October 14, 2017 - Church at Worship

Sermon: "Work-Out Partners" Holy Habits (Part 6 of 6) by Randy Roberts

Pastoral Welcome: Jonathan Osorio

Children’s Feature: Shawna Campbell

Child Dedication: Cavin Khan

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 10:19-25, TNIV read by Betsy Jabola and Rob Jabola

Sermon Notes:

Years ago, in the book, Habits of the Heart, sociologist Robert Bellah and his colleagues wrote of their research into the hearts, minds and habits of American citizens. The book is worth the time to read, as it contains many valuable insights into the American mind. One of the valuable insights I carried away from my reading of the book was the fact that, as Americans, we deeply value what President Herbert Hoover, once upon a time, called rugged individualism. While Hoover was referring to citizens’ need to take responsibility for their own lives (rather than the government doing so for them), for Bellah and his colleagues, it referred to the desire to “go it alone” in how we conceive of life, God, the world and our place in it.

In other words, “Nobody is going to tell me how to live my life, what to believe, or how to behave.” That leads, notes Bellah, to the quintessential hero in the American mind: a John Wayne/Clint Eastwoodtype figure who is solitary, separate from others, dependent on no one but himself (or herself, as the case may be), who rides in at dawn, saves the town from evil, and then rides off into the sunset, leaving the townspeople asking, “Who was that man?” (with a nod to another lonely figure, the Lone Ranger).

That all may be well and good for old Westerns, but it doesn’t work when it comes to discipleship. In the New Testament, the concept of rugged individualism is entirely absent. In the world of Jesus and the early church, “going it alone” was never a part of a growing disciple’s life. Rather, disciples grew (and continue to grow today), in community, in fellowship with one another. They shared their lives, served one another, encouraged, comforted and challenged one another.

The lesson is simple: if we today are to grow as disciples, we must do so in partnership, in community, for in the Christian faith, no one does it alone. Randy

Roberts,

Senior Pastor