Deeper in Community

What is Church?

Have you ever asked yourself the question, “What is Church?”

How does the world see the church?

Perhaps:

An Organization

A club

A Religion

What do Christians think of when they ask “What is Church”

Any Takers?:

“God’s House”

“Family of Believers”

“Us”

SO MANY SEE THE CHURCH AS AN OBLIGATION, OR SOMETHING TO DO, OR A WAY TO NOT GO TO HELL - SO WE NEED TO TAKE TIME TO UNDERSTAND WHAT CHURCH IS.

The word “Church” comes from the greek word “ekklesia”.

This is the term used in scripture basically meaning, “Called Out” referring to the followers of Christ.

Let’s look at Matt 16:18

Matthew 16:18 NKJV

18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

Matthew 16:18 RVR60

18 Y yo también te digo, que tú eres Pedro, y sobre esta roca edificaré mi iglesia; y las puertas del Hades no prevalecerán contra ella.

Here we see Jesus talking to Peter.

Jesus is saying HE - WILL BUILD - HIS CHURCH

Who is building the church? - JESUS

Whose church is it? JESUS’ CHURCH

*Now Pastor DJ, what does this have to do with “Our Community”? I am glad you asked*

Scripture tells us that those who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved

Confess with your mouth - Believe in your heart - right? We call this the profession of faith

Now you are called a Christian right?

That means “little Christ” (like a young boy mimics his daddy)

or as we commonly use, “Christ follower”

and so EPHESIANS 2 helps us understand how it all fits:

Ephesians 2:19–22 NKJV

19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:19–22 RVR60

19 Así que ya no sois extranjeros ni advenedizos, sino conciudadanos de los santos, y miembros de la familia de Dios, 20 edificados sobre el fundamento de los apóstoles y profetas, siendo la principal piedra del ángulo Jesucristo mismo, 21 en quien todo el edificio, bien coordinado, va creciendo para ser un templo santo en el Señor; 22 en quien vosotros también sois juntamente edificados para morada de Dios en el Espíritu.

Now you are Christian

You are no longer a foreigner

You are no longer a stranger

Now you are a

Fellow Citizen with the Saints and

Members of the Household of God

WELCOME TO THE FAMILY!!!!

We also see that Jesus laid a foundation of the apostles and prophets

The Prophets proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah

The Apostles were used to begin declaring the good news of Jesus

With JESUS AS THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE

That means without Jesus, you got nothing!

Notice that it says the People of God become a Holy Temple in the Lord

That is not pointing to a physical building!

It is pointing to you!!!!

Say to your neighbor, “He is talking about you”

Tell them, “You are the church”

Respond back to your neighbor, “and You are the church”

The CHURCH is not a “what”, THE CHURCH IS A “WHO”

Now we can see that

Jesus calls you His church

that He is building

that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against

You are part of the Household of God

With that understanding, we see that this organization, the Church of God of Prophecy, and all those who follow Jesus as the “Chief Cornerstone”, is only different communities made up of those who are HIS CHURCH.

Does that make sense?

Deeper - Your Faith

Last week we talked about digging deeper into your faith. If you missed last week, I recommend you watch it as I believe all of 2021 hangs on how you DEEPEN YOUR FAITH.

We covered three Huge points:

Know what you believe

Live what you believe

Share what you believe

We learned that the strength of the community was dependent on the faith of the individual Christian.

A church that prays - is only because there are people that pray who are part of that community

If the individual’s faith is high - the Church’s faith is high

If the individual’s faith is low - the Church (or Community’s faith is low)

A Congregation can be actively doing good things in the local neighborhood, but if the Spirituality of that congregation is low - they are nothing more than a good group doing good things

I don’t want Redemption Church to simply be a “good group of good people”

You were called OUT OF DARKNESS, into HIS MARVELOUS LIGHT (1 Peter 2:9)

Let’s look at that together:

1 Peter 2:9 NKJV

9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

1 Peter 2:9 RVR60

9 Mas vosotros sois linaje escogido, real sacerdocio, nación santa, pueblo adquirido por Dios, para que anunciéis las virtudes de aquel que os llamó de las tinieblas a su luz admirable;

I don’t want to see us just be good - when we are a

CHOSEN GENERATION

A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD

A HOLY NATION

HIS OWN SPECIAL PEOPLE

WITH A PURPOSE

TO PROCLAIM HIS PRAISES

Think about all those who are not here today (or online, for those who join that way)

This is NOT JUDGEMENT ON ANYONE

There are folks who cannot be here for work or health reasons

But think about the encouragement of who we are in Jesus!

We need the fellowship of believers on Sunday mornings. This is so important!

This is found in the Community of the Household of God

Deeper - Our Community

Our Community - Church Family - Congregation is what we make it.

I would like to share the vision of this church and our focus as we enter the new year.

It is important that we see OUR community differently than we did before.

It begins with “Your Faith” and “My faith”

It continues with what we do together.

Here is our Vision

“To make disciples, equip the saints, and reconcile the world to God through Jesus Christ”

Everything by Prayer

Prayer must be a bigger part of our lives in 2025.

This doesn’t just mean praying good health and prosperity.

Prayer goes much deeper than that and I am excited about what God will do as we learn more about prayer this year.

Outreach gets Personal

There is a time where we will do community outreach and evangelism

However, the Great Commission is an individual mandate and until we allow our lives to point Jesus to Christ, all our “evangelism” will be, is service projects.

Discipleship is Key

The Great commission tells us to “Make Disciples”.

This means we must be committed to walking with people in real life and spurring them on toward good works.

There are a few ways this happens:

Worship Services

We have times of corporate worship, prayer, giving, sharing testimonies, etc.

Community Events (Internal and External)

We want to connect with the community both individually and corporately, both internally in this place, and externally in the community.

Membership

Becoming a member shows a commitment to

growing in this community

being accountable in this community

participating in the vision and mission of this community

Membership is a two way street

You commit to bringing your gifts and abilities to benefit others

The congregation commits to sharing their gifts and abilities with you

Men’s and Women’s ministry are an encouragement to build our faith and help us grow

Thursday Bible Study allows an opportunity for our Seniors to fellowship and grow in the Word together

I expect more will come as we seek God’s leading and move forward together.

In our Business Conference, I will talk about the direction for our building, some of the leadership and ministerial changes, and provide more information at that time.

This is Our Community

For those who did not hear this last week, let me share it again.

No one who is complaining or gossiping uses the word “WE”

It is always “They” (most often because they are talking to someone else)

This might be the complaint: “Those Church people! They think they’re so perfect! They just look down on everyone else!”

Here is what they don’t say: “Our church people! We think we’re so perfect! We just look down on everyone else!”

Why don’t people do that?

People don’t say we, because there is responsibility in the word, “WE”

The one speaking is a part of the problem because they are a part of “WE”

God calls US (You and I together) to declare the good news of Jesus

We need to do this more than ever before because Jesus is coming soon.