South Fellowship Church

Won't You Be My Neighbor? | The Meal Is The Method | Luke 7:34-50 | Week 3

Welcome.  You're here on week three of a four-week series called "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" How many of you have seen the Mr. Roger's documentary that they did?  Amazing documentary and tribute to an amazing man who really lived out the way of love, and did so in a compelling, breathtaking way.  Kelly and I saw the movie and I thought I really need to do a series on this because my heart's plea to Jesus is that our church would look a little bit more like Mr. Roger's neighborhood.  The first week we talked about the fact that God isn't calling us to identify or define our neighbor, that's sort of a low-level question.  In fact, He's asking us to become neighborly to whomever we might meet.  Last week we said that's not easy; as long as there's been hospitality, there's been complaining about offering it.  In 1 Peter 4:8-9, Peter writes to the church and says:  Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.  We typically grumble when we offer hospitality.....They're coming over again?  How long are they going to stay?  Are they going to jack up our house and eat up all our food?  My goodness!  We said we've got to build margin into our life if we're actually going to live out this way of Jesus, of not just offering hospitality but doing so without grumbling.  
I don't know about you, but as I've been wrestling with this topic more and more, and Jesus has been calling me to open my heart, my life, and my home, more and more, I've been seeing more opportunities to do that.  Anybody with me?  At the beginning of September, I was asked to be on a world religions panel at Kelly's high school, Mountain Vista.  I was there along with a Buddhist, a Hindu, and a Muslim imam.  They asked us a number of different questions.  At one point, the Muslim was explaining things we get wrong about Islam.  He asked the class a question:  How many of you guys have a Muslim friend?  A few of the students' hands went up.  I thought to myself, "I can't raise my hand to that.  I don't have a Muslim friend."  In that moment I thought, "But I want one."  After the panel, we all left and I was driving back to work thinking, "I really want....I would love a Muslim friend."  So I emailed him.  I said something like hi, this is Ryan from the panel.  Great job.  Really fun to meet you.  I don't have any Muslim friends and I would like one.  I felt like I was in middle school again....Will you be my friend?  Check 'yes' or 'no.'   He wrote back and said, "I'd love to be friends."  We started up this conversation via email and last Monday we went out for lunch together.  We got to talk about our faith.  We got to talk about our families. We got to talk about our upbringing.  We got to talk about Jesus.  It was as though as the table sort of turned into this altar, where something unique and something special started to happen...   

Won't You Be My Neighbor? | Leaving the Edges | 1 Peter 4:8-9 | Week 2

This series is like one long message! You may have walked away last week thinking, "Yeah, I know, hospitality's really good, Ryan. That's a great idea. BUT...." We have a whole list of "buts," don't we? We have a whole list of reasons why it's really, really hard. To that, I want to say, "You're right! It is." I want to spend the next 35 minutes or so affirming you're right! BUT.... I was a sophomore at college at Colorado State University and was walking across the courtyard. I saw a man who had a long beard, sort of unkempt, had a smock on (it looked homemade), had pants that looked like they were homemade, and he was holding a cardboard sign that said: "What do you think about Jesus?" At that point in time, I was a follower of Jesus, I was serving with Young Life, and I thought, "Wow! That's really cool that he's sitting in the middle of our courtyard just striking up conversations with people." I went up and met him. His name was Jerry. We got into a conversation about Jesus. At the end of our conversation, I said to him, "Hey, Jerry, if you ever need a place to take a shower, here's our phone number, give us a call." He was experiencing homelessness. I found out that homeless people take you up on offers that other people sometimes won't. Two days later my phone rang. It was Jerry and he asked, "Does the offer still stand to come and take a shower?" I was living with three other guys and asked if they were cool with it and they said yeah, they were. So Jerry came over and took a shower. As he was leaving, we said, "Jerry, if you know any friends who need a place to take a shower, our house is open, call us anytime." He did.....and so did his friends. We said, "Hey, Jerry, if you ever need a place to throw your tent, you can throw it in our backyard." So....he did! It was really cold one evening, so we poked our heads out the back door and said, "Hey, Jerry, (and to his friends) if it's ever too cold for you guys and you'd like to come and sleep inside, come on in." And they did! For two-and-a-half years of my college life, I lived with four to five homeless guys who slept on our couches, on shelves in our garage. I can tell you this, it wasn't always easy. Eventually we had to ask them to leave... 

Won't You Be My Neighbor? | Neighborly | Luke 10:25-37 | Week 1

A few months ago, our elders started to ask this question: What would it look like to create a culture of hospitality? Where, as a church family, we didn't just attend, but we gathered together and linked arms and hearts. Not just show up on a Sunday morning, but open our homes and our lives to the people who we worship with. It was our conviction, not that we weren't that place, but there were some ways that Jesus was drawing us deeper and inviting us to more, that this would feel more like a family. One of our values here is that we're family together, not just on Sunday morning, but throughout the week as well. About that same time, my wife and I went out on a date night and we went and saw a movie. This will give you a little insight on just how nerdy we actually are. We don't watch superhero movies---nothing against them, just not our jam. We went and saw a movie called "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" It was a documentary about Mr. Rogers. I walked out of that movie with this angst in my soul. My wife Kelly watched the entire movie with a Kleenex in hand, crying a little bit throughout the whole thing, and popcorn in the other hand. I walked out with this conviction, this thought in my head, "What if church looked more like Mr. Rogers' neighborhood?" Where there wasn't any other standard than presence to be invited in. Where you didn't have to reach some sort of affluence level. You didn't have to have a certain color of skin. You didn't have to talk a certain way or be from a certain place. If you were there, you were invited. I walked out of that movie deeply touched and it stuck with me, and it's helped to shape and form the next four weeks of our teaching series. In case you haven't seen the movie, I just wanted you to get a little glimpse, here's the trailer. {Video plays}"The greatest thing we can do is help someone know that they're loved and capable of loving." How many of you watched Mr. Rogers at some point in your life? I did. After I watched the film, I remember trying to remember an episode of it. I can't remember any single episode of Mr. Rogers, but I can remember the way that I felt when I watched it. It was drawing me in. There was this sort of healing balm, this love, that just sort of beckoned and said, "Come a little bit closer. It's safe here..."

Sermon on the Mount | Building a Life | Matthew 7:21-29 | Week 14

My family has been here two years and we just love this body and being at South Fellowship and plugging in with the Young Adults.  A few weeks ago, we were going to have a worship night and I had this vision months before.  We were going to have lots of young adults come to the great outdoors of Colorado and enjoy seeing the creation God has created.  We'd have the mountains in the background and enjoy worshipping our Creator outside.  We've ended previous summers with a worship night in the park (Clement Park).  I was really excited about this year and wanted to plan something really cool.  A few months ago, the Ascent Project Band led worship here at South and my wife and I looked at each other and said, "This would be a great band to lead that night."  I contacted them and they were willing to come.  Our own Erich Schmitt came out and set up all his sound equipment.  Earlier in the day, there was a chance of rain forecasted.  I was praying, "God, this night is for you. A hundred young adults would be coming to worship you.  We're going to see what you're going to do tonight."  Everybody was praying for no rain.  My wife called me when she brought the kids to the park and asked, "Do you think we should go to the library first?"  I told them not to take the risk so they went to the library.  
Let me tell you about my family.  I'm married to Ellen.  She's an incredible mom, an author, and passionate worship leader.  We have four kids:  David, Emily, Lucy, and Elizabeth.  We've been blessed with their energy, excitement and their joy in our life.  I'm beginning my third year at Denver Seminary...

Sermon on the Mount | False Prophets - Then & Now | Matthew 7:13-20 | Week 13

My name's AJ.  I'm from Grand Rapids, Michigan.  It's really good to be here.  Here's a question I want to begin with:  Can we go deep this morning?  Is that okay?  Richard Foster had this amazing sentence in his work, Celebration of Discipline, when he says, "The world's greatest need today isn't for intelligent people or cool people or innovative people.  All that's well and good.  The world's greatest need right now is for deep people.  People who are thinking deeply about good questions about life and beginning to live in accordance with what they're discovering."   
In America, I'll suggest this, fifty years ago, God was largely assumed, so the temptation was to doubt.  In America today, God is largely ignored and the temptation is to believe.  We've entered a kind of cultural moment where the longing for something transcendent is returning.  I think we're discovering the career ladder isn't enough and that our consumer habits don't quite satisfy like they once did.  And more technology has only led to increased anxiety.  Do you remember the fax machine?  When that came out, everyone thought finally, we can rest, right?  I think many are beginning once again to ask the great questions, curious if maybe there is something beyond the stars.  Maybe what you're going to hear for the next few minutes isn't actually for you, but it's for your colleague, for your neighbor, to better understand the cultural moment that we're in, that we can begin to sort of say that's the frame of the twenty-first century American life.  How do I actually live within that frame given my neighbors and given my friendships and given my family members, who are just now moving out of cynicism and beginning to say maybe there is something beyond our grasp....something beyond that maybe just knows our names and maybe calls us the beloved. There's a haunting suspicion, I think, that's returning to the twenty-first century western hemisphere.  The haunting suspicion is that perhaps the cosmos is, in fact, enchanted with the divine, and that's it's not all just probability and a collision of molecules...

Sermon on the Mount | Standing in the Gap | Matthew 7:7-12 | Week 12

I grew up in an era where we didn't wear helmets for everything that was even a little bit dangerous, therefore, we had the chance to play games on the playground that mattered.  One of those games was entitled "Red Rover."  Red Rover is a game where you link arms with other people and there's other people across from you with linked arms as well, and you say, "Red rover, red rover, send Ryan right over."  When your name's called, you have to run and try your best to break through the human chain that's on the other side, without getting captured.  I've found that there's two types of people in life --- there are people who love to hear their name called in "Red Rover," and there are people who hate to hear their name called in "Red Rover."  
I think life is a little bit like "Red Rover."  I think life in the kingdom of God can feel a little bit like "Red Rover."  If you've been here the last few months, here's what you've heard Jesus invite you to so you live life knowing that you're blessed regardless of your circumstances.  You live life, in the kingdom of God, becoming more and more free from anger; becoming more and more free from lust; becoming more and more honest about who you are---the good things about you, the shortcomings you have.  You live in the kingdom learning to love your enemies instead of persecuting them, to bless people instead of cursing them---people that do you wrong.  You learn how to live a life of prayer.  You learn how to be a non-anxious presence in the world.  You learn how to trust your Good Father for everything that you need.  You begin to learn not to judge the people around you, but to be for them...  

Sermon on the Mount | Gavels and Flashlights | Matthew 7:1-6 | Week 11

We're going to wrestle with some very easy words from Jesus today --- DO. NOT. JUDGE.  Or you too will be judged.  It's Jesus's teaching on the Sermon on the Mount and I joked last week about wanting an easy sermon. . . .one easy message from the Sermon on the Mount. . .and I think this is it.  Here's why.  Because when we talk about being judgmental, all of us have somebody in our mind who should be here today, but none of us think it's us.  Judgmentalism is always a problem for somebody else, but very rarely do you meet somebody who says, "I'm just one of the most judgmental people you will ever meet in your life!"  We don't say that.  We say, "I think I'm right.  I'm not judgmental, I'm just right. And I'm right the majority of the time and I don't mind telling people that I am right!"  
So this gently---from somebody who's been wrestling with judgmentalism this week---you might fall into the same category that I found that I fell into that I'm a secret judger.  I'm judgmental.  I don't lead with it.  I cover it pretty well most of the time, but when it comes down to it, I'm judgmental.  Here's a few things that I'm judgmental about:  I am judgmental of you if you are a Yankees fan.  Or if you're a Patriots fan. {Bye, Felicia.}  If you think that cats are better than dogs, repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand!  If you don't like In 'n Out Burger, I don't have a place in my heart for you...  

Sermon on the Mount | Bright Eyes | Matthew 6:19-34 | Week 10

That was good worship, wasn't it?  But it stirred this question in me.  We're singing "This is My Father's World," right?  We see the sunrise, that he spoke into existence, that shouts for joy as it dances it's way across the sky.  This is my Father's world, and yet, I don't know about you, but there's time when I open my news app and think, "God, this is a weird world for you to own."  Sometimes You're way, way, way distant.  Sure, the mountains praise and declare your glory, but where are you when. . . .fill-in-the-blank?  Sometimes the darkness seems to hide His face, does it not?  There are times when the wrong seems oft so strong; one of the reasons we gather together is to say He is the ruler yet.  Amen?  So we gather today for a different vision of the world we live in, not one that's less real, but one that's more real.  Not one that's less observant, but one that's more observant.  To recognize that even in the midst of the darkness, our God is at work, and if we lose sight of that, it will dramatically shape the way that we live.  So all throughout the Scriptures, the God of heaven commands his people to live in such a way that they recognize that He's not distant, but that He's present.  He gives us commands and he gives us instruction that aligns with that reality.  
So all throughout the Sermon on the Mount, we've been talking about a different way of life.  We've been talking about a way of wisdom, Jesus's wisdom.  Sometimes Jesus's wisdom feels crazy, does it not?  Love your enemies.  Pray for those that persecute you.  Do good to those who wrong you.  Rid your life of anger.  I've been searching for an easy message in the Sermon on the Mount and I haven't found one yet.  Here's the reason why. . .when God presents his kingdom and his kingdom ethic, it flies in the face of our kingdom.  If we want to hold onto our kingdom, we're going to reject the Jesus kingdom.  In order to accept the Jesus kingdom, the kingdom of God or the kingdom of the heavens, we've got to let go of our own kingdom and---look up at me for a second---that's hard for us!  It goes against the grain of everything inside of us that wants to hold on...

Sermon on the Mount | The Purpose of Prayer | Matthew 6:7-15 | Week 9

I want to say thank you to your pastor; we've been friends for eight months.  You have an excellent, top shelf, amazing, Bronco-rooting pastor in Pastor Ryan and his family.  I want to say thanks to Ryan and the whole staff for their hospitality and ministering to me as I come to minister the Word today.  I have been friends with Larry Boatright for 20 years.  We actually traveled for a year in a praise and worship band together.  
On the screen is my family.  This is my wife of fifteen years, Jennifer.  Together we have Hayley, Carter and Griffin.  We did pastor in Oklahoma for 12-13 years, but we are all die-hard Broncos fans, so when God said, "Go to Colorado," I said, "Yes, Lord, here am I, send me!"  My dad grew up in Sterling; my aunt lives south of the church here in Highlands Ranch, so it feels like extended family and it's an honor to be here with you this morning.  As I get to share on the Lord's Prayer in this series, The Sermon on the Mount: The Art of Human Flourishing, I want to specifically talk about the purposes of prayer...

Sermon on the Mount | Real Religion | Matthew 6:1-6 | Week 8

How many of us, in this room, would admit that we've done something embarrassing that we wish no one would ever see?  Wow!  When we do something embarrassing and then later on we think about it, we still kind of feel it, right?  It's crazy because the world that we live in now everybody has a cell phone and they can take video of this stuff, so when you do something stupid, it gets recorded for posterity.  Or security footage, as a possible example.  I did something kind of embarrassing recently, and I thought the wisest thing to do is to show you guys.  You okay with that?  Take a look.  I was in a hurry to get out (of the building) one day, I needed to make a phone call.  This is security footage from our lobby.  I was trying to get this call made...   (Video shows Larry crashing into tempered glass window.)  In my defense, as I was walking toward the window, there was a woman walking out and she had this cute little blond girl who was smiling at me.  I was like, ohhh! BAM!  
For some reason, every person I showed this video to has laughed.  I'm not sure why.  I want to go back and show it in slow motion, because I want you to see just how hard my head bounced off the window.  Take a look....boom! boom! boom!  It hurt like heck and was super embarrassing.  The woman rushed in and was, "Oh my God, are you okay?"  I was not okay, but I said I was because I was embarrassed.  I was stunned and embarrassed, but it also cut my lip.  I heard my tooth hit the glass when it happened.  Beyond that, it gave me a full-blown concussion.  I spent about ten days in a fog.  I was driving a few days later---which I probably shouldn't have been, but just to give you an idea the weird stuff my brain was doing---and I turned a corner and saw a gorilla on the street corner.  I told my wife, "There's a gorilla on the street corner!"  She looked out the window and she looked back at me and was like, okaaayyy.  I looked again and it was a black street light.  My brain superimposed a gorilla some how.  If you hear me scream and run off the stage, I saw a gorilla!...