Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / The-Church-Who-Needs-It-Msg-13-16

Transcript

The-Church-Who-Needs-It-Msg-13-16 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

0:01
Speaker 1: I recall as a little child learning a poem in
0:04
Speaker 1: Sunday school, we were to use a simple hand gesture.
0:09
Speaker 1: You may remember. It went something like this, here's the church,
0:15
Speaker 1: here's the steeple. Open the doors and see all the people.
0:21
Speaker 1: Remember that, sure you do, some of you are old
0:24
Speaker 1: enough to remember going through the motions. The lesson intended
0:29
Speaker 1: was that the church is more than simply a building
0:33
Speaker 1: adorned with a tall, stately steeple nestled on some pastoral hillside. No,
0:42
Speaker 1: the church, as God intended it is primarily people. Never
0:48
Speaker 1: forget that. In recent decades, many Christians have wrongly gravitated
0:53
Speaker 1: to one of two extremes, first, placing all emphasis on
0:59
Speaker 1: the church buil building, the walls, the hollowed spaces, and
1:03
Speaker 1: the traditions that must be revered and esteemed above everything else.
1:09
Speaker 1: In that case, the church is a building, a place
1:12
Speaker 1: where people attend to offer their worship and devotion to God.
1:16
Speaker 1: It's all about the building, period. Now. The second extreme
1:21
Speaker 1: believes there's absolutely no need whatever for a place of worship,
1:26
Speaker 1: certainly nothing ornate and awe inspiring, as long as people
1:30
Speaker 1: understand that God is everywhere and can be worshiped well anywhere.
1:37
Speaker 1: Both views have had their proponents, yet both, when taken
1:42
Speaker 1: to their natural extremes, represent a clear deviation from the
1:47
Speaker 1: biblical truth regarding the church. I'm calling today's message the
1:53
Speaker 1: Church who needs it, because I feel that's a question
1:59
Speaker 1: being asked more and more in our culture. I'd like
2:03
Speaker 1: to allow the scriptures to clarify for all of us
2:07
Speaker 1: God's vision and God's purposes for both the place of
2:12
Speaker 1: the church and the people of the Church in his
2:16
Speaker 1: plan to redeem the world. With you, I want to
2:20
Speaker 1: examine several passages in the New Testament to underscore what
2:24
Speaker 1: I believe to be some essential principles critical for growing
2:30
Speaker 1: up in God's family. To get us started, though, I
2:34
Speaker 1: invite you to turn with me to Romans chapter twelve,
2:39
Speaker 1: or I'll read for you just four or five verses.
2:43
Speaker 1: I'll read Romans twelve four through nine, and then we'll
2:48
Speaker 1: look at Matthew sixteen eighteen. I'll read both passages from
2:52
Speaker 1: the New Living Translation, first Romans twelve, beginning at verse four.
3:00
Speaker 1: Just as our bodies have many parts, and each part
3:03
Speaker 1: has a special function, so it is with Christ's body.
3:08
Speaker 1: We are many parts of one body, and we all
3:12
Speaker 1: belong to each other in his grace. God has given
3:17
Speaker 1: us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if
3:23
Speaker 1: God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out
3:27
Speaker 1: with as much faith as God has given you. If
3:30
Speaker 1: your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you
3:35
Speaker 1: are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to
3:39
Speaker 1: encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving gift generously.
3:46
Speaker 1: If God has given you leadership abilities, take the responsibility seriously.
3:53
Speaker 1: And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others,
3:57
Speaker 1: do it gladly. You just pretend to love others, really
4:04
Speaker 1: love them. Hate what is wrong, hold tightly to what
4:11
Speaker 1: is good. And now that single verse in Matthew chapter sixteen,
4:18
Speaker 1: it's verse eighteen. Now I say to you that you
4:22
Speaker 1: are Peter. The word means rock, and upon this rock
4:28
Speaker 1: I will build my church, and all the powers of
4:31
Speaker 1: Hell will not conquer it. I heartily agree with George MacLeod.
4:39
Speaker 1: He is the man who wrote I simply argue that
4:41
Speaker 1: the cross be raised again at the center of the
4:44
Speaker 1: marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church.
4:48
Speaker 1: I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified
4:52
Speaker 1: in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross
4:56
Speaker 1: between two thieves, on a town garbage heap, at a
5:01
Speaker 1: crossroad of politics so cosmopolitan that they had to write
5:05
Speaker 1: his title in Hebrew and in Latin and in Greek,
5:10
Speaker 1: and at the kind of place where cynics talk smut
5:15
Speaker 1: and thieves curse and soldiers gamble, because that is where
5:19
Speaker 1: he died, and that is what he died about, and
5:23
Speaker 1: that is where Christ's people ought to be and what
5:27
Speaker 1: church people ought to be about. Like I said, I
5:32
Speaker 1: believe that, and I agree with that. However, if we
5:39
Speaker 1: took that to its logical extreme, it wouldn't be long
5:44
Speaker 1: before we would begin to question the need for a
5:48
Speaker 1: place with a steeple, a cathedral with candles, a place
5:55
Speaker 1: to house church people. All we would really need would
5:59
Speaker 1: be a mark it place, a cosmopolitan crossroad, a political platform,
6:11
Speaker 1: a place where cynics talk smut and soldiers gamble and
6:16
Speaker 1: thieves curse. Who would ever need pews and hymnals and
6:30
Speaker 1: and places with roofs over the heads of Christians and
6:38
Speaker 1: big buildings with cornerstones that dedicate those buildings to the
6:42
Speaker 1: glory of God. Who would need pastoral staffs and instruments
6:47
Speaker 1: of music and and church constitutions and youth ministries. I mean,
6:57
Speaker 1: all you would really need is a street the church
7:02
Speaker 1: as an organization who really needs it? Now? I know
7:11
Speaker 1: what George McLeod is getting at, But my problem is
7:16
Speaker 1: that I listened to many other voices today, as you do,
7:20
Speaker 1: and I hear many of them saying more than what
7:23
Speaker 1: he was trying to say. I hear them talking about
7:29
Speaker 1: getting a job done that doesn't call for buildings and
7:34
Speaker 1: pews and organs and pianos and pulpits and all of
7:39
Speaker 1: the church stuff. In fact, I heard not long ago
7:45
Speaker 1: the church referred to as little more than a stained
7:48
Speaker 1: glass aquarium. Interesting title, and yet I've heard others say
7:54
Speaker 1: where in the world would I be without my church?
7:56
Speaker 1: Almost in a worshipful sense to the other extreme. Since
8:03
Speaker 1: I've been a pastor, ever since entering ministry, I have
8:08
Speaker 1: had numerous opportunities to hear people's feelings about the church.
8:13
Speaker 1: I've not set down to categorize their comments, but I
8:16
Speaker 1: think if I were to do that, I would see
8:18
Speaker 1: them in three areas. Comments regarding the church as identity, second,
8:25
Speaker 1: comments regarding their disagreement with or disappointment with the church
8:31
Speaker 1: the whole area of criticism, and third would have to
8:34
Speaker 1: do with expectations, most of which begin with the church should,
8:39
Speaker 1: or the church must or the church ought. Let me
8:42
Speaker 1: give you a few comments as far as identity is concerned.
8:46
Speaker 1: I've heard it said the church is big business, nothing more,
8:49
Speaker 1: just big business. Another refers to the church as an
8:52
Speaker 1: evangelistic center, a place where people come to get saved.
8:58
Speaker 1: Another calls it a hospital where we care for the hurting.
9:03
Speaker 1: That is the purpose of the church in that person's opinion.
9:08
Speaker 1: Someone else said, rather innocuously, the church is nice for
9:11
Speaker 1: the community, almost as though it's a good place for
9:15
Speaker 1: children to play games, nice spot for somebody to do business,
9:21
Speaker 1: good place to meet your future mate. Church is nice
9:27
Speaker 1: for the community. Then the critical comments. Come, church is
9:32
Speaker 1: the only place that shoots its wounded. You've heard that said,
9:36
Speaker 1: haven't you. It's too rigid, too severe, too legalistic. Another
9:42
Speaker 1: refers to it as irrelevant, it's lost its touch with
9:47
Speaker 1: today's world. Another says it fails to meet my real needs,
9:50
Speaker 1: my deepest needs. And you've heard this one. It's only
9:55
Speaker 1: interested in your money. Or it's full of hypocrites, too proud,
10:02
Speaker 1: too sophisticated, perhaps those things come from expectations. Comments like
10:08
Speaker 1: the church should take a stand on specific issues, usually
10:12
Speaker 1: in the same congregation. There are many who say the
10:15
Speaker 1: church has no business taking stand on specific issues, the
10:20
Speaker 1: church should be very involved with politics, and the same congregation,
10:24
Speaker 1: the thing I love about the church is it's not
10:26
Speaker 1: involved in politics. The church needs to be more merciful
10:30
Speaker 1: and compassionate. Another occasion, a person will say what the
10:34
Speaker 1: church needs is more doctrine, preach more doctrine. We should
10:40
Speaker 1: do that, or in order for it to be effective,
10:44
Speaker 1: it has to stay small. Among the most common feelings
10:50
Speaker 1: regarding the church is best expressed by this writer as
10:54
Speaker 1: she laments, maybe I am what I'm looking for among
10:58
Speaker 1: a body of Christians does not exist, Maybe I'm hoping
11:03
Speaker 1: for too much, and then she continues, what my spirit
11:06
Speaker 1: reaches out for is that group of people who accept
11:10
Speaker 1: me as I am, warts and all. I'm looking for
11:15
Speaker 1: that support team. I'm looking for that kind of encouragement.
11:18
Speaker 1: I'm looking for a church body that won't always knock
11:21
Speaker 1: me dead with scripture or spiritualize everything. And tell me,
11:27
Speaker 1: aren't you looking for the same thing? She asks through
11:31
Speaker 1: some bitter lessons I have learned that no church member,
11:36
Speaker 1: no fellow Christian, has the right to press me into
11:39
Speaker 1: his or her performance mold end of quote. The author
11:45
Speaker 1: is is concerned that the church comes across as the
11:48
Speaker 1: all seeing eye, as the judgmental body that will put
11:52
Speaker 1: you down when you step out out of line, and
11:56
Speaker 1: on and on and on those comments for the next
12:01
Speaker 1: few minutes. I want to tell you right up front,
12:03
Speaker 1: I'd like to raise the level of your appreciation for
12:08
Speaker 1: the church. And for some of you, that would be
12:12
Speaker 1: quite a breakthrough, because you have cut your teeth in
12:17
Speaker 1: bitter experiences with local churches, and you have just about
12:22
Speaker 1: come to the place of saying, who needs it. I'll
12:26
Speaker 1: leave it to the preachers and the choir members and
12:28
Speaker 1: the deacons. I'll let the churchy folks mess around with
12:32
Speaker 1: the church. I'll just come enough to kind of calm
12:37
Speaker 1: my guilt. But don't expect me to get too excited
12:41
Speaker 1: about the church. I've been burned. I have to tell
12:48
Speaker 1: you that I pity you if that's happened. I hurt
12:55
Speaker 1: for you in your anguish, and I long for you
12:59
Speaker 1: to get over the resentment so you can see the
13:02
Speaker 1: impact it can have in your life. But enough of
13:09
Speaker 1: my feelings on that. Let me show you from the
13:11
Speaker 1: scriptures Matthew, chapter sixteen. If you'll turn there, please let's
13:16
Speaker 1: look at Christ's statement on the church. No more human opinions.
13:20
Speaker 1: Let's find out what Christ says about it. When I
13:25
Speaker 1: think of Christ and the Church, I think mainly of
13:29
Speaker 1: this major prediction he made prior to his leaving the
13:32
Speaker 1: earth Matthew sixteen eighteen. One of the most significant things
13:39
Speaker 1: he ever said, and certainly one that has had the
13:44
Speaker 1: greatest impact as far as history is concerned. Jesus is speaking,
13:54
Speaker 1: Matthew sixteen eighteen. And I also say to you that
13:57
Speaker 1: you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build
14:00
Speaker 1: my church. If you have a pencil hand, he underlined
14:04
Speaker 1: those five words, upon this rock, I will build my church,
14:12
Speaker 1: and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it. Keep
14:18
Speaker 1: looking at those words to begin with. The project is
14:25
Speaker 1: Christ's I will build it. It is exceedingly easy to
14:31
Speaker 1: fall into the trap of thinking that we are the
14:35
Speaker 1: key to the church's continuation. We are not the key.
14:39
Speaker 1: It's his building project. He originated it. He is its architect,
14:44
Speaker 1: he is its superintendent, he is the sustainer of it.
14:49
Speaker 1: That's very important for church leaders to remember it's his
14:53
Speaker 1: building project. Second, I notice the church belongs to him.
14:59
Speaker 1: I will build my church. He is its head, he
15:04
Speaker 1: is its master, he is its dynamic, he is its security.
15:09
Speaker 1: And you'll notice he is its defense. The gates of
15:11
Speaker 1: hades shall not overpower it. The third I want you
15:15
Speaker 1: to note is that the church will survive regardless. It
15:20
Speaker 1: will survive. Just read this past week from a rather
15:23
Speaker 1: well known writer that if we do not do such
15:26
Speaker 1: and such, the church in a matter of years will disappear. Ah,
15:31
Speaker 1: it will never disappear. The gates of hades will never
15:34
Speaker 1: overpower it. As long as there is earth, there will
15:37
Speaker 1: be church. Now. I know some of you are thinking critically,
15:44
Speaker 1: and you should about this word church. This term translated
15:52
Speaker 1: you are in our English language, comes from a Greek
15:57
Speaker 1: word that, when combined these two terms mean called out ones.
16:07
Speaker 1: I will build my called out ones. It has to
16:13
Speaker 1: do with something related to a body of people who
16:18
Speaker 1: have been called out of something for a purpose. W. E.
16:24
Speaker 1: Vine suggests the term has two applications. A the whole
16:29
Speaker 1: company of the redeemed throughout this present era, and B
16:34
Speaker 1: a company consisting of professed believers in a local setting.
16:41
Speaker 1: The Church is really in two phases. There is a
16:48
Speaker 1: universal church made up of all who are in the
16:51
Speaker 1: Family of God, stretched around the world. The Church as
16:57
Speaker 1: an organism is worldwide. Any time of the day, anytime
17:03
Speaker 1: of the night, you would find, if you looked far enough,
17:08
Speaker 1: believers in Jesus Christ worshiping the Savior someplace around this world.
17:18
Speaker 1: You also will know, as we are here, there are
17:21
Speaker 1: thousands upon thousands of local churches made up of believers
17:30
Speaker 1: who agree that Jesus Christ is Lord. Let me put
17:36
Speaker 1: it this way, because one of them is automatic and
17:39
Speaker 1: the other one is voluntary. When you are born as
17:44
Speaker 1: a tiny baby from your mother, you automatically, at the
17:49
Speaker 1: moment of your birth, enter into the human race. You
17:53
Speaker 1: have no say in it. You are a part of
17:56
Speaker 1: humanity in the sense when you are born into God's family,
18:02
Speaker 1: you automatically enter the worldwide body of Christ. You become
18:11
Speaker 1: a part of the Church universal. You're a member of it,
18:16
Speaker 1: you have no say in it. Just as you are
18:19
Speaker 1: in the human race as a physical human being, you
18:22
Speaker 1: are in this body of Christ spiritually. Now within two
18:27
Speaker 1: or three days sometime less, the person at the hospital
18:31
Speaker 1: says to you, with your new baby, I think it's
18:33
Speaker 1: time for that baby and you to go home, And you,
18:37
Speaker 1: as a tiny baby, are taken by your mother to
18:41
Speaker 1: a local residence, maybe an apartment. It may be a condo,
18:45
Speaker 1: it may be a lovely home, it may be a
18:48
Speaker 1: place even located outside the boundaries of that hospital. But
18:52
Speaker 1: you're taken to a local spot to be raised. That's
18:58
Speaker 1: a decision that's to be made, that is not automatic.
19:03
Speaker 1: But I've never met anyone who said, no, I'd prefer
19:06
Speaker 1: to leave my baby right here. I think just being
19:10
Speaker 1: a member of the human race is enough. I've done
19:12
Speaker 1: my job. We know that in order for that baby
19:16
Speaker 1: to be healthy and whole and become all that it's
19:19
Speaker 1: expected to become, it needs what a home, a local family,
19:26
Speaker 1: a geographical place of security. But what is interesting is
19:32
Speaker 1: that in the spiritual realm it breaks down there. There's
19:35
Speaker 1: where the rub comes. How many people we meet in
19:39
Speaker 1: the family of God will say, who needs a local church.
19:43
Speaker 1: I'm a member of the family of Christ. I answer
19:46
Speaker 1: to him. I'm accountable to him. He has gifted me,
19:49
Speaker 1: he has begun to change my life. All I need
19:52
Speaker 1: is Christ. That's my point. That is not all we need.
20:01
Speaker 1: In fact, among the most imbalanced and unhealthy and adolescent
20:08
Speaker 1: believers I ever meet, I find those people embracing that concept,
20:16
Speaker 1: as if I'm able to raise myself, as if all
20:20
Speaker 1: that's needed is to be a member of the universal Church.
20:25
Speaker 1: Let me show you an illustration of a local church.
20:28
Speaker 1: Turn from Matthew sixteen to Acts twenty. Little further along
20:34
Speaker 1: in your New Testament, stop off at the twentieth chapter
20:38
Speaker 1: of Acts and locate verse seventeen, Acts twenty seventeen. And
20:50
Speaker 1: from my leitas he that's the apostle Paul. And from
20:54
Speaker 1: my leadest Paul sent to Ephesus and called to him
20:57
Speaker 1: the elders of the church. Ah, this is not the
21:02
Speaker 1: church universal. This would be a reference to the church
21:06
Speaker 1: that was located at Ephesus. Yeah, but is it really
21:11
Speaker 1: that important? I mean, is it that's significant that there
21:16
Speaker 1: be a local assembly at Ephesus. Turn to verse twenty eight.
21:22
Speaker 1: He says to them, be on guard for yourselves and
21:25
Speaker 1: for all the flock, all the flock among which the
21:29
Speaker 1: Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the Church
21:35
Speaker 1: of God, which he purchased with his own blood. How
21:42
Speaker 1: about that? Here he has reference to a local assembly,
21:48
Speaker 1: and he calls those people the Church of God purchased
21:52
Speaker 1: with the blood of Christ. And it's so important to
21:56
Speaker 1: Paul that those elders shepherd that flock, that he charges
22:02
Speaker 1: them with the task. You don't have to look very
22:07
Speaker 1: far on the Christian bookshelves today to find writers that
22:12
Speaker 1: come down hard against local church buildings, local church involvement,
22:22
Speaker 1: the importance of local families. One writer says theologically, church
22:27
Speaker 1: buildings are at best unnecessary and at worst idolatrous. If
22:35
Speaker 1: the priesthood and the sacrificial system have passed away, so
22:39
Speaker 1: should the tabernacle. Another writes, the church is never a place,
22:44
Speaker 1: always a people, never a fold, but always a flock,
22:49
Speaker 1: Never a sacred building, but always a believing assembly. The
22:52
Speaker 1: church is you who pray, not where you pray. A
22:57
Speaker 1: structure of brick, are or marble can no more be
23:00
Speaker 1: a church than your clothes of surge or satin can
23:04
Speaker 1: be you. I know what they're getting at, and technically
23:09
Speaker 1: I agree, but give that information to an adolescent mind
23:15
Speaker 1: and two and two will equal five. I know what
23:20
Speaker 1: they're getting at those writers, and they think clearly and
23:24
Speaker 1: they write well. They're saying, let's not worship the place
23:28
Speaker 1: of meeting. Let's not turn it into a some kind
23:34
Speaker 1: of idol, certainly not. But the other extreme is to say,
23:44
Speaker 1: who even needs it at all? Just give me a marketplace,
23:48
Speaker 1: give me a political crossroad, give me a place where
23:52
Speaker 1: cynics talk smut, Give me the street, and I'll do
23:57
Speaker 1: the work of ministry. No, that's not all there is
24:00
Speaker 1: to it. We need a family, if you please. We
24:07
Speaker 1: need a body of overseers who shepherd the church. We
24:14
Speaker 1: need a place where our children can gain roots for
24:18
Speaker 1: ministry and our teenagers can discover Christ fitting into the
24:28
Speaker 1: network of life. We need a place for adults to
24:33
Speaker 1: mix and mingle and share lives together, to laugh and
24:38
Speaker 1: grieve together, to grow and learn together. I confess to you,
24:46
Speaker 1: especially in our emphasis on diversity, especially it seems in
24:52
Speaker 1: this neck of the woods, there is a low view
24:56
Speaker 1: of the local church. It's almost just as if the
25:00
Speaker 1: weather's good and the preacher's good, and the time is right,
25:04
Speaker 1: and I feel good enough, then it's worth it. If
25:09
Speaker 1: they don't ask too much of me, if he doesn't
25:12
Speaker 1: mention money too much, if he stays off subjects and
25:16
Speaker 1: doesn't harass and harangue, if he stays to the point
25:20
Speaker 1: like I'm not doing right now. If he won't do
25:24
Speaker 1: too much of that stuff, then I'll be a part
25:26
Speaker 1: of that. But the level of commitment is shallow as
25:29
Speaker 1: a pond. This assembly, like any assembly across this country,
25:36
Speaker 1: where Christ is preached, deserves our best, our most sacrificial
25:43
Speaker 1: of efforts and energy. It is indeed the last place
25:51
Speaker 1: in all this world we should ignore now. I think
26:00
Speaker 1: if we were to look for an adult opinion in
26:02
Speaker 1: the scriptures, we would certainly think Paul had won and
26:08
Speaker 1: led by the spirit of God. He wrote a number
26:11
Speaker 1: of churches, various things about his commitment to the church.
26:15
Speaker 1: I want you to look at several Look at Romans
26:17
Speaker 1: chapter twelve. We'll take Romans, and then first Corinthians, and
26:22
Speaker 1: then Second Corinthians, then Galatians. Then about four o'clock we'll
26:27
Speaker 1: go into Thessalonians and Tidus and Timothy. We'll just have
26:33
Speaker 1: a great time here. I want you to see some
26:37
Speaker 1: things he said about the church, and you cannot duplicate
26:42
Speaker 1: it anywhere else on earth. You cannot Romans twelve. I
26:48
Speaker 1: find in Romans twelve the emphasis is upon healthy relationships.
26:54
Speaker 1: Look at them as they emerge verse four. Just as
26:59
Speaker 1: we have many members in one body, and all the
27:01
Speaker 1: members do not have the same function. So we who
27:04
Speaker 1: are many are one body in Christ and individually members
27:10
Speaker 1: one of another. Look at the accountability. We are members
27:14
Speaker 1: one of another in that same sense. You are not
27:19
Speaker 1: accountable to your neighbor. In this sense, you are not
27:24
Speaker 1: accountable to your boss. In this sense, you are not
27:29
Speaker 1: accountable to your teacher. There is no other place you
27:33
Speaker 1: are accountable as you are in the Family of God.
27:37
Speaker 1: We are members, it says, of one another. Members. The
27:44
Speaker 1: way I live impacts the way you learn. The way
27:50
Speaker 1: you live and conduct yourself in life has a marvelous
27:55
Speaker 1: and magnificent message across the board to those who watch
27:59
Speaker 1: your life in the Family of God. There's no other
28:01
Speaker 1: place like that, no other place. You don't punch in
28:07
Speaker 1: and out of the church. You don't drop by when
28:12
Speaker 1: it's payroll time. This is a voluntary accountability. Keep reading,
28:17
Speaker 1: you'll see the relationships emerge. Since we have gifts, now,
28:20
Speaker 1: these are spiritual gifts given by the Spirit of God
28:23
Speaker 1: to all God's people. Since we have gifts that differ
28:27
Speaker 1: according to the grace given to us, let each exercise
28:30
Speaker 1: them accordingly. If it's prophecy, then exercise it according to
28:34
Speaker 1: the proportion of your faith. If it's service in his serving,
28:38
Speaker 1: where better than the church? Or he who teaches in
28:41
Speaker 1: his teaching ever tried to teach a center on a
28:44
Speaker 1: street corner? The street is not the place to teach.
28:49
Speaker 1: It has to be done in the context of an assembly.
28:52
Speaker 1: He who exhorts in his exhortation, try exhorting them on
28:56
Speaker 1: the marketplace. That's fun. Exhorting them there. Who gives, give
29:00
Speaker 1: with liberality, He who leads with diligence, who shows mercy
29:06
Speaker 1: with cheerfulness, And look at the next. Let love be
29:09
Speaker 1: without hypocrisy, Abhor what is evil, cleave to what is good.
29:13
Speaker 1: Do you know why you and I need one another?
29:16
Speaker 1: We encourage the good in each other. It's a place
29:19
Speaker 1: where righteousness is charmed out of us. It's a place
29:24
Speaker 1: of modeling the truth. You ask any one of my
29:28
Speaker 1: four kids, and they will tell you that their lives
29:31
Speaker 1: got turned around in the junior high department of the
29:35
Speaker 1: Fullerton Free Church. They'll tell you that, and they'll point
29:38
Speaker 1: to specific people who impacted their lives as core group leaders.
29:43
Speaker 1: As they got on into high school, they got increasingly
29:46
Speaker 1: more serious about their walk with Christ. Raised in a
29:49
Speaker 1: pastor's home. They've heard of the Savior since they were born,
29:53
Speaker 1: but it was in the context of a local church
29:58
Speaker 1: they began to walk straight up. They begin to see
30:01
Speaker 1: the value of Christ in their daily lives. When I
30:07
Speaker 1: think back to nineteen seventy one, as Cynthia and I
30:10
Speaker 1: wrestled with the decision to come to Fullerton, I want
30:15
Speaker 1: to tell you it wasn't the size of the church
30:16
Speaker 1: that attracted us. The size scared us. It's about eight
30:20
Speaker 1: hundred people, and man, on a good Sunday, nine hundred
30:27
Speaker 1: and I thought, you know, if there's any way Lord
30:31
Speaker 1: that I can keep from doing that, stop me. And
30:35
Speaker 1: another thing, it wasn't southern California that attracted us. We
30:41
Speaker 1: weren't thrilled to move into Smogsville. It wasn't one of
30:45
Speaker 1: those things we had longed to do. It wasn't the neighborhoods.
30:50
Speaker 1: It wasn't the streets, It wasn't the freeways, It wasn't
30:54
Speaker 1: the pace. It was a pocket of people who loved
30:59
Speaker 1: each other, who had the time of their lives, who
31:04
Speaker 1: when they sang heartily, who when they prayed, prayed believingly.
31:10
Speaker 1: When they met. It was not just to study doctrine.
31:15
Speaker 1: It was to relate, it was to grow in the scriptures.
31:20
Speaker 1: There was a balance in the music ministry and the
31:23
Speaker 1: spoken word. There was authenticity in lives among board members.
31:29
Speaker 1: It was community, and I couldn't get away from it.
31:32
Speaker 1: It was like a magnet pulling me by the collar.
31:37
Speaker 1: I couldn't stay away. That's the way God planned it.
31:45
Speaker 1: I found a body of people verse ten, devoted to
31:48
Speaker 1: one another in brotherly love, who gave preference to one
31:54
Speaker 1: another in honor, who were diligent, fervent in the spirit,
31:58
Speaker 1: who were serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, persevering through tribulation,
32:03
Speaker 1: devoted to prayer and contributing to the needs of the saints,
32:08
Speaker 1: that even practiced hospitality. I couldn't get away from it.
32:13
Speaker 1: Look at First Corinthians, Chapter twelve from Romans twelve, where
32:18
Speaker 1: he talks about healthy relationships. First Corinthians twelve, where he
32:23
Speaker 1: talks about unity and compassion and committed to the church
32:27
Speaker 1: because of its marvelous unity and expression of compassion. I'm
32:34
Speaker 1: going to begin verse twenty four of First Corinthians twelve
32:38
Speaker 1: right in the middle, because the previous part of that
32:40
Speaker 1: verse concludes a thought from the previous context. Verse twenty four.
32:45
Speaker 1: But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant
32:50
Speaker 1: honor to that member which lacked. That there should be
32:53
Speaker 1: no division in the body. Look at that unity, but
32:57
Speaker 1: that the members should have the same care for one another.
33:01
Speaker 1: And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it.
33:08
Speaker 1: And look at the next. If one member is honored,
33:12
Speaker 1: all the members rejoice with it. I want to ask
33:15
Speaker 1: you something. Does that happen at school when you get promoted?
33:22
Speaker 1: Does everybody around you say that's wonderful? You kidding? Does
33:30
Speaker 1: that happen in civic organizations? Does that happen in neighborhoods?
33:35
Speaker 1: Does that happen in union halls? This is unique. This
33:40
Speaker 1: is the church. This is the place where when you weep,
33:45
Speaker 1: people take their hats off, They sit next to you,
33:51
Speaker 1: They stay with you. With all of our fractured frailties,
33:57
Speaker 1: with all of our need for forgiveness, our faults. Still,
34:03
Speaker 1: there's no place to duplicate this body we needed. I'll
34:11
Speaker 1: level with you. It was just a few months ago.
34:14
Speaker 1: I went through a very, very tough time personally. I
34:20
Speaker 1: struggled with a number of things, and I sat down
34:26
Speaker 1: with my small group. Happens to be a team of
34:30
Speaker 1: pastors that you're familiar with my men and women, and
34:36
Speaker 1: I just poured it all out. I didn't feel free
34:40
Speaker 1: to tell a neighbor. I didn't feel comfortable going down
34:43
Speaker 1: to city hall and asking for council with the members
34:47
Speaker 1: of the committee. I didn't want to walk down to
34:50
Speaker 1: my local dry cleaners and tell my three friends that
34:54
Speaker 1: I know rather well. I wanted to be with my
34:59
Speaker 1: family and might did they listen? There was no finger pointing,
35:06
Speaker 1: there was no reproof. When I was when I was hurting, suffering,
35:17
Speaker 1: I had members who suffered with me. There is no
35:21
Speaker 1: other place like that. Now my heart aches because some
35:27
Speaker 1: of you hear that and that sounds foreign to you.
35:31
Speaker 1: That's so different from what you thought of as church. See,
35:36
Speaker 1: you can't fellowship like that with the Church universal. You
35:40
Speaker 1: can pray for the church in the third world. You
35:43
Speaker 1: can enter into the church in Venezuela or Ecuador or
35:46
Speaker 1: Peru or some region up north. But your fellowship, your body,
35:54
Speaker 1: your compassion, your need for such, that's local. That's where
35:59
Speaker 1: you get it, and you learn about it here. I'll
36:09
Speaker 1: never forget the time that Cynthia mentioned to me when
36:13
Speaker 1: all of our kids were home and it was just
36:15
Speaker 1: constant action and constant involvement. And I'll tell you the
36:18
Speaker 1: summer came and there were just all kinds of church activities,
36:21
Speaker 1: and I said to her, you know, it'd be nice
36:25
Speaker 1: just to have everybody together. She says, you know, honey,
36:28
Speaker 1: I've come to realize that this ministry means so much
36:31
Speaker 1: to the kids that if you really want to discipline them,
36:34
Speaker 1: tell them they cannot go to the next youth meeting.
36:38
Speaker 1: How about that? Because there, when they suffer, someone near
36:48
Speaker 1: him suffers. And when they laugh and rejoice, somebody near
36:52
Speaker 1: him rejoices. Are you rearing your family with that in mind?
36:59
Speaker 1: Do you realize is the value of this place? As
37:01
Speaker 1: you get older? Is there any other spot where you
37:06
Speaker 1: are giving results in eternal good? Eternal good? Look at
37:15
Speaker 1: tewod Corinthians, chapter eight. It's a little background here. There's
37:26
Speaker 1: a great need in the church at Jerusalem. Now hear this.
37:31
Speaker 1: It's fractured, it's going under, it's gasping for breath. Paul
37:38
Speaker 1: has presented the need to the churches away from Jerusalem.
37:43
Speaker 1: Notice he went to churches. He didn't just offer up
37:47
Speaker 1: prayer to the universal Church. He didn't just say Lord, somehow,
37:51
Speaker 1: move on the hearts of believers around the Roman Empire.
37:55
Speaker 1: He went to specific places along the way Macedonia and
37:59
Speaker 1: greed the sections of Europe, and he presented the need
38:03
Speaker 1: for the church in Jerusalem. And now he writes the
38:06
Speaker 1: Corinthian church very wealthy, but rather blase when it came
38:10
Speaker 1: to giving, and he reproved them. Look at verse one,
38:14
Speaker 1: chapter eight. Tewod Corinthians, brethren, we wish to make known
38:17
Speaker 1: to you the grace of God which has been given
38:19
Speaker 1: in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal
38:23
Speaker 1: of affliction, their abundance of joy and their deep poverty
38:26
Speaker 1: overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. I testify that
38:30
Speaker 1: according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave
38:33
Speaker 1: of their own accord, begging us with much entreaty for
38:37
Speaker 1: the favor of participation in the support of the saints.
38:40
Speaker 1: How's that for a twist they begged us to be
38:43
Speaker 1: able to give to this need. And this not as
38:46
Speaker 1: we had expected, for they first gave themselves to the Lord.
38:50
Speaker 1: I love that, and then to us, but the will
38:53
Speaker 1: of God. Consequently, we urged Titus that, as he had
38:57
Speaker 1: previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in
39:00
Speaker 1: you this gracious work as well, just as you abound
39:03
Speaker 1: in everything, Corinthians, you abound in faith and utterance and knowledge.
39:09
Speaker 1: You abound in all enthusiasm and earnestness and love We
39:15
Speaker 1: inspired in you. See that you abound in this gracious work.
39:19
Speaker 1: Also verse ten, you began this work verse eleven, finish it.
39:27
Speaker 1: Look at chapter nine, verse six. This I say, he
39:32
Speaker 1: who so sparingly shall reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully
39:36
Speaker 1: shall reap bountifully. Let each one do just as he
39:40
Speaker 1: has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion.
39:44
Speaker 1: For God loves a cheerful giver. He's able to make
39:47
Speaker 1: all grace abound to you, that always, having all sufficiency
39:53
Speaker 1: in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.
39:56
Speaker 1: What does he saying. He's saying the church is to
39:59
Speaker 1: be a place of consistent generosity. Let there be the
40:05
Speaker 1: giving of your materials for the work of the ministry,
40:08
Speaker 1: and let it be done in such a way that
40:11
Speaker 1: it's with cheerfulness, not grudging, not under compulsion. How I
40:19
Speaker 1: understand many a person has been ripped off in a church.
40:25
Speaker 1: The tragedy of that is not only that person's experience,
40:28
Speaker 1: but the impact it has in bad press that sweeps
40:31
Speaker 1: around the world. Some places take your money and run
40:37
Speaker 1: wild with it. Some have been guilty of fraud, many
40:42
Speaker 1: of them for the wrong motives. Have asked for the
40:45
Speaker 1: right kind of thing, the giving of your moneys. The
40:50
Speaker 1: tragedy of that, as I say, is that it impacts
40:53
Speaker 1: all other ministries, even those with integrity, so that the
40:58
Speaker 1: average citizen today, the Christian citizen, views with suspicion any
41:02
Speaker 1: reference to the church and giving, whereas the church is
41:10
Speaker 1: to be supported by its people who view that as
41:15
Speaker 1: an adult responsibility, not coerced, not shamed, the challenge to
41:25
Speaker 1: give and give generously. Just one more stop off, I
41:31
Speaker 1: promise Galatians Chapter five. Romans talked about healthy relationships. Corinthians
41:38
Speaker 1: have talked about unity and compassion and giving. Galatians talks
41:42
Speaker 1: about liberty, love and serving. Chapter five it was for
41:51
Speaker 1: freedom that Christ has set us free. Therefore keeps standing firm,
41:56
Speaker 1: and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Now,
42:01
Speaker 1: my friends, Galatians five to one is in the scriptures,
42:05
Speaker 1: and the church is not to become a yoke of slavery.
42:10
Speaker 1: I realize some have become places of legalism, where people
42:15
Speaker 1: are browbeaten and whipped and pushed into a rigid mold,
42:20
Speaker 1: where the pastor is the king the boss, not Christ,
42:26
Speaker 1: where small things are majored in and you are pushed
42:31
Speaker 1: into this tight radius where you can't breathe and you
42:35
Speaker 1: can't spontaneously serve Christ. That's not as God designed the
42:41
Speaker 1: church to be. The church is to be a place
42:45
Speaker 1: of free, flowing spontaneity, a place of liberty, if you'll
42:52
Speaker 1: allow me, a place where it's still fun to be,
42:56
Speaker 1: where your creativity is still challenged. Look over at verse thirteen.
43:02
Speaker 1: You were called to freedom, brethren, not only doctrinal freedom,
43:07
Speaker 1: but of a freedom of life. You have been given freedom, brethren,
43:12
Speaker 1: But he puts a he puts a restraint on it.
43:16
Speaker 1: He says, don't turn your freedom into an opportunity for
43:19
Speaker 1: the flesh, but through love, serve one another. How that
43:29
Speaker 1: is a marvelous word for today, For the whole law
43:34
Speaker 1: is fulfilled in one word. Shall love your neighbor as yourself.
43:38
Speaker 1: But if you bite and devour one another, take care
43:42
Speaker 1: lest you be consumed by one another. I don't know
43:45
Speaker 1: how many horror stories I've had to listen to about
43:49
Speaker 1: people biting and devouring each other in a local church.
43:52
Speaker 1: That's not the way God planned it. If you're a
43:57
Speaker 1: biter and a devourer out of place. I like what
44:03
Speaker 1: Eugene Peterson writes. One might think that a people that
44:07
Speaker 1: has at the very heart of its common experience release
44:11
Speaker 1: from sins guilt into the spirit's freedom, a people who
44:18
Speaker 1: no longer live under the tyranny of emotions or public
44:21
Speaker 1: opinion or bad memories, but freely in hope and in
44:25
Speaker 1: faith and in love, that these people would be critically
44:28
Speaker 1: alert to anyone or anything that would suppress their newly
44:31
Speaker 1: acquired spontaneity. But in fact, the community of faith, the
44:36
Speaker 1: very place where we are most likely to experience the
44:39
Speaker 1: free life, is also the very place where we are
44:43
Speaker 1: in most danger of losing it. There are people who
44:48
Speaker 1: do not want us to be free. They don't want
44:52
Speaker 1: us to be free before God. They don't want us
44:55
Speaker 1: to be free to express our faith originally and creatively.
45:05
Speaker 1: Church is to be a place of a free expression,
45:11
Speaker 1: free liberty in Christ. Now stop and think, Will you
45:23
Speaker 1: stop and think about this place, the place where you worship,
45:29
Speaker 1: with all of our weaknesses and with all of our faults,
45:32
Speaker 1: with all of our needs. This is still a pretty
45:35
Speaker 1: good place to be. This is still a marvelous place together.
45:41
Speaker 1: I don't know of a better place to help rear
45:43
Speaker 1: my family children as well as grandchildren. I don't know
45:49
Speaker 1: of a better place, a better place to get counsel
45:54
Speaker 1: from those who love Christ than right here. I don't
45:57
Speaker 1: know of a more believable place to be accountable. It
46:02
Speaker 1: is here. Children are nurtured and loved. It is here
46:05
Speaker 1: teenagers are exposed to the finest in ministry. It is
46:09
Speaker 1: here we as adults can find refuge, hope, and courage
46:12
Speaker 1: to go on, reproof when needed, accountability when necessary. It
46:18
Speaker 1: is here worship can be collected and sent heavenward as
46:23
Speaker 1: no other place. Remember leaving on Cloud nine one Sunday
46:28
Speaker 1: after another after another because of the spontaneity of worship.
46:33
Speaker 1: If there were a better place, you'd be there. It
46:39
Speaker 1: is here We hunger for God, and we find it
46:41
Speaker 1: satisfied in this mutual ministry. It is here our financial
46:46
Speaker 1: treasure is channel toward eternal good. It is here our
46:50
Speaker 1: homes are best equipped for life, for marriage, for the
46:55
Speaker 1: single life, for business, for retirement. It is here the
47:02
Speaker 1: hurting find a harbor, a hug of affirmation, a smile
47:08
Speaker 1: of encouragement, and a tear of understanding. Here not in
47:14
Speaker 1: the street, not in the political crossroad, not in the
47:19
Speaker 1: garbage heap, where thieves talk, smut and cynics rule, but
47:27
Speaker 1: the church, where God's people, to the best of their
47:32
Speaker 1: ability to serve him. I find that it's adult not
47:37
Speaker 1: to ask what the church can do for me, but
47:40
Speaker 1: to respond, how can I do what I should for it?
47:45
Speaker 1: You'll notice on the back of the sermon outline today
47:49
Speaker 1: a statement of expectations. This statement is worthy of our
47:56
Speaker 1: close look. If I were to put a statement of
48:02
Speaker 1: expectations together for a local church, I don't think I
48:07
Speaker 1: could come up with one better than this one. Allow
48:12
Speaker 1: me how easy it is to think of one's church
48:15
Speaker 1: involvement as a passive relationship, a once a week activity
48:20
Speaker 1: that requires little more than a slight passing interest. On
48:24
Speaker 1: the contrary, becoming a member of a local church carries
48:28
Speaker 1: with it certain expectations that dare not be diminished. There
48:34
Speaker 1: are no less than eight of them. I'm suggesting one
48:39
Speaker 1: those who become a member of this assembly assume responsibilities
48:43
Speaker 1: for his or her own spiritual nourishment through the study
48:47
Speaker 1: of the scriptures and through prayer. Two that each member
48:53
Speaker 1: participate in the weekly worshiped services on a regular basis.
48:57
Speaker 1: Three that each one joins the family life of the
49:00
Speaker 1: church in a congregational or a small group context. Four
49:05
Speaker 1: that each exercises his spiritual gifts in specific areas of involvement.
49:14
Speaker 1: Fifth that each members support the variety of ministries of
49:18
Speaker 1: the church through prayer and through service. That each contribute
49:23
Speaker 1: sixth financially to the church on a consistent and in
49:28
Speaker 1: a generous manner. Seven that we share our faith personally
49:33
Speaker 1: while supporting others who proclaim the Gospel around the world.
49:38
Speaker 1: And eight that we respond positively to the leadership of
49:42
Speaker 1: the Board of Elders in matters of church policy and
49:46
Speaker 1: when necessary discipline. By maintaining these expectations, our lives can
49:54
Speaker 1: be sufficiently nourished, our Church can have a vital impact
49:58
Speaker 1: in this world. Our God will be glorified in the
50:06
Speaker 1: coming decade of our history. One of our goals is
50:10
Speaker 1: that we become serious about our involvement in ministry. Let
50:19
Speaker 1: it not be with a passing yawn that we take
50:23
Speaker 1: on the idea of worship, but we see ourselves as
50:26
Speaker 1: participants in some way in some niche, each one of
50:32
Speaker 1: us contributing to the good of the whole. If I
50:36
Speaker 1: could return in closing to George MacLeod's peace, I would
50:40
Speaker 1: reword it as follows. I simply argue that the Church
50:45
Speaker 1: be raised again to its God given place of significance.
50:51
Speaker 1: I am recovering the claim that Jesus did not begin
50:54
Speaker 1: a project that was to be criticized and assaulted, destined
50:58
Speaker 1: for weakness, irrelat elevance and decay, but rather for strength, purity,
51:04
Speaker 1: and dignity, and a world that has lost its way,
51:09
Speaker 1: where cynics and thieves and gamblers have become its voices
51:13
Speaker 1: of authority, rather than confident Christians who walk humbly and
51:18
Speaker 1: prayerfully with their God. Because that is what the Church
51:23
Speaker 1: was designed to be, and that is why Christ predicted
51:27
Speaker 1: its invincibility. That is where church people ought to be
51:33
Speaker 1: and what church people ought to be about. I'd like
51:41
Speaker 1: us to bow for a moment of commitment together. Will
51:45
Speaker 1: you do that? Please? This is a quiet moment now
51:52
Speaker 1: where you take a straight, honest look at your comitment
52:01
Speaker 1: to this local church. If your contribution were suddenly removed,
52:15
Speaker 1: would anybody know it? By that, I mean your contribution
52:24
Speaker 1: in prayer, your personal service, your giving of finances, your
52:36
Speaker 1: teaching you're helping. How about your sharing in the life
52:49
Speaker 1: of another person or a small group or an adult fellowship,
52:58
Speaker 1: a place that can serve as a catalyst for your growth. Oh,
53:03
Speaker 1: you need it, especially in our area where the world
53:11
Speaker 1: is out for your life. We need each other. Don't
53:21
Speaker 1: lose that list of expectations. Put it somewhere where you
53:27
Speaker 1: can review it for several days. Will you stand with
53:37
Speaker 1: me for prayer? Please? And we stand our dear Father,
53:44
Speaker 1: How thankful we are today for your son Jesus, to
53:47
Speaker 1: whom we pledge our allegiance and our deep devotion. We
53:53
Speaker 1: together thank you for what you have so graciously revealed
53:57
Speaker 1: to us in your word, For what you have offered
54:01
Speaker 1: to us in your church, not just the church universal,
54:07
Speaker 1: but the local assembly, the family, the body of caring understanding, stimulating,
54:15
Speaker 1: creative and compassionate people who believe in us when we
54:20
Speaker 1: often lose our way, or when we question our faith
54:26
Speaker 1: or doubt your goodness. Thank you, Father, for each and
54:30
Speaker 1: every caring member of Christ's Body form in us a
54:36
Speaker 1: deep and lifelong desire to serve your church, to lay
54:41
Speaker 1: down our will and to take up your cause, so
54:47
Speaker 1: that we might spend our days faithfully laboring to encourage
54:51
Speaker 1: one another while it is still day, Lord, cause each
54:57
Speaker 1: of us to realize a fresh that this is your
55:01
Speaker 1: work and we are your workmanship, created for one thing,
55:08
Speaker 1: your glory. May everything we do be done in the
55:12
Speaker 1: power of your spirit. We commit ourselves now to You
55:19
Speaker 1: and to another season of fresh and vital ministry in
55:22
Speaker 1: and around this community in which you have so graciously
55:28
Speaker 1: placed us, and all around the world. In the great
55:33
Speaker 1: name of Christ Jesus, our Lord and our Savior, we
55:39
Speaker 1: pray Amen.
55:43
Speaker 2: The preceding message, The Church Who Needs It was copyrighted
55:48
Speaker 2: in nineteen eighty five, and the sound recording was copyrighted
55:50
Speaker 2: in twenty sixteen by Charles R. Swindell, Inc. All rights
55:54
Speaker 2: are reserved worldwide.