Hold My Keys!

Songs we sang this morning or good because they focused us godward much of the time. And then the last song helps Focus us horizontally. How does our love for God play out in love for each other? And as we continue in this series now, we're in our third week in it called leading the church forward where we're looking at. What God's design is in scripture what his plan is for his church and how it's to be lead and run. We're going to be looking again this morning at the congregation. So that that body of Christ that that loves one another that needs one another to survive as the song says it's or not intended to survive as Christians individually were intended to survive is a community as a church. Very timely as we go into this.

So let me pray for us. And then we will open our our scriptures to Matthew and to Galatians and will cover a couple different text here that help us understand what else the congregation can do for one another in terms of its Authority given by Christ. Let's pray Heavenly Father. We thank you for this morning. Thank you for The way in which we can praise you directly in song because you are primary to all other affections that we have. And yet at the same time Lord. I Thank you that the love that you have shown us bills out in love for one another and I pray that is sweet. Go into your word this morning that understanding that what we do for one another we do in love. With help us to understand your word in a way. That makes us profoundly. Joyful. For the fact that you have brought us together as a church body. Pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.

So again last week we looked at a loving committed congregation. We talked in the book of Acts about what they were doing when they got together. This morning we're going to look at is what Authority does the Gathering church have what are they allowed to do? What are they not allowed to do so in a sense the sermons all our building on one of the kids got to go back to sermon won in the series that Jesus Christ is Lord to understand what Authority at church can have because I can't have any Authority that's not given to it by Christ and shepherded by Christ himself on an ongoing basis. They said over and over again at the church gets separated from its head Jesus as a body. It will fall apart if we need to keep that in mind as we're looking at it this morning. We also showed last week of it from the passage in Acts that they set aside people for leadership. They called Saul and Barnabas to Mission. But the role they have is actually even bigger than that our role as a church. Has a lot of power behind it. And so if you have your Bibles with you turn to Matthew 16, and we're going to start by looking at verses 17 through 19 of Matthew 16. Jesus has just asked Peter. Who do you say that I am and Peter has responded that he is the Christ that he is the Messiah that he's the one that everybody's been waiting for and this is a a great Proclamation that he's made the challenge now comes in since he is the Christ the son of the Living God what difference will that make? And Jesus answered him in verse 17 and here's what he says. Blessed are you Simon bar Jonah Simon son of Jonah. Her flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. But my father who is in heaven and I tell you you are Peter and on this rock. I will build my church and the Gates of Hell shall not Prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on Earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on Earth shall be loosed in heaven. The Jesus says Peter you've made the right confession. You know who I am. And now you're not just going to be known as Simon you're going to be known as Peter The Rock. I'm going to use you foundationally Peter to build my church. My church is going to stand nothing's going to take my church down. It will prevail even against the Gates of Hell itself.

Eminem verse 19 He tells Peter. As he's building the foundation of the church. I'm giving you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

Now we can understand a little bit about what this means and very practical terms. If I don't know you you do not have a key to my house.

But if I know you and I trust you and have a relationship with you. Then you have the keys to my house.

And you would have the ability to either let people into my house in in in whether I'm there or not and you would have the ability to lock the doors and say no you can't come in here.

But that's such a small scale compared to what Jesus is saying to Peter hear about what it means to have the keys to the kingdom of heaven. He is telling Peter bit because you understand who I am. You will have the authority to be able to say of someone. I know. What God has revealed about himself through you to the point where I can say? Yes, your believer know. You're not a believer. amazing

He's a real hard to do that at the church. Well, let's just point out some things we already do.

when we bring someone forward for baptism they say in answer to the questions that they do trust in Jesus Christ alone for the Forgiveness of sins and their hope of eternal life that they do renounce the devil and all his plans for them. And they do promise with God is their helper to walk in obedience to him all their life.

and then we make a statement. upon your profession of faith I baptize you in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit. so through not just that direct statement, but that statement is reflective of all the conversations that you and I and a lot of other people have had with them and we actually say, yep, we believe you when you say that We believe that you really are trusting Christ your life shows. You are a Christ follower and so because of that we're going to

If someone came to us and today, I'd like to be baptized but their life completely did not reflect a Christian lifestyle at a trust in Christ at all. They just thumb their noses Jesus everywhere. They went they know time of day for him whatsoever. But for some reason maybe it's like, you know, my dad's going to die soon. He really wanted all those kids to be baptized. I'd like to be baptized so that he can see that. What is there's no relationship with Christ and the church has the authority to say. Hey, it's great that you want to honor your dad like that. It would be way better for you to honor Christ by actually trusting and following him before you were to get baptized. So we're going to say no to this for now and we will work with you to help you understand the truth of the gospel. And if Jesus gets a hold of your heart, and so you're doing it to honor him and not just to please your dad then yeah, we're up for it. Behold the keys to the kingdom in that sense of being able to declare whether or not someone's profession of faith is true or false.

So whatever went on we are confessors of Christ, we are Christ followers like Peter was when we we know God's heart. And can set the church to run on its course whatever comes up. We can address that as a church. We don't need to look to some outside body to address that we the church address those things. We don't look to any particular organization to tell us what should you do on Sunday morning in church? But I have to follow any prescribed pattern. Where church we can choose how to glorify God during our church services.

So where do we get our ideas from? Well as people who are filled with the Holy Spirit who are trusting Christ who are seeking him in his word. We look to his word to say. Hey, are there something we definitely should do and there are some things we definitely shouldn't do let's make sure we get those right and then there's some areas were like doesn't really say we can't but it doesn't specify we need to and we have some freedom to say the congregation what works for us. This is why missions has changed over the last. A hundred years. He used to be missionaries knew what they thought church should be like and they would take it into a culture and they would often as people got saved help them understand what church look like. I'm making it look as much like the church they were from as possible. These people have gone a long Misty a logically. They said hey, wait a minute. We just inherited these forms. We don't have to pass the Forum on there certain things that need to be there. But certain things don't have to be there and now churches in other countries look a little bit like what we do here and a little bit not like what we do here because they are sensitive to the cultural environment around them. So where there's freedom to choose their congregation gets to choose what it should look like.

Does it necessarily make a church Better or Worse to make certain choices? Know if that church is trusting in Christ reliant on his Holy Spirit and making choices in line with scripture. Then they are free to choose how they see fit to best do Church.

has a danger of course in this The danger is having those who are not following Christ in The Binding and loosing process. Right? Cuz he says whatever you bind on Earth shall be bound. Whatever you loose on Earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Peter got the keys because he was following Christ. He declared him as the Christ if we have non Christ declares determining what is acceptable and not acceptable and they're not facing that off of their relationship with him. They're not basing that off of Holy Spirit. They're not basing that off of scripture. Then they should not be a part of determining what the church should do.

a big deal for the church To decide who is going to be part of that decision making body.

I mentioned this last week, I'll mention it again. When we have our quarterly what we call business meetings or members meetings at the church. Everyone's welcome to be there at the meeting know if you remember show up but the ones who get to vote, but once you get to speak to an issue are the ones that have covenanted together to say we're going to make sure this church does what we believe the Bible says the church should do. And that's really good because the keys to the kingdom are not Keys you want to just lose because you weren't paying attention to him.

If you have a say in who is in and who is not yet in it's important. They make wise decisions for the church body.

What types of things having the keys to the kingdom besides what goes on in the church itself? Does the church have a responsibility for? The church has a responsibility to preserve the gospel. Re4 you Galatians 1 1 through 10. If you have a copy of the scriptures turn there with me. This is Paul's letter to the churches to more than one church, but he speaking to multiple ones release probably one in the north and one in the South due to his missionary Journeys. He's speaking to them. As someone who was recently there with them giving them the gospel.

He helped put Elders in place in that church, so they have leadership. Anyone on his missionary Journeys and here's what he has to say at the beginning of the letter to the Galatians. Paul an apostle not for men or through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead. And all the brothers who are with me to the churches of galatia grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins to Deliver Us from the present evil age according to the will of our God and Father to whom belong Glory forever and ever amen.

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. Not that there is another one but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you and gospel contrary to the one that we preached let him be accursed as we've said before now I say again if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received let him be accursed. From a now seeking the approval of man or of God my trying to please man. I was still trying to please man. I would not be a servant of Christ. Harshest Beginnings to any letter that Paul wrote to any church is that church was when we have two of their letters. There's an idea that there's four letters that went out there a lot of other things he needed to deal with two with two of them. They were preserved to scripture. Even they got a friendlier beginning then the Church of galatia. And what's it what what's this all about? What is he getting on? Well, don't run through verses 1 through 5 in the beginning this introduction of who he is and what his role is and his praise of God. That's just a formality. This is not his version of dear sir and madam. This is his expression of his heart for these people. He praised in his opening request grace to you. Peace from God or for the why is he asking these things for them? Because he loves them. I brought the gospel to them and he loves them and so he prays for them and points them to God who through Christ forgave them from their sins to One belongs Glory forever and ever he wants to know understand the greatness of the Gospel that was preached to them. Praise because he loves them.

But then don't look at 6 through 10 as if he stopped loving them. He rebukes them in 6 through 10 because he loves that. He does not want them to continue in Eric. He sees that they had a good start. He knows the gospel. They received he knows it was right. How does he know it's right cuz he received it directly from Jesus himself. Repast is on his eminence's. How could you leave it so soon?

It's not even Cold Yet. You've already throw them out.

He uses such a strong language hurting. They're not just throwing a little bit chilly to the gospel. They're running from it. They're deserting it.

He says it's like you're turning to a different gospel, but there can't be another gospel. There is no other good news the problem they were running into by the way in this church was the same problem that the church in Jerusalem had a little bit earlier and this wasn't there were some folks that really wanted the Jewish practices to be enforced on Gentile churches. If you wanted to force things like circumcision to still be in effect and so forth and so they probably came along soon after Paul and those it left and said hey, you know, we're really glad Paul is here. He's a good guy we like him. But you know, we've been apart of the church in Jerusalem in and we've had this discussion down there with them and Paul. He's kind of an upstart to this whole thing is really quite get everything yet. So we wanted to let you know we're trying to purify the church. We really wanted to be holy than the past those of us from Jerusalem. We practice these things like circumcision, which is the mark of God all the way along through the Old Testament and we want you guys to do this too cuz we want this to be for you. What do we have to do it? Yes, you have to if this is the sign that you're part of this The church bought into it and all the sudden it became faith in Christ. Plus something else equals a true Christian. I made it had this discussion in Jerusalem already and it already said no, that's not true. You cannot find the conscience like that. It is faith alone. First time faith alone was uttered by those in the church was not when Martin Luther said at the beginning of the Reformation. It is always been that way through scripture Luther just recovered it for everybody is forgotten it.

And so these folks have come in and tried to change the gospel. It's no longer just Christ died for your sins. And now it's through faith in him your saved its Christ died for your sins. And now through faith and works you can be right with him.

And he says there's a problem with that. You do that when you follow that you are not following the gospel anymore and your response to that church should be to say you who preach that false gospel. Quiet down a little no be accursed is the language she uses. It's not just that your opinion. Let's not make a big deal about it. It's no that one. I guess I should say this way the church has a history of sometimes when things go very very wrong. They will do what's called excommunicate someone from the church pick you and remove you from membership in this church, because you are living a life that is clearly contrary to the gospel and you are unrepentant in your sin. And you're causing harm to the body where they kick you out of membership. You're not you're all depending maybe but you're not you're not part of us anymore, right? That's the using the keys to the kingdom thing. We'll talk about that in a little bit. But this is even stronger language than that. It's not just your no longer part of the church. It's pronouncing a curse on them.

It's almost as if as if he were saying May he'll be where you end up because you are contrary to the gospel and trying to force other people into that contrary gospel.

one commentator said this We do poor service to Christ and his church when we indiscriminate Lee lead men and women to profess faith in Christ, but then leave them vulnerable like they exposed infants of ancient Rome to the ravenous wolves that seek their destruction. Easy to stay if you're someone has been mature in the faith in a while and you see heretical teaching around you to be able to say you know, what that's wrong.

But your goal is not just to be able to have you identify whether something's wrong. Your goal is to love the brand new Sheep In The Family the ones that don't have that understanding yet the ones that could be easily swayed by a smooth talkin white teeth preacher and say to them that's why I don't go there. The gospels over here what that person saying is not gospel. Don't follow that.

Who's supposed to be doing that? The church. That's why when Paul writes the letter to the churches of galatia. He's addressing them as a whole. He doesn't just pick on one person. He said you guys let this happen. How could you guys let this happen?

We address error in the gospel as a church. Because we love God, we love each other and we do not want the weak and vulnerable among us to be led astray.

How do you do that? First of all, you can't defend what you don't know. You don't know the gospel yourself. You can't defend it. It's why in part of our membership class. Almost a whole week is devoted to just discussing. What is the gospel? If we want to make sure everybody becomes a member of the church understands and can clearly and enunciate. What is the gospel that doesn't end there? It's starts there be able to clearly enunciate the gospel and then through your your time in the word through your timing classes and under sermons and all sorts of stuff. You're filling out your understanding of that. So when you see a counterfeit. Will show up, you know, that's not right. It's example has been brought up many times and sermons before I'll bring it up again when you are trained on how to identify counterfeit bills. They do not start by showing you counterfeit bills. They start by showing you real bills over and over and over study them learn them learn on the markings on them understand what they're like so that when a counterfeit comes along you go It's not quite right about that. Might not be obvious is paper just feels a little different than the other paper. That color is not quite what I'm used to see. We won't be able to identify that if you don't know what's real. And so as a church body when we call each other to be in the word to study to learn to grow why because we care enough about each other to say. Hey, we don't want any of you to be ignorant up. You can be fooled by a counterfeit. Want to make sure you understand everything clearly enough, but you know when something's wrong.

I'm Paul even acknowledge us. He's he's human even if she comes and preach the gospel. That isn't the same when he preached in the beginning of Summer. He gets off track. He's out to and if an angel an angel comes down and says something with contrast got their O2, is there angels in masquerade his angels alike than Angels a light. So let's just be real with each other and say there's lots of different ways a false gospel can get in our job as a church is to make sure we are we're what the gospel isn't able to address it in such ways that if a false gospel comes we can say no. We had it a little harder. I would say then the church in galatia did because in the Church of galatia people actually had to travel from somewhere to someone else to bring a false gospel to them. Now all you have to do turn on your TV. Bring up your internet and you can find false gospel at your fingertips. It's very easy. And so that the way in which the false gospel can sneak into the church the way it becomes distorted is so much more readily available.

All that means is we have to be all the more on our toes. We cannot just sit back passively and think as long as the teacher is going on Sunday morning will be fine.

Cuz what goes on Monday through Saturday. Make a whole lot of difference in somebody's life. If you're taking in a bunch of material on Monday through Saturday that wants contrary to the gospel and maybe you're the gospel on Sunday morning. 6 balancing out one is going to work so well, and you're going to end up giving in to it.

The how do you know if you study the Bible in community? You don't do it on your own. You doing community because then when you have blind spots others can't see when you've heard something and I'll send you bring that hearing to the texting you all this must mean this instead. If you doing any Community somebody if they well, I hear what you're saying, but don't forget about this over here and not over there cuz they've been in different places in the scripture than you recently and they might have things to say to help you out why we don't learn as individuals we learn together.

The church has to preserve the gospel. The church does not preserve the gospel. It will lose its presence. And we don't have to look throughout all of history and throughout all the world. Very long at all to find examples of churches that have lost the gospel and gone astray.

big job for the congregation Hope you're up for it.

What else? We talked earlier about the idea of helping the week out. The church has another role to play the church guards each other from wolves in sheep's clothing. And call string sheep back. All right. So wake me up at gospel preservation component. Then we also have those who start to wonder that we pull back. Withdraw them back in and we sit down with them and we'll work with them through the gospel.

Matthew 18 as a common passage to understand how to deal with sin. Jesus is speaking to his Apostles and laying out for them the model for the Church of how to deal with sin. And here's what he has to say Matthew 18. I'm going to read 15 through 20. And help us understand how that applies to us as a church body.

Matthew 18 starting with verse 15 if your brother sins against you go tell him his fault clean you and him alone. He listens to you. You have gained your brother. But if he does not listen take one or two others along with you that every charge might be established by the evidence of two or three Witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a gentile on a tax collector. Truly. I say to you whatever you bind on Earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on Earth shall be loosed in heaven again. I say to you if two of you agree on Earth about anything they ask it will be done for them by my Father in heaven for where two or three are gathered in my name there. Am I among them? This process of calling one another back from sin. Call church discipline.

Most church discipline is not done in a Matthew 18 way. Most discipline is done formatively. Here's what I mean by that when we understand the word rightly when we when we understand what the Bible saying and we live that out that is disciplining Us in the gospel. Correcting error. It's helping us grow in what's good discipline is not a negative term discipline just means getting more focused on what you're supposed to be focused on and getting those things out that don't help you focus. It's becoming a disciple more fully by making yourself focusing on what you need to do. So most discipline in the church is formative. It helps us grow and what it looks like to be like Jesus. However, we are not perfect surprise surprise. What do we do when we mess up? Well in addition to seeking forgiveness from God directly for our sin when rsim involves someone else we need to deal with.

But what if the person does not come to you to deal with the sin? So that's what this is dealing with as much as it has to do with you. If you know you send against a brother don't wait for them to hit Matthew 18-4 you go to them and confess your sin. Hey brother sister, I did this. I'm sorry that I did this and know that it hurt you. I'm going to make efforts not to do it again. Will you forgive me? When that happens restoration happens when initiated by the person who did what was wrong and ideally that should be the way it happens.

But sometimes it doesn't. So some of the sinned against you in the church, and they have not come forward to tell you that they understand what they did is wrong. I told him Matthew 18 go and tell them.

Not blast them on Facebook. Tell them. Between you and him alone.

Most church discipline that is not formative. You'll never know about. Because I'm Matthew 18:15 kicks in its conversations to say. Hey brother. I felt belittled by your comment towards me this morning.

Sister, I saw that post on Facebook. I know it seems funny but it hurt me cuz it felt really divisive.

It's going to a brother or sister and telling them here's where I saw sin. It hurt me.

And if it gets handled there, you've gained your brother according to scripture in that gray. And lose a brother. He gained brother got him back. When I hear that and they say it's so not what I meant. I love you. I didn't mean to do that. I'm so sorry. I'll try to be more careful with the things. I say. I love that that line that song. I won't hurt you with words from my mouth. Like that's a big one for a lot of right.

I can understand where you're coming from. I'll try to be more careful with that. If you see something else, please feel free to tell me. the openness to correction

I don't know how many of you have experienced this. I'm hoping all of you have at some point in your life because what ends up happening when it's in that has taken two people that should be Brothers and Sisters in Christ and and separated them a little bit and that's in gets called out and it gets confessed and repented of in the Forgiveness happens the bond that forms between most people is usually tighter than it was before.

Because there's something new in the ability to trust someone who you have experientially seen follow Christ in that way. It's a good thing in the life of a church for us to get used to being corrected in our sin responding positively to that in Repentance and seeking forgiveness and reuniting with our brothers and sisters. And wouldn't it be great if in a church body stage one was all that was ever need.

Unfortunately, sometimes it gets to Stage 2. Sometimes you go to someone and you tell them and then whatever you're just too sensitive get over it. I didn't really do that. You're just making a lot out of it.

Oh, you're the police now. We're going to come along and tell me what I'm doing wrong. Went to look at the log in your own eye, brother.

Repentance doesn't happen.

Play Sisqo back take a couple with you about a trusted people with you from the church to be able to have a conversation with them. So this is not just a he-said-she-said sort of thing, or he said he said whatever it happens to be.

But it's a group of people who love each other first and foremost to have gathered together to try to restore relationship.

What if they refuse to listen even to those brothers and sisters who gather together? And we reach stage 3. Tell it to the church.

Rarely, does it get to this point praise God rarely. Does it get to this point where you got someone who so hardened in their sinfulness? The not only one brother or sister coming to them and telling them about it helps them respond in Repentance, but even multiple brothers and sisters coming along and say hey we really need to deal with this is not good for you to be living here in this unrepentant sin, and they're like no and then it gets taken to the whole church.

the only Step Beyond that is to say you don't get treated like a Christian. That's the authority of the church. To actually be able to make those statements. Don't be confused here this same language about being loosed and bound is the same language that Jesus used back in Matthew 16.

But now something fascinating happens he was speaking to Peter before and so when he says whatever you bind shall be bound and whatever you loose shall be loosed. He was speaking in the singular you Now in this passage when Jesus is talking about the church.

I use the southern colloquial because it's the best way to describe the second person plural that I've ever seen. I say to you whatever y'all bind. Shall be bound in heaven and whatever y'all loose shall be loosed. He no longer speaks in the singular. He speaks in the plural. The church makes that decision. No, one person has that Authority. He had one person that didn't work had a couple people that didn't work. So now the whole body makes that determination.

And even when the body originally confronts them it is for restoration of the relationship that never changes the entire time the whole goal in the process of of corrective church discipline is to restore the relationship it is done because the church loves each other and wants the relationship to be made right? At the church ever gone wrong Heather ever examples in history where the church has gone to church discipline in a vindictive way and not a restorative way sadly. Yes. Let's just acknowledge that upfront churches have gotten this horribly wrong and people have been wounded unnecessarily by the church doing things not out of a spirit of love, but out of a spirit of we're going to get you for what you did.

Can we agree though as a church body that negative examples of Doing It Wrong Leaf. Do not negate what Jesus is saying in Matthew 18. It still needs to be done. We just need to realize we're not immune to having church discipline done in a way that's harmful to people. And so we need to be extra careful in light of church history to say. Hey, we're going to do this we're going to do this lovingly. We are going to make sure that our goal in this is restoration of loving relationships between us and the other person and that person and God that is our sole goal in this the moment something else comes in. We're going to kick that out of the discussion is that should not be a part of how we're doing. Doesn't mean we don't follow what Jesus says we just follow it more cautiously because we know the weakness of our own hearts.

So do we judge ultimately?

God is the judge.

He gets his keys. So how does that work? I mean when we buying things and loose things are we finding God? Do we the church have the authority to just say? Hey, this is the way it is. God deal with it. You gave us the keys deal with what we say. No, it's not at all what it means. We are to be Holy Spirit-filled Bible saturated Christ followers who are prayerfully knowing what the word says and affirming what God has said in his word and applying it to our lives. So when we buying something or loose something the language of that is not we're doing it and God will follow us. But rather God is already made the determination and by giving us the keys and the Holy Spirit and his word and prayer and each other in community. We should be able to determine what has God really said Now what do we think? Not what we want but what does God said what is God bound and loose cuz if we can figure that out, then we have the authority by having the keys to the kingdom to make that declaration.

Do we judge Outsiders? No?

Passage in Corinthians talks about that not supposed to judge others. We do judge within the church.

We've been given a major responsibility to care for the Eternal lives of each other.

So when we Covenant together as a community, we really Covenant together. We don't say I love you until you're hard to love.

Say I love you. Through whatever this takes when I love you. If love is hard at a certain stage. Tokay will press on its we love you realize even when the church says to someone going to treat you like you're not one of us anymore. We're going to revoke your membership from church. We're not going to have you officially be one of us at any more. Call goal in that is to wake them up to the point where they say. Wow. This is really that serious.

Clear continuous that person God let this be the thing that open sterilize. Please let him see how serious it is. Let him turn to you. Let him come back to us and say I was wrong. And then let us come back around them in forgiveness and say you're forgiven by Jesus and buy us. Welcome back, brother.

We never stop loving you the entire time so glad to see you responded this way. That's the Heart church discipline. It's always restorative.

But it's hard. It's never easy and just think of it on the one on one level go back to to Matthew 18:15 stage 1. for many of us the idea of walking up to someone who sinned against us and being like I need to talk to you cuz this hurt It's frightening.

I want to have to do that cuz you don't like me afterwards. What if they think I'm just being me what if I really am wrong and I read things wrong and it's not what they meant at all.

And we shy away from the relationship restoring thing and I can come from that cuz even if you're wrong, even if they're like, oh you heard that that's what I said. No, no. No, I did not say that. Here's what I said somehow that got the store didn't know what you were told. But here is what I said cuz I would never say that cuz I would never do that to you I care about you too much. The relationship is still going to get restored. Even if you were wrong about what you thought the thing originally was. It's still going to get restored. It's still worth going through the process.

Are all the stages along the way for the church, that's true. We are trying to do two things in this process. If we have wolves in the church those that do not love Jesus. They are not Christians. They've been faking it in sheep's clothing and they're here to tear down a church to be able to say to them. You're not one of us is a good thing. We don't want them to eat a bunch of sheep in the process.

But in addition to that we're calling straying sheep back don't wander like this. This is not good for you. There are wolves out there. There are Cliffs you can fall down. There's not the food and care you have here come back turn from where you're headed right now and repent turn back to Christ. So we doing both those things in the process.

Then we are given the keys to the kingdom. We are preserving the gospel and building one another up in love. Your formative and corrective church discipline as a church body.

So where do we go from here? So the congregation is very important has a great role to play has a very important role to play today in terms of its Authority does everything need to come to every member for every decision. What should we set the thermostat at take a congregational vote on it?

No, praise God now everything does not have to come to every single member of the church for a loan.

Some things can be handled by smaller groups who should be in those groups. Well people who the congregation is a whole trust and shows and a firm regularly and of delegated certain products to you. Don't just come in and say I'm going to take over this from you guys. Have fun. Now the church has said hey there certain people who are going to put in leadership positions, cuz we trust them we seen the character of who they are. We know that they can pull this off for us. So we're going to have them work through those decisions. Now these decisions they can't make without talking to us with these they can examples, right? When the church has somebody who needs a reimbursement for something, you're not take that for the members to reimburse someone who bought snacks for an event that we're rolling right? But if the church is going to spend 20 grand on something. Yeah, it's going to come for the member. So big stuff is going to come up little stuff. We let the leaders who we entrusted determine how that happened. Does the church pick every single bit of curriculum we use? Nope, you trust people this thing that you believe understand what's good teaching and bad teaching and you say okay we're going to do why don't you guys pick that for us and we'll go with that.

So there's some things you choose and some things you don't choose.

But just like every bit of legislation that gets put forward in our country is not voted on in a true democracy by every single one of us praise God. That's not the case Craig cuz you would be doing nothing but spending your time reading through really really boring bills to pass them instead. We elect people and we say hey you guys go deal with that mess. I'm pulling my life over here. In the same sort of way, but with much more seriousness and eternal consequences the church says, hey, we're going to pick some leaders from Among Us who were going to say have these responsibilities for us. We're going to hold them accountable to actually do the things we gave them to do.

so

in the next few weeks, what we're going to be looking at is to leadership offices in the church that are listed in scripture. It's not that there are other things that leaders can do within the church, but there's two specific offices that the church list until we're going to talk about what those offices do what those leaders do and what type of people God says should fill those sort of spots. So we're going to do is read to take from the congregation. We're now look at okay for those decisions that we don't all have to make who weren't resting to other people. What does the Bible say? Those people should be and what should they do? That's the plan for the next few weeks ahead of us in the meantime. We're praying. Here's what I'd like you guys to pray about. 1 praise God for biblical faithfulness within this church is a reason this church still exist from 1958 or whenever wasn't started until now. Is seen to it the biblical faithfulness has continued in the church. Praise God for that. 2

pray that you would be open to your role in the congregation. What I mean by that is this are you open to the study that it will take you to be able to be an informed member of the church to be able to defend against a bad gospel if it were to come in. 2 are you aware enough of your role in terms of helping care for sheep that are straying that you are open to correction. You are willing to participate in correcting others for the purpose of restoring relationship within our church so that we are never divided over anyting but they we are constantly growing in our love and our relationship with God and with each other. Catherines going to play for us for a few minutes while we pray and then I'll close this in prayer and we'll sing a final song before we go. Let's pray.