Inaugural Sermon

Village Community

Village Community

Opening-The Word of God

This book was written over 1500 years, on 3 different continents and by 40 different authors and it has the same message from beginning to end.  

For all those over 18/ for all those under 18

That the God of the bible Yahweh created the heavens and the earth. He made man and woman and put them in the garden. The man and woman sinned and were tossed out of the garden, death entered the world and mankind was separated from a Holy God.

After a time God revealed himself to a man name Abraham and made a covenant with him. He gave Abrahams people laws to follow.  And when they messed up, they could make sacrifices to be forgiven. But God so loved the world that he sent his only son into the world that whosoever believe that in him shall not perish but have ever lasting life. This son was named Jesus and he died on a cross for the sins of the world rose on the third day, hung out for about 40 days then ascended to Heaven.  He is coming back to judge the living and the dead and all those who have believed on his name will be called up to live in Heaven for all eternity.

Correct, they are exactly the same.

And what’s so cool about that is that this Bible is the only bible you will ever need. It has all the promises of God and you do not have to wait to receive them.  As we will see today, you have access to the Holy Spirit and there is no Jr. Holy Spirit.  You get all the promises and the same Triune God as your parents do. The same Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

And that’s so cool.

Here is a few things that the Bible says about itself.

John 1:1 (ESV): 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 (ESV): 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 (ESV): 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Hebrews 4:12–13 (ESV): 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Wow, the word of God is living and active, God Breathed, its actually God himself and has been here from the beginning.

This book tells you:

Where you came from, why you are here, what your purpose is while your here, and finally where you are going. It is indescribable. 

But perhaps most importantly, is that it has Authority over me, and over every creature on earth whether they believe it or not.

It is the word of God and it carries all the answers you will ever need be live a prosperous life.

 Psalm 1:1–6 (ESV): 1 Blessed is the man 

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, 

  nor stands in the way of sinners, 

nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 

 2  but his delight is in the law of the Lord, 

and on his law he meditates day and night. 

 3  He is like a tree 

planted by streams of water 

  that yields its fruit in its season, 

and its leaf does not wither. 

  In all that he does, he prospers. 

Doesn’t everyone want to live a prosperous life.  

I hold tightly to the promises in this book.  I am counting on them, and so far they/Him have proven faithful.  

As the song we sang proclaims, He is Good.

Prayer

One disclosure,  I am not a 3 points and Poem guy. It’s just not me.  I love the word. We will open it up, see what it says, and prayerfully the Holy, will teach you, encourage you, bless you in ways I could never even imagine, in supernatural ways. His word, for His people for His glory. Not my 3 points and a story.

So at some point today we will come to an end and will try really hard to land the plane, but maybe we wall just jump out and come back next week. At some point we will simply stop. Amy is really good at letting me know.

Please open your bibles if you have them, if not we will have most of the scriptures on the screen today.

Matthew 16:15–18 (ESV): 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.          

#1

Matt. 16:15-17

On this rock. This phrase has been discussed and debated with no end . In Greek, Petras is Peter and Petra is rock. Both can mean rock, so many think its Peter.  Some theologians think it is the confession of the Christ that’s the rock, others think it is the combination Apostolic Confession that is the rock and out of that flows our catholic friends structure of the apostolic succession resulting in a POPE who would always serve as the head of the church.  Currently POPE FRANCIS.  Still others claim that is the revelation itself that is the rock.  The God revealing to man the truth of His plan of redemption, revelation itself is the rock.  Not that it is of concern to us today because this is not the text that we will be diving into, but I think that it is the TRUTH STATEMENT that, Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. That statement is saying that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah.  And Jesus is saying that truth, That I am the Christ, the Messiah, is the truth, the rock, upon which I will build my church.

Awesome, all Good?

The text we are diving into today is the later half of 18

#2

Matt. 16:18

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

I thought this was a fitting scripture for today’s gathering.  The first part, I will build my Church.  This is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lord saying He is going to do something.  I am thinking its going to happen. Keep in mind, this was the word that was God and became flesh and dwelt amount us.  The first to rise from the grave and ascend to Heaven.  I think He is going to get the job down. But people grind themselves into the ground to build and maintain the church.  You here about families being neglected by one of the parents because they are always on duty. 24/7 all day every week all month all year.  This will lead to burn-out.  It happens all the time. And it is very sad. And the connectivity of technology is now exacerbating the problem. Pastors burning out, Marriages being destroyed.  Let’s all promise one another we will keep each other accountable to a healthy contribution to this local body and not jeopardize the health of our marriages or families.  Let’s trust the text, Christ will build his Church.

News Alert,

#3

You can NOT build a church without miracles.

No Miracles, No born again Believers.

#4

Eph. 2:4-5

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved

Miracle 

#5

1 Peter 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Miracle

#6

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

You become a new Creature with a new feature, the Holy Spirit…. Miracle

Col. 1:13

Colossians 1:13–14 (ESV): 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Miracle

You can hire great bands, fill auditoriums, bring in great speakers that can wow your mind, move your emotions and some can make you laugh until your ribs hurt.  But filling auditorium don’t grow the church, Miracles do. 

People, moving from death to life, from darkness to the light, from bondage to liberty, from oppression to deliverance, from bitterness to forgiveness, from strongholds to freedom! Miracles! That’s what grows churches. And God the Father, Jesus the son and the powerful Holy Spirit are in the Miracle business. Amen!

So if the triune God is in the Miracle business, what are we, the disciples of Christ supposed to do? 

Thanks to Jesus, he did not head back up until He delivered that great bit of information. 

Someone under 18, Can you tell me some of the last instruction Jesus left his disciples? 

And it is: the Great Commission

#7

The Great Commission

Matt 28:18-20

 Matthew 28:18–20 (ESV): And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

But what about the enemy?  The Old Testament only mentions Satan and his evil spirits a few times, but when Jesus comes on the scene they come out of the woodwork.  If if we are going to be on Jesus’ team how the heck are we going to manage.

The Gates of Hell are alive and well. How can we penetrate the Gates of Hell.

New Alert: the greatest lie the devil ever told was to convince people he does not exist. 

 But he does.  Both Jesus and Paul call him the ruler of this world

#8

Eph. 6:12

Ephesians 6:12–18 (ESV): 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 

13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;   17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

Now these can provide some great protection.  Let’s look at Jesus’ example when he was doing battle with the enemy. What did he do, what weapons did he use.

#9

Luke 4:1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for 40 days

Luke 4:14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee…

To start with, after Jesus was baptized in the Jordan we see Jesus, Full of the Holy Spirit and being led by the Holy Spirit into the desert to do battle with Satan.  So obviously He was in constant prayer and communication with the Holy Spirit.  Eph 6:18 instructed us  one of the weapons to battle the enemy was to pray in the Spirit at all times, with all prayer and supplication.

And time does not allow but most of you know that Jesus responded to all three of Satans temptations with the offensive weapon, the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.

Another great example is Jesus operated in the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit.

#10

Luke 4:18-19

Luke 4:18–19 (ESV): 18  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, 

because he has anointed me 

to proclaim good news to the poor. 

  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives 

and recovering of sight to the blind, 

to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 

 19  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Now is this anointing and power only available to Jesus or is it available to us?  He commissioned us to do all that he has commanded. He is transforming us into His image. He told us we would do greater things than He did. Wow. He he made us the promise that he would build the church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it, that’s us, those gates will not not keep us from carrying out our mission.  To bring liberty to the captives freedom to the oppressed good news to the poor. Deliverance to those held captive by the darkness of this world.

But we are going to need some power.

DUKE

Video games have all kind of power ups to help you get to the next stage. Tell us about the Mario cat, and the Zelda weapons. 

Yes, what do the scriptures tell us about powering up!

#11

Acts 1:8

1 Thes. 1:5

 Acts 1:8 (ESV): 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

 1 Thessalonians 1:4–5 (ESV): For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.

POWER UP!!! Disciples, POWER UP!!

#12

1 Cor. 2:4

1 Corinthians 2:3–5 (ESV):  4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

1 Cor. 1:17

1 Corinthians 1:17 (ESV): 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

But all of this battling, all of this Powering up, Carrying out the Great Commision is all bathed  and motivated by Love. It is for the Love of the Oppressed, Bondaged, Poor, Sick, Needy

How do we carry out the Great Commission, by the great Commandment.

#13

Matt 22:36-40

Matthew 22:36–40 (ESV): 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

 Yes Love

Remember For God so Loved, he gave Jesus as the Lamb, the sacrificial lamb.  And Jesus lovingly submitted

#14

Jn 15:12-13

John 15:12–13 (ESV): This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

We, Christ disciples lay down our lives in the allies of this dark world to give the oppressed, those in bondage those caught in strongholds, those constrained and contained in the darkness to be liberated and delivered into the Kingdom of the son he loves. Into the light of eternal life with the loving Father. 

He is building His Church and the gates of hell are not prevailing, we are all living breathing examples! 

Amen