Acts 5:17-32

 Does anyone here get mail order catalogs? How about emails from Amazon or Target or Sears? Advertising is getting more and more helpful. They watch to see what you buy and sophisticated computer programs consider what other products might be of interest. Then they sell your preferences to other companies who might be able to tempt you as well. I bought a small table recently for my hall and the table leg is carved in the form of an elephant trunk. I had never seen anything like it and it looks great. So when a catalog showed up last month with an elephant head suitable for wall mounting, I almost bought it. Catalogs have poured in this month with a zebra skin throw rug, an ottoman of elephants, a floor lamp of elephant tusks, an alligator half submerged in a lawn, and a giraffe sculpture that is 7 feet tall.

 I see now that there are probably bowls made from turtle shells, goblets from buffalo horns, endless photographs from Animal Planet, and tours to see dolphins chase whales. How much of this is good for me? The first table was wonderful. Some of the other things are tempting. But there also comes a time when you balance all of this with the other needs of your life.

 The same thing is happening in our spiritual experience. There is an explosion of spiritual activity, teachers, and products, and if you make a purchase, you will get more offers to explore your interest further. And I remember a lot of boring church moments when I was young. So I agree that we need to think more about the ways that church can give people more personalized spiritual help. A group of investors has gotten together and decided that there is even a modest profit to be made if the church took people’s interests more seriously. They are starting a new church which is actually a company and they simply call it Me Church.

 The only problem is that God has given us the Bible, that inconvenient manual on peace, as it has been called. And the grace of God is about transforming us into the children of God. Advertising reaffirms where you are, it does not call you higher. So when does God bless us, when we meet people where they are or when we call them to change? Why are you here today? We’re going to look this morning at the church in the Bible in dangerous times. And I hope we all find in the Scriptures and in the service this morning a holy embrace from God that meets where we are but draws towards who we shall be.

 The Sadducees badly miscalculated. They were the group of wealthy politicians who tried to cooperate with the Romans. They expected that Jesus’ death would disperse his followers. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead had the opposite effect. It was a dangerous moment for everyone. Peter and the others had no way to know whether the crowds would turn against them. The politicians were afraid that the crowd might suddenly decide that the Sadducees were responsible for Jesus’ death. So everyone was trying to do something without doing the wrong thing.

 The Bible does not tell us if God directly told them to witness, but the Bible does show that when the church combines what people need with what God offers, there will be a time of great blessing.

 There are different ways of describing basic needs. Maslow spoke of the need for food, protection, love, respect and a job. I like a simpler version of 4 basic needs for safety, love, values, and a job. For example, if you are a parent, you may look for a church which will love your child, give them healthy friendships with peers and teach them the love of God which gives them strong values for later success. That is when the church is reaching people with the practical needs that they have to struggle with during the week.

 Churches have always done some of this. But churches are not used to being measured against other products as though we were another choice in dog food or shampoo. And it is not a bad thing to realize that we are not a club for members, but a sanctuary for people to get a new life that meets their needs and makes sense to them.

 How do we combine meeting those basic needs with drawing people along to the new kingdom that Jesus offers? We start with a must stronger response to visitors, affirming again and again that their needs are on God’s heart and ours. But won’t the challenge to change life to kingdom living scare them away?

 In the book of Acts, no. [Acts 5:14] Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women. When people see their needs met, they are ready to hear of possibilities of life where they have not lived. With violence you can scare people, but by meeting needs, you can win them. Which do you think will be the stronger motivation?

 Hezbollah is the independent power group in Lebanon and when it took the two soldiers from Israel, the incident started the recent war. With Lebanon destroyed, you might think that people there would blame Hezbollah. But Hezbollah has been feeding people, helping them to rebuild and people are ready to support them, even if it means sacrifice.

 What I believe we should do in our own church is to get a passion to undergird our school spiritually. There will be 300 children in the building this week. Many of them will be here every day. Many of them will have their parents enter the building. It seems to me that all of us should look for ways that we can hear what they struggle with. I wish somebody here would go to Linda Abbas this morning and volunteer to tutor in English during the day. We might have a student for you and that builds a friendship, and that gives you the opportunity to invite that person to try our spiritual home. I wish someone here this morning would go to Joan Feckete and offer to be a helper in Sunday Kids Club. We need to offer a diverse program on Sundays that keeps the interest of kids.

 We have created a terrific community in this church and lived up to our name. We need to reach out to the great school that has come from our efforts because why would God want us to offer academic excellence and not an interest in the whole family?

 And our church is one of the most open I know where I can come to this podium and open the Word of God with as much integrity as I know how to bring and you allow it even on those days when it makes you uncomfortable. I believe its because we have an authentic community here which is meeting needs so it frees us to think about kingdom living. As we see the Acts, When people see their needs met, they are ready to hear of possibilities of life where they have not lived.