Building Dedication

We're going to hear from several of my friends today. I wish all of them could speak. I thought about it, but I wanted the rest of you to be my friends afterwards, so I decided that wouldn't be the best way to go. I do apologize, really, to the men that I'd love to have come up here. All of you mean a lot to me. I did ask Mark Elspan to come. Many of you have heard his voice and always wondered, what does this guy look like? But I asked Mark particularly because he's new to Pittsburgh, and he has not watched all this transpire that we have. I thought he would have a fresh perspective, perhaps, on what the church is about. I want you to welcome here to North Way Mr. Mark Elspan. Good morning. Welcome. David had this vision, and the vision was that he wanted to build a facility in honor of his great God. And God said, you can have the vision, but you will not build the facility. That task will be left to your son. And so Solomon embarked on that great project of building this magnificent facility in order that the great God of the universe would be worshipped. But it was years later, in the passing years, in the passing decades, that people who lacked the faithfulness to that God were exiled to Babylon. And then there was that remnant that God began to restore, and he brought them back to Jerusalem. And among that remnant was a fellow by the name of Ezra, who recorded a rather interesting sequence as they came back to the foundation where the temple had been, and had been destroyed. And he records that as follows. When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites with cymbals took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David, king of Israel. With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord, He is good, His love to Israel endures forever. And all of the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise, and the sound was heard far away. It wasn't long after that that the temple was completed, and there was a great celebration and a time of dedication, just as there is here today. But you know, in the rebuilding of that temple, isn't it interesting to watch the wave of emotion of people who recognized what a great thing it was to have a place to worship God. And they expected great things to happen there, just as great things are expected to happen here, things very important. You see, that temple was, first of all, a place of worship. An Old Testament temple was a place where not only the God of Israel was worshipped, but where, in essence, he took residence. The church today is filled with the Spirit of God present in the believers, and it is a place where worship will be held in the highest regard, the worship of the one and only true God who created heaven and earth. It is here, in this building, that the word is to be preached. It was a place of knowledge. You know, the temple was really a place of education. In Jesus' time, of course, that's where he often taught. And it was in the temple that the great teachers appeared to discuss the purpose of life. And so it will be here. Open minds will hear some of the finest teachers and the greatest truths known to man. It was a place of rally, where warriors were sent out and commissioned. The same will happen here. It was a place of dedication. The temple was a place for circumcision and bar mitzvahs. I haven't talked to Jay. I don't know if circumcisions are planned here. But hopefully... Hopefully there will be a number of baptisms, dedications, and commissioning for discipleship. It was a place of joy. The temple was a gathering spot for feasts, elaborate celebrations. Oh, oh, the very finest. And the same will happen here. There will be feasts, weddings, anniversaries, graduations. Even the common gathering of Sunday school classes, Bible studies, and services will bring out the deepest joys of people. It was also a place of tears. It was a place of reconciliation between God and man. This church will be the same. There will be many who yield themselves in humility before God, in submission, asking for forgiveness. Others will depart this earth and be remembered, will be remembered in this spot. The church, the temple, was also a place of healing for those who suffered from illness. North Way will be a place like that. People who have all kinds of weakness, illness, and sin. Pains that are physical, emotional, and spiritual, and they will come here for healing. The temple was a place of prayer. A house of prayer, as Jesus called it. A place where men and women in the deepest need can bring their petitions before God. North Way will be that kind of a place. It was also a location for empowerment. The temple was a place where warriors were assigned, and today we're going to ask the Holy Spirit to do the same for you. To empower you to go out and face a very difficult world. And the temple, last of all, was a place of giving, service, and sacrifice. People brought their gifts to the temple. They did not withhold. In fact, people brought their gifts in such overwhelming amounts that storehouses were used. People gave generously, willingly, lovingly. And we trust that that spirit of giving will occur here. And if it does, great blessings will be poured out on this people. What is it that the building cannot do? As nice as this building is, it cannot worship. It cannot grow in knowledge, dedicate itself, rally, have joy, tears, healing, pray, get empowered, or sacrifice. The very things it represented to the people, and it represents to you, the building cannot do. And God did not sacrifice his son to die for a building. The Holy Spirit was sent to indwell in people, not man-made structures. And while we hope that this new North Way building lasts, it will not last forever. Know the church of the future is you, and today we're asking God to bless you as a people in this building. Your home church will not win others to Christ. You will. The character of North Way will not be this edifice. You will. The dedication of a building is made worthwhile by the spiritual energy behind it. Significance and worth of this celebration happens when the people take outside what is purposed inside. And on the inside, the work never stops. It is there, it is here we find you, bending your knee, turning your heart, engaging your mind, sharing the kingdom of God with others, that they may follow him. This is the challenge. This is the opportunity. My friends, see you there. Good day. Thank you. Thanks, Julianne. The next three men who are going to speak are each one special to me in different ways. I'm going to introduce all three of them and then have them come. They have a time frame. Most of them cannot say their name in the time frame I've given them. But we're going to see what the Lord can speak for them. Reid Carpenter and I have known each other for, well, we both had a lot of hair when it started. Reid was Area Director of Young Life when I first met him. And God has used Reid as a model in my life in many ways, and as an encouragement. Joseph Darlington and I have done a long time together in and out of different things. And I'm honored to call him a friend. He's now President of the Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation and providing such vision on a lot of different fronts. Joseph Darlington, I've known for quite a while. But more recently, we've gotten to know each other better. And Joseph and his wife Barbara are part of the group that I told you about this morning that Caroline knew with. Joseph has taught me much about what it means to carry one another's burdens and understand one another's hearts. To talk about the issues of race in a way that are constructive and meaningful. I know the Lord is going to speak to us through him. And Rich Krasnaryk, believe it or not, Rich may not even know this, but Rich and Sally were pastoring out in Greensburg when Carol and I were kind of wondering, now what do we do? And we visited Rich's church. And I remember the thought very distinctly. I said, Lord, someday I hope I can have a part in a church like this. And 15 years ago, Rich and Sally were models to us and have remained friends and now pastoring at the Cornerstone Ministries in Delmont. You know, folks, I've said this many times, but the greatest tribute to any person in ministry is the capacity to stay when it's so easy to fall. And these men have all done that. Let's welcome, first of all, Reed Carpenter to come. Reed, welcome. Only pastors can juggle with stuff. Microphones, papers, and everything like that. Mark has a voice that all of you love and wanted to see his face. Most of you may have seen my face and would just as soon not hear my voice. So you're going to have to endure for a few minutes. It is obviously an incredible privilege and joy to be here at this particular event. And many of the players I've known and prayed for while this was all going on. But Jay has asked me to speak just for a few minutes about perhaps a broader context. In 1961, when I came here as a kid from New York City, basically to hang out on streets and love kids back to Christ, I had the wonderful privilege of being kind of dragged to Mount Washington by a Christian war horse by the name of Sam Shoemaker who got a group of us on our knees way back then and asked us to pray for this city. And his vision was that one day Pittsburgh would become as famous for God as it is for steel. Well, it's 34 years later. Sam is in heaven. Lots of people are in heaven. And I'm still here trying to sort out what Sam's vision really amounted to and what God had in mind when God spoke that vision to Sam's heart. One of the little phrases that has caught on with a few of us is that in order to make that vision a reality, the whole church needs to take the whole gospel to the whole city. The whole church needs to take the whole gospel to the whole city. And just so, you know, I've prepared my thoughts this afternoon, but what I've really asked the Lord to do is just give me his wisdom through his spirit as I speak. Because the thing that I've been pondering the most about in my life as of late is just what do I mean when I say the church. Never has there been more confusion about the church than exists right now. And so there's a couple of ways that you can look at this question. The first way is the way most people look at the church. For instance, for many of us today even, we really believe that right now what we're sitting in and what we are celebrating is the church. And the reason some of us are here is we like what goes on in this church. We really believe that this church has a special gift of the Holy Spirit and that's why we come here and we give our money here. But my question always is, is this church any more authentic than a storefront church that's run by a female minister who's a cop in the city of Pittsburgh in a little broken storefront in Wilkinsburg? Is that church just as much the church as this church? And when it looks so confusing and we look at the things that are parading in the name of the church, whether it's political viewpoint, whether it's theological distinction, whether it's doctrinal realities that tend to divide and to separate and to break the heart of Jesus, we usually put the word church on those labels. I know many, many people who are very disheartened because they really can't find their way to what they believe the church really is and should be. Sam Shoemaker had a tremendous poem that he yet used as the apology for his life. And that poem was that he decided with his life he would stand near the door. He wouldn't go so far in that he would ever forget that people who are grappling to get inside are very vulnerable and very hurt and very confused and are wondering whether the church is a place that can be trusted with their souls. So Sam decided to stay near the door. Well, I sort of decided to stay near the door myself and have a wonderful viewpoint from the door handle. And I would simply want you to know that I believe that the Holy Spirit is doing something in our midst today and it is that there is a quiet discontent in the people of God. There is a longing to be connected with that which has been broken. There is a longing in the people of God for unity and for holy spiritedness as opposed to mean spiritedness. There is a deep hunger on the part of especially lay people to see the church united rather than divided. I just finished reading the Pope's book which I clearly recommend, Crossing the Threshold of Hope. He has this quote after much of this conversation about divisions and historic wrangling and unbelievable divisiveness and dissension has been discussed. Here is what he says and it resonates with my heart. Nevertheless, this cannot be justification for the divisions that continue to deepen. The time must come for the love that unites us to be manifested. Many things lead us to believe that the time is now. Another way to look at the church is really through the eyeballs and through the heart and through the expression of Jesus himself. And I really maintain in my heart of hearts, Mark beautifully referred to it in his closing remarks, that the church, when Jesus looks at the church, he always looks at people. He looks at persons. The church to Jesus is his bride. The church to Jesus are people who for only, the only way I can say it is that by his promise and by his grace and his sovereignty, he has decided by his spirit to indwell me. Don't ask me why, don't ask me how, don't ask me why I am chosen and there's people wandering around at Ross Park Mall this afternoon that don't have a clue. I only know that one day the Holy Spirit came into my life and this body that you're looking at right now actually possesses the Holy Spirit and my body is a body through whom Jesus Christ has chosen to live. I don't know of anything more radical than that. I don't know of anything more scandalous than that. Jesus, when he looks at his body, has made it very, very clear. He basically wants this body to be one body with one faith, with one baptism, with one love and one mission because he knows it is going to have only one conclusion. You folks are going to have to live for eternity together and you might as well get used to it now. You know, before I sit down, I'm going to do something that I think is the simplest task that I have and that is to read the scriptures. And this scripture that I've chosen to read is about as simple as it gets. It doesn't need much exegesis. I'm going to read it out of the Message Bible by Peterson. If you haven't seen this rendition of the word, you've got something wonderful in store. Some people say this isn't the Bible, but Gary, please vindicate it before I leave that it is. At any rate, here's what it says. Ephesians 4, and this is what I say to North Way, I love you. This is an incredible church. This is an incredible body. This is an incredible people of God. But you know what? You are one small part of something that is unbelievably large. You are nothing but a very significant piece of the small. And that's a wonderful thing to grasp when you're in this kind of magnificence and bigness. It can distort the truth. So listen to this. I don't want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don't want anyone strolling off down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline, not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love. Alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences. You are all called to travel on the same road in the same direction, so stay together. Hey, stay together. And do it outwardly and inwardly. You have one master, you have one faith, you have one baptism, you have one God and one Father of all who rules over all, works through all, and is present in everything. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with oneness. Isn't that wonderful? But that doesn't mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his or her own gift. The text for this is, he climbed the high mountain, he captured the enemy and seized the booty, he handed it out as gifts to all of the people. He got the booty. It's true, is it not, that the one who climbed up also climbed down, down to the valley of earth, and the one who climbed down is the one who climbed back up, up to the highest heaven. He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor-teachers to train Christians in skilled servant work, working within Christ's body, the church, until we are moving together rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God's Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive in Christ. So, I'm here to celebrate and dedicate this building, because it is another gift to be used to bring maturity to a very significant number of his body, so that they can be nurtured to love and connect with the rest of the body, so that together we will grow into the unity of faith, establishing together his kingdom in Pittsburgh, North Way Community Church, be faithful to the whole gospel, in cooperation with the whole church, so that the whole city will know who Jesus Christ is. Be faithful to the whole gospel and to the whole church, so that the whole city, which cries out in brokenness and sorrow and pain and longing, is shredded at its core, is looking so desperately for the new community to emerge. You are part of that community. For God's sake, let's find each other and love each other with new capacity and full maturity in Christ. Last thing I want to say is this. This building is absolutely awesome. Jack and Roy and all you guys that put your hearts and lives into this thing, it's just, it's glorious. Hi, Jack. And, you know, a group of my friends wanted to pick up a satellite dish from Ray Bakke down in Birmingham, who was getting signals from all over the world that they had hooked up in Birmingham with expressions of the body of Christ going on in some of the poorest communities in the world. They had grabbed those things off satellites and they had placed them in a, technically they'd pooled that together in Birmingham and they wanted the church in Pittsburgh to have access to that information. We looked all over Pittsburgh for a satellite dish that was capable. We want the QED, we want everywhere we could go. And guess what? We came here. And you know what? Those people that came here, which represented universities and all kinds of folks, were treated with such respect. And this building, right from the get-go, had begun to be known as a place that has been placed here to serve the rest of the body of Christ all over the world. That's what I'm asking you to keep up for the name of Jesus. Thank you. Joseph Garlington. The last time I had an opportunity to stand on this platform, I followed Miles and Miles Monroe, and I was beginning to have a deja vu feeling here. The guys told me I had two minutes. It really is a joy to be here. It's always great to hear Reed speak and share, and I believe that's a good Bible. You could probably be saved from it. Jay asked me to speak for a few moments about racial reconciliation. It usually takes just a few moments to get races divided, so I have to be really careful about what I want to say. There's a song that we sometimes sing, maybe a parody of a hymn that goes something like this. To live above with those we love, oh, that would be glory. To dwell below with the ones we know. Now, that's a different story. And working in the church is a lot like that, and I thought of two visions for reconciliation, racial reconciliation that I see in Scripture. I want to read one that I will call the heavenly vision first and then read the earthly expression of that vision, and it's in Revelation chapter 7. I so appreciate the relationship that Barbara and I have with Jay and Carol and the other brothers, and it really is a joy to be here, to share in this great time here with the Northwest. And after these things I looked and behold a great multitude which no one could count from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues standing before the throne and before the Lamb clothed in white robes and palm branches were in their hands and they were crying with a loud voice saying, Salvation to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. And then in the book of Acts chapter 13 verse 1, Now there were at Antioch in the church that was there prophets and teachers, Barnabas and Simeon who was called Niger, and that's with one G, and Lucius of Cyrene and Menaean who had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch and Saul. And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. And then when they had fasted and prayed, laid their hands on them, they sent them away. The very interesting thing for me about the Antioch church was that it was really a model of reconciliation in a number of ways. They were socially relevant, they were culturally relevant, and even environmentally relevant because they cared for those who were caught up in the hunger situation and offerings were sent to meet needs in the lives of people who were touched by the famine. The church in Antioch is in some way an expression of what takes place in many places where one church cannot for whatever reason, whether it's a cultural reason or just a religious perception that keeps us from doing what God wants us to do. And so while Jerusalem still has its profound effect upon the world and on the body of Christ, it seems as though Antioch is the church from which the ministry is launched and people go in all different directions. There are no real racial hang-ups there. Jews and Gentiles come together in one place and they seek the heart of God. And in that setting, very cross-culturally in its setting, these people find an expression that touches the world around them. In our church, we have a saying that in a divided society only the church can model unity. And if there is a divided society, Pittsburgh is one. I think of Pittsburgh as a wonderful place and it's that kind of place where if you need direction somewhere, people won't just tell you how to get there. They'll show you. They'll lead you. And this for me has been a wonderful city. And maybe in some way I'm insulated from many of the problems that others experience. And maybe it's what we perceive or what we're looking for. But the church has a challenge before it because there are a number of people who believe that they're facing racial injustice. And whenever we start to talk about it, one of the things that often happens with people is that they think only in terms of the black and white issue. And there are a number of people in this nation who are disenfranchised besides African Americans. I think probably the people who have really gone through a great deal would be the American Indian. They've experienced broken treaties that number something like 300 broken treaties. And when we experience that and we look at what the answer ought to be for the church, I want to give you three words that I think you can take with you. The first word is deliberate. You cannot be involved in racial reconciliation unless you're intentional about it. It's too easy to say, maybe it'll go away if I move. Well, it doesn't move. And, of course, if you remember the story concerning Abraham, God didn't tell him the neighborhood was bad. He just told him to move. And, of course, when he moved, he found out even worse neighborhoods than where he lived. And that if you don't make a deliberate decision to brighten the corner where you are, to change the landscape, the geographical landscape, and whatever injustice that you encounter, you cannot effectively be reconcilers. Reconciliation must be deliberate. It has to be intentional. You've got to say, God, I want to be an agent of reconciliation. I don't like what I see. And even if it's in my own life, I want to be a part of it. You've got to be decisive. Decisive is just as important because once you get started in something like this, it gets real difficult to get out of it. And you don't want to get out of it because once you're in it, someone is counting on whether or not you're really going to go through with it. Many of our forays into various aspects of reconciliation have stopped because people just started saying, man, I didn't know it was going to cost this much. I didn't know the price was going to be as high as it is. But the price is always high. And if you're going to do what God wants you to do and you think your price is too high, think of the price that Christ paid. Jesus paid it all. Suffered, paid an enormous price that we might become what we are here today. Decisiveness becomes important. It becomes important simply because we just simply need to say to people who may say, well, why are you going through all of that? Why do you want to deal with that? Why don't you just stay with your own kind? And of course it's difficult for us to say to others, these are my kind. Jay is my brother. Rich Krasnerick is my brother. David Morgan and Reed Carpenter. And all of you are our brothers and sisters. And it's great when I own you. I want you to own me at the same time. I want you to say, you're my brother. Can I hear you say that? You're my brother. See, not everybody didn't say it. That's just what I'm talking about, you know? It's just this kind of situation that frustrates the black people, see? But we do want, when you want to try that again, maybe you thought I was just kidding and maybe they painted an audience. But I'm going to find out, all right? I want you to say, you're my brother. That's good. That sounded like more people were involved. But turn to someone next to you. And of course, if it's a brother or sister, be discreet about what you say they are, all right? But affirm them next to you. Would you do that? And then the last thing I want to say, racial reconciliation must be deliberate, it must be decisive, and it must be devout. It won't take place apart from prayer. When the church decides to pray, we will have an encounter with the living God. When we get serious and we say, God, your kingdom come. Let me just take you back to that last passage, the first passage we read, out of every tribe, out of every tongue, out of every nation. And so when we pray, thy kingdom come on earth, we're really saying, God, would you make visible here, where we can see it, what's already evident in heaven. God bless you. How about if we take a moment and stand together? Will you stand with me? If you have a program, you realize that I'm the last commercial before the movie, okay? So, I don't want you to get too comfortable, I think it's a long movie. Not that I'm a long commercial. Let's look to the Lord for a moment. Father, we thank you for the words that we've heard here this afternoon. Words of truth, words of meat. We ask, Lord, that somehow they will penetrate into our hearts and we'll see them with spiritual eyes. Seed will be planted and watered and will produce fruit in us. Give us hearing ears to hear what your spirit is saying. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. I tell you, I've been at North Way so many times in the past couple of months. Let me begin by saying, it's good to be home. You have opened up this facility, dedicated it to the Church of Pittsburgh. It's been used, I think, around the clock for the past six months, and God honors that. There's always something going on here, and that's what it's all about. This is dedicated to the glory of God and available to the Church of Pittsburgh. I want to share with you for just a couple of moments this afternoon, if you'll turn with me in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians in chapter 5. 2 Corinthians in chapter 5. As Pastor Jay mentioned, we became acquainted about 15 years ago, and over that past 15 years, Sally and myself have gotten to know Pastor Jay and Carol very well, and we love them. They are great people, and you already know that, but I can tell you from a pastor's perspective that they love Jesus Christ with their whole heart, and they are committed to you with their whole heart, and that's a precious combination. We know that God's heart beats for one thing and for one thing only, and that is to be reconciled to mankind, to be reconciled to the world. The Scripture tells us that it is God's will that all would be saved, that all would come to the knowledge of the truth, that God is not willing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance, but there are two things that must happen before that can be accomplished. The first is that the way of salvation must be made available. The way must be made in order for God's will, God's heart, to be accomplished. Again, God is not willing that any person in the entire city of Pittsburgh would perish, or any person across this nation or around this world. His heart beats for every man, every woman, every child. He desires to be reconciled to them. Before that can be a reality, a way must be made for that to happen. Jesus came into the world, and as he looked at the cross, he said these words, For this cause did I come, and to this end was I born. And there as he hung, suspended between heaven and earth, he took the sins of the entire race upon himself. Every sin that had ever been committed, every sin that was being committed at that moment, and every sin that ever will be committed, all sin was focused upon Christ in that moment in history, and he bore the sin of the whole world. He said, That's why I've come. And then as he bore the sin of the whole world, he turned to the Father and he said, It is finished. He didn't say, I'm finished. He said, It is finished. The it he was referring to is the way of salvation has been made, mission accomplished. It's been done. It's over. It's finished. It's complete. He provided the way. Now the second part of what must have to happen is that the world needs to be informed that the way of reconciliation has been provided. Now this second part, Jesus has clearly delegated to us. He's not involved in spreading the gospel. He hasn't called the angels to make the proclamation or to preach. He has clearly throughout all of Scripture delegated that responsibility to you and I, and it's an awesome responsibility. You see, we often think as Christians that God's goal for our life is to save us so we can go to heaven, and that's not the only goal God has for us. You see, if that was God's only goal, save us so we can go to heaven when we die, well, He would save you one day and have somebody shoot you the next day, but that hasn't happened. You're here. I'm here. There are no... in us. God is allowing us week after week and month after month and year after year to remain here for what purpose? So that we can inform the world that the way of reconciliation has been made possible. Jesus said, Go ye into all the world and preach this good news to every creature. The Apostle Paul said this, I will preach the gospel without shame for it is the power of God unto salvation. And so for God's heart to be known and realized, two things must happen. The way of salvation must be made available and the world must be informed that there is a way. Jesus took care of part one, but He has delegated solely the responsibility of part two to us. Did you find 2 Corinthians chapter 5? I'm going to try and stay within the 45 minutes allotted to me. I'm almost done. Verse 18, let's look at that. Well, verse 17 is speaking about salvation, talking about Christ coming into us and our lives being transformed. And then goes on in verse 18 and says, Now all of these things are from God who reconciled us to Himself through Christ. God did it. Jesus did it. But then it goes on to say, And He gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely that God was in Christ reconciling the world