What Does A Good Church Look Like 4b
What Does a Good Church Look Like • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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30 July 23
What Does A Good Church Look Like 4b
Turn to Hebrews 11 and Romans 4. Way back in Genesis, sometime after the flood, humanity built this tower at Babel. The purpose was to connect the spiritual with the physical. This event was an organized act of human rebellion against Yahweh. For whatever reason, they were determined to reach the spiritual realm and contact the gods (elohim). This was God’s last straw, so to speak, so God said, “Fine! Have it your way,” and He gave humanity over to other gods (Deut. 32). However, God had made a promise back in Genesis 3, after Adam and Eve rebelled that He would work every moment, every day to redeem humanity through a Savior. Yahweh kept that promise by inviting Abraham to join Him in redeeming the world. And what did Abraham do?
Hebrews 11:8 (ESV)
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
[God said, “Let’s go.” Abraham asked, “Where?” God said, “I’ll show you as you go, just start going – head out.” Curious, how comfortable are you following someone who says, “I don’t know where we’re going. I’m just following Him?” Interesting, churches want pastors with visions and men or women who know exactly where they’re going, but what do we find in Scripture?
I wonder if we’ve ignored this part as a church organization that sometimes God’s plans unfold only as we go. The modern church is big on having a vision, goals, strategies … and we need that. I’m sure Abraham had goals - to reach the next watering hole by sundown. I’m sure he had a strategy for packing tents and moving sheep. However, at the end of the day, he still walked by faith not knowing exactly where he was going. And little by little, day by day God revealed to Abraham where to go.
Visions, goals, strategies, etc. are necessary, but they should never replace faith.
So, what does a good church look like?
A good church will by faith follow God, little by little and day by day into the unknown.
This should not surprise us. When Jesus called His first disciples, what did He say? “Follow me.” “Alright. But where are we going?” “Follow me.”
So, by faith, Abraham followed God, left home, no clue where he was going. By faith, Abraham believed God’s promise that he would have a child and grandchildren and … that he would be the father of many nations. That’s the background to Romans 4, so let’s go there.
The context of Romans 1-11 is that salvation or eternal life or a right relationship with God is open to anyone, Jew or Gentile, who believes in the work of Jesus Christ (died and rose again). That’s the context. I don’t want us to miss that, but we’re focused on answering the question - what does a good church look like.
For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,
as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
A good church believes in a God who can do the impossible.
In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.
No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
That’s living out
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”
But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone,
but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,
who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
That’s the whole point Paul is trying to make – faith in Christ Jesus is essential for eternal life. There’s a lot there in this passage, but again, our focus is on what does a good church look like.
Let’s focus on three things.
1) The Call (invitation).
We already pointed this out in Hebrews 11 that God called Abraham to be a part of the plan to help reclaim the world, to make way for the Messiah. That is still in many ways our task. Now, we’ve talked about this in previous sermons so briefly,
God still calls people today. So,
A good church believes, by word and action that God calls people to participate in redeeming the world.
The calling is not to merely attend church or to be religious.
For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.
God calls the Church to do something about this broken messy world. Well, what does He call us to do?
That’s what the vision is.
2) The Vision.
What’s a vision? The best definition I have found comes from
“A vision is a future solution to a current problem.” ~ Dr. Rich Weigel
Going back to Abraham, what was the problem? The world was in rebellion and chaos – “going to hell.” What was the solution? A future Messiah, a Savior who would reverse ….
So, what does a good church look like?
A good church will seek to know God’s vision (i.e. God’s solution to a current problem).
Not the pastor’s vision, board’s vision, not about the latest fads or what other churches are doing. Not about what we prefer.
Knowing God’s vision takes prayer, time, desire, dialogue, and revelation.
Once we have it, then
A good church will pursue the vision(s).
This week, maybe take some time to identify some problems in our church and community. For instance, a lack of children or teens is a problem. If God calls someone …. Please pray that your church leaders will receive a unified vision / revelation from God.
Visions are wonderful, but if you’ve been around the church or any organization long enough, you know that visions can sound good, but they often sit on the shelf, fizzle out …. But some visions catch on and stay alive for years. So what keeps a vision alive?
3) The Promise.
No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
Abraham had a promise from God to hold onto and that’s what kept Abraham moving forward and believing against all odds. See,
A promise fuels the vision.
A promise fuels determination, and gives hope, creates perseverance - it’s something to hold onto even when things look dire or impossible.
To clarify,
A promise is what God will do. The vision is what we do.
Has this church ever received a promise from God? If so, I would like to hear about it. If not, we need one.
Let me connect all the dots.
We need a vision to pursue, a promise to believe, and people who answer the call. We do it all by faith.
Closing: Could we spend a little bit of time seeking God for a vision, a promise, for God to call His people …?