Cornerstone’s DNA: Community

Introduction

Main Point: We are called to Live in intentional community TOGETHER

Body

As we continue looking at our DNA as a church, we are shifting our focus this week to our second point- COMMUNITY!

And for this we are going to Hebrews.

Hebrews is such an interesting book. It’s author is legitimately unknown, it’s audience is broadly described throughout Church history as “Jewish Christians” and frankly the timing of it is a mystery,

Overall, it is suspected to have been written prior to 64 A.D., although there are compelling arguments for it to have been written in the 70’s A.D. after Jews had returned to Rome.

The authorship of Hebrews like I said is a mystery. Origen who was an early church writer wrote about hebrews around the year 200 A.D. He said, “Only God knew who wrote this epistle.”

It’s unique! This is the only NT book to carry this type of confusion.

There’s a number of theories- some suggest Apollos, others suggest Barnabas, some Clement of Rome, others still suggest Silas, Philip the deacon that we see in Acts 8, and of course some suggest Paul or one of Paul’s closest associates, such as Luke.

Whoever wrote it was very knowledgeable about the Old Testament and had a beautiful writing style.

The authorship may be unknown, the exact audience and their situation may not be known, and the date of writing may not be known, but the central theme of this letter is known!

The central theme of Hebrews is pretty simple- JESUS IS SUPREME OVER ALL THINGS, including all Jewish practices and beliefs.

And in the latter half of this book, the author takes some time to give a word of warning in Hebrews 10 and then some encouragement in Hebrews 11 and the first part of Hebrews 12.

Today, the passage that we are looking at comes from this warning in Hebrews 10.

Hebrews 10:19-22 could be summarized as HOW WE CAN DRAW CLOSE TO GOD! It says:

Hebrews 10:19–22 CSB

19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus—20 he has inaugurated for us a new and living way through the curtain (that is, through his flesh)—21 and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.

And then in verse 23, the focus shifts a bit.

Hebrews 10:23

Hebrews 10:23 CSB

23 Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since he who promised is faithful.

You might recall that I mentioned a few aspects of how culture is measured and how a community is formed.

One of these is a JOINT Beliefs!

Here, it is said as “THE CONFESSION OF OUR HOPE!”

So as Christians, as Jews and Greeks, as First Century Christians and 21st Century Christians, we are all bound together because of our CONFESSION OF HOPE!

And what is that confession of hope?

It’s the GOSPEL!

That’s why the first part of our DNA at Cornerstone is the GOSPEL!

Because the GOSPEL IS ALWAYS THE MOST IMPORTANT, CENTRAL PART!

Let me be clear- no community can ACTUALLY exist in TRUE UNITY without the GOSPEL!

TRUE UNITY, we could say- TRUE COMMUNITY EVEN, REQUIRES THE GOSPEL!

So we are encouraged to hold onto the confession of our hope.

And how are we to hold on?

WE ARE TO HOLD ONTO IT WITHOUT WAVERING!

Nothing should make us waver or lose hope in what GOD HAS PROMISED!

The world can try and the world WILL TRY to take our hope from us, but the world NEVER WILL SUCCEED!

A few years ago I got sent a book in the mail randomly. It’s kind of a pastor thing I guess. Sometimes ministries just send you books.

And this one was from Voice of the Martyrs about a guy named Richard Wurmbrand. And they sent me the book, a bible study guide and a dvd to play this story for a group.

Anyways, I was reading it and this guy had a wild life… (FINISH IT!)

Let me be clear on the purpose of that story- WE WILL FACE CHALLENGES AND WE WILL FACE TOUGH TIMES- but can I tell you something?

OUR HOPE IS NEVER GOING TO FAIL!

HEAR ME ON THAT! NOTHING IS EVER GOING TO TAKE OUR HOPE FROM US! NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD AND FROM OUR HOPE!

Romans 8:38–39 CSB

38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

THAT RIGHT THERE IS THE TRUTH!

And we are encouraged by the author of Hebrews to HOLD ON TO THE CONFESSION OF OUR HOPE WITHOUT WAVERING!

But the author doesn’t just tell us to hold on.

The author tells us that our hope will never fail because THE ONE WHO PROMISED IS FAITHFUL!

So why will our hope never fail?

Not because of our strength, but because of the one who promised.

And who is that?

THAT’S GOD!

GOD MADE THE PROMISE TO US!

We aren’t able to stand strong in our faith and hold onto this because WE are so great! Instead, we do it because of WHAT GOD HAS DONE!

Do you see what a great assurance this is?

It can be easy to doubt and to lose hope. It’s easy for us as humans!

But at the end of the day, PRAISE GOD, because our hope doesn’t rest on you and I!

Our hope rests in GOD!

That right there is a SECURING REMINDER!

No matter where you are this morning, hear me on this. OUR HOPE AS CHRISTIANS WILL NEVER BE IN VAIN!

This world isn’t easy; but our HOPE WILL NEVER FAIL US IF OUR HOPE IS IN CHRIST!

Hebrews 10:24-25

Hebrews 10:24–25 CSB

24 And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, 25 not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.

So with our hope FIRMLY IN OUR MINDS, we are then called to do something.

We cling to our hope and we are to CONSIDER ONE ANOTHER. The word used here for consider carries a meaning of LOOKING AROUND!

WE NEED TO BE ALERT TO LOOK AROUND AND SEE EACH OTHER. To put this another way, we are called to intentionally care about each other!

We are to celebrate the wins and mourn the losses together!

We are to CONSIDER EACH OTHER!

And there’s a specific reasont aht we are to CONSIDER ONE ANOTHER.

We are to consider one another in order to provoke love and good works. There’s a number of different words used here depending on your translation.

The ESV says “stir up.” The NASB says “STIR UP,” the NIV says “SPUR ONE ANOTHER ON,” while the NLT says “MOTIVATE ONE ANOTHER.”

The picutre is clear. As we consider one another we are called to ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER TO ACTION!

And the actions we are called to encourage each other to are LOVE AND GOOD WORKS!

Let’s talk about love and good works.

The love that is mentioned here is AGAPE love. It is a totally consuming, sacrificial love.

We are to encourage one another to have SACRFICIAL LOVE FOR THE PEOPLE AROUND US!

We SHOULD love one another and we SHOULD LOVE THE PEOPEL AROUND US.

Christian community is special and it is a NECESSITY!

See, we are all different, but our differences make community all the more important!

Our Christian community helps us to ACCOMPLISH THE GREAT COMMISSION!

We can’t do it alone. It REQUIRES community!

And there’s something else about Christian community. Christian community teaches us to work together!

See, if we can’t love one another and forgive one another as CHRISTIANS THEN WHAT HOPE DO WE HAVE OF LOVING AND FORGIVING PEOPLE WHO DO NOT KNOW JESUS?

Let me be blunt- WE HAVE NO HOPE!

Our Christian community is unique and it should be marked by LOVE that reflects to the world!

And as we love one another, as we consider one another, we are able to encourage each other to love the non-believers all around us!

Beyond love, we should be encouraging each other to good works!

You might that Ephesians 2:10 encourages us to good works also!

We talked about how good works are not just about doing something nice.

Good works open the door for the GREATEST work- PROCLAIMING THE GOSPEL OF JESUS!

Let me put it this way- we are to encourage each other to SELFLESSLY LOVE THE PEOPLE AROUND US, SO MUCH THAT WE DO GOOD WORKS WHICH LEADS TO US SHARING THE GOSPEL WITH THEM!

We aren’t called to do this alone; we are called to DO THIS TOGETHER!

We are to PROVOKE ONE ANOTHER IN THIS!

I want to encourage you- if you feel tired coming into church, or community group; if you feel exhausted and like the world is just TOO HARD; if you feel like reaching your neighbors and your family is impossible, then hear me, WE ARE GOING TO ENCOURAGE YOU!

We are going to encourage you to continue on in that!

We are going to encourage you to PERSISTENTLY LOVE THEM, TO PERSISTENTLY EVANGELIZE THEM AND TO PERSISTENTLY DISCIPLE THEM, because THAT’S WHAT WE ARE CALLED TO DO!

Hebrews 10:24 isn’t just a hypothetical instruction, this is a very real instruction!

WE ARE TO DO THIS EVERY WEEK!

Let me encourage you with this- at Cornerstone, we want to be people known for our love and our GOOD WORKS! Why?

BECAUSE THAT’S HOW WE CAN SEE DOORS OPEN FOR US TO PROCLAIM JESUS!

If we want to help people connect with Jesus, if we want to see lives transformed by the POWER OF THE GOSPEL, then we need to LOVE THEM AND WE NEED TO DO GOOD WORKS- INCLUDING SHARING THE GOSPEL!

The author of Hebrews actually gives us another encouragement in Hebrews 10:25

Hebrews 10:25 CSB

25 not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.

Not only do we need to provoke one another towards love and good deeds, we need to MEET TOGETHER!

I’d argue in fact that we CAN’T PROVOKE ONE ANOTHER TOWARDS LOVE AND GOOD DEEDS, if we DO NOT MEET TOGETHER!

We have to gather!

The writer tells us that some people are not in the habit of gathering together. But notice the language.

They don’t just miss it. THEY NEGLECT IT!

It is a HABIT OF NEGLECTING GATHERING TOGETHER!

Hear me- we have to PRIORITIZE GATHERING TOGETHER!

I used to coach Basketball. If we wanted to get better as a team, we GOT TOGETHER AND PRACTICED!

We didn’t avoid each other!

And the same principle is at play here!

We HAVE TO PRIORITIZE GATHERING TOGETHER!

Because when we do, we can encourage each other.

And that is all the more important as THE DAY is approaching.

What is this day?

This day is CHRIST’S RETURN!

So we need to gather all the more EVERY SINGLE DAY1

Every day we are closer to Christ’s return.

But do you know what we honestly see? We see people more and more often neglecting to gather.

Too often, we let convenience replace GATHERING TOGETHER!

And yet COMMUNITY IS NOT OPTIONAL FOR A CHRISTIAN!

Community isa PRIMARY NECESSITY AND A COMMAND FOR CHRISTIANS!

We must PRIORITIZE GATHERING TOGETHER AND WE MUST ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER WHEN WE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER!

It is so important that we have good relationships with non-believers where we love them and do good works!

But we always MUST HAVE a CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY TO LEAN BACK ON!

We simply cannot do the Christian life by ourselves!

Application

Cornerstone Communities (Community Groups)

Sunday Mornings

CornerstoneCollegiate

CornerstoneCommunities

As we apply this passage today, I want to really challenge us to dive into three different ways that we see community in our church.

The first is CornerstoneCommunities.

CornerstoneCommunities is ANY ministry that is made up of a smaller subset of people.

It’s our community groups, it’s our men’s ministry, our women’s ministry and more!

Scripture is clear- we NEED TO BE IN COMMUNITY! And one important aspect of community is having a group of people that we are close with.

Listen, we’ll talk in a minute about how important Sunday Morning’s are for community, but it is impossible to be equally close to every person in a church.

That’s why SMALLER GROUPS ARE IMPORTANT and that’s why CornerstoneCommunities are a foundational part of our church!

There is SO MUCH VALUE IN Small GROUPS!

Inside of a small group we can be deeper in community. We can share more wins and losses, we can share the ups and the downs of life and we can really get to know each other!

Because we know each other so deeply, we are able to provoke one another to love and good works effectively!

These communities are not just about us though! These communities are also POWERFUL evangelistic tools!

When we looked at Acts 2:42-47 we talked about how COMMUNITY is an EVANGELISTIC THING!

And CornerstoneCommunities are built on that!

Whether it’s our community groups, a women’s Bible Study, a Men’s event, or something else, these can be awesome places to invite our friends!

In a lot of cases, it’s more approachable to go to someone’s house than it is to come to Church on Sunday!

Take my friend David that I talked about a few weeks ago. He had never gone to church. He didn’t grow up in church. And to be totally honest, even after he was saved, it took time and patience to get him into church consistently.

But he really LOVED going to Bible Study!

So these communities are not just about each other, they are also about the people that we are trying to reach.

Practically, I have three things I want to challenge us with.

First, PREPARE FOR GROUP (Pray, study, etc)

Second, PROVOKE EACH OTHER (Love, care, check in, encourage, go TOGETHER)

Third, BRING A FRIEND!

We’ve talked a lot about inviting our friends. Invite a friend to community group, or for the women here this morning- invite a friend to women’s Bible Study ASAP!

I promise, the hardest invitation is the first one!

Invite a non-believing friend to come and join you guys!

I know some community groups are on break right now. So get a few people together and go to dinner together!

Small groups of all types are a POWERFUL tool!

Sunday Morning

Sunday morning’s are a HUGE PART OF HOW WE HAVE COMMUNITY!

Cornerstone Collegiate

COLLEGE MINISTRY APPLICATION POINT! (THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS! 90% stat but also, up to 70% leave their faith!

We have to both reach them and KEEP THEM

and we do that with GOD’S STRENGTH, STANDING FIRM IN OUR FAITH BECAUSE OF GOD AND THROUGH GATHERING TOGETHER AND INCORPORATING THEM!

SO DON’T BE AFRAID TO REALLY GET TO KNOW OUR STUDENTS! MAKE IT A PRIORITY!