Title: The Task of The Church #3
Introduction:
-- In Part one of this series we saw that
The Task Of The Church is
- To Love God
- To Glorify God
- To Display God’s Grace
and
- To Evangelize The World
-- Last week we saw in part two that
- The Task Of The Church Is
- To Baptize Believers
- To Instruct Believers
- To Edify Believers
and even
- To Discipline Believers
-- Today we are going to look at the third and final sermon in this series
I: To Care For It’s Own in Time of Need
A: Jesus is the example (2 Cor 8:9)
B: Paul Gave instructions concerning this (1 Tim 5:1-8)
C: James addressed it (James 1:27)
D: The book of Acts has several examples
- Acts 4:32-35
- Acts 4:36-37
- Acts 2:42-47
- Acts 11:27-30
- Acts 9:23-25
1. To Care for it’s own in times of need
- is an essential part of the task of the church.
2. We have to take care of each other
BUT
3. The Task Of The Church, also includes the
community..... county..... state..... country...... even world that it exists in.
[Yet it must start at a local level]
E: You cannot care from a distance
1. You cannot care from a distance in every case
2. Sometimes you have to get dirty
3. Sometimes you have to put your wants aside
- And place someone else first.
- Someone near you
- Someone in the church
- Not a person in a far away land.
-- The Task of The Church is
To Care For It’s Own In Time Of Need
AND
II: To Be A Restraining & Enlightening Force In The World. (Matt 5:1-16)
-- You are salt
-- You are light
1) Salt (5:13)
13 Salt and light are such common substances (cf. Pliny, Natural History 31.102: "Nothing is more useful than salt and sunshine") that they doubtless generated many sayings. Therefore it is improper to attempt a tradition history of all Gospel references as if one original stood behind the lot (cf. Mark 4:21; 9:50; Luke 8:16; 11:33; 14:34-35). Salt was used in the ancient world to flavor foods and even in small doses as a fertilizer (cf. Eugene P. Deatrick, "Salt, Soil, Savor," BA 25 [1962]: 44-45, who wants tes ges to read "for the soil," not "of the earth"; but notice the parallel "of the world" in v. 14). Above all, salt was used as a preservative. Rubbed into meat, a little salt would slow decay. Strictly speaking salt cannot lose its saltiness; sodium chloride is a stable compound. But most salt in the ancient world derived from salt marshes or the like, rather than by evaporation of salt water, and therefore contained many impurities. The actual salt, being more soluble than the impurities, could be leached out, leaving a residue so dilute it was of little worth.
In modern Israel savorless salt is still said to be scattered on the soil of flat roofs. This helps harden the soil and prevent leaks; and since the roofs serve as play grounds and places for public gathering, the salt is still being trodden under foot (Deatrick, "Salt," p. 47). This explanation negates the attempt by some (e.g., Lenski, Schniewind, Grosheide) to suppose that, precisely because pure salt cannot lose its savor, Jesus is saying that true disciples cannot lose their effectiveness.. The question "How can it be made salty again’?" is not meant to have an answer, as Schweizer rightly says. The rabbinic remark that what makes salt salty is "the afterbirth of a mule" (mules are sterile) rather misses the point (cf. Schweizer, Matthew). The point is that, if Jesus’ disciples are to act as a preservative in the world by conforming to kingdom norms, if they are "called to be a moral disinfectant in a world where moral standards are low, constantly changing, or non-existent ... they can discharge this function only if they themselves retain their virtue" (Tasker).
- Salt is a preservative
- The purpose of any preservative
- Is to restrain the decaying process
- Explain the 2nd law of thermodynamics
Read quote (Wysong, R.L. The Creation Controversy (Midland, Mich.; Inquiry Press: p 242) Lincoln Barnett)
[How are Christians to aid in preservation?
By being]
A: A restraining force:
1: Spiritual Restraint
a. Pray!!
Everything must be bathed in prayer.
Prayer is the key to saving our society
b. It’s kind of like voting
If your not seriously doing it
- You have no right to complain about
- The state of affairs in our country
- In our community
- Or in this church for that matter. (2 Chr. 7:14)
c. Prayer is crucial.
“I saw a sign that said.
“ If you want a better teacher, pray for the one you have.”
- put anything in the place of teacher... leader, preacher, husband, wife, child,
friend, governor, president, school system, mom, dad.
- Put whatever you want in that place.
- Prayer is of the utmost importance.
- Nothing of God succeeds without prayer
Yet
Someone must get involved.
[we are called by God to be
2: A Worldly restraint
- Vote in elections
- Get involved
- Bible Clubs.... The Supreme Court has ruled that you can sponsor a club like this
before or after school hours.
- Creation Clubs.... explain Answers in Genesis and their Creation Club program.
- You don’t have to be a teacher to do this
- Big Brothers, Big Sisters
- Help For Single parents.... baby sitting, oil changes, friendship
** By being the salt of the earth,
- We will be a restraining force.
** The people of our comunities need to see that Jesus Christ is real.
** The Children of this country
-- Need to see Jesus in us before they will be interested in experiencing Him themselves.
-- To be a restraining force in this present world it is going to take
spiritual and physical activity.
We are also to be
B: An Enlightening Force
Light always overcomes Darkness
-- Evangelism is one way to enlighten the world
-- Knowledge is another
- Apologetics
- Creation Science
-- People want to know the truth.
-- People also want to see the truth.
-- To be a restraining and enlightening force
- We must be both salt and light.
[ As we strive to Care for our own in time of need.... and we endeavor to be a restraining & enlightening force in the world
a lot of this will take place as we focus on the last point in this sermon.]
that is
III: To Promote All That Is Good (Gal 6:9-10)
- Especialy those who belong to the Family of Believers
A: Seize the moment
A sculptor once showed a visitor his studio. It was full of statues of gods. One was very curious. The face was concealed by being covered with hair, and there were wings on each foot. “What is his name?” said the visitor. “Opportunity,” was the reply. “Why is his face hidden?” “Because men seldom know him when he comes to them.” “Why has he wings on his feet?” “Because he is soon gone, and once gone can never be overtaken.”
It becomes us, then, to make the most of the opportunities God has given us. It depends a good deal on ourselves what our future shall be. We can sow for a good harvest, or we can do like the Sioux Indians, who once, when the United States Commissioner of Indian Affairs sent them a supply of grain for sowing, ate it up. Men are constantly sacrificing their eternal future to the passing enjoyment of the present moment; they fail or neglect to recognize the dependence of the future upon the present.
Conclusion:
-- In Part one of this series we saw that
The Task Of The Church is
- To Love God
- To Glorify God
- To Display God’s Grace
and
- To Evangelize The World
-- Last week we saw in part two that
- The Task Of The Church Is
- To Baptize Believers
- To Instruct Believers
- To Edify Believers
and even
- To Discipline Believers
-- Today we looked at the third and final sermon in this series
- And we saw that
- The Task Of The Church is
- To Care For It’s Own In Time Of Need
- To Act As A Restraining and Enlightening Force In This Present World
- To Promote All That Is Good
** If The Church today will focus on The Task Of The Church
Revival in our nation will be the result
** God has opened doors of opportunity for the church
- in every community in this nation
** and He is waiting for the church to seize the moment.
** Our nation is on the verge of revival !!!!!
Richard Thomas; The District Attorney at Littleton Co. said that if we don’t seize this moment to start figuring out what’s going on with the children of our nation we may never get it again.
** The children of our nation
- Of our communities
- Want hope.
They want to know why
They want to know about God
They are searching
** If the church doesn’t use this opportunity
the hearts of our children will grow harder
and as we have learned many times now
the odds will be against them.
** In light of this sermon series and the situations we see
in the schools of this nation
the problems in our own communities
I want to read those statistics again.
**Nineteen out of every twenty who ever get saved
do so before they reach the age of twenty five.
After twenty-five, only one in 10,000.
After thirty-five, only one in 50,000.
After forty-five, only one in 200,000.
After fifty-five, only one in 300,000
After sixty-five, only one in 500,000.
After seventy-five, only one in 700,000.
** To reach this nation for Jesus Christ
** To show people that the answer is in Jesus Christ
** We must not ignore the opportunities that God places in our path
Napoleon used to say:
“There is a crisis, and an opportunity in every battle –
ten or fifteen minutes –
on which the issue of the battle depends.
To gain this is victory;
to lose it is defeat.”
-- We are in a battle
Satan is gaining ground in this community
-- some of us here today need to recommit our lives to Christ
Our Spiritual lives....
- spending more time in prayer and study of God’s word
Our physical lives....
- stepping out of our comfort zones to reach people for Christ
and
Our financial lives...
- realizing that all I have belongs to Jesus
- and that it takes money to spread the word of God
- To be a restraining and enlightening force
- Even in our own community.
-- Some of you may even need to give your life over to Jesus;
so that the pain and frustration can be relieved and eventually replaced
with the hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ
If you take the promises of Jesus seriously
If you take the Word of God seriously
Then you have to start taking advantage of the opportunities that God lays in your path.
-- The Church that Jesus Christ established here on earth [ OCC included]
must consider seriously The Task Of The Church
Are you prepared to take seriously the task of the church?
If so, what commitment will you make today?
