A Believing Church

PRAY: Glorious God, we, humanity, are a people of such need. We—your people, your church, your bride—acknowledge that you alone are the answer to our need. We confess our foolish and ignorant tendency to try to live on our own. We thank you for the righteousness of our Lord Jesus that has become ours by faith. And we pray that your Spirit guide us to be submissive to you to continue providing the answer for our ongoing need to be made like Christ. For the sake of your great name, make our church family to shine brightly as a cluster of stars reflecting your grace, your glory, your goodness. Amen.

Gearing up for today’s message, I tried to put on somebody else’s shoes. They totally don’t suit me now that I’m a believer, but I tried it anyways so I can have some sympathy and understanding for those who aren’t already thinking like me through faith in Christ. And from that alternate perspective, I asked myself:

[Intro] What is UP with these people gathering for “church”?

It’s good for us to remember (or maybe for some to recognize for the first time) what it is that we’re actually doing here… right now! And who we are and how we interact with one another, and who we are and how we are to interact with those still on the outside looking in.

— Where we’re reading in Acts today, Peter is getting to the end of the first big sermon to the First Church of Ever (which has probably run 10 minutes long so people are looking at their timex watches wondering when they can get to lunch), and then he lays this on them to conclude:

Acts 2:36–47 ESV

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

From the verses we just read, consider...

The outsider perspective: Encountering the real bride of Christ

The insider corrective: Being the Church vs. playing church

When others encounter us, what should they experience? In getting to know us, do they long to know more about what has made us so radically different, want to know how to become a part of what we have received?

“If the thought of the Church doesn’t thrill your soul, the only conclusion is that the church experience you know is a counterfeit, because the real deal is drop-dead gorgeous. Welcoming. Inspiring. Courageous. Life giving. Awe inspiring. Mesmerizingly beautiful bride. So beautiful that anyone who sees and knows her will be compelled to encourage everyone they know and love to come and see.” Todd Wagner

“God wants you to be more than a regular attender at an average weekly gathering of mostly bored adults.” (Todd Wagner, p. 65)

What if gathering were difficult, would God’s people still not be the church? Would we be unable to fulfill God’s purpose for the church? Hardly!

If we’re not careful, here’s what I think can happen to us that has happened to so many others:

The Church’s Identity Crisis: Who am I vs. Whose am I?

(Col. 1-3) We are His. Him we Proclaim. - Knowing God and making him known. - Our mission is to call all people to know and grow in Jesus. [image]

So today, my goal is that our church family will VERY clearly understand that our methodology (any programs, meeting times, etc.) must grow from a philosophy of ministry, which grows from understanding our mission, which grows from understanding our identity as God’s people.

Knowing God: Who we are is based on whose we are

The goal of KNOWING GOD - Gospel truth is rooted in God: God is who he says he is. I am who God says I am. God did what he said he could and would do. God will do what he has promised to do. (John 3:16)

- I believe in the death, burial, resurrection, and glorification of the God-man Jesus—the fulfillment of OT prophecy and the hope of the world. But more than that, I believe Him. He is my Lord, my Master, my God, my King. I haven’t tried to simply sneak in amongst the troops to behave like they behave. No, I have stood before this Holy and righteous Judge of the universe and said, Here I am. I know full well what I have done and who I am without you. But I also know full well what you have done and what you promise to do in me. I get it now. Without you I am pretending to be something when I am nothing. I want to be what you created me for. Heal me, rescue me, make me yours. I believe you that you are who you say you are. God, makes me yours and teach me to live as yours. — That’s the gospel. And the gospel changes everything, today and everyday.

Now, I’m gonna sort of change gears on you here, from WHY we gather—which is to remind ourselves WHO we believe and to WHOM we belong and how he’s changing us—to stay focused on knowing God through Jesus Christ and making him known...

Switching gears TO one particularly critical thing the church does when we gather together—to hear from God (NOT from a man, but from God. Peter and the other Apostles were preaching Christ and Christ’s teaching, NOT their own)

Believing and the church gathered: Let God Speak

The church’s identity crisis largely has to do with the fact that when local churches are gathering as a whole team (often on Sundays), the leaders aren’t staying tethered to the primary source for knowing God.

Rather than talking about and around God’s word, our eldership is committed to letting God’s word speak. Allow me to explain: The current term for that is expository preaching, or expositional teaching. That is to say, the meaning of the text is the message that we preach. Expository preaching necessarily has two parts: understanding the text in its context, and then relating and applying the text to OUR context. What does God say (the text’s meaning)? And why should we care (the text’s impact)?

We preach expositionally bc God is in the business of changing people’s hearts, and He uses His word to do it, not some guy (or gal) saying stuff that makes people feel good while you sit in a group of mostly bored adults.

We preach expositionally bc we need God’s truth to guard us from what is false. It isn’t good enough to preach platitudes that we think match stuff that God is cool with.

We preach expositionally bc we need God to speak louder than the preacher (and to do his work IN the proclaimer himself as much as in all the other proclaimers who happen to be listening for the moment.)

We preach expositionally bc we firmly believe it is the most humble and helpful, both safest and riskiest way to approach God’s word.

We sometimes preach topically bc it’s good and healthy for us to get a wholistic view of what God has to say in his word on a given subject. We don’t do it as our primary method bc we want God to speak, not for me to tell you what I think God wants you to hear.

Admittedly, this focus for teaching we can do poorly or we can do well.

- So we have to keep our head and make sure we are preaching not just the letter and but also the spirit of God’s truth in the text. We have to be sure we don’t get stuck in the first half (understanding the text in its context) and forget the second (applying the meaning to our context).

- Or conversely, we have to make sure we aren’t more about our agendas, stories, illustrations and applications than we are about what the text of God’s word actually means and why that should matter to us.

That doesn’t mean I don’t work as hard as I can to be an excellent student of the truth, a clear thinker, a creative communicator, a polished presenter… BUT it means that first I JUST focus on belonging to God and letting him use me as his vessel for his truth… by his grace for his glory. (And the same should be true for you as you speak, serve, give, witness, encourage, challenge, show mercy and sympathy, pray with people, and so on.)

I wrote (a version of) this when I first become “lead pastor,” that my prayer would be to serve [esp. in preaching and leading]…

with the Passion of a saved sinner (for lost sinners and for battling believers),

by the Power of the Holy Spirit (bc what do I have apart from Christ in me?),

from the Pages of God’s word (bc in it God communicates himself and by it he changes men’s hearts),

for the Purity & Progress of Christ’s church,

to the Praise of God.

I share that with you not to impress you with my alliteration, but so that you can apply it’s truth to how you serve the body and share Christ with others. [repeat]

—> As the believing church, we strive to keep our identity in God by staying focused on knowing Him. One important aspect of that is the way that we handle God’s word, doing our very best to let God speak (rather than telling God what to say that we think people need to or want to hear). There is a difference.

—> So the job of the church gathered is to remind us and deepen our understanding of who we are by understanding more of who God is. So too we remind ourselves of who we believe so that we obey and proclaim this one to whom we belong.

If we could just keep our Head: What vs. Whom You Believe

What do you believe? No, whom. WHAT you believe stems from WHOM you believe.

The “bride of Christ” isn’t just some way to talk about this people called the church. It’s supposed to mean something and impact us to behave as who we are. - The Body, with all its joints and ligaments (Paul - in just a second). The building, (Peter - 1 Peter 2:5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.) They are metaphors intended to mean something and to change us progressively into that which God says we are to be.

Grow Up!

[Rather] than staying as infants

Ephesians 4:15–16 ESV

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

If we don’t stay “abiding” in our need for Christ, we have no means to grow. We need him to nourish, water, feed, weed, guide, and guard us. And how does he do that? AHA! Now we’re cookin’! We have to keep going in our series to get into the nitty gritty of how God has designed it such that his people are to make sure in one another that his word is doing its work. [again, slide of mission and philosophy of ministry]

Calling All Humanity

We need help remembering . I’m speaking to me too, to be clear. I need to be particularly diligent to remind us that the purpose of all this in-depth biblical study is to know God, so that we will grow up in him and go from here remembering we are his possession, and that His Bride is on a mission to call others to join in the joy of Jesus healing their deepest need—restoration to God. We are ministers, ambassadors of calling all people to be reconciled to God.

2 Corinthians 5:20 ESV

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Quit minding your own business and love your neighbor like somebody belonging to Christ loved you enough to invade your bubble and lead you to Come and See Jesus.

As our series continues then, we keep working on:

[Next] Moving from what we say we believe to living it

Believe… Belong, Be Trained, Be Strong

Belong: no lone wolves in God’s pack

Be Trained: Having dumbbells and a yoga mat isn’t good enough

Be Strong: What if? “Come and See”

[Conclusion]

How comfortable are you with understanding your purpose as a believer? The church’s mission?

God has made me his and put me on a team to grow in being like him and proclaim him with everything that I feel, think, say, and do.

Speaking of a team… Wouldn’t we love descriptors like this of us that sound like the First Church of Ever? - devoted, teachable, unified, in awe of God, grounded, unwavering, committed, humble, passionate, generous, merciful, attractive, used of God, joyful, hardworking for the gospel, praising God and proclaiming the gospel with our lips and lives.

How will you do your part for us to become the church we aim to be?

The church is not something you attend. The church is who you are—the beautiful warrior Bride of Christ.

PRAY: God we are reminded today of who we are because of who you are. We are reminded of our calling to come to you and grow in you, and our privilege to call others to know and grow in you. We pray for our hearts to submit to the Headship of Christ and to follow him in your will made plain in your word. We pray for your Holy Spirit to guide us in our daily living so that you can speak loudly through us to one another and to those still outside your grace. We know we can’t be your beautiful warrior Bride without staying connected to your character and Christ’s leadership. To that end, make us a more faithful this week than last. Do this in us for the sake of your own great name, Amen.

[Closing & Benediction] You ready? Let’s stay close to Jesus so we can be the church he’s called us to be.

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