"Our House" pt.1

Do I really have to be involved with the church?

This is the age old question that is secretly asked around every evangelical circle in the country
Especially in the south where almost everyone would identify with following Jesus

When I was in my early 20s, I was amazed by the idea of the church and I was curious about what it was really supposed to look like based on scripture.

I found myself digging through the book of Acts looking at the foundations of the local church
And as I began looking into story after story of the early church, I began to realize that I had missed the point of church. I also began to realize a vast majority of the people I had come in contact with at church didn’t really get it either.
If you really think about it, what does church mean?

In theological circles, you’ll find the local church and the universal church
The idea is that local churches are visible representations of the universal church

Rocky point, West Carthage, Williamsville, would all be examples of local churches who’s members would collectively make up the universal church.
But even that doesn’t make sense at first glance

That somehow if you follow Jesus you’re automatically connect to this intricate spiritual family of people you’ve never met

What about being a part of the church?

We call it church membership, and I’m a huge fan of it

The idea of it is that you are partnering your life to the life of a local church, and you are publicly affirming that your beliefs align with beliefs and vision of that local church.
We can wrap our head around that a little bit, but when we look at it in scripture, we find the body analogy.
Paul defines members of the local church as the universal body of Christ, and everything that members do are lead by Christ as the head.

That’s a little foreign too if you think about it

What about other definitions?

A place where evangelical doctrine is preached- John Calvin
Real people that are spiritually involved in the hearts of the people around us and to constantly be open to every gospel opportunity that comes our way
A visible expression of the body of Christ joined together under biblical leadership to grow in the likeness of Christ and to express God’s love to all nations- David Platt

What does the Bible say?

Paul offers this prayer for the church at Ephesus as he reflects on the goodness of Jesus towards this specific faith family, and through this prayer we’re going to try to define what it means to be the church.

1. We are the body of Christ (vs. 15-16, 22-23)

Before we can get too far into this, we have to decide how we’re going to define the church

When you think about the church there are typically two thoughts that come to mind

1. The church is a building

It’s a place that we go

2. The church is something that I do

I go to Sunday school, I’m in the choir, I’m this or that

Neither one of those are wrong, but if we’re not careful we’ll take those definitions literally

If the church is just a place that I go to do certain things, then it becomes something that is a part of my life when it’s convenient for me.
In a non-Covid world, we set aside three specific times a week, and those are the times that we have allocated to church.

That begins to bleed over into our personal spiritual lives

That’s the only time we pick up our Bibles so we’ve become illiterate Biblically
That’s the only time we “serve” so we really just do it so we can pat ourselves on the back
That’s the only time we interact with people spiritually so we really don’t know how to have gospel centered conversations

Paul writes this letter with specific people in mind

He is not writing a letter to be read over a building. He’s a writing a letter to be read over people.
He says that these specific people are a part of the body of Christ
So what if the church is actually who we are?

Your identity equates to how you do life.

It controls the way you make decisions and how you interact
So if our identity is in Jesus then our lives become connected and saturated by him

Think of it this way

2020 has taught us that we can go to church at home

It has also taught us that we need our faith families
God never intended for us to walk by faith alone
The church is united by the grace of Jesus to become a community of faith
Through the cross, Christ has impacted our lives vertically to draw us together in gospel centered relationships horizontally
The cross has taken all of differences and leveled the playing field

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭3:28‬ ‭ESV‬‬
We all the same sin problem, and we have all experienced the same redemption and grace of Jesus.

2. We are empowered by Christ (vs. 17-22)

Paul begins to pray that God would reveal himself to the church at Ephesus

That God would show his hope, his power, his redemption through Jesus to the church, and those things would be so real to the church that it literally changes their lives

God has literally changed our lives which literally changes everything in our lives

Diagram
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” ‭‭John‬ ‭15:5‬ ‭ESV‬‬
“My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”” ‭‭John‬ ‭10:29-30‬ ‭ESV‬‬
Jesus is in the Father and we are in Jesus which ties us back to the father

Here’s why this is so important

You’ll never be able to deal with the sin, the fear, the worry, the doubt, the pain, the suffering, your self worth, your anxiety in your life until you finally come to terms with the fact that God the Father put Jesus the son in your place to feel every possible inadequacy in your life
You are God’s inheritance

The one thing God didn’t have was you and he sent Jesus to get you and once he got you he’s never letting you go
He fights for you. He stands in the gap for you.
He brought you from death to life from being nobody to somebody from being broken to being restored.

We spend so much time praying that God would show up in our lives because we feel like he’s absent

The lady with the power ran and didn’t use
The power was there she just didn’t use
God is saying the greatest display of my moving in your personal life was the cross and I’ve already done that my power is there and available for you just step into it
This is why when Jesus says all authority is given to him in the great commission is so important

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28:18-20‬ ‭ESV‬‬
We are commissioned with the power of God

3. We reflect the glory of Christ (vs. 23)

We are his body which is the fullness of him which fills everything else

Have you ever been watching a movie or series with somebody that you’ve already watched so you know how it ends?

You’ve seen the end of the movie, and you’ve read the end of the book. You know how the story ends

So while everyone around us is watching the dark movie of life, we’re chilling because we know how it ends

Mirror analogy

The church is plan A of disciple making. This means you are the means by which the gospel is made known in the lives of the people around you.
He’s building his kingdom in and through his church

Our lives have been impacted vertically and horizontally

Look at the church and you’ll see my son

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭2:20‬ ‭ESV‬‬
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore 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.” ‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5:17-21‬ ‭ESV‬‬