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Feb. 23, 2007 - We Are The Church
This was such an awesome message by Pastor Tommy Kyllonen aka Urban D. of Crossover Community Church Tampa, Fla. that I thought I would share.
Hope it makes ya think :)
Church has become defined as "a place where certain things happen" -such as worship, preaching, prayer & fellowship. People tend to say "I go to church," the same way they say they go to the mall or the movies. People say "I attend church" the same way they attend school or college. Other people say "I belong to a church" the same way they belong to a gym or an organization.
Think about it. So many people within and outside the church view church as a vendor of religious services and goods. Church has become a place, a building - instead of a group of people on a mission.
Keep thinking. We go to church to learn about God and how He can fix our problems and heal us from past hurts. It's where we send our children to have others teach them about God. It's where we go to hear great music and connect with people. Its where we go for our weekly feeding of God's Word.
Not that these are bad things. They are all vital necessities. The problem comes when the church is the only place we experience these things. When we don't talk to God or study His word daily. When we expect the pastors to read the bible for us and teach us all we need to know in 1 hour on Sundays. When we don't teach our kids about God and just expect someone else to do it for us.
Many of us have become consumer minded when it comes to church. We look for a church that's going to meet every single one of our spiritual needs. Relevant Magazine's website has an article that makes a great point. It says that the church's motto has changed from "We are here to serve the lost and broken world" to "What does this church have to offer me?"
There needs to be a balance between the church body meeting people's needs and the people also giving back to the church. This is part of God's plan.
It all boils down to the original definition of church. Here is a biblical statement that is going to rock some of ya'll. There is not one verse in the new testament that says "They went to church." You might be thinking "What? I thought those people were always in church!" Well, according to the Bible, it is actually impossible to 'go to church'. You might be trippin now, but bear with me.
The church of the New Testament never referred to a building or even a meeting that took place. It referred to the people of God who were together on a mission. So, in light of that definition, we cannot 'go to church' because we are the church. If you have a relationship with Christ then you and I make up the church. I AM THE CHURCH! yOU ARE THE CHURCH! WE ARE THE CHURCH! The past few years i have seen alot of people proudly rocking shirts that say "I am Hip-Hop." Would we be proud enough to boldly rock a shirt that says "I am the church?" We recently gave out shirts to all our volunteers at Crossover that said "I am the church" on the front. On the back it continued and said, "...and I meet with the rest of my family at a place called Crossover." It sparked up some conversation and helped some of us to be more aware to represent.
In the New Testament the word church is always used to refer to a gathering, a crowd, a group, or an assembly of people who believed in Jesus Christ.
ACTS 14 is a great example of that. This passage talks about Paul and his crew returning to the city of Antioch. Paul was the man! A few verses before that he was in the city of Lystra and got stoned. These cats literally mobbed him, pulled him out of the city and stoned him until they thought he was dead. After they dipped the disciples gathered around Paul. He got up, brushed off the dust, wiped off the blood, and kept rolling. He was a raw dude. So, as the disciples returned to Antioch, they wanted to tell all the believers the good news about that and all the others that received Christ. CHeck out vs. 27 as it says, "On arrivingthere, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. And they stayed there a long time with the disciples." Notice the first part of the verse, "they gathered the church together". You can't gather a building together can you? NO, because the church is us! It's you and me!
In the New Testament the word church is from the greek word, 'Ekklesia.' This word meant an assembly of believers that gathered together for a purpose and a mission. The term is used in the singular to describe several churches in a region as it talks about that in ACTS 9:31. But, it is also used to describe the church that is made up of believers from everywhere on the earth. We are part of a local and universal church meaning a group of people that follow Christ. One of the biggest things we are supposed to be about as the church is our mission. Rick Warren (author of Purpose Driven Life) stated that "today the church is more known for what it's against rather than what it is for". That's a sad but true statement. When someone is on thier deathbed, or dying, or about to leave forever thier last words are usually the most important thing that they will say to those they are leaving behind. We have all seen it in the movies, and some of us have experienced it in real life.
If we look at Jesus' last words to his disciples it was all about giving them thier mission. The mission was to reach more people and let them know about the hope, forgiveness, and relationship the He offers. In MATTHEW 28:19-23 and ACTS 1:8 Jesus gives this mandate to His followers. This is what we are supposed to be about as the church!
So let me encourage you like the writer of Hebrews to not give up meeting together, but let's not stop there! Let's also be about our mission, and let our actions throughout the week hollar ' I AM THE CHURCH!'
Crossover started with a small community of people that wanted something different. They were burned out with “organized religion” – tired of the politics, the tradition, and the masks people hid behind at many churches. They saw the needs of people on the streets that weren’t being met, and they wanted to do something about it. Pastor Joe McCutchen founded Crossover with a few other people in the early 1990’s. They moved into a facility that was basically abandoned and very run down on N. Orleans Avenue. Al Palmquist was a member of the church who met Tommy Kyllonen on some basketball courts in Clearwater. Tommy was running a successful urban b-ball league while completing his college internship. Joe and Al challenged Tommy to start an urban youth ministry at Crossover from “the ground up.”
In December 1995, Tommy graduated from college with a B.A. in Pastoral Theology, with a concentration in Youth Ministry. He married Lucy Laguerra in February of 1996 and together they founded Crossover’s Youth Ministry with only 4 teens. Over the next six years, they developed a first of its kind Hip-Hop Youth Ministry, which grew to close to 200 youth weekly. During this time, the Adult Ministry at Crossover maintained about 40 regular attendees as there were three different pastors (changing every two years), each of which were bi-vocational.
In January of 2002, Tommy Kyllonen became the lead pastor of Crossover; a new vision and structure was birthed for the church. Crossover became “purpose driven” as the leadership team developed and implemented the mission statement: “To relevantly introduce the truth of Christ to the Hip-Hop Culture as we develop worship, purpose, unity, and leadership in their lives.” Crossover began to make several changes to better reach the community. The services quickly grew as several new people visited and built new relationships with Christ. Many soon embraced the vision and began getting involved and serving others.
God has called Crossover to be a pioneer church to reach the Hip-Hop Culture. The church has become internationally known through all of the favorable media articles, as well as the numerous CD’s released by Urban D. and the Fla.vor Alliance. Thousands have visited Crossover’s website and attended the church services, looking at Crossover as a model. The once “run down” facility has been completely transformed into a unique thriving church campus that is exploding with creativity for the Creator. In less than 4 years, the weekend attendance has jumped from 40 to over 400. In addition, the Thursday night Youth and Young Adult services reach hundreds more each week. With all the exciting things God has allowed Crossover to accomplish, this is still just the beginning.
Weekly Planet – Feb. 22nd, 2005 – Cathy Lynn Grossman
“Crossover Community Church, just west of the Lowry Park Zoo, draws hundreds to its services each week. Believed by many to be the world’s model hip-hop church, Crossover is booming – largely to its young lead pastor, Tommy Kyllonen. Known in the world of Christian Hip-Hop as Urban D., Kyllonen has released five rap albums and travels around the country speaking at conferences; he’s an emerging expert on bringing the Word to the hip-hop generation. Standing at Crossover’s lectern, which is designed to look like an oversized spray paint can, Kyllonen has the gift to speak to a room of hundreds and yet find a way to talk to everyone individually. His well-prepared sermons vacillate between scripture and anecdotes, jokes and explanations. Kyllonen doesn’t bellow like some preachers and he doesn’t break into song. He just talks, engaging his audience in what feels like a conversation – even if he’s the only one speaking. The seats are filled by Latinos and African Americans, Whites and Asians. While most of them are in their twenties, there are plenty of families too – couples in their 40’s and 50’s who may have come to help their kids, but stayed to help themselves.”
Comments
Feb. 24, 2007 - thanks
Posted by brooke
I appreciate the prayers!! It has been a difficult year. My brain knows He knows better than I. It just is taking my heart a little longer to wrap around that. Thanks again. I love your blog!!
Blessings to your beautiful family.
Brooke
Feb. 25, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Titus2woman
Sooo many good posts~I don't know what to comment on! I enjoyed all of it! (((((HUGS))))) sandi~you mean, you don't have a potty dance? ~smile~
