Real Church 1 - The Heart of His Church
The Real Church of Christ I NV 7/11/04 a.m.
The Heart of His Church
OS: A What does a real Church of Christ look like?
I. Typical Descriptions of the church.
A. Birth
1. B Acts 238 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” 40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
2. C Acts 2:47b, And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
3. Membership is as above – baptism, and the Lord adds you to His church.
B. D Organization
1. Jesus is the head
2. Elders are responsible for the congregation
3. Deacons serve the church
4. Preachers….?
C. :Worship form
1. Sing, pray, preach, Lord’s Supper, give.
D. These items are true and important, yet they are surface items and I don’t think God would be pleased with us if we just left it at that.
1. There is more to being the church than these exterior surface items.
II. E Copies of the great artist’s paintings, rather than the actual subject. No matter how careful and exacting their work, it would always be derivative, a copy. While the Masters looked at life – a beautiful woman, a lush landscape, an historical moment – and captured what they envisioned with paint, these lesser artists were content to copy canvases. Tim Woodroof, A Church that Flies
III. Don’t you want to be a part of something that is real and authentic?
A. Have you ever wondered what God thinks when He considers Northview?
B. In Revelation 2 & 3 Jesus spoke to the seven churches of Asia.
1. Ephesus – You have persevered but you have forsaken your first love.
2. Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, & Laodicea
3. Each message concludes with “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
C. What does the Spirit say concerning Northview?
1. We have the guidelines, we have the instructions, and they are found in the Words of Jesus recorded in the New Testament.
2. Jesus spoke of His Church while He walked this earth in the flesh.
3. He then spoke to His church through writers such as Paul, Luke, and Peter, James, and John as they were inspired of the Holy Spirit.
4. It is from scripture that we discover how to be a real and authentic church that belongs to Jesus.
5. This Series of lessons will be a search through scripture for God’s definition of a real and authentic church.
TS] We begin with the heart of His church. What is it that makes His church tick?
I. The answer to that question is “Him”. Jesus makes His church tick!
A. F The Heart of the real authentic church of the Bible is centered on Christ! Jesus becomes flesh all over again.
B. The church is Jesus incarnated in this world all over again. Not in His flesh, but in the flesh of His assembly.
C. First-century churches understood themselves as extensions of the life and ministry, the personality and priorities of their Lord.
1. They were His body, His aroma in the world, His fullness, His ambassadors and representatives.
2. G Ephesians 122 God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
3. This assembly of people is His body, and the fullness of Him. We are to be Jesus. This assembly is Jesus in the world today.
TS] Our identity is all wrapped up in Jesus, and because of that we are motivated by His Character, His desire, and His Work. We are the people who are Jesus in this world.
II. H The Character of Jesus was to be pleasing to God.
A. Our Greatest glimpse of His Character is found in numerous occasions in His life.
1. Baptism – to fulfill all righteousness
2. Temptation – When no one was looking
3. Garden – not my will but yours be done
4. Cross – Father forgive them
B. His Character spoke of God.
C. Our character as a church should be the same.
1. It is where pleasing God just becomes natural. We just naturally choose to do those things that would be most pleasing to Him regardless of the circumstances.
TS] Our identity is all wrapped up in Jesus, and because of that we are motivated by His Character, His desire, and His Work. We are the people who are Jesus in this world.
III. I The Desire of Jesus was to bring glory to God.
A. J John 17 “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
1. That same desire to glorify the Father was carried over into the early church.
2. K 1 Corinthians 1031 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
B. L Our mission statement begins with those words, “We exist to glorify God through helping people know Jesus, grow to be like Him, and show Him to the world.
C. All that we do should be done for the glory of God, and Jesus gives us a clue as to what it is that brings glory to God.
1. Completing His Work brings glory to God.
TS] Our identity is all wrapped up in Jesus, and because of that we are motivated by His Character, His desire, and His Work. We are the people who are Jesus in this world.
IV. M His Work was people.
A. Jesus made several statements about His purpose.
1. John 10 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
2. :John 12 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
3. :John 18 37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
4. N Luke 19 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
B. Do you notice the thread that runs throughout all the statements of Jesus as to why He came?
1. O Every statement Jesus makes about His purpose has to do with people in some form or fashion.
C. The primary business of the real church of Christ has to do with people.
1. We are in the people business!
2. We are to be Jesus to this world spreading the news of salvation, ministering to those who are hurting, providing hope to those who feel hopeless. That is our business!
3. P Luke 4 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
V. Q The real church of Christ finds their identity in Christ.
A. His Character being the desire to be pleasing to God at all times. The Father is the one we are trying to please no one else.
B. His desire to bring glory to God is our desire to bring glory to God through being about the work God intended His church to be about.
C. His work centering on people is why our work should center on people.
D. Now, unless our identity as individual Christians is wrapped up in Christ this church cannot have such an identity.
1. Is your life beyond these walls pleasing to God – are you a person of Jesus Character?
2. Do you have desire beyond these walls to bring glory to God through lending a helping hand to people you see from day to day?
3. Is your life devoted to others? Are you as an individual in the people business?
4. We will never be the church God intends until we as members become real disciples of Jesus.