July 1, 2018

The Church There and Here
July 1, 2018
Pastor Jonathan Falwell

 

Open:

So often in businesses, additional help is needed to cover shifts when vacation time occurs. Most are hesitant to volunteer, hoping someone else will take the responsibility. Can someone give an example?

This week we want to continue last week’s sermon, looking at the way in which Christ uses believers to build His church. Today we will examine our individual role, our mission, and the reward we know we will receive in heaven. We were given a personal responsibility (gift) whenwe received salvation. Now we must identify our task and apply ourselves to it.

Focal Passages: Ephesians 4:1-7; Hebrews 12:1, Phil. 3:13

 

 

Discuss:

We are called

  • Read Ephesians 4:1. Paul begs us not to forget our calling. What is he referring to?
  • What is required for us to accomplish our own calling?
  • Read Romans 12:4-5. Is everyone’s work the same? Why not?

To live differently than the world

  • Read Eph. 4:2. Why is this the opposite of what society, the media, and commercials would have us believe to be the correct way? If you are living a life of humility (putting others before your own needs), discuss why this is so difficult when it comes to overtly sinful persons who cross our paths?
  • What is the opposite of those virtues in verse 2?
  • Read Titus 2:11-13. How does God desire that we be separate from the world?

To be united in mission

  • Read Eph. 4:3-4a. Occasionally we see people who cannot control a part of their body because of a physical malady. How difficult would this be if the body of Christ operated as dis-unified members? Are we striving for unity?
  • Why does the world not take the church seriously in these days of turmoil?What can each of us do about it? What focus must we have?
  • We can each make our own calling our focus. Where do we start?

To celebrate our future

  • Read Eph. 4:4b. If we are saved, what is our hope for the future?
  • Read Phil. 3:13. Paul was able to forget his former life. Can you forgive yourself past sins in order to be effective for the calling God has given you?
  • Read Heb. 12:1-2. This is a description of how we should approach life. Name some of the witnesses that make up this “Hall of Faith” and tell why it is amazing that God used them. What does verse 2 tell us to do?

All because of Him

  • Read verses Eph. 4:5-6. What truths should our lives center around?
  • Read Heb. 12:2 again. What did He do for us while we were “dead in trespasses and sins” and what is He going to do to see that we finish well?
  • If our church body—we as individuals and corporately—are going to be effective in a world of upheaval, what does our focus have to be?

 

 

Close:

The church is a body universal, made up of every nation, people and language. Have you had the experience of meeting a Christian in an unlikely country or situation, and immediately a sense of the same Spirit dwelling in each of you comes over you? That is how Christ wants the body to work: healthy, growing, and full of love. It is His plan for our lives, and the best life that can be had for all of us.

Individually, we all need to be members focused on Him throughout our day, looking for ways we can bring glory to Him. To be like the world—go the same places, take in the same entertainment, use profanity, or wear the same clothes—causes us to take away that “set apartness” that God desires for us. It also gives the world the right to call us hypocrites, as we say we’re holy, but act like them.

No outside force will ever destroy God’s church. However, we can destroy our own effectiveness if we do not keep our focus on our calling and on our future! God has prepared a place for us, one that is so great that our finite minds cannot even imagine the glory of it. Let’s keep that thought central as we faithfully endure each day.

Key Verse: Matthew 16:18: And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock [confession] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. (NKJV)