I Belong to Church
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 10 viewsThe church is called to praise and glorify God, to establish Jesus Christ’s kingdom, and to proclaim the gospel throughout the world.
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Sheliah
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts.
And I will show you a still more excellent way.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
The church’s mission
The church’s mission
The church’s mission
The church’s mission
The church, without a mission, is
The church, without a mission, is
The church: led by staff, guided by elders, all submitting to Christ
The church: led by staff, guided by elders, all submitting to Christ
The church, without a mission, is pointless
The church, without a mission, is pointless
To praise God and to experience his glory
To praise God and to experience his glory
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
To reconcile people to God
To reconcile people to God
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
See also
that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
To preach the gospel to the world
To preach the gospel to the world
And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.
See also ; ; ;
To do good to all
To do good to all
So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Neighborhood outreach
The church’s mission though is not to grow. God does that.
The church’s mission though is not to grow. God does that.
For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
Aspects of growth
Aspects of growth
Growth in character:
Growth in character:
;
Growth into Christ:
Growth into Christ:
; ;
growth in understanding
The church, without leadership, is aimless
The church, without leadership, is aimless
Just like a large ship can be directed by a small rudder, the pulpit is the rudder of the church (source quote)
Led by staff, guided by elders, all submitting to Christ
Led by staff, guided by elders, all submitting to Christ
Our church is led by staff, guided by elders, all submitting to Christ.
Not just organizational leadership, but theologically leadership and philosophical leadership.
The church, without truth, is worthless
The church, without truth, is worthless
The church, without truth, is worthless
The word of God. That includes the words obey and submit.
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Hebrews 13:17
Anglican preacher, John Stott, wrote (Between Two Worlds [Eerdmans, 1982], p. 51), “Seldom if ever in its long history has the world witnessed such a self-conscious revolt against authority.” To prove Stott’s statement, I ask, when you hear the words, authority or submission, what comes to mind? Do you welcome them as pleasant words, or do you bristle and put up your guard? Our nation was founded on a rebellion against authority, and one of our early mottoes was, “Don’t tread on me!” We have a defiant national spirit that exalts individual rights. The concept of submission to authority seems wimpy to us!
Our culture is also influenced by postmodernism, which holds that there is no absolute truth and that each person is free to make up or interpret “truth” as he sees fit. Thus, your “truth” is fine for you, but I have my own “truth,” and I would never feel obligated to submit to your “truth.” You can believe as you like, but you must also let me believe as I like. Truth is not authoritative. I am the authority over my life, and I use “truth” for my own ends.
The church, without grace, is loveless
The church, without grace, is loveless
God’s purposes for the church
To praise God
To praise God
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
See also ; ; ; ;
To experience God’s glory
To experience God’s glory
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
See also ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
See also ; ; ; ; ; ;
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
“rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms” refers to the powers of evil.
See also ; ;
To go into the world in mission
To go into the world in mission
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
See also ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
The church’s mission
The church’s mission
To go into the world in mission
To go into the world in mission
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
See also ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
To preach the gospel to the world
To preach the gospel to the world
And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.
See also ; ; ;
To do good to all
To do good to all
So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
See also ; ; ; ; ; ;
;
A fruitful plant in a fruitless world:
A fruitful plant in a fruitless world:
; ; ; ; ; ;
A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Salt in an insipid world:
Salt in an insipid world:
;
“Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Light in a dark world:
Light in a dark world:
; ; ;
The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Aspects of growth
Aspects of growth
Numerical growth among the first Christians
Numerical growth among the first Christians
And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.
See also ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
The church is to grow to maturity
The church is to grow to maturity
to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
See also ; ;
Aspects of growth
Aspects of growth
Growth in character:
Growth in character:
;
Growth into Christ:
Growth into Christ:
; ;
growth in understanding
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
See also ; ; ; ;
Visions of the church’s final destiny
Visions of the church’s final destiny
John’s vision of the church in glory.
See also ; ; ; ; ;
1 cor 12:
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts.
And I will show you a still more excellent way.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Prayers for the growth of the church
Prayers for the growth of the church
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.