Sermon Tone Analysis

*Identity Revealed*

Andy Woodfield –24.03.07

Hickman Community Church

 

 

INTRODUCTION: Building a room on Devaneys garage.

Need to know what this room is for, what is its purpose?

So, to understand what it means to be the church is of utmost importance if we are to understand Hickman Community Church and its purpose.

There is a crisis of identity when it comes to the Church – What is it?

For many, the church is a building with stain-glassed windows and a steeple, which sits as an imposing structure of greatness, on a main street in the centre of town.

For others, the church is something you go to one day a week to fulfill your religious duty.

For others it is a place where you go for confession and cleansing at the hand of a priest or minister of religion.

It is the place where babies are christened, men and women get married and the dead are buried.

For others, the church is a mysterious thing, a mystical and religious entity that we should never try to understand.

Yet, we won’t find any of these definitions in the Bible.

The word church is used some 114 times in the NT and is always a translation of the Greek word /ekklesia.

Ekklesia/ is a compound word of ek, “out” and Kaleo, “to call or summon,” which together mean “called out.”

This is a good start to defining the church.

Paul says the church was a mystery revealed:  Colossians 1:25-27*/"/**/Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,/**/ /**/that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints,/**/ /**/to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory./**/"/*

So the church consists of those whom Christ dwells in – both Jews and Greeks.

*/1 Corinthians 1:2,26 /**/ /**/to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours: …/*

*/1 Corinthians 1:9/*/"//God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.//"/

/26/…*/for consider your calling brethren…./*

/"//And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.//"

(Romans 8:28)/

/"//and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.//"

(Romans 8:30)/

 

/"//I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;//" (Galatians 1:6) /

/"//But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased//" (Galatians 1:15) /

/"//This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you.//"

(Galatians 5:8) /

/ /

/"//It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.//"

(2 Thessalonians 2:14) /

/ /

/"//For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.//"

(Hebrews 9:15) /

 

/"//But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;//" (1 Peter 2:9) /

/ /

The Church is Us We are the Church.

Our very destiny is to be found in this community called the church.

*YET* there is a crisis of destiny because there is a crisis of definition.

E.g.

(Gideon): “You valiant warrior”, “Who me?”

We need to know who we are!

It was the reality and grandeur of the church that caused Paul to burst forth in praise to God – Paul understood what a glorious entity the church was and so was willing to endure prison and hardship for her sake.

* *

*Join me in Ephesian 1:1-11 where we will consider what the church is.

We are going to see seven distinguishing marks of the church which define who and what we are to be.  *

* *

*Proposition: We are going to see “Seven Distinguishing Marks” of the church which define who and what we are to be.

*

The first distinctive aspect of the church is that we are:

 

I.

Called before Time: Chosen by God before time began.

The elect v. 4a

 

*The author of our choosing is God*:  It is not of accidental existence, nor of the will of man, but it is sovereignly planned and predetermined.

The church *is not* those who by their own will and effort have got it together, for there in would be a boast of the greatness of man.

The church *is those* who by the will of God have been drawn together according to the kind intention of His will.

We exist then, not as a human organization but as the people of God, We exist by God, through God, and for God.

We are the building blocks that make up the church.

*The time of our choosing is *before the foundation of the world – literally “from *before time* began.”

*The nature of our choosing* is to be holy and blameless.

*/Ephesians 1:4b…that we should be holy and blameless before Him.

In love – NOTE: He did not choose us because we were holy…./*

Christians have been called from the world to pursue holiness.

*Romans 12:2* says…do not be conformed to the pattern of the world.

This literally means to be squeezed into the mould of the world.

We are to be separate from the world.

Instead of trying to be as much like the world as we can without slipping over the mark we should be pursuing holiness and righteousness.

*/1 Timothy 6:11 But flee from these things, you man of God; and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness./*

*/2 Timothy 2:22 Now flee from youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart./*

The bottom line for me is found in 1 John 2:15 which says, “Do not love the world, nor the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

Those who claim to be the church while loving and seeking the world are only fooling themselves.

God has called us to sanctification.

*/1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.24

Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass./*

The second distinctive aspect of the church is that we are:

 

II.

Called to belong to God’s Family – The Adopted  v.

5

 

The Christian is one who is intimately identified with God in Christ.

The prepositional phases, “in Him,” “before Him,” “to himself” and “in the beloved” all reveal this intimacy.

We want to be one with Him.

We are proud of our new name as the children of God (1 Thess 1:1; 1 John 1:3; John 17:22; Romans 8:14-17; Rom 6:4-5; Gal 2:20).

I am His and He is mine.

This is a sweet life embracing relationship.

I am not *just* a sinner saved by grace, I am a child of God, one who has been placed in the circle of His beloved.

My desire is to walk worthy of the new name I have inherited.

I am no longer a child of the devil, but by adoption I am a child of my Heavenly Father.

Benefits of adoption \\ • Absolute unconditional acceptance Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6 \\ •Guaranteed likeness \\ 1 John 3:1 “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, which we should be called children of God and WE ARE... We shall be like Him.” \\ •Inheritance Gal 4:7; Rom 8:16 “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.

\\ •Effective Fatherly discipline Heb 12:9.

\\ •Future Glory Col 3:3; Rom 8:21 Hidden now, revealed latter.

*So then the church are first those who are called before time, second those who are called to belong to God’s family, and the third distinct aspect of the church is that she is called to glorify God…*

\\ *The third distinctive aspect of the church is that we are:*

 

III.

Called to glorify God – The Graceful v. 6

 

The church are those who proclaim the glorious grace of our Lord Jesus by word and deed.

We are called  to the adoration (praise) of the manifested excellence (glory), of the undeserved favor (grace of God.

*The Word of Grace*: That is although He was rich yet for our sakes He became poor that we through His poverty might become rich.

(Phil) The world thinks the message of the cross is foolishness but for those who long to glorify God it is the power of God unto salvation.

Paul could therefore say I am not ashamed of the gospel.

He preached Christ and Him crucified.

This is the message that is glorious to God.

This is the message that the Holy Spirit came to embolden us with.

*/Matthew 5:16/**/ /**/“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven./*

*The deeds of Grace:* We are called to glorify God with our bodies.

How do we do this?