We Believe in the Church

Credo  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
0 ratings
· 10 views
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
View more →

The Church is all about us

We live in a culture where everything is geared towards what we want.
The clothes we buy
The music we listen to
The TV/Movies we listen to
Clubs we join or sports we play
We can customize our phones, tablets, cars whatever we want
It is the Burger King Theology of “you can have it your way.”
And that same thinking has made its way into churches.
Where we think that church is all about us. And therefore the church has to cater to our wants.
And it kind of makes sense when you think of verses like which teaches that “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her”.
So surely if God himself is willing to die for us, then we must be the most important right? It’s that Cat/Dog theology again.
BUT the truth is, the Church is All about God

Some Context

When we talk about Church we have to clarify the difference between Church and church.
Definition
Church refers to the community of all true believers for all time.
church refers to a local assembly of believers
Today we are going to primarily focus on that “C” Church and the Wednesday after Easter we will talk about the “c” church

Not A Building

Also most people when they think about Church they think of a building. And Church is somewhere you go.
I go to FBC, I go to Alice Drive.
It is very similar to say I go to Wilson Hall or Sumter High
However, when you look at Scripture, the Bible doesn’t really describe the church as a building but instead as:
the people of God
the electthe bride of Christthe body of Christgathered believersAssemblyLiving templeholy people/nationfamilybranches on a vinepriesthood
the elect
the bride of Christ
the body of Christ
gathered believers
Assembly
a Living temple
a holy nation
a family
branches on a vine
a priesthood
NEW SLIDE
In fact the word in the Bible for church, ἐκκλησία, means congregation or assembly.
So really we should not say “I go to FBC”, but “I am a part of FBC”. That is why the term member of a church makes so much sense. Now we go to worship on Sunday, but I am a member of FBC.

Only of Christians

Also, the Church. Big C. Is only made up of true believers, individuals who have been saved by Jesus Christ.
Those before Jesus who looked toward the coming Christ for salvation
And Those after Jesus who look back to Christ for salvation
At the day of Judgement and God remakes the heavens and the earth in glory, only believers will be a part of it.
Which leads us to the idea that the Church is All About God

The Church is All About God

And we are going to see that not in maybe a strange book for you, . So not the New Testament but the Old Testament. So if you have a Bible or App go to . (Its after the Psalms and Jeremiah, before Daniel and Hosea). .
While you turn there let me give you some background.
Ezekiel was a prophet of God writing to the Jews (God’s chosen people)
But the Jews had sinned against God and were taken captive, literally taken from their land by the Babylonians. Which is why its called the Babylonian Captivity.
And during this time God gives Ezekiel visions to instruct the people.
And starting in verse 16 we see the beginning of one of those visions.
READ
16 The word of the Lord came to me: 17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their ways before me were like the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual impurity. (we won’t go into that, guys ask your mom)
​

16 The word of the LORD came to me: 17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their ways before me were like the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual impurity. 18 So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed in the land, for the idols with which they had defiled it. 19 I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. In accordance with their ways and their deeds I judged them.

18 So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed in the land, for the idols with which they had defiled it. 19 I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. In accordance with their ways and their deeds I judged them.
So Israel, the Jewish people, sinned against God and God punished them by being “scattered among the nations.”
​

16 The word of the LORD came to me: 17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their ways before me were like the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual impurity. 18 So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed in the land, for the idols with which they had defiled it. 19 I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. In accordance with their ways and their deeds I judged them.

So Israel, the Jewish people, sinned against God and God punished them by being “scattered among the nations.”
Verse 20
​

But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, and yet they had to go out of his land.’

​
20 But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.’
People started to question God. Other nations were looking at the Israelites and thinking I thought you were the people of God, yet you were exiled from his land.
People started to question God. Other nations were looking at the Israelites and thinking I thought you were the people of God, yet you were exiled from his land.
God responds in Verse 21
​

But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.

21 But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.
God had concern for His Holy Name. God wasn’t concerned with the circumstances of the Israelites. He judged them in accordance to their deeds. He was concerned that people were doubting that He was God. That His Holy Name was being mistaken.
God had concern for His Holy Name. God wasn’t concerned with the circumstances of the Israelites. He judged them in accordance to their deeds. He was concerned that people were doubting that He was God. That His Holy Name was being mistaken.
And we see God’s Motive very clearly in Verse 22

God’s Motive

22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.

22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.
22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.
God’s motive for establishing the Church is not for our sake, but for the sake of God’s Holy Name.
God’s motive for establishing the Church is not for our sake, but for the sake of God’s Holy Name.
God is zealous for His glory. Everything is to the glory of God.
You might be thinking, doesn’t that make God a little selfish and egotistical.
Really? Everything is about you God.
Though, answer the question who else would you glorify over God? Who else deserves all the glory and praise?
God is Creator, Sustainer, King over everything. Who else would we give any credit to?

God’s Goal

So we see God’s goal in the next verse 23
23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.
In the early days of Christianity the leaders of the church wrote a Creed, a profession of what they believe. You’ve probably heard this one:
23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.
God is going to vindicate or avenge the holiness, the perfection, of his name so that the world will know that He is God.
And He is plan to do that is to use a broken and scattered people.

God’s Plan

Verses 24-28
​
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .In the early days of Christianity the leaders of the church wrote a Creed, a profession of what they believe. You’ve probably heard this one:
24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
God is going to gather people from every country, every nation and bring them together in their own land.
God is going to clean them of all sin and idolatry. He will make them holy like he is.
God is going to give them a new heart and a new spirit. They will be given new life, made into new people, a new creation.
God is going to give them the Holy Spirit so that they will walk in obedience to the ways of God
They will truly be God’s people, and God will be their God.
This is the Church
So what does it mean?
It means that God does everything for the glory of his name. He is zealous for it, and building His Church bring him ultimate glory in the world.
APP: So the church should make sure everything it does is to glorify God. Soli Deo Gloria.
It means that the Church is made up of a vast array of people from every Tribe and Nation.
I am really excited for our trip down to ATL this weekend because the church we will be working with is a great picture of this reality. Listen to this video.
PLAY VIDEO - SHOW SHIRT
APP: So the church should go and tell everyone about Jesus, because God is calling people from everywhere!
It also means that the Church will be holy, just as God is holy. What I mean is that there will be no sin, no corruption, no evil of any kind in the church because it has not only been washed clean by the blood of Christ, but it has been given new hearts and spirits.
, Nicodemus:What must a man do to be saved? Jesus: Be born again. We need a new life.
APP: So the church’s assurance is not in a prayer, or family history, or walking an aisle. It is in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus which gives new life!
It means that the power and ability to be obedient to God’s will doesn’t come from us, but comes from the Holy Spirit, which every believer posses!
APP: So the church should be obedient to fight sin, turning away from temptation and towards holiness, knowing that it is God who fights for us
It means that the church is no longer lost, scattered, and in despair, but that it has a PURPOSE and a SECURITY and a FULFILLMENT because They are God’s people and He is their God.
APP: So the church are to REJOICE!
​
WE Believe in the CHURCH because it is so much more than a building!
God does not call you and me to be participants in a club or causal attenders. No He calls us to be made new. To be His PEOPLE, in His Kingdom, so that ALL of Creation will know that He is God and glorify HIM, and this is all by the work of Jesus Christ, who “loved the church and gave himself up for her”.
“Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her”.
PRAY
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .In the early days of Christianity the leaders of the church wrote a Creed, a profession of what they believe. You’ve probably heard this one:
Apostle’s Creed
1. I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
2. And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord:
3. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary:
4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell:
5. The third day he rose again from the dead:
6. He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:
7. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead:
8. I believe in the Holy Ghost:
9. I believe in the holy catholic church: the communion of saints:
10. The forgiveness of sins:
1l. The resurrection of the body:
12. And the life everlasting. Amen.

What is the Church?

Most people when they think about the church they think of a BUILDING
PRAY
Related Media
See more
Related Sermons
See more
Copyright 2024 Logos Bible SoftwareFeatures|Pricing|Privacy|Terms of Use|Support