Sermon Tone Analysis

*‘The Practical Church’*

 

 

/introduction/

Today we looking at the ‘practical church’.

We come along every week-and its easy just to come and to go—to come and to go.

Church can easily sink to the level of the mundane.

So today we’re looking at the ‘practical church’.

And we’re going to do this by looking at three ways of describing the church.

For God says that when we have a majestic view of church then this will  motivate us to think carefully about what we do in church and it will urge us to conduct ourselves well in church.

So the two big points for today (and you’ll see them on your outline): ‘three ways of thinking about church’ and ‘conducting ourselves well in church’.

/ three ways of thinking about church/

Please turn with me to 1 Tim 3:14, ‘Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth’.

Paul uses three expressions to describe church: church is the household of God, church is the church of the living God, and church is the pillar and foundation of the truth.

/church is family (1 Tim 3:15; Acts 2:42–47)/

The first description is the church as God’s household—the household of God.

We become members of the household of God by new birth which comes through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.

Anyone is welcome to come to church and it makes us very happy when that happens.

But church is essentially the meeting of the elect—the coming together of those people who are committed to the lordship of Jesus.

In God’s household we relate to God as ‘Father’ and we relate to one another as members of the same family.

I don’t know how much you know about my family.

But relating to one another as family isn’t always an easy thing to do.

In my home—we all have our moods and our likes and dislikes—and I’m not sure whether sometimes we’re individuals trying to be a family or a family trying to be individuals.

No matter how you look at it—families can be challenging at times.

No matter how you look at it—good homes are a great gift from God—especially when they’re organised around the headship of Christ.

Our broken homes ought not prejudice our understanding of the church as the household of God.

The gospel is an invitation into church—it’s an invitation into the household of God which is the fellowship of believers.

So whether you’re a household of ‘one’ or a household of  ‘five’—or whether you’ve never really experienced a secure, earthly home—by faith in Jesus you belong to the household of God.

In Acts 2 we see a wonderful picture of the God’s household: they devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching—they devoted themselves to fellowship—to sharing meals and to prayer.

‘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, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people.

And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved’.

Many of us have been part of a church family for quite some time now.

And its easy to forget what a strong sense of community we have—it’s easy to forget how much we are blessed by God.

Lonely people, widows, the sick and elderly, everyone is important in God’s household.

Pastors who are caring and trustworthy (most of the time).

Let me encourage you to meet to meet in each others homes, phone calls, meals.

Sharing each other’s lives—playing soccer with other Christian blokes.

The older folk encouraging the youth through the uncertainties in life.

The elderly being respected by the young.

In church we want to teach our children the gospel.

We need to work hard at doing these things—but in so doing we reflect the character of God.

 

/the church of the living God (1 Tim 3:15; Jer 10:1, 2, 10)/

We belong to God’s household and we belong to the church of the living God.

In the Old Testament, Yahweh is called ‘the living God’ in a deliberate contrast to the lifeless idols of the other nations.

So Jeremiah says, ‘Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them.

For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.

But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King.

When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath’ (Jer 10:2,3,10).

Becoming a Christian today still involves turning ‘to God from idols to serve the living and true God’.

But where does the ‘living God’ live?

Joshua tells us: ‘The living God is among you’ (Josh 3:10).

For this was the essence of God’s promise to Israel: ‘I will dwell among you and be your God, and you shall be my people.’

Israel’s awareness that the living God was amongst them profoundly affected their community life.

Even personal hygiene was based on the fact that the Lord God walked among them.

Now we know that we are ‘the temple of the living God’ (2 Cor 6:16).

We are ‘a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit’ (Eph 2:22).

When we go our separate ways through the week it’s hard to remember this reality.

But when we come together as the church of the living God, every aspect of our common life is enriched by the knowledge of his presence amongst us.

In our worship we bow down before the living God.

Through the reading and explaining of his Word we hear his voice addressing us.

We meet him at his table, we meet him when he makes himself known to us through the breaking of bread.

In our fellowship we love each other as he has loved us.

We want unbelievers who come to this church to be able to say, ‘God is really among you’.

/the pillar and foundation of the truth (1 Tim 3:15–4:5)/

Then Paul describes the church as the ‘pillar and foundation of the truth’.

The context in chapter 4 is the false teachers who will soon make a claim on them.

Verse 1 says, ‘The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons’.

The foundation of the church must hold firm so that it does not collapse under the weight of false teaching.

We must know the truth and live the truth.

And if we conceive the church as pillar we must hold the truth high so that it is not hidden from ourselves and the world.

Which is another way of saying we must know the truth and live the truth.

The church: the household of God—God dwelling amongst us by his Spirit—the place for passionately preserving and living out the truth of the gospel.

/conducting  ourselves well  at church/

/            training in godliness is the priority (1 Tim 4:6–16)/

Timothy is directed by Paul to teach these truths about church.

And if he does, Paul says in verse 6, ‘you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.

Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.

For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come’.

The activity of church is important not only in this life, but for the age to come.

There’s nothing wrong with training yourself for this life—strength is the glory of youth.

Enjoy it while you can, ‘but remember your Creator in the days of your youth’.

Grey hair is the glory of the aged and that will come soon enough.

No matter what age you are, remember eternal life because training in godliness is for eternity.

And notice in 1 Tim 4 that training in godliness opposes false teaching.

It’s the opposite of godless myths and old wives’ tales.

Training ourselves in truth is hard work.

That is why Timothy is told to ‘command and teach these things’ in verse 11.

As a pastor, Timothy is to guard the saints by teaching them the truth.

And it’s hard for a young leader like Timothy to command these things.

So Paul says in the next verse, ‘Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching’.

It’s not easy preaching and teaching—and with this comes enormous responsibility.

Please pray for your pastors—that we may ‘set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity’.

We need your encouragement as much as you need ours.

/            relating to different groups of people (1 Tim 5:1)/

Chapter 5:1 is slowly becoming one of my favourite verses, ‘Do not rebuke an older man harshly’.

These days I’m trying to cope with being ‘older’.

Do not rebuke an older man, but encourage him as you would a father.

There are times when a younger person may need to speak firmly to an older man, but do it as if he were your father—carefully, respectfully, circumspectly—with great humility because you’re seeking to honour him as you honour Christ.

‘Treat younger men as brothers’.

Notice the character of our ministry to one another: you look up to your elders, but you never look down to your juniors.