Everybody Welcome

Introduction & Overview

Isaiah 55
12 September
Introduction

John Cleese & the Germans

Why a sermon series and course on welcome?

o It’s common sense – the church needs to operate effectively like any
other organisation

e.g. John Lewis

o It’s strategic – the church is called to grow and gain new members

Quote research from Jackson in Everybody Welcome (explain who he is)

One weakness which is worth observing

Bob Jackson appears to argue that if we resolve the issue of welcome then
the church would grow at a much faster rate. The basis for his argument is
that only a slight increase in the ‘retention rate’ of visitors makes a big
difference to the growth rate of the church.

Quote p.7
I only agree in part because

a) In my experience, most people visiting this church do get a good

welcome, though of course we can and should make it better.
Nevertheless, the vast majority do not join us. Thus it seems to me
that there are deeper reasons why our church does not grow faster.

b) Although Bob Jackson argues differently, by and large, interest in

attending church – at least church as we traditionally understand it –
is declining year on year and so however good our welcome, if we
focus exclusively on that, we not see true growth. Welcome is no
‘magic bullet’ which will solve the problem of the church’s decline.

o It’s the Gospel – the church must be true to its Lord and itself

Welcome, as we shall see shortly, more or less defines who God is, shapes
the nature of His Kingdom and, therefore, must play a key role in defining
who we are as His people.

Welcome is about who God is and who we are (or should be)

Quote from Making Room p.8

…wherever, whenever, however the kingdom manifests itself, it is welcome

Krister Stendahl
The sermon series

Playing it by ear a little….

o Introduction and overview

o The needy and marginalised
o The church and those who are a part of it
o The church and those who are not a part of it

Get involved by attending a home group of which we have six meeting bi-
monthly. These will allow you to explore these themes further and also to
engage with discussion as to how we might take things forward as a
church in this area.
 I. God & Welcome

The supreme welcomer, as I indicated a moment ago, is the Lord God of

the bible.
1
Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
2
Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not
satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the
richest of fare.
3
Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an
everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.
4
See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the
peoples.
5
Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you
will hasten to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has
endowed you with splendour.
6
Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
7
Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the
LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

In spite of all the harsh things that Isaiah has had to say about God’s
people, Israel, underlying his word of judgement is a word of mercy or we
might even say welcome, for He is calling the people back to God

Ch.1, 2 – let us reason together (1.18)

Chs. 52,53 (the centre and climax) – costly reconciliation
Ch.54, 55 – an invitation to a new world
Note

o the triple ‘come’

o the rich symbolism – this is spiritual food (c.f. v.3a)
o the minimal cost

Letter from The Times re. Polly Peck

Such sentiments are not unusual in scripture, rather they are the thread
from which it is woven.

o The story of the bible

At this point I could do another of those eleven point sermons I did some
time back on mission, but I’m sure you’d rather I didn’t. Let me pick out
one or two highlights to make the point…

Genesis 2 – Adam where are you?

Genesis 3 - banishment
The Promised Land – a new home
The Tabernacle & the Temple – God is hidden, but present
The Exile & restoration – the return home
Jesus Christ – table fellowship
The Cross – an invitation, ‘Today you will be with me in paradise’
The apostles – be reconciled to God

o The language of the bible

Words and concepts like…

Love
Grace
Forgiveness
Community
Reconciliation
Fellowship
Kingdom
Even judgement – those who say no
o The God of the bible
The explanation for the bible’s story and language is the person of God
Himself. He is a social being which is why the doctrine of the Trinity is so
important and so significant for our understanding of the Christian faith
(c.f. CABC)

c.f. Rublev’s icon

Quote from Miroslav Volf in Lewis BST p.224,225

 II. People & Welcome

Just as the offer of welcome is central to God’s identity, so the need to be

welcomed is central to ours (as also is the need to give welcome if we had
time to dwell on it)

From the human perspective, the key storyline of the bible is humanity’s
lostness or, putting it another way, our being cut off from our real home
(which is with God), our rootlessness, our exile, call it what you will.

To put it another way, we all are, to some extent or another, living ‘east of
Eden’, because we are living out of relationship with God. I say to some
extent, because if we are Christians and know something of God’s love in
Christ, then we have to the extent that we know God, have come home.

Some quick references

o Augustine

Our hearts…

o Charlie Brown

Snoopy Cartoon

o C S Lewis

A constant refrain throughout

It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling. He stamped his right
fore-hoof on the ground and neighed, and then he cried:

"I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I
have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we
loved the old Narnia is that is sometimes looked a little like this. Bree-hee-hee! Come
further up, come further in!"
This surely why the bible has so much to say about the problem of sin and
the solution to that problem, not because God wants to make people feel
bad, but because sin results in alienation and the breakdown in
relationship and so the loss of belonging.
In practical terms, then, there are at least two important implications of this
second point that I have been making:

o Welcome, in its fullest sense, is a profoundly ‘spiritual’ concept and

means far more than a warm smile and cup of fairly traded coffee. At
its deepest level it means the offer of eternal life, which is why it is
simplistic to think that if we get our welcome sorted out, everything
else will follow. True welcome is actually about challenging people to
discipleship, to the following of Jesus Christ, about inviting them to
walk with us the way of the cross.

o There is a world out there in need of welcome in the fullest sense of the
word. A world in which people need to know that they are significant,
that they are cared for and valued. Ultimately, as we have just seen,
that the answer to their deepest needs is the love of God as seen in
Jesus Christ. This challenge is greater than that of welcome, but not
less.

Quote statistics Tim Chester’s ‘Good News to the Poor’ p.132

 III. Church & Welcome

We’ve thought about God as the welcomer

We’ve thought about humanity as being in need of welcome

Finally, let’s think about the church as the place or the agent of welcome

We’ll be doing more detailed work on this in future weeks as well as in the
groups

The idea of the church as a community of welcome or hospitality is a very

helpful and provocative image, highlighting as it does the importance of
the life that we share together.

The church, should not only be a signpost to God, but also as an

expression of His life and love. Consequently, a visit to the church should
provide people with a foretaste or sampler of the life of the Kingdom of
God or heaven

Quote Stephen Neill from Stott CC p.237

Quote John Stott from One People p.

Conclusion

The Course prayer

Heavenly Father, you have welcomed us into your kingdom and your heart’s desire
is to draw every human being to yourself.

Grant us clear eyes to see people as you see them, sensitive feet to stand in their
shoes, and warm smiles to welcome them in your name.

Give us such generous hearts, that our church becomes a foretaste of heaven where
every soul you send us finds their loving home in the community of your Son our
Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen