Sermon Tone Analysis

Church Membership

1 Cor.

12:13-27

 

I.

Several years ago in LA Times

a.       Story of an elderly man and wife found dead in their apartment

                                                               i.

Autopsies revealed that both had died of malnutrition, although investigators found over $40,000 stored in paper bags in their closet

b.

For many years Hetty Green was called America’s greatest miser.

When she died in 1916, she left an estate valued more than $100 million

                                                               i.

But she was so miserly that she ate cold oatmeal in order to save the expense of heating the water

                                                              ii.

When her son had a severe leg injury, she had spent so much time looking for a free clinic that by that time, they had to amputate the leg

                                                            iii.

It was said that she had hastened her own death by bringing on a fit of apoplexy while arguing the merits of skim milk because it was cheaper than whole milk

c.

It is unfortunate that many in the church are prone to treat their spiritual resources much like the misery couple and Hetty Green.

Many are and may suffer from spiritual malnutrition, because they do not take full advantage of the storehouse of spiritual nourishment that is at their disposal

 

d.

The toughest thing to deal with in ministry is indifference

                                                               i.

It is heartbreaking to know that those who are not in the fight take everything for granted

                                                              ii.

It is people like these that will never know the sweet because they never will commit themselves to the fight

                                                            iii.

Those who are not part of fighting for, discovering, and establishing the truth are often unable to appreciate what God is doing and has done

1.       it usually are those who not involved that become sensitive, picky and develop a complaining heart

2.       a child of apathy is criticism.

It is easy for the person to come to a point where he takes everything for granted and begins to criticize any imperfections he may find

3.       Author Thomas Hardy once said, he had a friend who could go into any beautiful meadow and find a manure pile

4.       a church of God, a place of grace should not foster such behavior or perspective

e.        people are fearful of commitment- an age of “commitment phobia”

                                                               i.

this is the fear that I promising to do something good we will miss out on getting something even better

1.       this could be questioning your existing partner, it could be your own private time, it could be skipping out on missions because you don’t want to surrender your vacation time, you skip service because of your desire to watch a movie or sports event

2.       so although we could be committing ourselves to doing something good, we skip out just to keep our options open

                                                              ii.

public opinion research points to a greater paradox in society:

1.       the combination of commitment to religion with a deep moral relativism

a.       for example 91% of Americans consider religion very important in their lives, 63% reject the concepts of absolutes

2.       George Barna called this bizarre poll result as one of the top five- only 43% of adults who call themselves Christian are “absolutely committed to the Christian faith.”

f.

The question is can you be a commitment phobe and still be a Christian?

II.

Why Be a Member?

a.       What is the big deal of being identified as a member of a church?

i.

Isn’t good enough that I just come and listen, worshipping God in my own little way?

                                                              ii.

Why get involved, why burden others and there’s the possibility of getting burdened

                                                            iii.

Is it really biblical, who’s in, who’s out, does it really matter?

b.

I believe church membership is the key to revitalizing any church, evangelizing our community, furthering the cause of Christ in the world and bringing glory to God

                                                               i.

I just finished syncing my MS Outlook to my phone

1.       we have over 95 individuals that attend our service

2.       but our regular attendance is about mid 60’s

a.       the question is where are they?

i.

Many are in college, some are abroad

                                                                                                                                      ii.

What does this say about Christianity to the world?

What does this say to you and me, your pastor?

iii.

How does this reflect the importance of the Christian faith in our lives?

Reading the Passage: 1 Cor.

12:13-27

Opening Prayer

 

III.

What is a Church?

a.       Word church does not refer to a religious organizational unit of any kind

                                                               i.

You do not hear of a Buddhist church or a Jewish church

                                                              ii.

It is thoroughly a Christian word

b.

It is not in reference to the building, that is secondary in nature

c.

According to the NT, church is primarily a body of people who profess and give evidence that they have been saved by God’s grace alone, for His glory lone, through faith alone, in Christ alone

                                                               i.

It is a collection of people committed to Christ in a local area that constitute a church

                                                              ii.

When you look in the NT to the abstract passages describing the church, such as Acts 2, these are people living, eating, selling their possessions in order to meet the needs of one another, deeply loving and being devoted to one another.

d.       NT teaches us that the church is for believers, for those who have been given a new birth through God’s Holy Spirit and who have joined a covenanted community

"Thus says the LORD, 'If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers.’”

Jer.

33:20-21

                                                               i.

The church then is a body of Christ, a collection of Christians committed to Christ and to one another

 

*/IV.

/**/Why Join a Church?/*

a.

If you ask any church growth specialist, they would tell you to avoid the topic of church membership, you might cause them to be disaffected

                                                               i.

But church membership is crucial in one’s understanding what Christ is calling for you to be His disciple

*/                                                             ii.

/*For those of us that are professing believers- let me ask you what does that mean?

*/What does it mean to live the Christian life?/*

                                                            iii.

Do we live it alone, is it merely individual, isolated workouts which we hone our spiritual disciplines