Sermon Tone Analysis

PRAYER

Intro of series

The continual pattern of the NT Testament- the story of the church proclaiming forgiveness of sins, salvation from the hands of sin and death, and a life lived in relationship with a holy seemingly unapproachable God, is that ......

The Kingdom of God, leaves the Church of Jesus in its wake, made up of saints, doing the work of ministry for the health of the church and the community it engages.

One of the only ways that church becomes more than a club.

More than a cruise ship, is when we understand the fundamental truth that the church is not in the hands of a chosen few, is when there is clarity in who we are and why we exist.

One of the only ways that church becomes more than a club.

More than a cruise ship, is when we understand the fundamental truth that the church is not in the hands of a chosen few, is when there is clarity in who we are and why we exist.

Not as an institution, but as an organism is when we realize that there is.....

There is no hierarchy in church ministry

- no stragglers

Resources:

Centre Church (Keller) Chapter 21

Ogden Chapter 3

Thanksgiving

A church that is not satisfied with comfort but wants to be a part of the bigger eternal story that Jesus has called them to, needs to see that the church is not an organization run by a few people at the top.

Creating programs for the sole purpose of

There is one leader and that is Jesus; everyone else is a co-ministers.

People who have been transformed by the renewing of your mind.

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If that is you, you’re in.

So we need to put off before we can put on!

We need to put off an institutional idea of church and put on a more organic one.

There was a golf course in Scholl Canyon California.

The community was excited the new pristine Golf Course ready, the ribbon was cut, and the golfers took to the links to play golf.

Unfortunately, as the golfers hit the greens, they forgot about how clean everything looked.

They forgot that their community had been waiting for a golf course of their own.

Because this golf course had been built over the Scholl Canyon Land fill.

And rather than get rid of what was their before thye had hoped that throwing good dirt on top, covering it up with nice grass and a few trees and throwing a few clubs in peoples hands would hid the fact that it was built upon a putrescent land fill.

The smell was so bad that very few finished a round of golf, calling it a day after just a few holes.

There were reports of stench from the parking lot.

One article in the LA Times said that....

“clear days--not to mention every other day--were hazardous to your health.

In 1990, four years after the facility first opened its doors, the Air Quality Management District shut down Scholl because of methane gas leakage.

Methane, caused by the decomposition of the landfill matter, is a nearly odorless, colorless gas of high flammability.”

The stench and methane leakage weren't the only dilemma at Scholl I. Numerous structural defects developed.

Subsidence was a problem on the greens.

Fissures and sinkholes appeared in many places, not to mention the occasional flash fire.

"We'd have fissures open and somebody would flip a lighted cigarette in it and a little fire would break out,"

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Once the city planners got “wind” of the issue the gold course was shut down left for four years before it was completely over turned, cleaned out, the stuff underneath was dealt with, and not Scholl Canyon II is a flourishing Golf and Country Club, and Scholl Canyon I is a memory.

When it comes to making change in our lives, in our church, throwing a veneer over, and smiling, doesn’t do it.

Pretending it doesn’t smell, doesn’t do it.

Fabreeze it!

This is true first on an individual level.

We cannot simply throw on positive thoughts about our self, or think positive thoughts about the way God looks at us, if we are not willing to abolish The old.

Abolish the old man.

New light it's not that we've been given A new mask to put over the old one, we have been given a complete new life.

Often when people come to me and ask for help wondering what they should do in a certain situation, the question is really usually about how they can Make a good decision, or fix a problem.

They don't want to do any real life change, they just want to get past this next problem.

The gospel calls us to is not simply to rebuild something, but to use completely new building materials!

Built on a new rock,

That's true on an individual level, but it is also true on a church level.

It will be impossible to grow a church, grow a new identity, If we do not wipe away some of the old and replace it.

So with this in mind I want to take a sledge hammer.....a loving …sledgehammer to some of the mindsets that many of us have inherited.

Ideas of how the church ought to function as an institution rather and a living body, and organism of transformed lives, working in unity and the power of God’s Spirit to see lives and communities transformed.

Not relying on the program to do it.

But seeing ourselves as the ministry to make it happen.

So....a few things to rebuild, I think when it comes to how we see the church and our place in it.

Let’s do some sound theological thinking on a few subjects, and see what needs to be taken out, before we can put on a biblical mind-set.

I. CLARIFYING TERMS (VS.

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A. Saints

What do most people think of when they think of saints?

Depending on what you back ground, it could mean any number of things to you.

If you grew up catholic, you might picture life size painted statues looking down on you during mass, reminding you of those who have gone before you.

The word may bring to mind those whom the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church recognize as those who have stepped above and beyond the masses of Christians by living impeccable lives, and performing miracles.

They are prayed to in time of need.

A saint for each need.

Maybe we think of those who have dedicated their lives to God by joining a monastery or convents, filling their days with prayer and reading; vows of silence.

We associate sainthood with those who have reached a level of holiness we could never hope to meet!!

THESE ARE NOT BIBLICAL CONCEPTS

Whenever the Bible talks about saints it applies to the entire body of Christ; never a select group of people.

As one writer puts it:

Saints are the ordinary, garden-variety Christians in a particular time and place whose only distinction is that they are chosen by God, claimed by Jesus and convened by the Holy Spirit.

The Apostle Paul when writing his letters to the churches he started referred to the churches in their entirety as the saints.

He even does this in the First Letter to the church in Corinth.

What IS a saint:

I Corinthains 1:2

3 things to note: One Paul here calls saints simply those who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Those who belong and align with Jesus.

i. Saints are those who belong to Jesus

Two.....if Paul is calling the church in Corinth saints....we realize that the level of our spirituality to be called a saint is alot lower than many of us have assumed.

The church in Corinth was full of real spiritual problems.

ii.

Saints are not perfect

Thirdly, and most importantly----sainthood is not about us.

It never has been and in fact that idea is against everything the Good News of Jesus teaches us.

iii.

Saints are saints only because Jesus made them saints

Our sainthood is based on Jesus and the new life HE HAS GRANTED US THROUGH HIS WORK ON THE CROSS.

You and I are saints because of what has been done for us- “sanctified” by Christ- made holy by Christ and not through our own effort.

So saints are not those who excel in godliness----they are …you and me; forgiven and perfected by HIS action!!

The other word that needs clarification is the word ministry.

B. Ministry

We use interesting language when it come to ministry.

We talk about being called to the ministry.

Going into the ministry

Leaving the ministry

In some churches we give titles to pastors that place them in a spiritual realm unattainable by the rest of the saints who have chosen the “secular” way of life.

We have pastors and priests

Reverend

The Very Reverend