Message Description

Dr. Steve Jones and Executive Pastor Mark Lunsford complete the "It's Your Move" message series sharing how life-change can happen personally and corporately when individuals "Step Up" and fulfill roles within the church.

Message Transcript

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Dr. Steve Jones

Well, hello, Orchard Hill. Certainly, the people here in Wexford, those that are in the Strip District, Butler, and of course, if you've tuned in online, Happy Thanksgiving and welcome. I'd like to tell you a story this morning, that starts in 1991. At the beginning of the story, I would've told you that I was the main character in this story. I've since come to realize that I simply play a supporting role and that God is the main character. And as we listen to the story, I'd like you to consider it from three different perspectives. First of all, this is the third in a three-part message series that's entitled, It's Your Move. The subtitle is Show Up, Grow Up, and Step Up. And recently I was on FaceTime. I have twin seven-year-old grandkids and they asked me what I was doing. And I said I'm preparing a message for the church. And they said, what are you going to talk about? And I said, well, two of the messages are done. The first one is called Show Up. The second one is called, Grow Up, and then I'm going to do the third one. And my seven-year-old granddaughter cut in and she said, Pappy, are you going to talk about throw up? 

And this was followed by peals of laughter because this is as funny as you can get when you're seven years old. We're talking about Step Up today. The second perspective is, as you've heard, we are launching our annual capital campaign, Love Pittsburgh. We have done this since the inception of the church. This is really part of the lifeblood of the church. Later in the service in Wexford, Mark Lunsford is going to be speaking about this, in the Strip District, and Brady in Butler to talk about the vision of the church. Where are we going? And I will tell you, so much about giving to the church, attitudes toward money and finance are very much wrapped up in this concept of growing up, showing up, and then stepping up. And then finally, and I think maybe most importantly, it's my hope and my prayer that everyone listening can find themselves somewhere in the arc of this story. Maybe an encouragement, and inspiration, something you can relate to, a truth to embrace, or perhaps maybe even an example to follow. 

Okay. So, this is me, and in my family in 1980, this is our Christmas card picture. I had finished my medical training about three or four years prior to this, we had moved to the North Hills, and things were going great. My life was terrific. I mean, look how happy we were. This is a happy family. Now, when someone starts a sentence with the phrase, God only knows, it usually implies that what's to follow is very difficult to explain. Well, God only knows how I found myself standing outside this structure early in 1991. Raise your hand if you know what this structure is. Yeah, a lot of people. This is the original Orchard Hill Church. As you pull in off Brandt School Road, that flat area to the right, this A-frame building sat right there. 

And when I say, God only knows, in 1991, I didn't really like church. I thought church was boring. The church was dull and irrelevant. I really didn't get it at all. When I was growing up, my parents made me go to church every week. And I will tell you that from the age of accountability, I'm going to define that as seventh grade forward. And I know those of you that have dealt with seventh graders would doubt that that's the age of accountability. I get that. But that's the age when you would go and join the adults. So, once I sat with the adults, I'm going to tell you, I can't remember one thing that was said in church, not one. Now, most of the time I wasn't listening. I'll be honest. I was daydreaming about sports or girls. I was watching the second hand go around on my watch, just waiting for it to end. And yet here I find myself in 1991 about to enter this building. 

When I went in, this is what Orchard Hill Church looked like in the early nineties. Now Kurt's talked about this extensively. When someone goes to church for the first time, especially if they're unchurched, they do the what's weird check and nothing was weird, but a lot of it was very, very different, at least in my experience. First of all, they had a rock band. I mean, guitars and drums. I'd never seen anything like this in church before. I was used to a formal choir. These were the people in the same robes they bought in 1950 and they walked solemnly down the middle at the beginning of the service singing and then solemnly out the end. And there were no hymnals, they just put the words up on the wall. But the band was good, and it felt sort of fresh to me and invigorating. 

And I still remember when they announced the offering. The person who was announcing the offering said, if this is your first time, just let that offering bag pass you by. We're glad that you're here. I thought that's honest, isn't it? Because like you, I work hard for my money. Why would I just give money to some organization I didn't know anything about? So, the offering bag came to me, I passed it by. Permission granted not to give money. I like that. And maybe most importantly, when it came time for the message, I actually paid attention. I listened and it was relevant, and it was good and it felt right. And I'm walking out of the church with my family, and I thought, can this even be a church? This isn't nearly boring enough to be church. So, we decided to come back. Step one, show up. 

Now, back then we used to have two programming tracks at Orchard Hill. There was the weekend track that was designed for people like me, people that were unsure about Christianity, maybe kicking the tire, seeing if they even wanted to be. Skeptics welcome. Then there was a midweek track, Wednesday night, that was much more core Bible teaching theology, a little bit heavier. And someone said, why don't you come on Wednesday night? So, I did, and I liked it. Wednesday night was good. I went from a guy that went to church never to someone that's going sometimes twice a week. I was growing up just a little bit. And there came a time, it was March 24th, 1991, where I didn't let the offering bag pass me by. I put a check for $30 in the bag. It's not a lot of money, certainly, I was making more than that. But it was sort of a consumer-driven thing. I felt this is worth $30. Drop it in. You can get two Penguins tickets for a hundred bucks. That's worth it, I'll do it. 

So, I started contributing to the church. Very consumer-oriented, but again, that early steps of just sort of growing up a little bit. And after I'd been here for a while, they announced something called the Men's Retreat. Now on the what's weird meter, this one could go over the top for me, because I had no idea what they do at a men's retreat. I've got none. I mean, you sit around the campfire and hold hands and sing kumbaya together. I don't know. And it was Friday and Saturday night. So, I said, okay, I'll give it a try. I met some really nice guys, hung out a little bit. People would talk about prayer and Bible study. I came home on Sunday and my family was gone. I don't know where they were. And behind my house is just all woods and I've got a lot of windows back there. It's a beautiful fall day. And I looked out, I did something that I had never done before. 

I prayed for no particular reason. It wasn't a meal. It wasn't bedtime. It wasn't Thanksgiving. It wasn't a fox hole prayer. God, you got to get me out of this. Because I was told you could pray to God anytime you want, for any reason you want, and he would listen. So, I did it and I liked that, and I decided I was going to pray more in my life. Just another step toward growing up. They also had something back in the day, it was a class. It was usually held on Saturday mornings where you could go and listen to people talk about serving in the church and then you'd take a survey. It was like a questionnaire. You fill out this questionnaire and then based on your passions and your proclivities and maybe the things you're good at, they would say, this is an area in the church that you should consider serving in. So, Erica, my wife, said, what do you think about that? And I said I think you should go and tell me how that works out. 

So, she went, and she came home and I said, well, how was it? And she said it was really good. They said I should be maybe in the welcome center. I said that's correct. Erica has a gift for hospitality. And she's good with people. She likes to chat. And I said that's right. And she said, well, why don't you take the class? And they cycled it like every three or four months. So, the next time it came up, I went to the class. And I came home, and she said, how was it? And I said it was a total waste of time. She said, what? I said it was a waste of time. I said here I am. I've been a member of the church, I don't know, for like a couple of months, I'm just starting to learn about Christianity and what it's all about. Took the survey and they said, I should serve on the board of directors. I said it's like a joke. Spoiler alert, once I actually got involved in the church, I've been on the board for a total of 16 years. God had a plan for me. He was preparing me; I just didn't realize it at the time. Stepping up, serving. 

The other thing that was popular back in the early days of the church, still very popular, we used to call it House Group. We now call them Life Groups. Same thing. Get 10-20 people together, study the Bible, maybe do a service project, and do some social things. And it was a way of getting a larger church to feel small, where you get a core group of people to do life with, a really popular thing then. Now, on the what's weird potential, this could go over the top weird too. I've never been in a Bible study. I'd never prayed out loud in a group before. So, this is all foreign stuff to me, and this could go sideways. And some friends said, hey, would like to check out our house group? So, we went, and they were really good people, fun, and funny. And they were studying the book of Romans. 

Now, since that time, I've read the Bible a lot. And in my opinion, Romans is the second hardest book in the New Testament to study. Revelation is the hardest, Romans is a second. And not only are they studying, but they’re also using a little study guide. They are taking turns leading the group, each person in the room. Now, I'm going to be honest with you. This is my Bible. At that point in my life, the light of day had never shown on the pages of Romans in my Bible. When I was in seventh grade, I had to memorize the books of the Bible. I knew it was the sixth book of the New Testament. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans. It's somewhere three orders of the way back, but I had never read Romans before. And for nearly everybody in the world, especially people that had never done Bible study, asking someone to lead a study in Romans is a bad idea and they should politely decline. And I could have done that. But for me, it was the exact opposite because I like a challenge. 

An academic challenge, bring it on. Sports, competitions, games, puzzles, debate, I love that stuff. And if you really want to get my attention, start a sentence with the words, I bet you can't. Because I was told that this book was true, that this is God's playbook. This is the user manual for life. So, I said, I'm going to check that out, see if I agree with that. So, I decided to dive into Bible study. And when I say dive, I don't mean like off the edge of the pool. I mean, this was the cliffs of Acapulco, the full swan dive. I was going deep because I knew almost nothing and decided I wanted to learn everything. And I will tell you that within a year, I was leading my own small group and have been that way since. And studying this Bible, reading it, and trying my best to master it is the single most important exercise I've had in my Christian life in terms of growing up and of stepping up. 

Now, meanwhile, as my Christian life was developing, my attitude toward giving was evolving. I was giving more money. I was giving regularly. But I'll tell you, I was still remarkably self-centered in my giving. It was a lot about me and what I thought it was doing for me and my family, and yeah, I was getting better, but I didn't have a full perspective on what it meant to give money to the church and to honor God. And that changed as the late nineties came along. And I've been reluctant to share this part of my personal story with anybody, even my best friends don't know this about me because it has to do with money. And I grew up in a family where you didn't talk about money. It was impolite. You don't ask people how much money they make. You don't ask people how much things cost. You would never brag or boast about money. 

And yet what occurred in the late nineties changed the way I viewed church giving and supporting the church financially. Now Orchard Hill was growing by leaps and bounds and that A-frame building, we were bursting at the seams. There was a vision to buy the land where we now sit and to build a new church. And this is the new church that was being planned. Shortly after it opened, this is the new Orchard Hill Church. Okay. And in order to build this facility, we needed to borrow $6.2 million. And the finance people from the church went from lender to lender to lender. And they said, no, no, no. We're not going to loan you that much money. And finally, one lender said, yeah, we'll loan you 6.2 million if you will get individuals or families from your church to guarantee as co-signers one-half that amount, $3.1 million. 

And Erica and I were approached and asked if we would like to participate to help back that loan. In case of failure, the guarantors would cover $3.1 million. Now, I would love to tell you I was the first person to grab the pen. Come on, let's go. Let's do this. Let's sign. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's go. Of the 17 families to step forward, we were the last to sign on and at a lower participation level than others. But I did it, I did it. You've heard people say, why don't you put your money where your mouth is? Well, I decided I need to put my money where my heart was or where I come claimed it was. Where your heart is, there also is your treasure scripture tells us. So, I did it. I said I am all in. And it changed the way I viewed church and giving. I went from being a consumer to a contributor. And now I considered myself an owner. I owned Orchard Hill Church. 

And so, here's my question. What about you who are listening? If this is your first time here, I hope it's not too weird. Keep coming and listen because you will hear amazing things taught in this church. If you've been coming for a while and you've been sort of idling, you're looking for different ways or maybe just haven't taken the next step, I'm going to make some suggestions. Read this book. Read this book, this will change your life. If you haven't thought about serving, scripture tells us that everybody here, every single person has already been fully equipped to serve the church. All you need to do is find that opportunity to exercise it, to take your next step, to serve. If you haven't joined a life group, hop in, try it. I mean, it's just a great thing. You'll make friends that'll enrich your experience, and you'll feel more like a church is home to you. 

If you invited friends, if you think Orchard Hill is worth coming, why isn't it worth inviting your friends? Invite your friends to come and check it out. And finally, especially with relation to the capital campaign, ask God to help you lead your heart in giving. Don't do it out of guilt. Don't do it because someone said you have to do it. You need to do it motivated by the knowledge that God loves you so much he sent his son to die for your sins, then you can give with joy and with thanksgiving to the church. I want to show you a video. This is one of my favorite commercials of all time. Take a look at this. 

Life Ceral Commercial

Kid #1: What's this stuff?
Kid #2: Some cereal. It's supposed to be good for you.
Kid #1: I'm not going to try it.
Kid #2: Let's get Mikey.
Kid #1: Yeah, he won't eat it. He hates everything.
Kid #2: He likes it. Hey, Mikey.

Who remembers? That's a cute commercial, isn't it? Yeah. You know three little boys; they're supposed to try something that's good for them. I'm not going to try it. You try it. I'm not going to try it. You try it. Let's let Mikey do it. Mikey, the skeptic, hates everything. We need more Mikey's in the church. More Mikey's. People would say, I might not have every answer. I know I'm busy. I've got my doubts, but they need to step up, put their spoon into the bowl of life and take a bite. We need more Mikey's. 

Another commercial that came to my mind was the Nike commercial with the tagline, just do it. Just do it can be great. If all of this is a box-checking exercise, I went to church, check. I gave some money, check. I'm nice to my neighbors, check. It might not be ultimately satisfying, but done with the right motivation, again, with thankfulness and gratitude to God for the way he's acted toward you, then when you give money, when you act out of service, when you are kind to your neighbors, it will take on new meaning, new fulfillment, and new effectiveness. 

So, are you going to pursue God or are you going to sit on the sidelines? Will you be a contributor, or better yet, an owner of the church? Or will you be a consumer? Are you going to lead or are you going to follow? Are you going to set the example or are you going to wait for someone else to do it and merely look up to them? It's your move. Thank you for listening. 

Mark Lunsford

I so appreciate Steve's perspective and how God has used him to serve Orchard Hill through the years. He's a real example of what God can do through us when we decide to step up. Well, Steve mentioned, this is the time of year where we start talking about the year-end giving. And also, this week we are getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving. And Thanksgiving's one of my favorite holidays. And here at Orchard Hill, we have so much to be thankful for. So, we thought it'd be appropriate to take some time today to reflect on the ways that God has used Orchard Hill Church to make a difference in our community and people's lives as well as to look forward to leading us as we prepare for 2022. 

As I stand here in Wexford today in this Worship Center, it's hard to believe that just one year ago we opened up this completely renovated Worship Center with upgraded technology, furniture, and design. And Steve was kind of sharing about the origins of this Worship Center in the late nineties and the sacrifice and the planning and the preparation that went into building it in the first place. Over the 20 some odd years that it had been serving Orchard Hill and this community, the time had come because of the furnishings, and the technology had changed. It was time to upgrade it. It was time to renovate, and that didn't happen by accident. It was the result of many years of planning and preparation and financial investment that enabled us to be worshiping here today in this space that is allowing now a whole new generation to experience God in a space that's designed to foster connection with God and one another. 

Another step that Orchard Hill took several years ago was to develop new campuses and to become one church in multiple locations. Campuses allow us to impact people who otherwise may have never attended Orchard Hill. Now, right in their community, where they live, they can hear the message of the gospel in a culturally relevant way and develop relationships with other believers who live close by. We believe that multi-site campuses will continue to be a big part of Orchard Hill's strategy moving forward. So far, we've launched two campuses beyond our original campus here in Wexford, one in the Strip District and one in Butler. 

Over the last several years, as you've given generously, we've been able to move those campuses from rented facilities to permanent locations where the community can gather and grow. The Strip District moved into their location at 1620 Penn Avenue in 2019, after an extensive renovation to their building. And now, a building that was originally built as a church and then morphed into a bar has been reclaimed as a life-giving church in the heart of Pittsburgh. 

The Butler campus, several years of go, began in a school setting with volunteers each weekend setting up and tearing down so that services could happen. Next, the campus then moved to a shared space with another church, which was an improvement because no longer did they have to set up and tear down each week, but two separate churches meeting in the same space did offer some complications and limit our ability to meet at other times. However, just this last March, we were able to move into our very own property at 120 Walker Avenue on the south side of Butler. While the building was new to us, there had been a church at this location for over a hundred years. Now as you might expect for a building of that age, that was added onto in the 1950s and the seventies, there's quite a lot of work that needed to be done to get it ready from changing flooring, to painting, to renovating the worship center and stage area, updating the technology to allow for video teaching, there was a lot involved. 

It was so exciting to see how the campus community of the Butler campus came together and spent so much time volunteering and getting ready for the opening. And now each week, hundreds of people are able to experience God through worship and learn about the good news of the gospel through relevant teaching, as well as connecting in relationship with others. But the Strip District and Butler campuses are much more than buildings, they're made up of people who are growing in their relationship with God. We often say that the story of Orchard Hill will be told in the changed lives of people. And this is also true in our campuses. 

I want to just share a couple of stories of life changes that have happened at our campuses. First, is a story of D.J. D.J. Moved to Pittsburgh from Alaska in early 2021 and he got involved in attending worship and participating in groups at our Strip District campus. After a few months, his company downsized, and he had to move back to Alaska. However, he loved his time in Pittsburgh so much, and he felt at home in the Orchard Hill community. So, he was praying to God to open up the doors and to provide an opportunity for him to move back. And God provided, he was able to move back to Pittsburgh this fall. 

And even though he'd been a follower of Christ for several years, he had never taken the step to become a member of a local church until he came to Orchard Hill. As a result of how he had been welcomed and accepted into the Strip District community, D.J.'s faith has grown, and he's been overwhelmed by God's grace and love. And it's because Orchard Hill invested in a campus in the Strip District, there was a place where D.J. could reconnect. He could grow in his relationship with Christ and with others. 

And Tammy was invited by a friend to the Butler campus. Tammy had been disconnected from church for some time. She appreciated the style of the ministry that she encountered there and she liked that it was easy for her to explore her relationship with God. She also felt like she could invite others. After a few visits, she invited her boyfriend, Dan, to attend with her. He attended reluctantly at first, but over time he felt drawn to come back because he could relate to the message of grace and the gospel that was being presented. Over this last year, both Tammy and Dan's faith has grown in a big way, and they were both baptized this summer. They've become involved in a life group and are using their gifts to serve, which has been an even further encouragement. And now next month, they're excited to be getting married in the Worship Center at our Butler campus. Their journey of faith has been greatly impacted because we have a campus in Butler. 

As we take time and reflect over what God has done the last several years right here in Wexford, the Strip District, and in Butler, it's apparent that God opened up doors of opportunity that we were able to step through because of the preparation and the generous giving of those who understood the vision and the mission of the church. Those of you who give, you yourselves are a part of these stories of life change. And now this year, as we look to the future, we believe that God is calling us to continue to launch new campuses and to further develop our ministries. And right now, we're asking God to guide us and open doors in the next locations that God's calling us, as well as raise up leaders who are willing to get involved as we seek to reach more for Christ. We believe that God is positioning us to make an impact in a number of communities and we want to be prepared when these opportunities arise. 

First Peter 4:10 says each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace. The stories I shared today are a result of so many being faithful stewards in the past. As we approach the end of the year, I think it's appropriate that we ask God to guide us as we consider how to steward the gifts and the resources that he's entrusted to each of us. As we come together and step up, I believe we're going to see many more stories of people finding and following Christ. 

Will you pray with me? God, I just thank you for the stories of life change that have happened here because of Orchard Hill Church, and because of your spirit leading and guiding us. God, I pray that as we end this year, that we will consider how you're calling us to show up, to grow up, and step up. And God, I pray that you will lead and guide us into the next season of Orchard Hill Church and that you will just prepare the way for us. God, I thank you for all of the stories of life change that we are going to be hearing from those that are in this community and other communities that get to experience your love through a life-giving church. God, we thank you for all that you've done in Orchard Hill in the past and we just are excited about what you have in store for us. In Jesus' name, amen. 

So good to be worshiping here together with you today. Hope you have a great rest of the day. For those of you who are coming back to this evening's event, I'm so excited to see you for dinner at 5:00. God bless. Go in peace.