“If it’s not about
Jesus, it’s not about anything”
(Motto of the
Fountain of Life Church)
Sermon Series Given at New Life in Christ Church Cambridge,
Ohio beginning 6/4/16
PART 2 OF 3
SPS: The Sermon Purpose Statement
is to address the five following questions:
1. What is
the Church? 2. Why do we need it? 3.
What is its purpose? 4. What does it look like? 5.
Where is the Church?
THEME: Guiding this study will be two scriptures
which shall be linked together.
Matthew 16:18: “Jesus said, ‘I will build my Church.’”
Ephesians 5:25: “…as Christ loved the Church and
gave Himself for it.”
Brethren, this means that Jesus is building His church. And He loved it so much that He died for it. His love infuses everything.
2.
WHY WE NEED THE CHURCH
The
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance indicates that the Greek word church (ekklesia)
is used 114 times in the New Testament.
Dr. Mike Morrison, of Grace Communion International (GCI), defines
“ekklesia” as a Greek word meaning “assembly.”
The Strong’s concordance word # 1577, “ekklesia” means literally a
calling out or called out ones.
These called out ones are members on earth, saints in heaven or both. Yes, friends, we may be called individually, but we as individuals are also called out into an assembly, called out as members of something. That something is the Body of Christ, the Church. In Acts 5:11 we see that, “Great fear seized the whole church.” This shows that church means people not a building, or structure or location.
These called out ones are members on earth, saints in heaven or both. Yes, friends, we may be called individually, but we as individuals are also called out into an assembly, called out as members of something. That something is the Body of Christ, the Church. In Acts 5:11 we see that, “Great fear seized the whole church.” This shows that church means people not a building, or structure or location.
You
no doubt, know many people who say they believe in Jesus, yet they do not attend
any of His churches. The following
sentence is a typical justification for not attending a church. “I know those people in that church. If they are Christians I don’t want any part
of it.” In a short time, those people
become any organized group of Christians and that one church morphs into all
churches. Another common response is
this. “I don’t need a Church. I have TV ministries. I have internet churches. I’m ok alone.” Let us consider the advice of Saint Paul in 1
Cor. 10:12: “Wherefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed, lest he
fall.” Let us consider1 Pet. 5:8:
“Your adversary, the Devil, walks about as a roaring lion, seeking all whom he
may devour.” In 21st Century
paraphrase it seems that Peter is warning us to get in out of the rain. Get into the safety of the building. The figurative building in this paraphrase is
the body of Christ, the Church.
What does Jesus say about this? Jesus speaks directly through the Holy
Scripture. Through the human author of
the book of Hebrews, He says in Heb. 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as
the manner of some is; but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye
see the day approaching.” The advice
found from Jesus, the Creator, the Savior, the Lord in His inspired word is, in
21st century paraphrase, “Don’t try to go it alone.”
Dr. Morrison says, “A local congregation can give us a sense of
belonging, of being involved with other believers. It can give us some spiritual safety, so that
we are not blown around by strange ideas.”
Brethren, the local church provides friendship, encouragement. Yes, it can provide a stage for us to display works of mercy, to put our gifts to use.
Brethren, the local church provides friendship, encouragement. Yes, it can provide a stage for us to display works of mercy, to put our gifts to use.
Human
beings need each other. There are lone
wolves. Grizzle bears prefer to be
alone. Great white sharks are often
alone. But God created many creatures to
need each other. We may like to think of
ourselves as proud lone wolves, rebelling against the system. Nevertheless, even our heroic lone wolves
need the system; that is, they need the system to have something against which
to rebel. Without the system, the rebels
are nothing. We are never alone, and the
Church is really our family. Saint
Augustine called the Church on earth our Mother.
Dr. Morrison also said this, “Individuals who try to be Christian without the church fail to use their strengths to help the people the Bible says we should be helping. The church is a mutual-aid society, and we help each other, knowing that the day may come (and in fact is already here) that we will need to be helped.”
Dr. Morrison also said this, “Individuals who try to be Christian without the church fail to use their strengths to help the people the Bible says we should be helping. The church is a mutual-aid society, and we help each other, knowing that the day may come (and in fact is already here) that we will need to be helped.”
Why do we need the church? Let’s go to the Bible. Can we detect a theme? Key on the phrase “one another” and consider
the place of love.
Can
we detect a theme?
Gal.
5:13 – Through love, serve one another.
Notice, service is not through duty, it is not through commandment or moral code, it is not through custom…it is through love. Paul did not mince words in 1 Corinthians 13:3: “And if I give all my goods to feed the poor, and give my body to be burned, and if I have not love, it profits me nothing.” Service without love is legalism.
Rom.
12:10 – be kindly affectionate to one another in honor giving preference to one
another.
Notice the working of love. It is impossible to be kindly affectionate
without love.
Heb.
10:25 - Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together as is the custom
of some. But exhort one another as you
see the day approaching.
Notice,
we assemble to exhort one another.
Exhortation requires two. Two
means relationship.
Rom.
15:7 – receive one another, just as Christ received us to the Glory of God
Notice,
receiving one another is a foundation of building a relationship.
1
Cor. 12:25 - That there should be no schism in the body, that the members care
for one another.
Notice,
we care for each other. Care is an
important element in relationship.
Eph.
4:32 – Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God
in Christ forgave you.
Notice: Can anybody be tenderhearted out of a sense
of duty, obligation or custom? A moral
code cannot produce tender feelings.
Col.
3:13 - and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another;
even as Christ forgave you, so you must also do.
Notice,
forgiveness requires two. Two means
relationship.
Is
there a theme? These verses are painting
a portrait of community; of people interacting together and the motive of the
interactions is LOVE. These are not
examples of people in isolation.
THE IMPORTANCE OF LOVE
That
is why is it important that visitors to our congregations can see that that
there is concern and forgiveness in the congregation; that visitors experience
hospitality. Then they can know that the
Holy Spirit is living in the church through its members.
If there are tongues and miracles and manifestations, but coldness or indifference shown to visitors and shown to each other, the Spirit is not living in that Church. If there are the finest doctrine and the most eloquent preaching, but coldness or indifference shown to visitors and shown to each other, the Spirit is not living in that Church.
If there are tongues and miracles and manifestations, but coldness or indifference shown to visitors and shown to each other, the Spirit is not living in that Church. If there are the finest doctrine and the most eloquent preaching, but coldness or indifference shown to visitors and shown to each other, the Spirit is not living in that Church.
I,
as a pastor, tend to think that when there is peace, unity and respect between
congregation members, then that is a greater manifestation of the Spirit than
tongues itself. In fact, the peace,
unity and respect allows the members hold different ideas about the rapture, or
evolution, or water baptisms or Holy Spirit Baptism, or tongues or miracles
without dividing the congregation.
That congregation focuses upon Jesus as the Captain of their salvation, not upon a doctrine or theory or a gift. That peace, unity and respect is the product of LOVE.
That congregation focuses upon Jesus as the Captain of their salvation, not upon a doctrine or theory or a gift. That peace, unity and respect is the product of LOVE.
And
if there grows a desire to preach Jesus, then there will be spiritual manifestations
in that congregation, suitable to that congregation, and they will bring honor
to the Father through the Son in that congregation’s unique way. As people are different, and gifts are
different, congregations are different.
Why
do we need the Church? Because, we are
called out from something and called into something. We are called out from the world. If there is no church, then we are called
into nothing and we are still in the world.
The Church is that thing into which we are called. It is the something into which we are members. Without the Church, we are all isolated individuals and members of nothing. Without the church, there is no ground to build relations with other members of the Body of Christ.
The Church is that thing into which we are called. It is the something into which we are members. Without the Church, we are all isolated individuals and members of nothing. Without the church, there is no ground to build relations with other members of the Body of Christ.
In
closing this section, we again ask, “why do we need the church?” The very simple answer is because Jesus
thinks the church is important. We know
this from Matthew 16:18, Jesus says, “I will build my Church.”
If Jesus expresses personal, hands-on-involvement with anything, we can rest assured that we need it. Therefore, if maturity is really trusting Jesus, then let us trust Him and accept that we need that Church.
If Jesus expresses personal, hands-on-involvement with anything, we can rest assured that we need it. Therefore, if maturity is really trusting Jesus, then let us trust Him and accept that we need that Church.
3. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH?
Three
Purposes: Worship – Teaching – Ministry
1. Worship.
John 4:23 is the narrative of the woman at the well. Jesus says we "worship in spirit and
truth. The Father seeks such to worship
him". 1 Peter 2:9 has this to say: “But
you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging
to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness
into His wonderful light.” Hebrews 13:15
advises that we are called to “continually offer to God a sacrifice of
praise.” The Church provides the
opportunity to gather together, sing praises, pray to him and listen to his word. Hebrews 10:25: “Do not forsake the gathering
of yourselves together.”
2. Teaching:
Matt: 28:19-20 advises us that
Jesus said we are to "go into the world, teaching all to observe" what He taught
us. Peter tells us, 1 Peter 1:12, that
Jesus revealed to the Church "things which the angels wished to look into". Here is a little know purpose of the Church
found in Ephesians 3:10. “The intent of the church is to make known the
manifold wisdom of God to the principalities and power in heavenly places.” Yes, the Church teaches the angels. Acts 2:42 shows that the early church was
praised because they “devoted themselves to the fellowship, to the breaking of
bread and to prayer.”
We may pray alone or together, but consider, can we fellowship alone? We may eat alone, but consider, can we break bread alone? Once again, the church is the excellent setting for practicing these important activities.
We may pray alone or together, but consider, can we fellowship alone? We may eat alone, but consider, can we break bread alone? Once again, the church is the excellent setting for practicing these important activities.
3. Ministry:
Gal. 6:10… “As we have opportunity, let us do good unto all people.
Especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” Human beings understand that we have duties
to our physical families. This is common
to all and is motivated by storge
love. Paul, in Galatians, indicates that
we have a duty to our church families and to the world at large. And this action is motivated by agape love. Agape is found in the Church and not in the
world. With that in mind we look to
Jesus’ words in Matthew 22:39 that the second greatest commandment is to love
our neighbors as ourselves. Loving the
unlovable; that is ministry. Ephesians
2:10 plainly states “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for
good works.” Good works certainly
include feeding the poor, visiting the sick and those in prison.
When the motivation is agape, those works become truly godly works to be seen in the world, done by His children for His glory. Yet we must never forget that the greatest work, the greatest need in the entire world is the gospel. Yes, we should never ignore that because no other organization will preach the gospel. Consider this, no other organization is equipped to do that.
When the motivation is agape, those works become truly godly works to be seen in the world, done by His children for His glory. Yet we must never forget that the greatest work, the greatest need in the entire world is the gospel. Yes, we should never ignore that because no other organization will preach the gospel. Consider this, no other organization is equipped to do that.
In
part 3 of 3 question 4 “what does the
church look like?” and question 5 “where
is the church?” will be addressed.
Benediction: May
God our Father and Jesus, His Son and Our Lord and Savior, bless you all with
grace, joy, peace, and love.Amen.
Assistant
Pastor, Fountain of Life Church
2021
Old National Pike, Washington, PA 15301
