3-legged stool series - Community
Community…the Method of Jesus
Intro
In case you have missed it I am finishing up a series tonight. It is the 3 legged-stool series. (3-legged stool) First I talked about the Word of God, secondly I talked about prayer. Tonight I am talking about the third leg, which is Christian Fellowship.
To Worship
We are at our best; together in worship.
There’s nothing more awesome than when the church is gathered together in worship of the King! Any different week you will see teens come with all kinds of history, baggage, hurts and issues, and when we break though into the Presence of Jesus it is a glorious thing.
Psalm 133 (NKJV) " Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, Descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the Lord commanded the blessing— Life forevermore."
Unity is more than just the absence of strife…it is dwelling together in peace and purpose!
This speaks of an anointing, and the anointing is power
To Be Connected
You were not created to “go it alone”
The idea that you don’t need anyone is just silly
We are called to be connected with one another just like a body.
1 Corinthians 12:12-27 (The Message) "You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body. It’s exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. …The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance. You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this.”
To be disconnected from the body is to be dead.
To Mature
Ephesians 4:11-16 (NKJV) "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love."
To Be a Witness
John 13:35 (The Message) "This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”"
People are looking for a place to belong.
If people know you are a Christian (and they should!) they will be watching you.
To Give Hope
Many don’t realize that what is inside of you can give hope to others! Have you been through some stuff? Are you a survivor? Then tell your story! “The enemy has been trying to kill me for years…but I’m still standing!”
The gifts that the Lord has given you are for others.
Hebrews 10:24-25 (The Message) "Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching."
Area of improvement: lift each other up and speak words of life. Guys are emotionally retarded.
People in our community will:
Tell us things we don’t want to hear.
When we do wrong
Tell us things we need to hear
Things to encourage us and point us to Jesus
Go before Jesus for us and pray.
Breaking Fellowship
It is never a good thing unless ordered by the Lord.
There are many different reasons why this may happen:
The leadership feels that someone is damaging enough to the overall community, and make that decision for them.
You cannot get on board with the pastor’s vision and direction for the church or ministry
The Lord issues you your marching orders and it you have to obey and move on.
ANNOUNCEMENT TIME!
Wed Aug 10. (spread the word to all current and former Forerunners) Sunday Aug 14th last Sunday.
“where are you going?” I don’t know.
**nothing wrong with you guys!**