The Church: Universal and Local
Foundations: Our Statement of Faith • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction:
Introduction:
Worship: God transforms
Worship: God transforms
We believe that human beings, made in the image of God the Trinity (who is Himself a worshipping community), are unceasing worshippers created to continually outpour all they are, all they do, and all they can ever become to God. Worship includes praise, proclamation, service, participation, sacrifice, and submission. We believe that the corporate worship of the local church is to be God-centered. We believe that corporate church worship should include biblical preaching, the sacraments, prayer, Scripture reading, financial giving, and singing and music. Because we are worshippers, we embrace all of life, including our corporate church gatherings, as an opportunity to passionately worship God in practical ways.
Worship is the most important aspect of our lives. This is because we were created to worship and glorify God.
Worship: The activity of glorifying God in His presence with our voices and hearts. In this we note that this definition is an act of glorifying God. Also this means all aspects of our lives are suppose to glorify God.
Worship is a lifestyle. Everyday we are given an opportunity to worship, worship God or something else. It would be so good for us to understand that worship includes praising God with songs and hymns. Worship includes praising God with our voices, it also includes proclamation, service, participation, sacrifice, and submission.
Proclamation of the Gospel to those who come into contact with us. In addition to that this would also include our testimony of the work that God is and has done in our lives.
We are to serve… who though? Not ourselves! Family we are called to lay down ourselves our wants and needs and we are to start within our families then carry that over into our local church.
12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. 16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Participation: all hands on deck!
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
This is my ministry. To equip ya’ll for the work of the ministry. And that means we need to be obedient to the calling of God on our lives. Not living for ourselves but for the King of kings and the Lord of lord.
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Could you imagine what our church could accomplish if we were all to take our ministries seriously?
serving one another
13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
teaching one another, not reserved for the pastor only
14 Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.
Singing praises to God together
12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Biblical counseling
11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
Paul in writing to the Ephesians highlights what the work of the ministry is in our everyday lives:
Putting away slander, falsehood, and white lies, and speaking from a heart of love [Ephesians 4:15,25]
work hard at our jobs [Ephesians 4:28; 6:5-8]
put to death stinginess and share what we have with others [Ephesians 4:18]
refrain from dirty jokes, profanity, and let no corrupt word proceed out of our mouths [Ephesians 4:29; 5:4]
be kind and forgive one anther [Ephesians 4:32]
avoid being deceived by false doctrine [Ephesians 5:6]
love our wives and submit to our husbands [Ephesians 5:22-33]
raise our children in a way that honors the Lord [Ephesians 6:4]
treat employees well and be justly [Ephesians 6:9]
Family we are to be a family of servants. We are not looking for the professionals or credentialed Christians to carry out the mission of the church. God gave us leaders to equip the church, not to supplant them. The ministry belongs to the members.
Sacrifice, the laying down of ourselves for the glory of God. Remember family the world doesn’t revolve around you. And therefore we are to lay down self. This is an act of worship:
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
Submission: is a pivotal aspect to apply to our lives. This can be a point of convention, where we do not want to let go and let God have full reign. Jesus take the wheel, but don’t be a backseat driver… Get out and get in the trunk.
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Submission also applies to our local church governance. Understand that your churches leadership will be held accountable for the money we spend and what is being taught.
17 Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.
I can honestly say that this is my heart in the matter.
Stewardship: God gives
Stewardship: God gives
We believe that Christians are to be stewards who gladly acknowledge that they belong to the Lord, that everything they have belongs to the Lord, and that everything ultimately belongs to the Lord. Stewards should value both work and Sabbath so that their time and energy are well managed. We believe that the spiritual gifts are a special grace of the Holy Spirit, given to us at our new birth to serve the mission of Jesus, and continue to the present age. Because God has been generous to us, we seek to live with and serve others as generous and wise stewards of God.
Stewardship is essential to rightly worship God. Sometimes we can think of being a steward with this three aspects: giving your time, talents, and treasures. These three are 100% true but not the whole truth.
Stewardship is total-life stewardship. After all nothing… and I mean nothing truly belongs to you. Because at the bottom line Christian stewardship can be stated in four word: God owns it all!
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell therein.
The stewardship of our time:
12 So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
The stewardship of our relationships:
The fruit of the Spirit is cultivated in the soil of relationships.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
The stewardship of our finances: one aspect of this is to tithe to your local church.
10 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. 11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?
13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
The stewardship of our bodies:
19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
The stewardship of our speech:
19 In the multitude of words sin is not lacking,
But he who restrains his lips is wise.
The stewardship of our gifts:
10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
The stewardship of our witness:
1 Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Family, mankind was given an original task by God at creation. That was to be fruitful and multiply. It is still true for us today, but through the New Covenant it has become spiritual.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Kingdom: God reigns
Kingdom: God reigns
We believe that God created humans with a spirit and body tightly joined together. Death is not normal or natural, but an enemy, the consequence of sin. Death is the tearing apart of these two intertwined parts and the cessation of life on this earth. The body goes to the grace and the spirit goes to face judgement before God. Upon the final judgement, there will be a bodily resurrection for everyone, to either eternal salvation or condemnation. The time between Jesus’ resurrection and our resurrection is a lengthy ministry season of love, grace, and mercy; as news of the Gospel goes forth, inviting sinners to repent of sin and enjoy the present and future salvation of Jesus Christ.
1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.
Family there is a hope that have through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we will one day be with God forever! For those who believe in Jesus they will have eternal life and be with Him forever. Where the unbeliever will face eternal judgement unto condemnation forever in the lake of fire.
The Church: God Sends
The Church: God Sends
We believe that the local church is a community of regenerated believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord, and that the universal church is comprised of all God’s people who have placed their hope and trust in Jesus Christ. In obedience to Scripture, Christians organize under qualified leadership, gather regularly for preaching and worship, observe the sacraments of baptism and communion, are unified by the Spirit in love, are corrected for holiness, and scatter to fulfill the great commission as missionaries to the world. Because we are members of God’s church and kingdom we devote ourselves to ministry and the building up of the local church family.
The catholic church:
The catholic church:
Catholic simply means universal. We have brothers and sisters of Christ all over the world. Accomplishing the plan and will of God. This is why you could travel and still find a church family, that is because Christ supersedes blood relations.
And just like a family, we will find our brothers and sisters wildly different. We must be careful as 1 John 4:1-3
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
Jesus when speaking to Peter in Matthew 16:18 is speaking of the universal church.
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
The local church:
The local church:
We find throughout God’s Word that He has established the family, the civil government, and the local church as three different institutions here on earth. Each one has been ordained with leadership, blessings, and accountability.
When we talk about the local church, God has commissioned it to carry out His purpose in reaching the lost and perfecting the saved. It is crucial to understand that God’s plan for your life involves the local church, and to be connected with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.
The local church is not a denominational group of congregations. Through there is unity of the churches found throughout the NT, but they were individual groups of believers.
It also isn’t a building. Our bodies are the temples of God, and we worship God in spirit and truth.
Lastly the local church is not replaceable. There are so many good things (TV, radio, podcasts, commentaries, conferences) that believers try to use to fill a need that only a local church can biblically provide.
God’s work in your life is accomplished through the local church, and nothing should replace it in your life. It honestly needs to be a priority in your life.
Essentially the local church is the visible body of Christ on earth that is made up of born again, baptized believers who have agreed to worship and serve God together in a specific location under clear biblical leadership.
God has established two offices that provide structure and leadership within the local church. Pastor and deacon.
Male Leadership:
Male Leadership:
We believe in the pattern and the principle of male leadership and responsibility in both the home and the church, according to the sacrificial example of Jesus. We believe this limits the roles of pastoral leadership and doctrinal authority to qualified men.
complementarianism is the viewpoint that God restricts women from serving in certain church leadership roles and instead calls women to serve in equally important, but complementary roles.
egalitarianism is the viewpoint that there are no biblical gender-based restrictions on ministry in the church.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
What is truly the epicenter of this argument, and what many egalitarians fail to understand, is that a difference in role doesn’t equate to a difference in quality, importance, or value. Men and women are valued in God’s sight and plan. Women are not inferior to men. Rather, God assigns different roles to men and women in the church and home because that is how He designed us to function.
The office of pastor/bishop/overseer/elder
The role of a pastor is to oversee, lead, feed, and care for the church according to the Bible. We are to protect the church from false doctrine by preaching and teaching the truth of God’s Word. We must also be committed to pray for the church body.
4 but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. 31 Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.
The Bible also teaches that if you desire this role you desire a good thing.
1 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work.
Also know that there are qualification that must be meet.
2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; 3 not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4 one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence 5 (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); 6 not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
The Bible teaches that the church is to have lead by qualified men.
The office of deacon.
Deacons are Spirit-filled ministers who are chosen out of the congregation to serve the church. They are to help assist the pastors with anything that might distract them from the ministry of the Word, prayer, and oversight of the church.
Acts 6:1-10
1 Timothy 3:8-13
The purpose of the local church:
The church provides you the environment to help you grow through three general stages of spiritual growth.
Ephesians 4:12 (NKJV)
12 for the equipping [perfecting] of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
Become a learner as you are equipped in the Word of God.
There is a time to observe and learn as you are being perfected. Our first priority should be to submit top the teaching of the Word of God and learn to be who God desires us to be.
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Become a Laborer as you are engaged in he work of the ministry.
As we continue to grow in our relationship with Christ, there will be a time for us to being to serve through the ministries that are established within our church. [Matthew 4:19; James 1:22-25]
Become a leader as you edified within the body of Christ.
As your spiritual growth continues, you should reach the point where you are able to minister to other in the same way you have been ministered to.
2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
The local church helps to conform you to the image of Christ.
13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
The local church provides a guard for doctrinal purity.
14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
The local church helps you to discover and fulfill your role with the body of Christ.
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Prayer in the back corner!
Prayer in the back corner!
24 “The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.” ’