Sermon Tone Analysis

! Week 3 – A BIBLICAL EDUCATION  - - -What is “CHURCH”?

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*What is CHURCH?

– It Began At Pentecost*

*. . .

With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation."

Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

Acts 2:37-41*

 

*I.

What Does the Word "Church" Mean?*

*Roughly from the Greek, ekklesia = Called Out*

*An Assembly of God's People*

*We are the Church - It is Not a Building or Facility*

 

*1  A Comment Directed at all of God’s People in General:*

*    But Saul began to destroy the church . .

.

Acts 8:3*

*    Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard*

*    about these events.

Acts 5:11*

 

*2  Various Assemblies of God’s People:*

   *Then the church*

*    throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of*

*    peace . .

.

Acts 9:31*

*    In the first place, I hear that when you come together as*

*    a church . .

.  1 Cor 11:18 *

 

*3  Members of an Individual Congregation:*

*    News of this reached the ears of the church at*

*    Jerusalem.

Acts 11:22*

*    *

*To the angel of the church in Sardis . .

.

Rev 3:1*

 

 

*Let’s EXAMINE the REVELATON TO THE CHURCH AT LAODICEA:*

* *

*REVELATION 3:14 – 22*

 

 

 

 

 

*(Revelation 3:14-22)  "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation.

15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.

I wish you were either one or the other!

16 So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

17 You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.'

But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.

So be earnest, and repent.

20 Here I am!

I stand at the door and knock.

If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

21 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.

22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."*

* *

*II.

How did the Church Originally Define, or See, *

*       Themselves?*

 

BEST ANALOGY :  A COVENANTAL PEOPLE OF CHRIST

 

*(Hebrews 8)  The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man. 3 Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer.

*

*4 If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law.

5 They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven.

This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."

6 But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.*

* 7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.

*

*8 But God found fault with the people and said : "The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

9 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. 10 This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord.

I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.

I will be their God, and they will be my people.

11 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.

12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

13 By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.*

*IN THIS COVENANT - WE, THE CHURCH, Are GOD’s DWELLING PLACE*

* *

* *

*1  You are fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.

And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Eph 2:19-22*

 

2  The NT has more than 100 descriptive expressions:

*        Body of Christ (Eph 4:15-16) – Members (1 Cor 6:12)*

*        The Body (1 Cor 12:12-27) - The Bride (Eph 5:22)*

*        A New Creation - (2 Cor 5:17) - New People (Eph 2:14)*

*        Fighters Against Satan (Eph 6:10-20) - Bearers of Light*

*        (Eph 5:7-9) - Fellowship of Faith or Saints - (1 Cor 1:2)*

*        The Faithful (Col 1:2) - Witnesses (John 15:26-27)*

*        Household of God (1 Pet 4:17) - et. al.*

 

* *

* *

*III.

What Defines Us:  Church People?*

* *

*III.

What Defines Us:  Church People?*

 

*1   Demonstration of Christ's redemption by personal*

*     conduct.

Rom 12:1-13:7 and Col 3:12-4:1*

* *

*2   Removal of Sin by Personal Discipline.

Gal 5:19-26*

* *

*3   Having a Christ-Centered lifestyle.

Eph 4:17-24*

* *

*4   Demonstrating the lordship of Christ by Nurturing and*

*     Loving One Another.  1 Cor 11:17-22 and 14:1-5*

* *

*5   Strengthening other Christians.  1 Cor 14:26*

* *

*6   Proclaiming “the Lord's death until he comes.”*

*     1 Cor 10:16 and 11:26*

 

*Conclusion – Church Means Christlike People*

* *

*Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.     Eph 5:1-2 *

 

 

 

 

 

 

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CHURCH Church is the term used in the New Testament most frequently to describe a group of persons professing trust in Jesus Christ, meeting together to worship Him, and seeking to enlist others to become His followers.

A basic understanding of the church in the New Testament requires answers to the following four basic questions:

          What does the word "church" mean?

What were the characteristics of the early church's life?

How was the church organized?