The Birth of Jesus: A Reminder of Going

Luke 2: 13 - 15
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." 15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about...(NIV)
The bible is filled with commands to get up and Go - to not just be in God's presence but to move from His presence into the world. That is the very thing Jesus did - He left his throne in glory ( the very presence of God) and came to us - He was going. And when the angels left earth and went back to heaven - they are going and when the angels (bringing the glory of God - His presence) had left the shepherds - they were going.
The bible is filled with movement and as nice and wonderful the presence of God is and His glory, He allows us to experience it so that we might get up and go!
Hebrews 12:1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (NIV)
Mark 16:15
He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. (NIV)

In order to connect with the world, Jesus had to come to earth - to go. In order for us to follow Him - we must move and go and run our race. In order for us to connect with the world we too as a church must go and move. The church can be stuck inside the walls or go into 'all the world.'
In his book, A Church Without Walls, Jim Petersen contends that; 'By habit, the church has come to mean a place. A place where we congregate, a place where we build up believers. But as long as that's our whole understanding of church, we miss one of our primary functions as the people of God: being out in the world for the sake of the lost.' We miss the going piece. It is that piece that Jesus models for us in today's bible reading. Petersen goes on to say: "The sad reality is that going to the lost and living Christlike lives among them is not what we are doing today. Throughout its history, the church has pushed for institutionalism in an effort to preserve the purity of the gospel. As a result, we've evolved into congregations that meet inside the walls of a building-rather than vital communities that live among the lost." Thank God, Jesus came to us, thank God the angels came to the shepherds and that the shepherds went to see the Savior. They then became witnesses of what they had seen. Petersen offers an exciting definition of the church that pushes beyond the too-small boundaries we've inherited from the past. Thinking small, acting small and forgetting the power of the God we serve. We can go into all....... The first-century Christians had to sort out Jesus from Judaism in order to become a people for all nations. Today, we have to sort out Jesus from our religious traditions in order to make Him available to our nation - to those around us. I am grateful for the heart of Lompoc Foursquare Church and the influence God has given us in our community, but we have not gained and garnered this without working, serving, praying and going. We have been with God and then left His presence to touch others. Will LFC continue to grow, build new walls to expand our ministry and then be mindful that our walls cannot hold us. Will we be the church without walls, communicating a gospel free of traditional and cultural limitations or will we keep 'going' and sharing and serving others? May we never hide the power of the gospel within our walls. We are not lost for an assignment as a church. Each of us have a race to run and people to love and care for.
We are called to live for God - to grow - to seek Him and then to go. I thank God that He did not place walls upon Heaven and by doing so keep Jesus from us and us from Him. Rather, He made a way by sending Jesus to us. In Jesus' going we have been free - going to earth, going to the cross, going to the grave and going forth in resurrection and going upward in ascension.
May we also Go....

Prayer:
Dear God , Shine on us - may we sense your glory and then empower us to go and follow your command. Our world needs you, our neighbor, those in our family and our co-workers. Help us to be your church, each one of us and may there be no walls or boundary with us. Help LFC to keep our heart set on you, your service and serving others. For your glory, for your Kingdom, for your name - here we are oh Lord.
In Jesus Name, Amen.