Worship & Servant Leadership, Part 2
Jim Clements · Tidal Church Moncton · March 2, 2025 · Hope Is Rising series
Jim Clements centres on Acts 2:42 and Luke 5, where Jesus shares a table with Levi and others. Intentional friendship grows into fellowship and communion, so he invites the church to build real relationships, welcome outsiders, and share life beyond Sunday.
More from Jim Clements · The Hope Is Rising series
Topics: Relationships, Mission & Outreach, Discipleship
Transcript
[0:00] And so far we've covered three of our core commitments, which is discipleship, worship, and servant leadership. And today we will continue to cover our final two core commitments. When you think about a house, and there's so many houses that you see as you travel around, in so many houses that you've been in, some of them are large, some of them are small, but all of them have a table. All of them have a kitchen. All of them have a place where food is prepared and people sit at a table. When I was growing up in Newfoundland, on Sunday after church, we would head to my grandmother's and she'd have a Jiggs dinner on, with some peas pudding and blueberry grunt for dessert, but at the time, we're all in the kitchen.
[0:49] While the cooking is happening, there may be people sitting on countertops, sitting against walls, sitting at the chairs at a table, pulling a chair in. But family is happening, friendship is happening, fellowship is happening. And in those moments, as I reflect as a child, I can remember listening to aunts, uncles, my grandparents, my parents share about what went on that week in their life. Sometimes it was a hardship that happened and the struggle and a challenge they had to overcome. Other times it was something to celebrate, something to let everybody know what was going on, what was happening. The table becomes so important. So many things are shared when you sit at the table.
[1:37] For even me, there was times when we would have conversations after losing a loved one, sharing a meal, sitting at the table. So much happens at the table. See, it's not a coincidence that even as we look in Scripture, we find so many situations that happen at the table, when people sit together and work through life or share life together. So much happens at the table. In Acts, it tells us this. In Acts 2:42, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, and to the breaking of bread and to prayer." That's a core scripture when it comes to shared life together.
[2:24] For we know that Jesus and His apostles, they walked together, they lived life together. They shared meals together, but it was done specifically and intentionally. Whether you're sitting in here this morning as a believer of Christ or whether you happened to be exploring faith, whether you were late getting up and coming in, whether you're early and here and had a coffee, all of us are here this morning because of an intentional decision that we made. And maybe that happened at some point in time around a table where you had a conversation. So much happens around the table. But before we can even talk about friendship, we need to talk before fellowship. We need to talk about friendship.
[3:09] We think about the friendships that we have. We choose our friends and they're intentionally chosen. Where we share the table, the different things that we share is done at a table usually. But the problem is when we use the word friendship, all of us can come up with different definitions of it. We can stir it around in a pot and see what comes out. But the bottom line, when I think of friendship, it comes down to one definition and that's intentional relationships. Let's pray before we continue. Father, we thank You for intentional friendships. We thank You for the love that You give us, the love that's displayed by each person. Father, we thank You for the table that we can come to and share all that You have in store for us, whether it be celebrations, whether it be challenges that are in our lives.
[4:04] We know that when we develop intentional relationships that grow friends, You will be in the midst of it as we move forward. So we give the rest of the service to You in this message. May You speak through all that is said. In Jesus' name, amen. When you think about your friends, we have best friends and we kind of have acquaintances. Maybe we classify them as not best friends. And you think about your best friend's relationships. The reason they're your best friend is because you're intentional about calling them, emailing them, texting them, hanging out with them, sharing a meal with them, having coffee with them. And those that are, let's just say you're not best friends. You don't do any of that stuff intentionally and therefore that's why you have best friends and not best friends.
[4:54] When we think about in Scripture, Jesus's example for us in Matthew, He tells us to love your neighbor as yourself. First Corinthians, he says, "Yes, I try to find the common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the good news and share in its blessings." First Thessalonians, "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." When we look at our core commitments, friendship has to be key. It has to be modeled not only by us, but us as a church, and those that call Tidal Church their church home. Friendship.
[5:39] We define in our core commitments as ensuring that every individual feels valued, cared for, and supported within a loving and connected community. See, I believe friendship is a lot harder today than it's ever been. I think people want to have friends, but in the world that I've said even in the past, we live in a world of independence, of individualism, where above anything else, it's about what I'm gonna get and how I strive to get what's better. We end up prioritizing our things and not necessarily in a good order. Sometimes we put things that are more important to be in friendship and relationship intentionally with other people ahead of things that don't accomplish what God is calling us to do.
[6:28] See, there's something that I've kind of translated for me when I ask somebody, you know, "Hey, you want to do this?" And they go, "Well, I don't really have time for that." How many of you have heard that? I know a lot of us have heard that. "I don't have time for that." Another way I look at that answer is, I'm not gonna make that a priority, because priority is what we give time to. We have to prioritize community over our personal successes. We ask when it comes to making friends, real friends, deep friendships. When it comes to doing that, there's risk involved. You put yourself out there. You've gotta be vulnerable. You've gotta be willing to reprioritize your day and your time to give time to these people that you want to develop friendships with.
[7:17] Sometimes even when you put yourself out there, you can be betrayed. You can be rejected. You can even be disappointed. Well, let me tell you about a person named Jesus. He was betrayed by Judas. He was denied by Peter, and He was abandoned by His followers, and they scattered to all different spots when things got tough. Yet, despite all those things, Jesus still chose love. Jesus chose to be in friendship with people even when it got tough. True friendship isn't always easy, but it sure is worth it.
[8:03] Have you ever had a friend who has said to you, "Hey, we should get together sometime, maybe hang out, go for a meal, you know, or go to a movie, just go for a walk"? But that friend never calls you. They never reach out. You never have that coffee. You never go for that walk. Just never, never any effort made. And no friendship develops when there's no effort made. And so what happens in that relationship? Absolutely nothing. The relationship slowly fades. The friendship or the relationship that you have disappears and there's nothing cultivated. See, Jesus just didn't sit around waiting for people to come to Him.
[8:52] Jesus actually invited people. Jesus reached out for people. We think of Zacchaeus, He told them to come down from the tree. He approached the woman at the well. He invited each of His disciples to follow Him. Jesus was very intentional about relationships. If we want deep relationships in our lives, we have to be very intentional about relationships. Will we make room at the table to share who Jesus is? Will we make room at the table like He did and welcome all people? Imagine, like He did, sitting, sharing a meal with your enemy, sitting across from you. Imagine breaking bread with somebody who betrays you, sitting there.
[9:39] It's gonna be uncomfortable, right? But Jesus had those same situations happen in the Last Supper. When He was there, Judas was there and He knew he was gonna betray Him. Peter was there, knowing that he was gonna deny Him, but He still washed his feet because there's nothing more powerful than sitting at the table with somebody and sharing life. Jesus didn't just sit at the table with friends that He knew and close acquaintances. He sat with tax collectors, outcasts, those that were far from Him. He invested in people that others overlooked. Why? Because when they sit together, walls come down and grace takes over.
[10:29] That's why the table's so powerful. Some of us struggle with friendships and some of us struggle to move someone from friendship to fellowship, and we think about what that even means and we just get confused and have more questions in our head than anything. And we feel like discipleship is broken. Discipleship isn't just inviting somebody to church, although that's good and necessary for you to keep doing. Instead, it's going that extra mile. And you not only bring them to church, you meet up with them when they're gonna arrive at 10, church together, you have lunch with them. It's actually sharing the gospel with them. It's answering their questions. It's speaking into their life. It's sharing. Do you anticipate when you come to church on Sunday to meet somebody new and to interact with somebody new?
[11:15] Or do you just find the familiar and rush in that comfort when you're here? People who attend church not only become disciples of Christ, we want them to grow spiritually and deep in friendships. Friendship is an intentional connection that leads to an intentional community. Friendships are an intentional connection that leads to an intentional community. Gisèle and I sat this week as I reflected on this message and we said, "Well, what are we doing intentionally beyond even what we normally do?" Because see, for me, I love meeting new people. Like, I love spending time. That's what you're thinking. Like, "Pastor Jim, you just, like, talk to anybody."
[12:00] Or my grandmother used to say like, even the cats know me when I walk somewhere, right? And so I just want to meet people and know people and know their lives, and I can't get to know all of you and you don't know how much that, like, aches in our, my heart, and my wife knows that. And so I said, "Well, we gotta come up with a plan to figure it out because we want to have intentional relationships." So this year, when the weather changes and becomes nice, Pastor Shane is gonna set up through our e-newsletter a link, and we know how many people that we can have at our house each Sunday after service. And so for a number of weeks through all the nice weather, you'll have a chance.
[12:47] We'll set up the invitation and we're gonna host you at our home. There'll be a schedule there and you can pick a Sunday and come, and let's create intentional relationships beginning here. And maybe by Gisèle and I modeling it, you can then take it to where you are. So we've made that commitment as a family. Our kids are grown and gone. And so we get that little bit more flexibility and we want to make sure that we are doing what God has called us to do. If we want to see people transformed by Christ Jesus, then we want to be able to invite them more into His service. We have to invite them into our lives.
[13:32] And that's why we're doing what we're doing. See, you see again in Acts 2:42, it said, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer." And in Hebrews, "Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now as the day of His return is drawing near." Building meaningful relationships and community reflects Christ, and it fosters unity within the body. We developed in teaching and fellowshipping together. Fellowship might sound simple, it might sound like a shared life, but when we follow Jesus, it isn't about Sunday only.
[14:19] Fellowship is about what happens at work, at recreation, in our homes, in our neighborhoods. Long before the church was formed, Jesus went in the crowds. Jesus made sure that He was teaching. Jesus had His disciples walk alongside of Him in fellowship. They ate with Him, they traveled with Him. They struggled together with Him, and they invited each other into deep relationships. One of the most powerful examples of this is in Luke 5. "Later, as Jesus left the town, He saw a tax collector named Levi sitting in his, sitting in his tax collection booth.
[15:04] 'Follow Me and be My disciple,' Jesus said to him. So Levi got up, left everything and followed Him. Later, Levi held a banquet in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor. Many of Levi's fellow tax collectors and other guests also ate with them. But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus' disciples, 'Why do you eat and drink with such scum?' Jesus answered them, 'Healthy people don't need a doctor. Sick people do. I have come to call those who think they're, I have come to call not those who think they're righteous, but those who know they're sinners and need to repent.'" Jesus called on Levi, whose name later was Matthew, the tax collector, to follow.
[15:51] And he shared, and He went to his house And He shared a meal with them. It's not just believers. And in that time, and sitting amongst sinners and people that weren't followers, weren't listening, others were shocked that He would sit with outcast, even calling them out. Rabbi, why would You associate with people like this? But Jesus came for those who were lost. Jesus understood that transformation happens in relationship, not in isolation. Transformation happens in relationship, not in isolation. The disciples learned from Jesus that they saw how He responded to the sick, how He showed compassion to the broken, and He prayed together with them in the same way.
[16:48] When we gather on Sundays, it shapes the way that we want to live in our workplaces and other places outside of church. When Jesus fed the 5,000, it wasn't just a miracle. It was them coming together and breaking bread and a meal. It was a shared experience that was created. He even washed the feet of John, sorry. He washed His disciples' feet in the book of John. And the fellowship meant, and it communicated that He was willing to serve someone else. He wasn't there to be served. Our commitments, our devotion to teaching and fellowship and friendship is not a side activity.
[17:33] It's like Jesus. It's a foundation of our faith. We have to prioritize relationships, intentional relationships. It means faith isn't just personal, it's communal. We have to do it together. The life of Jesus and the community moves around the Word of God, and shared life and faith begins and ends with us worshiping, a life of worship. It carries us forward. And we look at the ultimate feast in God's kingdom. Kingdom. When the group of believers are rooted in purpose, the incredible things happen. Transformation, unity, and material things and all other needs that we have fall into place.
[18:20] It's not about the possessions that we hoard or the accomplishments that we have. The ultimate feast is in God's kingdom. Our purpose is for people to experience freedom, to experience joy, to experience love, and the power of the Holy Spirit and a new way of living, a new life where no one is left behind and needs are met and nobody is forced other than the generosity of their heart that is transformed by Christ. This kind of fellowship that the early church experienced, a people of one heart, one soul, bound together, not obligated, but by love, by love in our intentional relationships.
[19:10] And today, the same life is possible for you to be vulnerable to you, to share, for you to show love, for you, to show fellowship. Christ in the center of our relationship could be a glimpse into someone's life of reality, who is struggling, who doesn't have hope. And we can tell them that hope is rising. It can't be about a program that we do. It has to be about shared life together, which is why I think about friendship and fellowship is important. We live in a culture where people value independence, yet they crave connection. One of the highest things people say they struggle with is loneliness. It shows us that true connection isn't passive, it's intentional.
[20:00] It's why we have small groups. It's why we have times to gather together in Scripture, to devote ourselves to the teaching of Christ and the sharing of life together. If we're sitting at the table with the Father, shouldn't we be sitting at the table with people that are yet to know Him? We ought to be reaching out, creating intentional friendships so that we can lead people into a life of communion and fellowship with the King and Acts 2:47 says, praising God and enjoying the favor of all people. And the Lord added to their number daily, those who were being saved. When was the last time that you sat down with somebody intentionally to have a conversation?
[20:51] When was the last time that you had a meal with somebody that was an unbeliever? When was the last time you intentionally took the opportunity to share your faith, leading someone from friendship to fellowship and ultimately to communion? The bottom line is our friendship should lead people to fellowship. And out of fellowship is where the Lord meets them and brings them to communion with Christ and others. My question is, have you experienced fellowship beyond a meeting or a program and more that it is a way of life? God is calling you to be intentional.
[21:39] God is calling you to love others. God is calling you to step out. My challenge to you is this week, two weeks, even in the next two weeks, will you intentionally look at the relationships you have or maybe the surface relationships you have and begin to create a friendship that will take someone out for coffee, that will take someone out for lunch, that may invite someone into your home with the hope of being able to intentionally build that relationship, to be able to come to the communion table for God so loved every one of us and set us free from the sin and showed us grace that we could have.
[22:34] And He intentionally set that up. And I just wanna say one more time, our offer stands from Gisèle and I and we want to see you in our homes. And I know you'll be busy and I know sometimes it'll be sunny, but we are preparing to create intentional relationships. And maybe you're someone in here who's been coming and you haven't made that decision for Christ. And I would offer to you the door and the table is still open, because the goal is to move from friendship to fellowship so that we can share in communion together.
[23:20] Scripture tells us that Jesus came so that we may experience life to the fullness as we prepare for communion this morning. I just ask that if you profess to be a follower of Jesus Christ, then the table is open. If you're sitting here and you haven't made that decision, but when I pray in a second, you do and you ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior and to come in and forgive you the sins that you have been living with, to set you free and to put you on a path of a new journey, that once you pray, the table is open.
[24:07] We're gonna do it a little different this morning. Normally we do it and we hand it and we go through the aisles. But I'm gonna invite our ushers to come and, what we're gonna do is we're gonna do it as a community, which means moving, which means that we're not gonna sit and partake as individuals, even though the whole room, we would do it at once. We're gonna move as a community to take communion. You'll be served and then you can take as you go. But in a place like this, it can cause a little bit of confusion. So everybody is gonna go to my left and then come down to the table in front of your section.
[24:58] You come across the table, loop back up and go into your row from the far side of where you were. And they'll have, the ushers will each have a cup that they will be holding, and they'll have bread that they'll hold. If you feel so compelled to tear from the bread held by somebody, you can do that. There'll also be a tray of bread that's pre-torn that you can choose from. And there's also gluten free. When you grab your bread, you just dip it in the juice and then take. So as a whole community, we'll do this together.
[25:43] And as a special treat today as a community, as we share in communion, the cups that you will dip into have been handmade by an individual in the church for us as a community and a family, something that is ours that we will share. The cloth that was covering the communion elements on the communion table was made by a lady in our church over a hundred years ago and has been held in storage here at the church. But today, as family, we remember our history. We remember the newness, but we remember the fullness of communion that comes from the night that Jesus was betrayed.
[26:30] Jesus took the bread, and when He said, and He'd given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take and eat. This is My body, which is given to you for this is the memory of Me." In the same way after supper, He took the cup and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it. All of you, for this is My blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sin. Do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of Me." Now, heavenly Father, we pray that may this cup and may this bread represent the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus, that as we come and take, may we reflect and know the price that was paid, the intentional price that was paid for each one of us who've accepted You as our Lord and Savior.
[27:26] And we ask this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.