Sermon Tone Analysis
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Faith and Family
We are one in the bond of love,
We are one in the bond of love,
We have joined our spirit with the Spirit of God,
We are one in the bond of love.
Love thro' Christ has brought us together,
Making our hearts as one.
By God's Spirit we are united,
One thro' His blessed Son.
Now, dear Lord, we join in worship;
Thank you for all you've done.
Thank You for this love You gave us;
Thank you for making us one.
Truly, we are one in the bond of love.
Maybe you sang this song in the past.
It’s a beautiful hymn that holds deep truth for the Christian life.
And it summarizes the point of my sermon nicely: that We, as a church, are to be committed to one another through a bond of love, having been sealed by the covenant love of Christ.
We’ve spent the last few months traveling through a series Marcus and I have titled called The Church: Faith and family.
And the past several months we’ve been reviewing the faith aspect of our sermon series.
Today we are shifting gears.
Today and the next few Sundays we will be discussing the family aspect.
What does life in the Christian family of God look like?
Well, there’s a few pictures in scripture we can look toward.
Today we will be reading from Acts chapter 2, verses 42-47 and Acts 4:32-37; Again, that’s Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-37.
So if you have your Bibles please turn there with me.
And while you’re turning, I would like to address a word that I’ll be using that isn’t in these specific passages but is used elsewhere in scripture.
And that word is covenant.
What is a covenant?
Covenant is a relational contract between parties that is not meant to be broken.
(repeat)
Covenant is a Biblical word.
It describes a contract of some sort between two different parties.
Often in scripture, there is specific pattern of language used when God makes a covenant with people.
We see this pattern when God makes a covenant with Abraham, with Moses, David, with Adam.
In all of these examples, God is personally investing in the people, and the people are to personally invest in return.
Furthermore, the covenant is sealed, and is not meant to be broken.
We know from scripture and from human experience that humans are sinful and that the human side of God’s covenant kept failing.
And this contract between God and man would remain uneasy until the new covenant through Jesus Christ.
Jesus as the perfect man make an unbreakable covenant with God.
He lived up to the end of the bargain that the rest of humanity could not attain.
And God’s promise for the people of this new covenant community was the pouring out of his Spirit, salvation from sins, and renewed righteousness.
And we as a church are people of that new covenant community.
We have a solid and unbreakable connection with God.
We know that through Christ peace with God has been attained.
And it’s because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and resurrection that we are now united together to be one in the bond of love.
So I’m going to say it:
We are a Covenant Community
Following the Biblical picture of covenant, It is a goal and intention of the leadership of this church to lead our church into a renewed confession and expression of covenantal commitment toward each other.
Our church has made similar claims of commitment to one another in the past, and I’ve read a few of them.
So what we are doing now should not be a foreign concept to those of you who have been here a while.
But it makes sense that the people of our church now come together and renew our commitment to upholding each other according to the love that is shared through the unity of Christ.
Let us recapture the vision that Christ lays forth for our church community and our love for one another.
So now let’s read from scripture of this love that Christians have for each other: First Acts 2:42-47 and then Acts 4:32-37.
Let us pray.
Looking at these verses, I wrote down five key observations:
1.
They met the needs of each other according to the means which they had
This selfless approach to Christian community is the same picture which Christ gave to us of how to love.
It’s one that we as a church ought to emulate.
And to help us capture this idea, I would like you to compare the difference between a cafeteria line and a home family meal.
In a cafeteria, you line up and someone else serves a portion for your plate, and you slide down the line selecting what you want.
Then you pay a fee at the end and leave with your food.
In a family meal, especially those big meals around the holidays, everyone brings a dish and they’re all set together.
And people partake of the meal together.
The early church did not treat the new covenant community like a cafeteria line.
Instead, it was a family meal.
We see in these verses that each brought forth what they could to the table, according to their ability.
And that begs the question: Do you treat church like a cafeteria line, where you line up and are served and are fed, or do you treat church as something which you participate in?
Do you come to church, expecting to have worship music played to you, expecting a sermon to be taught, maybe giving your offering and calling it good for the week?
Or do you see yourself as a part of this larger community, and you bring your gifts and abilities to the Lord and thus in service to others?
See the difference here?
One motivation is selfish and self-serving, the other is selfless and self-sacrificial.
There are many Christians who shop around for a church because of the feeling of the music, or the feeling of the preacher.
But this stems from a wrong attitude about the church.
They believe that being a part of a church community means that things will always go the way they would like it to be, be suited to their preferences.
These types of Christians overlook the needs and desires of the larger church and focus on their own interests.
And often they grumble and gripe and never find contentment.
These Christians are living in error.
But what is God’s command for the new covenant community?
To love one another.
And what does love look like?
Well,
“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
When we meet together as a church, the goal is not self-service.
Instead, it’s self-sacrifice.
How do your giftings and what you bring to the table help meet the needs of other believers in Christ?
We all need strengthening.
We all need encouragement.
And it shouldn’t just be up to the pastor or the elders of your church to do that.
Maybe you have given to this church through your finances.
Great!
Keep it up!
Maybe you have contributed to this family through acts of service.
Great!
Keep it up!
Use the spiritual gifts which God has given you to meet the needs that the body of Christ has.
And do so with zeal and love for one another.
Why?
Because we are one in the bond of love.
We share in Christ.
And when you have been purchased by Christ you come to realize that you are no longer your own.
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