- Healthy Church 1 | Christian (01/06/2008)
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Qualities of a church are found in the definition of a Christian. We take this series to look at the normal view of a healthy church and compare it to God’s standard; His Glory!
Sermon Notes Below
What is a church? What should a church look like?
Some thoughts:
“I am the church. The church is wherever I am.”
In order to define the CHURCH we must define a CHRISTIAN:
- End of myself, I cannot save my self from SIN
- “Why should I let you into Heaven?” You shouldn’t… but because of your Grace and mercy the blood of Christ is my hope.
- Declared righteous because of Christ’s imputation and substitution.
- Reconciled to GOD
- Reconciled to God’s people
God’s PEOPLE are the CHURCH
- ASSEMBLY of Believers - local group of people committed to Christ and each other.
- Display of God’s GLORY and WISDOM – Ephesians 3:10 (NLT)
10 God’s purpose was to show his wisdom in all its rich variety to all the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. They will see this when Jews and Gentiles are joined together in his church.
- Display of ‘counter-cultural’ Christ-like love – John 13:35 (NLT)
35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
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Matthew 22:34-40 (NLT)
34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they thought up a fresh question of their own to ask him.
35 One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question:
36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”
37 Jesus replied, ” `You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 A second is equally important: `Love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
FAMILY
Adopted – Ephesians 1:5 (NLT)
5 His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure.
Family – Hebrews 2:11 (NLT)
11 So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.
FELLOWSHIP
With CHRIST -
1 Corinthians 1:9 (NLT)
9 God will surely do this for you, for he always does just what he says, and he is the one who invited you into this wonderful friendship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
With CHURCH -
BODY
1 Corinthians 12:21 (NLT)
21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”
A CHRISTIAN is the CHURCH
Why JOIN the LOCAL CHURCH?
“Thoughts”
“Local Church membership is an EXPRESSION of WHAT we ARE!”
UNITED
With Christ
With all CHRISTIANS
UNIVERSAL CHURCH – These are all Christian’s in the world
LOCAL CHURCH – Local congregations which creates the UNIVERSAL church
!!Primary FOCUS is LOCAL CHURCH except Matthew 16:18 and the book of Ephesians
Matthew 16:18 (NLT)
18 Now I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.
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“The relationship between our membership in the local church is a lot like the relationship between the righteousness God gives us through faith and the actual practice of righteousness in our daily lives.” Mark Dever
DECLARED Righteous VS CALLED to Righteousness
“Happily living in unrighteousness calls into question one’s possession of Christ’s righteousness.”
Romans 6:1-18 (NLT)
1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more kindness and forgiveness?
2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?
3 Or have you forgotten that when we became Christians and were baptized to become one with Christ Jesus, we died with him?
4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.
5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised as he was.
6 Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.
7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.
8 And since we died with Christ, we know we will also share his new life.
9 We are sure of this because Christ rose from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him.
10 He died once to defeat sin, and now he lives for the glory of God.
11 So you should consider yourselves dead to sin and able to live for the glory of God through Christ Jesus.
12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to its lustful desires.
13 Do not let any part of your body become a tool of wickedness, to be used for sinning. Instead, give yourselves completely to God since you have been given new life. And use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God.
14 Sin is no longer your master, for you are no longer subject to the law, which enslaves you to sin. Instead, you are free by God’s grace.
15 So since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does this mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!
16 Don’t you realize that whatever you choose to obey becomes your master? You can choose sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God and receive his approval.
17 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you have obeyed with all your heart the new teaching God has given you.
18 Now you are free from sin, your old master, and you have become slaves to your new master, righteousness.
Romans 8:5-14 (NLT)
5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.
6 If your sinful nature controls your mind, there is death. But if the Holy Spirit controls your mind, there is life and peace.
7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will.
8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.
9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them are not Christians at all.)
10 Since Christ lives within you, even though your body will die because of sin, your spirit is alive because you have been made right with God.
11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as he raised Christ from the dead, he will give life to your mortal body by this same Spirit living within you.
12 So, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation whatsoever to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.
13 For if you keep on following it, you will perish. But if through the power of the Holy Spirit you turn from it and its evil deeds, you will live.
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
James 2:14-16 (NLT)
14 Dear brothers and sisters, what’s the use of saying you have faith if you don’t prove it by your actions? That kind of faith can’t save anyone.
15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who needs food or clothing,
16 and you say, “Well, good-bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
MEMBERSHIP
Confirms our FAITH – “Comes with being a Christian.”
“Confirms what CHRIST has done in US.”
NO INTEREST? Check your faith: Hebrews 10:23-27 (NLT)
23 Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.
24 Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds.
25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.
26 Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received a full knowledge of the truth, there is no other sacrifice that will cover these sins.
27 There will be nothing to look forward to but the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies.
DEVOTION
Our place in Christ translates into our daily decisions… even if slow.
If you have a VAGUE thought of your place in the UNIVERSAL church you might have a vague HOPE in a UNIVERSAL righteousness… NOT GOOD.
PROOF – Love, Joy, Peace
To who? Matthew 22:37 – OTHERS!
Love people who give you a reason NOT to love them… CHRISTIANS, the CHURCH
THIS IS THE GOSPEL
GOSPEL
“My journey” Loving others… unlovable… misery is your ministry….
Burnout, Jan 05, stuff, programs and meetings.”
UNIVERSAL LOVE FOR ALL CHRISTIANS – Not going to happen if you can’t last 100 years with the same unlovable people.
CHRIST
Christ is the church, we are the church!
Acts 9:4 (NLT)
4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”
Give and ACCOUNT!
EACH OF US! Not just me….
Do you love the church? Are you the church?
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