to give a special shout out of thanks to our Bible Study leaders who teach the Scriptures every week. I know that you put in a lot of time and effort to prepare, and we appreciate you. If you’re not involved in a weekly Bible study group, you can get more information about classes from the Welcome station in the foyer. Our small group Bible studies are the best vehicle we have to build relationships and grow deeper in the church community. Get plugged in!

If you’re a guest or visiting with us this morning, we would really like to be able to thank you for being here today, and to be able to do that, we have to get a little information from you. Could you please just fill out one of the Welcome cards that you’ll find in the back of the pew in front of you? When you’ve done that, you can return it to us in one of two ways: you can drop it in the offering boxes by the doors as you leave when service is over, or I’d appreciate the opportunity to introduce myself, so after service, I’ll stay down here, and I invite you to come and say hello and give me your card personally. I have a small gift to give you to say thanks for being here today.

Announcements

Text message, email this week. Exploited the PDF version of the church directory that we had online. That’s been removed and deleted. If you want the PDF, you will need to CALL Shanna directly during office hours. Better yet, get registered on instantchurchdirectory.com. A few things for the future: To church members, I will never sign things “Pastor Bill Connors.” I’ll sign them “Bill.” (and I won’t ever sign text messages). I will never send you a text or an email asking you to go spend money for anything—If I believe that something God is leading us to do is important enough to ask people to give toward it, either we will make the purchase with ministry funds on hand and then ask you IN PERSON to offset the cost, or we announce the need and then wait until we have the designated funds to cover it. We won’t ever make those requests over either text or email. I will never personally text you from a non-505 number. I will never email you from an address other than bill@ehbc.org. I’m so sorry that this happened this week and was such a distraction for the church. I take responsibility for it.

Sanctity of Human Life Sunday: We believe in the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death. We believe that abortion causes the death of a human being, made in the image of God, but who can neither defend nor speak for themselves. Our governor has taken step after step to keep New Mexico’s abortion laws as unrestrictive as possible. Please watch this video produced by a ministry that we partner with called CareNet. VIDEO. CareNet helps serve and counsel those facing unplanned pregnancy, those who have concerns that they have an STI, or those who have aborted a child. One of the ways that we support CareNet each year is through a baby bottle change drive. Out in the foyer, you’ll see a table with a bunch of baby bottles on it. If you’re willing to join in supporting CareNet, grab one of those bottles, start filling it with your spare change, and then bring it back to the church when it’s full. Gayle Wenrich, our liaison to CareNet, will make sure it is delivered to them.

LMCO ($28,569.50)

Opening

This morning, we are in our third week of our walk through the Gospel of Luke. Last week we considered the incredible declaration that the angel Gabriel made to the old priest Zechariah, promising that he and his wife Elizabeth were going to have a son who would be “great in the sight of the Lord,” and would be the prophesied forerunner of the Messiah. In this declaration, God broke over 400 years of silence, and through its fulfillment, He ushered in the Messianic Age.

But Gabriel wasn’t done with his announcements. In this morning’s focal passage, we find the angel making one more visit several months later. This passage is one of those that we often read at Christmastime, and for good reason. It contains the promise of the virgin birth.

So open your Bibles or your Bible apps to Luke 1:26, and stand as you are able in honor of the reading of the Word of God as we consider our focal passage this morning:

Luke 1:26–56 CSB

26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be. 30 Then the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.” 34 Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?” 35 The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 “See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her. 39 In those days Mary set out and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah 40 where she entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped inside her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Then she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and your child will be blessed! 43 How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill what he has spoken to her!” 46 And Mary said: My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 because he has looked with favor on the humble condition of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 because the Mighty One has done great things for me, and his name is holy. 50 His mercy is from generation to generation on those who fear him. 51 He has done a mighty deed with his arm; he has scattered the proud because of the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has toppled the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly. 53 He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering his mercy 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he spoke to our ancestors. 56 And Mary stayed with her about three months; then she returned to her home.

PRAYER (Protection for the church, peace from Israel/Hamas cease-fire)

Can I take a little risk this morning and tell you all something?

I was terrified to become the pastor of Eastern Hills.

It’s true. I was. And gentlemen, if you were at men’s breakfast yesterday, you heard me talk about authority and passivity. This was one place that fear made me passive. It was no small thing to consider becoming the pastor of Eastern Hills, for several reasons.

Eastern Hills was 53 in 2017 when Pastor Larry (who many of you haven’t had the blessing of meeting) was diagnosed with melanoma and it really started looking like he might need to consider stepping back from leadership. He had been pastor for 23 years at that point, longer than any other pastor, and nearly half of the church’s existence. BIG SHOES to follow directly after.

Sure, I had been the youth pastor for nearly 18 years, and had been Larry’s senior associate pastor for several years on top of that, but I was still in seminary working on my master’s degree. What did I know about leading the whole church? Was I even ready for such a task?

This is my home church—the church that I was saved in, and the only church I’ve been a member of in my life. There are people in this room who were in this room the day I was baptized, and who have seen me my entire spiritual and ministerial journey—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Who was I to pastor these folks?

This wasn’t how Eastern Hills did things. The youth pastor or other associate (to my knowledge) had never become the senior pastor.

On top of all of that was this: Things were going pretty well. What if I were to mess it all up?

My fear paralyzed me. And meanwhile, the staff as praying I’d figure it out, and Larry was praying I’d figure it out, even though no one was saying anything to me about it. And two things happened in close proximity to each other: First, Larry had a heart attack, and I was forced to step into the role of interim senior pastor for three weeks. I learned that (shocker) it wasn’t all about me. While it was difficult, if I just trusted God and walked with Him by faith, then He could lead the church through me.

And second, I had what I firmly believe was a vision from the Lord in the form of a conversation with Him in a dream. In it, He asked me whether or not I wanted to be pastor of Eastern Hills. I gave Him all the reasons that I had stored up for why I was afraid. He told me that was just my fear talking, and that’s not what He had asked me, so He put the question again: Did I want to be pastor of Eastern Hills? When I answered that yes, I did, He leaned back and said, “Well, all right then.” And I woke up. That day, I told the staff that I would put my name in to pastor the church if that was the direction Larry needed to go. At the end of the year, the church called me as senior pastor and made Larry Pastor Emeritus.

You might think that last part sounds far-fetched. But is it? I surrendered to His direction, and He did some amazing work to bring the church to where we are today. I could make a huge list of things God has done in my life, in my family’s life, and in the life of this church since then that has reaffirmed over and over that this is where He called me, and what He called Eastern Hills to.

I don’t say this out of any pride, because all of my fears were completely accurate. I’m still sometimes intimidated by the fact that Eastern Hills has been around for 61 years next month, and I’ve been pastor for only 7 of those… less than a third of how long Larry led this family. Sometimes, I still feel like I have no idea what I’m doing—that I don’t have the skill or the maturity to lead. I’m not perfect. I still have to constantly do battle against the same issues of pride and self-sufficiency that have always been my particular thorn in the flesh. Sometimes, I still have moments of fear that I’m going to mess everything up, especially when I just simply mess up. I’m just tremendously human, and the only way I can lead this great people of His is to follow Him. And that’s what I strive to do every day. And Lord, am I grateful. It’s still not all about me. It’s all about Him.

My fears forgot that God is God. And when He moves, things happen. When He calls, faith is the right response. He brings joy out of difficulty. He deserves all the praise, glory, and honor.

And what He did in my life and in the life of Eastern Hills pales in comparison to what He did in Mary’s life. Through the simple, faithful availability of a teenage Hebrew girl over 2000 years ago, God literally changed everything. And it all started with a visit from Gabriel and an impossible promise.

1: An impossible promise

Throughout this passage, we will see a contrast between the miraculous promise that Gabriel made to Zechariah and the MORE miraculous promise that he made to Mary. The promise of John’s birth was amazing, to be fair: two people past the age of child-bearing having a son. But his conception was still through what we would call “normal” means. Jesus’s, on the other hand, would be truly miraculous because it was otherwise impossible.

Luke 1:26–27 CSB

26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

Remember that we had just finished hearing about the fact that Elizabeth was pregnant in verses 24 and 25. “The sixth month” would have been the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, not the sixth month of the year. Gabriel appeared to a girl named Mary, who lived in a small, fairly obscure town situated in the hills halfway between the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean, who was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph.

Luke is clear that Mary was actually a virgin when Gabriel appeared to her, because the Greek word he uses here cannot be merely used for a “girl.” It can only mean “virgin.” It’s miraculous that a woman who was too old to have children became pregnant. But it’s even more miraculous that a woman who had never had sexual contact with a man became pregnant! But this will create a problem for Mary, as we will see.

In ancient Hebrew custom, marriage was a two-stage event. A father seeking a wife for his son (or a responsible and wealthy enough single adult man) would enter into a formal agreement with the father of a young woman. Sometimes the opinions of the son or daughter would be considered, sometimes not. Upon reaching an agreement for and payment of the bride price (a sum paid by the groom or his father, because economically the bride’s family lost a member and the son’s family gained one because family lines worked the same land, and generally stayed in the same trade), and an oath by the prospective groom, the two were engaged.

Engagements were a legally binding contract, and required a divorce to end (See Joseph’s side of this in Matthew 1:18-21). Mary and Joseph would have been referred to as husband and wife, and any sexual activity between them would have been improper, and any sexual activity with anyone else would have been adultery. The thing that might be a little strange to us today is that at this moment, Mary was probably 14—maybe even 13.

It seems crazy to us, but starting early with having children meant more chances for sons to carry on the bloodline and property rights. And when average life expectancy for men at the time was only 35-40, and for women only about 33 because of how many died in childbirth, getting married at 14 or 15 doesn’t sound quite so strange.

Gabriel’s greeting of Mary, “Greetings, favored woman!” (v. 28) could literally be rendered as “Be glad, woman who has been shown grace!” She was told that “The Lord is with [her],” but was perplexed by the greeting the angel gave her, perhaps wondering how she had been shown grace. The grace that she had been shown by God (v. 30... “found favor”) doesn’t have anything to do with her, but with God. She wasn’t chosen to bear Messiah because she was anything other than normal. She didn’t possess a particular piety or holiness that merited the privilege. She just had a willing heart, as we will see. This is probably why she was confused by Gabriel’s greeting.

In verses 31-33, she is told exactly what she would be blessed to do:

Luke 1:31–33 CSB

31 Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.”

This promise was naturally impossible. How would a virgin conceive? But the angel tells Mary not only that she’s going to become pregnant, but that she will have a son, and what to name Him when He is born! Jesus is a form of Joshua, which means “The Lord saves,” or “The Lord is salvation.” Again in contrast to John, Jesus will be great in an unqualified sense. John would be great “in the sight of the Lord.” John (as we’ll see next week) would be called “a prophet of the Most High,” (1:76), whereas Jesus will be called “the Son of the Most High.” And Jesus would be given the throne of David, reigning over Israel (“the house of Jacob) forever, and would have a kingdom that never ends, all in fulfillment of what David was promised back in 2 Samuel chapter 7:

2 Samuel 7:11–13 CSB

11 ever since the day I ordered judges to be over my people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. “ ‘The Lord declares to you: The Lord himself will make a house for you. 12 When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

God is in the business of doing impossible things. He who created the universe out of nothing simply be speaking it into existence, who designed the human reproductive system from scratch, has no problem suspending or supervening the “normal” in order to fulfill His plans. Nothing is too difficult for Him, as Jeremiah wrote:

Jeremiah 32:17 CSB

17 Oh, Lord God! You yourself made the heavens and earth by your great power and with your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you!

He wants us to respond to His grace in the same way as Mary did—with faith.

2: A faithful response

When we looked at Zechariah’s response last week, we saw that he questioned Gabriel’s message, and he was rebuked for it. However, the same thing didn’t happen to Mary. Whereas Zechariah was asking for proof from a place of doubt, young Mary simply could not understand how she could become pregnant through any but the “normal” means (v. 34). Gabriel’s response, which does not contain a rebuke, is amazing:

Luke 1:35–37 CSB

35 The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Simply by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary would be pregnant with the eternal Son of God, but in very human form. Again, as John would be filled with the Spirit, Jesus would actually be conceived by the power of the Spirit. And though she didn’t ask for proof, the angel offered it to her: the fact that Elizabeth had, in her old age, conceived a son was proof of God’s ability to do the impossible.

And Mary shows us how faith responds to grace: with submission.

Luke 1:38 CSB

38 “See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

Mary says, “I’m the Lord’s slave girl. Whatever the Lord wants is what I want.”

I don’t think that we adequately fathom the gravity of Mary’s response. This was not a simple statement for Mary to make. She certainly understood the relational and culture ramifications of being found to be pregnant while engaged. She could be divorced, or worse—killed. And if all that happened was that Joseph divorced her, she would still be an outcast—likely rejected by her family. No longer marriable to any respectable man. Impure. A harlot. And not only that, but a single mother at the ripe old age of 15. If she had been not in ancient Israel, but in modern New Mexico, what advice do you suppose she might have heard from the culture around her?

But for Mary, God’s will was what she wanted, even if the road would be exceedingly difficult. What a simple, yet deep faith! The call of God came, and she answered in believing trust that if God was going to use her, God was big enough to walk with her through it.

Do we trust God like this? Do we take Him at His word, believing that He can see us through the things He calls us to? I know this is hard to hear, because I do the same thing. Are we willing to practice trusting submission to the Lord, knowing that nothing is impossible with Him?

The thing that’s most incredible about the Christmas story isn’t the “how.” Certainly, the virginal conception is amazing, but it’s not the most important thing about Jesus. The reality of His coming—the “what”—is what’s most astounding. The Incarnation—God the Son taking on flesh and becoming a human being like us—is the most miraculous thing about Christmas. Jesus, who lived a perfect life and died in our place so we could be forgiven of our sins, who defeated death and rose again to eternal life so that we can live forever with Him, is Himself the greatest miracle. And He calls us to surrender to Him in faith, trusting in Him as Savior and Lord. If you’ve never believed in what Jesus has done, will you believe like Mary today? Will you believe not only that God can do the impossible, but through Jesus, He has? He’s made a way for us to be saved from the penalty we owe because of our sins; a way to be saved.

Your believing in Jesus would bring such joy to this community. Mary’s response of faith also brought joy to a much smaller community.

3: A joyful community

Mary probably didn’t even know that Elizabeth was pregnant before this statement by Gabriel, but very shortly thereafter, she packed up and went off to visit her much older cousin, probably in order to help her with her needs in the last trimester of pregnancy. Remember that our passage last week ended with Elizabeth keeping herself in seclusion for five months? Well, if you think about it, she likely only kept herself in seclusion once she knew she was pregnant. She probably didn’t know she was pregnant until she had been so for several weeks or perhaps a month. Therefore, it seems probable that it was Mary’s visit to her cousin that ended her separation from everyone. This is because her visit brought exceeding joy through the Holy Spirit.

And when Mary arrives and greets Elizabeth, John (who was already filled with the Holy Spirit, you’ll recall), leapt for joy in the womb. And then Elizabeth was also filled with the Spirit, and said:

Luke 1:42–45 CSB

42 Then she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and your child will be blessed! 43 How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill what he has spoken to her!”

This tiny little community of Mary and Elizabeth and their two unborn children was a community of joy—John leaping in utero, Elizabeth pouring out a prophecy of humility and worship, Mary about to overflow in praise (as we will see in a moment), and the focus of it all hidden in Mary’s belly—the baby King of the Universe, the Lord of the heavens, Jesus Himself! There was joy at being in each other’s presence. Joy at knowing they were a part of God’s plan. Joy at the shared experience of life—pregnant life—together. Joy in their shared faith the Lord and submission to His will.

Sure, we tend to focus on John and his leaping for joy, but let’s think about Elizabeth for a moment. Mary’s child is going to be greater than Elizabeth’s, and she knows it through the revelation of the Spirit. But there’s no animosity. No jealousy. No competition. Just rejoicing in the blessing that Mary is experiencing.

Our community should be a community of joy like theirs! We here in the body of Christ aren’t in competition with one another—when one part is blessed, the whole body is blessed!

1 Corinthians 12:26 CSB

26 So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

When one of us wins, we all win! There’s no room for jealousy here. We are called to be like Elizabeth: to rejoice when our brother or sister is rejoicing!

Romans 12:15 CSB

15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.

And like this joyous family foursome, we should rejoice at being able to be in each other’s presence as brothers and sisters in Christ, united in our shared faith and secure in the knowledge that we have been saved, and God is at work around us. We should take joy in the fact that we get to do life together, and we should actively seek to be a part of each other’s lives. And in the center of all of this rejoicing should be the Lord Jesus Christ, just as it was for them.

And this community of joy, at such communities so often do, overflowed into a prayer of praise to God.

4: A prayer of praise

Mary’s prayer is called the Magnificat, taken from the first word of the prayer in Latin. The word means “I make much of.” Mary’s prayer reflects on God’s sovereign grace, on His character and provision, and on His faithfulness throughout the generations.

Luke 1:46–55 CSB

46 And Mary said: My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 because he has looked with favor on the humble condition of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 because the Mighty One has done great things for me, and his name is holy. 50 His mercy is from generation to generation on those who fear him. 51 He has done a mighty deed with his arm; he has scattered the proud because of the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has toppled the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly. 53 He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering his mercy 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he spoke to our ancestors.

Mary knew that she was undeserving of being the one to carry the Messiah. She knew that all the praise, all the glory, belongs to God alone. She would be called blessed not because she was perfect or some kind of co-mediator of God’s grace to people (as for example, the Catholics believe), but because she would be remembered as having been the mother of the Savior. It was God who deserved the credit, not her.

But the last part of her prayer of praise speaks prophetically in several ways, speaking to the seismic shift that was occuring with the arrival of the Messiah: Those who might boast because of their personal piety or physical strength or vast wealth would find that those things will not last, and will not provide deliverance for them. Only God, through His promised Messiah, would provide for salvation. The Lord said something similar in Jeremiah 9:

Jeremiah 9:23–24 CSB

23 “ ‘This is what the Lord says: The wise person should not boast in his wisdom; the strong should not boast in his strength; the wealthy should not boast in his wealth. 24 But the one who boasts should boast in this: that he understands and knows me— that I am the Lord, showing faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these things. This is the Lord’s declaration.

We shouldn’t trust in ourselves for our salvation. We all need Jesus, every single day. And when He provides, we should praise Him, not ourselves. Only He is worthy.

Closing

We might think that Mary stayed around for the birth of Elizabeth’s son John, and it’s possible.

Luke 1:56 CSB

56 And Mary stayed with her about three months; then she returned to her home.

However, as we will see next week, Mary isn’t mentioned in the birth narrative of John, so it’s possible she left just before his birth. Regardless, Mary had been the recipient of not just one amazing message, but three if you count the leap for joy that baby John gave. She would carry the Savior of the world—the result of an impossible promise.

Oh, that we would trust the word of God the way she did!

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PRAYER

Auxano Vision Framing Update

I know it’s a little strange of have our time of response and then stay here, but I need to update the church on the work that has happened on our vision framing process with Auxano since our last “wet cement” session, and to let you know about our next all-church meal and discussion. So if you’ll indulge me for just a few minutes, I would appreciate it. Before I start talking through these things, I’d like to thank everyone that is serving on the vision framing team for their hard work: Joe, Trevor, Shanna, Doug, Austin, Monica, Riley, Roger, Alisa, and especially Rebecca who serves as our team secretary, and Liana who serves as her backup. It’s a great team, and they are working HARD for this church family. I had hoped to get this update done between Christmas and New Year’s, but my hospital visit and recuperation slowed me down somewhat.

First of all, I want to express just how much I enjoyed our first wet cement session back in November! So did the rest of the vision framing team… when we talked about it, we actually said that it felt like a small group for the whole church! For those of you who didn’t make it to the wet cement: just so you know, we talked, we laughed, some even cried. We had time to reflect on how God has moved to bring us to where we are right now, and we had great, honest, and open conversation about the church, our direction, and took some time to dream about the future a little bit. And we got SO MUCH wonderful feedback from everyone who came, and we appreciate that feedback immensely. I hold here a copy of ALL of the feedback and table notes that we received that night. The team read ALL of it together and discussed it for hours the very next day, and the feedback you gave informed the decisions we’ve made since then. So, thanks for your participation in the process!

The vision frame is a helpful graphic that we’re using to consider the parts of the process that we’re covering. The frame is made up of four parts, which helps us define the picture inside: where we’re going: our MISSION, VALUES, STRATEGY, and OUTCOMES. The direction God leads us in as we go forward is called VISION PROPER. The four elements “frame” the vision. Some of the questions that we are addressing at this point are: How has God uniquely formed, placed, and equipped Eastern Hills to serve Him? What has God done in this particular body that shapes our mission, ministry, and methods?

The first part we covered at the wet cement was MISSION—which should address the question, “What are we doing?” The MISSION should mobilize us with a particular purpose.

All of us who are in Christ have the same mission—to: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20). This process isn’t saying that the Great Commission isn’t our mission. It’s saying that there’s a way we’ve been wired by God as a church to fulfill this mission. The Gospel doesn’t change, but God uses different people in different ways to fulfill His purposes at different times and in different locales. Our Mission statement is us putting our obedience to the Great Commission into our context based on how God has put us together as a church family.

The Mission statement that the team originally suggested to the church was this: Helping everyday people live out the unexpected love of Jesus every day. Many people liked the terms “helping” and “live out,” as well as the juxtaposition of “everyday” and “every day.” And while the team felt that this was a strong statement of our mission, the conversation around the tables primarily centered around two aspects of the statement: “everyday people” and “unexpected.”

What we found as we went through the notes and comments was that there was some confusion about the term “everyday people.” What we were shooting for in this statement was the idea that we at Eastern Hills are everyday people, and we want to live out the Gospel—continually growing in, experiencing, sharing, and celebrating Jesus’s incredible, audacious, unexpected love—every day, and we want to help other everyday people do the same. However, what we found from feedback was that for some, the way we had originally posed this statement made it seem like it’s only for people outside the church, not for us as well. That’s certainly not what we want to say. We all need to live out the love of Christ! So we decided to change the first part of the statement to read, “People helping people.”

The feedback that we received about “unexpected” was varied. Some loved the word. Some not as much. When crafting a statement such as this, we want it to be:

CLEAR (easily understood or memorized)

CONCISE (not too wordy)

COMPELLING (gets your attention or makes you think)

CONTEXTUAL (speaks to what is unique or different about us)

and CATALYTIC (inspires action)

We considered probably 30 alternatives to the word unexpected. But none of the other words we tried were quite as compelling for Eastern Hills. One of the things that I’ve heard over and over again about us as pastor is how unexpectedly loving Eastern Hills is as a church. We surprise people with the love we show to each other in the family, and how we love those who aren’t a part of the family yet. But looking forward, the word “unexpected” also challenges us without reducing what loving well looks like to a simple list. Jesus loved in unexpected ways throughout His ministry on earth, and He still loves us in unexpected ways today! “Unexpected” is a multifaceted, provocative word—one that makes us stop and think about how incredible the love of Christ is, and then to express that love in incredible ways—love that stretches both us and others’ expectations of how Christians look and act.

Several of you mentioned things like worship, evangelism, the Gospel, missions, and prayer at the wet cement and afterwards, and of course, we appreciate you pointing these things out. These things, and others such as preaching and teaching the Word or serving one another and the community are things that all Christian churches should have inherent to our identity as Christian churches. These foundational things already appear in our Statement of Belief, and will be included in our intended outcomes. Also, since our mission requires obedience in all of these areas, our mission statement needed to be broad enough to include all of them, while at the same time be descriptive enough of our unique culture—of who we are as a church (specifically EHBC), as we fulfill God’s calling.

So where we as a team landed on our Mission statement, after prayerfully and diligently considering the feedback we received, was:

People helping people live out the unexpected love of Jesus every day.

And while you might find that the statement loses a little clarity with that word “unexpected”, you’re right: sometimes you have to give away a little clarity in order to be more compelling. And we know that many of you very much liked the “everyday people...every day” juxtaposition, but the confusion of the internal vs. external application meant that we should drop it.

The second part that we addressed at our first wet cement was our VALUES. Having a set of core values help us answer the question, “Why are we doing what we’re doing?” Values should be things that motivate us to fulfill our Mission, and that reflect our current personality as well as provide goals to strive for. So the original values that the team presented at the wet cement were:

AUTHENTIC FAMILY: We have fun and love one another through life’s joys and struggles.

REAL TRUTH: We dig into Scripture to find clarity in a confusing world.

GENUINE GROWTH: We learn to thrive as we become more and more like Jesus together.

PRACTICAL IMPACT: We meet tangible and spiritual needs across the street and across the world.

One of the biggest questions that came up about our values was “why are they in this order?” This was actually by design. There’s a progression here. Who we are, how we intentionally speak about ourselves as a church, is as a family. Being an authentic family, acting like an authentic family, is important to Eastern Hills. And it’s in the context of us being an authentic family that we have the freedom to explore and learn the real truth of the Gospel, which promotes genuine growth in Christlikeness, which leads to practical impact in our lives, and the lives of those around us.

The one suggestion about order that we heard more than once was that Real Truth should be first. The thing that prompted us to keep them in this order was John 13:35 “35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” It’s our love that makes Eastern Hills, Eastern Hills. And we absolutely care about the truth—we pursue it together as a family.

The next thing that folks suggested was perhaps a word other than “real” for truth, such as “objective,” or “clear.” As we considered this, we talked about the fact that the world seems to be trying to figure out what’s truly real, so we came back to Real Truth. I mean, this is the point of digging into Scripture—to find out the truth about reality.

There were also some comments about the redundancy of “Real” and “Genuine.” And as we talked about it, we completely agreed. We don’t just want to see growth that’s genuine. We want to value growth that’s transformational. So we decided to change "genuine” to “transformational” based on your feedback.

The rest of our conversation focused on the explanations of these values. In some of the feedback, it seemed like these might be a little wordy, and that we could more succinctly say what we were shooting for. Are “joys and struggles” all there are in life? Do we “learn as we thrive?” Or do we truly “thrive as we learn?” Doesn’t the parable of the Good Samaritan teach us that our neighbor is whoever we are with in the moment, even if that’s across the street, or across the globe?

Again, you were right. So following much discussion and back-and-forth, the team landed on the following revisions to our values:

AUTHENTIC FAMILY: We have fun and encourage each other through life’s ups and downs.

REAL TRUTH: We dig into Scripture for clarity in a confusing world.

TRANSFORMATIONAL GROWTH: We thrive as we learn to become more like Jesus together.

PRACTICAL IMPACT: We seek to meet the needs of our neighbors wherever we find them.

Thank you for your attention during this explanation, church. The team that you have appointed to this task has taken it very seriously, and we truly want to fulfill the mandate that you’ve given us. Every comment was read and considered, even if every comment wasn’t acted upon (which would have been impossible). And we believe that involving the church family has made both our mission and values statements much better. We are so appreciative of your investment in being a part of the first wet cement session!

And we look forward to hosting our second wet cement session next month. It is scheduled for Wednesday night, February 5, again beginning at 5:30 pm. Dinner and childcare will be provided again. If you weren’t able to make it to the first one, that’s OK! Please plan to come to this one. And if you were at the first one, I’m sure that you recognize the value of these sessions, and the team looks forward to working through the next one with you. It will be similar, but we’ll be talking about Strategy and Outcomes: Answering the questions “How do we do what we’re called to do?” and, “How do we know when we’ve been successful?” But to make sure we order enough food, we would ask that you register to be there using the QR Code on the screen, the link, or that you call the office or email Rebecca (rebecca@ehbc.org) and let us know you’re planning on coming. Please register no later than Sunday, February 1.

Closing Remarks

Bible reading (Jer 13, Ps 12)

No Pastor’s Study tonight for business meeting, then Wendy’s

Prayer Meeting Wednesday: finishing up Jonah

Instructions for guests

Benediction

Psalm 33:20–22 CSB

20 We wait for the Lord; he is our help and shield. 21 For our hearts rejoice in him because we trust in his holy name. 22 May your faithful love rest on us, Lord, for we put our hope in you.

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