The Church of Jesus Christ

The Church of Jesus Christ  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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Scripture Reading: Ephesians 4:1–16

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It may surprise you that we are beginning a series on the Church so soon after our study of the Apostles’ Creed. However, I think it will be helpful for both our original and new crew.
We need to be on the same biblical page, and, to give you a heads up, in 2026 I hope to bring before the church a vote on installing eldership back into our church.
I say back into our church because, as I have stated before, our church started with elders. I am not sure when we switch to have one, single pastor, but that is for another Sunday.
I would love for us to see the goal of the Church of Jesus Christ. Namely, we will look at the church in general today. Next Sunday, we will consider eldership in the church. Then for two Sundays we will consider membership in the church. Finally, we will consider the ordinances of the Church.
Our frame of reference comes from the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, a document that our church adheres to as our Statement of Faith.
“A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its two scriptural offices are that of pastor/elder/overseer and deacon. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.
The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.”—BF&M 2000, Article VI.
Our goal this morning is to introduce the basic marks of the Church. These marks should always characterize Warrior Creek Baptist Church. It is only because of the Lord Jesus that we can say that, for over 200 years, the people of God here have stayed faithful.
However, we have a biblical warrant for this mindfulness from passages such as 1 Timothy chapter 4, 2 Timothy chapters 1 and 3, and finally the book of Titus.

I. The Church belongs to Christ

This Church is not the church of the Garretts, although they have played a significant role. It is not the Robertsons, or the Howells, or the Elledges, or the Hawkins, it is the Church of Christ.
Consider the Scriptures this morning.
Acts 20:28 “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.”
Ephesians 5:22–32.
In Revelation chapters 2–3 we see the Lord Jesus encourage and warn His Church. He is Lord of the church at Ephesus, at Smyrna, at Pergamum, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
Our current Constitution and Bylaws state that one pastor would “have in charge the general welfare and oversight of the church. He shall be a member of all organizations, departments, and committees…He shall conduct religious services of stated and special occasions, administer ordinances, minister to members of the church and community, and perform other duties that usually pertain to the office of pastor. He will be responsible for the development, organization, and direction of personnel and shall determine the specific duties if staff members and supervise them accordingly.”
This can easily lead to a one-man show. And many churches have experienced such a devastating overreach of power. All pastors should remember, this is Christ’s church.
As such, the Church is submissive to Christ’s word.

II. The Church is Submissive to Christ’s Word

You will notice that all references to Scripture are in blue. It is woven in our Statement of Faith. The Church belongs to Christ and submits to His Word.
Another way to say this is, when Christ commands us to do something, we do it. When Christ forbids us to do something, we avoid. If Christ tells us to do something in a certain way, we do it in that specific way.
Go and read through I and II Timothy and Titus, and note all the references to Scripture. Serving as an amazing summary of the collected teachings of Scripture, Paul’s words to Timothy are most helpful, 1 Timothy 4:11–16.

III. The Church is Autonomous

A distinguishing mark of baptist churches is our belief in the autonomy of the local church. That is, each church is responsible for herself. The only exception is the authority of the apostles and prophets (a specific term). Consider Paul’s words to the Ephesian believers:
Ephesians 2:19–22 “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”
Ephesians 4:11–12 “And he [Christ] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,”
We move from the global authority of the apostles (and the prophets, specific tasks established for the foundation of the church) and as time progresses and the apostles and the prophets pass from the scene, shepherd-teachers assume the authority of the church (a point that will be considered in our second sermon).
We can see this transition in the book of Acts. For example, there is a church council in Jerusalem in Acts chapter 15. They are considering a major issue, the role of the Mosaic Law in the believer’s life (or, more broadly, the way of salvation).
However, in Acts chapter 20, we see that the apostle Paul begins to abstain from overseeing the church and relinquishing that authority to the elders (verse 17). Acts 20:28 “Pay careful attention to yourselves [elders] and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you [elders] overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.”
We associate with other churches on the local, state, and national levels, but none of those entities will tell us what to do or what to believe. We are autonomous. We are also local.

IV. The Church is Local

We believe in the local church. It is discussed throughout Scripture.
Romans 1:7 “To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 1:2 “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:”
Galatians 1:2 “and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:”
We could cite many more passages that demonstrate the local church. This absolves all diocese-mentalities, multi-site churches, and even “digital churches.”
Baptist churches that have multiple campuses are not baptist in their ecclesiology, they are baptistecopalian, a terrible blend of baptist and Anglican or Roman Catholic ecclesiology.
You should live in proximity to your church, it is local. But who is in the church?

V. The Church is Baptized Believers

Baptized believers are the people of the Church. The pattern in the New Testament is first salvation, then baptism, then church membership.
We will discuss this a bit more when we focus on individual membership, but the basic requirement is a profession of faith and baptism by immersion. Our Constitution and Bylaws state, “Any person who has made a public profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and has been, or offers himself, for believer’s baptism by immersion in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit…may be presented as a candidate for membership in this church by a majority vote of those members present.”

VI. The Church is Covenant Community

The Church is a covenant community. We have a church covenant,
WARRIOR CREEK MEMBERSHIP COVENANT
1. I will protect the unity of my church.
…by acting in love toward other members
…by refusing to gossip
…by following the leaders
2. I will share responsibility of my church.
…by praying for its growth
…by inviting the unchurched to attend
…by warmly welcoming those who visit
3. I will serve the ministry of my church.
…by discovering my gifts and talents
…by being equipped to serve by my pastors
…by developing a servant’s heart
4. I will support the testimony of my church.
…by attending faithfully
…by living a godly life
…by giving regularly
If you are a member of this church, this is a sacred oath that you have taken with these brothers and sisters before God almighty.
Do you see Warrior Creek Baptist Church as Christ’s Church, submitting to His Word as an autonomous, local congregation of baptize believers who have taken covenant together?
Have you been fulfilling your oath?
I will end our time this morning with the words of a baptist pastor in the 17th century, Edward Drapes, speaking of the church,
“It is a company of people called out and separated from the world by the word of the gospel to believe in Christ, being baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, walking together in mutual agreement in the visible profession of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ their Head and King.” Edward Drapes, Christ’s Church
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