On Being the Church

*this is from a previous sermon series I did just a few years ago called, The Church + Her Mission

Intro to the Series:

John Stott said this in his book Living Church, “The church lies at the very center of the eternal purpose of God. It is not a divine afterthought. It is not an accident of history.”

“Understanding the doctrine of the church is of the utmost importance. It is the most visible part of Christian theology, and it is vitally connected with every other part.” Mark Dever

“And we believe in one, holy, catholic/universal, and apostolic Church.” The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (381 A.D.)

Church, is it a building? denomination? are all churches the same? Christian?

My Experience + Your Experience

Historically these are the characteristics of the church that orthodox christians have affirmed their belief in for centuries but to understand the doctrine of the Church rightly, we must start and end with what God says, i.e. what do we read in scripture that leads us to a proper orientation to who God is and what is his mission and who we are and what our mission/purpose is

departures from the bibles understanding of the church signal more central misunderstandings about the christian faith. we see a poorly modeled, and most times errant representation of the gospel, christ, and Gods mission for the church.

which is why some of us have been burned or feel repulsed or have a very poor view of the church, even a wrong view!

there are differences among many christians, agreeing upon the primary and most central issues of salvation, still have different views on any number of what we call secondary issues within the church, that is issues not having to do with our salvation. wrong ecclesial teaching and practices make the gospel fuzzy, unclear, while right ecclesial practices and teaching clarifies it, makes it clear.

The church truly can be, and is the gospel made visible to a lost and broken world.

The bible is our foundation. We’re going to go wide(like a wide angle lens)to understand what God’s word teaches us about the church, our role in the world, his love for us, and the mission we’re to be about. Then we’ll continue to narrow down our field of view looking more specifically about the church

seeing the church in all of the redemptive story/scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation.

understanding the church through the metaphor of the Garden, and then the Kingdom. What does the life and mission of the church look like corporately(all of us together) and individually(just you)? How does God accomplish his mission? How do we accomplish the mission God has given to us?

1 Peter 2:9-10, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

Peter weaving OT language to describe the church. (Ex 19:6, Is 43:20-21; Ho 1:6, 9; 2:1) A people who were once NOT a people, now are a kingdom!

Going wide to see the entire flow of God’s plan and mission for the church, understanding the church through the Garden Metaphor and Kingdom Image. We’ll narrow down the focus even more to see what the corporate life of the church is to look like as well as the individual life of every believer who is part of the church. What is our mission? What do we proclaim to the world around us? Why and how are we to equip and empower one another to advance the work God has called us to? How do we make the gospel visibly clear among us.

In focusing us on this topic and in this series my hope is to accomplish three things:

Give you a clear and biblical understanding of who we are(the people of God) and what we are called to do in this world(our mission) so that you know without doubt what it means to be a church and to be on mission Our unity and identity as a local church would be strengthened, and specifically understanding our identity as a church within a Network of other Liberti ChurchesTo equip + empower you, the people of God, so that you and I, all of us together are excited and engaged in the work that God has called us to do, corporately and individually.

Over the next few weeks I want to give you the framework for understanding why we do what we do, what we’re supposed to be doing, so that you are empowered and encouraged to go after the things God has laid on your heart, affirmed by his word, and helped along by your brothers and sisters

According to the bible, the church is the people of God, the assembly and body of Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and the view has been held by in every major church heritage. Some traditions focus on being the people of God, while others focus on simply being the disciples of Christ, and even others focus primarily on the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Either way, we’re probably all guilty of having tunnel vision when it comes to any one model!

It’s best to understand the doctrine of the church with a trinitarian view of things, meaning, that every person of the God head, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were at work and are at work in the church.

Ok, The Wide Angle Lens.

Part One: The Church

Ekklesia from Genesis to Revelation

Being rooted in story. Liberti Churches see all of life, scriptures, and the church through the lens of the Gospel and teach with the understanding that all of the scriptures point to Jesus, seeking to motivate people with the Gospel and not with moralism, intellectualism, or mere experience.

The excitement of being part of something bigger than yourselves. The story of the church is definitely way bigger than any of us and it is way cooler and exciting than most of us give it credit for!

Look at the connections(connections slide)

It is a Romantic, World Changing, Culture Shaping, Cosmic Battle Raging story

There is clear continuity of the visible people of God between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Where we came from, our family history, which is a crazy family history! The reunion is going to be insane! But our story starts with the people of Israel, and that story starts in Genesis 1:1

We are rooted in a story

Let’s start with the OT People

From Adam to Israel

“So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.” genesis 1:27

the story line with adam…

the presence of God with his people, the wrench that sin throws into this, and God working to redeem and reconcile his people so that presence is restored fully once again.

…to israel

By the time we get to the book of Exodus, Israel is a people, and often referred to as a collective whole. At Exodus 15:13-16, they are “the people you have purchased”

“Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone, till your people, O Lord, pass by, till the people pass by whom you have purchased.”

They have been Claimed at Mt. Sinai, where “the 10 Words” of the structure of government and life as a people instructed by God himself, their King.

we see now the word assembly in relation to Gods people, Israel, rescued and purchased by God.

“For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before the Lord.” Numbers 15:15

qahal = the assembly of God’s distinct people for a distinct purpose

The Hebrew people collectively as a holy community (Num. 15:15)

These assemblies were convened for the purpose of engaging in solemn religious services (Ex. 12:27; Num. 25:6; Joel 2:15)

Receiving new commandments (Ex. 19:7, 8)

The elders, who were summoned by the sound of one trumpet (Num. 10:4), represented on various occasions the whole congregation (Ex. 3:16; 12:21; 17:5; 24:1)

In subsequent times the congregation was represented by the Sanhedrim; and the name synagogue, applied in the Septuagint version exclusively to the congregation, came to be used to denote the places of worship established by the Jews.

qahal =The assembly of God’s distinct people for a distinct purpose

Exodus 19:2-6, There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

Deut 4:10. 9:10, “…on the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.”

“And the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words that the Lord had spoken with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly.”

debt 18:16, “…just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly…”

Joshua 24:1, “Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And they presented themselves before God.”

Leviticus 23:1, “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.”

Psalm 68:17, “The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,

thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.”

Corporately Israel was called or named or identified as God’s Son(Exodus 4:22), Spouse(Ezek 16:6-14), the apple of His eye(Deut 32:10), his vine(Isa 5:1-7), his flock(Ezek 34:4).

what was the purpose of those gatherings?

To worship God

To be strengthened by His Word

To be a witness to the Nations around them

But the people of Israel failed to do what God had commanded them to do, so they were exiled, still a people, but exiled from the place in which God had promised they could settle down and grow and have a good life with Him.

The Prophets brought God’s renewed promise and claim on them, predicting both restoration and renewal, new hearts, restored land, the presence of God restored! The people of God longed to worship God where he was

(Is 40:10-11 “Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him;

behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.”

Je. 31:33-34, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” “And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Ezk 36:25-28) “You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”

It was the presence of God is what made the people of God distinct, He went where they went, was present where they were present, he tabernacled with them and this is what carries over to the church today, both receive a glimpse of the glory that await us as his people!

the people gathered to worship at Sinai

then gathered to worship at the Tabernacle

then gathered to worship at the Temple in Zion, Jerusalem

then…were exiled without a place to worship or gather before God.

Now the NT People of God

The NT People of God, the ekklesia

George Ladd in his book, The Gospel of the Kingdom, makes it clear that at the very least God has consistently had a plan to glorify his name through groups of people he chose and took as his own.

Judges 20:2, “the people of God”

Greek equivalent, “to lao, tou theo” is used by the writer of Hebrews, 11:25, 4:9. 1 Peter 2:10, John the Baptist (Luke 1:17)

“By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.” Hebrews 11:25

“Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” 1 peter 2:10

luke 1:17,  “…he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

qahal to ekklesia

The Septuagint(explain the history and significance of this)translates Deut 4:10 from qahal to ekklesia.

The Septuagint (from the Latin septuaginta, "seventy") is a translation of the Hebrew Bible and some related texts into Koine Greek. It is also called the Greek Old Testament. This translation is quoted a number of times in the New Testament, particularly in Pauline epistles, and also by the Apostolic Fathers and later Greek Church Fathers.

The title lit. "The Translation of the Seventy" and its Roman numeral acronym LXX refer to the legendary seventy Jewish scholars who solely translated the Five Books of Moses into Koine Greek as early as the 3rd century BCE. Separated from the Hebrew canon of the Jewish Bible in Rabbinic Judaism, translations of the Torah into Koine Greek by early Jewish Rabbis have survived as rare fragments only.

Used 114 times in the NT the word Church(ekklesia) = a local congregation/assembly AND the universal/corporate body of Christ.

It also conveyed the side of a gathering of people called to perform a specific task

In Acts 7:38 and Heb 2:12 it describes OT assemblies, Luke uses it three times to describe a riot(which sometimes wild and crazy church lunches can be described as!)coming after Paul in Ephesusa(Acts 19:32, 39, 41)and the remaining 109 refer to Christian assmeblies.

Jesus founded his own assembly, he spoke of gathering and identifying the qahal as recorded predominately throughout the gospels but he names the church in the Gospel of Matthew 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.” Matthew 16:18

and 18:17. That’s it.

Throughout Acts the ekklesia are spread throughout the region

Paul writes to these ekklesia, both regionally and specifically, as well as referring to the larger universal ekklesia

IN the book of revelation, more occurrences of the word but all used in the first three chapters, when writing to specific churches in specific cities.

Images and Names of the Church

no one single image can comprehend all aspects of the church. Images of servant, community of people, the temple, the bride, the “salt of the earth”, a city on a hill, “a letter from Christ”, the “family of God”

It’s incredible how God goes at lengths to use language and images that we can understand and identify with so that he might be known to us, he graciously and mercifully and kindly condescends to reveal himself in such a way that we can get our hearts and minds wrapped around.

What makes us distinct from the OT people of God(and we talked about this back in our series through Ephesian’s, “once you were not a people, now you are a people…”)

God’s people in the OT are ethnically distinct, now we are ethnically mixed(see clowney’s description of this). In the OT they lived under their own government, now we live among the rulers of the nations. In the OT they were required to circumcise their male offspring, in the new we are required to Baptize all believers.

Why this change? Jesus fulfilled all the explicit promises of God in the OT! He is the temple and the priest, the sacrifice, the land, king, even Israel as a whole, he fulfills everything they were commanded to do.

Israel and the church are not identical, closely related yes, but only through Jesus Christ. Jesus fulfills and makes certain every promise given by God.

land, kingdoms, every tongue tribe and nation, ethnicity, and more Jesus is and accomplished for us.

Now, God’s people no longer gather to worship in Jerusalem, but in the heavenly Jerusalem(Hebrews 12:22). We assemble here on earth because we assemble there, where Jesus is. We come to where the assembly of Lord is and he comes by His Spirit to the assembly where we are!

IN fact, because the Lords true assembly is in heaven, it appears in many ways on earth: in house churches, city churches, suburban churches, the church universal. Where two or three are gathered in his name, so he is there. (Matt 18:20, 28:18-20)

Four Major Image Clusters:

The Church is the People of God, the product of God’s gracious work of transforming individual sinners into a single people deriving their identity from Him and not themselves

The Church is the New Creation, both corporately and individually as the first fruits of the resurrection of Christ(1 Cor 15:20-23) *we will see more of this “fruit" theme next week, the great final resurrection has begun!

The Church is a Fellowship, distinct from the world around us, being set apart for a special purpose. NOT just to eat casseroles and meeting up to drink coffee to talk about the latest conference we just went to! We have a unique purpose and a unique bond that knits us together.

The Church is the Body of Christ, a gathering of people who are one but with a diversity of gifts for a united purpose in the mission of God. Over the next few weeks I hope to provide you with some tools and opportunities to find out what those gifts are, tho help us all explore and discover what specific work it is God has called us corporately and you individually to do. As a church, what strategic ways can we impact the world around us as we seek to live, speak, and serve as the very presence/assembly/gathering/church/people of God in Newtown Square and beyond? As a mother, husband, coworker, employee, teacher, friend, neighbor, leader, how are you uniquely gifted to serve as no one else can serve?

My prayer is that the Spirit of God would increasingly be at work in and through us.

Application

The church is people. We are the people of God. A people rescued from our own sin, given victory of death, and who have a certain hope of life eternal. We are a people saved by grace, through faith in Christ and in Christ alone. The presence of God is among us in the person and the power of the Spirit of God.

what was the purpose of our gatherings?

To worship God

To be strengthened by His Word

To be a witness to the Nations around us

The Spirit of the Risen Lord dwells with us! That should make a difference, shouldn’t it?!

A Call to respond to the Gospel

A Call to participate in the life and rhythms of our Church

A Call to study God’s word and see for yourself all that you are and called to do in Christ.

Let’s Pray.