Three years of Elan Church

Pastor Max opens by celebrating Elan Church's third birthday, retelling the journey from a church of two who sensed God say move to Chicagoland, through Zoom hangouts during the 2021 lockdowns, borrowed buildings, Naper Settlement, Center Stage Theater, and now a new space with two services. He says it feels like God is only just getting started. Many have asked where the name Elan comes from, so on this birthday he teaches the passage behind it: John 10.

Jesus speaks plainly

To understand John 10, Pastor Max sets the scene in John 8 and 9, where Jesus tells the Pharisees they belong to their father the devil. Jesus loves deeply but speaks directly, and if you are easily offended you will struggle to follow Him. The core of the Gospel is repent, which means change. Matthew 3:8 says to produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Heaven is not a democracy; Jesus is not up for re-election. We either live life our way or God's way.

Who is in and who is out

In John 9 Jesus heals a man born blind, and when the man testifies, the Pharisees excommunicate him from the synagogue. John 10 is Jesus' response, and it is about who is in and who is out of God's kingdom, which is not who the Pharisees expected. Pastor Max explains the sheep pen: rock walls topped with thorny branches, where the shepherd held out his rod and inspected each sheep one by one as it passed under. Ezekiel 20 uses this picture, "I will take note of you as you pass under my rod," and Jesus says that not everyone who calls Him Lord will enter the kingdom. Each of us will be examined.

The sheep know His voice

Sheep were not branded; the shepherd simply called, and his own sheep came because they recognized his voice. True followers of Jesus know His voice and do not follow strangers, whether bloggers, influencers, or newscasters. The question is whether we have spent enough time with Jesus to know His voice. Pastor Max also notes that the shepherd goes ahead of his sheep: great leaders lead from the front. Jesus did not just point the way; He paved the way and invites us to follow.

I am the gate

When Jesus says "I am the gate," He means something very different from a wooden gate. The shepherd or gatekeeper lay down in the opening of the pen and became the gate, so nothing could reach the sheep except through him. Whoever enters through Jesus is saved, and also comes in and goes out to find pasture. We are not just saved from things but saved for things: to come into God's presence and go out to minister on His behalf.

Zoe: life to the full

John 10:10 is where the church's name comes from. Pastor Max explains three Greek words for life: bios, physical life; psuche, the life of the soul; and zoe, eternal, divine life that only comes from God. Everyone walking the earth has bios, but not everyone has zoe. Elan means spirited, passionate, lively, full of life. Jesus continues that He is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep, unlike the hired hand who runs from the wolf. He also promises other sheep not of this pen, bringing Jew and Gentile into one flock, which Paul echoes in Galatians: the ground is level at the foot of the cross. Crucially, Jesus has authority to lay His life down and take it up again. A dead shepherd cannot help you in the future, but Jesus is alive, and nothing can snatch His sheep from His hand.

Be a shepherd: it starts with showing up

If Jesus is the chief Shepherd, 1 Peter 5 and Acts 20 call believers to be shepherds of God's flock, eager to serve and leading by example. Pastor Max thanks Bob, who leads the prayer team, as an example of someone whose coffees and lunches with newcomers made Elan feel like home. Shepherding starts with showing up for friends, family, Sunday Gatherings, and Groups, because you cannot lead the flock if you are never with the flock. Groups launch this week, and the invitation is to walk in asking how to bless and pastor others rather than what to get. Come not for donuts or candy but because Jesus alone gives life.