Sermon Tone Analysis

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The case for commitment
I gave a charge last week to the graduates.
Simply put that charge was to not love the things of the world.
It seemed fitting to me that I should follow up that charge with a sermon this evening that is the opposite.
So tonight’s charge is do love the things of the Church.
And to be clear, the way in which people demonstrate that they love the things of the church is through a topic that perhaps isn’t communicated very consistently,
And that is membership.
The path to loving the things of the church is through one’s membership to a local church.
But is exceptionally important.
Part of the reason I believe that far too many youth walk away from church is because there was not an established commitment to the church
That was greater than just attending a church out of tradition, attending a church for the sake of biological family, or attending a church because you didn’t know to do anything else.
Those aren’t strong foundations within a church that keep youth within a church.
The number foundation for youth to stay in the church is of course the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
But here’s the thing.
A youth who knows the Gospel is going to recognize the Gospel where it is preached and is going to commit to the place where the Gospel is proclaimed.
So the topic that demonstrates someone’s love for the church and the things of the church is the topic of membership.
If you love the church and the things of the church you will most likely make a commitment to the church.
I say the church, but it’s important to know that there is the church universal, made up of believers of all time
And there is the local church which is the visible expression of the church universal.
So really when I say love the church and the things of the church and make a commitment to what you love, that is also demonstrated by commitment to a local church.
Which does not mean that there is no involvement with other like-minded churches.
It just means that there has been a decision made where someone recognizes a local church as their home church.
Some who reject membership do so by saying it’s unBiblical.
There are no passages of Scripture that support membership.
And interestingly enough, many who hold to membership hold to it as something that is explicitly mentioned in Scripture,
And there are various good reason that can cause someone to pick another church as their home church.
But that’s outside the scope of our message tonight.
But that we’re free to do membership.
Our message is to make a commitment to a local church.
While other’s believe it is Biblically taught.
Why should you make a commitment to a local church?
Well notice the two sided aspect of a commitment to the local church:
So I want to start with a basic understanding of the issues and clarify something about membership:
So let’s examine some Biblical concepts of making a commitment to a local church and demonstrating your love for the church and the things of the church.
(ESV)
(ESV)
46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people.
And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people.
And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.
Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
1).
The music is the best.
When people object to membership they are objecting to formal membership.
The reason to make a commitment to a local church is because the local church has leaders within it that have a specific responsibility to you.
And in fact they are held accountable by God to do this very activity.
Knowing that God is the one who is watching and employing pastors within a church is a significant motivation to do this activity constantly.
And what are they supposed to do from our passage?
They are supposed to guard your souls.
If we tie in last week with this passage, here’s a reason not to love the world, it’s because the world wants to devour your soul.
It is spiritually dangerous in the world.
There’s a reason we are called sheep, there’s a reason pastors are referred to as shepherds,
It’s because there is spiritual trouble in the world desiring to take advantage of you for their own personal gain.
And we’re not talking materialistically we’re talking spiritually, that you could experience spiritual ruin and misery in the world without this.
Why should I love the church and the things of the church and commit to the church?
It’s because the church forms a protective function in your life.
says obey and submit to.
It’s interesting because these two words have a wide range of meaning.
Obey even means to depend on and trust in.
It was used as a primary word in the LXX for faith.
Be persuaded by.
It’s in the middle voice which basically means persuade yourself of your leaders.
Or more literally to obey them.
Submit refers to withdrawing away to, retiring in, resting in, submitting to, your leaders.
Implied in that is a commitment to a church where faithful leaders are doing this.
Leaders that ἀγρυπνέω have a vigilant awareness of threatening danger against your soul.
They are concerned for and look after and care for your soul.
Which means that if leaders are appointed to do this that you’re not equipped on your own to watch out for your own soul.
There is no such thing as loan wolf, rogue Christianity.
That’s the most dangerous way a Christian could live.
There is no “Jesus and me” because Jesus placed your protected in the midst of his local congregations.
There’s no “Bible and me” because the Bible is telling you where to go to be protected.
There’s a commitment that is necessary to a church for the purposes of protection.
But’s there’s another level of commitment that is expressed in .
It is expresses something that you also make a commitment to in order to have a good experience at your church.
You not only make a commitment to be protected by leaders but you make a commitment to be profited by the leaders protection.
And the way you do that is by making sure that the leaders lead you with joy.
And the way you make sure that leaders have joy, is by not complaining.
It doesn’t say that you can’t voice concerns.
But it does say that you prevent yourself from being annoyed by your leadership.
And what does that reveal?
What is revealed by someone who make a commitment to make their leadership’s service a joy to them?
It reveals that they love the church and the things of the church.
This a positive instruction, it’s something you something to do in terms of making a commitment.
But Hebrews also has a negative instruction, tell you something not to do when it comes to commitment.
(ESV)
Formal membership is where people do something publically that clearly indicates to others that they are members.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
It’s a specific form of public communication regarding one’s status in a local church.
What this text communicates is probably one of the most difficult concepts to teach with respect to commitment to a local congregation.
Even stronger than the privi
The difficulty might be missed in just simply focusing on the prohibition of failing to meet together as a congregation.
If that’s all you see then it seems very legalistic.
It seems problematic.
It highly emphasizes commitment to a local meeting.
It incorporates two aspects:
Often times that looks like a class, or signing a membership document, or in our case going through an interview process and standing and being recognized.
Because the idea of neglecting to meet abandoning.
One’s total commitment
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