Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

Directions from 3 different people

The truth is, all three are mostly right - maybe…

It’s important to identify at least two key markers when you set out on a journey and those markers center around:

Who you are with and where you are going.

Heidi and I driving to Tennessee on our honey moon.

We didn’t really care how long it was going to take or if our car was going to make it there, we were just thrilled to be together!

I say all of that to give some context to what we will be doing over the next three weeks.

If you have been with us anytime since the beginning of the year, you know we just finished up an expositional study through the book of Colossians.

This type of expository preaching is what will be the steady spiritual diet you can expect - walking through books of the Bible, so that we may learn the Bible better.

However, from time to time, we will have mini-series that may be more topical in nature.

And that is the type of study we will have together today and the next two weeks.

And our time together is going to center around the two key markers I mentioned earlier: Who am I with?

And, where are we going?

In the Bible, God has clearly laid out for us the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It begins in the book of Genesis with God being our Creator.

He spoke and nothing became everything.

This God is the eternal holy Creator of Heaven and Earth.

Eternal - Has no beginning and no ending

Holy - Separate from His Creation

Creator - He is our ultimate accountability

And as our eternal, holy Creator, he has the prerogative to set the boundaries of life - He gets to say do this and don’t do this.

If you have been exposed much to the Bible, you have heard of the failure of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and their choice to go against God’s clear directives.

From that point, sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death spread to all because all have sinned.

And this depravity of our human nature presents a problem in the scriptural narrative, because now, as God’s creation, we are not only subject to death here on earth, but as Revelation 22 states, we are subject to eternal death.

We all deserve to spend eternity apart from God in Hell, because of our sin of rebellion toward Him.

Not only are you a sinner by nature, but you are also a sinner by choice.

Peruse the 10 commandments a bit, and you will understand what I mean.

And friend, we all stand guilty before our eternal, holy Creator - the One who gave us life.

And because God is just (he is good in all He chooses), He must judge sin.

God would not be good if He failed to judge our sin.

But God is also gracious, and made a way to judge our sin through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Friend, Christ came to seek and save those who are lost in their sin.

You see, God is your Creator.

You have sinned against Him.

But Jesus died for sinners.

This is why we as Christians have such hope!

We were dead in our trespasses and sins - headed for an eternity of death, but God made us alive through faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus was born, lived a perfect, sinless life.

He died as a substitute for sinners, was buried, and rose again three days later victorious over death, hell, and the grave.

And as sinners respond to this good news of Jesus in repentance and faith, God provides eternal life.

And everyone, from all places and all times, who place their trust in Christ are brought into the family of God as a part of His body - the church.

Church (ἐκκλησία -ekklēsia) - a called-out assembly of those who trust in Jesus as the Messiah.

However as you read the New Testament, you will find two different meanings for this word Church (assembly).

The reality of the word is used for both the universal church and the local church.

First, let’s consider the universal church.

Every believer in Jesus, upon faith in Christ, is placed into the Universal Church - this is the body of believers from across all places and across all time.

And so, the Bible gives us two kinds of assemblies: One in Heaven and one locally.

And both are extremely important as we consider the journey of our faith and our two key markers of our journey - who I am with, and where I am going.

Most people agree, those who have repented from their sin and have placed their faith in Jesus have faith siblings all across the globe that spans back millennia.

However, you can’t see this church.

The universal body of Christ is invisible.

So lets lay some groundwork for the Local church.

Why is the local church so important for believers today?

Groundwork for the Local Church

I would argue that the local church is the visible expression of the universal church.

Not only do we see the Global or Universal Church in Scripture, but we also see the local church as the crucial framework for tangible spiritual growth.

This universal placement is visibly embraced through local church partnership.

Now, you won’t find formal membership explicitly commanded in Scripture, but the implications are definitely present.

In fact, covenantal partnership answers the two factors we are considering today - who am I with and where am I going.

Let me be clear, attending church services is a good thing.

Perhaps you have attended Emmanuel for a long time or you have been coming more recently and you have yet to partner with us officially.

Friend, this is not an ultimatum of join us or get out!

But as we understand the Road Ahead for Emmanuel, we need to begin with a collective understanding of the Local Church.

As we consider the purpose of the local church and our membership/partnership, it’s only natural to ask, “Why would I partner with a local church in membership to begin with?”

Our answer centers on three main reasons: identification, edification, shepherding.

By identifying with, being edified through, and being shepherded by a local assembly, we signify, grow, and mature in our Christian walk.

Now, we read earlier from Hebrews 10, and perhaps your Bible is opened to that passage - you can keep it there, and we will look at it together more closely here in a few moments.

But I would like to give three statements for you to consider as we lay the groundwork for the Local Church:

1.

Every believer needs to identify with a local church.

• The earliest believers were quickly added to a roll with other believers, following their profession of faith and baptism.

• Early believers lived out their faith in intentional community.

• Local assemblies had the responsibility to exclude specific people from their faith communities for heresy and unrepentant sin.

As you consider these verses, there is clearly an inside and outside of the local church.

Believers were brought in after their conversion and public profession of faith.

They lived their faith out then in intentional community, and were held accountable for continuing in the faith.

For these reasons, and more, every believer needs to identify with a local church.

2. Every believer needs to be edified by a local church.

• Believers gathered together on a regular basis to rejoice in their common hope and to encourage each other to continue in love and good deeds.

We are going to look at this more in depth in a moment, but again:

• Regularly assembling with a particular group of believers helps us remain faithful and refrain from hardened hearts to our own sin.

• The goal of church membership is that every single member would contribute to the growth, maturity, and unity of the whole church.

God’s design is for believers to not live in isolation, but in community with other believers.

And as we commit to a particular group of people, we get to know each other well enough to speak into one another’s life.

And as we do this week after week, month after month, the church thrives as the body ministers to the body.

ILL: Coal or chunk of wood in a fire

Because of this and more, every believer needs to identify with and be edified by a local church.

3. Every believer needs to be shepherded by local pastor(s).

• God’s design is for Pastors to oversee the growth, maturity, and unity of a local church.

• Believers are instructed to place themselves under the leadership of the church Elders (Pastors).

Pastors will be held accountable for how they care for those they watch over.

• Church leaders were responsible for a specific group of people.

The oversight of a plurality of elders in the local church is God’s design for leadership in a local church.

God’s design is to care for His flock through under-shepherds.

For this reason and more, every believer needs to be shepherded by local pastors.

And I would go as far to say that the impact of the local church in your life is directly correlated to the commitment you make to the local church.

If you approach the church as optional or nominal, the impact in your life will be nominal.

If you recognize the importance and invest into your local body, you will be impacted by that commitment.

Now, let me remind you that the church is full of a bunch of sinners just like you, and just like me.

People are going to say and do things that upset you.