Sermon Tone Analysis

There is a story I once heard of two men who’s job was to chop wood.

Every day they arrived at the same time, had the same quota for wood, and worked hard until noon.

At noon one lumberjack left for two hours, while the other decided to keep on working.

But every day, the man who took the break finished with his quota a full hour and a half before the other guy.

This would both the man who seemingly worked harder for longer.

Finally he asked the man as he was leaving.

Every day we start at the same time, but then you disappear for two hours, while I keep working but you somehow manage to accomplish more work faster than me.

What gives??

The man replied.

Those two hours I’m gone.

I’m not taking a break.

I’m sharpening my axe.

What I hope to accomplish over the next several weeks is to sharpen our collective axe.

It is our habit here to walk through portions of Scripture chapter by chapter and verse by verse.

I’d estimate that upwards of 95% of my sermons would fit into that category.

But every now and again, it is helpful to take breaks from that in order to focus our attention on particular topics that will help us as a church body.

This is one of those occasions.

As believers in Jesus Christ we have been given a task.

As individuals who identify as being part of Pillar Fellowship, we have a mission that we desire to see accomplished.

In order to accomplish those purposes, in order to perform our duty to our Lord, we must have a clear conception of what it is that we are doing.

We must have clear definitions of what we are seeking to build.

We must have a sharp axe as we step forward in this walk of faith together.

So, Over the next 5 weeks or so, we are going to walk through a series on biblical ecclesiology.

Ecclesiology is a word formed by combining the Greek word ecclesia, meaning church, with ology, meaning study.

Thus, ecclesiology simply means the study of the church.

Now, I realize that this may not seem like the most exciting subject in the world to study.

Few people are searching youtube for inspiring series on Ecclesiology.

But the importance of this subject cannot be overstated.

In some ways, I feel as though this may be the most important series I’ve ever preached, because as I lay our the biblical texts, I’m praying that God uses this series to help set the trajectory of Pillar Fellowship.

We may ask, why ecclesiology?

Issues such as what qualifies an individual to be a pastor, elder, or deacon in the church, what even is a church, is church membership biblical, what ordinances should we observe and how should we observe them, why do we do the things we do when we gather such as singing, preaching, praying, etc....these are all issues of ecclesiology.

We live ecclesiology every time we get together as a local church.

Are we going to live good, biblical, God-directed ecclesiology?

Or self directed ecclesiology?

As we work to see Pillar Fellowship established as a biblical local church for God’s glory here in Southern Indiana, we want to be a biblical church, amen?

We don’t want to just drift along and hope we figure it our along the way, or worse, be directed by the shifting sands of the culture around us.

We want to step forward with confidence that we are doing exactly what God would have us to do based on what he has told us in his word.

If we are to see this church build on a solid foundation, we will need to be clear one what we are trying to do here.

We need to sharpen our axe.

So today, let us consider the question....what is a church?

What is The Church?

What is a church?

Scripture often speaks of the church in two different ways.

The first way is often called the “universal” or “invisible” church.

The second is often called the visible, or a local church.

Here is how we can think of the universal church:

All who place their faith in Jesus Christ in this age are immediately placed by the Holy Spirit into one united spiritual Body, the church, of which Christ is the Head.

The church is a unique spiritual organism designed by Christ, made up of all born-again believers in this present age.

We see clearly what the church is: a unique spiritual organism.

How do you enter the church, or become part of it?

It is only through a genuine repentance and faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Recognize your own sinful condition and that there is no hope for salvation outside of Christ, repent of your sins and turn in faith to Jesus Christ, his life, death, burial, and resurrection as the only hope for your soul.

This is the only means of salvation, and the only doorway into the Universal church.

When we come to faith in Christ, Scripture speaks of several things that happen instantaneously.

We are sealed with the Holy Spirit.

We are united to Christ by Faith.

We are adopted into the family of God, and we are placed into the spiritual body, a spiritual family, that is, the church.

It’s a wonderful thing, and we praise God for it!

There is a unity there that we all share by virtue of being united to Christ by faith.

this is the universal church.

But this isn’t the only way the Scriptures use the word church.

In fact, most often the word is used to speak of local churches.

Now.

Some might argue, hey.

I’m saved.

I’ve trusted in Christ.

That’s enough isn’t it?

What need is there for local churches?

We are all part of the one universal church.

Do I really have to be part of a local church?

The reality is that nearly every use of the word “church” in the NT refers to a specific local assembly.

There are clearly places when the universal church is in view, particularly in the book of Ephesians, but nearly every other reference, and especially in the rest of the epistles, whenever the word church is used, it is in references to a local church.

1 Corinthians 1:2 (ESV)

2 To the church of God that is in Corinth...

Galatians 1:2 (ESV)

2 … To the churches of Galatia:

1 Thessalonians 1:1 (ESV)

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians...

And we could go on.

What can we surmise from this?

The entire NT loudly assumes the establishment and continuity of local church realities.

This isn’t like some secret doctrine that you have extrapolate from obscure texts.

It’s everywhere in the NT.

The NT scriptures have no category for a believer who is not in regular fellowship with a local church, except in the most extreme of circumstances like imprisonment, exile, or excommunication.

Not only do we have the implicit argument from many texts regarding the necessity of local churches, but what is more, we have specific commands from Scripture to assemble with other believers.

Because of what we have in Christ, the great high priest who has given his life for ours, the writer gives us a lettuce salad.

Let us draw near to our marvelous god!

Let us hold fast to our confession of hope-Because he is faithful!

And let us consider how we can stir up one another to love and good works.

But how we can spur each other on to love and good deeds?

It can only happen if we actually see each other.

It can only happen if we spend time with one another.

It can only happen if we are joined together in covenant community together in a local church.

We are therefore commanded by this passage not to forsake the gathering because to do so is to forsake holiness and eventually to forsake the faith!

If you read on in this passage that is what you find.

So we are command: gather together.

Don’t neglect assembling.

Now the question becomes this…What is a local church?

What counts as assembling?