We Are The Church
Psychologists have long declared that as human beings, we have 3 specific psychological needs:
TO BE / TO DO / TO BELONG
TO BE: Our individuality, what sets us apart for others, uniqueness
TO DO: Our abilities, what we are good at, our job, our hobbies, etc.
TO BELONG: To be a part of something larger than ourselves, group
People satisfy these 3 needs in various forms.
Friday evening I sat amongst 1.000’s of proud parents, family & friends of graduating seniors of Vero Beach High School.
Amidst bouncing beach balls, flailing arms, flying hats, flashing light bulbs, shrieking air horns & streaming tears stood 500+ Seniors adorned in familiar Red and White.
Dr. Dearing said that this class’s average SAT scores were 25 points higher than t/national average & 44 points higher than t/state aver.
For 4 years these students in part have met their psychological need thru their identification as a Fighting Indian & student at VBHS.
They have accomplished much individually and collectively.
I lost count of a well-known phrase that was shouted throughout t/night.
IT’S GREAT TO BE A FIGHTING INDIAN!
Now they will venture forth, for the most part, unknown; seeking to re-establish an identity that they have given up as High School ended
Everyone has these needs & fulfills them in differing ways.
Nation - take pride to be a US citizen, living in the land of opportunity & being part of the greatest nation on earth.
T/Preamble of t/Declaration of Independence begins, “We the People”
Clubs - Elks, Koffee Klutch, Rotary, Eastern Star - again, they are part of something larger, purposes & activities, membership.
Family - father, mother, etc. (be) - all have responsibilities, (do) name status, recognition, (belong), Kennedy, Rockerfeller, Dupont, etc.
Fraternity - a strong enough desire to belong, to go through bizarre & even dangerous initiations or hazing to be included.
Gangs - even though destructive, provide emotional needs.
Everyone searching for satisfaction in life & many find it in these areas.
When you becoming a Christian; when you are added to the Church - all 3 psychological needs are satisfied.
TO BE: Child of the King of Kings
TO DO: Talent, to use to build up the body of Christ
TO BELONG: Part of the kingdom, priesthood, building, body
Why are you & I a part of God’s family? Why have we chosen Him?
We all know the eternal advantages of faithfulness to Christ, yet there are physical & psychological advantages too.
Living a moral life keeps you from dangerous, life-threatening activities as well as placing you in a wholesome environment.
But - Have we accepted Christ because of the advantages it gives us?
Is our faith self-motivated & self-based?
If it is, then when difficulty comes (& it will), we will abandon it freely, because we longer see the value or advantage of faithfulness.
NO - If we are part of God’s family, we are part of His Church.
And there is no institution that can compare to it. NOTHING!
What we Aren’t:
Members of a social club that solely provides camaraderie.
People who gather to show off the latest fashions.
Group that hangs together cause we share common interest.
Folks who gather together to play games and have fun.
Here to make each other feel good.]
Part of an organization that expects nothing from its members.
WE ARE THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST!
And our calling and purpose is so much higher than these.
“Ekklasia”, Church, assembly, congregation-doesn’t signify uniqueness
Defined, “belonging to God, people who are called out”
The Church is not a “man-made” institution, it is divinely established
First Sermon - We as the Church, God’s building, I Peter & Eph 2
How do we become a part of God’s Institution? We can’t!
Added By God
Acts 2:41 & 47, “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about 3,000 were added to their number that day. 47 they were praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
Clubs have membership rosters to sign, yet the only entrance exam for t/church is to follow God’s plan of salvation & bingo we’re added!
Our names are added to the Lamb’s book of Life.
WE ARE THE CHURCH!
What is our foundation? Built Upon Jesus
Matthew 16:16-18, “Simon Peter answered, You are t/Christ, t/Son of t/living God. Jesus replied, Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.
And I tell you that you are Peter & on this rock I will build my church, & t/gates of Hades will not overcome it.”
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood & righteousness. All other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.
Organizations come & go, but the Church remains.
Man tried every conceivable idea to rid t/world of church but to no avail
When God starts something, it lasts until he decides to stop it.
WE ARE THE CHURCH!
Members of God’s Household
Ephesians 2:19, “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household”
We have been born into His family, we bear His name. Why would we ever do anything that would bring shame or reproach upon Him?
Story of Alexander t/Great, t/leader of the Greek empire that conquered t/world. He often walked among t/soldiers. One night he walked by a sentry who had fallen asleep. When he woke him, t/man was terrified, What is your name? The sentry replied, Alexander, like yours. Then either change your name, or change your behavior!
Christians, followers of Christ, Children of God: live up to the holy name that you wear!
WE ARE THE CHURCH!
Dwelling of God
Ephesians 2:22, “And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”
I Corinthians 3:16, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”
Barbara Johnson said, “I’ve reached the age where it’s harder and harder to think of my body as a temple. It’s more like a building project that got out of control.”
Since Jesus resides in our hearts, then every word we speak, He speaks.
Everything that we intake, He intakes. Every place we go, He is there. All our actions, are His actions.
I enjoy t/comedy of Steve Martin. He starred in a very silly movie called All of Me. His body was dually possessed by a man & woman, played by Lilly Tomlin. In 1 scene, Lily is extremely embarrassed because he must use a men’s restroom.
God lives in you, but are there situations & activities that you involve yourself in that cause God to blush. Do you take Him places that cause Him to lower His head, hoping no one will recognize Him?
Honor Him in your life & with your lifestyle, because He lives in you.
WE ARE THE CHURCH!
We are part of the: BODY
I Corinthians 12:12ff describes the church as a body.
I Corinthians 12:27, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
Ephesians 4:16. “From him t/whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
All of the parts of the human body are important and needed. We may not realize it until we lose or can’t use them.
I love to play softball, can’t play outfield, can’t see ball. Don’t think about eyes, until they bother us, or our vision is blurred.
Our function, whether visible or not, whether on stage or not is vital for the health of the body. When any of us don’t function as we should the body is weakened.
Like a physical body, our spiritual life should be growing.
The Church is also inter-connected, inter-twined, joined together. It works as a whole, it works together. It doesn’t fight itself.
Big Steve - disease, body, skeleton stopped growing, internal organs kept growing, attended LCC for 1 year. Body was a disfigured arrangement. Big Steve died before starting his 2nd year.
His body, being diseased didn’t work together, in fact it worked against itself so much that it cost Steve his life.
You can see the spiritual application. May we be united in purpose.
May we never be guilty of spiritual disease.
While we are connected to each other, we are also connection to Christ, who is our Head.
Ephesians 1:22-23, “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for t/church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
Colossians 1:18, “And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy.”
Without the head, the rest of the body has no life & without Jesus to guide, lead & direct us, we too have no real life.
WE ARE THE CHURCH!
Flock
Acts 20:28, “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.”
I Pet 5:2, Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care serving as overseers--not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve.
My grandparents raised sheep for 20 yrs. I spent many a day watching them, chasing them, trying to ride them.
Sheep are one of the most stupid animals on the face of the earth.
Does it offend you that God called us a flock of sheep?
One thing they are very good at: Following.
Let us, God’s sheep follow the Master Shepherd, Jesus, modeling Him.
But let us also follow our earthly shepherds, our Elders.
Though not perfect, they are striving for it each and every day.
They need & deserve our support and encouragement.
WE ARE THE CHURCH!
Bride of Christ
Ephesians 5 describes the husband & wife relationship & as an example uses the relationship of Jesus and the church.
Ephesians 5:25-27, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved t/church & gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”
Revelation 19:7, “Let us rejoice & be glad & give him glory! For the wedding of t/Lamb has come & his bride has made herself ready
Jesus-Bridegroom has cleansed us, sacrificed for us, loved us, saved us.
Beautiful sight, when a bride walks down aisle, adorned in white, signifying her commitment of purity. Now she stands next to her husband, & with pride says, you are the first, the last, the only.
We are Jesus’ bride - we must not carry on affairs with the world.
We must keep ourselves clean for our first & only love, Jesus.
WE ARE THE CHURCH!
Sanctified & Holy
I Corinthians 1:2, “To t/church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ--their Lord and ours:”
I Peter 1:14-16, “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy.”
Sanctification means - perfection, purity, to be set apart.
Sanctification will cost an intense narrowing of all our interests on earth, and an immense broadening of all our interests in God.
It means intense concentration on God’s point of view.
It means that every part of our bodies and lives are set apart for God’s purposes and for His will.
I talked about the cost of following Jesus last week. With maturity, holy obedience is not costly, rather - it is a delight.
But it may cost others. HOW?
When we become holy as God is Holy, we no longer join together with unholy things or people.
Please understand, they need Jesus & our duty is to win them to holiness
But ultimately, we have no fellowship with them, for we are different.
When Jesus prays for his followers in John 17:14ff, He reminds them that they are not part of this world.
Paul tells us in Romans 12:2 not to be conformed to the world & in Titus 2:12 not to give in to the world.
And James 1:27 warns us not to be polluted by the world & in 4:4 not to be friends with the world.
We are different from the world.
We follow a holy God who expects us also to be holy.
O.T. when God’s people didn’t practice holy obedience, paid a price.
2 Samuel 6, Ark of covenant being moved into Jerusalem. As traveled, cart tip, thought would fall, Uzzah reached out to steady the ark.
Bible says, God anger burned against him, killed him on the spot.
Good intentions, but disobeyed God’s command, not to touch t/Ark.
We may dream up excuses for why we aren’t holy. We may try to rationalize our sin away, or shift the blame to others, but the bottom line is this, God calls me to holiness - period.
It’s not just about who we are, but what we are to do.
WE ARE THE CHURCH!
Evangelize the World
Matt 28:19-20, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in t/name of t/Father & of t/Son & of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of t/age.”
Why don’t we evangelize; apathetic & disobedient to Christ’s teaching.
If we took t/scriptures at face-value, we would evangelize. Remember:
1. Man is sinful and needs a Savior
2. Man can’t escape the penalty of sin without the person of Jesus.
3. Man can’t receive forgiveness until he first is introduced to Jesus.
That’s where we come in - Evangelism.
WE ARE THE CHURCH!
Build Up - by use of talents
The mental picture is that of a body-builder who works hour after hour in the gym to get his physical body in perfect condition.
Ephesians 4:12, “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up”
Let each of us practice and exercise our spiritual gifts, using them to minister to one another here at
Cornerstone, so that this infant body of believers will grow strong in the Lord.
WE ARE THE CHURCH!
Faithful Amidst Persecution
Acts 8:1-4, “& Saul was there, giving approval to his death. On that day a great persecution broke out against t/church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen & mourned deeply for him.
But Saul began to destroy t/church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison. Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.”
Even in t/face of death, these believers didn’t feel sorry for themselves, they didn’t curse God for this trouble.
NO - they were too busy telling others the Good News about Jesus to be caught up with their own troubles. If we could have that mind-set.
T/church will face difficulty from without & from within, yet we are to stand unashamed / unmoved, no matter what price we have to pay.
In America we don’t face physical persecution, but therein lies a great danger - for it can lead to apathy and mediocrity.
Remember John’s warning to the church in Laodecia. This church was lukewarm. They didn’t stand for anything. Compromise was the norm. And Jesus said, “change, or I’ll spit you out of my mouth”.
Harsh words - but a wake-up call to repentance & whole-hearted faith.
WE ARE THE CHURCH!
Guard the Truth
There is no room for Biblical compromise as the Church.
2 Timothy 2:1-2, “You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.”
Peter Drucker says churches will be strong when they,
1. Emphasize the truth
2. Do not apologize
3. Expect people to change.
Yet our society shouts for TOLERANCE:
It’s the code word of today!
If we stand for anything that could be considered an absolute, then we are labeled intolerant, uncaring & insensitive.
I’m not saying to be hard-hearted. Let us strive to combine compassion with a promise to never compromise the truth of scripture.
It’s about Integrity.
Websters dictionary says Integrity is: Firm adherence to a moral code, incorruptibility; unimpaired conditions, soundness. The quality or state of being complete or undivided.
Bill Hybels of t/Willowcreek Church south of Chicago says integrity is doing what is right, when no one is looking.
Jesus combined integrity with compassion. He stood firm on God’s Word & at the same time loved the sinner. That is our challenge.
We are the Church.
We are added by God & built on Jesus.
We are t/church, members of His household & t/dwelling place of God.
We are t/church, a body of believers & the sheep of His flock.
We are t/church, the bride of Christ & therefore, holy
and sanctified.
We are t/church, called to win the lost & build each other up.
We are t/church, we are to be true to God even amidst difficulty.
We are t/church, guarding the truth & living it each & every day.
WE ARE THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST!
I’m glad to be part of God’s Church.
I’m proud to be called a Christian.
I will stand up for truth and righteousness.
And I will oppose anyone who brings shame to my Lord & His Church.
