Love the Church
This Is Us • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 1 viewExplore the significance of loving the church and how to express our love for the church. We discuss the true nature of the church, the importance of fellowship, serving with humility, and praying for unity.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction (5m)
Introduction (5m)
Do you ever get frustrated with corps/TSA?
Do you ever get frustrated with corps/TSA?
Decisions made by leaders - local, national, international - not the ones you would have made.
Changes made that you don’t agree with.
Too much emphasis on outreach, not discipleship (or vice versa).
Worship/uniform style has changed over the years either too quickly or not quickly enough!
How do you respond? Frustration? Criticism? Cynicism? Think of leaving? Respond in unloving, ungodly manner? Become negative?
Explanation (5m)
Explanation (5m)
It’s easy to become frustrated with the church
It’s easy to become frustrated with the church
Familiarity breeds contempt. Easy to take for granted. Easy to abuse. But:
Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.
Jesus loves the church
Jesus loves the church
Messiah loves to be with his people.
Jesus never meant to be a solitary Saviour.
He would be the head of God’s renewed people.
He would be accompanied by his congregation, those who acknowledged him, and those whom he loved.
Moreover, all that God has planned from heaven for working amongst human beings, he has planned and implemented through his church.
His church is the vehicle for the activity of heaven on earth:
And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”
Not that the church dictates to God what heaven can or can’t do.
But we can prevent God from doing what he would otherwise do - perhaps most especially, when we fail to love the church like Jesus does.
We can restrict God’s work in the world by disobeying him and not cooperating with his will.
God’s strategy is to work through his church.
That’s why Jesus loves it.
That’s why Jesus says he will build his church
That’s why Jesus says he will build his church
Important to remember as we continue through the Big Conversation: it’s not us, it’s not our programmes, it’s not what the community needs or asks for, it’s not our finances, it’s not our buildings, it’s not our resources, it’s not our methods that build the church/this corps.
It is Jesus.
And because Jesus builds his church, he says he will keep it solid
And because Jesus builds his church, he says he will keep it solid
Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.
He is the foundation of the church. He will keep it solid.
Some context for “upon this rock”
Some context for “upon this rock”
If you know anything about church history, will know this verse has been subject to much controversy through the years.
What did Jesus mean when he said, “ You are Peter, meaning “rock” and upon this rock I will build my church”.
Broadly, Roman Catholic Church came to see the rock as Peter. The church would be built on Peter as the rock. He was given the keys to heaven, to decide who would come in, he was given the power to forgive sins. He was the first leader of the church, and passed that authority on to succeeding popes.
The Protestant Church, on the other hand, sees the rock not as Peter himself, but Peter’s faith. The church would be built then on Peter’s declaration of faith:
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
That’s probably how I have understood it over the years.
But in preparing this sermon, found a third suggestion that all Christians should be able to gather around, and which actually makes more sense:
Throughout the conversation, Jesus has been the subject. HIs question was, Who do you say I am?
Jesus’ response to Peter’s reply, is to say, “You are Peter, the rock” and pointing to himself, “upon this rock I will build my church”.
How does that work?
Because it is entirely consistent with the rest of Scripture.
In the OT, the word rock is often used as a metaphor for God:
But the Lord is my fortress; my God is the mighty rock where I hide.
Come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
In the NT, Paul refers to Jesus, not Peter, as the foundation - the rock - on which the church is built:
For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.
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.
Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone upon which his church is built.
Even Peter describes him this way!
You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. As the Scriptures say, “I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem, chosen for great honor, and anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God has given him. But for those who reject him, “The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.”
It is therefore entirely consistent with the whole of Scripture to understand Jesus’ words as referring to himself as “the rock” and not Peter.
He is the foundation, the cornerstone, the rock on which the church is built, and he will keep it rock solid.
And because Jesus loves the church, has built the church, and keeps it solid, he also says he will protect it
And because Jesus loves the church, has built the church, and keeps it solid, he also says he will protect it
Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.
As Jesus speaks to Peter, looking towards Jerusalem, and to his coming journey to the cross, and beyond, he gives an absolute promise his church will endure until the end of time.
He will protect it.
Hell will not overcome it.
Death will not defeat it.
Nothing will ever overpower the church, Jesus’ family of faith whom he loves.
Application (5m)
Application (5m)
After all that, what can we do but love the church as Jesus loves the church?
After all that, what can we do but love the church as Jesus loves the church?
We are called to love the church with our hearts
We are called to love the church with our hearts
If we truly love this church family with our hearts, then it comes out of a conscious commitment to glorify God.
And that commitment to glorify God by loving his church, however messy it gets sometimes, is what helps us to persevere when the church goes through dark and difficult times.
If we base our love for this church family on what we feel, what we experience, what we prefer, what we like, what we crave for ourselves, then our love will not stand the test when things get difficult.
We are called to love the church with our minds
We are called to love the church with our minds
Frighteningly sometimes, our minds - what we think - reveal our true hearts. And what’s truly in our hearts determines our thoughts.
So how do you know if you love this corps family with your heart? Spend a few moments just now examining what you think of your corps family.
What do you think about your church? Think about the most recent conflict or disappointment you’ve experienced here - what were your thoughts about it?
If you discover that you are fixated on the church’s problems, then you are problem-centred, not God centred.
That’s not to say we simply ignore problems in the church, but if the central and controlling theme of your thinking is everything that’s wrong with this place, then you need to re-centre your focus on God.
We are called to love the church with our time
We are called to love the church with our time
When you fall in love with someone you want to spend as much time with them as you can.
Even after 26 years of marriage, there is nothing I like better than spending time with Gail.
That’s how love and time work together.
If you love something, you want to spend time with it.
If you don’t love something, you can’t wait to get away from it.
Distancing yourself from your church family whilst saying you love the church like Jesus does just does not add up.
And this is not about attending more events, or doing busy things, or allowing church to dominate your whole life to the detriment of everything else.
It’s just as much about praying for each other - as we do - giving money to support our work, sending notes of encouragement, all sorts of different things.
Some of my favourite parts of the week is to observe and join in with us simply spending time with each other - the Hub, in between practices, coffee fellowship, corps meals, and so on.
We are called to love the church with our hands
We are called to love the church with our hands
How does this corps family really know you love them?
Through your actions, not your words.
Ours is an active faith.
A loving Christian is a doing Christian.
Show hospitality to each other.
Serve one another.
Show each other you love each other through your actions.
We are called to love the church with our mouths
We are called to love the church with our mouths
When Jesus talks to his Father about us, he does so from the heart.
It speaks lovingly about us, with our best interests at heart.
He never sinfully criticises us, however often we might give him cause to.
Our mistakes do not alter Jesus’ love for us.
That’s how we should speak about our corps family.
We should speak well of this corps.
We should build it up rather than tear it down with our words.
It doesn’t mean we ignore real problems in the church - we can deal with those with discretion and in a spirit of compassion.
But we should speak for, not against our corps family.
Jesus loves the church - he has built it, he keeps it solid, and he protects it
Jesus loves the church - he has built it, he keeps it solid, and he protects it
Let’s learn to love the church like Jesus loves it.
As a reminder: love heart post it notes and pens. Write one reason you love this corps family.
For some of you, this might be difficult. You may find it difficult to think of something. If so, that may prompt you to ask God to help make your heart, mind, time, hands, and mouth God-centred rather than problem-centred.
For some of you, this might be difficult. You may not be able to narrow to one thing! In which case, you are well on the way to loving this corps family as Jesus does.
Next Steps
Next Steps
What is one thing you love about this corps family?
What is one thing you love about this corps family?
Post it notes and pens