The Church: Believe, Belong, Be Trained, Be Strong

INTRO: We are in a very brief topical series about who we are and what we do as God’s people… which is helpful for us to revisit from time to time (particularly in seasons of growth and change), but it’s brief because we want to get back to deep and reflective sequential exposition of Scriptural texts, because we believe that to be the spine which guides who we are and what we do.

So when we think about a vision for the local church… What if we just tried to obey a simple version of what God has told us to be and to do?

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

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.

God is making his glory known. We exist to proclaim God’s excellencies by being set apart to him and by being witnesses to the world.

Colossians 1:28 ESV

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

Our mission then is to call God’s people to grow in holiness, and to call others to faith in Christ and nurture them to become mature disciples.

We Are HIs. Him We Proclaim. .... Toward that goal, we said, we call ourselves and others to [image]... Believe in Christ. Belong to his body. Be trained in truth. Be strong in ministry.

In order to address this once more, I’ve posed each of these topics in the form of a question. The questions move progressively from foundational to more practical.

Why does it matter whom you believe and what you believe? And where should we look?

Why does it matter? Nothing could matter more. Whom you trust informs where you look for what to believe. (This is not only true in all practical areas of life [facebook, the news even], but it is especially true in human relationship to the divine. [Again…]

Whom you trust informs where you look for what you believe. What you believe informs everything you do.

(or you might say: everything that you think, feel, say, and do)

Whom do we believe? We believe the triune God of the Bible.

John 17:3 ESV

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

We believe that God has revealed himself universally in his creation, timelessly in sacred Scripture, and uniquely through the God-man Jesus Christ.

This necessarily means that the Bible is the central place to know what (and even whom) to believe.

It is scripture that gives us the confines of how much we can know about God from nature: basically enough to know that God exists and to therefore be culpable for not seeking him (Rom 1). It is scripture that teaches us the perfections and purposes of God, and scripture that reveals our rebellion against him (and that such a sin nature applies to every single one of us). It is in scripture where God declares that submission to Him by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as Lord is the only means to be restored to God.

We could list quite a few more “we believe” statements that summarize essentials teachings in scripture, which we call doctrines. But the simple point is this: We must submit to God on his terms in order to be right with him, and those terms he reveals in sacred Scripture—the Bible.

We must therefore study and apply God’s word to be healthy and useful children of God. Sound doctrine is a must. (Titus 2:1 But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine). Sound (the Gk word means healthy) doctrine (the Gk word means teaching) Healthy teaching from the Scripture is a must.

Because of this singular focus on the Bible as our only truly safe means to know God and to know what he expects from us, the world accuses us of close-mindedness (which should not be true), and even others who call themselves Christians might mock us for elevating the Bible to be the fourth member of the Godhead (also clearly not true).

Without God’s special revelation in the Bible, we don’t know whom to trust or what to believe. So we stick to the Bible as the backbone for everything we do. We aim to let God speak. (That’s what we mean by expositional, or expository—what God says, the way he says it, why he says it, and how he expects us to respond)

Now, this study and application of God’s word is something you should be doing on your own, just like having a private prayer life of communion with and dependence on God. But is it enough? Can you keep to yourself and really be obedient to God? No.

Is it necessary to belong to a local church?

Well, yeah. You can’t be the church without the church. (preaching to the choir here, i know - Here you are, at least gathered with the church on the Lord’s Day.)

You can’t be the church without the church.

When we say, and rightly so, that you can’t “attend” church bc you are the church, we don’t mean that you by yourself are the church. No, we mean that you (plural) are the church—the people that God is making for his own possession to be the Bride of Christ—you are the church.

What are the metaphors for the NT church? A building made out of living stones (1 Pet 2:4-5), a body with various members working together, and the bride of Christ (together… not you by yourself—the church is the bride… nor even just one local expression of it).

Again the most common metaphor, because it was the Apostle Paul’s image of choice (from whom we have 13 NT letters), is that of a body with various members working together.

Romans 12:4–5 ESV

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Ephesians 4 is another example, in which Paul instructs the believers (in a given locality) to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord’s calling (Eph 4:1) BY functioning together like a healthy and growing body. Toward that end, he explains that they must maintain unity (vv. 2-6) in diversity (vv. 7-11) for maturity (vv. 12-16).

Even letters instructing individuals, like to Timothy, are given within the context of that person serving in a plural local expression of the body of Christ.

That’s why we shouldn’t think of membership in a local church as signing on the dotted line and paying our dues in order to be a card-carrying member in the club. No, membership in a local church is for accountability to the call of Christ to use your spiritual gifting and everything God has given you (your time, treasure, and talents) to help the body function in a manner that is healthy and growing.

Is it necessary to belong to a local church? Yes, it is essential that we belong to a local expression of the Church that is unified around knowing God from the Word and proclaiming the gospel, and that holds us accountable to be actively engaged in serving in whatever capacity helps to make disciples and to see us all growing together toward maturity in Christ.

Remember, we’re not saying that you apply this only within the context of these walls or in the ‘programs’ of this local church. That’s just silly. Programs in a local church only exist because of the people who are gifted to make them happen, and for the maturity of all the people involved in them.

Even or especially when you serve Christ outside these gatherings, you are functioning as a member of the body of Christ and of this local church.

But we as a church family do want to make an effort to help you to foster healthy relationships in which living alongside like-minded believers will generate more real-world application and practical accountability to one another in pursuing faithfulness to Christ: to be set apart to him and to spread the good news that God has offered himself to sinful humanity through the Lord Jesus Christ, inviting them to respond in repentance and faith.

I highly commend small groups as an avenue for Biblical one-anothering.

Quick ask of you for some audience participation. Don’t raise your hand unless your answer is an enthusiastic yes. But raise your hand if you get to be part of a small group, whether or not its an official group from BBC or your home church, … but a small group with genuine relationships and which is geared around a kind of Biblical reflection that in effect produces real-world application and accountability.

We often really don’t know what we’re missing until we experience it.

Now also, in belonging to the body (the Church), we want to be obedient and effective with the gifting and experience that God has given us. Therefore both you and your leaders must be invested in equipping and training.

Are we being equipped? Are we training for ministry?

Equipping and training needs to be both practical and comprehensive, but it is still centered around God’s word:

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

We sincerely believe that the most helpful resource we can give you is a growing knowledge and submission to the God of the Bible. So we are convinced that the core methodology (center/foundation) for doing that is expositional teaching. (What did God mean when he taught the children of Israel through Moses? How does God intend for us to apply that teaching today? … What did the Holy Spirit intend in communicating through Paul to the Philippian church? What timeless truths does the Holy Spirit intend for us to comprehend, obey, and apply?) But we also realize that there are particular areas of teaching and growth in which we might benefit greatly by systematized teaching and practice—to be trained in righteousness, equipped for every good work.

Now equip and train are biblical words, so I need to explain a little bit about them. These are important words in the NT, especially in these contexts of the church building itself up.

Equip Meaning:

Equipped (as in 2 Tim 3:17) means to be fully outfitted with everything necessary for a task. Equipping then would be the process of become outfitted with what is needed. It can also mean (as in Eph 4:12) to bring someone to completion so that they are perfectly ready in every respect, fit for a purpose.

Train Meaning:

Training is also used in the NT in two primary senses, both sides of which might be helpful to grasp. One means training/discipline in the sense in which a child is progressively trained by his or her parents over time to pursue God’s wisdom and to forsake the folly of sin. [how it is used in the 2 Tim passage above] It is the whole education and instruction of a disciple (both the cultivation of mind and morals); understood as the rearing and education of children.

Here’s another way training is used:

1 Timothy 4:7–8 ESV

Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

This second word for training (gymnazo) indicates the kind of arduous physical exercise and practice one undergoes to grow in endurance and skill needed to persevere and excel at a difficult task. It requires instruction and then countless hours of practice.

You don’t go from couch to 10k overnight. You don’t go from touching a basketball to the starting five without TONS of listening to instruction and countless hours of putting it into practice to master the skills. That’s what Paul has in mind.

We are committed to working hard at this time to consider how our Sunday School especially, but perhaps other avenues as well, can give us more comprehensive equipping. But there can’t be any substitute for the apprenticeship method that Jesus and Paul and others have modeled for us in the NT. And that’s something some of you have been asking about again, so I want to offer what I hope is a tool that is simple but helpful.

The task of mentoring/discipleship is one we must be engaged in, and many of us are already in ways we do not even realize. But we can certainly aim to be more intentional in it.

Mentoring/Discipleship: Think Big. Start Small. Go Deep.

Even though you really should think big about discipleship (nothing less than God’s glory among the nations), the task of multiplying mature disciples means that we all need to be engaged, and that we should start small and go deep. … It’s as easy as 1234:

One Goal - To know God better through his word and to grow in faithfully following Jesus.

Two People - It takes two invested people, willing to put in the work (to sacrifice time and energy for the good of the other to the glory of God).

Three Areas of Growth - Conviction, Character, & Competence

Examples for conviction: God is good (Ps. 34:8), and therefore his judgments/rules are righteous altogether (Ps 19:9). God is the authority over my life, and my obedience to his word is for my own good. Salvation is only by grace through faith in Jesus. The Christian life is lived in utter dependence upon God.

Examples for character: The put off/put on passages in Colossians (3:1-17) and Ephesians (4:17-32)

Colossians 3:12–15 ESV

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Particularly character qualities like humility and compassion.

In the area of competence, we must emphasize responsibility and diligence, without leading a person to lean on themselves more than on God. It is God who is sufficient, so we must remain dependent.

1 Peter 4:10–11 ESV

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

One more quick tool that might help if you feel unsure about getting started:

Four Steps to Get Started:

1. Find someone(s) to invest in. (One to one is best, but if two is too awkward to begin, try one to two.)

2. Choose content & context. (Content = book/topic/passage; Context = frequency, time & place)

3. Be consistent but flexible. (Make simple adjustments on tangibles, and evaluate progress on intangibles.)

4. Take them with you. (Whenever you can: Serve together. Witness together. Let them see your life.)

Your leaders in this church family feel a huge responsibility to help you in this endeavor.

We need you to be saying to us... and to one another, “Hey, I need help and suggestions.”

Share what you are learning and where you are learning it.

Tell us in what way(s) you might be inadequately equipped, so that we can outfit you with tools and training, or find somebody else who can.

Finally… [and we’ll use this as our conclusion today as well…]

Why must we be strong in ministry?

...

We were (re)born for this.

God has called us unto himself to proclaim his excellencies in being set apart to him (1 Pet 2:9), and he has called us to be his witnesses in the world (Col 1:28)… Anything less is a paltry version of true success and fulfillment and joy. We must be growing spiritually and making mature disciples.

The stakes are high.

This is nothing less than a spiritual life and death battle for souls.

The enemy is wicked, powerful, and cunning.

Eph 6:10-18...

But…

God is on our side.

Or perhaps more accurately… We are on God’s side.

I hope you, church family, don’t grow tired of me saying this, but God has geared us such in this life that we need frequent reminding and refocusing: The Christian life is not a playground but a battleground. Your community is not a theme park; it’s a battlefield. You are not a spectator; you are a soldier. You are not of this world; you are a child of God whose citizenship is in His kingdom. You are not after paltry comfort and so-called fun; you are after nothing less than the deepest joy and fulfillment of knowing God and obeying him.