Matt Chandler - The Purpose of the Book

It’s so good to be back with you! Finally, my family and I took a little bit of time off over the last few weeks just to rest and reorient ourselves for what is sure to be an unprecedented fall. It’s so good to be back with you, and I’m glad to be standing while I’m doing this. I know I said I wanted to sit until we gathered again, but after some time off, I realized, you know, that was a bad idea. I need to stand in case something physically bad happens to me. I’m so grateful that you’re here!

Listen, wherever I went during my time off, whether I saw you online, at a restaurant, at Walmart, or at Target, you all asked me the same question. The question was some variation of this: when will we finally gather again? So, I want to answer that question for you right here. I’m going to give you my honest answers, as honest as I can be. As soon as we possibly can. Here’s my promise to you: there isn’t an elder or staff member who is okay with where we’ve been regarding not being able to gather in a safe way that allows us to worship Jesus together.

Just so you know, on every agenda at exec, pastor, and elder meetings, we’re discussing when we can open. A couple of things I would like for you to consider as we work through this in multiple meetings this week:

Number one, we could use your prayers. There are a lot of variables here—some that you know and some that you do not—that go into that decision. It’s not simply, «Oh, this church is open, so we can’t.» Each church is unique in how it’s built, in the services it uses, and in whether or not COVID has impacted a certain aspect of their staff, rendering that an impossibility. So I want you to pray. Pray for wisdom as we meet. Pray that God would protect our staff and our people. That would be the first thing: just pray for us.

We want to gather as much as you want to gather! I can assure you, me being up here by myself talking to a couple of machines isn’t my idea; I want to feel you in the room with me, singing voices lifted high to Jesus with me. I want that! I’m hungry for it, and I know you are too. We’re going to try to get it done, but there are variables we have to consider for your safety and the safety of others. Pray for us.

Secondly, please be gracious. Just because another church is opening does not mean we are lazy or do not want to open or are overly passive. If you’ve been here with me during my 18 years, there isn’t much about me that screams passivity. I can promise you we’re not trying to be passive; we’re trying to aggressively move the ball forward. There are just variables beyond our control that we’re asking God to work in. Maybe one day, after all this is said and done, we can drink a cup of coffee together, and I can share some of that with you. By the grace of God, will you pray with us and continue to be gracious toward us?

There isn’t a minister on this staff who isn’t longing to see you, to hug you, to be in the lobby, to minister and pray with you afterward, to greet and welcome and celebrate the presence of Jesus among His gathered people. So please pray with us and continue to be gracious. You’re doing an exceptional job of that!

Now we’re going to jump back into the Gospel of John, but before we do that, I wanted to do this real quick. Alright, so look right at me. I know you’re in your living room, so everyone, dial in—just look right up here! You are eight months into 2020. Normally, we wouldn’t take an eight-month break and celebrate it, but you’re eight months in, and you’re still here, right? Like, you’ve made it! You have been supported by the Spirit of God; you have endured. You haven’t been perfect; you have blown it; you have done things you might be ashamed of, but here you are—struck but still here, weary but still gathering.

So here’s what we’re going to do: just real quickly, we’re going to celebrate with one another. We’re going to encourage one another that eight months in, we’re still standing by the grace of God. So give somebody a high-five right now! If you’re by yourself, just give yourself a self-high-five! Come on, everybody, celebrate for a second! You’re eight months in, and you’re still here! Maybe you lost a job, maybe you’re anxious, frustrated, and angry, but here you are! You’re still here! We just sang to Jesus; we’re hanging in there; we’re being sustained by the grace of God.

I’m proud of you! Right, Mom and Dad? Educators, you’ve made some really hard decisions, and I want you to hear me say this: look right at me, you didn’t make the wrong one! You didn’t make the wrong one. If you decided, «I’m going to send my kid to school, ” great! If you said, „No, I’m not, ” that’s okay too!