God is doing a beautiful thing!

I always pay attention when I see the same thing happening in different places. For the past couple of years, as a Yearly Meeting, we’ve been talking about and trying new ways to be more connected, to celebrate our common vision and mission, to simply know one another better. And at the same time, here in Newberg, churches are finding more and more ways to say with our mouths and with our actions: there is only one church of Jesus Christ in the world, and we are simply a part of it.

God seems to be reminding us, calling us, loving us to better connections with each other. And we want to pay attention to that.

When we say in our vision statement that we want to be a growing community, that also means we want to be connected in community outside of ourselves here in Newberg. We want to be an active part of our Yearly Meeting. We want to be an active part of Christ’s work in Newberg. And we want to be an active part of what God is doing around the world!

We’ve heard Lisby Rogers and Dave Woolsey speak today about why it’s good for us to be connected to our Yearly Meeting.

Because we’re a part of Northwest Yearly Meeting, we have so many opportunities: camps and bible quizzing and missions and church planting and pastor training and insurance and sharing of resources, to name a few.

Other Friends’ churches here in the Northwest are the most natural connections we have…in fact, in our church’s 129 year history, we’ve played a big part in founding and expanding our Yearly Meeting. I’m glad for our connection, and glad that today we can highlight it.

It’s the connections that have come with other churches here in town that has been really unexpected.

It started with a few of the pastors, but now things are just getting out of control. J

Last week, the Serve and Celebrate Newberg Carnival was a great experience of serving side by side with other churches. I knew things were going to go well on Friday night, when we arrived at the field over by Edwards to set up. We had literally five or ten times the number of people we were expecting to come and help.

There was great energy as we set up tables and chairs and generators and awnings. I had people coming up to me, introducing themselves, excited to tell me how they were glad their church and Newberg Friends were doing this together.

We prayed together for the event, and then split up and walked all over the field in groups of 2’s and 3’s and 5’s and 6’s to pray.

Saturday itself was amazing. Jem 100 agreed to serve hamburgers and hot dogs and chips and a drink at cost…just $1.75 per meal, which our churches combined together to pay. We ended up serving 1040 people!

One of the neatest stories was Pogy’s subs. The woman who owns Pogy’s is a Christian, and when she saw the posters advertising the carnival, she called and asked if she could be a part. She said God gave her the business in order to bless others…so she came and served 344 sub sandwiches. For free!

Everything we had there was free to everybody who came.

16 churches contributed volunteers or money. Together, we served over 800 Italian sodas, over 500 specialty coffee drinks, 537 bags of popcorn, and 600 shaved ice treats.

Hundreds of kids got to play on those big, bouncy blow up toys. More than 100 people got hair cuts, 30 bike tubes were replaced, and Dennis Headrick gave away 350 balloon figurines. Over 150 people had their family or senior pictures taken.

Then we had people out serving homes all over town. 12 yards were cleaned, 26 dump runs were made…a total of 64 off site jobs were completed.

We took the lead in helping the churches of Newberg get together and give a gift to our community, and people loved it!

I’m amazed at the respect other churches have for us. Several people have told me things like, “You guys were the first church here in the valley, and you play an important role.”

“When you’ve taken the lead to get us outside of ourselves, it really makes a difference.”

I’m glad we have the chance to live here in a time when God is breaking down walls between our churches. And I really believe this is a God-thing. Our gathering of pastors in Newberg, called the Ministerial Association, is looking at some major changes that would help us be better connected as the body of Christ.

I see all kinds of ways in our town that community is growing in the body of Christ, and it matches what we read all through the bible. It’s sad that our country has had a much stronger history of denominations and churches separating from each other and competing with each other. But God’s intent for unity is clear in the bible! Listen to just some of the many verses that make it clear:

“There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope when you were called-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Ephesians 4:4-6, NIV.

“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptised by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” 1 Corinthians 12:12, 13, NIV.

“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints-- the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.” Colossians 1:3-6, NIV.

God wants our church, and all churches, to be so connected to Christ that we are intimately connected to each other.

Even with our differences, even with at times our disagreements, I think we must work to find ways to bless each other on our common mission.

The early church was able to do it! And they did it with some really difficult issues. Turn with me to Acts 15. [READ v.1]

Circumcision was a very important issue as Christianity began. For Jews, it was defining, and this was a much bigger deal than simply what color carpet to put in the sanctuary. This meant something. [READ v. 2]

Paul felt this was incredibly important. The freedom that Christ brought, as Paul wrote in his letter to the Galatians, would be destroyed if something physical had to be done, if some rule had to be followed, to be in God’s kingdom. So he gets sent to fight the battle with the big boys in Jerusalem. [READ vs. 3-4]

I love this for several reasons.

People are all excited and glad for what is truly the most important thing: new people are coming into God’s family. And, even though a very important theological discussion is coming, even though everyone knows there are differences, Paul and Barnabas are welcomed in Jerusalem

One of the foundations for unity between churches is a focus on what’s really important, and an openness and welcoming presence. It shows here in Acts, at a time that proved to be pivotal for the whole future of the church.

Acts 15 is important. We live in a time where sometimes, the differences between churches are significant and important. Some of our differences our things we find to be essential to our understanding of how God has spoken, and to what the bible says. Circumcision was just such an issue. How do we work through differences that are important?

I love that it began with celebrating the way God was bringing new people into his family. I love that it began with a welcoming, friendship presence extended to Paul and Barnabas. It challenges us, I think, to do the same today with those we see as being on the “other” side of some fence.

As the council discusses further, Peter ends up on Paul’s side, reminding everyone of how God led Peter to go to the Gentile Cornelius.

And then, the whole assembly listened. They listened with amazement as Barnabas and Paul spoke out what God was doing. Listen to the description…it’s powerful. [READ v. 12]

They listened carefully, were moved to silence…and I think in that silence, they were able to listen to God. James takes the lead and speaks what the group is hearing from God…God is doing a new thing, bringing Gentiles into a right relationship with God.

James helps the church come to agreement, come to unity, in a way that can include what will eventually become billions and billions of non-Jews.

What a beautiful picture of the big, wide community that God wants to bring together in Christ!

We’re not alone as individuals in our life with God. We’re part of a growing community. And it’s not just our Newberg Friends community…we’re connected to other Friends churches in the Northwest, to other churches in Newberg, to Christ’s churches all around the world!

I hope we continue to find ways to live this out. I hope we continue to celebrate what’s most important and welcome even those Christians with whom we have disagreements.

We want to close our service today by praying for some of our closest Yearly Meeting churches.

Prayer requests on screen, turn to face the churches we’re praying for.