Totally Accepting and Totally Transforming!

What our world needs more than anything else is grace, not just talk about grace – but real grace, grace that seeks out people who are far from God and loves and accepts them just like God does.

We are working to create a culture at The River that is tolerant, loving, and accepting of people no matter what their background is, who or what they are, what they believe, or how they look or dress.

We strive to be completely loving and accepting…, just as God is, and just like God we will love people enough to help them be transformed into the image of His Son Jesus Christ.

In other words: come as you are; but once you know Jesus, don’t plan on staying that way!

Romans 12:2 (CEV) “Don’t be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him”
Circle “let God change the way you think”

It’s God’s job to change people through the power of the Holy Spirit, not ours; and when God is ready to change a person, He will! Our job is to love them before, during, and after that happens!

No Perfect People.... Really?

Have you ever noticed how some people treat those who are different than they are?

· Those who have chosen to decorate their bodies with tattoos or piercings?
· How would you react to discover that the person sitting next to you in church was an alcoholic, a drug user, struggled with pornography, had an abortion, struggled with a sexual addiction or homosexuality, was living with someone they are not married to, or they had a prison record?
· How would you treat a Jew, a Mormon, an atheist, a Jehovah Witness, a Buddhist, a Muslim, Christian Scientist, a witch or a warlock?
· How about someone who is African American, Hispanic, Asian, Iraqi, Iranian, or Pakistani?
· What about a street person, a poor person, under privileged?
For years the church has turned away people who desperately need the love and acceptance that God offers. Instead they have condemned, criticized, and ostracized.

Or the church opened its arms to them and once they started attending or indicated that they were spiritually interested they dumped a bunch of rules and expectations on them and turned them off.

Part of the problem is the church has misunderstood part of the Great Commission.
Matthew 28:19-20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

Some people think that teaching them to obey means that it’s our job to make people obey, to force obedience; often times forcing them to obey God even before they know God personally.

That’s not our job; that’s the job of the Holy Spirit!

So you have to ask yourself, what would Jesus do with the kind of people I just mentioned?

I know that sounds trite, but think about how Jesus treated the outcasts, the sick, the demon possessed, and the prostitutes. What did He do? HE LOVED THEM UNCONDITIONALLY!

He said in Matthew 11:28-30 (Msg) “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Jesus said the answer to life’s problems, burdens, and issues is to come to Him, lay them on Him, and learn to live freely and lightly. You can’t do that under rules and regulations!

He said I won’t put anything heavy or ill fitting on you who are already struggling; instead He says I will show you grace, I will give to you freely what you do not deserve! Forgiveness from their past, a purpose for today, and a future home in heaven!

If that’s what Jesus would do, then so should we! The question is how? How do we show grace to others, no matter what their background, problems, or issues are?

We do it just like Jesus. We tell people; just come as you are! There are no perfect people at The River in fact there are no perfect people allowed at The River. So come as you are!

God doesn’t expect us to change anything to come to Him. He just says come as you are, and when He says that He means:
· You don’t have to dress a certain way or look a certain way
· You don’t have to Act a certain way
· You don’t have to Fit a certain lifestyle
· You don’t have to give money
· It doesn’t matter what your religious background is, your class or your socio-economic position.
Jesus says come as you are! Bring your baggage, your issues, and your problems. God loves you just as you are and we should do the same!

In fact…At The River we are working diligently to create a come as you are culture.

So... come to the River Church... and come as you are! Our prayer is that when you come you will experience total acceptance and begin the process of transformation. (Romans 12:1-2)

Come back to God!

God has given us, the church, the responsibility of telling people about His love for them, His acceptance of them and His desire for them to spend eternity with Him in Heaven.

1 Corinthians 5:19 (NLT) “So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

That’s our job! But how do we reach people with the good news of God’s love and acceptance when they are struggling with misconceptions of the church and their own personal struggles with acceptance, trust, brokenness, truth, and tolerance?

One word: GRACE!

Theologically grace is God giving us what we don’t deserve. In other words we don’t deserve forgiveness. We don’t deserve a purpose for our lives. We don’t deserve a future home in heaven. But God loves us and He gives it to us anyhow, that’s grace.

The church has always understood receiving the grace of God, what it has struggled with is extending personal grace to an undeserving world. It’s developed rules and regulations, expectations and standards; and it’s been very judgmental of people who don’t measure up.

It’s amazing to me is that those of us who have experienced the total acceptance and forgiveness and grace of God, that we did not deserve, do not offer that same grace to others; just like Jesus did.

Jesus was absolutely non-condemning. In fact the only time Jesus ever condemned anyone was when they were self-righteous and religiously pious! And that’s exactly what many non churched people think about the people in the church! They think the church is nothing but self-righteous and religiously pious people!

So let's change that! Let's give others the grace God has given to us. Let's love the unlovely, the hurting, the outcasts, the imperfect, the "normal" people, the less than cool crowd, the Hipsters, the old folks, the student's.... Let's love everyone just like Jesus loved us! 

When we love others as Jesus loved us, then we can extend our hand and say, Come back to God!

Why I love the church and hate the church...

I love the church, it is the body of Christ. So why do I struggle with liking the church?

The church as God designed it is a loving accepting home for any and everyone. Unfortunately that is not what the church seems to be. Honestly, there are many churches who do show grace and acceptance, at least for a while. But for some reason as soon as a person who really needs grace, comes to church, we begin to try to change them. Not that change is bad, it is God's will, but we seem to think God gave US the responsibility to change people. He didn't. That's the job of the Holy Spirit. Our job is to love people, accept them, nurture them, teach His Word to them, encourage obedience, and then love some more; with the same grace God extended to each and every one of us and then leave the results up to GOD! Why can't we get that?

Try to love the unlovely for a while. The back slidden Christian, the self committed atheist or agnostic. Try to love those who are different than you; someone of a different ethnic group, a different lifestyle choice, a different economic class, a different sub culture than you. It's not easy, but it's God's command. We are to love people just like He loves us. Jesus said "Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay his life down fr his friends." John 15:13 (NIV) That's the standard.

It is sad to me that one of the great commands of Christ is that we love one another, but it is that same command that convicts us all and turns the world away from Christ. Let's learn to love like Jesus; totally and completely accepting of all people, no matter what the background, race, lifestyle preference, culture, or actions. We are to love people to Christ and let Him change their lives. That is my prayer for the church. That is my prayer for you.