Living Stones/Siloam Church Updates
Notes
Transcript
Express Gratitude for church partnership
Gratitude for partnering with us.
Gratitude for financial support
Gratitude for praying and encouragement
New location
We moved into our new location in Aug
Our rent is $800 including utilities
The last service I preached had nearly 40 people in it So we are excited to see that!
But numbers go up and down
So we try not to put too much emphasis on numbers, and see the success more in those who are growing in their faith.
We had our VBS there which went really well
14 children enrolled
Around 10 church members
We are in the process of getting a “permanent” sign approved
We do have a children’s church and are beginning to have a need for a nursery
We begun serving meals on Wednesday nights
Partnership with First Baptist Oak Grove Fall festival
We reached out to First Baptist to see if they would like to partner with us for Trunk-or-Treat
We believe we will be able to partner with them more in the future
They have been a great host church this far
They have a similar vision/mission as we do
New Believers
Bradley (prayer and fasting testimony)
Austin
Both in discipleship
Both serving in the church
Ministries
Prayer and fasting
Still going strong but getting difficult
God is still answering prayers
Evangelism
We average about 2-3 Sundays a month
People are sharing their faith in their personal loves
Discipleship
We have 4 people in discipleship
Preaching/teaching
Currently preaching on the life of Joseph on Sundays
Wednesday preaching on “fruit of the Spirit”
We do have one member who is able to teach
Future Plans
We are continuing our focus on those four primary ministries
We are hoping to get our presence a little more known through the Fall Festival and the new sign
Our next service open to the public will be a candlelight service
I am gently pushing some of our members into serving in some aspect
Questions?
Sermon Introduction
If you’ve ever read Peter’s letters, you will quickly see how wrote is short letter but full of important theological points. And one of those is what a NT church should look like.
I love this picture that Peter gives in his letter is what every church must strive for. Living stones being built into a spiritual house for the service of God.
And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God,
you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Those seeking Christ are an essential part of his church
Those seeking Christ are an essential part of his church
Just as each stone plays an essential part in the construction of a building, so we too play an essential role.
As you come to him (Jesus)
The verb “come” in that clause is a participle
Participles are words ending in “ing”
Running
Swimming
Learning
Growing
Participles communicate an action that is ongoing
The audience that Peter is writing to is to people wh
Those who live their lives in pursuit of Jesus
Those who seek Him first
Those who long for more of Him
Those who want to serve Him and are serious about their walk with Him
That means if you are in covenant with Christ, you are one of those living stones
You are an essential part of this church
Your contribution to this church helps supports the whole church
You are an essential piece in God’s blueprint of this church
A major part of seeking God is service in the church
And I would argue one cannot seek God and not serve the church
What we need is more people off the pews and in places of service
Teaching
Praying
Leading
Using your gifts for the glory of God
So what does that look like?
1 Peter 2:5
you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood…
Just like there were priests in the OT temple, there are NT priests in the church
But priests today are not those who have been consecrated and sit in confession booths
Peter says, “You” meaning all of us are priests!
All of God’s people make up the NT priesthood!
We all have the privilege as priests of coming into the presence of God through Jesus Christ who is the Great High Priest!
This means that we can draw some parallels from the OT priests to our lives in Christ
What do priests do?
Priests kept the temple running smoothly
They carried out maintenance
They made sure everything flowed smoothly
They made sure all supplies were in stock, the show bread was ready, the candles were lit, the incense was burning
They kept the temple up and running
Application
One of our callings today, you holy priests is to make sure this gathering runs smoothly and efficiently
What often happens in churches today: about 10% of the people do all work
What I am asking you to do is, IF YOU ARE IN COVENANT WITH GOD, to see yourself as a priest of this spiritual house
And this may be all new to you, it was new to the recipients of Peter’s letter
But that verse says, “you are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood”
God is shaping you and molding you, and forming you to fit into His house
Let Him do His work in you
Priests represented God to the people
How? By the holiness that characterizes our lives
We are being built up as a “holy priesthood”
Think about that
How we treat people
How we react when we’ve been mistreated]
How we endure hardships and suffering
How we use our money
How we treat our children
What we say
What we do
How we worship
How we conduct our lives
All these things tell the world what it means to be in Christ
We also do this by what we teach
What we say to the world about who God is
What it mean to be in Christ And since we are priests, we are the ones the world is looking to when they think of coming to Christ
Priests represent people to God
We bring people to Jesus
We cannot save them, but we can guide them to the One who can
This world does not need more food stamps, nor does it need more handouts, it desperately needs to be made right with God
EVEN if we met every physical need in this community, it would be in vain because they would still die and go to hell!
We have been given the responsibility to bring people to God through the gospel
And a church that fails to bring people to God is not a church at all!
A church that does not win souls is not worth the ground it sits on!
A church that does not proclaim salvation by the grace of God through faith in Christ may very well have never been saved themselves
Priests offer sacrifices to God
They would slaughter goats, sheep, lambs..
They would take these animals and sacrifice them on the alter for the sins of the people
Peter says, “you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
How do we do this?
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
Application
What does this mean?
It means we live every day of our lives as though they belong totally to God
We are to hold nothing back
To offer oneself is to give all of oneself to God
Even if its not something we want to do
Even if its uncomfortable
Even if it causes us to miss out on something else
Do you know what will radically change your life?
When you begin to live this verse out
When you tell God, “I will do anything that you tell me to do…no strings attached”
When you make that kind of commitment to God, and you mean it with all of your heart, God will use you tremendously
He will call you to places that terrify you, and then show His power through your weakness
ILLUSTRATION
When I first came to Christ I knew nothing about the church
I was completely ignorant about everything except I knew you were supposed to come on Sundays and the real spiritual people came on Wednesdays
But when I offered my life on the alter of Salem Baptist 13 years ago, I said, “God You take my life and do with it whatever You want!”
You tell me what to do and I will do it!
And I will do whatever bro Jimmy tells me to do because he knows a whole lot more than I do
And that commitment is exactly what God used
And he put me in front of that church to tell my testimony and I was scared to death!
He brought me down to Louisiana to work with the youth
He placed me in the youth group
He put me into service as a deacon
He had me teach an adult Sunday school
He had me teach on a Wednesday night
And then called me to pastor a church
GOD WILL USE YOU WHEN YOUR LIFE BECOMES A LIVING SACRIFICE!
But if you continue to hold the reigns, you can forget it
Lay your life down, and never look back
Conclusion
Two Questions:
Are you “coming to Him”
Seeking Him every day
Living you life for Him
If so, praise God
If not, maybe God brought you here to begin now
There is nothing better for yourself that you will ever do
Are you living out your priesthood?
Where is your place of service in this church
How are you contributing to God’s spiritual house?
Get involved.
Move from spectator to participator.
~PRAYER~