What Does A Good Church Look Like - 1e
What Does a Good Church Look Like • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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We want to continue to answer the question, What does a good church look like. We spent a couple of weeks just scratching the surface regarding spiritual gifts. Did God give us spiritual gifts just for giggles? No. From last week we said that
Spiritual gifts are supernatural abilities God has given to His people for the purpose of empowering them for the work of ministry as they partner with Him in building His Church (Kingdom on earth).
In other words,
All gifts are given for the purpose of evangelism and Kingdom advancement.
Evangelism – telling people the good news about Christ. And by Kingdom we mean God’s Kingdom of love, truth, morality, justice, fruit of the Spirit, etc. Kingdom advancement bringing His Kingdom here and righting the wrongs in our world. Where there is injustice, Christians should bring justice. Where there’s hatred, we bring love and reconciliation. Where there’s hopelessness, we bring hope ….
We are a Nazarene church. The mission of the Nazarene church is what?
To Make Christlike Disciples in the Nations.
Again, evangelism and Kingdom advancement. God has given us personalities, strengths, spiritual gifts, talents, hobbies, skills to help us make Christlike disciples. Even though God has given us all these tools and opportunities, it will be difficult to evangelize and advance the Kingdom without a sense of appreciation for God’s saving grace and love in our lives.
The apostle Paul, the author of Romans deeply appreciated what Christ had done on the cross, and therefore, was deeply in debt to Christ and to others. Let’s look at Romans 1 and explore this indebtedness a little deeper.
On a scale of 1-9, how strong is your sense of obligation to make disciples?
I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.
I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
To whom was Paul indebted? First to Jesus (Jesus paid it all, all to Him we owe). But he was also indebted to basically everyone. Paul had this deep sense of obligation or responsibility to tell all people about Jesus Christ – to make disciples, to advance the Kingdom. “Because of what Jesus has done for me, I need to go, I need tell!” “Woe is me if I do not preach.”
It would be easy to surmise that if we follow Paul’s example, then every Christian should have the same sense of obligation to every single person. I would say on the one hand that’s true – everyone deserves to know about Jesus. But on the other hand, are we really obligated to everyone? Think about it - though Paul felt an obligation to all, he also knew he had parameters and boundaries. He knew what I call his “Kingdom audience” -those to whom he was obligated.
Look at Acts 16.
And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.
So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Paul felt an obligation to all people – but Paul could not realistically minister to all people. Yes, he wanted to go “everywhere man,” but God said no. “But what about the people in Mysia and Asia and Bithynia? They need Jesus too!” Of course, they need Jesus, and God knows that, but Paul wasn’t the one to go.
Paul can’t minister to all people, and he can’t go “everywhere man” – and neither can you, neither can I, neither can this church – nor does God expect us to. We have different gifts for different reasons and different people. See,
The primary obligation that we have is to those whom God calls us – either by bringing them to us or by sending us to them.
“But what about the homeless, the addicts, the immigrants, the pro-abortionists, and the …? They need Jesus too!” Yes, they need Jesus too, but we cannot connect with or minister to all people.
Look, people, organizations, and cultural movements, both Christian and secular will gladly impose their expectations on the Church and on you and me and tell us what they think we should be doing. “If you’re a Christian, you would give to this or serve there or …!” Not true.
Consider how Jesus handled this and did what I call – staying in His lane.
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
And Simon and those who were with him searched for him,
and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.”
And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”
Jesus did not let others dictate where He went, to whom He went, or when. However, He did spend time in prayer and went to those whom His Father sent Him.
And so should we.
We know that Jesus also made room for unexpected encounters.
And so should we. So, what does a good church look like?
A good church is directed by God and not by emotions, fads, hype, culture, or government.
Like Jesus, we are to go to whom and where His Spirit leads.
Let me say this. It’s difficult to be indebted to Christ and to have that sense of Christian obligation if you are indebted and obligated to too many things. We’re called to be stewards …. If you’re obligated to too many things, your obligation to Christ and His mission will suffer.
So, who are you obligated to? What’s your lane? Who is your Kingdom audience?
Consider
He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
as we wrap this up.
Did all the disciples go in the same direction? No. Some stayed in Jerusalem. Some went to Judea, some to Samaria and farther, but none went to the ends of the earth. That was left for future disciples throughout the centuries, including us. So, here’s how I read this – we are all called to take the Gospel somewhere, but some of you are called to those people. Some of you are called to these people. Some of you are called to people near and some of you are called to people far away.
Look at this statement again -
The primary obligation that you and I have is to those whom God calls us.
Your Kingdom audience may or may not be the same as mine or the person sitting next to you.
But be assured you have a Kingdom audience.
The question is, do you know who it is? For some of you, your primary Kingdom audience is inside the church. For others, your primary Kingdom audience is outside, down the street, across town or even across the ocean.
I don’t want to rush this, but this is important. Look at
So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
Don’t let the word preach scare you. What are some synonyms for the word ‘preach?’
Let’s narrow it down to one key word –
COMMUNICATE
We each have at our disposal strengths, spiritual gifts, talents, hobbies, skills etc., that can help us communicate the message of Jesus Christ with our Kingdom audience. Again, who is your Kingdom audience – who are you drawn to - and how can you use what you have to communicate the gospel to them?
Next week - Why do we need the Gospel?
Communion
At the beginning of the message, I said it will be difficult to evangelize and advance the Kingdom without a sense of appreciation for God’s saving grace and love in our lives. As we remember Jesus and the cross …
Invite you to receive God’s free gift of salvation ….