This past Saturday was Daybreak’s quarterly Respite ministry. This is where we provide a program for children with special needs so that their parents can get a break and rest. This was a special respite because we had a new friend join us. His name is Brody and he is a 100+ lbs. Malamute. Brody is a rescued gentle giant, who this past Saturday brought joy to many children.

As a therapy dog, he has been trained to do specific things, but there is a love within him that just can not be taught. Somehow he realizes that his touch brings healing, therapy, joy (whatever you want to call it) – he knows that kid’s faces light up when they see and touch him. He even seems to be especially sensitive to children who are incapable of coming to him or expressing their joy as others might. Cathy and Glen Fudge are Brody’s handlers and their ministry is wonderful.

Have you ever wondered why Sesame Street has lasted so long as a top children’s television show? There is a Sesame Street clothing line, Sesame Street toys, computer games, and many other recognizable Sesame Street icons all throughout American culture.

Another famous and long lasting children’s television show was Mr. Roger’s neighborhood. Whereas Sesame Street is loud, past paced, and introduces new technology as it is developed, Mr. Roger’s neighborhood changed very little over the years proceeding Fred Roger’s death. Mr. Roger’s neighborhood used the same hand puppets that were first used when the show began. The show followed the same flow over the years, with the famous changing of the shoes and sweater, to the trolley going to the magical world of the neighborhood of Make-believe. It was slow and often a monotone monologue with Mr. Rogers. Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood did not have the marketing arm as Sesame Street had yet there it was day after day for children and their families.

I believe that it was not flash, technology, or marketing that made these shows a success. Instead it was the laser focus on their purpose and goal of the two shows. For Sesame Street, their goal is to teach children the letters of the alphabet, and for the children to be able to count to twenty. (That’s it) They sought to appeal to the mind. Mr. Roger’s sought to appeal to the heart. He sought to show and tell children that he loved them, they are of great value, and that he wanted them to become apart of his world. He wanted to give them a world where things were quiet, predictable, and slow paced. And children loved him for it; they wanted “to be his neighbor.”

In comparison to the previous successful children’s organizations would be the decline and seeming failure of the U.S. government’s Head Start program.^[1] From its inception in the 1960s, the founders conceived of Head Start as much more than an educational program. The health, nutrition, motivation, and self-confidence of poor children were deemed to be at least as important to their future well-being as their academic learning. Another feature present from the beginning was Head Start’s rule that parents be involved in running each local program. A rationale for that principle: building parent’s self-esteem would help develop their children’s.

In short, Head Start has not been primarily an academic program.^[2] Instead of staying focused on teaching academic facts, they allowed this one admirable goal to be encroached by other goals and objectives. By allowing themselves to become sidetracked they are not reaching their ultimate and most important objective, the children’s ability to be successful in future educational excellence. Head Start believes that by helping children get a solid educational foundation, when they are young, they will be far more likely to do well in later schooling. However, instead of giving them the essential academic information needed, they have become side tracked with issues like self-esteem and nutrition.

If we are to make it over the long run, we must not allow ourselves to become sidetracked from our ultimate purpose as a church. Matthew 28:19-20 tells us the Great Commission of the church, “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, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (NIV)” This is God’s instruction for what the church is to be doing. Every action taken by the church should be compared with this passage as the standard.

By helping people I don’t mean false sentimentality, rainbows, prancing unicorns, or an effeminate blurring of gender roles. God has given us the way to help people, and it is by authentically loving our “neighbor” (Luke 10:29). The most powerful show of love is for a person to share with another person how to have all of their sins forgiven, how to live a life with purpose, and to introduce them to their own Creator.

As a church, Daybreak is firmly rooted on the Bible and its’ teachings. To argue and fight for this (at our church) would be synonymous to “bombing rubble” after you have already won the war. We are also a church that loves people as evidenced by our ministries and stories of how our people are serving their neighbors.

But here’s where I think we are. Are we willing to change how we prefer to worship, experience God, song selections, socialize, and even express our love for God in order for someone else to feel more comfortable? Somewhere along the way, someone changed how they worshipped God (our services aren’t in Latin) in order to reach new people for Christ. One of the most powerful ways we love and help our neighbor is to give up our preferences, in order that he may be able to understand and know his Creator.

Our vision is to be constantly changing, for the purpose of reaching Frederick County for Christ. The change has to begin with you and me (not them). Paul said it like this, “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. ²⁰To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. ²¹To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. ²²To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. ²³I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

Change is hard for most people. Here are some things to think about:

1. Christ calls us to lay our lives down for others (1 John 3:16)

2. Paul as an example shows us how (1 Corinthians 9)

3. Things that are alive change, if they don’t they die. (what would you say about an infant that remained an infant for 5 years? – would not something be wrong?)

4. You already believe in Christ, and by your willingness to change, others can come to believe as well. You can be missional simply by being willing and open to change.

I am the type of guy that not a lot of things scare me. It doesn’t bother me to jump out of planes, rappel tall towers, or going extremely fast. Animals insects, ect.. don’t bother me (except for snakes-yuck). But there is a word, that when it is spoken causes a chill to go up my spine. It is the word “vision” – even writing it now, I’m wigging out. Every leadership book I have read speaks of sharing your vision, always talk about your vision, etc… I realize that as a young pastor/leader there are so many things that I don’t know, and desperately realize how very far I have to go to be a “superpastor.”

But I have what I believe God has shown me where we are going as a church, a future reality. But getting it out of my head and heart is important – how can others follow, if they don’t know where we are going?

Let’s begin with a verse of the Bible – 1 Thessalonians 1:5 (and following) “because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.” This church mentioned here weren’t just talking about the Bible, they were living it out with power and deep conviction! They were not plastic, shallow, phony, Christians; they were serious about their faith. Everywhere Paul went in this area of the world to tell others of Christ, this church’s name came up as being faithful there.

So here we go . . . .

Who Are You?

Daybreak is a church that is helping people. We are helping people here in Frederick (Hope Alive, Frederick Food Bank, Children’s Camps, Special Needs, Prayer, etc…). We are also helping people in our country (mission trips to Alabama, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania, etc….). And we are beginning to help people around the world, specifically in Peru. Daybreak is not about political wrangling, but helping people.

Everyone has a need to be understood, to be loved, to belong, and we all need help. We want to be apart of something that is changing our world for the better.

How Are You Helping People?

We begin with ourselves. We want to be real and authentic with how we truly are and live. We understand that the world wants nothing to do with hypocritical Christians. We know that God is not pleased with this type of religious people (see Matthew 23). So we seek to be deep in our relationship with Jesus.

We then want to make a difference in the life of others by showing them how Christ has made a difference in our lives. We have learned that before people care about our Jesus, they have to know that we truly care for and love them. So we want to be about genuinely loving our neighbors and the world. It may be cutting their grass, watching their kids, or just listening over a cup of coffee.

Why Bother?

Because all people are important. Jesus died for them. He gave His life, and so as His disciples or followers we are to do the same. We lay down our lives for others (John 10:14).

We Accept All Kinds of People

We understand that we are growing ourselves, and we become better people by having diversity within our church. You can feel comfortable, no matter what your background may be. We know people aren’t the same and we look forward to learning from each other.

We have a bin of movies that sit beneath our television, and my children plumage through them, and yes it is necessary to them to take every single one of them out and line them out on the floor. On one of these occasions, they decided that they wanted to watch Polar Express.

There is one scene that I really enjoy watching. The children are on a magical train, they are given a free ticket (but they have to keep up with it), and they are traveling to a wondrous place. At one point the conductor asks over the intercom system, “Is anyone in need of refreshment!” All the children’s hands shot up, and at that moment stewards run down the aisles and begin to dance, sing, serving, and the children (and the viewers) are spellbound. They dance on the tables, and they shoot hot chocolate with sharp shooter precision. Everyone has fun, they are refreshed, and train moves on towards its magical destination.

What if church were like that? If we ask people, “Who is in need of refreshment?” their hands will shoot up. But often times what we give them is bitter stale coffee, which was brewed back in 50’s sometime. It’s not sweet hot chocolate, it’s moldy and irrelevant. The display before them is not energetic or served with precision; it is an entrenched, old school, boring routine.

So, Drew, you want church to be Cirque du Soleil? Yeah, sort of. What if church could be a place where people would be swept up in a wondrous movement? What if people could leave refreshed and excited about the journey. The person we are journeying to see is far better than Santa, and the place is far better the North Pole. Can we dance for the king? Can we sing with all our hearts? Can we present His mighty Word with creativity?

Who is in need of refreshment?