GOD'S COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

GOD'S COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM Psalm 133; Acts 2:42-47 July 30, 2000 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction of the series One of the unique values of this congregation is our cell-based ministry. A foundational principle of Metro-East Christian Fellowship is that Christians do the things that God calls Christians to do best in small group communities. While we affirm the value of larger group experiences like our Sunday morning Celebration services and even inter-denominational, multi-church gatherings, the very personal stuff that must happen in the life of the believer who is serious about living the life of faith, happens best in the context of a smaller group. We choose to call such groups cell groups, but what you call them doesn't matter so much. It's what can and should happen in those groups that becomes the lifeblood of Christian community for the disciple of Christ. In the context of a group of ten or so other believers-a group large enough that no one feels lonely, but small enough to allow for genuine relationships to form and deepen-the follower of Christ may expect to find the level of personal encouragement, ministry, correction and Christian companionship which will help him to grow to maturity in Christ. For the next couple of weeks, I plan to develop the biblical doctrines and issues relevant to this basic value. There are a couple of reasons for such a teaching series: 1) cell-based ministry is strongly basic to the vision and purpose of this congregation, and rehearsing the strong biblical and practical reasons for it periodically is helpful, particularly for newer members and inquisitive visitors, but also for as a reminder for those already involved. 2) it is often easy to stray away from our moorings or to forget why we do things the way we do them. There was a man who was driving his sport utility vehicle when he came to a detour sign that read, "ROAD UNDER REPAIR." Well, a little  construction wasn't going to stop this guy and his S.U.V. So he dropped it into 4-wheel drive, drove around the sign and navigated the construction site with good success. His success continued for about 20 miles until he came to the absolute end of the road, beyond which there was a gorge in the road with no bridge. So he had to turn around and retrace his route back to the detour. When he approached the back side of the same construction sign, he read these words: "WELCOME BACK STUPID." There is a third reason for this series, and that is that the teaching about the relationships that people in the Lord's church are to have with one another is so pervasive in the New Testament and so central to what it means to be the Lord's Church, that it would almost be heresy not to dust off this teaching and reintroduce the body of Christ to it every so often. Today, as a prequel to the rest of the series I want you to join me for a few minutes in looking at the church as God's "Community Development Program." Please understand at the outset that God is quite interested in bringing blessing and productive ministry to people through community relationships. Psalm 133 reads: How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. Now, in the big picture, the Bible makes it clear that the church is the fulfillment on earth of this kind of community the Lord wishes for people. The ultimate fulfillment, of course, is heaven-eternal, perfect fellowship with God and with one another. But on the way to heaven, God has destined the church of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to demonstrate genuine, godly community. Let's look at the biblical teaching about the church. What is the church? Biblically speaking, what is this entity we call "church"? We might be surprised to find that the language we use betrays our wrong understanding of the nature of the church. Sometimes we talk about the church as if it were a building. "Where's your church?" "It's on Highway 50, next to Rothman Furniture" At other times we equate "church" with the worship gathering on Sunday morning. "Are you going to church this Sunday?" And sometimes we speak of the church as an organization we join. "I've decided to move my membership to First Church" or "Are you church members?" But the church is not a structure of bricks, steel and wood. Many of you know of my penchant for referring to this building as our "Worship and Training Center." And I even get teased by some for being so particular. I hope I don't wear you out with this detail-I really won't insist that you use the same terminology-but I do it for exactly this reason - to continually remind myself and others that the church is not a building-it is people. Nor is "church" just the Sunday morning services. Listen, folks, we don't "go to church"; we are the church! On Sunday mornings and on other occasions, we may be the church gathered, but when we leave that event we don't cease to be the church. Think about that when the next time you start to say "We're going out for lunch after church today." Maybe we ought to start saying "A few of us are taking church over to Ryan's at about 12:30." I want to encourage all of us to think more in terms of the church as the people of God in Christ, and less as an organization or a club. We often speak of being part of this church or that church and, 'you know what? From the perspective of Jesus (who happens to be the head of the church), it's all His church. A man was shipwrecked and marooned alone on an island. He lived there 20 years, and finally he was found and a rescue party was sent to him. When the group got there they noticed the man had built three beautiful buildings. They were amazed at the work the man had done, and asked him what the building on the left was. He said, "Oh, that's my house; I live there," What about the building on the right? "That's the church I attend" Really? So, what's that building in the middle? "Oh, that's the church I used to go to." Brothers and sisters in Christ, according to the Bible, the church is people, but not just any people. The church is a special group of people-a people whom God is forming together into a community. The purpose of that community is to live in fellowship with God, with His creation and with each other. As they do that, they point in the direction that the Lord is taking all of history-heaven, Eden restored, the eternal presence and joy of the Lord. Author Stanley Grenz calls the church the "pioneer community." The church is that group of people who have returned to fellowship with God through Christ, and are now pointing toward the future God has in store for creation. Under the direction and influence of the Holy Spirit, the church seeks to live out in this present world the glorious community for which God originally created us. Romans 8:18-23 - I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but he the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up tot the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. You see, God has a purpose in history, and He is using His church to help bring about that end. Ephesians 3:10-11 - His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to His eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. God is actually demonstrating to the world what a redeemed community is like and giving a foretaste of what it will be like for eternity for those who will trust Him. Regardless of how well we think we are carrying that mission out, this is the unequivocal will of God. The Bible says that if you are in Christ you are a new creation. He has brought you to share in Christ's resurrection, and He is even now transforming us into the image of Jesus. And we who, with unveiled faces, all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18) That process is going on right now-we who have been justified through Christ are pre-destined to become like Him (Romans 8:29). And this is true of the church-the community of God's redeemed. Ephesians 5 says Christ loved the church, died for the church, and cares for the church, and that He is planning to present her (the church, His bride) to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In the few minutes remaining, let's look at an important characteristic that marks the church of Jesus Christ as God's Community Development Program. The Church is God's People in Relationship with Him and Each Other Have you ever noticed how, when the kids have been naughty, they suddenly become the sole custody of the latest parent to arrive on the scene? "Well, let me tell you what your son said today!" Do you ever get fed up with God's kids? "Lord, I just can't seem to get along with these kingdom siblings of yours." Have you ever secretly thought "You know, if it weren't for the people, the church would be kinda' nice!" O, to live above with the people we love-that will be glory; but to live below, with the people we know-well, that's a different story! The words the early church used to describe themselves give us an interesting picture of how they saw themselves. The Greek word from which we translate "church" is EKKLESIA. This was a common word in 1st century Rome. The base of the word is KALEO ("to call") and has the prefix EK, which means "out". An EKKLESIA was a "called out' group-usually a gathering of the citizens of a given community to conduct some matter of civic business. Already a common term, the early Christians used this word to express their own sense of identity. They were a people called together as well. They were the "called out' ones. They had been called out of the world by the gospel for the purpose of belonging to God through Christ and serving His purposes. So the earliest Christians saw themselves as a people bound to each other by virtue of their calling in Christ. They were a people in relationship. The very first converts in the new church-3,000 of them, baptized on Pentecost Sunday-immediately recognized this community aspect of their existence. In fact, the very next verse following the description of their repentance and baptism, reads like this: They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." (Acts 2:42) Immediately, by spiritual instinct, they began keeping company with each other doing the things that enhanced their devotion to Jesus-but doing them with each other. Bible study, fellowship, communion and prayer have continued through two thousand years to be the kinds of things believers do together in community. And Christians are quite serious about these things-even when they are in countries where such religious behaviors are prohibited, believers risk their very lives to be together in community. Why? Because community is what God has established among those who trust Christ. The word used there in verse 42 ("they devoted themselves.") in root form is the word "addicted." These new Christians were "addicted" to their community, bound together in Christ. Before we go on, listen in to more of the description of this new community of God's: Everyone was filled with awe...all the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. The called out ones were bound to one another in community, and they regularly met together for corporate expression of that community. The early church also described themselves with a variety of metaphors. Three of them stand out in the new Testament as very popular expressions of their identity: One of those is the church as a NATION. Specifically, the church was known as a "holy nation"-which means a "consecrated people" or a group of people set apart for God's special purposes. 1 Peter 2:9 - You are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to god that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. The Christians of the first century were people who were part of different nations by birthright. But God determined that He would call them out, and into a new national identity, one that defied all geographical and political boundaries. The church is an international fellowship of people from every tribe and language and people group and nation. One other important identification sticks out of 1 Peter 2:9 - and that is "priesthood." Priests had a special role in the life of ancient Israel. The Holy Spirit took the word "priest" from the Old Testament vocabulary and redefined it for the church. Here is the crucial difference: in Israel only a few were selected from among the people to act as priests. In the church all of God's people are designated priests. In the church, everyone has access to God in prayer, everyone can minister before the Lord; everyone qualifies as an intercessor for others, and no one needs any human mediator any longer to stand between them and God. Four times in the new Testament we Christians are referred to as a "kingdom of priests." We are all priests, and every child of God through Christ shares the ministry of the priesthood: approaching God, making sacrifices before God, and interceding for others before God. The Bible also teaches about the nature of the church through the metaphor of a BODY. Specifically, three passages in the New Testament talk about the church as the "body of Christ." (1 Corinthians 12:1-31; Ephesians 1:22-23; and Colossians 1:18) Just like the human body has diversity (hands, toes, internal organs.), so the church is a unity made up of a diversity of members. Not every person in the body of Christ has the same job to do. They all have the same goal-to glorify the Lord, and to minister in love to the others in the body, so the body can be whole and thoroughly equipped. We are all Christ's body, members devoted to carrying on His ministry to those around us. We hope to look at this particular aspect of our identity as Christians one Sunday in October. But there is one more metaphor (besides NATION AND BODY), and that is the church as the TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Again, this imagery derives from the Old Testament. In ancient Israel the temple served as God's earthly dwelling place. The prophets continually insisted that God could not be contained in any particular place, nevertheless God was pleased to identify one location as the place where He was specially present. But with the coming of Christ and His church, the focus of the presence of God's Spirit is no longer in a special building, but within a special people. We are taught that, as believers, our physical bodies are temples of God's Spirit, but beyond that, the church (the corporate collection of all Christians) is also pictured as a temple of God's Spirit. And, of course, because we are the dwelling place of the Holy God, we are called to live holy lives to maintain our temples as holy. These metaphors all have this in common: they teach that the church is people in relationship-relationship with God through Christ this is our right of entry into his church), and relationship with each other in the church. What that relationship is, and how it is to behave is the subject of the next two messages. Before we close today, let me share a couple of words of encouragement. 1. God has always loved you, and has always been pursuing a loving relationship with you. What I believe the holy Spirit wants you to know today is that you are valuable because God values you. Have you thought lately of just how far God has gone to win your love for Him? He made you (you are not here by accident or blind evolutionary chance-God knows your name, and He wanted you to populate this earth, and He wanted you to find Him and enjoy him for eternity); He died for you when you sinned against Him; He wants to forgive your sins and cancel your death warrant; He wants to enjoy fellowship with you, and He wants you to enjoy fellowship with Him and all the others in His family. He holds out His offer to you, and it is your decision. 2. God wants you to find the true meaning of your life. You were put here for a purpose-and that purpose is to use your God-given ability to bring honor and praise to the one who made you and is re-making you in Christ. There are very few things we can be sure of in this life, but I will tell you this: you will never be truly happy and fulfilled until you are doing the thing that God intended you to do. He wants you to find it; He wants you to be fulfilled, to have life abundant; He wants you to walk in His purposes in this life, and the next. Jesus Christ has made the way-it's up to you to say yes to Him. If you are not yet a believer, you need to come to Him today in simple faith, trusting only Him. Say to Him, "I know I am not what you want me to be, and I am powerless to attain it. Will you save me; will you give my life ultimate meaning; will you give me the gift of eternity with You? 3. God wants you to be His image-bearer in this life. He wants to reflect His character through you to a lost and dying world. But He can't work through you until He's worked in you. To find all that God wants for you, you must be willing to say that you want Him and His righteousness first, above all things. Don't try to clean yourself up for Him. Only He can do that. He knows your sinful state, and He already loves you. Now let Him save you. When you give yourself to Him through Christ, He will begin a process in you of cleaning you up and changing you, from the inside out. And He will use you to bring glory to his Name. It will be then that you find your ultimate fulfillment in life.       [Back to Top]