One Holy Church

Recap series so far...

Looking at ancient confession of faith called Nicene Creed. Early church was facing confusion over what was essential to Christian faith.

We still live in a time where there is still great confusion over what is “Christian” and what isn’t. We live in a time where popularity has replaced credibility. They have lots of followers, must be right.

With the Nicene Creed, the early church has thrown us a rope that can help lead us back home.

This morning we start looking at the part of the Creed that deals with the church. Remember I said last week that the section on the Church is nestled within the section on the HS. It’s arranged this way bc the Spirit gave birth and gives life to the church, and so they should never be separated.

Sadly, we live in a time when many people want to do exactly that. In 2007 Dan Kimball wrote a book called They Like Jesus But Not the Church. It was filled with insights into why young people were distancing themselves from organized religion - even though they still felt drawn to Jesus. Some of the reasons they expressed included:

The church was negative and judgmental

The church has a political agenda

Homophobic

Take the Bible too literally

And it’s true - the church at different times has come off that way.

Funny enough, it’s not just non-Christians who have been turned off by the church. Dan Merchant is a Christian filmmaker. In 2008 he wrote a book called Lord, Save Us from Your Followers. He uses humor to expose many attitudes that are present within the church that makes it unappealing even for Christians, including:

Our culture war mentality of us vs. them that seems to show what we’re against more than what/who we’re for. I get weary keeping up with the next thing we need to boycott.

Our bumper sticker theology of shallow, aggressive, and one-way slogans that condemn rather than engage. I’m thinking of that perennial favorite, “How would you like eternity, smoking or non-smoking?” I’m personally for banning churches from having marquees.

Add to this the long list of church scandals, abuses, cover-ups, and moral failures that have been made public over the last few decades, and it’s no wonder the church has a major image problem. It’s easy to see how ppl reach the point of questioning if church is even worth it.

And yet...

The church is what God is doing. In charismatic circles we like to ask - very piously sometimes - what do you sense the Spirit is doing. The Church! That is what the Spirit has been doing for 2,000 years. He’s been forming a new family that reflects the image of Jesus to the world. This is what the Spirit is up to, and what he invites you to participate in.

Using a marriage analogy, when two ppl say their vows they tell people they are married. Those of us who have been married a while might shake our heads and say to ourselves, if you only knew. Bc marriage is more a process than an event, isn’t it. It is the process of two people being committed to each other and to the slow process of become one flesh. It takes a lifetime.

And it’s no different in the church. We say ‘yes’ to God in a moment, but the rest of our lives is spent learning what that ‘yes’ actually means. This is our main task; to be formed into the people of God so that we can reflect his image to a watching world. We’re going to see some things this morning that scripture says about the church that may not be your experience or observation. But this is our task; By the power of the Spirit, the church - we - must become what we already are.

Before we get into this week’s teaching let’s recite the creed together?

Recite the creed…

Pray …

———————————————————————-

Let me start by reading the section we’re looking at this morning:

“We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.”

I’m going to work through this statement backwards, moving from what we easily accept toward what is a little harder to swallow.

First, We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

I think it’s interesting that here, in the section on the church, that we have the first mention of sin in the Creed. Coincidence? I think not!

The church fathers that wrote this were not trying to say that it is the act of baptism itself that saved you. Salvation is purely by grace. They’re saying something about how we participate in this salvation and WHO this salvation is through. To say it another way, there is NO OTHER baptism through which you can experience forgiveness. It’s only in the baptism that plunges us into the death and resurrection of Jesus. Baptism is the outward sign that we are participating in the covenant of redemption that has been made through Jesus. And just to plug, before I move on, baptism isn’t an optional extra for the serious Christian. I’ve you’ve made a decision to surrender your life to Jesus then reach out to me and lets talk about taking this next important step.

Next, we believe in an Apostolic Church.

What this means is that we don’t get to make up our faith. It’s not something we can be innovative with. It was passed down to us and we have received it. Who have we received it from? Not Jesus. Jesus didn’t write anything down. Rather, it was from his apostles. That’s why we say we have an apostolic faith. The writer of Jude says it this way,

“Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.” (Jude 3, NRSV)

At the Vineyard, we stand in line with the historic, orthodox faith that was passed down through the apostles. We don’t get to modify it, we don’t have to apologize for it, but we must contend for it - which doesn’t mean fighting culture wars but making sure that we are being faithful to live it out. The church - we - must become what we already are.

Then, we believe in the Catholic Church.

Hopefully I’ve said this enough that you know the meaning of catholic as used here - universal!

This means there is only the universal church as it has existed down through the centuries. I know that we put signs on the door that makes it look like there are different churches - Baptist, Methodist, Vineyard. Those names offer some distinctives in our beliefs and practices, but from God’s perspective there is only the one universal church.

One of the things John Wimber, father of the Vineyard, would say is that “We love the whole church”. I love that. In an age of division within the Church, we need to be reminded that there is only one family of God. They may have practices or ideas we don’t agree with, but if they confess Jesus as Lord - they are brothers and sisters.

———————————————————————-

Ok, so those were the easy ones. I don’t image we have any issues with what I’ve said so far. Now we get to the two parts of this section of the Creed that become, frankly, harder to swallow.

The first is that we believe in a Holy Church.

Does that give you pause? Is the church really holy? I’ve already mentioned several ways at the beginning of the message that seems to prove the church is NOT very holy. But here is what the scripture says. In the opening of his letter to the Corinthians the apostle Paul writes:

“I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.” (1 Corinthians 1:2, NLT)

In writing to the church Paul calls them God’s holy people. Now keep that in your mind as I read a couple of other passages from this same letter:

“My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.” (1 Corinthians 1:11, NIV)

A church fighting amongst themselves. Shocking! But it gets worse:

“I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you—something that even pagans don’t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother.” (1 Corinthians 5:1, NLT)

Whoa! Like, serious sin going on in this church. Cringy. Yet, knowing all of this from the beginning, Paul still calls the church “holy” at the beginning of his letter. Why?

Notice again what he said at the beginning: “He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus.”

That says that holiness is not first something you do, it is something that has been done to you. To say it another way, ‘Holy’ is who we are in Christ; formation is about becoming who we already are.

The starting place for Christianity is that you are beloved, simply because God has chosen to love you. And out of that belovedness we begin to imitate Jesus. We don’t perform to gain God’s love. Instead, we respond to his love. You are holy in Christ; his love leads you to become what you already are.

Finally, we believe in One Church.

One here does not me universal; it means unified. Again, I’ll just say, really? Is that the impression you get when you look at the church - either within our own church or between churches?

I think we do a pretty good job within our church maintaining unity. It gets a little shaky around election season, but we usually come around. But I, at least, struggle to see much unity between churches. It seems more like competition. We can treat a gain by another church as losing, instead of seeing it as a net win for the kingdom. So how can we practice living as one church? Listen to what Paul writes to the Ephesians:

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:2–6, NIV)

Do you see a recurring word here? One! It seems Paul is really trying to emphasize that we are ONE church. Dropping down a litter further he writes,

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:31–32, NIV)

If we are one, how can we put this into practice? Let me offer 4 ways each of us can preserve unity, four practices to become who we already are:

Humility. I heard someone say that humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is right-sizing yourself. It’s remembering that we don’t know all or see all, and so we maintain a humble posture toward others.

Manage reactivity. That means don’t be quick tempered. Idk about you, but when I’m angry I tend to say things before my brain has fully engaged. I think this includes how we use things like social media. Did you know that ‘venting’ is not a fruit of the Spirit. There is wisdom in the saying “if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all”.

Empathy. Empathy has gotten a bad wrap lately. There are some recent authors that have actually said empathy is a vice, not a virtue. But empathy is a Christian ethic. It is kindness in practice. It is being tenderhearted toward others, willing to feel their pain. In part, it was empathy that drove Jesus to the cross, seeing our miserable state and entering into it.

Forgiveness. Simply, this is the willingness to repent and repair, rather than to withdraw. I want to acknowledge that sometime a church situation can become so toxic that leaving is the only course left to us. But I think more often we use that language to avoid the call to maintain our unity by working through our issues and walking in forgiveness

I love this quote from theologian Stanley Hauerwas: “The church is constituted as a new people who have been gathered from the nations to remind the world that we are in fact one people. Gathering, therefore, is an eschatological [end times] act as it is the foretaste of the unity of the communion of the saints.” To say it more simply, when the world looks at the church - at the Vineyard - it should be seeing a glimpse of heaven on earth.

———————————————————————-

Next week we will finish the series by looking at the future of the church. Spoiler alter: It will be glorious! But for now we live in the already/not yet. Christ has come. The Church - us - has been born. We are waiting for Jesus’ return when he will make everything right again.

But in the meantime, we the church are called to become what we already are. One, holy, catholic, and apostolic. Living out the reality of our baptism for the forgiveness of sins. So how can we respond this morning to what the Spirit is saying?

I want to put it under two headings: Remember and Repent.

First, this morning I want you to remember your baptism. Your baptism symbolized many things. It symbolized the washing away of your sins, your dying to an old life and rebirth into a new life, it contains all of God’s promises to you regarding salvation and eternal life. But what doesn’t often get mentioned is that your baptism was a rite of passage into a new family. It would be so convenient if God would just save us as individuals. But he doesn’t . He saves us into a family - a family that he wants to reflect the love of his Son to the world.

You may be listening today and realize that the church is what you’ve been looking for. To experience the love and forgiveness found in Jesus and a birth into a new family - one with lots of dysfunction but still a family. If you’ve never surrendered your life to Christ and want to do that today, I want to invite you to pray with me this morning.

Heavenly Father, I know I have done wrong. I know I deserve the suffer the consequences of my actions. But I believe Jesus died to take my place, and that he suffered death for me so that I won’t have to. I am making the decision today to surrender myself to you and making Jesus my Lord. Please forgive my sin and make me your child forever. Amen.

If you prayed that today for the first time, then welcome to God’s family. I want to encourage you to let me know of your decision (mention various ways) and let’s move toward baptizing you fully into your new family.

Remember your baptism, which leads us to the next response: Repent. Repent doesn’t mean feeling bad about something you’ve done. It means acknowledging that ways you’ve fallen short of God’s way and then turning away. Repentance is not a one-time thing we do when we come to Christ; repentance IS the Christian life. Constantly turning away from the world, the flesh, and the devil, and turning towards God.

Maybe this morning the HS is prompting you to specifically repent for ways you may have contributed to the lack of unity or holiness in the church. Or maybe he is convicting you about an attitude you’ve held toward the church. The truth is that Jesus loves his church - warts and all - and so we have to repent when we fall short of his love for the church.

Remember your baptism and repent - taken together, this is how we become who we already are.

—————————————————————————-

Invite people to stand. Ask for worship, ministry, and Communion team to come down.

Every Sunday we close our time by receiving Communion together. This symbolic meal reminds us of Jesus’ sacrifice. It proclaims the gospel that Christ has died, Christ has risen, and Christ will come again. It is the source of our spiritual nourishment. We believe Jesus is present with us as we receive his body and blood.

We think Jesus invites everyone to this table. If it’s your first time, or you’re not even sure yet where you stand with Jesus, we think he would welcome you here. If you would like to participate, after I pray step into the nearest aisle. Someone at the front will take a piece of bread dipped in wine and offer it to you as the body and blood of Jesus. If you prefer not to have wine, close your hands together and that will be the sign for them to give you a sealed container with grape juice and a wafer.

What is the Spirit doing this morning?…

As we go into our time of Communion let’s prepare our hearts to receive by confessing our sins together:

Merciful God, we confess we have sinned against you, in what we have thought and said, what we have done, and what we have failed to do.

We haven't loved you with our whole heart, and we haven't loved our neighbors as ourselves.

[Take a moment to confess any sins you’re aware of.]

We are sorry and we repent.

For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us, so we can follow your will and live in ways that honor your Name. Amen.

Thank God for his forgiveness. For his patience in our struggles. To move us deeper into a life of faith with him.

Thank him that through the blood of his cross he has washed our sins away. Through his victorious resurrection he has guaranteed us eternal life. Through his ascension and the outpouring of the Spirit he has made us one with you.

We remember Him who for us and for our salvation, on the night that he was betrayed...

Come Holy Spirit and overshadow these elements. Let them be for us your body and blood so that we can participate in your redemptive work for us. May we find mercy, healing and salvation through the finished work of the cross. Amen.