A Church without Walls
Rex Yancey
Zechariah 2:1-5
First Baptist Church, Long Beach, MS was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The structure of the building remained without any walls. The pastor said that for the first time the church that met there could see the people in need around them. The people were moved to action, not only to meet their own needs but to meet the needs of others.
Zechariah received some visions from God about Jerusalem. These visions occurred after the 70 years of Babylonian captivity. A man with a measuring line was about to measure Jerusalem to see what she was made of. God promised the inhabitants that he would enlarge their city to the extent it would be without walls. He also promised to be a wall of protection around them.
I want to use this text as a springboard to our thinking this morning. What if our church had no walls? What would be the significance of that for us?
1. A CHURCH WITHOUT WALLS SEES.
I think we allow these walls to become a barrier for us that keep us from seeing the needy people around us. These walls confine us to what goes on here. There are some good things that go on in between these walls: worship, singing, praying, giving, preaching, a chance to respond to God, fellowship, family, and teaching.
From this launching pad we support missionaries around the world. We launch our own mission projects. Our Kamanoro project would be an example. All of these things are good and essential things.
But we must not forget to look around and see unchurched families. We must remember that right here in our community there are people who are hurting and they don't know the balm in Gilead.
They are sinners. They are suffering from broken relationships. They are spiritually empty. Some are depressed. Many are lonely. Many have preconceived notions about those of us who are in the church.
They see us as judgmental, hypocrites, as going through the motions, as irrelevant. We are so busy meeting that we ...
Rex Yancey
Zechariah 2:1-5
First Baptist Church, Long Beach, MS was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The structure of the building remained without any walls. The pastor said that for the first time the church that met there could see the people in need around them. The people were moved to action, not only to meet their own needs but to meet the needs of others.
Zechariah received some visions from God about Jerusalem. These visions occurred after the 70 years of Babylonian captivity. A man with a measuring line was about to measure Jerusalem to see what she was made of. God promised the inhabitants that he would enlarge their city to the extent it would be without walls. He also promised to be a wall of protection around them.
I want to use this text as a springboard to our thinking this morning. What if our church had no walls? What would be the significance of that for us?
1. A CHURCH WITHOUT WALLS SEES.
I think we allow these walls to become a barrier for us that keep us from seeing the needy people around us. These walls confine us to what goes on here. There are some good things that go on in between these walls: worship, singing, praying, giving, preaching, a chance to respond to God, fellowship, family, and teaching.
From this launching pad we support missionaries around the world. We launch our own mission projects. Our Kamanoro project would be an example. All of these things are good and essential things.
But we must not forget to look around and see unchurched families. We must remember that right here in our community there are people who are hurting and they don't know the balm in Gilead.
They are sinners. They are suffering from broken relationships. They are spiritually empty. Some are depressed. Many are lonely. Many have preconceived notions about those of us who are in the church.
They see us as judgmental, hypocrites, as going through the motions, as irrelevant. We are so busy meeting that we ...
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