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About 25 years ago a guy named Ray Oldenburg came to a realization about the suburbs – this
place where we live. Ray, professor and sociologist, became concerned about the loss of
community in suburban America.
“Life without community has produced, for many, a life style consisting mainly of a home-to-work-andback-again shuttle.
Ray Oldenburg PhD.
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Get up, get in the car, go to work or school or event…get back in the car…and go home.
This recurring pattern was diminishing interconnected community
Now, he didn’t say this but I wonder if Dr. Oldenburg saw some of the same trends we’ve seen
among our neighbors:
The state of our neighbors:
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Chronic anxiety
Relational isolation
Distracted minds
Spiritual aimlessness
You can read his conclusions and recommendations in a book published in 1989 called The Great
Good Place
Picture of book cover
He said that what suburban folks need is what he called a Third Space – a great good place.
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"first space" your home
“second place" is your workplace — where people may actually spend most of their time.
He suggested that what we need is a “third space”
“What suburbia cries for are the means for people to gather easily, inexpensively, regularly, and
pleasurably — a ‘place on the corner,’ real life alternatives to television, easy escapes from the cabin
fever of marriage and family life
Ray Oldenburg, The Great Good Place
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“Third space” is an anchor of community life that facilitates and fosters broader, more creative
interaction. They establish a sense of place and belonging.
Hallmarks of a great 3rd Place:
 Highly accessible
Third places must be open, readily available and accommodating to those who occupy them.
 Welcoming and comfortable
 New and old friends can be found there
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Have regulars who give the space its character and tone but also new folks to meet and
establish friendships with.
 Levels the status of individuals
Third Places put no importance on an individual’s status in a society. Someone's
economic or social status does not matter in a Third Place, There are no prerequisites
or requirements that would prevent acceptance or participation in the Third Place.
 Similar to a good home in the comfort and support it offers
Feelings of warmth, possession, and belonging as they would in their own homes. They
feel a piece of themselves is rooted in the space, and gain spiritual regeneration by
spending time there.
TV has picked up this concept:
 Cafe in Seinfeld
 Coffee Shop on Friends
 Bar in Cheers – where everybody knows your name
Those are great examples but I’m not sure that Movies or TV have ever captured the best 3rd space
ever in the history of humanity…the Local Church
 The local church is a God ordained “third space”
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The local church can be a third space that is centering in the midst of chronic anxiety
The local church can be a third space that is family in the middle of loneliness
The local church can be a third space that is corrective in the midst of massive immorality
The local church can be a third space that is ancient and unchanging in a rapidly changing
world
 The local church can be a third space that is theologically correct in a theologically confused
world
 The local church can be a third space that offers help and healing as people struggle with pain
and need
 The local church can be a third space that gathers human beings to join in the fight to save
the world
It’s because of this fantastic potential that you and I must share the conviction that your neighbors
need to belong to the Great Good Place of the church.
If Grace Community Church is to develop a highly invitational culture we must be committed to
inviting our neighbors to join us in this wonderful community of God.
Today I want to tell you why…but before that let’s review the series so far…
“Invitational Culture” = A welcoming, alluring, provocative, enticing, hospitable community
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An invitational culture is one in which strangers are welcomed
An invitational culture is one in which those on the periphery of our lives come inside
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An invitational culture is one in which the non-churched and under churched find community in
our lives and within these walls
An invitational culture is one in which those far from Jesus are invited to follow the one who
has revolutionized our lives.
It is time for us to transform from people who hide into people who seek.
Grace Church: Hide or Seek?
First week – Why is an invitational culture so crucial today?
Last week – We must invite our neighbors into our lives.
(practice hospitality and practice love)
Final week – We must invite our neighbors to follow Jesus.
This week – We must invite our neighbors into this church.
To explore why:
Acts 2:42
Setting: the days following the departure of Jesus and the strange, powerful coming of the Holy Spirit.
Within hours of the tornadic blowing in of the Spirit a church of thousands spontaneously formed – the
first church was a mega church.
42They
devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of
bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs
were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45
Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they
continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate
together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.
And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47
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Fascinating that this church formed with virtually no direction
The church just happened and instantly became The Great Good Place – powerful third space
in that culture.
The vibe was infectious, communal, happy, and even mystical
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Vs. 42 – devotion and fellowship
Vs 43 – awe and mystery (miraculous things happened)
Vs 44-45 – deep sense of sharing
Vs. 46 – hungered to be together
This was a Great third Space! - the great good place!
What did they actually do?
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Vs 42 – they learned together (from apostles)
Vs. 42 – they engaged in ancient spiritual practices – the Lord’s supper, prayer, worship
Vs. 44 – they shared…they were authentic in sharing their needs and passionate about
sharing their material resources
Vs. 46 – they hung out in large gathering at the Temple and in small groups in homes
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Vs. 47 – they publicly worshipped (and in so doing got a lot of attention in the community)
These early followers of Jesus established the prototype of every church to follow. What
revolutionized Middle Eastern culture in the 1st century will do the same 2000 years later.
How a great church can change your neighbors’ lives:
A great church can clear up your neighbors’ confusing and unhelpful theology.
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The predominant American religion is a shallow, vaguely Christian, belief system whose God is
distant and not involved in daily life.
A great church introduces your neighbors to a loving and sovereign God.
A great church introduces your neighbors to powerful King and savior – Jesus Christ.
A great church introduces your neighbors to an active and present Spirit
A great church can draw your neighbors into a peculiar and intimate fellowship
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there are all kinds of community – shared goals of a team, shared interests of a club, shared
learning of a class but nothing is as peculiarly deep and intimate as the shared fellowship of
the church
o we share our …hurts…pains…losses…wins…failures…shame…we share our souls.
America is the land of shallow faith and shallow community…a great church is the antidote.
A great church can provide your neighbors with grounding in ancient spiritual practices while
technology overwhelms us.
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Where else can your neighbors learn and practice prayer, solitude, worship, communion and
baptism – all defenses against the onslaught of data and speed.
We all need some liturgy to slow the world down and save our memories!
A great church can provide your neighbors with a taste of the miraculous to give them hope.
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Can people be healed? Delivered from oppression? Get help in hopeless situations? Does
God still do things that blow out minds? Does God answer prayer? …yes…and a great church
is a stage on which God acts
A great church can help your neighbors live for something bigger than themselves.
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A great church rallies its people around the mission of God – the Kingdom revolution that
addresses poverty, racism, slavery, immorality, and a myriad of other injustices
This is just what your neighbors need to lift their eyes off their navels and
cure their American myopia
A great church can meet your neighbors real and present needs
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need a helping hand with material needs?
need direction in dealing with a hurt or hang up?
need comfort in a deep loss?
need food?
need somebody to be there in your life transitions
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A great church can meet those needs.
A great church can help your neighbors experience both moral accountability and forgiveness.
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a great church makes clear what is right and what is wrong as it clearly teaches God’s say on
the matter
at the same time a great church offers a way to reconciliation and forgiveness with God when
your neighbors have walked away from Him
Where else in this world can you be held to such high moral standards and at the same time offered
the grace of forgiveness?
I’m telling you, your neighbors need a great church.
Now, let’s ask ourselves the million dollar question? Is Grace a great church?
Well…
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we’re monstrously large and seemingly hard to connect in.
we’ve got some notorious sinners running around here.
we’re certainly not everybody’s cup of tea
But despite those drawbacks…In my humble opinion, yes, Grace is a great church. And with an
ongoing shared commitment between us to work hard in creating an invitational culture, this church
has the potential to change your neighbors’ lives and all of central Indiana.
Grace church is poised, along with all the other great churches in this community, to launch a
beautiful revolution.
So friends… invite your neighbors into your lives! … invite your neighbors into this church … and next
week I‘m going to show you how to invite your neighbors to follow Jesus!
Now let’s get at it.