I Believe in The Church
Notes
Transcript
Handout
INTRO
Historically in the western world Churches have been hubs of the community...
In recent years the church was apparently not seen as essential!! here is why it is !!
PRAYER
A - God if you design something we know it is good for you are good. Today Lord we want to recognize and affirm the goodness of your church.
C - Lord we confess that we have not always viewed your church as we should. We as a nation actually made the decision that church was not essential, we repent for that LORD.
T - Father I thank you that here at ABC we have always seen your church as essential. We pray that today as we look at your word which describes your church that you would only reaffirm this in our hearts and give us the scriptural standing to make future decisions regarding your bride, the church.
S - Father we pray that you would restore this belief in your people here in America and around the globe. Make our hearts long for the glory of your church to shine for it is yours, a representation of your grace upon this earth until you return. Therefore help us to guard, honor, and cherish your church!
Here is the church here is the steeple, open the door and see all the people??
The Church is A People
The Church is A People
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
Through Jesus Christ, God is saving not only individuals but also a people. The church is the people of God. This means that, as Christians, we are neither independent nor autonomous. Rather, we belong to God and to the people of God. So we are to submit to God’s will and to one another.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
You are now God’s people
race
nation
possession
individuality / autonomy is absent…
This is not your home
You are a sojourner
a temporary stay / visit / stop over...
You have been born anew.
two ways to be my kid...
birth
adoption
You are now God’s people.
you have a new identity
you have a new standard
You are not independent.
independent in America
synonyms = disconnected, separated, unrelated, nonaligned
The Church is A Body
The Church is A Body
Scripture teaches that Christians should not approach the church as consumers but as members of a body. This means that we are to commit to one another, depend on one another, honor one another, and care for one another. In all we do in the church, we should seek not the fulfillment of our own desires but the common good.
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
Our health depends on one another
you don’t see your liver, kidneys, pancreas, etc
Our efforts depend on one another
we need one another for success
The Church is A Temple
The Church is A Temple
The church is the temple of the Holy Spirit—a joined-together, growing, holy dwelling place for God. Therefore, every Christian should be a member of a church [next week] and should seek the unity, holiness, and growth of the church.
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
The Old Temple
tent / temple
separation / exclusivity / sin
The New Temple
curtain torn / dwelling with man / eternal access
living stones
----------------- Because the Church IS those things... the church, this church SHOULD be these things----------------------
The Church Should be Growing
The Church Should be Growing
Christians grow as we build and are built up by other members of the body of Christ. According to Scripture, the way we attain Christian maturity is through the church.
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
We should be growing in works.
We should be growing in faith.
James 2.22 “22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;”
As we grow we are able and willing to do more
the greater our faith the greater our works
We will be growing in number.
Act 2.47 “47… And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
LOVE | ACTS = abc’s motto!!
The Church Should be Distinct
The Church Should be Distinct
God calls the church to be distinct from the world through our faith in the gospel and conformity to his character.
Distinction is your identity.
13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
How are we to be distinct?
Sermon on the Mount...
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Distinction is sometimes hard to practice.
1 Corinthians 5:1–13 (ESV)
1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. 2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. 3 For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. 6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
Distinction will cause pain !
We must be different then the world...
Perceptions / Practices / Pronouncements
Distinct not in perfection but repentance.
Seek restoration
Seeking righteousness
The Church Should Glorify God
The Church Should Glorify God
God calls the church to display His glory to the world by reflecting His character. The church is central in God’s saving purposes because it is the place where he causes his name to be made known and his glory to be put on display.
22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. 23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.
26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Display His Wisdom.
10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,
wisdom of salvation / gospel
Display His Oneness.
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
Jesus prayer for you / will for us
Display His Love.
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Our love for one another should reflect the love of Christ!
CLOSE
Built upon the Rock: The Church A People, Not a Place
The church is not a place. It’s not a building. It’s not a preaching point. It’s not a spiritual service provider. It’s a people—the new covenant, blood-bought people of God. That’s why Paul said, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph. 5:25 NIV). He didn’t give himself up for a place but for a people.
Group Questions
Group Questions
Whose character are the people of God to represent? What does this say about our desire to be autonomous?
If we better grasped this idea of being “a people,” how would that affect our interactions in the local church?
In light of this message, how is a “Lone-Ranger Christian,” who tries to live out his or her discipleship to Christ independently of others, misguided?
Based on this message what would look for in a church. Is there anything you’d change?
Have you ever been in a church where it seemed unusual for someone to be a growing Christian? Talk about your experience.
Can you summarize the difference between a genuine Christian who hears the message of the gospel and the nominal Christian who hears it? (A nominal Christian is a Christian in name only.)
Suppose, looking at your own profession of faith, it looks like a nominal Christian’s. There’s a lack of conviction, a lack of joy, and a lack of turning from idols. What should you do?
How should the expectation that members are growing spiritually shape:
The purpose of small group meetings?
What you do on Saturday nights in preparation for Sunday?
How the church’s elders or other leaders shepherd the church?
Conversations after church?
What the church’s life looks like throughout the week? How do these lessons about corporate growth together translate into the rest of the week?
What are some concrete ways that you can help others grow in their knowledge of Christ and in resisting winds of doctrine and human schemes?
How does our love for one another display God’s glory? How does the unity of a local church display God’s glory?