Woodbury
Presbyterian Church
God’s Love in ACTION
Sermon Notes
“A Date with BOHAG”
Acts 2:41-47, Isaiah 54:2-3
Have you ever be=
en on
a blind date? When I was in seminary, before I met Pat, a friend of mine se=
t me
up with a friend of hers. Now I didn’t have much money, so we
didn’t have a big evening planned. And I was kind of a scrawny, scruf=
fy
looking guy, and not nearly the dapper dresser as I am today. And I
didn’t have a car, so she had to drive. I gave her directions to wher=
e I was
staying so she could pick me up.
On the evening o=
f our
date I was waiting on the sidewalk outside my dorm. A young woman pulled up=
in
a nice car, rolled down the window and said, “Excuse me, do you know
where I can find the Presbyterian
I said,
“Susan?”
She said, “Rod?&=
#8221;
I said, “Yes!=
221;
She said, “I -
I’m sorry, I meant the Methodist School of Music.”
It really didn’t
happen that way. She actually went out with me and had a very nice evening.
… Once.
That story has
absolutely nothing to do with the title of today’s sermon, “A D=
ate
with BOHAG.” BOHAG is not a slang term for a scrawny, scruffy looking=
guy
with no money and no car. A date with BOHAG is a good thing.
1. Since the middle of September
we’ve been poring over the portrait of God’s vision for the ide=
al
church in Acts 2:41-47. Do you have it memorized?
We’ve look=
ed at
what it means to devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching as we stu=
dy
the Scriptures on our own and in Sunday school and ACTION Academy classes. =
And
we’ve dreamed about building the Discipleship Training Center where
people from not just Woodbury but other churches can grow in faith and
faithfulness.
We’ve expl=
ored
“What Goes On in a Commune,” since the church is a place where =
we
freely share what we have because we deeply care for one another. This is w=
hy
it’s so important to be part of a small group and to take part in our
fellowship activities, like the Progressive Dinner we’ll enjoy on Dec=
ember
9.
We’ve underscore=
d the
vital importance of developing a culture of prayer. That’s perhaps the
most crucial things we can do as individuals and as a church.
We’ve reme=
mbered
to pray for and expect God to work miracles among us, especially in our hea=
ling
services. And we’ve discovered that generous giving is the best way to
keep our possessions from possessing us.
We’ve lear=
ned
that when we use our spiritual gifts, when we apply God’s resources to
meeting human needs, we become superheroes. And last Sunday we heard how wh=
en
we come to worship every Sunday we’re not supposed to watch. What are=
we
supposed to do? Praise the Lord!
Today I feel kin=
d of
like Johnny Carson’s character, Carnac the Magnificent. “I hold=
in
my hand the last sermon on Acts 2:41-47. [May a thousand frogs from the Nile
croak in your altissimo.] Acts 2:47 says, And the Lord added to their
number daily those who were being saved.
2. What if God did that among u=
s?
What if the Lord added to our number daily those who were being save=
d?
We’d have people sitting in the front rows! We’d have people
parking in the grass parking lot out back. We’d have to start another
service and begin that new building we’ve been talking about. And sur=
ely
some of those people would become teachers and choir members and musicians =
and
gardeners, small group leaders and so on.
That would reall=
y be
something. What if the Lord added to our number daily those who are being
saved?
3. That could lead us to a BOHA=
G,
couldn’t it? But wait. I haven’t told you what a BOHAG is yet. =
In 1996 James Co=
llins
and Jerry Poras published an article that turned the corporate world on its
ear. In “Building Your Company’s Vision” they said that a
good vision has to involve a Big Hairy Audacious Goal. A BHAG.
“=
A true
BHAG,” they say, “is clear and compelling, serves as
unifying focal point of effort, and acts as a clear catalyst for team spiri=
t.
It has a clear finish line, so the organisation can know when it has achiev=
ed
the goal; people like to shoot for finish lines.”
I’ve simply adde=
d a
vowel and called it a Big Ol’ Hairy Audacious Goal. BOHAG.
Every church needs a B=
OHAG.
In fact we need a BOHAG that’s so big we can’t achieve it on our
own.
&nb=
sp;
In the 1800’s New England pastor Phillips Brooks said,
"We
never become truly spiritual by sitting down and wishing to become so. You =
must
undertake something so great that you cannot accomplish it unaided." <=
/span>He was talking about a=
BOHAG.
I admire this paragrap= h I found in the vision statement of the Tampa Bay Presbyterian Church, R= 20;We envision a church that has a “God-sized” vision that will take God-glorifying faith and God-glorifying obedience to accomplish that vision= . We want to attempt something so great for God that it is doomed to failure unl= ess God be in it.” Now that’s a BOHAG.
In 1983 the Apple
Computer Company was facing hard times and needed new leadership. The
company’s founder, Steve Jobs, went to New York to recruit John Scull=
ey,
who was then the CEO of Pepsi Cola. Scully told Jobs that he would only swi=
tch
companies if Apple paid him a million dollar salary, a million dollar bonus=
and
a million dollar severance package. Steve Jobs gulped and agreed, provided =
that
Suclley would move to California. But
Sculley would commit only to being a consultant from New York. At that point Jobs asked Sculley a=
life
changing question: "Do you want to spend your life selling sugared wat=
er,
or do you want to change the world?" That’s a BOHAG. Sculley
accepted the challenge, and you know the rest.
4. Now one thing about a BOHAG:=
it
needs passion. Bill Hybels, pastor of the Willow Creek Church in Chicago, s=
ays
that the best place to find our passion is from a Popeye cartoon. You remem=
ber
how it goes. Bad guy Brutus works his mayhem, molesting Popeye’s main
squeeze Olive Oil in the process. Popeye puts up with it and puts up with it
and puts up with it until he finally sputters, “That’s all I can
stands, I can’t stands no more.” That’s when he blows the=
lid
off a can of spinach, flexes his bicep and fights to the finish – usu=
ally
sending Brutus careening through the sky into the sea.
Your passion, Hy=
bels
says, grows out of that situation that makes you say, “That’s a=
ll I
can stands, I can’t stands no more.”
I’ll tell =
you a
time when I say those words. It’s when I’m driving to or from t=
he
church during rush hour. Have you seen the traffic on East Colonial, and ev=
en
on Woodbury? There are cars as far as you can see in either direction. You =
can
wait through two or three lights to turn at the corner of Woodbury and East=
50.
But it isn’=
;t the
traffic itself that bugs me. Think of the population. Look at all the people
who have moved into this area. New homes are sprouting everywhere. We
can’t build schools and infrastructure fast enough to keep up with the
growth.
But it isn’=
;t the
population that gets under my skin. I see all those cars, filled with all t=
hose
people, and I can’t help but wonder, “How many of them know the
Lord and His love? How many have turned to Jesus and experienced the
forgiveness of their sins and the gift of a new life? How many of these
children of God have a sense of meaning and purpose in this life, and hope =
for
the life to come? How many of these people belong to a loving church family
where they’re growing in their faith? I’m afraid it isn’t
many. I know it isn’t enough. That’s all I can stands and I
can’t stands no more.
Here’s something=
else
that gets my passion pumping. I look around this room and I see empty chair=
s.
But again, it isn’t the chairs that concern me; it’s the people=
who
aren’t sitting in them. I mean particular people. People whose
names I know and you know. People we love. People we’ve invited to be
here. Where are they?
5.=
I’ve been bursting to tell you about a remarkable experience I=
had
last month while Pat and I were on vacation in Montreat, NC. I was sitting =
by
the crackling fireplace one crisp, mountain night praying for all of you.
Montreat is holy ground for me. It’s a marvelous place to pray. So I =
took
the church directory and started asking the Lord’s blessings on each =
of
our members by name, and all the members of your families.
About a third of=
the
way through the prayer I was moved to make a simple but very heartfelt requ=
est.
I asked the Lord for the privilege of really being the pastor of this whole
congregation. I meant not only you who are active members, but your sons and
daughters and husbands and wives and parents as well. Particularly I asked =
if I
could share God’s Word, God’s love, God’s joy with the en=
tire
church family – the extended family.
In my vision, I =
look
out across this room and I see you glorifying and enjoying God here alongsi=
de
the people dearest to you.
Ever since that =
night
I have given you the opportunity every Sunday to pray for people you love w=
ho
are not here with you, though your heart cries out for their presence. You =
long
to sing with them. Pray with them. Talk about the Word of God with them.
You’d love to serve with them and share the part of your life that is=
deepest
and most precious to you. In my vision I see them here with you. I see that
dream of yours fulfilled.
And here’s=
the
kicker. This is the remarkable part. As I prayed that prayer in the flicker=
ing
firelight, the Lord reminded me of Psalm 2:8. “Ask of me and I =
will
make the nations as your inheritance.” In other words I felt =
like
the Lord was saying, “Ask me for this, Rod. Ask me for those spouses =
and
children, those siblings and parents and precious friends. I want to give t=
hem
to you.” I believe God is going to answer that prayer.
6.=
This weekend I prayed through the church directory again. But this t=
ime
I couldn’t help doing a little arithmetic. If everybody on the church
roll showed up on Sunday (at least the ones who live in town – we
don’t expect Ken and Lynn Chapman to come in from Uganda every weeken=
d),
and if just the immediate family members who are in town and aren’t
active in another church came to magnify God with us here, that would fill =
most
of the chairs at each service. That would be nearly twice the number of
worshippers actively, joyfully praising the Lord in this room. If those peo=
ple
we love came to love and honor the Lord here, involvement would practically
double in 2007.
So how’s t=
his
for a BOHAG? Let’s double in ’07.
Now I’m not
interested in doubling our membership in terms of adding another
270-some names to our church roster. I mean doubling in active participa=
tion.
Doubling in discipleship. That means filling these chairs twice a Sunday wi=
th
people we love and God loves. It means maxing out our Sunday school classro=
oms,
and crowding the choir loft, and multiplying small groups and ministry team=
s.
It means permeat=
ing
every cubic inch of this room with resounding praise and joyous laughter. It
means watching our toddling children and grandchildren sparkle with delight=
as
they learn about the love of Jesus. It means witnessing an explosion of
excitement among our teenagers and young adults as they experience a
relationship with God that is more powerful than anything they ever dreamed=
of.
It means seeing our seniors radiate joy that they know is going to last for
eternity.
Will you share t=
hat
vision with me? Will you join me in pursuing that Big Ol’ Hairy Audac=
ious
Goal? Let’s double in ’07.
7. But how can we do that? What
strategies should we deploy to pursue that BOHAG? Well, we could advertise a
little more. We could have special events like “Invite a Friend
Sunday.” We could be more intentional about inviting people to the
Progressive Dinner, the Fall Festival, the 4th of July Picnic,
Vacation Bible School, the next Alpha Course and so on. There are lots of
strategies we can pick. With the proper passion, we can easily meet that Bi=
g,
Ol’, Hairy, Audacious Goal.
But there’s something =
huge
we need to notice. It’s obvious but essential. In Acts 2:41-47, in the
ideal church it was the Lord who added to their number daily those w=
ho
were being saved. The early Christians didn’t do it, and we can’=
;t
do it either. But God can. I believe with all my heart that God wants to
– because God loves these people far more than you and I do – a=
nd
God can.
Of course we sho=
uld
still increase our advertising and invite our friends and loved ones to spe=
cial
events and courses and come up with other creative strategies. When we̵=
7;re
excited about what God is doing in His church we do those things automatica=
lly.
But notice the Evangelism strategy of the early church. What did they do?
42<= /span>They devoted themselves to = the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many w= onders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44= All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sinc= ere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of a= ll the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved= . (Acts 2:41-47)
That’s the=
way
to our BOHAG. In fact it’s a BOHAG in itself. Just follow the example=
of
the early church. Keep growing as disciples: more than 50 of you just compl=
eted
the Alpha Course. Keep loving each other deeply and in generous, practical
ways: You just provided complete Thanksgiving dinners for 75 families in our
community and sent 52 Operation Christmas Child boxes to kids around the wo=
rld.
Continue to be open vessels of God’s miraculous grace not only to each
other and our family members, but to everyone around us: today our hermanos=
y
hermanas from Iglesia Maranata are coming to thank you for your warm
hospitality and help in launching this dynamic mission to our Spanish speak=
ing
neighbors. Perpetually praise the Lord with worship is God-focused, uninhib=
ited
and unashamed.
In other words, =
do
what you do:
Adore God through powerful, Spirit filled worship,
Care for oth=
ers
through acts of compassionate ministry,
Teach believ=
ers how
to be more faithful disciples of Jesus,
Involve peop=
le in a
fellowship of Christ like love and
Offer God=
217;s
gift of
New Life in =
Christ
to our community and the world.
At the beginning=
of
this series we faced a hard question. We asked ourselves if we were willing=
to
be a minimalist church, a church that does the least it can do just to get =
by,
just to get a passing grade, or if we wanted to be “church to the
max.”
We said want to =
be a
church to the max. We want to be every thing God wants us to be. As we do t=
hat
we will grow. As we do that God will use us to bring those people we love to
Himself. When they see us becoming more and more dynamic disciples,
they’ll be drawn to Him through us. God will use us to bring to Himse=
lf,
day after day after day, those who are being saved.
Now that’s=
a Big
Ol’ Hairy Audacious Goal! And it’s what God is calling us to do=
. We
have a date with BOHAG. And that’s a good thing.
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