Scripture Philippians
2:2-4
The song was
written as a direct response to the schism within the Church of South Africa caused
by John William Colenso, first Bishop of
Natal, who denounced much of the Bible as fictitious. This topic is
alluded to within the fourth verse of the text "Though with a scornful
wonder men see her sore oppressed, by schisms rent asunder, by heresies
distressed." When Bishop Colenso was deposed for his teachings, he
appealed to the higher ecclesiastical authorities in England.
It was then that
Samuel Stone became involved in the debate. It inspired him to write a set of
hymns based on the Apostles'
Creed in 1866. He titled it, Lyra Fidelium; Twelve Hymns
on the Twelve Articles of the Apostles' Creed. "The Church's One
Foundation" is based on the ninth article, The holy
Catholic Church; The Communion of Saints.
THE CHURCH’S ONE FOUNDATION LYRICS
The church's one Foundation - Is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is his new creation - By water and the Word:
From heav'n he came and sought her - To be his holy bride;
With his own blood he bought her, - And for her life he died.
Elect from ev'ry nation, - Yet one o'er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation - One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy Name she blesses, - Partakes one holy food.
And to one hope she presses, - With ev'ry grace endued.
Yet she on earth hath union - With the God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion - With those whose rest is won:
O happy ones and holy! - Lord, give us grace that we,
Like them, the meek and lowly, - On high may dwell with thee.
She is his new creation - By water and the Word:
From heav'n he came and sought her - To be his holy bride;
With his own blood he bought her, - And for her life he died.
Elect from ev'ry nation, - Yet one o'er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation - One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy Name she blesses, - Partakes one holy food.
And to one hope she presses, - With ev'ry grace endued.
Yet she on earth hath union - With the God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion - With those whose rest is won:
O happy ones and holy! - Lord, give us grace that we,
Like them, the meek and lowly, - On high may dwell with thee.
The song says that Jesus Christ is the church’s one
foundation. Our Ephesian text agrees with that but adds the apostles and
prophets of the new Testament as part of the foundation as well.
The foundation is what the rest of the structure is built
upon. In our church unique process, we had a formula to follow so that we could
biblical and succinctly express what Ashland Church’s foundational Values are.
We have learned all year that consistent intentional corporate worship is a
foundational value for us.
FOUNDAITONAL VALUES
COMMUNITY as demonstrated by welcoming
and integrating others into the Ashland Church community and serving people in
the Oregon/East Toledo area to create a more enriched local community.
“Make my joy complete by being
like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing
out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better
than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but
also to the interests of others.”
Philippians 2:2-4
COMPASSION as demonstrated by kindness,
humility, gentleness and patience toward one another, being on mission together
for the greater good of building Christ’s church in the world.
“Therefore, as God's chosen
people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness,
humility, gentleness and patience.”
Colossians 3:12
CREATIVITY as demonstrated by the use of
creative arts in many aspects of ministry and expressing a spirit of fun as we
live abundantly in Christ.
“God has filled him with the
Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts — to make artistic designs for work in gold,
silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all
kinds of artistic craftsmanship.” Exodus
35:31-33
“A happy heart makes the face
cheerful.” Proverbs 15:13
CULTIVATION as demonstrated by committing
ourselves to study of the Bible, fellowship, corporate worship, prayer and
sharing Jesus beyond the church walls through missions and service.
“They devoted themselves to the
apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to
prayer.” Acts 2:42
COLLABORATION as demonstrated by fluid
ministry teams, consensus building, and the use of individual giftedness to
connect people to new life in Jesus Christ.
“Now to each one the
manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. All these are the
work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he
determines.” 1 Corinthians 12:7 & 11
COMMUNITY EXPLAINED
One of the most
difficult things for an established church (an established church is any church
more than 20 years old) is to welcome and integrate others into the Church
community. Why? Because by the time you are 20 years old, or 100 years old, you
have people who have been together for a long time and they have an affinity
for one another even if they don’t really like each other.
Example –
Survivor Tribes – “Drop your buffs” When the merge happens, if you
are in the majority you stick
with your tribe and try to get rid of the others – unintentionally, we have a
survivor mentality. When we have church events, I purposely will sit by people
other than my family except Sunday morning because I haven’t had that
opportunity since I had my own young children – and since I am up and down it
can be distracting to others – my family is used to that. We tend to circle our wagons with those we
know.
Let
me let us all off the hook a little bit – we should absolutely sit with and
hang out with our family and friends at church – that is part of the joy of
coming together. How blessed are those who have people they enjoy seeing and
being with when we gather to worship. So, never feel bad about doing or wanting
to do that. However – if that is all we do, then we cannot be effective at
welcoming and integrating others into the church. We must have the eyes and
heart of God when someone new comes into our midst.
Judson
College had an admissions administrator by the name of Press Webster. Press
became like my best friend when I was going through the college admission
process – he would call and write and met with me and others who drove from
Columbus to the college north of Chicago. Once school began, I never heard from
Press again and thought that was quite strange till years later when I realized
his job was to get me there, not keep me there.
The
church cannot be made of admission counselors who get you in then leave you
alone. We all need to make room in our lives for the next person who walks
through the door. If Mr. and Mrs.
Smith’s son starts attending church, I don’t need to put much effort into
welcoming the Smith child because he has his parents to hang out with and
welcome him. WRONG! He already has that relationship and needs new
relationships in the church. It would be easy for most people to think my wife,
children, or in-laws don’t need welcomed and integrated into the life of the
fellowship because they are related to the pastor. WRONG! I would say if
anything even more so. I assume that happens because I see them speaking and
being involved with others, but they would have to answer that for themselves
as would each of us.
I
just met with our personnel committee for my annual review and it was mentioned
that someone knew a pastor from a church who said he did not have any friends
within the church. Then the question was posed to me…do you feel like you have
friends in the church. My first response was – the two gentlemen I was talking
with, along with a handful of others I would call my 2:00 am friends – the
person you could call at 2:00 am with a problem and they would gladly respond
with appropriate help. There are a few who have golfed together or done other
things friends do and I greatly appreciate those times.
But what does
the text say about our first foundational value of community which is mentioned
in the first line of our mission statement - “Make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being
one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,
but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look
not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Philippians 2:2-4
Paul tells his baby church to
give him joy by doing 6 things.
1.
be like-minded
2.
have the same love
3.
be one in spirit and purpose
4.
Do nothing out of selfish
ambition or vain conceit
5.
In humility consider others
better than yourselves
6.
Each of you should look not only
to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
WHAT JESUS CAN DO to make us live those 6 principles:
What does this look like? A
biblical example is found in the collection for the poor in Jerusalem.
Jews & Gentiles would be like
Christians and Muslims are now made into Wibijibis.
So, Paul – though rejected – took
an offering for the poor Christians in Jerusalem.
