Our 5 purposes for church:

Sermon: The Five Purposes for the Church

Good morning, everyone! I hope you all feel awake after partying all night into the new year. My night was spent hanging out with my three kids under 5, and yes, they all made it past 12:00AM. But we are awake and glad to be here!

My name is Beau Lindsey; I work as the 4th-5th and fifth-grade director in Lynden. My wife and kids are also here today, Kiana, Theodore, Hadassah, and Finneas. But we like to call them Teedo, Beebo, and Babs. I might look familiar because about 5 years ago, I used to be the Youth Director up here in Kendall. It’s a blessing to be back, I love being here with you all, and if I don’t do bad today, maybe Pastor Bill will invite me back! And if the sermons are bad, maybe I can do worship.

When Pastor Bill gave me the sermon topic, I was super excited because this is something close to my heart. The Church- Us, our relationship with Jesus and the rest of the Body of Christ. Today we are going to be talking about the five points that our church believes, produce fruit from God that helps us grow together as the Church.

The church is good because it belongs to God.

It is the company of individuals who pray to the Lord with a pure heart.

So, just as Paul implores Timothy, I implore you to join the church and invest in God's Kingdom. The church is good because of what God has done and will continue to do through it, not because of what we do.

Confusing-Many churches, those

2. The marks of a church 1) Sound ministry of the Word (I chose this description because I think that if can properly interpret scripture and you are "theologically sound", yet that insight doesn't produce action, that it’s all in vain. Proper interpretation of the Word, should also produce proper action.

2) And the administration of baptism and the Lord's supper. These are the two sacraments Christ left us with, and when it comes to Church structure, the Bible doesn't give a direct answer to how to build a Church. Which I believe is because God intended for every church to look different.

With that said, I wanted to talk today about our 5-Purposes for our Church. I mean this as Kendall and Lynden Campus, we have 5 pillars -

Fellowship-

Worship-

Discipleship -

Evangelism-

Serving-

PILLAR ONE: WORSHIP

I’m currently attending seminary and I only have one more class until I graduate, but there is one thing that has stood out to me the most. THERE IS NO SALVATION OUTSIDE OF THE CHURCH- I don’t mean that those who don’t attend aren’t Christian, but that Jesus died for the Body of Christ, and as Christian’s that is where we are found.

1 Corinthians 12:12-13 “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”

Just as the body is the total sum of it’s many parts, the collection of many believers makes up the whole Body of Christ. The Church is the confessing community of people who believe in Jesus Christ, which in turn forms one Body. The church is the Body of Christ, and Christ died for the whole Body. Our salvation is found within this community.

God is putting a huge emphasis on unity, and oneness. We are not all individually saved through Christ, but when we receive our faith, we get brought into the Body of Christ. It’s a beautiful example of adoption, we are being brought into God’s faimily. After salvation, we are brought into a unified Body. We are not alone. Which makes perfect sense that the foundation for our Christian lives should be community. Our new life in Christ is found in this community- The CHURCH.

We are not called to be devout Christians in isolation, we are called to live out the Great Commandment in Matthew 28:18-20-

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

I myself, alone am not a whole representation of the Body of Christ, which means that we need the whole entire body. Just as Jesus isn’t the full representation of God, but the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit- unified as one is the perfect expression of who God is. Our identity is as many members making up the Church.

The way God has structured His creation is based off of who He is. If God is Triun than we must live within community as well.

Before the foundation of the world the Trinity was in perfect fellowship. God did not make us in order to express who he was. He didn’t need us in order to express His character. God didn’t make us because he was bored or lonely. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are in perfect community with eachother. And because of this relationship, our lives and salvation our model after God’s relationship with Himself.

J. C. Ryle once said- “It was the whole Trinity, which at the beginning of creation said, “Let us make man”. It was the whole Trinity again, which at the beginning of the Gospel seemed to say, “Let us save man”.

We cannot know God unless we know each member of the trinity, and as we were made in the image of God (Not just the Father, or the Son, but the Trinity as one), we were made man and woman, we were made for community. We were made for family, friends, and our local church.

Essentially, our church should be the center for fellow Christians to gather, and function as active members of the Body of Christ.

As many of you might recall, the past few years were that of isolation for many many people. Some still today are struggling with bringing themselves back into community. But I don’t think I have to convince anyone, that being isolated from community wasn’t good for ous souls, especially for the youth! Many kids are still suffering today, because of the isolation they grew accustomed to.

Isolation was the deepest pain Jesus felt, the nails and feet that pierced His skin was the worst pain possible, the crown of thrones pressed into His head, none of it compares to the pain that Jesus felt as His Father turned His face away.

“All sorts of people are fond of repeating the Christian statement that “God is love.” But they seem not to notice that the words ‘God is love’ have no real meaning unless God contains at least two persons. Love is something that one person has for another person. If God was a single person, then before the world was made, He was not love.” – C.S. Lewis

First point- Our fellowship with each other is suppose to reflect the perfect relationship between the Trinity. A gift, God was sharing his love.

2. PILLAR TWO: WORSHIP

Worship is intended to "sanctify" the faithful. We call this sanctification- Which is a word that at times needs to be restored to it’s original Biblical meaning- Simply expressed, sanctification is the biblical concept of making God's people holy. HOLY means SET APART. As Christian’s, we are called to be set apart from earthly desires and live for God. As a result, the objective of worship is to mold us into people who are distinct from others, set apart for God and His purposes.

EXAMPLE: Here is our dilemma, our example is Jesus Christ, sinless and the perfect man. We are called to be mini- Christs, called as His disciples. And Matthew 28- Commands us to be representations of Christ on earth, until He returns. We have Jesus Christ, who is completely holy and righteous, yet we are called to representent and model ourselves after Him.

How could I, a great sinner ever represent Christ on earth? Worship. Worship shapes and conforms us into the Image of Christ. Through the active work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of every Christian, through worship we are able to sanctify our hearts, and point to Jesus. We often think of worship as us to God, experience- Meanings we are praising, thanking God, expressing who God is to us. And yes this is apart of worship, but we often forget that worship is about God pouring into us. It’s the work of the Holy Spirit in everyones life that makes us Holy- And as we are worshiping together, the Spririt is tending to the needs of the Body and each member.

As a church we believe that one of the best ways to praise God is to gather every Sunday, sing, hear the Word of God, and fellowship with othe believers.

Ancient Israel had a very broad concept of worship, offering worship in the home as well as in the temple several times a day, not merely on the sabbath and at great festivals. Worship involved both the individual family and the whole nation. But the primary acts of worship with communal.

“The Trinity is the basis of the gospel, and the gospel is a declaration of the Trinity in action.” J. I. Packer

3. PILLAR THREE: DISCIPLESHIP

Another main purpose for our church is to disciple and to be discipled. Jesus began his ministry with only 12 disciples. 12 might not seem like a lot of people. But it was through Jesus’ teaching and His love. His twelve began their mission work, and in return, we now have a global church of 2.4 billion Christians.

There are two important reasons for discipleship within the local church

1. Handling the Word of God Correctly- As Christians, it’s important to be able to properly handle the word of God. When I was leading a high school leadership program, I noticed that the students didn’t even know how to read/study their Bibles. It’s not that they didn’t want to or had the desire to know God. But every time they opened up their Bibles, they were filled with questions and had a hard time understanding it’s meaning and context. All of these aren’t things to feel bad about, but as the CHURCH part of our job is to help teach the word of God correctly.

How can grow in confidence when they still have basic principles unanswered? And if we do not do a good enough job, our youth will go to other places to seek information, and those people typically do not have the interest of our youth in mind.

2. Dealing with Other Believers Appropriatel- Our relationship with God isn’t singular but we are saved through the Body of Christ. As a leader, it’s also my job to ensure that our students know how to properly engage with other Christians and function as the Body of Christ.

Discipleship is best-done one-on-one, and when that’s not possible finding others within the church that want to help shape people into healthy disciples. Discipling disciples to disciple. That’s what it’s all about. Which I believe is a great into our fourth point because you cannot have evangelism without discipleship.

Through the process of worship and being set apart. When we talk about discipleship, we need to think about it in practical, real-life circumstances. Because what’s the point of theological truth if it cannot produce theological action?

4. PILLAR FOUR: EVANGELISIM

Jesus started His ministry with 12 disciples, which He entrusted to build the Kingdom of God on earth. They have done a pretty good job considering that roughly 2.4 billion Christians are alive today.

Here’s the secret of evangelism: it’s not about you; it’s not even about the other person; it’s about Jesus. Without Jesus,, there would be no purpose to evangelize. What’s more; there is no ‘one simple trick’ that will make someone a Christian. And the solution also isn’t just repackaging the Gospel and selling it with a different label or, worse, as a different product. Often when we think about evangelism, we want God to provide practical solutions to Spiritual problems. For many, the solution to evangelism is a rock band instead of an organ. Loud music performances, side-splitting drama, multimedia presentations, and a humorous talk replace congregational hymn singing and preaching. But, we’re assured, the message remains the same. And judging by numbers, many churches that take this reactive approach seem to be a huge success. Though most of this growth has occurred by transfer rather than conversion, multitudes of churches have seen their congregations rocket numerically by adopting these methods. But is this evangelism if we aren’t bringing in the lost and entertaining the bored?

That’s why evangelism should always be about Jesus and what His love can do for the hungry and lost.

So then what’s our job as disciples of Christ? What is our job as the Body of Christ?

In 1 Corinthians 3:6, Paul writes, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” The promise is that in evangelism, God does the growth. All you have to do is proclaim the name of Jesus.

PILLAR 5: SERVING

When these pillars uphold Jesus, they are good. When they reflect Jesus,

When evangelism is no longer focused on Jesus when Worship is no longer focused on Jesus, “Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this, we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” (1 John 2:4–6) The process is reading the Bible, experiencing God and responding with action and love.

ENDING: WHEN ALL THESE VALUES OR PURPOSES FOR OUR CHURCH POINT TO AND REFLECT JESUS, IT IS GOOD.

Have you ever seen a super buff man, that has incredible upper body strength, yet has teeny tint little legs?

We don't want this to happen to the body of Christ. We want to grow together, build help build eachother up. Because what's in benefit of the part is in benefit of the whole.

Enter

Write to

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:15–17)

This passage is a direct guide for how we should function as the Church. It’s important to start with Christ because our new identity is found here. There is nothing without Christ; there is no Church, no worship, and there is no discipleship.