“Your young will dream dreams, your old will see visions - and both your sons and your daughters will prophesy.” (Acts 2) And so it has been with us this morning. Out of the rich imaginations of their hearts, our sisters and brothers have painted some possibilities for who we might become.  They have poured some new wine into new wineskins - and offered a toast for the future. And all the visions they have presented contain the rich traditions of our past - the curiosity to learn, the wonder of worship, the passion of reaching out to serve and transform the world. The old is new - and the new is old. But the promise and power of the gospel remains fresh and fragrant.

There is an image floating around these days on the Internet defining the emerging church of the 21^st century. And it is the image of an ancient/future church - a vibrant contemporary community of Christ’s people that is rooted in the rich soil of ancient faith.

You know the ancient church - the New Testament church - was a pretty exciting place to be. And in the fall, Scott and I will take a few weeks to explore that embryonic community of faith in a sermon series based on the Book of Acts. As we have re-told the stories of the early beginnings of this congregation during the past few weeks, there is a remarkable resemblance to what the early New Testament church was all about. Those first century gatherings of Christ’s people were communal, organic, intimate-- where as Becky has suggested this morning, everyone showed up all the time.  They were filled with spirit and praise and prayer - radically open to all - a joyful community of spiritual friends - where everyone was a leader, and everyone understood their faith as a vocation - as a calling - as a 24/7 commitment of their lives. And, our foremothers and fore-fathers in the biblical   faith were convinced that as they left their love feasts and prayer services they were, indeed, new wine being poured into a thirsty world. They were the salt of hope meant to flavor the world. They were the light of Christ beckoning everyone to abundant life.  They were the yeast of the gospel meant to rise with love and compassion and service in the very midst of a secular and political and economic world. These early believers did not shun the world around them - but eagerly embraced it and transformed it and re-created it - so that the joy in their hearts might become a birthright of every one of God’s children. For the early church, faith was not a head thing - it was a heart thing. Faith wasn’t just a nice idea to think about once a week. Faith was a way of life - and it was highly contagious.

Last December 267 of you answered the Congregational Life Survey during one of our worship services. The results are fascinating - and have begun to shape significant conversations among our elected leadership. Where is God leading us in the 21st century? The results will soon be available on or web page - and we will invite you to explore this community profile in the fall. The survey lifts up our incredible strengths as a progressive and gifted congregation - our off the scale involvement and commitment to outreach and social justice advocacy, our eager embrace of diversity, diversity both of thought and of people, our willingness to try new things and imagine the future, and our commitment to empower leadership both in the church and in society.

But, my friends the survey also lifts up some distinct needs that are among us - needs that our current worship and program and mission are simply not meeting. We have a deeply felt need for spiritual feeding and growing. We share a yearning for an authentic and intimate sense of belonging. And it is clear that our hesitancy to talk about our faith, our reticence to express our doubts and proclaim our convictions out loud--this spiritual embarrassment inhibits us from truly trusting and following the call of Jesus Christ. And it is holding us back from sharing the Good News of this place eagerly and intentionally with spiritually hungry people out there, who need what we have to offer. My friends, we have always been a daring doing congregation. But we are not yet really a trusting, believing congregation. And it is in that disconnect that I believe the Spirit is pushing us into the future.

And so on this 22^nd day of May in the year of our Lord 2005, I charge us to be and become an ancient/future congregation - a community of faith so rooted in the good news of the gospel that we become that gospel - singing and serving as the very resurrected Body of Christ in the world.

I charge us to be and become Jesus People - unabashedly Christians, knowing our faith, understanding our faith, and sharing our faith in a pluralistic world - not in a way that judges or rejects other faith traditions - but in a way that gives us a spiritual identity and a spiritual belonging with God and with one another.

I charge us to be and become Joy People - so shaped by the rich baptismal blessings of God’s grace, that we leave this place week in and week out - recreated to be God’s image--understanding that what we do in our everyday work and play is our individual meaning in the world. And in order to be Joy People, we need together - to shape and re-shape our worship life - so that all are welcome, so that everyone’s song is sung, so that those bored by traditional church will feel invigorated when they enter this spiritual place.

And I charge us to be Justice People. Justice, in the biblical sense - people who share the very dream of God - a world where every child is loved, a world where every mouth is fed, a world where every diverse kind of people and nation is embraced - a world where, as Isaiah describes this morning - all will have meaningful work, long life, and nourishing community - a world where tears will be wiped away - where never again will anyone hurt or destroy on God’s holy mountain of creation. I believe that this vision of shalom, of justice, is the central call of our lives.

And so ancient/future church, beloved Bradley Hills Presbyterian family, let us begin our next 50 years - blessed by the past - and eager to become Jesus People, Joy People, and Justice People - all to the glory of God.

May it be so.  Amen