Sermon Tone Analysis

*Discipleship Training*

*Your Need for the Loving Ministry of a Local Church*

 

This month we celebrated our country’s 233rd anniversary.

The anniversary of the day that our congress signed the Declaration of Independence.

Some cultures are built around the corporation – like Japan, where it can seem like your identity is not so much defined by you in yourself but in your company.

Some cultures are built around the extended family – your identity is not so much defined by you in yourself but in your larger family history.

One huge culture in our world today is built around the caste – your identity is wrapped up in the caste you are born into.

But here in America, we celebrate our freedom to rise above our family history, rise above the corporate ladder, rise out of our social class, and climb higher.

We are all about independence, we’re all about the individual.

And in several ways, that is good.

I am very thankful to God that I am an American.

But America’s emphasis on the individual has sometimes presented a challenge for biblical thinking.

It’s hard for Americans to understand why they need a local church family.

Certainly many people don’t see any need for church at all.

There are Christian teachers who are actually urging Christians to leave all churches and just listen to the radio or sermons online.

That’s a pretty small minority.

But then there are plenty of Christians who go to church for an hour each week to listen to music and listen to preaching, they may talk to people for a little while afterwards, but then they leave until the same time next week.

Bottom line: that’s all they feel that they need.

That’s enough church for them.

In the American mindset, we say “I can do it myself.”

And if we’re not careful, we can have that mindset as Christians as well.

“I can do it myself.”

But it is not true.

God designed Christianity to be lived in community.

Not communes, but community.

: - ) That community is found in two God-given institutions: the family and the local church.

Not every Christian enjoys the blessing of a Christian family; but every Christian needs the loving ministry of a local church.

It’s just very, very easy to forget that we need it.

It’s part of our sinful inclination to think that we will be fine on our own.

The very first sin described in Genesis 3 was a declaration of independence.

Eve did not need God, and she did not need Adam, she would do what she wanted on her own.

Ever since then, we’ve been trying to make life work on our own.

And so we very easily forget that we need the loving ministry of a local church.

This week I read some good quotes that were a good challenge for me:

“Self-righteousness can cause us to try to live more independently than God ever intended.

We do not reach out for help because, frankly, we do not think we need it.

So we live independent and self-sufficient lives, the kind we were never hardwired to live.”

“People will attempt to live outside of a healthy accountability to the body of Christ, thinking they have the maturity to manage their own walk with God.” Just as a little child says “I can do it myself,” we want to be able to say the same thing spiritually: “I can do it myself.”

(those quotes are from /Broken Down House/, by Paul David Tripp.)

This morning I want to share some of the basic biblical passages that uncover what we need from a church family.

But before we get into those things, I want to address one key question: “If I have good friendships with other Christians, does it really matter whether I’m actually part of a particular church family or not?”

The answer is “no, it’s not OK.”

There are many ways to explain that, but the assumption throughout the New Testament is that Christians will be gathered into churches, pursuing the things God told them to do together.

As early as Matthew 18 Jesus is using the word assembly in a local way, assuming that Christians will be assembling together to do what he says they should do there in Matthew 18.

The large majority of the New Testament letters are written to churches, or the leadership of churches.

The instructions in the New Testament epistles assume that you are part of a local church – many of those instructions make little sense without a local church.

So it’s not OK to just have some Christian friends – the church is God-ordained.

Why is that such a hard concept for us?

Because the large majority of people in local churches tend to be sinners.

Actually, every person in every local church is a sinner.

Because of that, it’s impossible to find a perfect local church.

It’s much easier to just stay home and listen to sermons on the internet, or even just go pop in and hear the sermon at church and then leave, than to go and involve yourself with a group of people that are sinners and have problems and will complicate your life.

But the church needs your loving ministry, as we saw in the last hour, and you need the church’s loving ministry.

Let’s look at some things the Bible says.

And this list is not complete: for example, we could add Ephesians 6:18 God intends for a church family to pray for you.

We could add Ephesians 5:19 God intends for a church family to sing truth to you.

You need congregational singing.

There are more, but we’ll focus on these four major points:

!! God intends for a church family to help bear your burdens.

Galatians 6:1-2 /Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, *restore* such a one in a spirit of *gentleness*; each one *looking to yourself*, so that you too will not be tempted.

2 *Bear* *one another's burdens*, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ./

* See the word “Caught”, means to be overtaken by surprise, or to get trapped (which would be a surprise).

* The word “trespass” is the idea of losing your footing, stumbling, falling.

* This is not talking about long-term rebellion, this describes a Christian who falls in a way that is surprising.

Nobody really expected it.

It seems out of character for them.

* For example, suddenly word gets out that a sweet teenage girl in the church is pregnant.

Nobody expected that from her. That’s the kind of situation in view here in Galatians 6.

* How do we handle that?

You don’t ignore it; you don’t react self-righteously  (“how could that ever happen!”); you don’t gossip.

* First you have an attitude of /gentleness/.

This is not the time to obliterate the girl with guilt trips and endless reminders of how no self-respecting young lady should ever do that.

It’s a time for gentleness.

The second attitude is /Humility/.

Get rid of this self-righteous “how could anyone ever do that” attitude.

* The action word is /restore/.

Gently, humble restore.

* But what does /restore/ mean?

* That word is used for things like fixing a net that has become torn, or setting a bone that has been broken.

* When a Christian falls into an unexpected sin, is in a dangerous time.

If they experience condescending, gossiping spirit from others, they may turn away from God in bitterness.

They may pridefully refuse to admit that they’ve fallen, that they’ve done anything wrong, and turn away from God in pride.

Or in their guilt they may feel like God can’t love them and God can’t use them anymore.

And they turn away from God because of the guilt.

They need a gentle, humble, restoring church family.

* So verse 2 says, */Bear/*/ *one another's burdens*, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.

/Verse 1 is just one example of the ways that we can bear one another’s burdens.

This is fulfilling the law of Christ – this kind of personal ministry may not get the flashy attention of other big public ministries, but this is the very heart of what pleases Christ.

God intends for a church family to help bear your burdens.

!! God intends for church leadership to watch for your soul.

God established not only the model of the local church, but also the leadership for local churches.

Deacons are godly servants who minister in whatever capacity they can help.

Elders are entrusted with the oversight and leadership of the entire church family.

In most situations, there should be multiple elders in a local church: Acts 14:23 says they appointed elders, plural, in every church, singular.

Those elders are given a very serious responsibility - listen to some of these phrases:

Acts 20:28 Be on guard for all the flock

Acts 20:28 shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood

I Pet.

5:2 shepherd the flock of God among you

I Peter 5:2 exercise oversight