Everyone fully mature in Christ
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Intro
Intro
Our Church is like a car - imigine this with me for a minute.
Our church is a car. All the occupants are in here and we’re all heading to the same destination.
We are driven by the power of God. He is our power-plant, the life force that moves us. And The Lord’s power is transmitted to us via the means of grace - this is our drive line through our axles into our wheels.
God’s power takes effect in our lives through the ordinary means of discipleship like
Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Bible Doctrine A. How Many Means of Grace Are Available to Us?
1. Teaching of the Word
2. Baptism
3. The Lord’s Supper
4. Prayer for one another
5. Worship
6. Church discipline
7. Giving
8. Spiritual gifts
9. Fellowship
10. Evangelism
This is the gearbox and axles where God’s spirit and power move us forward.
So our church car, and every church throughout history has been driven by that same power of God through Christ to drive toward the same destination. We have all had these same means of grace - the same discipleship of Jesus.
So too, every church has the scripture as our GPS, telling us where we have come from, where we are going and how to get there as well as what obstacles we will face along the way.
So it’s all pre-packaged right? So what do we do? He’s given us everything! It seems that all we have to do is use the power that God supplies through the transmission he has given to drive forward to our destination.
If it’s all prepackaged - if the guts are the same for every church, why is that some churches look different? And that things in church have changed over time? And why does one church seem to be doing better than another if we all have the same internals? Why does one church over there succeed in one thing, but when it is copied over there it has no results?
Here’s where the rubber meets the road.
God has given us all we need to live the Christian life as a church community, and he drives it forward, but every church is in different situations - depending on
where we find ourselves in the course of history,
what culture is around us,
where our geographical location is.
and more!
No two churches are exactly alike.
The same goes for the people who make up this church and the world around us, none of use are exactly alike.
God has made us all as individual agents in an almost infinitely complex world and he gives us the responsibility to adapt to the terrain around us.
Continuing with our car/church metaphor, God says what the car is going to be like, he powers it, and transmits that power to us to drive it forward, but he lets us choose what tires we’re going to put on the car.
If we find ourselves on a smooth road we can choose slicks for speed,
Or perhaps if we’re in the snow we will need spiked winter tires,
Maybe All terrains are the best fit for the situation.
Or if it’s really mucky lets use knobbly muddies.
The Tires are the contact point with the world and tire choice will affect our journey as a church. A Bad choice of tires can have terrible consequences - we can get stuck spinning our wheels and going nowhere if we take the road tires up the sandy trail.
Conversely we could be flying down the highway on our muddies, hooking along but having our ears assaulted by the drone and have our backside made numb by the vibrations.
The terrain that lies before us will affect the way in which we interface with the world, and we need to interface God’s unchanging Gospel with and ever changing landscape.
You can call it contextualization. God’s truth and Christ’s saving power remain the same but the strategy, style and choices we make in taking it our to meet the world will vary.
The Apostle Paul is probably the most famous contexualiser. He was willing to revise his style and methods (without changing the message) in order to reach people with the Gospel. He was strategic in the cities where he went to plant churches, he would address Greek ideas and philosophy to introduce Greek people to Jesus.
He also said:
Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
To use the car metaphor again, when he was with Jews, Paul put on his “Jewish tires”, because that was the best way to get traction in that terrain. He changed willingly to suit the situation for the cause of Christ.
Paul might have preferred not to use this or that set of tires, but his preferences fell by the wayside as he sought to share the gospel.
So what am I getting at with us?
We’re a church who hope and desire to move forward in the Lord - to grow in maturity, to grow our effectiveness as disciples, to reach out to the surrounding community with the love of Christ and his Good News. We want God’s power to flow though us and find traction here in Sale - here at the end of the earth. ;)
The Flooding Creek church car has God as our driving force, his means of Grace as our driveline, His Word as our map.
We’re moving forward on God’s mission for us, but we need consider what tires we’re going to use to best engage with our location in time and space.
Unfortunately unlike the tire metaphor I’ve been using (and I promise to give it up soon!), we can’t just buy a set off the shelf. We need to tailor our contextual and strategic approach to suit the terrain in 2022.
We can’t just copy the style and strategy of Turkish churches in the first century.
We can’t just copy the model of the reformation church in 1600s Britain.
We can’t just lift what works in successful New York churches and apply that here.
There are some things about church that are going to be “standard” because that are part of that driveline that God has laid down in scripture - we gather, we sing, we hear the bible read and so on. But the way we go about it can be different, like where we meet, or when we meet, or what music style we use.
We can learn from other contexts, we can learn from history, we can learn from the church down the road, and we can learn from our own experience. If we’re spinning our wheels we try a different tact.
So, in the remainder of the time we have together, I wanted to do two things
Remind ourselves what we’re aiming for as a church, and,
Paint a picture of what we can do this year to move forward to that goal. Start to put some tires on so to speak.
Hopefully this morning can be something of a reference point for us, so that as you think about your place in this church community you can join us in this trajectory. It also means that as you see what’s going on around you in church, you can understand how we are trying to grow in faithfulness and fruitfulness. (in church doesn’t just mean here on Sunday morning between 10-11:30, it include the life of the body).
Our Mission
Our Mission
When we try and break down the epic scope of salvation and the mission of Jesus church into a neat summary to help keep us on task, there are several great verses we could choose from. There’s the classic Great Commission from Matthew 28 which so clearly lays out what we’re doing. There are also similar commissions in John 20 and Luke 24.
However here at Flooding Creek we’ve adopted our “life verse” from what we read a few minutes ago in Colossians 1, v28.
In this passage the apostle Paul is talking about his service to God and people as a preacher and church planter. He lays out a description of what he is doing and why he is doing it.
Look from v24:
Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—
So Paul describes himself as a servant, a minister, a deacon, of the gospel and of the church. This was God’s design and mission for Paul to go and declare the whole counsel of God, and it would include suffering - it was not an easy ride.
Yet, Paul could rejoice in the suffering that he endured, because of what it was achieving. The suffering that he was enduring for the church was helping them to receive the Good News of Jesus Christ, who was the suffering messiah who suffered and died in our place. It is as if the Suffering of Christ to win Salvation, plus the suffering of Paul to take the Gospel out to the world added up to the complete package for the recipients.
HE was happy to suffer if it meant the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth!
How was he working to serve the Body of Christ? He was presenting them the word of God - specifically the “mystery” that is now revealed:
I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
God commissioned Paul to go out into the world and tear back the curtain. He was able to reveal what God had been doing down through history.
There were hints and shadows across the pages of the Old Testament, but now with the coming of Jesus Christ into the world - all the pieces come together. All was revealed.
Like watching a murder mystery movie - you see all these strange details and coincidences in the lead-up to the big reveal of whodunnit - and then you can look back and see how all the clues pointed to the mystery person.
The (non-criminal) mystery person the OT people of God were waiting for was Jesus - their savior. God had promised he would send an anointed rescuer. They were under guilt and deserving of being separated from God - Jesus rescued them!
But here’s the thing, when Jesus came, he made it clear that he had not only come to rescue the ethnic people of God in Israel, but God was throwing wide the gates. He was welcoming in anybody from any country or other ethnicity to receive the rescue of Jesus.
Jesus came to rescue us from Sin, Death & the Devil.
Not only did he die in our place (make atonement), disarm death and defeat the devil - he connected us together so that Christ and his people would be one by the power of God’s Spirit. Christ would dwell among his people. God and humanity joined together, which means genuine hope of glory for believers.
So that’s what Paul was doing in his service, taking this Good News about Jesus into the world to connect people to that savior, and in taking out the good news, he was in essence taking Christ to them. He was a tool of God to bring Jesus to the world. This is what he gave his life to!
He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
Christ is the one we proclaim so that we can become mature in Christ. You need to know Jesus in order to grow in Him.
Paul pushed and pushed with all the power that God gave him so that they could reach that goal of lifting every believer up into maturity in Jesus.
When you want to learn a trade, lets say it’s landscaping, you become an apprentice. But taking on that identity doesn’t make you grow - you actually have to apply yourself to the role and learn, practice, ask questions, be corrected when you mess up and so on. As you go through this process you are shaped and formed until eventually you master the trade to an extent that you are called a “landscaper”. Only then can you have all the benefits that you have been working for. Believers are like apprentices who hear the Gospel and become students of Jesus, then we walk together with him growing into the fullness of what God has made us to be as we are sanctified in light of the justification we have already received.
Like trees, we want to grow to maturity so that we can bear the fruit that we were designed for.
Paul was committed to bringing the churches in his care toward that goal, growing them to spiritual maturity and all driven by the power of Christ.
This is what Paul was doing, and although we don’t have Paul's apostolic commission, we’re basically aiming for the same thing - seeing the Gospel go to the ends of the earth so that all people can see Jesus revealed, and then God’s people are formed and shaped and grown under ongoing gospel ministry into the fullness of spiritual maturity!
We have summarized the mission that Paul had, and use it as our own motto: Present Christ to Everyone, and Everyone Mature in Christ.
Present Christ to Everyone, and Everyone Mature in Christ.
How are we going to get there?
How are we going to get there?
In God’s providential will
We can’t see the future - the last couple years have taught us to be flexible and humble with our plans.
We will set out in our plans, and the Lord will direct our steps!
In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.
We may need to adjust course on what we’re doing as we go along. As Paul demonstrated, sometimes you go toe-to-toe with Gospel opposition, sometimes you escape the city in a basket at night.
As we seek to move forward on Mission, we have broken out 5 aspects of how we are going to get there:
Reach:
Reach:
To reach out to everyone who doesn’t know Jesus with the gospel, regardless of their background or circumstances.
Continue evangelical ministry - Christ oriented teaching & ministry that helps people hear & understand the Gospel. And that happens in a church community that welcomes people in.
Introduction to Christianity course later in the year
Equipping each other to share our faith
Share Public Web based content - this is a tributary to feeding people into church. A reality of modern life, and younger generations, is that most Christians and non-Christians alike will research online long before they every show up at the doors. What we put “out there” is potential of use to any inquiring mind anywhere around the globe, but especially helpful in providing local investigators a wealth of Christ oriented material they can dive into.
Connect:
Connect:
To connect people into our church community.
Work on being a welcoming and intelligible community - e.g. less jargon and not “clique-y”
Clarify & improve our “on boarding” process with a connection nights and revised membership course. “I’m here, what’s the next step?”
Our online connection space - especially useful if there are more lock downs etc.
Build:
Build:
To build Christians together into maturity.
A lot of work on this this year to set us up for ongoing missional church life.
Ongoing Christ centered, Word-based, prayerful, missional and real church life.
Ongoing Equipping opportunities - equip parents, bible study leaders, train and appoint new elders.
Purposeful discipleship - gatherings & ministry designed to move us forward in faith.
Revised Constitution geared to help us build good leadership structures and move forward with clarity.
Serve:
Serve:
To serve one another and those outside our community with our gifts, time and resources.
Identifying opportunities to serve and training to do it well (we can’t serve everywhere, so we need to be focused).
Every member ministry - it will take effort and resources.
Put our training and equipping into action.
Exalt:
Exalt:
To cultivate within us a love for God that touches every part of life.
In service of the Lord not our own efforts - not seeking “best church” in town, most conversions, etc. but rather God’s Glory.
Live out the discipleship the scripture calls us to: the means of grace.
Train more teachers & preachers to help proclaim the Gospel of Christ among us.
Make hard choices that preference honoring God rather than doing what is easy and expedient in the moment. Sometimes we will have to sacrifice something now for the benefit of the future.
...from the foundation of God’s grace and our aim is for His glory.
...from the foundation of God’s grace and our aim is for His glory.
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us— so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.
May God bless us still, so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.