Introduction
I. What is the determining factor between success and failure?
A. Pappa John’s pizza has a mission statement of “To produce the best possible pizza at the most affordable price.”
B. Now you may not like Pappa John’s pizza, and you may not think it is the most affordable, but is your opinion the determining factor for success or failure.
C. You may say,
1. “If I don’t buy Pappa John’s, then it is a failure” or
2. “If enough people don’t buy Pappa John’s it is most certainly a failure,” but
D. I take you back to their mission statement, “To produce the best possible pizza at the most affordable price.”
1. If their mission statement is their goal, is their success dependent on the number of pizza’s they sell, or
2. Is their success based on whether they produce the best possible pizza at the most affordable price?
E. I submit that success or failure must be based on what the stated goal is, not the anticipated result, and that is one reason a “Purpose Statement” or “Vision Statement” is mandatory.
II. I would like to read for you a letter, the writer of which you probably do not know personally, although you have almost certainly heard about it’s author over the past few weeks.
Dear Women of New Life Church:
I am so sorry for the circumstances that have led me to write this letter to you today. I know your hears are broken; mine is as well. Yet my hope rests steadfastly in the Lord who is forever faithful.
What I want you to know is that I love my husband, Ted Haggard, with all my heart. I am committed to him until death “do us part.” We started this journey together and with the grace of God, we will finish together.
If I were standing before you today, I would not change one iota of what I have been teaching the women of our church. For those of you who have been concerned that my marriage was so perfect I could not possibly relate to the women who are facing great difficulties, know that this will never again be the case. My test has begun; watch me, I will try to prove myself faithful.
I love you all so much, especially you young women –you are my delight.
To all the church family of New Life Church – Ted and I are so proud of you. You are all we hoped you would be. In our minds, there is no greater church.
As you try to make sense of these past few days, now that Ted believes with all his heart and soul everything he has ever taught you, those things you are putting into practice. He is now the visible and public evidence that every man (woman and child) needs a Savior.
We are grateful for your prayers for our family.
I hold you forever in my heart.
Gayle Haggard.
(Letter taken from New Life Church website)
III. New Life Church began some years ago in the basement of Ted and Gayle Haggards home.
A. Today it is a so called “Mega church” of some 14000 worshiper’s, located in Denver Colorado.
B. You probably know that their pastor has just be caught up in a scandal, and most recently reigned; so is New Life Church a success or a failure.
C. Here is their purpose statement, “Our purpose is to know, worship and obey God according to the Scriptures.”
D. Their mission - “...to promote healthy relationship through small grops which empower people for ministry.
1. Their pastor recently “fell” but they still have over 1200 functioning small groups.
2. One person fell; certainly out of 14,000 many others could be found just as guilty,
3. But; they are still there, evidently doing that which their purpose and mission statement says they intend to do.
E. If you base success on Ted Haggard, you must say failure, however
F. If you base success or failure on number of attenders, I suppose they are a success, BUT
G. If you base success on that church meeting it’s stated purpose and mission, how would you answer.
IV. I suppose because of our human frailties, we need something visible by which to measure success.
A. Did you know that 90% of all churches in the United States have fewer than 100 people in attendance on Sunday morning.
B. Did you know that of that number some 80% have fewer than 50.
C. Success; or failure, I suppose it depends on what the criteria is.
V. I believe that our passage this morning is one basis by which a church can measure it’s success or failure; and note, there is not one number given.
VI. Turn with me to 1st Timothy, chapter 3, beginning in verse 14.
VII. In this passage Paul is giving a “Standard for Measuring Success.”
Conduct of the Church
14 I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long;
15 but in case I am delayed, I write so that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.
I. 1st and 2nd Timothy, along with Titus have been labeled by man as “Pastoral Epistles” or letters.
A. They are called that because they were very personal letters, written by Paul, the mentor to Timothy and Titus, young men left as elders of a group of churches.
B. However, who among us would say that the words God directed Paul to write are meant only for pastors and elders.
C. All scripture was given for all believers; thus, Paul is writing these words to all believers, concerning the proper attitude of worship for ALL believers, thus,
1. When he says, “so that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God,
2. Paul is saying, “I write this so that the entire household of God will know the proper way to worship God.”
D. Primarily, he has been speaking to the conduct of church leaders, but just as important is the fact that the church body must know what a proper church leader looks like.
II. If you were to look back at 1st Timothy chapter 1, verse three, it appears that Paul is in Macedonia.
III. I posed the question last week, “I wonder how the body would react if I stood up and said, ‘We command this or that thing to happen.’”
A. I really don’t need to wonder,
B. Some, if not most of you would react very strongly in the negative.
IV. But for these verses, I wondered, “Is there and expected standard of conduct for the church? And “Who is responsible for communicating that standard?”
A. The answer must be yes, for Paul says, “I write this so the household of God will know how to conduct itself.”
B. The church body at large is not deciding whether something is right or wrong; Paul has been directed by God to give instructions, even to a church that he is no longer an active part of.
C. If you give it some thought, it will make you go, “HuuuuuuM.
V. Secondly Paul uses the term, “household of God.”
A. Your King James says “house of God” which looks a bit like a building.
B. But the next phrase is “which is the church of the living God.”
VI. Paul is not speaking of a building but rather a group of people.
A. Church; “ecclesia” in the Greek means “called out people.”
B. The “household of God,” “house of God” the place where God resides is not a building but a group of people, called out from the rest of the people of the world.
VII. So important then,
A. Paul is not talking merely about conduct of worship of God when the church gathers, but rather
B. the idea is, “Success in the worship of God is dependent on how the church conducts itself in everyday life, including when it meets for formal worship.
VIII. Numbers alone are not a standard by which to measure the success of the church.
IX. The proper standard for success of the 1st Church of Ephesus, and for Newtown Community Church of Langhorne Pa is found in how the church conducts itself at all times.
X. Paul next states that the ecclesia is the “pillar and support of the truth.”
A. Pillar and support; interesting words.
B. Your KJV says “pillar and ground” while the NIV says “pillar and foundation”
1. The idea is that the church is a vehicle by which the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ is held up for all the world to see.
2. The “support” or “ground” carries the idea of a buttress or fortification against attack.
XI. Does that mean a church like New Life in Colorado is a support, because it has 14,000 worshiper’s, and a church like Newtown Community is not a support because right now we are lucky to have 40 worshiper’s on a Sunday?
A. Not even close.
1. One portion may fail, but
2. The church is not one person, but rather every person that has come to faith in Jesus Christ.
B. Certainly a “New Life Church”, or a “Calvary Church of Philadelphia” or a “Saddleback Church” in California gets more visibility, BUT
C. The standard of success for the church is not the amount of it’s visibility, but rather it’s commitment to uphold the truth concerning God.
1. God is responsible for size,
2.
XII. The church is responsible to support the truth.
XIII. And what is this truth which the church is responsible to support?
A. It is none other than the Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.
A Hymn of Faith
16 And by common confession great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, beheld by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
I. It is the “conduct” of the church which supports, defends and reveals the truth concerning Jesus Christ.
A. Would it be fair to say that with few exceptions most people want to live forever?
B. In one fashion or another, ever since Adam and Eve were banished from Paradise, man has attempted to discover the “fountain of youth.”
1. Billions of dollars worth of beauty supplies.
2. Billions of dollars spent on medical miracles.
3. It seams as if there are as many gyms and workout facilities as there are churches.
C. Even I go to the YMCA almost every day of the week, and sometimes even twice each day, making attempts to make my body strong.
D. And yet, eventually, should the Lord tarry, every one of us will eventually die.
E. Eternal life is found only for those that find “godliness” or “holiness.”
II. 1st Timothy 3:16 is believed to be a part of a hymn of faith concerning the savior; it begins by stating, “By common agreement” or “common confession.”
A. In other words there is not argument that the acquisition of holiness is a great mystery.
B. Mystery refers to a truth that has been hidden from the multitudes, but has been revealed to the few.
1. How does this thing called salvation work?
a. The world in general can’t understand it, even while they seek it.
b. Even we really don’t know exactly,
c. BUT we know that it is found through faith in Jesus Christ.
C.
III. Paul asked the Ephesian church to be in continual prayer that - “that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel”
A. This mystery is found in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, for Christ said in Luke 19, verse 10 - “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
IV. The mystery was made know by “He who was revealed in the flesh.”
A. In John 14:9 Jesus said, - “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
B. Only God can declare a person righteous and holy; fit for never ending life.
C. Christ made visible Him who is invisible, so that the mystery of salvation could be made known to all that would believe, and the church is charged with making the mystery of Christ visible to all that will see.
V. Next Paul states that Christ was “vindicated in the Spirit”
A. That word vindicated carries the idea of “proven”
B. Jesus Christ claimed to be God.
1. Only God could forgive sins, yet Jesus in the flesh said to the paralytic, “your sins are forgiven.”
2. He said to the women caught in adultery, “neither to I condemn you, go and sin no more.”
3. Jesus said to the thief on the cross, “this day you will be with me in paradise.”
C. No mere man would have the audacity to makes such claims, and yet Jesus did, and for such was considered worthy of death.
D. And yet, when He was resurrected through the power of the Holy Spirit, those claims were proven to be correct.
E. And today, the church has the responsibility to lift the claims of Christ for the world to see.
VI. Christ was beheld by angels.
A. Of course He was,
1. The angels are created beings, living with God.
2. Jesus is God, and therefore seen and known by the angels.
B. This could refer to several things,
1. One commentator see’s this as a statement that Jesus was greater than the angels,
2. Another says, it means that Jesus was cared for by angels,
3. Yet another says, the angels observed the actions of God in the flesh,
C. All of those are true, and yet the angels have not been given the responsibility for making Christ known to the world; the church has,
VII. Christ is “proclaimed among the nations”
A. The Greek word is “ethos” and is often translated as “gentiles.”
B. Ethnos means all mankind, it means the world.
C. The conduct of the church, the success of the church is that we are the instrument by which Jesus is made known to all that will listen.
VIII. Our proclamation results in belief in the world
A. Not everyone will believe, but some will.
B. In a world that is given over to it’s lust’s, some will hear and believe, but only as the church, that is you and I proclaim the truth of Christ.
IX. And finally this Christ who was “manifest in the flesh” was “taken up” your King James says, “received up” into glory.
A. Jesus said, “I have come to seek and save the lost,”
B. He also said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
X. Why does the church exist today?
A. To often we can get caught up in a web of confusion.
1. Sometimes we believe we are supposed to preserve our tradition.
2. Sometimes we believe we are supposed to preserve our denomination.
3. Sometimes we believe we are supposed to preserve peace at all cost.
B. Paul said, “I write these things so that the household of God will know how to conduct itself.”
1. That conduct is to proclaim the message of salvation through faith in the risen savior to a world that actually desires to hear the message.
2. So how are you doing?
