The Church Jesus Built

Sermon in a sentence: The church Jesus spoke of in Matthew 16:18 is a spirit-filled, doctrinally developed, evangelistic community focused on witnessing, work, and worship.

Marks of the Church

John Calvin wrote:

“Wherever we find the word of God purely preached and heard, and the sacraments administered according to the institution of Christ; there, it is not to be doubted, is a Church of God: for his promise can never deceive: “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

Calvin, one of the greatest theologians of our time highlights two marks of Jesus’ church: (1) the preached Word and (2) the sacraments administered as Christ prescribed for the “two or three.” The “church” Jesus foretells is not a physical structure, but a body of believers that accept Jesus as Lord, receive the Holy Spirit to bear witness to the truth. The church in its purest form is a community of likeminded, spirit-filled people that work, witness and worship. When people talk about the “church” it is not always in a positive light. Is the church then what it is now? The Black church was the epicenter of the community where people brought their children, concerns and their faith with the hope that God would hear their cries. People believed in the church When people refer to the “church” they refer to the building where they worship. Jesus did not build buildings; yet, he did build a “church” that would be victorious in this life. He did not build his church to be messy, mundane and toxic. He did not build a church to hurt and wound its own; nor did he build a church that is concerned about the power they wield rather than the power of the Holy Spirit controlling them. He did not build his church to segregate from one another; nor a church that lives to offend one another. We must understand that even in this postmodern, secular society people come in contact with the church everyday. If you are a believer, then you are part of the Lord’s church and how you carry yourself as the church determines people perspective. There was a time when the church of tomorrow filled the building, but now in some places they are devoid of the church of tomorrow, specifically Millennials, Generation Z and A. The question today is where is the church of tomorrow, and I would argue that they have exited stage left to find their own path to spirituality….If youth are the church of tomorrow, then I ask where are they and why are they leaving?

The Book of the Acts of the Apostle begins with the ascension of Jesus and ends with Paul in Rome sharing the gospel at his own expense for two years. It picks up where Luke’s Gospel leaves off as he records the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem and throughout Judea, Samaria, and the rest of the Mediterranean world. Luke introduces his friend Theophilus the fulfillment of Joel 2:28, the birth of the early church, the persecution of the church and the missionary work of the church. Peter, James John, and Paul (Saul) are the major characters in this narrative, but it is the gospel and the church that take center stage in the New Testament narrative. Jesus leaves his ministry in the hands of his disciples, who would disciple others that would carry on the ministry. Acts 2 presents the fire of the Spirit, the faith of the apostles, and the fellowship of the saints. The day of Pentecost came and gave birth to the church, just Mary gave birth to Christ. Pentecost was a pilgrimage festival that celebrated the end of the harvest season (Lev. 23:15-21). This festival required all Israelite males to travel to Jerusalem as they renewed their covenant with God and celebrated God giving them the law. God uses this festival signifying the end of the harvest as a moment of beginning and impartation. The church is not a human construct or idea; it is a spiritual body born of the spirit. The fire falls, Peter shares his fiery faith to the brothers listening and they ask what should they do Acts 2:37 since they’ve heard the gospel. Peter tells them to do two things: (1) repent, and (2) be baptized. The church was not born from a creed; this body was born from faith in Christ.

The church used to be an asylum for the alienated

The church used to be a balm for the broken

The church used to be a calm for the chaos

The church used to be a deterrent to devilment

What is the church now?

A Spirit-filled Body

“The Holy Ghost is the not agent of shouting; He is our comforter, intercessor, purifier and sanctifier”

As this group gathered in this “one place” it was for the purpose of waiting on the promise and replacing Judas who committed suicide. For fifty days they waited on Jesus’ promise he spoke of in John 16:5-15 and in Acts 1:8. The outpouring of the Spirit produced not just momentary enthusiasm but four continuing commitments: to learn, to care, to fellowship and to worship.The coming of the Holy Spirit would empower the apostles to spread the gospel and perform miracles. If the apostles and the early church needed the Holy Spirit then, we most certainly need Him now. The life of the church is not in its creeds, denominational affiliation, it is the Holy Spirit. In this day and time, we need the Holy Spirit to lead and guide. The Holy Spirit is the fire that fuels the church to do greater works Jesus spoke of in John 14:12. Do we want the Holy Spirit? There is nothing the church can do without the Holy Spirit. The praise chant is true: “we don’t need no music, all we need is the Holy Ghost!!!

Doctrinally Developed

“Churches should not be so religiously developed that they are doctrinally malnourished.”

Jesus did not build a religion; he built a community of faith founded on the revelation of his person. This new community of faith was not born and turned loose to figure out how to be the church. The apostles’ were charged with doctrinally developing the new community of faith. Doctrine is teaching by someone to someone about something for some purpose. Christian doctrine is teaching in accordance with the Scriptures about the gospel of Jesus Christ by the church to disciples for the purpose of knowing God and becoming wise unto salvation. The early church father Thomas Aquinas views doctrine as theology’s chief product—teaching revealed by God about God. Doctrine is what, based on the Bible, the church believes and teaches—explicitly in creeds and catechisms, implicitly by its characteristic practices. Today, churches dismiss doctrines for teachings that tickle the ears and panders to those in shallow waters. Paul in 1 Timothy 6:3-5 and 2 Timothy 4:2-4 warns his young protégé about those who teach a different doctrine. Today, people seek milk from pastors and prophecies from their own devices, toxicity, and trauma. “Doctrinal teaching may not excite you, but it will equip you for daily living.”

Doctrine of the Trinity

Doctrine of Creation

Doctrine of Christ

Doctrine of God

Doctrine of Man

Doctrine of Revelation

Doctrine of Woman

Evangelistic Community focused on Work, Worship and Witness

Work

The doctrinally develop community experience the Spirit in their midst through the apostles, and those wonders and signs united the community in faith. This unity of faith created a fellowship, and from this fellowship, they worked to care for one another. The phrase “they were selling” and the word “distributing” are third person active verbs in the imperfect, indicative tense. What Luke suggest here is that the new believers have practiced selling and distributing amongst the community in the past. The new converts had a past practice of helping one another, and that did not change because they became believers of Christ.

James 1:27 ESV

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

“The church would do well to keep biblical past practices in this cultural context instead of operating in cultural compromise that contradict Scripture.”

The old adage that the message does not change, but our methodology should guides church practices. if we really think about it, what we are saying is that we should adopt cultural methods because biblical practices are antiquated. Sometimes, past practices still carry present and future implications. John 9:4 still holds true that we should work while its day…

Worship

The author of Hebrews 10:25 stresses the importance of regular worship attendance as we anticipate the Day drawing near. The newly born church understand the importance of worship and fellowship with other believers. What did they do in the temple? The church in her infancy valued worship and fellowship, while today it seems that we value space and isolation from one another.

“What we do or don’t do with our material possessions is an indicator of the Spirit’s presence or absence.”

These new Jewish converts displayed in worship and fellowship the intimacy, joy, and the transparency of their relationship they enjoyed thee graces of Messiah’s salvation in a true anticipation of his banquet in the kingdom. Today growing church manifest the same “metachurch” pattern: celebration, joining in large gatherings for worship and instruction, and cell group, meeting in home groups for fellowship and nurture…worship for the Christian equips them for impactful witness…the word praise is aineo (αἰνέω) meaning to speak the excellence of a person, object, or event. When the saints gather, they spoke of the excellence of God….

Witness

Jesus told his soon to be apostles to wait until they received the Holy Ghost before they set out to witness to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth (Acts 1:8). The church is not a museum that people come to view or a a gallery for people to gaze at. The church is an evangelistic community charged with carrying the glorious cargo of Calvary to the world.

“Jesus did not build his church with a “decline” feature, but He did build it with the “DRAW” feature that will grow the church”

Every day the Lord Jesus by his Spirit saved some, incorporating them into their number. God’s plan is for churches to grow. The phrase “the Lord added to their number” is an imperfect, indicative, active verb suggesting that addition to the church occured in the past, and it should occur in the present. Why don’t people come to worship? Why do they prefer to church hop and stay home? Why do people look for refuge outside the church? The challenge for us is, “Will we meet the Scriptural conditions for growth: a dedication to be a learning, caring, fellowshipping, worshipping church? Will we meet the one essential condition? “As empowering follows petition, so evangelism and Christian unity or community follow Pentecost. The empowering, moreover, is repeatable. So pray!”

What were they supposed bear record of?

They should bear truth of the birth….

They should bear truth of the ministry…

They should bear truth of the death….

They should bear truth of the resurrection…

They should rejoice in the truth that He’s coming back…

The Lord is Blessing Me…..