I Love My Church Part 2 - Love Through Connecting
Notes
Transcript
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Last week … a servants heart
This week … Love by connecting
Object Lesson:
Fences … They come in all shapes, sizes, and styles. Some are short, small, and others are walls or fortresses.
In every case, what is a fence designed to do?
(Keep something in or keep something out, right?)
**Tell story about the large bushes that surrounded our house as a kid (Dad wanted to keep people out)
Application to today’s message:
The fence is the separation between the two spaces. It was the barrier between the front, which everyone was allowed to see, and the back, which is where we lived.
Illustrate this point: generally the front yard is always kept very nice (flowers, mulch, bushes trimmed, etc) but the back yard is slightly different … toys, bikes, weeds, doggy dodo, etc …
Transition
Transition
As we continue our series I Love My Church this concept is going to play a big part in what we’ll see today as part of God’s plans for the church: (YES, Evangelism) that we would live connected lives. God wants us to live connected with Him and connected with one another. God wants us to know true community.
Textual Background:
Textual Background:
In our Christian culture today, many have relegated theology as boring and irrelevant.
The emphasis in many churches in on pragmatics: How can I improve my marriage? Teach me how to raise my children in today’s culture! How can I reach my full potential in my career or in the job?
Don’t give me any doctrine. I just want to know what works!”
But the New Testament never divorces doctrine from deeds. What we believe impacts how we behave.
Paul spends the first three chapters of Ephesians laying out many glorious theological truths before he applies it in chapters 4-6.
He does the same thing in Romans 1-11, before the practical instruction in chapter 12. It is vitally important that we understand who God is, who we are, and what God has done for us in Christ as the foundation for how we live as Christians.
Understanding our position in Christ is the basis for our practice in daily life.
Hebrews … same pattern
Although the author interrupts occasionally to bring application, most of the first 10 chapters of Hebrews teach us how Jesus is Greater!
Jesus is superior to the Angels
Jesus is superior to Moses
Jesus is superior to the priests
Starting in Hebrews 10:19, the author shows how Christ’s superiority should motivate us to stand strong in our faith, endure trials, and grow closer to God and stay close to one another.
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Key words: confidence (vs. 19), draw near (vs. 22), hold unswervingly (23), let us consider (24), not giving up (25).
Before I unpack this, let’s go back to our fence. Let’s picture our lives as a yard. If a lot of us were honest, we’d admit that we like a good fence.
What we are comfortable showing people and letting people know about us is our front lawn … Very nicely kept.
But the backyard … that’s different!
That’s the real us, and getting in there is by invite only. In fact, even if you don’t have a fence, you like to build one anyway. We don’t want our friends to see the parts of our yard (lives) that are dirty and messy.
Here’s the BIG DEAL - God doesn’t like fences!!
Last week we said … We believe that God wants us to LOVE THE CHURCH!
If we’re going to love the church the way God wants us to, then we have to:
1. Know That Jesus Knocked Down the Fence!
1. Know That Jesus Knocked Down the Fence!
Before we talk about the fence we put up between us and other people, we have to realize that there’s was is a fence between us and God.
This is what our text is referencing …
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
**In the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus Jesus tells us that there is a great chasm between us and God (Luke 19:26)
Crashing the fence is as easy as admitting that we need Jesus to knock down the fence … without Him we are far from God. (Illustrate with sledge hammer or baseball bat)
We all have a GIANT fence
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Because of the fence, we’ll never get to God without Jesus
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God knew we’d have a big fence before we even had a yard
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
If we just. Admit we have a fence and we need it torn down, Jesus crashes the fence for us.
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
He never denies a fence crashing job!
13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
We are born with a BIG fence between us and God which keeps us from having community with Him, but once He knocks down the fence we need to stop trying to repair the fence.
22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
Theology: we can draw near to God because of what Jesus did.
Hebrews 1. Knowing Jesus Has Opened the Way, Let Us Draw near to God (19–22)
Let us draw near: We can draw near because several issues are settled. The problem of access to God has been settled. The problem of a perfect High Priest has been settled. The problem of moral and spiritual pollution has been settled.
“Draw near” this command wouldn’t have been given if it wasn’t needed. These Jewish Christians were used to separation from God, so they began to go back to their life before Christ.
CLOSENESS TO GOD CAN SOMETIMES BE UNCOMFORTABLE for us. These discouraged Christians had a problem in drawing near. This was their real problem: they left their intimate relationship with Jesus, and nothing else in their life was going right.
After Jesus knocks down the fence between us and God, we need to …
2. Allow Others Into Our Yard
2. Allow Others Into Our Yard
23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
I thought you said that Jesus knocked down our fence! Yes, but we have another fence that we need to knock down … the fence between other people.
We’ve become very good at worshipping God together in the same room, but from BEHIND OUR FENCES!
Example: VBS @ MMGT and Joanne Nagy
People worshipped and even prayed at the altar with complete strangers. We created space for fellowship - still not working
The problem is, we go through life with this mentality …
Illustration: Home Improvement
Tim’s family had a next-door neighbor named Wilson. Nearly the entire series, this is all we ever saw. (Show picture.) The Taylors lived next door to Wilson for years, yet they never saw his face.
Sometimes it’s like that for church folks. We sit in the pews with people. We serve together. We may even enjoy Bible study with one another, but we never see someone’s whole face. We only get a glimpse of them from behind our fences.
DOING LIFE TOGETHER!
DOING LIFE TOGETHER!
This is what we do when we do life together …
“Let us hold unswervingly”
Discouragement made them waver from the truth (See how important right theology is!) They had to renew their confidence in Jesus.
“Let us consider how we may spur one another on”
The Greek noun often used for “spur” almost always came with a negative connotation but not in this case. It means to “stir up”, “rouse” or even “provoke,” always connected with Love.
Example: Golf with Gus (I unintentionally entered into a mentorship program every Saturday morning)
Hebrews 3. Let Us Pursue the Community of God’s People (24–25)
Let us consider one another: Discouragement made them avoid community at the very time they needed it most. Jesus meets us in one another to stir up love and good works.
“not giving up meeting together”
“Forsake” - a sure way to become discouraged
Discouragement kept them from meeting together which is exactly what they needed the most.
Application:
Are you letting people in your yard?
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