Who needs the Church?
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Who Needs the Church?
Who Needs the Church?
Topic - Church
Title - Who needs the church?
Introduce Subjec
Text - , ,
Points
I need the church
You need the church
Our communities need the church
Doubting your Doubts Intro
Hook
Introduce Subject
Introduce Subject
- The Church
Define Subject - The Church
Before we dive into Who needs the church let’s define what the church is?
- The Church is a congregation of saints, in which the gospel is rightly taught and the sacraments are rightly administered" - Augsburg Confession
300 Quotations for Preachers Marks of the Church
Wherever we find the word of God purely preached and heard, and the sacraments administered according to the institution of Christ; there, it is not to be doubted, is a Church of God: for his promise can never deceive: “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
JOHN CALVIN
So in other words the church is a gathered group of people where the good news of Jesus is communicated correctly and where baptisms, the Lord’s supper and other means of grace (like these baby dedications here today) happen.
So in other words the church is a gathered group of people where the good news of Jesus is communicated correctly and where baptisms, the Lord’s supper and other means of grace (like these baby dedications here today) happen.
Another person said that the
- The Church is the community of faithful believers, of whom Jesus Christ is the head.
Church. A group or assembly of persons called together for a particular purpose.
A group or assembly of persons called together for a particular purpose.
Church. A group or assembly of persons called together for a particular purpose. The
Jesus used the word church in
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
So Jesus tells Peter after he has the revelation from the Holy Spirit that God was going to build his church. So there is a lot going on in this verse and in the context of this Scripture. I don’t want to get bogged down in the different interpretations of this verse but I think it is important to see two things we can learn about the church.
Church comes from the Greek word Ekklesia. Can y’all say ekklesia. Usually I don’t talk about Greek in my sermons because I feel like so often there is a such a disconnect between what the original language is and what that means to us practically here today but there are some really key things in properly understanding church found in the meaning of the Greek word Ekklesia.
Jesus said the church was his - The Bible says that Jesus is the head of the church and this Scripture tells us that the church belongs to him. He owns it and he is in charge.
He promised to build the church - This is an exciting thought; Jesus wants to builds his church and as matter of fact he is building right now even as we speak. He is equipping, developing, birthing drawing; God is at work in the Church, Amen and he is calling us to come to Jesus so he can build us both individually and corporately to be the church he is calling us to be.
He promised that the gates of hell will not overcome it - This is an encouraging thought especially in our 21st Century post-Christian Canadian culture. When there are so many things that come against the witness of Jesus and against his church we can be assured that come what may we will not be overcome by all the power of the evil one.
That word Jesus uses here in “Church” comes from the Greek word Ekklesia. Can y’all say ekklesia. Usually I don’t talk about Greek in my sermons because I feel like so often there is a such a disconnect between what the original language is and what that means to us practically here today but there are some really key things in properly understanding church found in the meaning of the Greek word Ekklesia.
Church comes from the Greek word Ekklesia. Can y’all say ekklesia. Usually I don’t talk about Greek in my sermons because I feel like so often there is a such a disconnect between what the original language is and what that means to us practically here today but there are some really key things in properly understanding church found in the meaning of the Greek word Ekklesia.
Understanding Ekklessia (Church)
Connotes the idea of being called out
The role of the herald
Called to assemble
God calls us out
God calls us out of sin, out dysfunction, out of our circumstances and for me God called me out of my community, out of lifestyle contrary to God.
Part of us becoming the church involves God calling us out.
Ekklesia connotes the idea of being set apart
The Old Testament people were called to gather for a particular purpose and were set apart for a particular purpose
Levites etc.
After God calls us out he begins to set us apart and makes us into the people he wants us to be
The New Testament picks up on this idea and at Pentecost the Holy Spirit sends the Ekklessia - the called out and now set apart - into the world by the transforming power of the Spirit.
The church is called to praise and glorify God, to establish Jesus Christ’s kingdom, and to proclaim the gospel throughout the world.
In this new community the traditional barriers of race, social standing, and sex—barriers that divided people from one another and categorized them into inferior and superior classes—are seen to be shattered: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28 NIV).
The Word of God gives us a bunch of different images or descriptions of what the church is like to help us better understand what the church is and how it functions.
The New Testament never once names the “place” of assembly—a “church.”
The Church in were characterized by four fundamental things: apostolic teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread—probably a picture of the Lord’s Table—and prayer.
The church can be understood in at least three major categories
The Community of the Spirit - If you want an amazing picture of what the church is called to look like just read through the book of Acts. Acts teaches so much about how the church ought to function and how the church functions out of the ministry of the Holy Spirit
The Body of Christ - This a beautiful picture given to us in some of Paul’s letters and specifically in :11-16 and , .
The Temple of God - Both Ephesians and Corinthians also speak as the church as the Temple of the Holy Ghost; corporately we make up the temple of the Holy Spirit where God dwells.
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Community of the Spirit
Community of the Spirit. The two-volume work of Luke the Evangelist, Luke-Acts, presents the church as that community of people in which and through which the Spirit of God is working.
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Body of Christ
Body of Christ. Paul is alone among NT writers in speaking of the church as “the body of Christ” (1 Cor 12:27; Rom 12:5; Eph 1:22, 23; 4:12; see also 1 Cor 10:16, 17; 12:12, 13), or as “the body” of which Christ is the “head” (Eph 4:15; Col 1:18).
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Body of Christ
Body of Christ. Paul is alone among NT writers in speaking of the church as “the body of Christ” (1 Cor 12:27; Rom 12:5; Eph 1:22, 23; 4:12; see also 1 Cor 10:16, 17; 12:12, 13), or as “the body” of which Christ is the “head” (Eph 4:15; Col 1:18). The
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Temple of God
Temple of God. In his attempt to overcome the divisions within the church at Corinth, Paul pictures the church not only as the body of Christ, but also as God’s temple, as the dwelling place of God’s Spirit (1 Cor 3:16, 17).
Other images of the church are
The Bride of Christ
The People of God
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Bride of Christ
Bride of Christ. Several times the church is pictured as the bride and Christ as the groom/husband (2 Cor 11:2, 3; Eph 5:22–31; Rv 19:7, 8; 21:2–14).
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible People of God
People of God. It is a common strand of Israel’s faith that it became the people of God because he chose it to be his own possession (Ex 6:6, 7; 19:5; Dt 7:6; 14:2; 26:18).
FALLEN CONDITION FOCUS
So I hope this quick synopsis has give you a clear picture of what the church is. But maybe you are here this morning and you are hearing how amazing this church is and you’re like well that’s nice but who really needs the church?
For the skeptic here or listening online you might be like I don’t really need the body of Christ.
The skeptic might say that for a couple different reasons.
Don’t believe in God and therefore the purpose of the church is meaningless
I would say to you, you’re right. We are basing our whole existence on the fact that God sent Jesus to come and die on the cross and that he resurrected and sent His Holy Spirit to dwell with us now. We base our whole existence as a church on that. But if you don’t believe that truth and you are that skeptic then the church has no real purpose - we are just a meaningless gathering of people who huddle around a false hope and eat good food together
But for the skeptic who has been hurt by the church or finds the gathering of believers distasteful but still believes in God you might say I don’t need the church because me and God do our own thing
I’m doing a fantastic class at Acadia Divinity College called Christian Spiritual Formation and one of the things the Prof, Dr. Harry Gardner has been driving home the past few weeks is that when we become baptized we are not just baptized into Christ. PAUSE We are also baptized into the body of Christ.
We are going to be doing some BAPTISMS next Sunday November 4th and so if you know of someone who is ready and willing to make a public decision to follow Jesus with their lifestyle let me know because we are going to do some baptisms here. But for those of you have been baptized and are going to be baptized you are not just baptized into Christ but baptized into the body of believers.
There are no lone ranger Christians. I watched some of the Movie Lone Ranger recently with Johnny Depp. Has anyone seen the most recent version? Well, I was not that familiar with the story and I’m more familiar with the saying, Lone Ranger. Well one of the things I realized in the movie is that the Lone Ranger may have been the last ranger but he certainly wasn’t by himself. He had crazy old ton-tau beside him. You know that crazy guy that feeds the old dead crow on his head. Yup, ton-tau was with him through the whole movie and had it not been for ton-tau he’d a been sunk a long time ago.
If you want to become all that God wants you to be you need the church. God wants to use the church to help shape you, mold you, encourage you and yes even sometimes challenge and rebuke you
So who needs the church?
People who want to become all that God wants them to be
So who needs the church?
1. I need the church
I needed the church as a baby and young boy
I needed the church as a teenager when I received the gospel and experience the Holy Spirit in a profound way
I needed the Church when I was an addict and selling pot and they met for prayer every evening
I needed the church to speak to me when I was in the darkness and share Jesus
I needed the church when a youth mission team came to my town and shared the message of hope with me
I needed the church when God called me to Moncton to disciple invest and believe in me
I needed the church as I stepped out into ministry and began to lead
I needed the church to provide for my needs as I lived on faith as a youth pastor in homes
I needed the church to help provide for my education and you heard that story last week
I needed the church to help sharpen me as a leader and help me become all that God called me to be through my studies and time at Kingswood and Acadia
I needed the church to embrace this crazy guy who had never pastored before and give me the opportunity to learn and grow and yes at times even fail. I needed the church to love on me the way that they have and help meet my families needs. I needed a church that not only would invest in me but would invest in my wife and my two daughters.
And now, I need the church again. I need the church to help fulfill the mission God has put in my heart - to increase the witness of Jesus in Woods Harbour, Barrington and Pubnico because I literally cannot do it; I need the church
2. You Need the Church
You won’t become who God intended you fully to be with the church
I believe there comes a time in all of our lives where we won’t just need God but we will need his church
You have needs that only the church can meet
Jesus is smart - He sent the Spirit to birth the church and the church is full of purpose and meaning as we have been seeinG
The Church is messy
The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
That doesn’t just apply to marriage; we were created to be in deep authentic relationships. Jesus knew that and created this beautiful thing called the church to help us live the way God originally intended.
The Church is messy - what do I mean by that? I mean the church is a group of people who are broken, frail and in need of God’s grace who come together for the purpose of God. When you bring a bunch of people together and the Spirit of God begins to show us our true colours we all come to see how truly broken and naked we are and how we need Jesus. But the Love of God he gives us for each other give us the ability to love each other through this brokeness.
You see in our culture today we hide our brokeness with all different kinds of things but that doesn’t heal us or fix us. When we get vulnerable in the church the love of God embraces us through our brokeness so we can be healed and loved.
The Church develops character
The Church develops character - As God begins this healing work in our lives in the context of an authentic community God begins to transform us into the image of Jesus. We start becoming more and more like Jesus
The perfect church - but we will never fully arrive. If you have found the perfect church you should leave for 2 reasons
If they told you it’s the perfect church they are lying
If you think it’s the perfect church you ruined it because you ain’t perfect just like my grammar ain’t
Woods Harbour Wesleyan Church will never be a perfect church and you know what it actually feels that way here. We realize I think that we are not perfect and that makes people feel welcomed. When we embrace our brokenness and weakness it allows other people to put their guard down and feel like wow, I am needy to.
See the church is a broken people gathered in desperate need of the grace of Jesus.
Life together - and we do life together. You know one of the things that really rubs me the wrong way and its something my generation really struggles with is when people are not genuine. Mike Macneil said one time in a message that our Face and our hearts should match but so often it doesn’t. The church challenges us to be authentic and real
My experience living in homes - When I used to youth pastor I lived in peoples homes and when you live with people or spend a lot of time in peoples homes you find out what people are really like
My experience living in homes
Love Woods Harbour for that reason; I find you guys seriously some of the most genuine down to earth people I have ever met
I heard of the stories of one of your former pastors and I think it involved Bill and Richard at the old parsonage and while one was at the front door saying hi to the new pastor one was at the back door opening the door to the fridge.
We need to get to a place in our relationships where its not weird to open someone else’s fridge; I know that’s a bit radical but the church really is family.
It is incredible the depth of relationships we can get to people who are part of the church; it blows me away. I’ve only been here for a year and I’m incredibly close with you. But you need those kinds of relationships.
You need the church
3. Our communities need the church
What would happen if Woods Harbour Wesleyan Church didn’t exist? (PAUSE and let that sink in)
How many testimonies would we be missing ? How many lives would not be changed not be healed?
When you think about things in those terms it really helps you see that people really do need the church?
(Great place for a story/stories)
5. The world needs the church
The lost need the church
Would the communities of Woods Harbour, Barrington and Pubnico have the witness of Jesus increase if we did not exist?
The lost need the church
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
If the church was not here would it make any difference in our community?
If Woods Harbour Wesleyan did not exist what difference would it make?
The Church develops character
The perfect church
Life together
Artificial community
My experience living in homes
Love here for that reason
Opening the fridge door
I believe that the Church is God’s Plan A to reach the world - I believe that Woods Harbour Wesleyan is part of God’s plan A, along with the other churches, to reach Woods Harbour, Barrington and Pubnico and there is no plan B, we are the Plan.
Fallen Condition Focus
Christ Solution - The Hope of Hearing
Listen, these communities need the church and they need to hear about Jesus.
Transition to Text
The term appears only twice in the Gospels (Mt 16:18; 18:17) but frequently in the Book of Acts, most of the letters of Paul, as well as most of the remaining NT writings, especially the Revelation of John.
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Matthew 16:
The New International Version Chapter 16
18 And I tell you that you are Peter,b e and on this rock I will build my church,f and the gates of Hadesc will not overcome it.
300 Quotations for Preachers Marks of the Church
Wherever we find the word of God purely preached and heard, and the sacraments administered according to the institution of Christ; there, it is not to be doubted, is a Church of God: for his promise can never deceive: “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
300 Quotations for Preachers Marks of the Church
Wherever we find the word of God purely preached and heard, and the sacraments administered according to the institution of Christ; there, it is not to be doubted, is a Church of God: for his promise can never deceive: “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
JOHN CALVIN
The New Testament never once names the “place” of assembly—a “church.”
And so the calling of the church, as we see it in the early period, is of a community that is faithful to God, takes the message out to the world, serves in such a way that that message is reinforced, encourages one another in a way in which community shows itself, [and] gives evidence of reconciliation showing that God has brought Jew and Gentile together in a way that is surprising in a world in which, normally, Jews and Gentiles fight with one another.
And in the testimony of what all that is, the power of the gospel was displayed, and the power of the gospel to reflect life as the way God designed it to be lived is shown. And in that testimony, alongside the word with the deed comes the message of the community to the world of what the gospel is. And that early church had wonderful success not only in being faithful but in drawing people to what it was showing that God was about.
Four fundamental things: apostolic teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread—probably a picture of the Lord’s Table—and prayer.
Explain The Text
Raise the Question - Who needs the Church?
Point One
Point Two
Point Three
Sum Up
I need the church
You need the church
Our communities need the Church
Suggestion
Spin Around
Stop