A Church Family (2)
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Last week we looked at an account from the gospels telling us of how some friends brought a neighbor of theirs to Jesus…on a mat, because he couldn’t walk, through a hole in the roof…
because of their faith in Christ.
A picture of the church. Believers, helping others see, find, and get to know Jesus more.
Working together. Consistently, cooperatively, and in faith.
Today and next Sunday we’ll be covering something we call our membership covenant. So we’ll go a little deeper into scripture to see what the church is called to do.
And we’ll just let scripture guide it. These aren’t Ed’s ideas or the elders’ ideas…these are Jesus’ ideas.
He created the church so it is probably best to look at what He wants to see.
Today we’ll cover two of four principles. These are simple…they make sense…but I think it is super helpful to put them into a context that gives them Kingdom meaning.
Otherwise they’ll be just be, more like, institutional guidelines or “top down” commands. I’m not sure that helps us see things as matters of the heart as Jesus did.
So here are the four…and we’ll put these up on the screen.
I will:
protect the unity of my church
share in the responsibility of my church
serve in the ministry of my church
support the testimony of my church
Today we’ll go through the first two...
I will:
protect the unity of my church
share in the responsibility of my church
…and just a quick note. We had some come forward last Sunday joining this church family. They are believers and have been … they are just saying for this point in time they want to call this group of people “home.” That was great to see.
…there may be more this week as well. If you haven’t ever made a formal move towards that, please let us know. We’ll be more than happy to welcome you, answer questions.
None of this is about us growing this INSTITUTION. Jesus said....”I will build my church.” If we built this by our ideas …it would look like us. I’m not sure that’s what we’re after.
But if we allow Jesus to grow us…individually, and collectively as a church body, in His Kingdom…then we grow, by His power, to look and really…reflect His glory…not ours. That’s a much better picture isn’t it.
So the first one today…as we continue to think about truly living out our beliefs…like Daniel (who we covered weeks ago)…the first one is unity.
It’s what Jesus prayed for before the cross.
The Apostle John records for us Jesus’ prayer prayed shortly before the time of the cross.
While talking to God the Father, Jesus prays the the church would be one. Unified. First in this prayer in John 17 Jesus prays for Himself…not because of weakness on His part…He prays that He would be glorified…with the glory He had with the Father before the world began....isn’t that a great picture of what Jesus is expecting to happen?
He then prays for His friends the disciples.
And then He prays for all believers…believers that will learn of His message and His death and life through the disciples…unified witness.
20 “I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word.
21 May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me.
Unity…What does unity remind us of?
I believe it is a picture of what was before sin.
In the garden there was unity between God and humanity. Until...
…until Adam and Eve wanted what they wanted…and doubted the destruction their actions would cause. They believed the lie....surely, nothing will happen if you want things like you want things.
So for sure we can see why Jesus prayed for this. Disunity won’t stop the church from His point of view, but disunity for sure can mess up the testimony of a local church family can’t it?
So here’s some things that many churches have come to…we’ve in our own way adopted these principles…very simple.
a few ways to stay unified as a church family.
…acting in love toward other members
22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.
Love one another deeply. This was a letter Peter wrote intending that it go to all the churches it could possibly go…throughout most all of the Roman empire…which was now, in that time huge.
Love each other deeply. It doesn’t say…love each other deeply unless....
Peter actually goes on to say…love because we’re all sinners…but we’re all believers in the one who can save us.
…by refusing to gossip
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
In this chapter of Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, he’s writing about unity. He’s writing about how we, as believers, live, act, think, and then he comes to this....how we talk…and talk about others.
Our talk about others, especially believers, should be to build them up…not tear them down. Remember what Jesus prayed for? A call back to Eden living.
You never heard gossip or negative talk in the Garden…it was about love for others and for the Creator.
…by respecting and supporting leadership
17 Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.
Spiritual leadership is helpful in the church because…we all need people to follow. And what a responsibility. The elders of NICC, right now, have been, and are continuing to, restudy what this leadership looks like…what this role of shepherd looks like. I say that to let you know that they are committed to you…they’re not perfect. But they want to help you see Jesus the best that you can.
When there’s battles within the church…the world sees disunity.
So there’s a few for Unity…a few things to give us an idea of unity.
The second is equally important…sharing in responsibility. And in a real way we kind of saw that last week. But here are some simple notes from scripture.
I will:
protect the unity of my church
share in the responsibility of my church
…by praying for its growth
1 Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.
2 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers.
Just don’t pray for our church family…pray for its growth …seeing, finding, knowing Jesus more. Those things....
Remember, each week there’s a group of people who are praying for you all. Most all of you by name....
…by inviting the un-churched to attend
23 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.
God’s intent is to save the world. Some will not want to come in…some might …some just need invited.
…by warmly welcoming those who visit
7 Therefore welcome one another, just as Christ also welcomed you, to the glory of God.
Again…ironically…Paul’s context here is “unity.”
He’s basically saying…because Jesus calls you to unity…and because of what He did for unity…be welcoming.
Now these things all seem simple don’t they?
Love, no gossiping but lifting each other up, helping and praying for the leaders because of what they are accountable for, pray for the church family, invite others to be a part, welcome others...
These seem simple don’t they? I think they’re simply understood…sometimes hard to follow through on.
Hard to follow through on....why?
I think it is simply because we’re human.
Three men were hiking through a forest when they came upon a large, raging, violent river. Needing to get to the other side, the first man prayed, “God, please give me the strength to cross the river.” Poof! God gave him big arms and strong legs. He was able to swim across in about two hours, having almost drowned twice.
After witnessing that, the second man prayed, “God, please give me strength and the tools to cross the river.” Poof! God gave him a rowboat, strong arms, and strong legs. He was able to row across in about an hour after almost capsizing once.
Seeing what happened to the first two men, the third man prayed, “God, please give me the strength, the tools and the intelligence to
cross this river.” Poof! He was turned into a woman. She checked the map, hiked one hundred yards up stream and walked across the bridge.
Now....we’re human…but, God’s given us some things to help us in our part of this thing called the church.
Jesus gave us His spirit. To live with us...
No longer does His spirit stay in the temple. He lives in us…if you’re a believer.
He gave us His word. What an incredible tool. We’re reading it today to help us keep a clear mind and heart as we think about our life in this thing called the church.
So we can’t use "we’re only human” as an excuse.
You know why? We were created to be holy.
And I think it’s in this idea of why Jesus prayed for these things. It’s why most of the New Testament is written to Christians …encouraging them to live well…relying on God. Pushing away sin. Growing in holiness…and only with God’s Spirit in us.
So why though? Why would the New Testament and us as a local church family, recognize some things that we need to be focused on all of the time?
What’s the result if we, as a church family, neglect these things:
unity - acting with love and grace towards other believers, refusing to gossip (talking about someone behind their back…rather than praying for them and helping them). Praying for and supporting church leaders because of the accountability they carry.
responsibility - praying for growth towards holiness, being an inviting and welcoming person.
What’s the result if we neglect these things?
Some recent polls and surveys have found a common pattern in why people don’t want to be a part of a church.
Irrelevant
Hypocrisy or failure of leaders
God’s missing
Doubt is prohibited
Lack of learning about Jesus or real faith.
Trouble finding community
Side track....rabbit trail….these character items we’re talking about today are …in very real way…they’re what the world sees (our actions, words, behavior).
Next week, the items we cover will be a bit more personal…between you and the Holy Spirit…personal growth.
So some things that happen when we neglect unity and responsibility
Love, Grace, No Gossip/Words that Build Up, Support Leaders, Prayer for Growth (Holiness), Inviting and Welcoming.
When others don’t see the church acting in love…but in fact in other ways, when they hear us gossiping about others and each other, when they see a disconnect or even hostility between members and spiritual leaders, when they don’t hear us talk in prayerful ways, when we say we’re a Christian but never invite…and if someone does show interest but we’re not welcoming....
What does that do? The church just looks like any other organzation on the planet. Nothing special here.
Now I know that’s easy to get to.
What’s the mission of the church?
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
So if we’re His people…the church’s mission/our mission…is His mission.
He started His mission immediately after sin appeared in human hearts in Genesis.
That sin separated us from Him. His creation from Him. His mission…provide a way back to Him. Which He did through His son Jesus.
Our mission is to point people to Jesus. Help them see, find and grow in Christ.
Unity is so important to this mission. Unity in purpose. Individual responsibility is so important to this mission isn’t it?
We all have our parts to do.
Let’s do them well…Amen?
Let’s ask that next question. If we do these things well what happens?
If people see unity of mission....Love and grace (forgiveness), people lifting each other up …even through mistakes and successes, a respect and support for leaders…(leaders who are human but doing their best, in a humble manner, to lead people to Jesus....
If people see us praying for each other’s holiness before God, if people see us as inviting and welcoming...
What do they see if we do our best at those things?
A little bit of Heaven here on the planet. A little bit of Eden. A little bit of what life, real life could look like without sin.
I’m sure that’s what we want …Amen?
Wow…if we strive for those things ( and to be sure this will take personal strength (with the HS), humility, commitment, faith… if we strive for those things think about it. Joy, Peace, Life.
This next week…what will you focus on…of these items…what will be your focus…more of this, less of that? I’m confident that as soon as you see yourself winning some of your own personal battles…that you’ll begin to see fruit…growth. And as scripture says…others will see that too…and hopefully be intriqued by it