WeAre . . . The Church (2)
OKAY…
WELCOME to CHURCH…
WELCOME to Maple Grove…
WELCOME to week 2 of our new series of Sunday morning conversations, CHURCH…
BUT – before we dig into part 2 of our introductory discussion, ‘WeAre… The Church’ - we need to take a brief commercial break.
Freedom Sunday Video
NOW – this past week in our FCFH readings we have been reading the book of ACTS, WOW - what an exciting book.
It begins with Jesus hanging out with His people for a period of 40 days after His resurrection.
MAKING SURE - that they were 100% convinced that He was alive… TALKING TO THEM - about the kingdom,
TELLING THEM about their ONE JOB (to be His witnesses everywhere), and
COMMANDING THEM – to wait for His power to show up…
I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.
– Luke 24:49
AND SO – they do just that, they waited for that power to show up… AND - as they waited… they did a lot of praying…
They all joined together constantly in prayer… - Acts 1:14
AND THEN – on the day of Pentecost God’s power, and His promised Spirit showed up… as tongues of fire fell down from heaven, as the loud sound of rushing wind surrounded them, as the 12 apostles began speak of the wonders of God and as those gathered from all around the world heard them speak in their own language…
NOW – we need to understand that one of the most important events in human history was unfolding, the church was being born. A birth that was taking place at the perfect time, during the feast of Pentecost… 50 days after the Passover.
A TIME – when God’s people celebrated the harvest.
A TIME – when new life was springing up everywhere.
A TIME – when what had appeared to be dead was bursting forth with life…
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning!
16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
AND THEN PETER – begins to tell the huge crowd (in the 1000’s) that was now gathered, using both the OT Scripture and their own knowledge of Jesus (the miracles He did, the death He died and the grave He conquered)…
He begins to tell them, show them, prove to them…
That Jesus was the Son of Living God and their long awaited Messiah.
36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
YEAH – the guy you murdered just a few days back on the Passover… was God son, your Messiah.
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
OKAY – now, I think we would agree that this is a very HUGE question, right? SO – no doubt the people all leaned in to hear Peter’s answer.
THE ANSWER – to the question, what do messed up people do in order to be right with God…
HOW – do fallen people respond to the Gospel.
AND LISTEN – this was the very first time was ever asked or answered after Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
And the church was born…
Cry Out To Him Prayer (James 5:16-18; Mt 7:7,8; Eph 3:20,21)
NOW – last week when we kicked off our new series by making
some very important statements about the church.
Let’s review them quickly…
#1 - Maple Grove IS the Church
UNDERSTAND B/S - the church is not some mystical invisible unseen thing out there, but rather the church is right here locally, where are.
Maple Grove is ‘the’ church.
THEREFORE – everything we read in the bible about the church applies to this church.
B/L – Maple Grove is the church, as much as anything that is called the church, gets to be the church…
#2 - The Church Is Christ’s (it belongs to Jesus)…
Belongs to who?
MG is not my church, the elders church or your church…
MG is His church.
On this rock I will build my church – Matthew 16
Yes MG belongs to Jesus, and we know from Revelation that Jesus (though we can not see Him) stands right of this lampstand.
The church is not a building, it’s ‘us’
YEAH – that little hand thing we were taught when we kids…
Fun, cute… just bad theology.
UNDERSDTAND - Maple Grove is not a building (walls, brick, concrete and wood), it’s people, it’s me, it’s you it’s us
We are the church.
I MEAN – look around this room, if you are looking at a Jesus follower, you are looking at the church.
“Here’s a building
Here’s the steeple
When you open the doors
You see the church which is people.”
The Church Is . . . The Bride Of Christ
Ephesians 5:25-27
As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you. – Isaiah 62:5
B/S - MG…
Never forget that
This how Jesus looks at the church.
This is how he looks at Maple Grove.
This is how he looks at every believer.
The Church Is the Most Valuable Thing On The Planet
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field. – Matthew 13:44
QUESTION – how should we treat, what should we do for and give to… something that is this valuable.
LISTEN - If we, if you do not see the church (MGCC) that way (as the most valuable, precious and important thing on the planet) then you are not seeing her as she really is…
The Church Is More Than A Sunday Morning Huddle
INSTEAD
IT IS – a 24/7… 365 day… way of life… following Christ… living out loud.
Telling and demonstrating to the lost, broken and wondering world,
THAT – not only do we love to huddle, but we really love to play the game.
LISTEN, LISTEN…
I am convinced that when we see the church for what she really is…
• We will be much more excited about the opportunity to be a part of her
• We will take her much more seriously
• And we will commit to her more fully…
11/06 – WeAre… In
OKAY – let’s do this.
LET’S – break out into some more the church is statement
AND UNDERSTAND – we could spend weeks unpacking and teaching on each of these pictures, metaphors, images that Scripture uses to describe the church…
BUT – we do not have time to do this…
HOWEVER – I really want to encourage you to marinate on these truths about the church, about Maple Grove, about you…
AND NOTE – I listed in your notes more passages of Scripture than we will have time to read…
Read them this week.
Talk about them in your Life Groups
Life Group Sign Up…
The Church Is…
The Body Of Christ (the second Incarnation)
NOW – this truth, that the church is the body of Christ is perhaps Paul’s favorite image or metaphor for the church.
He uses the metaphor over 30 times in his letters…
Check Out what he wrote in Ephesians chapter one… It is powerful prayer that Paul prays for the church.
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
The church (MG) is the ‘fullness’ of who?
And Jesus does what?
The church is the body of Christ.
Maple Grove is the body of Christ.
AND LISTEN – a head is incomplete without a body and a body is incomplete without a head.
QUESTION – was the body of Christ important, key, vital to God’s redemptive plan in the first century?
Is the body of Christ important, key, vital to God’s redemptive plan in the 21st century?
In their book, ‘The Second Incarnation, a theology for the 21st century church’ Rubel Shelly and Randall Harris write.
“Just as the invisible God made Himself visible and tangible in Jesus Christ, so the now-invisible Christ is making Himself visible and tangible to the world through His church”
B/S – if Jesus is going to make contact with this lost, hurting and broken world it will through us.
UNDERSTAND – in a very real way we are the voice, the hands, the feet, the love of Jesus in this world… God’s second incarnation.
NOW – the first incarnation was crazy… that a limitless God would choose to limit Himself and put on human flesh.
THAT – among others things the One who had been All-Present in eternity could not be in Bethlehem and Jerusalem at the same time.
UNDERSTAND – Jesus did not have to do this, but he did it in order to accomplish His mission.
Yeah – the first incarnation crazy.
The second incarnation… Crazy-err! R U kidding me?
God choosing to limit Himself and His redemptive work to us, to me, to you?
While Christ in His person is altogether complete without the church, Christ in His earthly function is incomplete without His spiritual body.. We are called to complete, execute, and perform in our collective life what He desires to have done in the world. What we do in our world, we must do in order to be faithful as His body. - Rubel Shelly and Randall Harris
The church (MG) is the body of Christ…
What a powerful image to chew on.
AGAIN – in your notes I listed some other passages to check out this week about the church being Christ’s body
Romans 12:4-8; Ephesians 5:23-28’ Colossians 1:18-24
1 Corinthians 12:12-31
NOW - to a church that was seriously divided Paul spend 19 verses talking about how the people in the Corinthian Church (and in any church for that matter) were ONE BODY.
The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit… - 1 Cor 12:12,13
• Christ is the Head of the body
• The Head is in charge of the body and not vice versa
• The goal of the body is to glorify the Head
• All the members of the are diverse, valued and needed
• The members of the body are to love and appreciate each other (not hurt and devalue), as they work together.
The Church Is…
The Family Of God
So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. – Ephesians 2:19
QUESTION…
• IS - your family pretty important to you?
• DO - you love your family, despite their imperfections?
• HAVE YOU – and will you continue to make sacrifices for your family?
• DO – you have hopes and dreams for the members of your family?
B/S
We are God’s sons and daughters.
We are brothers and sisters.
We are part of the family of God, members of God’s household.
Maple Grove is the family of God.
The Church Is…
The Temple Of God
UNDERSTAND – as Paul throws out this metaphor about what the church is…
THE TEMPLE OF GOD – has been the centerpiece of worship for God’s people for 1000+ years…
SO – it is another metaphor that is rich and deep with meaning.
NOW – we know each of us as Jesus followers are the temple of God, because the Holy Spirit (which is a promised gift given to us when as Peter said we repent and are baptized) lives in us.
BUT LISTEN – there is also a since that we are God’s temple collectively…
Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. – Ephesians 2:20, 21
Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. – 1 Corinthians 3:16,17
Some implications of being the Temple of God
• The Spirit of God lives in us
Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?
• We must be careful how we build
(The OT temple was built around a specific divine pattern)
Built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him…
• Our personal holiness matters
God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple
• It’s not a good idea to do things that hurt the church
God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple.
The Church Is…
Christ’s Flock
NOW – Paul uses this metaphor for the church in Acts 20:28…
Let me set up the passage…
• Paul is on the way to Jerusalem
• And he knows that when he gets there arrest and death are probably waiting for him. But he knows that this is what God wants him to do.
• Now, those who love him are concerned (especially the elders of the church at Ephesus where he served for 3 years)…
• So these elders meet up with him during this journey back to Jerusalem… to say their good byes because they know they will probably never see each other again…
So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders. – Acts 20:28
Bonus passages
John 10:1-16; 1 Peter 5:1-4
UNDERSTAND…
The church (MG) is,
God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood…
QUESTION – what pictures and images come into your mind when you think of the church being God’s flock?
NOW – one of the things that comes into my mind is that I am a sheep.
Which can be a pretty scary thing…
IF – we were all alone, and
IF – we did not have such a good shepherd…
• Who loves and cares for us and knows us by name.
• Who leads and protects us
• Who longs to give us life in all of it’s fullness.
He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. – Isaiah 40:11
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness, for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
- Psalm 23
The Church Is . . .
The Promised Messianic Kingdom
NOW – many of you have heard me say before that the bible at it’s core, that it’s central message and dominant theme is the coming of Christ (anointed one, The Messiah)…
The message of the OT – Christ is coming
The message of the Gospels – Christ is here
The message of the rest of the NT – Christ is coming again.
NOW – the first mention that we have of the coming of the Messiah is in Genesis chapter 3…
As you know in Genesis 1 and 2 God (the all powerful and always existing one)… creates the heavens and the earth.
I MEAN – out of nothing, He creates everything.
Simply by speaking words.
Let there be… and there was… and it was good.
AND – on day 6 God pulled out all of the stops and breathed into existence the crown of His creation…man, people, us.
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness… So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them male and female he created them… God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
- Genesis 1:26-28,31
YEAH – things were good, VERY good.
(An incredible untainted uncorrupted world - God and mankind in prefect unbroken fellowship).
BUT – unfortunately they did not stay VERY good, for VERY long… YOU SEE – even before Adam and Eve made it out of the 3rd chapter of God’s 1,189 chapter story…
THEY - screw up everything (not only for themselves, but for us as well)… THEY – disobey God… THEY – take that bite…
AND – because of their choice sin, death and separation enter God’s perfect world.
BUT LISTEN – that is only part of The Story…
YOU SEE - long before the first couple sunk their teeth into that forbidden fruit…
GOD – already had a plan to set things right…
A PLAN - to remove the distance…
A PLAN - to give death, sin and separation - a crushing, lethal and defeating blow.
A PLAN – that God revealed to Adam and Eve in garden.
And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” – Genesis 3:15
AND LISTEN
Everything we read about and see in the Old Testament
FROM - that promise in the garden UNTIL Mary held baby Jesus in our arms is all about God preparing the world and His people for the Messiah’s arrival.
AND WHEN – I say everything, I mean everything…
• The calling of Abraham and Moses
• The forming of the nation of Israel
• The giving of the law and the building of the Temple
• The sacrifices and the priesthood
• The prophets and the kings
EVERYTHING – looked to, pointed to and longed for the coming of the Messiah and the Kingdom that he would bring.
UNDERSTAND - the kingdom was the central focus of Jesus’ ministry. He taught about the kingdom, He told parables to describe the kingdom and He came to establish the kingdom…
TRUTH BE TOLD - he could not stop talking about it….
He used the word over 100 times in the Gospels.
JESUS – talked about THE KINGDOM more times than He talked about faith, love and prayer… added together! The kingdom was always on his mind and lips from the beginning to the end of His ministry.
AFTER - 40 days of fasting, praying and battling the evil one in the wilderness… Jesus returned to Galilee ready to do what he came to do…
AND - we read in Matthew 4:17; From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
(The Greek verb means – it’s here and it’s been here).
AND - just a few verses later in Matthew 4:23 we read;
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
AND – in Luke 4:43, Jesus couldn’t have made the importance of The Kingdom any clearer… “I must preach the good news of the kingdom to other towns also, because that is why I was sent…” (Luke 4:43)
AND – in Luke 9:27
“Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.” - Luke 9:27
AND THEN – in that final week in Jerusalem… We see Jesus still talking about…the kingdom…
• At the temple with the people and the Jewish leaders
• With the 12 in the upper room
• When He stood beaten & bound before Pilate & the Jewish leaders
AND - what do you think Jesus’ favorite topic was during those 40 days after the resurrection?
After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
– Acts 1:3
MG – the church is the promised Messianic Kingdom.
The church and the message she has to bring is what it is all about. AND LISTEN – before He headed back home to sit at The Father’s right hand, Jesus wanted to ensure that when it came to the kingdom they got it.
The Gospel of Luke ends with the following post resurrection appearance of Jesus…
He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.
He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
That’s what we read about earlier in Acts 2…
You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” - Luke 24:44-49
Yeah when it came to the church being the promised Messianic kingdom… Jesus wanted them to get it…
AND – they did.
But now the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized. – Acts 8:12
He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. – Colossians 1:13,14
We should be grateful that we were given a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And in this kingdom we please God by worshiping him and by showing him great honor and respect.
– Hebrews 12:28
He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!
– Acts 28:31
He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.
– Revelation 1:6
QUESTION – what is the kingdom?
Well basically it is the rule of God in the heart of man…
Your kingdom come, your will be done. – Matthew 6:10
GUYS – ‘The Kingdom’ is coming.
NOW – the one day when Christ returns that rule of Godin the hearts of men will be experienced in all it’s fullness…
BUT LISTEN – in a very real way the kingdom God is already here – right now…
YES – hold on to your hat and put down your suitcase.
BECAUSE – 2000 years ago Jesus came (not merely to save us from our sins and punch our ticket to heaven, as need and as awesome as those things are)…
BUT – He also came to establish the Kingdom.
UNDERSTAND – because of Jesus death and resurrection…
The wall of sin and failure that separated us from God has been knocked down… and the door to forgiveness and restoration have been flung wide open.
Forgiveness of all sin was made available through His spilled blood on Calvary and the restoring of the image of God in us, is now within the reach BECAUSE when Jesus went back to the Father and sent the Holy Spirit to live inside those who would surrender to Him…
B/S – God living in us is a really BIG DEAL….
It is was helps establish the kingdom… the rule of God in our lives.
LISTEN – because the spirit of the living God is inside of us….
WE - have the power to live lives that are radically different than the world…
LIVES – where God’s ‘Kingdom’ and ‘His Will’ can be lived out in some awesome and mind blowing ways…
LIVES - that create a community where people:
• don’t compete they serve
• don’t hate they love
• don’t look out for #1 they look out for each other
• don’t use their tongue to put people down they only speak words that others up
• don’t hold grudges they forgive
• don’t point fingers they lend hands
• don’t wait to be serve but live to serve others
• don’t hate their enemies but they love and pray for them
SO – can you see why Jesus and the disciples could not stop talking about the kingdom!
LISTEN – because the Holy Spirit has come upon us
Whatever Jesus was to His world we are empowered to be in ours…
B/S – like I said earlier, in a very real way the 2nd incarnation!!!
I love these words from N.T. Wright;
Our task, as image bearing, God-loving, Spirit-filled Christians, following Christ and shaping our world, is to announce redemption to a world that has discovered it’s falleness, to announce healing to a world that has discovered its brokenness, to proclaim love and trust to a world that knows only exploitation, fear and suspicion…
Our task is to announce in deed and word that the exile is over…to act boldly in God’s world in the power of the Spirit.
Which brings us to our final (The church is statement)…
The Church Is . . .
The Called Out Of God
Now our English word ‘church’ translates the Greek word ‘Ekklesia.’ In the New Testament the word occurs 114 times. AND – over half of those times are in the writings of Paul.
It’s a compound word that means ‘the called out ones.’
The church are those called out from the world (by the Gospel), to go into the world (with the Gospel) because they are the hope of the world.
We are called out from the world by the Gospel..
B/S – the gospel as Paul says in Romans 1:16
The Gospel is the power of God for everyone who believes…
The Gospel calls us out from the world
Calls us out from
A life that is empty, dark, hopeless and all about us.
…To go into world with the Gospel
We are called out by God to take this Gospel into the world…
…because the local church is the hope of the world
Bill Hybels in his book Courageous Leadership talks about when that truth that the local church is the hope of the world first seized Him…
Airport in San Juan
A 9 year old beating a younger boy
Broke up the fight
But eventually had to board the plane
Holy Spirit made he wrestle with the question…
“what could change the trajectory of this young boys life”
I scrolled through every option I could think of…
Governments could pass new legislation.
Businesses can provide sorely needed jobs
Wise educators can teach useful knowledge of the world
Self-help programs can offer effective methods of behavior modification.
Advanced psychological techniques can aid self understanding.
And all of this is good . But can any of it transform a human heart?
I believe that only one power exists on this sorry planet that can do that. It’s the power of the love of Jesus Christ, the love that conquers sin and wipes out same and heals wounds and reconciles enemies and patches broken dreams and ultimately
changes the world, one life a time.
And what grips my heart everyday is the knowledge that the radical message of that transforming love has been given to the church.
That means in a very real way the future of the world rests in the hands of local congregation like yours and mine. It’s the church or it’s lights out.
Without churches so filled with the power of God that they can’t help but spill goodness and peace and love and joy into the world, depravity will win the day; evil will flood the world.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Strong, growing communities of faith can turn the tide of history, they can!
Don’t bother looking else where the church is it.”
The church are those called out from the world (by the Gospel), to go into the world (with the Gospel) because they are the hope of the world.
