Community: Church (HSM)

Joshua Erdtsieck

Life Together • Sermon • Submitted 6 months ago • Presented 6 months ago

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Notes

Transcript

Introduction

Welcome

Pray for Nate

Invitation to ask questions

Introduce series: Life Together

We’ve been looking at some different aspects of what it means to live in community

Three weeks ago: Travis shared on why community is difficult and how we are to overcome some of these difficulties by the grace of God

Two weeks ago: I shared on the building blocks of community: Friendship

What makes a community special is not the fact that we all gather in the same space but that we all have unique relationships with each other

Last week: Travis shared on the Good Samaritan

God redefines what love is/requires

God redefines who are neighbor is

And this week we are taking a step back to look at the bigger picture: The Church—Specifically High School Ministry

This is our community

What we think of the Church is extremely important

What does the Bible have to say about the Church?

Scripture Reading:

Ephesians 2:17–22 (CSB)

He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.

We are Saved to a Community

We tend to have a shortened or incomplete gospel in our day and age

Jesus died so that my sins can be forgiven

But the gospel doesn’t end there

We have to ask:

What am I saved from?

What am I saved for?

We are saved from:

Judgement, wrath, hell

We are saved for:

Heaven… but not only heaven

A living relationship with God

Eternal life - beginning now

A community of believers here and now

Listen to Paul in Ephesians:

Ephesians 2:17–22 (CSB)

A result of the gospel is becoming a member of God’s household

Being a part of the Church is actually a benefit we receive from the Gospel

So how could that be?

To understand this we have to understand what the Church is supposed to be

And the Bible tells us

The Church is not a building

The Church is not just a meeting a bunch of Christians have on a weekly basis

But the Church is a community of people

You, me, your friends, your parents

Here, throughout OC, California, USA, and the World

From this generation going into the future

And all the way into the past for over 2000 years

The Church is a community of God’s people

But what we do here Sundays is something special…

Its a place and time where we all gather to meet with God and others

So this morning I’ll talk about the vertical relationship

And Tami will share on the horizontal relationships

Meeting with God at Church

We all come to Church with the opportunity to meet and hear from God

I want to make sure to preface this with hitting on the delicate balance between a couple extremes:

Church is vital to your Christian Walk—But going to Church is not what makes you a Christian

Church is a place where we can expect to meet God—But Church isn’t the only place we can meet with God

We don’t want to under-emphasize the importance of Church

But we also don’t want to over-emphasize it’s importance

It is a vital aspect that can’t be removed from our walks with Jesus

Think of a body

Imagine the Church is something vital like the heart or lungs

If you get rid of it—the whole body falls apart and dies

But our body is more than just our heart or our lungs

No Christian can experience serious and long-lasting growth in their walk with Jesus without being a part of a community

And what this community looks like has freedom

The early church met in peoples’ houses

The persecuted Church in China meets in small groups in secret

We meet with hundreds of people out in the open

But like I opened with—part of the gospel is being saved to a church community

Part of what it means to follow Jesus is to be an active member of a church community

So for thousands of years, Gods people have regularly met together

And Tami will talk about community and our relationships with others in a bit

But first and foremost the Church is a group of people who are seeking God together

And this doesn’t just happen naturally—like many things in life, You only get what you put into it

Think of a gym

Does having a gym membership make you fit and in shape?

Does going to the gym once a week make you fit and in shape?

Does going to the gym everyday make you fit and in shape?

It is not just about coming to Church—like an attendance grade for your class

It’s about actively seeking Jesus

Church should be a place where we expect to meet God

And I know in HSM/JHM a lot of you don’t have the choice to come to Church or not

Many of you come with your families because you all come together—and I’m glad you’re here

But I want to charge you guys—make something out of it

You’re already here every week—seek God.

Expect to meet him

When we go to Church, one of the most important factors is our heart posture

You get what you put into your relationship with God

If we come to Church full of pride, thinking that we have our lives handled pretty well

Your heart will be hardened to the truth

If you come to Church full of shame, refusing to be comforted—thinking that God won’t meet us

We are resisting the love of God

But if we come expecting to meet and hear from God...

He will speak to us—He will meet us

1 Peter 5:5–6 (CSB)

All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because

God resists the proud

but gives grace to the humble.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time

James 4:6–8 (CSB)

Therefore he says:

God resists the proud

but gives grace to the humble.

Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

Again, Tami will talk about how our time at Church relates to one another

But some of the primary ways we relate directly to our God at Church is through worship and the Word

So I’ll take some time to briefly talk about both

Worship

We come together at the beginning of Church to worship God by sing to Him

Have you ever thought about why we do this?

Does God NEED our praise?

I think that our singing helps us to recognize and remember who God is

Our time of singing in worship is important because it is a time to reorient our hearts to God

It is a time to prepare our hearts to hear from God

Ideally we are always walking in step with God

Always aware of his presence, always worshiping him

But the worship before the teaching is not just a buffer so that people who show up late will still make it in time for the teaching

Its a time for us to slow down—a time for us to refocus on God

A time for us to give God our problems and burdens we’ve picked up this last week

A time for us to give up all of our distractions from the past week

A time for us to sing about our great God

A time for us to remember who He is—and to sing and tell others who he is

Jesus gives us a parable of the sower—how many know it?

Worship is a time to prepare the soil of our heart to receive God’s word

A time to soften our hearts, a time to remove the thorns and rocks

And its a time to water seeds that have already been planted

We all have seeds of God’s word in our heart

Worship is a time that we remind ourselves of these truths and grow in them

Word

Part of my job (and one of my favorites) is teaching God’s word

Sunday after Sunday we open the Bible to teach you and remind you of the truth of God’s word

And let me tell you, God’s Word is only going to accomplish in our lives what we let it

Like I said earlier we can refuse God in pride and completely miss an opportunity to hear from Him

I have had plenty of times when I am too distracted by someone’s preaching style, a mistake they might have made, or even how boring they are, where I have missed the point completely

But If we come in, expecting to hear from God, I promise you, you will

Even in the preacher’s insufficiency, even in your tiredness, God can and will speak to you

And one of our goals here in HSM is that you would know God’s word

It is our anchor in stormy seasons

It is our compass as we navigate our lives

It is our sword in spiritual warfare

It is our comfort in difficult times

It is the place of our deepest delight

Life’s problems will come your way and knowing God’s word will prepare you for these difficulties

My job is to share these truths with you

Like a miner leading you to a cave of gold

Like a chef preparing a meal

And of course we are here for you if you have any questions as you are reading God’s word

Or to address any questions that come up from the teaching

Conclusion

With all of that said… Church is a place where you should expect to meet and hear from God

Our heart with HSM is that this would be a place that you can follow after Jesus with regularity and consistency

I hope that you all would come every Sunday curious about Jesus

That you would be asking… What might God want to speak to me today?

That you would come with an expectancy that there's something God has for you today

Even if its one simple thought or word or a clear action you need to take in your life