My name is Dave Hood and I’m the Fort McKinley Campus Pastor and I’m excited to be here. The videos you were just watching were all shot during one of our project neighborhood mission trips. As we went out into the community and said, "Hey, we’d like to rake your yard," people said, "Why?" and we said, "Because we’re neighbors."

Let me ask you this, when you think back to 2008, what are some of the things that come to your mind? My guess is that some of you are probably thinking about gas prices. We started the year about $2 a gallon and it went up to almost $5 a gallon. And, just a couple of weeks ago, I paid $1.36 for gas. What a roller-coaster ride that has been. Maybe some of you are thinking about how this town, Dayton, Ohio, has changed in just a year. How this used to be a GM kind of town and now the last GM plant just closed two days before Christmas. And as if it hasn’t been hard enough for Detroit – with all of the GM closings and all the car manufacturers taking a dive, they also have to deal with the Detroit Lions - 0 and 16? Ouch! I tell you what, that’s tough stuff. Last year also had some really exciting things though, didn’t it? We got to see our first African-American president of the United States elected. Regardless of your politics, that was a momentous day to celebrate. We also saw the Olympics last year. We got to see Michael Phelps do things we never thought we could see: eight gold medals in one Olympics. It blew my mind. I couldn’t believe it.

But, if you’re anything like me, when you think of 2008, you’re probably thinking about the economy. That’s the thing that’s hit us all with the collapse of the mortgage industry and banks beginning to close and the insurance companies we thought would be there forever are starting to collapse around us. We’ve seen the unemployment rates rise and that’s bitten many people in this room today who have lost jobs or have been laid off. We’ve seen our investments and our retirement plans begin to shrink, rather than grow. Many of us have started to panic and say, "Oh, God, what are you going to do with this?" We heard President Bush say a few months ago that this was the worst economy since the Great Depression. And yet, the New York Yankees thought it was a good idea to spend $423 million dollars last month on three players. Oh, my goodness! I don’t even know where that came from! Now, when I think of 2008, I’m going to think about one of the greatest moments for me. It was how this church, Ginghamsburg Church, in the midst of instability and down-side economy said we want to move into the city of Dayton. We want to open a campus and we want to partner with this mission outpost we call Fort McKinley. And what I will always remember about 2008 is that I got to be a small part of what God is doing at Ft. McKinley because of your faithfulness. And that, if nothing else, makes 2008 a great year.

A buddy of mine and I were talking the other day about 2008 and 2009, and he said, "I feel like 2008 just kind of happened to me. You know what I mean? Kind of ran over me like a Mac truck, it just went by so fast, I didn’t even know it was coming. I've really got to grab onto 2009 and make it count, make 2009 a great year." So I began to think, what does it mean to have a great year? What does greatness even look like? Listen to what Jesus said in Mark 10, starting at verse 43, "... whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Will you pray with me? "Father, You’ve brought us here. It’s a new year. We’re starting something new. God, let it be great. In Your name, Amen."

When I first got to Fort McKinley, we started right away going out into the neighborhood. We started with prayer walks. We weren’t sure what else needed to be done, so we started walking the neighborhood and talking to the neighbors and introducing ourselves and just getting to know people. We would pray for homes and the families who lived in those homes. Whenever I’d go out in the neighborhood, I’d ask the people that I met two questions. The first question I’d ask is, "What are the biggest needs in this community?" Everybody had an answer for that question. I mean everybody. Right off the top of their tongues, they were saying things like "we need affordable housing" "we need better transportation" "we need jobs made available" "we need a safe place for our kids to play when they come home from school" "we need to be able to know who our neighbors are" "we need to rebuild community." And really, everybody was saying we need somebody to care about this neighborhood. That was an easy question to ask. But then, I’d ask the second question: "What does a great church in your neighborhood look like?" And most people would just look at me funny. Very few had an answer for that one. Almost as if the concept of the church making a difference in my community didn’t even compute. What do you mean a great church in my neighborhood? From those conversations, a mission was born and we began to hear Jesus calling very clearly that in 2009, Fort McKinley’s mission is to help that neighborhood define what a great church really looks like.

Let me tell you where some of this came from. Last January, a year ago almost today, I spent two weeks studying urban ministry in Chicago. Which was kind of funny because at that time, I was serving the world’s most rural church in the world and I began to ask, "God, why are you sending me to study urban ministry? God, it doesn’t make any sense!" Don’t ever say that to God - just a helpful hint. I spent those two weeks in Chicago looking at all these places that were doing ministry in the city. We were looking at social service agencies, at all kinds of food pantries and homeless shelters and we went by a clothing center. We saw all that was going on in the city and we went by a lot of churches. Can I be honest with you for just a second? I was unimpressed. There were a lot of folks trying to do a little bit here and there, but overall, I was asking myself – is this the best we can do as a church? Is this really the best we can do? The last day of our trip, I got to go to St. Sabina Catholic Church on Chicago’s south side. You need to know a little about St. Sabina Church. It was built in the early 1900s as this huge cathedral type building. And in the 1950s, Chicago’s south side was where all the rich folks lived, the doctors and the lawyers and anybody with means lived in that neighborhood. St. Sabina Church was the place to be, especially if you were on a basketball team; and they had these big roller-skating parties. St. Sabina Church was the center of life in that neighborhood. In the 80s, a lot of the folks with means began to move out of the neighborhood to the suburbs and what moved in behind them were gangs, violence, drugs and prostitution and that neighborhood became known for its poverty and for its need. The archdiocese had given up on this little church and this little neighborhood, so they sent this rookie priest to help the church die gracefully. That was his job - to help the church die gracefully. Well, as most rookie preachers do, we don’t listen very well. So he walked in and began to preach the power of God. He began to preach that we can make a difference in our neighborhood and they began to look at how they could make a difference right in that neighborhood. This once dying church became resurrected as an incredible mission outpost in the city. We got to spend a couple of hours listening to this priest tell us about justice in the city, hope for the city and what it could look like. I’ve got to tell you, for the first time in two weeks, I was inspired. I thought, man, this is good stuff. But I had heard a lot of this before, so I was a little skeptical. At the end of our talk, we had this question and answer time and one of the students in our class raised his hand and said, "Can you show us your church? Can you take us on a tour of your church?" And the priest got this little snicker on his face and said, "Sure! Get your coat on." I thought get your coat on? It’s January in Chicago; we’re already inside the church, why do we need get our coats on? Do you mean you can’t even afford to heat the sanctuary? I didn’t understand. But for the next two hours, we walked around this neighborhood. We walked and he showed us the job center that St. Sabina Church started for that community so they could do resumes and get online. He showed us the daycare facility that they started for the neighborhood children. He showed us the food pantry that they began in the neighborhood that is a resource to anyone who lives there. And the clothing center where people can come and get relief. He took us by the school that they started because there was no neighborhood school for the children to attend. And he took us by the senior apartments that they built for their senior adults who wanted to stay and live in that neighborhood. He showed us the emergency safe houses that they rehabbed for people in the neighborhood coming off the streets or coming out of rehab and in need. He showed us the transition homes that they built for young families who just needed some extra help. And here was my favorite piece, on almost every corner there were these reward signs. It said "$5000 reward from St. Sabina Church." I wondered what this reward was about. As I looked at the small print, it said "if you kill someone in our neighborhood, we will put a price on your head. God Bless You." That’s the church making a difference in the world. My eyes were opened. I began for the first time to see what it could look like in a community with a church with the power of the Holy Spirit and the resources of God himself to begin to really take seriously Jesus’ command to love our neighbors. I began to really see for the first time. So, at Fort McKinley, we’ve been asking the question, what does it look like to be a great church in our neighborhood in 2009. I want to ask you a similar question: what would it take to make 2009 a great year for you? One of those momentous years, one of the years you remember forever. The Bible gives us some hints about what we can do to make 2009 a great year.

There are three great actions that every great disciple practices. I want you to take a look at the first one. In Matthew 28:18, "Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'" A great church makes disciples, not just church members. It makes disciples, not just pew spacers. Ginghamsburg has been about this for years. From the very beginning, we’ve heard Mike tell us that it’s not about what we do in this room, but what we do when we leave this room. Those of you who have been coming to Ginghamsburg for a long time, have to know this concept. You know how important it is to pick up one of these class guides, get involved and become a disciple - not just a pew sitter. But, I've got to be honest with you. I’ve spent time in a lot of churches and this is a different tactic than a lot of churches tend to use. A lot of churches try to fill the pews rather than make disciples. We were walking in the neighborhood one Saturday morning, raking leaves for neighbors and just getting out and meeting some folks. While we were out, we ran into another group that was in the neighborhood and we began a talk with them about what we’d do in this neighborhood and we were really excited. But when we first met this group, you could immediately tell the difference in tactics. Just looking at them, they were in three-piece suits and carrying Bibles. We were in jeans and sweatshirts and carrying rakes. You see the difference in tactics? It was less of wanting to change people's minds that we're after, and more of wanting to change people's lives. You see the difference in tactics? I’m not so interested in whether people can recite the sinner’s prayer as I am whether we can engage people right where they are, and meet them right in their need and offer them a new way to live in Christ.

At Fort McKinley, we have a saying that our mission is less about bringing people in to the church and more about taking the church out to the people. An outward turn to the folks, whether they ever come in or not. You all know a little something about this; you’ve been doing this for years every time you take a Sudan offering. Every time you focus on someone who will probably never step foot in this church. The lives you saved in Sudan will probably never sing in the choir. Let’s be honest. They’ll probably never become faithful tithers here at Ginghamsburg Church. And yet, we as a church have focused on the mission to which God has called us - to make disciples. Success in ministry is not based on the number of butts in the pews. But it’s based on how many hands and feet are serving and the number of disciples made. So Jesus gave his disciples a mission and the great commission. And he gave it to you and me as well. Let’s be honest - you and I want 2009 to be one of those great years. We have to join Jesus on the mission. Our mission at Fort McKinley is to change the world one neighborhood at a time. Transform lives one community at a time. We call this mission Project Neighborhood. We’ve identified 15 blocks that are right behind Fort McKinley Church that we have claimed as ours. And we have said that we want to make these the best 15 blocks in Dayton. We want to make these 15 blocks look more like the kingdom of God because the church was there. So the church has an impact on its neighborhood and we’re going to do this through building relationships, rebuilding community and reclaiming lives. You are going to hear so much about this in 2009 as we began to put some of these strategic plans into action. So that’s what we’re doing at Fort McKinley.

What can you do? On what mission can you go? How can you make a difference? What does it look like for you and your family, neighborhood and your workplace? We’ve heard Pastor Slaughter talk about some strategic initiatives for 2009 and one of those is that he wants to start eight new house churches this year. Is that you? Are you the one that God is waiting on to step up? Are you the one who God is stirring your heart or maybe it’s your small group wanting to get involved in a mission project in Fort McKinley’s neighborhood; or, maybe in your own neighborhood. Find the needs and meet it. Maybe it’s just you taking this mission brochure home with you and praying through it and saying, "God, show me where you’re sending me this year to make a difference, to be on a mission." Don’t let 2009 just happen to you. Instead, if we want to make 2009 a great year, then join Jesus on the mission

.

The second great action of a great disciple is found in John 15:12-13 and we call it the command. Listen to what Jesus said, "My command is this: love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." A great disciple loves. It's pretty simple. I wish I could end it there, move on to point number three and we’d all get it. But if you’re like me, you look for loopholes. "Who am I supposed to love? How am I supposed to love? C’mon Jesus." And you’re not alone. Jesus was surrounded by folks who were looking for loopholes in the law of love. One day Jesus was sitting there and someone asked him, "Tell me what the greatest commands are." Jesus said, "Oh, that’s easy, love God and love your neighbor." The Bible says the man who asked him wanted to justify himself. He was looking for a loophole. He asked, "So who is my neighbor?" Jesus told him the story of the Good Samaritan. Some of you might not know the story, so let me quickly tell it to you. A guy was walking down the road and he was beaten and robbed and left for dead. But there was good news. That day, two religious folks were walking down that same road - but they didn’t help, did they? They walked on the other side and said, "Oh, I can’t get my hands dirty, I don’t have time, it’s not any of my business, that’s somebody else’s problem." And so they passed him by. Then Jesus sent the hero of the story down the street and the hero of Jesus’ story was the Samaritan. If Jesus were telling that today, the hero of the story might have been the fundamentalist Muslim or the gang leader or whoever it is who gives you heartburn just thinking about them. Jesus said that the one who gives us heartburn is the neighbor we’re supposed to love.

It’s not the people who look like me or act like me or live like me or who can spend like me, who are supposed to be my neighbors. But Jesus said love your neighbor and I can hear you thinking already from way back in the back…I can hear you: "Yeah, but if Jesus ever met my neighbor he wouldn’t have said that!" "My neighbor is a jerk" "My neighbor isn’t nice to me, parks on my lawn" "My neighbor is an addict" "My neighbor is gay" "My neighbor doesn’t do the things that Jesus honors, my neighbor doesn't even go to church." Jesus says love your neighbor. For Jesus, love isn’t a feeling, it’s a decision. It’s a decision to make and we are called to decide to love one another, to love our neighbors. Not because folks are just naturally lovable. I’m so thankful that God didn’t wait for me to get lovable for him to love me. The Bible says that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Before we ever cared, Jesus came for us. I can love you because God loved me first. I can love my neighbors because God loved me first.

That answers the who question, but it still doesn’t answer the how question. Love seems like it should be so simple, doesn’t it? Jesus qualifies it for us - he said, "Love as I have loved you." How did Jesus love? He went to the cross, didn’t he? He suffered and died, didn’t he? For Jesus, love means sacrifice and we know what that’s all about. This "Christmas is not your birthday" thing that you’ve been living for years and years now have been a mission in sacrifice, setting aside half of what you normally might have spent on Christmas and giving it to folks you may never meet in your life - that is sacrifice. The miracle offering this year - I’m so excited that Nate is letting me say this - our miracle offering in 2008 has netted over $600,000 already and it’s still growing. How exciting is that? Love is about building and not about me. Worship is not about me. Mission is not about me spending. It’s not about me or my service. It’s not about me. But love is an intentional effort to put someone else first. If we want 2009 to be one of the great years, then listen to what Jesus said and decide to love. At Ft. McKinley, that means intentionally being willing to see our neighbors the way God sees them, through the eyes of love, and then doing something about it. Maybe for you that looks a little different. Maybe it means forgiving someone before they deserve it. That’s a tough one. Maybe it means reaching out to someone before they’ve earned it. Maybe it means deciding to love before you feel like it.

The third great action that every great disciple practices is found in Micah 6:8. We call this the great requirement. Listen to what Micah says, "He has shown all you people what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." I’ve been learning a lot about this act justly part as we at Fort McKinley have been working together with New Path Outreach. We’ve begun to do more than just filling people’s refrigerators through our food pantries. We’ve begun to ask the question, "Why is your refrigerator empty in the first place?" That’s where charity becomes justice. When we start asking those hard "why" questions. It’s not about meeting just the immediate needs - and that’s so important. Those of you who have brought food and put it behind your cars today, that is so important to fill our food pantries. But God requires us to take that next step, to act justly, to ask those why questions so we can break those cycles of generational poverty. So we can get in and fix systems that have been designed to oppress people and turn them into systems that are designed to free people in Jesus Christ.

The next piece that Micah points out is that we are called to love mercy. I love this. This "love mercy" thing might be my favorite part of Micah. Mercy is nothing more than undeserved second chances. How many of you have ever gotten an undeserved second chance? Thank God! I walk around all the time telling folks I’m so thankful that God is not fair! So thankful that I don’t get what I deserve, but rather God loves mercy and his undeserved second chances are given to me and when we began giving them to each other, this undeserved second chance, that’s when hope begins to take hold.

The last piece that Micah points out is walk humbly with God. The church has this reputation for being a place for those people who’ve got it all figured out to go to and hang out together. I don’t know what church that is, because I’ve not found that church yet. Yesterday, I got to be a part of the very first Next Step at the Fort worship celebration. It was so exciting, you should have been there. It was so cool. There was a room with about 60 of us in there. Everyone walked in and said, "I’m broken and I know it. But I know a God who loves me anyway. And I know a place who will accept me anyway." It was such an incredible thing that there wasn’t anybody looking down on anybody else or thinking 'you’re worse than I am' or projecting our own sin on others. But it was a place where everyone was loved. I heard a definition for Christianity one time that I just love: Christianity is really nothing more than one beggar showing another beggar where to find bread. I love that. When we get that figured out, when we recognize that my sin has earned me a place in hell, but God has paid the price. When we recognize that we are all sinners saved by grace, then we start working together and we start walking humbly with God.

So, here’s a question: how are you going to make 2009 a great year? It’s by practicing and living the great commission and the great command and the great requirement. It’s by focusing our attention on focused mission, intentional love and doing what God requires, this is how we make 2009 a great year. So, here’s my challenge. Are you ready? You want 2009 to be a great year? Get your coat on because we’re going to build you up in here, but then we want to send you out as a missionary to make a difference. Greater things are yet to come. God has this great opportunity for us. In his last days, Jesus was hanging out with some of his disciples and he was telling them about these greater days that are yet to come for them. To the disciples, the days ahead looked dark and scary and they weren’t real sure what to do with it. But Jesus said, "I have given my body for you. And my blood was given for you for forgiveness of your sins." So they ate and they drank and they recognized that God is with us and no matter what kind of year it is, God has paid that price.