Monday, June 1, 2015

Here's Your Sign

     If you check the Urban Dictionary, you will find that this phrase “Here’s your sign”, was coined by comedian Bill Engvall, as a shorthand way of saying that people who say stupid things should have to wear a sign indicating that they are stupid. For example, he explains an encounter with an employee in the lost luggage desk at an airport.
     The employee said: "Can I help you?"
     I said: "Yes ma'am, you lost my luggage."
     The employee said: (looked me right in the eye and said): "Has your plane landed yet?" 
     I said: "No, princess, I'm having an out-of-body experience! I'm just checking on it! 
     Here's your sign."
      Signs are intended to make a point. The Gospel of John seems to be organized around seven signs (miracles) that Jesus performed which were explained in context by his teaching and designed to point to him as the meaning of things like healing, sustaining, and life etc. 
     We need a visible sign on our church property that gets people’s attention and lets them know we are here. The sign does not exist for its own sake, it points to something else. Northside Baptist Church is not a building or location, it is a people who have been brought to life and brought together by Christ and for Christ to be his church in our community.
      But we do meet in a particular place and location, and we do express our worship to God and preach the Gospel at specific times. Our sign is an indicator of that and helps people to notice where we are. Our Church sign is people’s first impression of our church as they drive by, so it is an important statement about our church. The sign should be attractive, simple, informative and of sufficient size to get the attention of people driving by.
     When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, it was an unmistakable sign of his power. It was this sign which explains all of the people who flocked to him on the occasion of the triumphal entry:
     The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. (John 12:18)
     The sign we are talking about is not of this sort, but its purpose is the same: To make Christ known! Would you join us in making this sign a reality? You will be receiving more information in the weeks ahead as we serve together to make Christ known.