Churches of Christ are understood differently by many people. Depending on their experience, or lack thereof, people may have entirely different understandings of churches that use the identifier "Churches of Christ". Despite the variety of views that exist, there are 4 important common features of these churches that should be understood. Tomorrow, we will look at each and see why they are important.

Michael Rankin’s message on Sunday was taken from Luke 14. This one chapter tells three stories, all with one underlying theme. The first story is about working on the Sabbath. When Jesus chose to heal a sick man on the Sabbath, the Pharisees appeared to silently judge him. However, appearing to be faithful by refusing to work on the Sabbath is less important than helping someone who is suffering. Being overly involved in the intricacies of faith, for appearance’s sake, is about pride, not faith.

The second story was about taking the best seat at a banquet table for the sake of your own ego. This is the time to set aside our pride. We should, instead, take the lowliest seat. Luke 14:11, “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” We will perhaps be invited to a better seat.

The third story was about the man who gave a banquet, but his invited guests gave many excuses not to attend. Instead he invited all the poor, the crippled, the lame, and people along the roads -- all people who would not be able to return his hospitality. Honor those who cannot honor you back in like form.

The common thread among all these stories is that there is a cost to being a servant of God. That cost is our pride, our will. The cost is a humbled spirit that lays aside the things that make us look good to the world.

God’s grace is free, but it‘s not without cost. We pay by sacrificing all to serve Him. We give up outer glories to be the kind of people God wants us to be - “the salt of the earth”. Michael’s challenge to us this week is to keep our saltiness and do one thing that shows the light of God to another person.

Don’t worry about earthly feasts. Know that God’s feast is always open to those who hunger, those who thirst for the Savior. His table will fill our spirit if we answer his invitation. Will we come to His table or will we have an excuse?

The message on Sunday encouraged us to Consider the Collection: Understanding the Role and Responsibility surrounding the Church treasury. In his message, John Mulligan explained churches’ responsibilities to support evangelism and benevolence. Evangelism involves preaching and teaching, both in the church and outside of it, such as when we share the Gospel on college campuses or at other outreach opportunities.

Benevolence, of course, involves helping Christians in need. This can mean helping individuals or other churches in crisis. Timothy 5:5-8 goes into detail about helping elderly widows: “The widow who is….left all alone puts her hope in God…and prays to God for help.” The church’s benevolent help is essential for those with no other family. But the verse also warns that “Anyone who does not provide for their… own household has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Importantly, when we give, it’s not because of a specific church mandate. Rather, it is a “freewill” offering, giving what we can, when we can. As we read in 2 Corin. 9:7, “Each of you should give what you have decided to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” So how does the church decide where to disperse these funds? We follow Biblical instructions and use good judgment.

Lake Merced Church of Christ, like all churches, has both resources and responsibilities. Church trustees are made aware of needs and then must make judgments about if, how, and when to help. Our challenge as a church is to use funds generously but wisely. We welcome our church members’ involvement in these decisions.

John Mulligan’s lesson on Sunday was about “Prayer in the Life of Lake Merced,” specifically about the importance of praying as a church. He pointed out several relevant Bible readings and he noted 5 observations about church prayer:

It’s essential. Several readings in Acts (Acts 1:13-14; 2:42; 12:12) address the need for group prayer and the importance of being devoted to it.

It’s requested. Ephesians 6:18-20 tells us to “...pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests… and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

It’s doable. We must pray boldly to fight the challenges against the Message. When we are bold, we are filled with the Holy Spirit.

It’s effective. As we read in James 5:13-16, we must pray when we have troubles, when we are happy, when someone is sick, when we have sinned: “Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them.” “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

We have examples. Just one example is from Acts 12:1-17, which tells the powerful story of how church prayer caused Peter to escape from prison.

John left us with some ways to help improve our praying, specifically concerning Lake Merced Church of Christ:

Pray for opportunities for Lake Merced

Pray for guidance for Lake Merced’s leaders

Pray for perseverance for Lake Merced (always remaining hopeful)

Pray for growth for Lake Merced

Pray for God to be glorified through Lake Merced!

Prayer is flexible but powerful. Whether it’s a sweet hour of prayer or a fleeting moment of prayer or all night prayers - God hears them all. Small though we may be, we can all pray for this wonderful church of ours, and that’s a lot!

Jay Mijares spoke to us on Sunday about the Parable of the Rich Fool, from Luke 12:13-21. This was a man who was upset because he didn’t get what he thought was a fair share of an inheritance. He asked Jesus to “...tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus snapped back, “Who appointed me a judge or arbiter between you?” Jesus will certainly be our final judge, but our petty earthly disputes are meaningless to him. Not surprisingly, Jesus’ answer was to warn him against greed, saying “... life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

This man was like the wicked man in Psalm 10:3-4 who “boasts about the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord… In all his thoughts there is no room for God.” His mistake was that he craved the worldly things he could get through his inheritance, not considering what God wanted for him. God blesses us all differently. Are we willing to accept being “poor” if that’s what God gives us now? Do we trust that He will always provide us with what we need?

What can we learn from this man’s story?

Don’t allow the world to skew your view of Jesus’ mission.

Take care how you invest your life.

Consider thoughtfully how your story will go from here.

What we own does not determine our worth. Jesus knows our heart and our true character. That’s the only worth we need to worry about in this life.

John Mulligan spoke to us about “When We Meet: A Biblical look at why we do what we do when we assemble.” On Sunday mornings, we gather together, we share in the Lord’s Supper, we sing together, we receive a lesson, we pray together, and we give what we can financially. These aren’t ideas from our church’s Board of Trustees; these guidelines come directly from the Bible.

1. We gather together to strengthen ourselves AND to encourage one another.

2. We take the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of Him, until He comes again. This is arguably the most important thing we do at church.

3. We sing together! Lest you think this is the least important thing, know that when we sing songs of praise we are (as Eph. 5:18-19 says) filled with the Spirit. We sing to “... make music from your heart… always giving thanks to God the Father for everything.”

4. We receive Biblical teachings so as to be instructed by God.

5. Of course, we pray together to seek God’s blessings and we will “...keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” (Eph. 6:18.)

6. We share our financial resources to help the needy. In Acts 4:32-35 we learn about believers where “God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them.”

There are practical purposes for everything that we do each Sunday at LMCOC. All that we do now in fellowship together will echo into eternity. Let’s continue to strengthen and encourage each other as we all walk humbly together in His path.

John Mulligan’s lesson this week was on “Being the Church”, continuing the conversation about how we can make the most of being a small church. John reminded us that the church is not just a certain address on Brotherhood Way. We, as church members, are the church, every day, regardless of where we are. As Paul says in Ephesians 1:11-12, we were chosen in order that we “might be for the praise of his glory.” The Bible lists no minimum number: we are here to praise His glory regardless of how many voices we are.

We are also here to share our gifts. Some of us might waver, wondering what gifts we even have. 1 Corinthians 1:1-7 confirms that “...because of His grace given you in Christ Jesus… you have been enriched in every way” and “Therefore, you do not lack any spiritual gift.” We all have God-given gifts that are meant to be shared. The 13th chapter of Corinthians then tells us about the wondrous gifts of faith, hope, and love. Remember, “the greatest of these is love.”

Romans 12:4-8 also confirms that we all have gifts. Our gift may be serving, teaching, or giving. It may be leading or giving encouragement. Our gift may simply be listening. But whatever we do, we must give our gifts generously and cheerfully. This is how we ARE the church, wherever we go. This is how we shine as God’s children.

Let us be generous this week as we share our gifts with others we encounter. Let us draw others in with that greatest gift of love so that they may share in God’s glory.

John Mulligan’s lesson on Sunday was “An Open Door.” He spoke to us about Faith and The Future of The Lake Merced Church of Christ. The Apostle John gives God’s message to the Church in Philadelphia in Rev. 3:8, “I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”

What we have is good. We must hold on to what we have, knowing that God works well with small numbers. Mary and Joseph had Jesus. Jesus had only 12 Apostles. God has given us an open door which can offer many opportunities if we keep our faith in what He can do.

We are being called to be a faithful church, not a big church. There are 4 ways for us to stay faithful: (1) Faithful to God Himself, (2) Faithful to His written Word, the Bible, (3) Faithful to our calling to Christ; and (4) Faithful to each other.

We are a blessing right now, where we are, with what we have. Let’s embrace our “open door” with these actions:

Be welcoming to visitors and strangers

Be a safe place for those who are scared, hurting, or different

Be generous to the truly needy

Be encouraging to those who are here for a short time

We will always have people who come and go -- people come to SF for school or a job but then move on to their next chapter. Our challenge, our open door challenge, is to make sure they are stronger when they leave because of their time with us. So let’s not bemoan our small numbers. With God guiding our efforts, there is no telling what our collective and individual strengths can achieve!

As we approach Independence Day, John Mulligan gave us a lesson on Sunday called “Free Indeed: How Freedom is Expressed in the Christian Life.”

Freedom, in this sense, doesn’t mean free to do anything we want. Freedom is about not being a slave to our sins. In Galatians, 5:1, Paul says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

In addition, since we are only human, freedom in Christ means that we are set free from the impossible goal of perfection. God will accept us regardless of our failings. We are set free from the overwhelming burden of our failures. All of our sins, all of our regrets, are forgiven (and forgotten) by God.

However, this kind of freedom means great responsibility. Galatians 5:13-14 reads,”You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

This freedom calls us to live with the highest regard for God and others. If we truly respect this invaluable freedom, we will joyfully commit to pursuing God as He pursued us through Christ and to serving one another in love.

Michael Rankins’ message on Sunday was “I Am The Vine” taken from John 15. In verses 1-4, Jesus says, “I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch that bears no fruit” and God also prunes back the productive branches so they become more fruitful. And of course, “No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.”

The only purpose of a grapevine is to produce grapes, but we are only the branches. The power is in the vine. If we remain in Jesus, we will bear fruit. We must remember that the glory is not in the fact that branches bear fruit. It is due to the “gardener’s” glory, our Father’s glory, that the fruit is created at all.

Perhaps the most important part of Jesus’ message is about “no greater love”. (John 15:9-14): "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friend if you do what I command.”

Let’s not just listen to the Word; let us go and bear fruit. Let’s testify to the Word, the Truth, that Christ's victory is accomplished: John 16:33 “I have overcome the world.” Let us demonstrate to Jesus that we are in him by loving each other. We do this by helping those in need, supporting and uplifting them when they are weak, and showing them Christ’s mercy when they fail. If we do these things, and remain in Jesus, we will have peace.