You Matter

At FOTP, we believe every story matters. Every person matters. Not because we are perfect, but because the gospel redeems, broken lives. This year, 322 people have declared that true through baptism. And on August the 19th, we celebrated our largest baptism day ever. 108 lives changed because the gospel is hope. At FOTP, we are a family for everyone. It's why you matter. Well, I'm so glad that you're here. I'm so glad that you're a part of this weekend. I, I'm just so grateful for what God has done over these 32 years. And just to think that we started in a home with 11 people, which included an infant and my wife and I to see what God's done. It's, it's truly been amazing. But I just wanted to share really my heart with you and sort of the why behind FOTP. And I'll just be honest with you. I grew up a lot of times feeling like that I didn't fit in feeling like that I didn't matter and I'm not blaming anybody. That's just my baggage or whatever. But when I came to the place of understanding that I did matter to God, that he loved me, that he chose me, that he had a plan and a purpose for my life, that changed me. And I'm so grateful for that. Here's the thing though, a lot of times and, uh, where the churches that I've been exposed to, and I'm not trying to be critical, but I didn't always get that feeling. It was a feeling sometimes of, you know, you had to get dressed up. You had to look the part, do the part, be a good person in order to be accepted. And, you know, as I understood the Bible and I looked at what Jesus modeled for us and him spending time with tax collectors, with sinners and so forth, I thought, man, how radical would it be if church was actually a safe place where anybody that came through the door knew that they mattered. Uh, we started the church with the idea that every person matters. We're gonna be welcoming to all people. And I'll just tell you, um, to, to fight for that culture, to maintain that is honestly, it's a rarity, but it's something that we've been committed to. And I, I came across this, this verse that really expressed sort of the culture of Fellowship of the Parks in a devotional that I was doing with the a hundred man group. It's a YouVersion online deal, five, 10 minutes a day. And this verse just really hit me. It's from James chapter two, uh, verse 13. And in the English standard version, it's just these three words. It says, mercy triumphs judgment. It was so impactful to me, I thought, you know, that says it all in those three powerful words. You know, if we are going to, uh, be at fault, let's be on, on the side of mercy. And the Bible talks about, you know, the way we, we judge, we're gonna be judged sort of through the same lens. And so we should be, the church should be a place that is a, a hospital for those that are spiritually sick. And that's all of us. 'cause we're all sinners. And, and when I realized that that church is not just about for good people to come together to insulate themselves from the culture war, it is about reaching people. And I wanna share with you, um, what Jesus told us in this story, this parable. Before I do that, from, um, Luke chapter 15, I wanna ask you, are you reaching people? Are you personally reaching people? Because I'll just tell you this message. I I'm just presuming that most of you are believers here and we don't, uh, ordinarily do that. But I want you to understand very clearly that what God called us to, I mentioned it last week, we are called to fulfill the great commission that is to make disciples of people to go out and find those that are sick and hurting. Those that are lost, those that are broken. And we should do whatever it takes in order to reach them because it's so important. And we are to do this. The church is to do this until Jesus returns one day. That is our mandate. So all that we are, all that God's given you, uh, the context he's placed you in, God wants you to use that for him to reach people. Jesus talked about the importance of this in Luke 15 in verse one. He said, now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered this man welcomes sinners and eats with them. Then Jesus told them this parable, suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, doesn't he leave the 99 in the open country and go after the law sheep until he finds it. And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and he goes home. Then he calls his friends and his neighbors together and says, rejoice with me. I have found my lost sheep. I tell you that in the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent. Look, this is so important. It's foundational to our church. Our vision statement is simply this. It's a slogan. We are a family for everyone, but our threefold mission starts. And this was always in place, this beginning part that is reaching spiritually disconnected people with the gospel. It is the priority. I mean, Jesus makes it very plain here. It's it's who we are, it's what we're about. And I I i want us to sort of rethink maybe reapproach, um, the paradigm sometimes of church that we sort of maybe all ourselves into a couple things here. First of all, God notices when even one is missing. So should we Right? God notices even when one is missing, this means that the one is prioritized over the 99. I mean, let that sink in just a moment. That means that, oh, alright, I'm one of the 99, I'm already safe. I am a follower of Jesus. My eternity is secure. So, you know, my opinion is my preference is these things that I think the church should be doing to serve me. No, it's really not about that. It is about trying to serve, minister and reach the one that is spiritually disconnected, that is lost. And what is unique about Fellowship of the Parks is we say these several things. First of all, we say that Fellowship of the Parks is a place where you can belong before you believe. And that's radically different than most churches. In other words, you can come in and be a part of the community. You can find, uh, relationships, you can meet people. And we believe, I believe in the power of the gospel, that in time Jesus will change them. I believe that they will accept what he said, that he is the way, the truth and the life, their life will change and their family will change. I can think of David and Bianca who, uh, came to our church the first time several years ago because of a date night. Now he is an atheist. His wife dabbled in spirituality and she was, you know, sort of, well she was getting involved with, with a group that he wasn't real thrilled about. And so he said this, look, I don't believe, and I'm not in this thing, but so we're not gonna do this. I'll at least go to the church where we, we went to the date night, they started coming. Long story short, in that time, uh, the way we loved on them, the relationships they developed, they serve children. He just came up last week and said, here's my four week old. And he said, I wanna sign her up for dedication. They were both baptized. He said, I, I want to contribute, I wanna help, I wanna make a difference. And look in a lot of environments that is that process of time where we love people and truly give out mercy triumphs judgment. People who've made mistakes, they hurt. The world is broken, but they matter. You matter spiritually disconnected. People matter. And notice that secondly, God actively pursues the disconnected again. He leaves the 99, he leaves them to go out and rescue the one that is lost. So should we, I think about this and, and again, I just wanna applaud you because we have a history of doing this. Um, that means that we choose, um, purpose over preference. Yeah, the purpose of the church, the mission of the church, what are we to be about? It means that I'm going to, you know, if my preference is something else, different musical style, a different preference on the way you should do this or that in church, and everybody has those opinions, you're entitled to 'em. That's wonderful. But the real question is, does it reach people? Is it reaching lost people? Because it's not about me, it's not about my preferences, it's does it reach someone? And I love, I love people like my friend Allen that comes in every week. Big smile on his face. We talk, loves our church, loves what we're about. But he will go to the table and get the earplugs, put those in his ear before he comes in to worship. You know, maybe the music's too loud. Maybe it's this or that. Maybe it's not his, I don't know. I don't care. But he doesn't either because he knows it's not about him. And I'm saying that is a whole different mentality than thinking that church is for me, it's about serving me. It's about me being with good people. No, we are on mission and we're willing to sacrifice preference over purpose. And we're, we're going to choose impact over comfort. Again, it would be very easy after 32 years coast along, you know, not keep, you know, moving forward. But we know we have to be faithful with filling the great commission until Christ returns. That means taking the gospel to our neighbors. It means loving and meeting people where they are. Uh, Jesus told us too about the story, um, metaphor of, you know, the, the, the master sending his servants out into the highways and the hedges and begging people to come in, you know, to the banquet. Why? Because they matter. Because you matter. And so we're going to, to keep reaching people, we're gonna do whatever it takes, you know, we, we've gotta do it. It's, it's our purpose and we want to be impactful, not comfortable. And, and here's how I, I wanna help you be impactful. Again, this, this idea came to me and it's inspired by James two 13. And so some of you already may have 'em, but we, uh, we want to give you a, uh, free t-shirt, um, and encourage you to wear it this weekend. They're free. Alright? And, and this is, this is my idea on the front. It says mercy tris judgment because I, I simply believe that a lot of people that are spiritually disconnected think that the church is a place of judgment. And we want them to know Fellowship of the Parks is about mercy. And on the back it just says simply that you matter. My hope and prayer is that this will be a conversation piece. That someone will notice this, ask you something about it, and then all you have to do is tell 'em about the church and invite them, be, be nice with a smile on your face and let God work in and through that. You just gotta be open. You gotta be, you gotta be willing. And look, here's, here's also what I know. This has been a very, very difficult week. There's a lot of just sin and brokenness and I mean, it's overwhelming. And you look at the world and think, oh God, what next? But let me put it in perspective. It's why the last few verses of the Bible say that our prayers should be even. So Lord come, there is no government, there's no political system. There is nothing that is going to last until Christ returns, only his government. Uh, the, the Bible says that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. If we want to fix the world the best that we can do, Jesus is the answer. It's to point them to him. So by all means, we wanna be about the gospel. And my commitment as your pastor here is we are going to continue to reach people. We're going to love them. We're gonna try to walk that fine line. We're gonna welcome them and love them and believe that God will change them. And here's the deal. This is what I love. You go to, uh, verse seven. It says, I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent. What's the Bible say? Heaven rejoices when one returns. So should we, and this really is what this weekend is about. It is a celebration of life changes. It's a celebration of what God has done. And we, again, I'm so grateful, I'm so thankful that we can be a part. You're going to see 115 baptisms, which what we did this month. And I want you to know, because you're a part, because you've invited, because you've served, because you've given, because you've helped, because you smiled and greeted someone 'cause you were nice to them. Look, all of that, God works together to bring people to a place where they can know that they matter, that he loves them, that he wants to change their life. And as a result we see a life change. So I want you to join me. You matter. So do these people. And so the ones that are not here yet, but we're gonna keep spreading the good news of Jesus until they come, until Christ returns. But let's celebrate together. These 115 lost cheap who were found God of faithful promises, time and time you have, do what you may And Your word remains the same. Yeah, history Can do. There's nothing you can do. Faithful. I Heart You.