UM Army 2019. Built Together

Introduction

Read 1 Peter 2:4-10

Where we have been this week:

The primary calling of our life....Yes to Jesus

The purpose for our life is about offering a sacrifice of praise and the way that God fulfills purpose as we go.

Missio Dei, as we proclaim the kingdom of God, fellowship with Jesus the Son, and in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.....Faith in action, love in action, hope in action.

Tonight we talk about how important it is for us to be together and our witness in the world. We are going to talk about how important the church is and active community is in this walk.

All of this is vital to the journey.

Peter the Rock

Let’s think about who is saying these words. These are believed to be Peter. Peter is one of my favorite and most relatable people in the Bible. I wonder what is going on in Peter’s mind as he pens them....a couple images come to mind.

There is this great interaction with Jesus in Matthew’s gospel at the apex of the gospel....

Matthew 16:18 NIV

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.

Jesus tells Peter that he (and the other followers) will be the rock that he will use to build the new Temple. Interesting word choice here.

One last image that would come to mind....

Mark 14:58 NIV

“We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.’ ”

Jesus is telling them that there will be a new temple. A new locale of the presence of God, a new source of healing, power, love, forgiveness in the world. This one will not be built with human hands, but it will be established by Jesus and that is what he is talking about with Peter.

Then in our text today, Peter gives us the blueprint for this new temple. This spiritual temple not built with human hands.....

2 quick things that I want to pull out of our text tonight:

Built together with Christ

verse 4: “As you come to Him”

The cornerstone is already laid. The first living stone is Jesus and all the other living stones are in relationship to Him. As individuals we come to Christ, giving Him our YES, but it is more than that....we are living stones in that all of us are gathered to Him.

The great commandment that we have talked about all week....

Matthew 28:16–20 NIV

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18–20 NIV

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:

Therefore all yall go.

The picture of Christianity in the new testament and the first decades after Jesus has gone to be with the Father....the picture is simple. It is the people called by God, the ones that have said yes, and the ones that are in community with each others.

The Spiritual House and the Chosen People (2:4–10)  One of the common criticisms of evangelical Christianity is its weak doctrine of the church. The emphasis lies on the conversion of individuals to personal faith in Christ and little importance is attached to their participation in the church. The idea of the church as an existing “divine society” stretching backward in history and outward to embrace all Christians is passed over in favor of an understanding of the church as separate, voluntary groups of like-minded people.

Instead of being the house of God, family around Him, we are

Air plane community.

Built together as a Temple

Second piece of this....

The temple was the place that would dwell....

You are being built into a “spiritual house”

As we are built together we become the presence of God in the world and the witness of God in the world.

Too often we become something we are not designed to be. Some of us have been hurt by the church, overlooked by the church, etc. Listen the church will never be perfect because its full of broken people but it is God working with broken people to make something beautiful that is the witness to the world.

Stained glass illustration.

There are a couple things this does for me to clarify:

There is a couple things this does for me to clarify:

The church is the place where God pours out his Spirit so that people are healed, miracles take place, sins are forgiven....God is not primarily calling a bunch of missionaries to be all by themselves. Purpose is often too individualized.

Church is not about you. It’s about Jesus. I didnt like the band tonight, the sermon just did not quite do it for me, or its boring, or whatever those thoughts are....they are completely consumeristic.

Why this matters:

When you come to Christ, you are coming to the church. You are being joined to the community that has always pointed to that final day when we will feast at his heavenly banquet. City on a hill.

Following Jesus takes place in community. My band group. Wesley would say that there is no Christianity in isolation:

“Directly opposite to this is the gospel of Christ. Solitary religion is not to be found there. ‘Holy solitaries’ is a phrase no more consistent with the gospel than holy adulterers. The gospel of Christ knows of no religion, but social; no holiness but social holiness.” - John Wesley

Find a community where you are challenged to be the best version of you and all God is creating you to be.

We need each other. UM Army does not work without the combination of gifts. The body of Christ is that way.

All that we walked about last night does not happen as individuals. Faith, love, hope in action is about the community witnessing to the Kingdom that is here. In a world full of divisiveness, hatred, polarizing arguments about everything, the world desperately needs to see a community that is different....the church. Patiently, confidently, and with courage witnessing to God’s reign and throne with every movement.

Jesus said, I will build my church and the gates of Hell will not overcome it.

This is what we come to the table for tonight. To consider how we are connected to the conerstone, and how we are connected to each other.