Characteristics of a Healthy Church #1

Review of our Weekend

So good to have Kyle and Hannah with us.

EBC story - we wanted to see it and rejoice with them

It was not the size that excited me, but seeing the Hunt family

Reminder: Shepherds oversee the health of the sheep, they are not primarily responsible for growth.

Characteristic #1: Jesus and the Gospel are Top Priority

Healthy Churches Embrace Evangelism, Kids, and Chaos

We have seen what it looks like for churches to lose focus on the Gospel.

Reminded me of being in attendance at a church during a business meeting. It haunts me until this day. The church no longer exists. The gospel ceased to the priority of the church.

The Gospel is the main message of Scripture, so it should be heard in every lesson and sermon we teach.

Doesn’t mean that you can find Jesus in every passage.

When Jesus met two disciples on the road to Emmaus, he explained that his death and resurrection are at the center of every part of Scripture (Luke 24:27).

But each portion of the Bible is making up a bigger story.

Find ways and times to discuss your gratitude for Jesus.

I love talking about every aspect of ministry. This is about all I know. However, none of the smaller areas of ministry mattered when Greg received that phone call on Friday morning. The Gospel had its rightful place in our hearts and discussions.

So lets not talk more about musical arrangements, diapers, Trek snacks, etc with one another than we do about Jesus.

Don’t be drawn away from the simplicity of Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:2–3 “2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

simplicity - genuineness, single-mindedness

Paul feels jealous for them on Christ's behalf when he sees false apostles luring them away from the true Christ with a false gospel.

Paul fears they will be led away from sincere and pure devotion to Christ by the false apostles. He compares their deceit to the serpent's cunning deception of Eve in Genesis 3.

If the great things of religion are rightly understood, they will affect the heart.- Jonathan Edwards