Comm/Unity week 2
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Common Unity - we talked last week about how the church has a common, unified task.
We saw how the early church had INSIDE activities that involved SHARED experiences.
They also had OUTSIDE activities that involved SHARING experiences.
We learned that the church ekklēsia (litterally “called out ones”) and was used to refer to an assembly of persons constituted by well- defined membership.
Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 125). United Bible Societies.
But…around what purpose?
Rick Warren Writes In "the Purpose Driven Life," ...
Rick Warren writes in “The Purpose Driven Life,” “I have been at the bedside of many people in their final moments, when they stand on the edge of eternity, and I have never heard anyone say, “Bring me my diplomas! I want to look at them one more time. Show me my awards, my medals, that gold watch I was given.” When life on earth is ending, people don’t surround themselves with objects. What we want around us is people – people we love and have relationships with.
I our final moments we all realize that relationships are what life is all about. Wisdom is learning that truth sooner rather than later. Don’t wait until you’re on you’re deathbed to figure out that nothing matters more.” – p. 126
This is at the heart of the gospel message…relationships.
Foundation of what we do and how we do it come from 2 places: Great Commandment in Matthew 22:37-40
Matthew 22:37–40 (CSB)
He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”
And the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20
Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
This is based on the authority of Jesus…not our personal preferences, desires, agendas, or with worldly patterns.
Show picture: “We have to train ourselves to think biblically, not emotionally”
Two Stories:
Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10
He entered Jericho and was passing through. There was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because of the crowd, since he was a short man. So running ahead, he climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus, since he was about to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down because today it is necessary for me to stay at your house.”
So he quickly came down and welcomed him joyfully. All who saw it began to complain, “He’s gone to stay with a sinful man.”
But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, I’ll give half of my possessions to the poor, Lord. And if I have extorted anything from anyone, I’ll pay back four times as much.”
“Today salvation has come to this house,” Jesus told him, “because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”
Background: Jericho…word had spread about previous miracles. Zacchaeus was the CHIEF tax collector.
Jesus purposefully singles out someone that was detestable to the Jews and illustrates that he is indeed one of Abraham’s own. Zacchaeus even obeyed biblical law by paying back 4 times the amount he has stolen.
Jesus then concludes this encounter with a mantra that encapsulates the entire theme of the gospel.
Seek & Save
Seek — active, purposeful, specific
Save — introduce to Jesus
Thessalonican Church
because our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with full assurance. You know how we lived among you for your benefit, and you yourselves became imitators of us and of the Lord when, in spite of severe persecution, you welcomed the message with joy from the Holy Spirit. As a result, you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. For the word of the Lord rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place that your faith in God has gone out. Therefore, we don’t need to say anything, for they themselves report what kind of reception we had from you: how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
Background: written by Paul from Corinth on his 2nd missionary journey. Acts chapter 17 Paul fled because of persecution but left Timothy and Silas.
The letter was written to encourage the church to persevere in spite of the persecution they faced.
So how did this particular group of people operate? Paul told them that being the church wasn’t just about words!!
1. Power and conviction
2. Joy in spite of tribulation
3. become an example to the surrounding areas
So what does that mean for us?
Keep the main thing the main thing - Great command and commission
Purposefully seek those in our community that need to hear the gospel
Become an example for others
Two Challenges for us:
The challenge for us is to make sure our hearts are in the right place. Just before the interaction with Zacchaeus, Jesus told a parable about another tax collector.
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people—greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’
“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The religious person, even though they were following the law, had the wrong heart. But the vile sinner had a humble heart.
The other challenge is our methodology:
He also told them a parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. Otherwise, not only will he tear the new, but also the piece from the new garment will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, it will spill, and the skins will be ruined. No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins. And no one, after drinking old wine, wants new, because he says, ‘The old is better.’ ”
In order to accomplish the Mission of Jesus, we have to recognize the culture that we live in, recognizing that the fresh message of the gospel for this generation cannot be contained in old wineskins.
Our methods may change…but the MESSAGE will never change!
INVITATION