We Are that Church

Introduction

We’ve all heard things said about the church such as; “All they want is money” or “The church is filled with hypocrites.” Perhaps my favorite comment in opposition to “organized religion” is “I don’t need to go to church to be a Christian!”

(1)

Can you love Christ and not love His bride?

(2)

(3) Can you love Christ and not love His bride?

This four week series has a compact theme: What is the purpose of the local church? By calling out the selfish deceitfulness of consumerism, this series hopes to define what the church is supposed to be, and declares what it is not. The church is a place to serve, to be connected, and to live on mission together for God's Kingdom.

There are 58 “one another” commandments in the New Testament that you CANNOT OBEY unless you are in fellowship with other Christians!

The church around the world does not pray for revival or preach about revival. Instead, they pray for UNITY and preach good Bible DOCTRINE, and God sends them great revival!

We are the Church!

We begin with one of the foundational scriptures:

Acts 2:42–47 NIV

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 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, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Define Devoted: On ww.dictionary.com the word devotion is defined as “profound dedication; earnest attachment to.”

(most commonly used as an adjective)

1. very loving loyal, steadfast, committed

Ex: “he was a very devoted husband”

2. given over to the study, exploration, or discussion of

Ex: “this is an artist, writer, musician, teacher, a skilled tradesman devoted to their work”

Biblical Definition:

The word devoting is a strong word. The Theological Dictionary of NT Words defines it as “to occupy oneself diligently with something”; “to pay persistent attention to”; “to hold fast to something.”

We Need to Take Note as to how the church began:

The Church Witnessed to the Lost ()

Our cities are not lost because the devil’s power is greater than God’s, but because we expend our energies on our own agendas – on self- promotion instead of self-sacrifice! We cannot pray “Thy kingdom come” until we pray “My kingdom go!”

“I would have become a Christian, were it not for observing Christians.” - Ghandi

Optional opening joke:

It reminds me of a story of a small town had experienced rapid growth, and the local church congregation had outgrown their building. The members formed a committee to plan and build a new church. The committee told the minister to take care of the flock and they would handle the details of church construction. The minister complied with the request and kept his distance.

As the new building was nearing completion, the committee chairman invited the minister to view their new house of worship. Entering through the main doors, the minister noted only the last row of pews had been installed.

“Since people always fill the last row of pews first, we had a special feature installed,” the chairman said. He pressed a button on the wall and the pew moved forward and another popped up. The minister was impressed.

The big day finally arrived for the first service in the new church. The minister peeked out as the pews filled from the back and then moved forward. He was ecstatic.

When the time came for the sermon, the mister was so filled with joy and goodwill, he delivered his prepared message and then some.

At 12 o’clock, he was still sharing the good word when the church bells began to ring...when suddenly a hole opened up in the floor and the pulpit and the minister slowly descended out of sight.

Optional closing:

Are we feeding sheep or just amusing goats? Charles Spurgeon said in a sermon well over a century ago: “The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them… Had Christ introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into his mission, he would have been more popular… I do not hear him say, “Run after these people, Peter, and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow, something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it. Be quick Peter, we must get the people somehow. Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them…the mission of amusement fails to effect the end desired.”

“The church is never a place but always a people

Never a fold, but always a flock

Never a sacred building, but always a believing assembly

The church is you who pray, not where you pray."