What If? - 2

What If? – 2

Introduction

What is a church? More specifically, what is Broadway Christian Church? Some would say it is a property at 1205 South 9th Street, Mattoon, IL 61938. Others would say it is a specific place, a physical location at the gps coordinates of 39*28’18.59” N, 88*21’59.8”W. Still others would say Broadway is an organization. It is a 501(c)3 religious organization with an operational budget, an organizational chart for its employees, Elders who serve as a Board of Directors for the non-profit entity. Some may conclude Broadway is its programming. Church is its worship gatherings on Sunday, various Bible studies, humanitarian efforts in its community and around the world, religious educational classes for kids, and safe entertainment for teenagers.

What is a church? What is this church? Is Broadway reduced to its programming and its property? Not according to the New Testament. According to God’s design given to us in the Bible, a church, The Church, is much more than all of those things. Not property. Not programming. The Church is People.

The word the New Testament continually utilizes to communicate the identity of the Church is ekklesia. Translated in our English bibles mostly as the word “assembly,” it literally translates as “the called-out ones.” Ek – out, Kaleo – to call. The Church is the gathering of those whom the Lord has called out of this world to be His own possession.

Last week we began a two-week introduction to a journey together this year rediscovering the nature, identity, and purpose of The Church. Next week we will begin our long trek through the New Testament letter of 1 Corinthians. To prepare us for that, we are asking a great question…what if? What if we became the Church God created us to be? The only way to do that is for us, as the people of God, to become who God created us to be.

The future of this church will not be determined by a catchy mission statement or a compelling vision or an efficient structure. While all those are important, the future of this church will be determined by God’s people allowing God to do his transforming work in and through our lives.

TS - The book of Acts begins by showing us how the church began. In the days after his resurrection, Jesus clarified the purpose for this new thing called the church.

– 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

We don’t get to debate that. We don’t get to gather in a room with a whiteboard and brainstorm or strategize the reason Broadway exists, the reason we exist. Jesus already did that for us. The purpose of the church, the purpose of our lives (since a church is its people), is to be witnesses who testify to the truth of who Jesus is and what he has done. We do that here in Mattoon and the surrounding areas, and we ensure it is being done around the world through mission partners.

As we saw last week, those first followers of Jesus understood their purpose and got to work. Ten days after hearing from Jesus what they are supposed to do, the Holy Spirit falls at Pentecost and the Gospel begins to be proclaimed in Jerusalem. The Apostle Peter preaches the first recorded Gospel sermon and the church begins with a bang.

– 36 “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”

37 Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”

38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God.” 40 Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”

41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.

From that moment on the church now exists. It exists because there are people that comprise it. 3,000 new followers of Jesus begin to worship there in Jerusalem, take the Gospel to Judea (region around the city), into Samaria, and through the efforts of the Apostle Paul the Gospel goes to the ends of the known world. serves as an outline for the entire book of Acts. How did they do it? What were these people like? gives us a glimpse of who they are and what they did.

– 42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

From that description of the people in the first church, we noted last Sunday that their lives were marked by four qualities:

1. Transformation

2. Devotion

3. Connection

4. Action

We looked at this cycle [graphic of cycle] of how Jesus changes lives and how Christians live out their faith, and how it works in reverse:

Transformation > Devotion > Connection > Action > Transformation

Transformation < Action < Connection < Devotion < Transformation

We are the church because those who came before us lived this out. The generation that will come after us will continue to be the church because we live this out. This is what the church has always done. This is who the church has always been, since its first day.

TS – here is what I want to do for the rest of our time together. Let’s turn these qualities into action steps. Not organizational action steps (though that will happen), but personal ones for us all to take. If the church is people, then for the church to fulfill the mission Jesus gave us in , then we must all accomplish these four action steps [graphic of logo with steps]:

1. DISCOVER GRACE

This is where it all begins. This is where faith began for these Christians in . They had just met Jesus. They had just heard the Gospel for the first time. They placed their trust in Jesus and responded to his offer of forgiveness. They’re still wet from their baptism.

I said last week that “transformation” is the foundational and primary quality of their lives. Likewise, Discover Grace is the foundational and primary action step to take. Here’s why: if you don’t meet Jesus and discover his grace, you aren’t a Christian! This is the first step for everyone who is part of the church or who wants to be part of the church. If you haven’t placed your trust in Jesus, you may be a spiritual person, a religious person, or even a church attender, but you are not The Church. Grace is the foundation of our faith.

– 3 Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. 4 But—When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, 5 he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. 6 He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. 7 Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.

If you want to Discover Grace, then you need to take the same steps those first Christians did in . Believe the truths of the Gospel, that Jesus is the Son of God, that he died for your sins and rose from the dead. Repent of your sins and turn to Jesus. Confess Jesus as Lord. And unite with Jesus as you are immersed in Christian baptism.

If you are interested in learning more about that, we have created a resource that can help you. It is simply a Bible study that covers the basics of the Gospel and how to respond. We have copies of this available for you at Next Steps.

2. TAKE STEPS

Once a person discovers grace and becomes a follower of Christ, the next logical step is to take steps to grow in their new faith. That’s what they did in . These transformed people devoted themselves to the things that helped them grow to maturity in their faith.

– 28 So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.

So unless you are perfect in your relationship to Christ (and if you say you are, you aren’t because you’re a liar), we’ve got some work to do. We have a saying we use around here to capture the spirit of this point: “wherever you are, God doesn’t want you there.” He wants you to keep going, to keep growing.

– 3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. 8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So what is your next step? Becoming a Christian? Devoting to regular Bible reading? Learning to pray? Taking some spiritual growth classes here? Joining a small group (today in lobby)?

3. BUILD RELATIONSHIPS

These first Christians did not go on this journey alone. They connected their lives with these other Christians around them. So much so, says that they were devoted to the fellowship. They devoted themselves to one another to live out this faith together. Since its first day, the church has always met together corporately for worship and teaching, then met throughout the week in homes to build relationships. Is this your next step?

John Ortberg – “To live and contribute to God’s dream of community is the reason you were born. It is what you were created for. Neglect this and it doesn’t matter what else you do. Neglect this and you will die a failure. Devote yourself to loving ‘as is’ people and no matter what else you might do, you will lead a magnificent life. As frustrating as people are, it is impossible to find a substitute.”

4. PURSUE GENEROSITY

Once you have Discovered Grace and experience life transformation, once you begin to Take Steps to grow to maturity in your faith, once you Build Relationships with the people around you, the only right Christian response is to Pursue Generosity. That is what those first Christians did. They began to see the needs in the lives of their brothers and sisters, and they did something about it. They sold houses and fields, gave the money to the church to distribute to those with needs, and changed the world in the process.

This cycle of Christian living culminates here. Not because these Christians became known as generous people (though that happened), and not because they honored the Lord with their resources (though that happened), but because this enabled more people to Discover Grace. The cycle just keeps going. “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” When you live like this, more people discover grace.

And isn’t that why we are supposed to live this way? We take these action steps, not just because they did in . We take these action steps because they are the means to fulfilling . This is how we become witnesses that testify to the truth of who Jesus is and what He has done.

Conclusion

Let me shift gears as we close this sermon down and show you how all of this connects together with things we’ve talked about at Broadway. Last Spring, I outlined a new direction for us as a church, centered around the concept of Hope. How can we become people who are Defined by Hope and Driven by Hope? Be Hope. Give Hope.

– 4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, 5 which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven.

The engine of Christianity is hope. Hope fuels faith in Jesus Christ and love for people. Be Hope. Give Hope. Be a person who is defined by Hope, and give that Hope to those around you. Here is how we do that:

[graphic of logo with Hope] To Be Hope (Defined by Hope), you must Discover Grace and Take Steps. Become a Christian and grow in your faith. Jesus transforms you to be characterized by Hope. To Give Hope (Driven by Hope), you must Build Relationships and Pursue Generosity. By connecting with people around you and being generous, you are helping them Discover Grace. That helps them become defined by Hope. See how this all works? This is the Church. We are the Church, and this is what we do.

What if? What if these truths were not just things we talked about or things we studied? What if we actually did this?

PRAYER

COMMUNION