Mark 1: Biblical Theology

As Brian Croft notes:

A Church is revitalized by the power of God through the Spirit of God at work through the word of God by means of a faithful shepherd of God.

This is our calling and goal at Truitt: To be a revitalized church by the power of God through the Spirit of God at work through the word of God by means of the faithful shepherd of God.

We are seeking to be healthy. So what do healthy churches do?

Healthy Churches are Committed to Biblical Preaching

Healthy churches are committed to the proclamation of the word of God by the man of God to the people of God for the glory of God.

We live in a times where there are some who will say that preaching doesn’t matter. But we serve a God who speaks, and he calls men to speak the truth of God’s word.

Jonah 1:1–2 ESV

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”

Ephesians 3:7–9 ESV

Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things,

God has always been a God who speaks, and he has chosen to speak by the man of God to the people of God who speaks the words of God for the glory of God.

The best way to do this, though certainly not the only way, is through the steady, faithful exposition of the passage. Expositional preaching, preaching that makes the main point of the text the main point of the sermon is the best way to build health in the church.

Mark Dever of Capital Hill Baptist Church notes: “Expositional preaching is important because God’s Word is what convicts, converts, builds up, and sanctifies God’s people (Heb. 4:12; 1 Pet. 1:23; 1 Thess. 2:13; Jn. 17:17). Preaching that makes the main point of the text the main point of the sermon makes God’s agenda rule the church, not the preacher’s.”

Biblical, expositional preaching builds the body. It’s not about the ego of the pastor. It’s not about his ability to draw a crowd, it’s about the truth of scripture

Healthy churches are committed to the proclamation of the word of God by the man of God to the people of God for the glory of God.

Healthy Churches hold to BIBLICAL DOCTRINE

Doctrine Matters. Theology Matters. Say it with me, “Theology Matters!” The word Doctrine comes to us from the latin word Docere, which means “to teach”. From it we get the English word doctor, and doctrine. So the word Doctrine simply means “teachings”. Theology comes from two Greek words. Theos, which means God, and logos, which means words, or teaching. So theology literally means “Teaching of God”. What we believe about God, the Bible, sin, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and on and on matters.

It’s popular in our day and age to say something that sounds super spiritual: “They will know we are Christians by our love, not by our doctrinal agreement.” Or “I don’t care about Theology, I just love Jesus.” These phrases seem really spiritual in our world that shuns truth in favor of feelings. We live in a day when doctrine and theology have become unpleasant words. Admit it: When you hear the word “doctrine,” does it evoke positive or negative feelings in you? A person who holds strongly to doctrine is viewed as difficult and divisive. Often such people are arrogant, thinking that they are right and everyone else is wrong. They are not usually regarded as kind and loving.

But healthy biblical churches are not marked by their aversion to doctrine, but their embrace of doctrine. According to Glenn Stanton writing in the Federalist that while many main-line churches are declining, “It is extremely likely that if your church teaches the Bible with seriousness, calls its people to real discipleship, and encourages daily intimacy with God, it has multiple services to handle the coming crowds.”

Why? Because churches that take the Bible seriously attract people who take the Bible seriously. But more than that, faithful churches actually keep more of their children in church. We’ve heard the statistics of 80% of students leaving the church after their 21st birthday, and this is true, but when some in that group were questioned about their faith, only 11% said their parents and their churches were serious about their faith.

Here’s the truth: Healthy Churches Produce Faithful Christians.

In our text, the healthy church exploded because they took the teachings, the doctrine of the disciples seriously.

It matters what we teach. It matters that what we teach lines up with biblical and not social truth. Churches that are wish-washy on doctrine, and loose with the word of God do not produce Christians who take the word seriously.

Healthy Churches practice BIBLICAL WORSHIP

There is great truth here that we will delve into in the next sermon, but true Biblical Worship is practiced by healthy churches.

The Protestant Reformation is the fertile soil out of which our church, and all faithful churches find their roots. Whether they be Presbyterian, Anglican, or Baptist, all denominations have Martin Luther, Huldryck Zwingli, and others to thank for pointing out the great need to reform. But truly, the protestant reformation was a reformation of worship as much as of doctrine.

Out of this reformation came what is known as the regulative principle of worship. In the regulative principle, the reformers sought to direct the churches in what must be present to have true Christian worship. The reformers recognized five activities that must be present for a church to worship in spirit and in truth:

There are five key elements.

First, the Bible is to be read (1 Tim. 4:13).

Second, worship must include the preaching of the Word (2 Tim. 4:2; Rom. 10:14–15).

Third, prayers are to be offered in worship (Matt. 21:13; Acts 4:24–30).

Fourth, the sacraments are to be rightly administered (Matt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 11: 23–26).

Finally, singing is also included as an element of worship (Eph. 5:19).

True biblical churches realize that these are essential to true worship.