Memorial Day (Sun AM)
Tom Shrader begins with the history of Cannon Beach Conference Center, emphasizing how God uses ordinary people for extraordinary purposes. He then teaches from 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 on reconciliation, explaining that believers are new creatures who have been reconciled to God through Christ's sacrifice. As reconciled people, Christians are called to serve as ambassadors for Christ, carrying the ministry of reconciliation to a lost and dying world.
“God uses the weak, not those that the world might consider mighty or powerful or smart or dynamic, so that your faith may not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: CBCC Memorial Day 2007
Recorded: 2007 at Cannon Beach Conference Center
Duration: 55 min
Themes: reconciliation, purpose, service, ambassadors, ministry, sacrifice, calling, transformation, new believer, seeking purpose, called to ministry, feeling ordinary, servant leader, evangelist, missionary, young adult
Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16, 1 Corinthians 1, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, John 13:34-35, 1 John 3:11, Acts 2:14-47, 2 Corinthians 5:14-21
Theological Themes: reconciliation, new creation, ambassadorship, atonement, sanctification, ministry calling, christology, soteriology
Full Transcript
Good morning. A bunch of you here are visitors. Jeff mentioned it. We're glad you're here. My name is Tom, and you joined us kind of in the middle. This is halfway right here. We're halfway completed. We have six sessions together. We're halfway done.
I want to do something just kind of weird maybe for you, but I like this kind of stuff, and because I have 45 minutes to do what I want to do, you're going to enjoy it too. I know I'm getting old, but as I age, I'm getting a little more mellow. I used to be a little grinder, which is hard to imagine, but I've mellowed a lot, and I'm more and more into history, not just significant history.
Memorial Day. Tonight, we will stop and pray for those who have given their lives, especially for this country. We'll do that tonight, but just history of stuff. I called the girls the other day, and I guess I asked Susan, what are the girls doing today, and they said they're going to meet at the park and take their kids for a walk. I was driving somewhere, and I started thinking. I remember when I used to take them to the park and take them for a walk.
A Love for Stories
When I came, I brought seven books with me. Stupid, and I have since purchased one since I got here, so I don't know how many books. I'm not kidding you. I have no idea how many books I'm reading right now, but I have lately been reading Max Lucado, and I've never read any Max Lucado. You may go, are you even Christian, and I would say, well, I don't know that, but I've never read any Max Lucado, and I have fallen in love with this guy in the sense that he tells stories. Obviously, he illustrates points, but he tells stories.
Last Labor Day when we were here, I think Jeff gave me a copy of the book. You'll see it over in the registration thing. It's the story, really, of Cannon Beach, and it's not war and peace. It's not the greatest book ever written, but it is a wonderful story, and maybe some of you know it. If you know it, it will not hurt you to hear it again.
Every time I stand here, I look out, and I see your blank faces, and then I see a clock, and then I see those two people. Just look back there. This is an ominous feeling. Those two people on that wall staring at me constantly. I mean, they just never quit looking at me, and no matter what, and they never laugh. They just look at me.
The Story Behind the Portraits
I think you probably know who they are, maybe, but I asked Jeff if he'd come and just kind of let us talk a little bit. This will only take just a few minutes, but talk about them, and this story, and how this place got here, and it's really important. If you know the story, then you're going to rejoice with us. If you don't, you're going to love it.
Do you mind coming? You know, I hate to put you on the spot, but I'll interview you. Go ahead and tell us who those two people are.
**Jeff:** Archie and Evangeline McNeil were the founders of the Conference Center, and Archie was... That's Archie on the right.
**Tom:** Archie's on the right, yeah, and thank you. Fascinating family, because of the McNeil, some of you may have heard of John McNeil, who was a famous preacher, evangelist from the British Isles, who came to America, and what kind of went back and forth. Had some tremendous responses in evangelism. Archie was his son, and Evangeline came from the Duff side of the family, and some of you may be familiar with Village Missions, Christian Women's Clubs. That's all family.
A Remarkable Partnership
**Jeff:** They met down in Southern California, Biola, got married, and had a great vision for ministry. They traveled all over for years, in their earlier years, in small communities evangelizing and doing programs in small communities. He was quite, had a quite nice baritone voice. In fact, at one point, had the option of singing at the Metropolitan Opera, decided not to, and she could play about every instrument that was ever created, and so they were quite a couple.
**Tom:** I was just thinking of Evangeline. She played saxophone, vibra harp, piano, organ, trombone, whatever else as well.
**Jeff:** He was pastoring in Portland just after the war, and God laid it on their heart for a place where people could get away, hear God's Word, and enjoy fun. Archie was a great guy, told jokes, which didn't happen in those days very much, from the pulpit, and loved to ride horses, great wrestler, and so they found this place, and stepped down in faith, and were able to purchase the property back in the fall of 1944.
**Tom:** Do you know what they paid for it?
**Jeff:** I don't. I want to say in the neighborhood of six or eight thousand dollars, or something like that, which was a ton of money.
**Tom:** It's appreciated since then.
**Jeff:** A little bit. We figure 15 to 20 million, maybe now, or something.
Tragedy and Transition
**Tom:** And that's something. Archie, tell us about Archie, and kind of his demise.
**Jeff:** Yeah, he passed away. The conference first year was 1945. They did four summer conferences that year, and right after World War II, a lot of spiritual interest in the country at that time, and things began to grow. Well, he passed away in a car accident in 1952, so just seven years into the conference ministry. They used to drive to Portland to have to pick up supplies, and he was coming back, and was killed in a car accident, and that was a real transition point, 1952.
And Evangeline McNeil took over as the director. They really started it as a couple, as a pair, and she was a great woman of prayer. They both were, really, and she took over as a director, and was the director here for 25 years, till 1977, when she passed away. Very unusual. There were actually speakers at that time that would not come to the Cannon Beach Conference Center, because there was a woman in leadership, and that was a very...
When we think about it this time, we think, well, that's crazy, but in those days, that was very much of a reality. Christian women just didn't do that at that time, but God blessed her faith, and her perseverance, and her prayer. She was able to get lots and lots of people, lots of volunteers, and others to be a part of the ministry. The term I would use, as I read the book, she was a grinder. She was pretty persistent. Intense.
In 1952, the property consisted of most just the main grounds that we have here. You can see some of the pictures of some of the early buildings that have been around. The chapel and the dining room were built by then, and just a few of the other buildings, but there was not a whole lot at that point.
There are just wonderful stories of how she acquired property. The beachfront properties, both of those were just somebody suggesting she look into it, or that there might be an opportunity to get the properties. She would pray about it and begin to follow the Lord's steps and see where it would go. Just some amazing stories about how the beachfront property was acquired, and then also where the Pacific View Lodge is now, a number of years later.
A Living Legacy
That's a wonderful story. I feel really intimidated, because the daughters of Archie and Evangeline McNeil are sitting in the back right now. I didn't even realize they were back here. Heather Goodenough and Helen Stainer, daughters of the founders. And also Heather's husband, Charles. They've been actively involved in the ministry here for a long time.
Both Helen and Heather are part of our board of directors. Charles operates our Ecola Creek Lodge, the motel right across the river there. They've been involved, of course, in the ministry here since, well, the beginning, I guess. But good to have them with us.
Stories from the Founders' Daughter
Is there any chance I'd get you up here, Heather, for a second? Come on, just tell us a story or two. We're talking about your mom and your dad. The stories are incredible for you, I'm sure, growing up here as a little girl. Tell us a little bit about it. What I want to get at is the story of God's faithfulness.
Well, I would say this about both my parents. Prayer was a very big part of their lives. Growing up as a little child, I would see both my parents on their knees in the living room, and Daddy would weep over the lost. He had the heart of an evangelist. Even though he took some pastorates, he just wanted to share the gospel. That was the main thing with him.
But he did have a great sense of humor, and he would tell stories that would have you crying one minute and laughing the next. He just had, well, it was something that his father had done, too. They said that in England and the British Isles, my grandfather would preach to tens of thousands. He was the Billy Graham over there before PA systems. So he had a huge voice then. He was not a huge man, although my dad was.
He had died in the 30s, and I was born 38. I was very young when the conference center started. But I do remember being in prayer and that both my dad would weep over people in town that he believed were lost. So I grew up with the idea that the most important thing in the world was that we introduce people to Jesus. That was a great heritage.
A Heritage of Faith and Humor
Then I had the opportunity of marrying Mr. Goodenough, who came from a pagan family. Although when I married him, my mother said, "Well, finally you found somebody good enough."
I was thinking about this when I was walking back with coffee today. If your mom and dad walked in here today, what would they think? Well, for one thing, they would be amazed at some of our buildings because Mother always wanted to do everything the cheapest way possible because she was a product of the crash of 29. So our newest building across the street with all its dormers, dormers are expensive. I remember her saying that. She would have a fit that we wasted all that money on dormers.
The other thing that has changed is our culture has greatly changed. I remember that when you came to the conference center on Sundays, my mother wore a long dress and cultural clothes. You would be in a suit and tie. Mother kept us all dressed on Sunday. She was very proper. And Daddy could have cared less. I remember one time he was speaking at a Presbyterian church where they were to wear robes, and he said, "You're not going to get me into one of those choir robes." So he was very
I like that. And just loved fun. Now, this is what he said about Bible teaching: "The mind can absorb what the seat can endure." Well, we're about done then. And he would have you laughing. That's so funny. Thank you so much. I had no idea you were back. I was intimidated looking at your mom and dad. I'm scared now understanding you're back there. Thank you so much. I love that stuff.
I think it's really important for you to look at these pictures and listen to that heritage. I mean, listen to what Heather remembers. Does it remember a thing that she was given materially? What she remembers is seeing her mom and dad, in this case her dad, weeping over lost people. I don't know what it is. Eight bucks for that book. And you ought to read it just to be inspired.
God Uses Ordinary People
What God does is use people. He uses ordinary people. I'm not saying there isn't something special about the McNeils, but what's special about them is not them. What's special about them—in fact, this has nothing to do with the lesson, but let's turn there. First Corinthians chapter 1 just popped into my mind. So let's spend a second on this.
Because I get jacked every once in a while and think Paul's a super guy. And he is kind of a cool guy. But my assumption is that when he writes about himself, he writes accurately. So First Corinthians chapter 2, that he writes about himself accurately.
And he says this, chapter 2 verse 1: "When I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." Now, by the way, you ought to write right in there: that's the gospel. That's what he's saying. He said, "I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified."
So when Paul's talking about whether it's marriage or raising kids or dealing with one another or sin in the church, his answer for that always falls back to the gospel. "I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and fear and much trembling."
Paul's Weakness and Trembling
Isn't that almost bizarre? I get this idea of Paul and here he is. He's this super stud preacher guy. And he said, "Listen, I'm scared. I'm trembling."
In Second Corinthians 10:10, they comment about him as he comes to speak. And he said, "His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech is contemptible." How great is that? There's hope for me. I mean, that's how I read that. Except I don't write strong letters. He's unimpressive. His speech is contemptible.
"My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Holy Spirit and of power." Why? Now, right before this, in First Corinthians chapter one, Paul said, here's what God uses. God uses the weak. God does not use those that the world might consider mighty or powerful or smart or dynamic. He uses the weak. Why? The answer is right there in First Corinthians chapter two, verse five: "So that your faith may not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God."
God's Power Through Weakness
Somebody gave me a 33rd and a third big old record of Donald Gray Barnhouse preaching. And I found an old record player and I put it on. And on the cover was a picture of Donald Gray Barnhouse in a gray suit with this perfectly starched shirt and a tie. And he gets up to speak in this booming voice. And I've heard so many times—and this is not a shot at Donald Gray Barnhouse—I've heard so many times about a powerful speaker he was. And Paul said, that was more Apollos than me.
Now, I'm not making judgments here. God seems to use—and that's the point that he's making—weak, not particularly bright, not particularly wealthy, not particularly powerful people to have a huge impact. Why? So that it becomes very clear that it's God that's doing the work, not the person.
Years ago I was invited to this men's conference. And I don't remember where it was. All I knew was I flew in and some poor guy had to pick me up. And we had to drive pretending we knew each other and liked each other for an hour or so.
A Humbling Truth About Appearance
So we're driving along and something is clearly wrong with him. And my thought is maybe he's had a tough day. He's lost his job, broke a nail, something. So I said to him, "Are you okay?" And he said, "Yeah, I'm fine." And I said, "Well, what's the problem? There's a problem here. What's the problem?" And he said, "Nothing." I said, "All right."
So we stop and get something to drink. And I said, "You really seem like there's something wrong." He said, "No, there's nothing." And a couple minutes later he said, "Do you mind if I just tell you the truth?" And I said, "Well, yes, I've always been allergic to the truth. I prefer a lie." And I said, "Well, obviously you can tell me the truth."
He said, "When you got off the plane, I was taken back by your physical appearance." I had cut my hair. My hair used to be longer. So he didn't like that. He thought I was too short and too wide. My mother used to say—no wonder I'm screwed up—this is what my mother would say: "It's easier to walk over you than around you." So that never bothered me all that much.
And I said, "Hey, pal, that doesn't bother me at all. If you're thinking you're going to hurt my feelings, you're not going to hurt my feelings. There's nothing you're going to say that I don't already know. I've seen it all." And I thought a lot about that.
When God Gets the Glory
And I really do think that when a guy who's got it all, and he's all clothed, and he's perfectly dressed, and he never stutters or stammers, and he finishes all his sentences—which I rarely do—when he's done, the tendency is to say, "He's really something. He's really amazing." When I'm done, here's what they say: "God is good."
And a lady came up to me one day. She was so mad, so frustrated. She said, "I have to leave the church. I'm going to leave the church. I'll never be back." I said, "What's the problem?" And she said, "You dangle participles."
And I said, what's a participle? Now, that's a long way of getting around to the point that those are ordinary people. This is an incredible place. Not because the people who started it were the best and the brightest and had all the resources and all the stuff that goes with it.
If you read that book, you read about Heather's mom leading music and cooking and doing everything. They're making beds and all of them working to make this thing work. Why did it work? Because God used ordinary people to do incredible things.
Now, here's the deal. You're an ordinary person that God will use in an incredible way. All you got to do is obey Him. All you got to do.
Why God Uses Ordinary People
Why does He use ordinary? That drives me nuts. Because I kind of look around and I go, gosh, if God would save that guy or that guy or that gal or that person, something special would happen. And He would say, if I did that, then you'd miss the whole point here. You would think this depended on the wisdom of man, but it doesn't. It depends on the power of God.
So that's the whole gist of that. And that ended up being a wonderful little mini lesson there because I had no idea. I didn't know if Jeff would cooperate and I had no idea Heather would be here. But that's just a great little lesson for me.
Your Purpose: To Shine Your Light
Let me begin to bring us in, focus us in now on where we're going. Let me remind you. Matthew chapter 5, verse 16. That's the touch pad for the whole weekend. "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."
May God save you. God saved you for a purpose. I almost feel like I owe Rick Warren 10 bucks every time I use the word purpose now. But it's like he copyrighted the word. I mean, it existed before Rick Warren wrote a book. But God saved you for a purpose. That's what He's saying.
Let's go through this. It's Sunday morning. Give it your best. I am saved what? By God, from God, for God. There you go. And our focus is - and we'll come back because here's what we're going to do. We'll talk a little bit about the gospel and about God and who He is tonight. And then tomorrow, we're going to talk about your heart as you leave this place. But our focus now is on this idea of I'm saved for Him.
Being vs. Doing
I'm to let my light shine in such a way that they may see your good works. And the point that we made to you, especially in the last two sessions, is that your Christianity manifests a visible difference in your life. There's something distinct, unique, and different about you.
Our tendency, when we talk about see our good works, we think about things we are to do. But the context right before this, Matthew 5, verses 13 and 14 is this. The context is you are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. The emphasis is on being, not doing.
That sounds kind of metaphysical, and we want to be careful. We don't go too far down that road. But it's the idea here of just being. So when we talk about these good works, though there's all these things, and you know them, and there's books written all over about them. Go buy them, get them, do them. The thought here is on my heart.
So we spun that into a discussion last night on the fruit of the Spirit. And the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. And then we took last night that singular session and just talked about this idea of love.
Love at the Heart of Everything
Love seems to be at the heart, certainly of the gospel, but beyond that, at the heart of our relationship with one another and with the world. Jesus says, and it's recorded by John in John's gospel, chapter 13, verse 34, "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another even as I have loved you. That is that you love one another. By this, all men, not just those in and around the church, but by this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another."
So what He's saying is that even as we talk about evangelism, at the core of this is this idea of loving one another or caring for one another. That as lost people look at us, they see something distinct and different about us, the way we care for one another.
John: From Son of Thunder to Apostle of Love
Now, what I love is that the John that writes this gospel also writes a couple of little books and then a big one in the back, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, and then the book of Revelation. And in 1st John, chapter 3, verse 11, he says this, "For this is the message which we have heard from the beginning." Now, this is the - I want to connect these. I think you get it, but let's make sure we get it.
The John that's writing this gospel, that's recording the words of Jesus, that says, this is my new commandment, that John. He writes in 1st John 3:11, "For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another." John got it.
What makes that really interesting is that John and his brother, James, were first introduced to us and had a nickname. Remember, what was their nickname? The Sons of Thunder. Because whenever there was opposition to Jesus, they would go to Him, as is recorded in Luke 9:54, and say, "Should we call down fire from heaven upon them?"
And one commentator says it was James and John who were constantly quarreling with the other disciples, not the least of which the argument was what? Who's going to be the best? Who's the greatest? In fact, their mom gets in the argument and says, listen, I know that this is tough because I got the two boys. So, Jesus, when you reign, can you put one on the left and one on the right?
This is the John, the Son of Thunder, the one who's arguing, fighting, quarreling with the other disciples, who says, look, stop. I got it figured out. Here's the key that we love one another. And at the guts of this, he says, here's what happens. The world. Now, that's what we're talking about. We've been talking about you individually, us corporately. Talking about our life, say, by God, from God, all of those things. But now we're
saying, "OK, for a purpose." And at the core of that purpose is to take this gospel message to the world. Oh, that my heart would ache like Archie McNeill for lost people. It doesn't. And I wish it did. And it should.
And he said one of the most effective ways for us to evangelize the world is to act Christlike when we deal with one another. We're not even out in the world yet. He's talking about how we deal with one another. When we're talking about war, it just breaks my heart that we argue over music consistently. I wish we were arguing over doctrine. At least then, at that point, we could say, well, this is God's word. We could have something significant. But we're arguing over melodies and drums and words. And churches are splitting over it. Literally. Generations are fighting. What does that say to a lost and dying world? They can't even get along with each other. This stuff mustn't be of much value. They don't even care for one another.
Peter's Transformation
I want to stay. It's not what I want to talk about. But let's just stay here for a second. Look at Acts chapter 2. Do you mind turning there? Acts chapter 2. And let me bring you up to speed. Here's what's happened. Peter is about to preach.
Now, so often, when we think of Peter, unfortunately, we lock Him in space and time with his denial. Right? So Jesus has said, "I'm going to go, and I'm going to suffer, and I'm going to die." And Peter has said, "Where are you going?" And Jesus begins and tells Him. And he says, "You can't go there." And Peter says, "I'm going. And if I have to die, I will die to be with you. I will die for you."
Within hours, he has a little kid coming up to him, a little servant girl going, "Certainly you were with Him." "No, I was not." Then again, "Certainly you were with Him." "No, I was not." A third time, "Certainly you were with Him." "No, I was not." And Luke tells us that was a crow. And Luke tells us—and this, to me, is so powerful—Luke tells us that at that moment, it's the only gospel writer that tells us this. So the proximity to Jesus had to be significant. That at that moment, Jesus' eyes and Peter's eyes locked on one another. Can you imagine that? And Peter goes away and he weeps.
And now the crucifixion. Can you imagine? Can you climb into Peter's skin for a second and begin to imagine what that was like? Confusion. I thought He was the Messiah. I thought all this was going to happen. Beyond all that, He is dead. And beyond all that, I denied Him to His face before He died.
And then He rose. And on that first morning, now, this is where the story gets great to me. Now Peter and who's running with him? The guy that's writing this, John. The younger one. Now they're racing to the tomb. And what's really cool is, John gets there first, but out of respect for Peter, he waits. And John, the gospel writer, tells us that he looked in and he saw. He uses a different word here. Not saw with his eyes, but he saw. He saw the way the face covering was folded. He saw the gravesite. And he says, John saw and believed. It was that moment that he believed.
Peter's fishing. And all of a sudden sees Jesus. Now you fast forward 40 days. The Holy Spirit comes. And this is a whole different Peter. Peter gets up to preach. Acts chapter 2 verse 14. He begins to unpack this. He's talking primarily to an audience of Jews.
Peter's Pentecost Sermon
So in verse 22, he said, "Men of Israel, listen to these words. Jesus, the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God." God made known to you that this was the real deal. How? "Miracles and wonders and signs, which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know." Jesus did miracles and wonders and signs. Why? So that His message would be validated. And Peter says to these guys, "You know this. You saw this."
Don't get hung up on the miracles and the signs and the wonders. Don't go worshiping the miracles or the signs. When they put a big old billboard by the side of the road that says "Drink Coke," they're not hoping you drive up and look at the sign. They want you to go to Circle K and get a Coca-Cola and drink it. These are signs. Don't worship the sign. We love the signs. We've got miracle services and all this kind of stuff going on. Those were all signs that validated that Jesus is who He said He was.
Look at how Peter now unpacks it. Verse 23: "This man delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God." Now, here's what I like there. Here's what he's saying. That crucifixion wasn't an accident. Don't think for a second that Jesus had one plan and it went sideways. All of a sudden, He got like this with the Romans and they said, "OK, we're going to kill Him." No, this is all part of God's plan.
God's Plan in Our Suffering
So often, we'll hit the pause button here. So often in your life and mine, God drops in these somewhat, sometimes unwanted interruptions that are all part of His plan. James has a very strange way of talking about suffering. James chapter 1. Here's what he says: "Count it all joy when you encounter various trials." That doesn't make sense. Praise God I have cancer. Praise God the deal blew. Praise God. "Count it all joy." "Count it all joy when you encounter various trials." There has to be something in there. Why? That's not natural. Why? "Because I know the testing of my faith produces endurance." So when I pray, "God, I want to be close to you. I want to be strong," God hears you saying, "God, I want to suffer." Because that's how I grow strong.
"This man delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God. You nailed to the cross by the hands of godless men. You put Him to death. But," verse 24, "God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death." What's the agony of death? Not the physical part of it. The uncertainty of it.
Susan was at the oncologist the other day. She told me the story that night. There were two very old men sitting in the middle of the room. When you go, I don't know when the last time you went to an oncologist's office, but it is filled—
with sick people. Some of them are clearly sick. I'm not Howard Hughes, but I don't like people coughing on me. And these people are hurling lungs up, and they're coughing, and they're sneezing. This thing is just infested with germs and sick people.
And there's two old guys sitting there, clearly in the midst, both of them, of going through this treatment that one would assume near dying. And the one old man said to the other old man, "What do you think happens to us when we die?" That's the end of the agony that Jesus did. Jesus put an end to the agony of death. You don't have to wonder. The absence from the body is to be present with the Lord.
As I read that book, especially about Archie McNeil, and I read about that car wreck, and I thought about how horrific that had to be. But as my heart breaks for him, for his wife, for Heather, for kids, as I'm reading about it, I'm thinking what a joy that had to be for Archie. Absent from the body, present with the Lord.
Peter's Powerful Proclamation
He delivers this powerful message. Then he talks to these Jews about David, and he says, "But David died, and he's still on the ground." Verse 36: "Therefore, let the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him, that's Jesus, both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."
And when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart. And they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "What should we do?" He said, "Repent, each of you be baptized." And that's what happened. Look at verse 41: That day about 3,000 souls were added to the kingdom.
The Birth of Christian Community
Now look what happens. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer. There's basically church right there. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe, and there were signs and wonders that were taking place. Now look where they were taking place—through the apostles.
And all that had believed were together, and they had all things in common. You understand, this is still during a significant festival time, and so the city is filled with pilgrims. They didn't have money. It's not like in here. You didn't go hotel, hotel. We'll go to the Stephanie Inn. They didn't have that. So they're taking each other in. They're selling things. They're meeting needs.
Verse 45: they began selling property and possessions. They were sharing with one another as they might have need. And day by day, continually, with one mind in the temple, they were breaking bread from house to house. They're going around. They're having community. They were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart.
Look at verse 47. They were praising God and having favor with all the people. The people were blown away by this. They'd never seen anything like it. And the Lord was adding to their number, day by day, those that were being saved. That's the very idea of what we're talking about. You're saved for God, for a purpose. Yes, they were sharing with one another. But there was something deeper. That's a manifestation of a transformed heart.
The Love of Christ That Controls Us
Now, we'll do introduction. We didn't get very far. Sorry. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. That's where we're going to hang today and tonight. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17. And it starts with the word "therefore." That's a little unfair because whenever we see a word like that, we know we're connecting thoughts here.
So what he's been talking about—look at verse 14. He's talking about the love of Christ that controls us, that one died for all, therefore all die. And that He died for all so that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for Him who died and rose again on our behalf. Because Jesus Christ came and lived and died, He died for a purpose, as we've seen the last couple of times we've been together, so that His people would be saved from their sin.
Because of the love of Christ, the love of God that was manifest in the crucifixion. Think about this. We will walk around. Some of you may even have on crucifixes. You can go to any store. I'm sure you can go into Seaside somewhere and find some store where they sell like shells and starfish and crucifixes.
The Cross: From Symbol of Death to Symbol of Love
Do you realize that for us a contemporary example of that would be like you and I walking around with a little electric chair? Or a noose. Imagine walking around with a noose on a chain. The crucifix was a horrific way to die. It was an instrument of death. It was one of the most horrific symbols in the whole world. It represented death and agony and suffering.
And God in one moment turned that horrific picture of suffering and persecution into a wonderful demonstration of love. Now he's saying that love, the love of Christ, the love of God for His people, the love that compelled the Father to send the Son and the love that compelled the Son to obey the Father to come, to empty Himself not of His deity but of His glory.
Jesus was that picture we saw that first night in Isaiah 6. Holy, holy, holy. There He is in the middle of all this. He empties Himself from that, and He comes and takes up residence on this earth in a body like yours and mine, and He suffers, and He gets hungry, and He cries, and He weeps, and He eats, and He's tempted, and then He dies an agonizing death. And His entire motive was His love for us.
The Reality of Being "In Christ"
Because of that, because we've come to this point in our minds where we understand that, and that's only because God opened our eyes to see the truth. Because that's true, verse 17: if any man is in Christ—a really important and significant word, it is in the Greek in a continual condition. It means a constant reality of Him.
If any man is in Christ, it means I've come to that point of understanding Jesus and who He is and what He did, that I am who Jesus says I am, and the Bible says I am, and Christ is who He says He was, and I trust Him and Him alone for my salvation. I've said no mas, I give up, there's nothing I can do. Christ died for me.
To be in Christ is to be bathed in Him, immersed in Him, believe in Him, and as a result...
I have security in Him, and assurance in Him, acceptance by Him. God accepts you. Have you ever thought about that? Unconditionally.
The person who knows me best in this entire world is Susan. Susan knows me better than any other person in the world. But she doesn't know everything. There's some things that I've thought that I've never shared with her. Things I've done I've never shared with her. And probably, at its core, I don't want to share them with her for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is she probably would think a little bit less of me. Maybe even reject me.
God Knows Everything and Loves You Anyway
God knows—this is a wonderful thought. God knows everything you've ever thought, everything you've ever said, everything you've ever done. Now, let's state everything you're thinking, everything you're saying, everything you're doing, and everything you will say, will think, and will do. It can't get more encompassing than that. He knows all the past, the present, and the future, and He loves you anyway.
There's not going to be this time where all of a sudden you think something or say something and do something, and God goes, "Well, that's it." And that's not a cause to sin, it's a cause to celebrate. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. Same old earth suit, but a new person inside.
And the old things have passed away. Those old priorities and value systems. John, same gospel writer, tells us, don't love the things of the world. What he means by that is priorities, beliefs, values, pleasure. Don't look to the world and its philosophies to find real life. The old things have passed away, and the new things have come.
The Ministry of Reconciliation
Now, I want to read verse 18 through the end of this chapter. We'll just touch on it, and then we will unpack it tonight. "Now, all these things are from God." What are all those things? All those things we just talked about. The gospel, salvation.
The key word here is reconciled or reconciliation or reconciling. What I like to do in my Bible, when I hit something like this—so verse 18, 19, and 20, that word appears five times. What I try to do when I hit something like that is to circle it or something, so that when the page flops open to this, my eye goes to it, and I go, "Okay, there's something going on here." Down in my Bible, down in this corner, and I'm breaking in a new Bible here, I see that word. So when I open it up, there it is: one, two, three, four, five times I have that word circled. Clearly, a key thought here is reconciled or reconciliation.
Here's what he said: "Now, all these things are from God." What's he talking about? Salvation. Salvation is all about God. It's all from God. God saves sinners, right? We didn't do anything. He did it all. Now, all these things are from God, and here's what He does. He reconciles us to Himself.
This is what separates biblical Christianity from every other religion in the world. He reconciles us to Himself. How did He do it? Through Christ. And then He gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
Understanding Reconciliation
There's what He's done. God has reconciled us to Himself. How did He do it? He didn't just arbitrarily say, "Well, everything is okay." He didn't say that.
Think with me. If I say to you, let's say you don't know Jeff, you don't know me. I'm just up here and all of a sudden I say, "Jeff and I, last night, Jeff and I were reconciled." If that's all you know from that, you're bright people—from that you can deduce what? That there was a preexisting hostility of some sort. You don't know him. You don't know me. You know that we're reconciled. You know there was something wrong. There was something between us. You may not know the magnitude of it or the cause of it. It doesn't even matter. You just know that we were apart, that we were estranged. We were separated. Now we're reconciled.
So what he says is, here's what's happened. God has reconciled us to Himself. Do you see who's doing it? Who's doing the work? God, Christ, the Spirit, the Godhead. God has reconciled us to Himself. So key. It's what separates us from every other faith or religion in the world. Every other religion has us, a sinful man, trying to appease a holy God. Biblical Christianity says no. It's about a holy God making a way by which He, a holy God, can reach us, a sinful man. He reconciles us to Himself. How did He do it? Through Christ.
There Was No Other Way
I was in a small group once, and we had this huge argument. So intense was this argument that the group separated over this issue. There was one side that said this, because we're talking about this issue: Could God have saved us any other way? And this side said, "Yes, He's God. He can do all sorts of things. He could have found another way to save us." That was one side of the argument.
Then was the other side—my side, the correct side—that said no. Isn't that what Jesus prayed the night before He died? Didn't He say, "Hey, Father, if there's a plan B"—now I'm paraphrasing here, but you get it—"if there's a plan B, let's do it." Isn't that what He said? "Hey, Father, if there's any other way, let's do it." There's no other way.
Why? God could not just say, "All right, I forgive you." Why? Because He's a righteous God and a holy God, and sin demands payment. When the Bean family were singing the last song, they were talking about the blood, the blood that covers us, the blood that was shed. The sin payment demands the shedding of blood. And in the Old Testament, we saw pictures of it as animals, thousands of them slaughtered.
But then all of a sudden, there's this moment in time where John the Baptist is out one day and says, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." No more are we going to temple. No more are we sacrificing. We don't need to do that anymore. There's the Lamb of God. There's the blood that's shed. Now we are saved through that sacrifice.
What Paul's saying is that we are reconciled to God through Christ. That's your story. This is my story. This is my song. Well, it has all different variations, but your story is essentially the same as the 15-year-old pregnant girl last night.
I was separated from God when I could do nothing. I was dead in my sins and trespasses. I was identified, what Paul calls, as a child of wrath or a son of disobedience. In that state, in that condition, when I was helpless, impotent to do anything in the midst of that, Christ died for me. And the Spirit applied that to my life, convicted me of my sin, and introduced me to the righteousness of Christ.
That's what that is all about. And He said, don't confuse that with religion. Don't confuse that with what the world says. Listen, you're a new creature. You are a new creature, and the old things have passed away. The old way of life, the old way of thinking, the old religion has passed away.
Now We Have the Ministry of Reconciliation
Now, here's the deal. I am reconciled through Christ. Look at verse 18. Now what? Now He's given us the ministry of reconciliation. Namely, that God was, in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them. And He committed to us the word of reconciliation, the ministry of reconciliation, the word of reconciliation.
God has saved us for a reason, for a purpose. I'm saved by God, from God, for God. And while He may have many variations of purpose, if there's a billion Christians, there's a billion variations. But at its core, when I cut you, you should bleed the ministry of reconciliation. God saved you for a reason, for a purpose. And at its core is to live out the great commandment, the great commission. To be a minister of reconciliation to a lost and dying world.
We Are Ambassadors for Christ
Give me two minutes. Look at verse 20. Therefore, now again, we've got to work here. That therefore is connecting some thoughts. What's the thought he's connecting? Because we've been changed, because we've been redeemed, because things are different, therefore we are ambassadors for Christ.
There's your title. Very impressive title, huh? Hello, I'm Tom, an ambassador for Christ. Very impressive title. The job description, not so impressive. Bond slave. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
There. There's your ministry. And then look at this, verse 21, and out the door we go. He, God made Him, Jesus, to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. There's your message. There's your message to a lost and dying world.
Looking Ahead
Here's what we're going to do. Tonight we're going to unpack this a little more. Talk a little more about this idea of reconciliation. Then I'm going to talk about that gospel message, God Himself. And then tomorrow I'm going to talk about the heart of the messenger, what's at our core.
Isn't that wonderful? I'm going to pray, and we'll adjourn. We'll have lunch in 22 minutes, so let's pray together.
Father, thank You for Jesus Christ. Thank You for His life and His death. Thank You that we have been reconciled to You through Him. But, God, this gospel, when it's taken and put in our life, demands that we begin to live for something other than ourselves, to live for something outside of us, love. Love does not seek its own. That we do that work in our life, especially this morning.
What a treat, totally unexpected, to be able to talk a bit about Cannon Beach Christian Conference Center, to talk with Jeff, and then to have you have Heather here today. What a great treat for us. To be reminded that You use ordinary people, and oftentimes to do extraordinary things, when we think of the apostle, and we think of him coming in fear and trembling. When we think of those who see him, conclude that, you know what, he writes a great letter, but he's not so impressive in person.
God, I find great encouragement in that. Use us to invade this world with the ministry of reconciliation. We pray to You, in Jesus' name, Amen. Have a great afternoon. We'll see you at lunch at 1 o'clock.