We Believe in the Local Church

Church - the church is the community of all true believers for all time who will spend all of eternity with God.

church - a local assembly of believers.

Acts 2:42–47 ESV

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 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.

Acts 2:42–47 ESV

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 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.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 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.

Acts 2:42–47 ESV

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 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.

Multiple Churches appearing where Christians would gather together, to live out model.

They were fully under the authority of God’s Word, they believed in the gospel and they worshipped God

The churches began to form together under a single Catholic Church.

Catholic means universal or One. So they saw that these different congregations were all a part of the one, Catholic, Church.

The significance of why this happened now is that up until the 300s, Christianity was an outlawed religion. Christians were persecuted under Roman rule so it was very difficult for the church leaders to gather together under one banner.

But Rome would become a Christian nation after the conversion on Emperor Constantine.

There began to be big issues in the church.

Corruption

Legalism

Bible access was low

Split in the church

Catholic and Orthodox

All of it led to these two churches moving outside of the boundaries of what Scripture teaches

Protestant Reformation officially began

Martin Luther

95 Theses

Sought reformation in the church back to the Bible and the gospel

5 Solas

Sola Scriptura

Sola Grati (By Grace Alone)

Sola Fide (Through Faith Alone)

Sola Christus (In Christ Alone)

Soli Deo Gloria

Not only did they rediscover the gospel, but they were rediscovering what the church is.

“The marks of the church are three: faithful preaching of the Word, faithful administration of the ordinances, and faithful exercise of discipline.”

- John Calvin

Numerous Denominations were formed because of differences in secondary but key issues.

Polity/Government

Baptism and Lord Supper

Church membership

Assurance of salvation

Spiritual Gifts

When you join with a church you are not saying I like the preaching or I like the worship style. You aren’t even saying you like the people. You are saying I believe what they believe, and we are going to pursue the LORD together.

Unfortunately, many churches and denominations have left the teachings of Scripture:

•Reject the authority and inerrancy of the Bible

•Reject the divinity or humanity of Jesus

•Reject the exclusivity of the gospel

•Reject the gospel

Regenerate Church membership

Believers Baptism

Congregational Authority

ILLUSTRATION: Friend John, skipped out of worship to go fish

We don’t see the term membership in the Bible but we see the idea all throughout the New Testament.

In we see the process of Church Discipline when a Christian is in continual unrepentant sin, it is to be brought to the church and if the person still does not repent, then the church is to treat them like an unbeliever, meaning remove them from membership.

Now the only way you can be removed from membership is if you became a member.

ILLUSTRATION: Its like a sports team. They only way you can kick me off your baseball team is if I was on it.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper is our way of declaring we are Christians. And if we step away from the faith the church there to bring us back in.

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. - Galatians 6:1

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. - Hebrew 10:24-25

15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. - Ephesians 4:15-16

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .For Missions

I want to make sure I’m clear when I’m talking about being a part of the church I am not talking about merely attending worship. I am talking about being a member, joined together with other Christians, under a common creed, and a common mission.

Too often we think of the church in self-centered lenses. How does it serve me. What do I get out of it.

Missing church robs you of an opportunity to serve someone other than yourself. If you are gone on Sunday morning you can’t offer a word of encouragement to someone who needs it; you can’t welcome an unbeliever who doesn’t usually attend; you can’t pray with a fellow member who is suffering; you can’t encourage the other members with your voice during corporate singing; you can’t encourage the pastors with your presence while they shepherd.

They church is not about what we get, but how we are to serve others and display Christ.

We Believe in the Local Church

Recap

What is the Church

History: How did the local Church come about

32 AD

325 AD

1054 AD

1517 AD

Why Are We Baptist

Why Should We Bother With Church?

Its Biblical

For Assurance and Accountability

For Discipleship and Worship

For Discipleship and Worship

For Community and Service

For Missions

For Missions

To Glorify God

Five Warnings For Ignoring the Church

1.You are disobeying God

2.You are missing out on God’s primary design for your spiritual growth

3.You are making a statement to the world that God is not worthy of worship

4.You can’t minister to people

5.You skip out on a foretaste of heaven