Healthy Church Bodies pt2
Healthy Church Bodies • Sermon • Submitted
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· 11 viewsFollowers of Christ are called to be His "ambassadors" in this world. As Disciples, our responsibility is to reveal the lessons of the "Master"...the Teacher...to the world around us. If the Gospel is to be shared, then God's people must live in Unity with each other, rooted in communion/community with God.
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Healthy Church Bodies Pt. 2
Healthy Church Bodies Pt. 2
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
John 10:10
God’s desire for His Church — the church Christ founded — is to have life, joy, peace, confidence, and success, amen?
God did not send Christ so that we would struggle with those things.... His desire is for us to have LIFE....NOT DEATH! That is the enemy’s purpose — to disrupt the unity of the community of God.
Would you agree that — within the church — gossip, negativity, lies, deceit, power struggles, pride, .... All work to only one purpose?
Destruction.
That is what the enemy desires to create within us....that is where his trickery comes in…his purpose is break apart what God is trying to build in us....to bring destruction where God brings life!
And that is why we must be on our guard against it, amen? (Now understand — Not necessarily in others, but in ourselves)
God called us — the Church…Followers of “the Way”…disciples of Christ — to live in a “give and take” type of relationship with each other which is centered in Love.
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
We were created to live in community — in harmony — with each other AND with God. There is a part of us... deep down within us that yearns to live in community with others.
We were created that way, because that type of communion is a reflection of the Trinity in our world.
This is why Jesus prayed:
John 17:11
And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.
Now, I want you to see something here — Jesus prayed this, because, that is how God created us in the beginning.
But… The rebellion — the Fall — changed all that.
Selflessness turned into selfishness.
Interdependence — you on me, me on you, and us on God — turned to independence.
Giving turned to taking.
Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
The moment Adam and Eve ate the fruit, their eyes were opened.... They “saw” their shame — what had just happened…what they had lost…was revealed.
It wasn’t their physical “nakedness” that they saw....it was their spiritual “nakedness”..... They saw what they had lost! They knew what had happened....
You see…They had something that we don’t… (which is why our faith is more powerful…)
They “knew” what it was to be perfect…they knew the glory of true eternal communion with God…and they “saw” what they had just lost…so they tried to protect it, to hide their mistake, to cover it up themselves....
We don’t have that privilege today,.... because we have not experienced the true communion daily as they did. (We only catch glimpses of it)
We only have “after-sight.” That is why we have a hard time “seeing” what we have lost…and what we need.
So, we turn to the sciences....to what we can observe — touch, taste, feel.
Science, philosophy, even theology are based in the “observable world.”
That is why science, philosophy, even worldly theology, cannot give us peace… worldly study cannot bring eternal peace, because it is rooted in a broken world, and therefore is broken itself!
We must look to another source.
Good news! We have one....
Since the moment of rebellion, God has been working His plan of reconciliation.
Understand this:
“Christianity is not about avoiding hell and acquiring heaven.”
The Kingdom of God is not about heaven vs. hell…as hollywood likes to portray it.... It is about relationship.
It is about the answer to the question: How do we restore a dynamic relationship with our God AND with the rest of creation? How do we live?!
We have been given the answer to that question, and Christ has made us ambassadors of that message. Amen!
(look at what Paul says about it)
2 Cor
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation;
that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.
So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
We have a message — We were lost…deserving death…separated from God by SIN....But God....But God…sent Jesus…to pay the price…to reconcile us…to restore our communion with Himself!
And He has entrusted that message to us! How awesome is that!?!
Do you really understand that? We are a restored community… We cannot continue to look like…act like…talk like…do things like…the world around us does.
We have been restored…reconciled…and called to be unified in one purpose…one mission!
That is why Jesus prayed:
“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word,
that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
John
You see.... all those circumstantial beliefs do not matter to unity. We do not have to agree on “end times” theology — whether we will be raptured or not.... We do not have to agree on “predestination,” or “speaking in tongues,” or “how to worship,” or ......
We only have to agree on a few central truths (which are found in every denomination) —
1. The Bible is the inerrant Word of God. (it is the sole source of truth)
2. We are a broken being, in need of reconciliation.
3. Jesus is the One and Only way to receive that reconciliation.
4. Through God’s Grace, we are invited into a relationship with Him.
You see.... The Gospel is not about....
....what we can get from God. (materialism)
....what we can do for God. (activism)
It is about what God can do THROUGH us when we enter into the relationship with Him.
It is about the privilege of being in a relationship with God!
Jesus gave us the example of what this “relational lifestyle” is supposed to look like. We are to...
Love like Jesus. Forgive like Jesus. Forbear like Jesus. Live like Jesus. Pray like Jesus. (from cover to cover, THAT IS WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS!)
In other words, our lifestyle should reveal Jesus by not looking like the world around us.
When we get up in the morning, and brush our teeth, comb our hair,…when we look in the mirror, we should ask ourselves:
Am I abiding in His Word?
Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples;
and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
2. Am I embracing His call on my life?
Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Lk
So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.
3. How am I demonstrating His life?
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.
4. How am I representing His Love?
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
In other words, are those things evident in my life?!
And be honest with yourself.
Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me and teach me your law.
These things draw attention to God....they reveal our connection to Him.
“Preach always, when necessary use words.” — St. Augustine of Hippo
It is not about our words.... it’s about Our lifestyle…because THAT reveals our faith.
Either our lifestyle will point to Christ, or it will not.
If we are going to live a lifestyle that reveals God’s message of reconciliation, then we MUST be connected to Him. He must be the head, and we must be the body.
The body cannot survive without the head…(that’s why do not see headless bodies walking around)...Relationship with God is the key to a healthy church body.
Each part of the body must fulfill its purpose within the whole, ACCORDING TO THE DIRECTION OF THE HEAD.
Any given part cannot function to its full potential without a connection to the head.
Unity in the body is found only in a connection with the Head!
That central focus on God....as each one of us makes Him the control center of our lives…is what brings unity to the church.... it is what allows us to celebrate the diversity of the body, and to work together in mutual purpose, caring for and providing for each other’s needs, as we seek to share Christ’s message with the world around us.
Unity is what makes us family.
That’s what the early church (1st century) experienced.
They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
Acts
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 favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul—
it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
The sad thing is that this unity did not last long.....
Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.
If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.
Gal
The reason Paul had to write to them in this way is that unity had broken down. (anger, malice, greed, pride, gossip, divisiveness, and struggling for control all work to breakdown unity — that is what had crept into the Church)
How did this happen? Especially in such a short period of time.
Can we agree that people get in the way?
Often people’s ideas about church, and how it should function distract us from God.
Let me say this — unlike what many believe —
Unity is not the same as uniformity.
God celebrates diversity, and how the church looks in one part of the world, or time period, is not necessarily how it will look in another time and place.
Unity does not require assimilation to a set standard of practice, dress, actions, etc.....as many believe. Nor does it destroy the ability to celebrate diversity in the body....in fact, it embraces it, celebrates it, and finds strength in it!
The human body is a unit, based in the connection between the various parts, all functioning as ONE.... Common blood, DNA, nervous system, memories, etc....
The same is true for the Body of Christ. Healthy Church Bodies function as ONE.
The awesome thing is that God built this same basic unity into our DNA as His Church:
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
The Church is established, unified, and empowered by the Lord.
Let me step on some toes..... Let me tell you....
You did not establish this church!
You did not call it together…you do not control it....you do not build it....you do not get to decide who does what and how they do it!
ONLY GOD DOES THAT!
He is the DIRECTOR. (He heads the Church)
He is the DEVOTION. (He loves the Church)
He is the DYNAMIC. (He empowers the Church)
He is the DEFENSE. (He protects the Church)
We have all been baptized into (connected to) the body of Christ.
We didn’t do it ourselves.
God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
We were adopted into God’s family by His choice! We are all children of the Same Father who rules over us, works through us, and lives in us.
We forfeit unity when we forget this.
The reason the early church lost the unity it had early on is that the people forgot their calling....they forgot who they were....they forgot who Christ is to the church....and that caused them to lose unity.
Unity is essential to the life of the Church, and to our own spiritual health. Not only that —
It has a tremendous effect on how we relate to the world around us — to other churches, denominations, and nationalities....
It effects how we work together in the Kingdom. Unity should be eliminating competition, and instead, encourage cooperation.
God gave each of us “gifts of the Spirit” for the purpose of unity and strength in the life of the Church.
It is our responsibility to protect and reserve the unity of the body.
Eph
making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
It is the unity of the Church that preserves the sanctity of the Gospel message.
The number one reason people refuse to believe our message is this: We cannot agree with each other.
We are busy arguing semantics and ideas that do not matter to the essential message of reconciliation.
This is why Jesus prayed:
“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word,
that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
Did you notice those last words?
“So that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
Oneness…Unity is so powerful in this fractured and self-centered world that — when observed — it causes people to realize that our message — that Jesus — is something special....something more than what they have experienced....That there is something much, much better then the world they live in.
That is why Jesus commanded us to “Love one another.”
Mutual love for one another confirms true discipleship, and changes the world.
It is the reciprocal nature of LOVE that captures people’s attention. Only Jesus can establish this type of love in us.
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
God is Love.
We can only love because we are His.
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.
God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.
In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.
No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
1 Jn 4
Love for one another is a natural trait of one connected to and living by the Holy Spirit.
Look at Paul’s prayer in 1 Thesselonians:
Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you.
And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you.
And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
1 Thess
Look at what he tells them in chapter 4
Now concerning love of the brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anyone write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another;
and indeed you do love all the brothers and sisters throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, beloved, to do so more and more,
to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we directed you,
so that you may behave properly toward outsiders and be dependent on no one.
1 Thess 4:
The Word “Love” has been abused in our culture. It has been so badly misused that people do not really understand it anymore.
We use it for many ideas — love my parents....love pizza....love baseball…love my siblings…love my spouse…love my friends....
The Greek language had four words for “love”.
eros — feelings (conditional)
storge — familial (conditional)
philos — friendship (conditional)
agape — foundational love - based on personal strength and commitment - a choice (unconditional)
The world easily expresses the first three, because they are involuntary. They are simply responses to mutual benefit.
Agape love — scriptural love — is different. It requires a choice…an act of our will. Agape love is what the Lord commanded in “love one another.”
It is the unconditional acceptance and selfless giving that flows out of one who is more concerned about filling the needs of the other then protecting/providing for his own.
That is the kind of love that Jesus demonstrated for us.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Unconditional love is the music to the gospel.
It begins with a DESIRE to meaningfully connect with people....
in a way that stimulates
that stimulates a DECISION to pursue meaningful connections....
and manifests in DEEDS that promote deeper community.
Never think that you have arrived....
In his words to the church in Thessalonica, Paul urged them to pursue love more and more...
The love demonstrated in the early church was clearly visible....that kind of love has to go beyond deeds. Even the world can love with deeds....
How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?
Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.
Kind of sounds like James doesn’t it?
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?
If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food,
and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?
So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
Love preserves unity because it keeps us focused on the ministry to one another, and builds our faith.
Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.
Love is the core of the Gospel.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
When asked about the greatest commandment,
Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one;
you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Let me ask you: Is your love visible? Would your love inspire others to pray and thank God?
Or, Would our lack of love inspire others to pray for us?
Prejudice, pride, bitterness, unforgiveness, indifference, anger, rejection, strife, controlling attitudes, gossip, are all demonstrations of a closed heart.
Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness,
idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions,
envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
These are evidence of a “lack of love,” and serve only to break down unity in the body.
Do our actions and attitudes promote and preserve unity, or disunity and strife?
There are seven things that the writer of Proverbs tells us that God hates:
There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that hurry to run to evil,
a lying witness who testifies falsely, and one who sows discord in a family.
How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!
Let us seek to promote and preserve unity in the body through love of one another.