Big "C", little "c".

Steve Gentry

[0:00] We’re starting a new series today called Big C Little C. [0:04] This is a three week series. [0:05] This is a short series. [0:06] It’s going to be all about the church and God’s vision for the church. [0:11] And what this is leading up to is on Saturday morning July 27th we’re going to [0:15] have we’re going to call membership matters.

[0:18] And what it is is it’s going to be three hours on a Saturday morning where we [0:22] unpack membership here at the village where we talk about our doctrine our [0:26] ideology about why we do things the way that we do things and why we think you [0:31] should too. [0:32] And to be a member here at Village you have to come to this at some point. [0:37] And so July 27th is the one that I encourage you to come to.

[0:41] And that is child care will be provided. [0:44] And what we’re going to ask is that you go to the Web site and RSVP. [0:48] There’s a section in what’s happening for membership matters and just we want to [0:52] be able to have a good count of who all is going to be there how many children we [0:56] will need to have child care provided for. [0:59] So if you’ll please go to that section of the Web site and please sign up.

[1:03] I think it’ll be very beneficial for you to be there. [1:06] We’re going to answer questions like what does it mean to be a reformed Baptist [1:10] charismatic. [1:11] I mean you know we’re going to talk about that kind of stuff and what all that [1:14] means and why we’re so unique here at the village for you. [1:18] And it’s going to be a great day.

[1:20] I’ll be sharing. [1:22] Nate will be sharing. [1:23] Who knows who else may be sharing. [1:25] But we’re going to do all that and we’re also going to have some Q&A because I’m [1:28] sure you have questions for us as pastors and we would love to at least make an [1:34] attempt to answer them and maybe confuse you even more.

[1:38] But please sign up for that on the what’s happening section of Village Church dot [1:42] C.C. [1:43] Also on August the 4th like Nate was saying we’re starting the cow tipping [1:46] series that’s going to be a fantastic series. [1:49] I think it’s going to be a great series to invite people to who are believers or [1:54] not believers.

[1:55] And one thing that I want to make you aware of is that each and every week we’re [1:57] going to have Q&A directly following the sermon. [2:01] And what that means is throughout the sermon you’re going to be able to text [2:04] questions in. [2:05] We’re not going to have a microphone set up because that’ll just be chaos. [2:08] What we’re going to do is we’re going to let you text questions in and we will be

[2:11] answering those from the stage starting on August the 4th going all through that [2:16] series. [2:16] In the final week of that series there were some questions that were sent in [2:20] that maybe don’t need an entire sermon to really spell out. [2:26] We’re going to have what we call rapid fire week where we just simply stand up [2:30] here and answer those questions that maybe just require a little bit more of a

[2:34] brief explanation. [2:35] And you’re also going to be able to text questions in that day as well for us. [2:39] But I’m really looking forward to this series and I hope you are as well. [2:43] Just be prepared that on August the 4th if you show up at 10 you’ll be here in [2:48] between two services. [2:50] Nine and 11 is what’s going to be happening on starting again in August the

[2:54] 4th. [2:54] We’re going to have a service at nine and a service at 11 for the crowds that will [2:58] be gathering here. [3:00] Turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 16. [3:04] Matthew chapter 16 starting in verse 13 this morning as we really cover the topic [3:09] of what is the big C little C that we were talking about here.

[3:13] What all does that mean. [3:14] But first I want you to join me in reading God’s word in verse 13. [3:19] It says now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi he asked his [3:25] disciples who do people say that the son of man is and they said some say John the [3:31] Baptist others say Elijah and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. [3:36] He said to them but who do you say that I am Simon Peter and replied you are the

[3:43] Christ the son of the living God. [3:46] And Jesus answered him blessed are you Simon Barjona for flesh and blood has not [3:52] revealed this to you but my father who is in heaven and I tell you you are Peter [3:57] and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail [4:02] against it. [4:04] I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth

[4:08] shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. [4:13] Pray with me. [4:14] Father we thank you so much for your word.

[4:22] Lord you have given us your son you have given us life you have sent him to redeem [4:27] us to save us and to build through him your church which is your people for your [4:33] possession. [4:35] Lord this morning I ask only that you soften our hearts that we will receive [4:40] your word and that it will change us. [4:44] Lord may we be and build the church that you envision that we will bring you glory

[4:55] that your worship will be the centerpiece of our desires and our goals and our [5:04] that in you we would find the satisfaction that we have been seeking in our lives or [5:09] that in you we would find completion we would find our God and that in us you would [5:18] find your people. [5:21] Give us faith give us hope give us trust in you today. [5:24] In the name of Jesus I pray.

[5:26] Amen. [5:28] The word church can awaken many different affections inside of a person for some [5:35] people it’s what you have always known it’s what you have always been a part of it’s [5:39] something that is very dear to you something that awakens nostalgic memories of something [5:44] that is great and for some of you the word church may also awaken some darker memories [5:50] some hurt some pain whether it be that someone in church has abused their authority whether

[5:57] it be someone in church has sinned greatly against you personally or let you down or [6:03] done something that really has given the place or the people of the church a bad stigma in [6:10] your mind and what I want to do over the next three weeks is I want to unpack what the church [6:16] is all about what it means to be the church of Jesus Christ what is God’s vision for [6:22] his church because ultimately at the end of our lives it will not really matter much [6:27] what we thought about the church if it doesn’t coincide with what God thought about the church

[6:33] because he is the one that came up with the idea he is the one that designed it he is [6:38] it should be like this and we have simply often times gotten it wrong but what I want [6:47] to do is I want to trust in the God who designed the church and I want to kind of unpack from [6:51] scripture what it means to be a part of the church of Jesus Christ what is God’s vision [6:57] for the church because the one thing that I come to when I come to the New Testament [7:01] is this idea of the church and the thoughts that God has about the church are far greater

[7:07] and loftier than what I think about the church because it is often tempting for me and I [7:14] will be honest probably for you as well to reduce church to simply sort of a hobby status [7:19] or simply a place or a building that we go to and connect with other people it is almost [7:24] like a social club for us to be in relationships of people who claim the same faith that we [7:30] do and to make friends and to be friends with people that have similarities to us but the [7:37] fact of the matter is that if church is just a hobby if church is nothing more than another

[7:42] social club that we are involved in frankly we could find far greater hobbies or social [7:47] clubs to be involved in the reality this morning is that the church is something that [7:54] God has designed to showcase who he is to the world and when we think about it in that [8:01] way and when we really put it in that light which is how the New Testament is going to [8:06] describe the church it changes everything for us it changes our expectations it changes [8:12] our commitment level and frankly it changes how we view the church of Jesus Christ and

[8:18] our part in it because in this life we only see dimly what God’s vision is for the church [8:26] and we will only see it imperfectly as we are imperfect people but in his kingdom we [8:33] will see the perfect church we will see the complete church and so the question that [8:39] I have to ask this morning is what part does that end view of God’s kingdom play and how [8:46] I practically live and practically see village church I want it to be that personal for [8:53] us I don’t want it to be vague and talk about just church in general something that is not

[8:57] connected to us I want us to bring it home I want it to be what we think and how we view [9:02] what we are doing right here and right now with our lives and with our weeks the reality [9:09] is this morning that in Matthew chapter 16 when Jesus begins to question his disciples [9:15] on who he is and what others think about him and what they personally think about him what [9:20] we really see is Jesus’ first inclination or institution of what the church is going [9:27] to be all about and that the church specifically is something that he came to institute and

[9:34] he came to build but the most important thing that we see in this text is point number one [9:41] this morning is that the church was established by God on the truth revealed in Jesus Christ [9:49] that Jesus makes a great bold statement here and he says basically that the church is all [9:56] about him the church is not about Peter the church is not about the disciples the church [10:02] is not about the nation of Israel and what they think about who he is because they were [10:07] so confused so many theories maybe he is Elijah maybe he is Moses maybe he is Jeremiah and

[10:13] then the disciples even cop to it and they say they are talking about your any number [10:17] of prophets of the old testament and so we know that it is not about them but then he [10:25] looks specifically to the disciples and he says all right I feel you I understand that [10:29] is what everybody is saying about me but who am I to you who do you believe that I am [10:39] and what Peter who is always very quick to speak and in this instance he just happens [10:43] to get it right Peter usually gets it wrong let’s be honest about that but in this specific

[10:48] instance Peter is having a good day a few verses later his day gets really bad again [10:53] but he is having a good one right here and Peter says you are the Christ the son of the [11:00] living God and so what Peter says in this text Jesus is going to turn and say that [11:11] right there that is what the church is all about that is what I am going to build my [11:19] name upon and so before you understand anything about the church you have to understand Jesus [11:29] you have to understand that the church is about Jesus the redeemer the whole Bible has

[11:38] led up to this very point that all the books of the old testament were about a prophecy [11:45] of the son of God himself coming to be the Messiah of God’s people that from Genesis [11:51] chapter 3 and onward God has been using and working throughout history and working through [11:57] his covenant people to show that there is coming a day where he will send someone to [12:03] redeem people from their sins that he will send someone whom while everyone else is imperfectly [12:09] trying to find him imperfectly trying to define him and imperfectly trying to obey

[12:15] him there will come one who will do it perfectly there will come one who will show who God [12:22] is fully there will come one who will obey every single command that God has ever laid [12:29] out completely and in this one he will not just come to show what it is to be a perfect [12:37] person but rather he will come to forgive the sins of everyone and he will also come [12:44] to suffer the penalty of everyone’s sins and he will be God and he will call to himself [12:53] a people for his own possession and that is who Jesus is that is who Peter pronounces

[13:00] him to be that he is the one of old that everything that has ever been written about [13:07] God is about this man the son of God Jesus Christ and so when we begin to lay out what [13:17] we think about the church if we were to start anywhere else we would really be wrong and [13:25] to grasp the church you must grasp the greatness of the God and King our Savior Jesus Christ [13:35] and when we begin to define the church we must understand that we are talking about [13:39] not something that is an institution of man and that is what I want us to really grapple

[13:44] with right now that the church is not something that a human being came up with at one point [13:49] in time in order to convince a bunch of people to do something but instead the church is [13:54] something that God himself instituted that God himself has a vision about that God himself [14:05] looks at Peter and says Peter you have made a pronouncement you have made a confession [14:10] as to who I am and you are right I want you to grapple with that that Peter was right [14:17] but then Jesus says by the power of your confession understand and there are two theories

[14:22] as to what Jesus is saying when he says on this rock I will build my church and I will [14:27] tell you right now I think both of them are right I think he is saying first Peter what [14:33] you have confessed is what the church is going to be all about it is going to be all about [14:37] Jesus it is going to be made on the confession that I am the Savior that I am the Messiah [14:43] the Son of the Living God but then number two he is saying Peter I am going to found [14:47] it on you Peter your name is Peter and there is this whole similarity in the language here

[14:55] where Petros means stone which is what Peter is and he says on you I am going to build [15:03] my church and I want to unpack what that means for us because big C little c is really this [15:11] idea and this understanding there are two ways in which we must see the church first [15:17] we have the universal church but then we have the local church which is this which is us [15:24] which is what we are taking part in right now which is what some of you commit much [15:29] of your lives to and you are members here and some of you will become members very soon

[15:34] and over the next three weeks what I want to do is I want to unpack first today why [15:40] in order to love God’s church you must love the local church why in order to build the [15:49] universal church you must take part in building the local church it is impossible to love [15:54] the big C without taking part in the little c you just cannot do it it is not done and [15:59] the next week we want to talk about church membership frankly we want to talk about why [16:02] it is biblical what type of church should you join and do Christians need to join a

[16:09] church and I will let the cat out of the bag yes yes you do you cannot follow Jesus [16:17] where he is not and he is in the church thirdly the third week we are going to talk about [16:22] church discipline what is that all about does the church have the authority to correct me [16:28] and immediately like half of you are like no well let’s let God answer that in the scriptures

[16:36] but the first thing I want to talk about this morning really is the idea of the universal [16:41] church what is the church if I were to just ask everyone of you this morning for a definition [16:48] of the church I would probably get a lot of different definitions alright but here is [16:53] what I think is a good clear concise definition from a pastor named Mark Dever he writes [16:58] God’s eternal plan has always been to display his glory not just through individuals but [17:05] through a corporate body the church is the body of people called by God’s grace through

[17:12] faith in Jesus to glorify him together by serving him in his world and that is what [17:21] I would say is a good clear short definition of the church but why does the church exist [17:26] and I would tell you this way that God’s mission is to build his church by redeeming [17:31] people through the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus or the confession that Peter makes [17:36] in this text by those who are already in the church alright if you look down in verse [17:43] 18 and verses 18 and 19 are really what is going to command much of our time this morning

[17:48] he says in verse 18 and I tell you you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church [17:54] in Ephesians chapter 2 Paul in really the book of Ephesians I really believe that Paul [18:01] had this text in mind as he wrote the entire book of Ephesians so if you want a good commentary [18:08] on Matthew chapter 16 read the entire book of Ephesians because in chapter 2 I believe [18:15] he has verse 18 in mind when in Ephesians chapter 2 starting in verse 20 he says that [18:19] the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets Christ Jesus himself

[18:24] being the cornerstone and whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple [18:30] in the Lord in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by [18:36] the spirit so when he looks at Peter and says on this rock I will build my church what he [18:42] is saying is Peter I am letting you in on something that no one else in history is going [18:48] to be a part of I mean Peter and the other apostles the other disciples physically walked [18:53] with the son of God on this earth what a privilege they had and because of that they had first

[19:00] hand information frankly that you and I do not have so Peter was able to physically see [19:06] with his eyes things that we have not seen and things that other people did not see because [19:11] they were not with Jesus day in and day out they saw the blind healed they saw Jesus turn [19:17] water into wine they saw Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead by simply saying Lazarus come [19:23] forth they saw Jesus call life into lifeless children they saw Jesus forgive sins they [19:31] saw Jesus exert authority over demons they saw Jesus do a number of things they saw

[19:39] Jesus literally fulfill prophecy from the Old Testament that they had been taught their [19:44] entire lives and so Jesus looks to him and says on top of what you have seen on what [19:53] you have been a part of through seeing me I am going to build the church and then Paul [19:58] echoes that when he says it is built on the foundation of the apostles of the New Testament [20:05] the prophets of the Old Testament who prophesied about the coming of Jesus with Jesus Christ [20:09] himself being that firm cornerstone that everything is connected to and so we understand

[20:16] through this that Jesus is what the church is all about but it is built also on the [20:26] testimony of scripture and so what we see here first is the universal church number [20:33] two this morning we have to understand that the universal church is made up of all followers [20:37] of Jesus throughout history that is what I want to deal with first this is as some [20:43] have said the church as God sees it or the invisible church this is something that we [20:49] have not seen this is from Adam and Eve forward this is everyone who has ever been redeemed

[20:56] by Jesus and ever will be redeemed by Jesus makes up the universal church the only place [21:03] in scripture where we see a picture of the universal church is at the end in Revelation [21:10] chapter 7 so in Revelation chapter 7 in verses 9 and 10 the scriptures say that John the [21:16] revelator is writing and he says after this I looked and behold a great multitude that [21:20] no one could number from every nation from all tribes and peoples and languages were [21:25] standing before the throne and before the lamb clothed in white robes with palm branches

[21:31] in their hands and crying out with a loud voice salvation belongs to our God who sits [21:37] on the throne and to the lamb this is a picture of the universal church once God calls all [21:48] of us home once God comes and ultimately redeems us glorifies us we will stand before the [22:01] all languages will stand before him and worship him forever John says that the number is [22:09] so great there is no usher on earth that could take count that day because it is everyone [22:16] that Jesus has ever redeemed and we are worshipping God that is a picture of the church and how

[22:25] does that happen first thing to understand is the term church itself in the original [22:32] language you see it is the term ekklesia which you may have known it means called out assembly [22:37] it means that it is an assembly that is called out for a specific purpose and a specific [22:42] reason now it is not a term that was unique to that time and that culture and ekklesia [22:48] could have been gathered for any number of reasons but what God is doing is he redeems [22:54] this term for himself and he uses the language of that time to make us understand this is

[23:00] not just a club this is not just an assembly this is not just a social thing that God [23:05] is doing he is calling out for a specific purpose and a specific reason a people for [23:14] his possession for all time in other words when you are called to faith in Jesus it [23:22] is not optional to be in his universal church when you make the confession that Peter made [23:32] when you believe you become a part of the church so much so that what you are defined [23:44] by according to the language is the specific purpose for why you were called out to be

[23:50] part of his assembly and that is the worship of Jesus for all time in other words in God’s [23:58] church those who confess Jesus those who have trusted in him there are no part time believers

[24:06] that God’s vision for you for all time is a treasuring of who he is and what he has [24:14] done for you that it becomes the defining principle and defining identity of who you [24:23] are for all time and the picture that you see in Revelation chapter 7 it shouldn’t [24:30] just be something that you are like well that is going to happen some day it should be something [24:34] that wells up anticipation in you the fact that as Revelation chapters 20 and 21 unfold [24:41] there is coming a day where we will stand before the God of the universe and we will

[24:46] see him face to face and when you trust in Jesus you anticipate a day where you will [24:55] see all of his works culminated into the red hot eternal worship and glory of his name [25:02] forever perfectly in heaven there will not be imperfect worship of Jesus it will be perfect [25:10] it will be something like we have never seen before it will be something like we couldn’t [25:14] even possibly anticipate the greatness of that when we think about the church of Jesus [25:21] Christ we should think about something that we can’t even picture we can’t even imagine

[25:26] and that we do not deserve because of how great our king is because of how great our [25:35] God is in his grace he says all barriers are taken down to worship of me through my [25:43] grace I forgive you and I am calling you home and we will see him as he is I don’t have [25:51] time to unpack how great that statement as he is is but it is good because we have not [25:58] seen him as he is but we will if we are a part of that church for a part of the history [26:10] that God is writing for all time that he began through the nation of Israel and he will

[26:15] bring to completion through his church in verse 18 it presents the important death [26:28] designation that the gates of hell will not even prevail against those who trust in Jesus [26:36] to become his people the church so you must understand the power it is to be a part of [26:43] the church of Jesus Christ gates are typically used in history especially in the Roman culture [26:51] of this time gates were used by cities and kingdoms to stop and advance from another [26:57] city or another kingdom but the term prevail is completely different see gates were not

[27:07] used to prevail over another army gates were used to prevent another army overcoming you [27:15] but Jesus uses two terms that seem different to describe that the gates of hell will not [27:21] overcome the church and so what he is saying there is that the gates of hell number one [27:27] cannot stop the church’s advance this is not about defense this is about the offense of [27:32] the church that the church is going to advance throughout history that revelation chapter [27:39] seven will happen it is a certainty that God will ultimately redeem his people for all

[27:45] time but also that the church will never be overcome by the enemy in other words Satan [27:55] the one who is the enemy of all who know God and his minions will never overcome the church [28:05] here in the words of Jesus himself he gives us that promise that number one we are on [28:12] a victory road through this world and though the enemy will bring temptation though the [28:18] enemy will seek to discourage us ultimately he cannot overcome the confession of who [28:24] Jesus is and the faith that God gives you through him he cannot overcome it you can

[28:28] get discouraged you can think that things are not going to get any better but ultimately [28:33] because of who Jesus is not because of your faith but because of who Jesus is if your [28:38] faith is in him ultimately in your life he is powerless so he cannot overcome the advance [28:46] of God’s kingdom and God’s kingdom will march throughout this world to revelation chapter [28:57] seven the importance then of God’s church is drastic I want you to understand something [29:05] if we consider the founding of the church through Jesus if we consider Matthew 16 point

[29:11] A I want to do a little math word problem with you consider Matthew chapter 16 point [29:17] A of God’s church he unveils it now it has been God’s plan for eternity this is not where [29:23] God came up with it he came up with it before he even founded the earth point A is Matthew [29:28] 16 let’s consider then revelation chapter seven point B where God is taking his church [29:36] the question I want you to ask yourself this morning is how does he get from point A to [29:41] point B the reality of what God has revealed in scripture is that he does not intend for

[29:50] us to stand by and simply wait in a holding pattern for revelation chapter seven to happen [29:58] because here is what often we may do we may say God has a great vision for his church [30:02] I cannot wait until that day and we kind of sit back and we do life as usual we do kind [30:08] of what we want to do we let our own vision for life overtake us we take part a little [30:13] bit in the worship of God but we are just thankful there is coming a day where God is [30:16] going to do the work and we don’t really have a part in that work but it is coming no it

[30:26] is not true the book of Psalms says that if we build excuse me that a building is [30:34] built in vain if the Lord himself does not build it and in that we have an interesting [30:39] word play where the Lord is building it but whose hands are doing it mine have you ever [30:45] bought a bunch of lumber at Home Depot wanting to build yourself a tool shed or something [30:48] and you threw it in your backyard and sat in a lounge chair and said I can’t wait until [30:51] that is built it is just going to sit there God has designed in his sovereignty a plan

[31:02] in which he has made certain the end in his mind but he has also designed the means by [31:10] which those ends will be brought about and those means are the local church see it is [31:18] quite tempting in life to put ourselves in a pattern where we say you know what because [31:23] scripture is so clear I love the universal church I can’t wait until the day that God [31:28] finishes building it but it is not for me I have been hurt too many times I have had [31:35] too many people lie to me I have seen it done wrong so many times I have seen so much hurt

[31:41] maybe I didn’t even get hurt but I know a friend that did and I am certainly not going [31:45] to put myself in the same position that my friend put himself or herself in so we sit [31:52] back and say I am glad some people are called to build God’s church but I just no that [32:02] is not for me friends that is not God’s plan for your life what Jesus is saying in this [32:15] day and age the name of Jesus you are called to build his church Ephesians chapter 1 starting [32:25] in 19-23 puts it this way and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward

[32:31] us who believe according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when [32:37] he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places far [32:41] above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named [32:49] not only in this age but also in the one to come and he put all things under his feet [32:58] and gave him Jesus as head over all things to the church which is his body the fullness [33:05] of him who fills all in all I want you to see two things about this passage the first

[33:11] thing is that Jesus is so passionate about his church that he does not consider himself [33:19] complete without it the church is the fullness of Jesus do you get that that when we disqualify [33:33] ourselves from the church what we are practically saying is I disqualify myself from that which [33:39] Jesus finds his fullness in so in that sense my vision overtakes Jesus’ vision the second [33:49] thing I want you to see in this text is an important term not only in this age but also [33:55] in the one to come in the one to come is the universal church the church for all time throughout

[34:04] all history but he does not just say the one to come he designates also in this age in [34:18] other words you do not become part of God’s church in heaven you become part of God’s [34:23] church now to trust Jesus is to trust the plan that he has made for our lives and for [34:34] our lives above our own and what Paul is saying in this text is that the church is [34:41] mightily important for your life right here right now frankly his plan is for us to gather [34:51] together to become united as his people collectively as his physical manifestation of the church

[34:58] in this age now this is the local church that God’s plan to get from point A to point [35:09] B is the local church thirdly this morning the local church is the physical expression [35:19] of the universal church this is the church as we see it the visible church the physical [35:28] expression of the universal church friends I want you to understand something very important [35:31] this morning you cannot love and build the universal church without doing it through [35:38] the local church you cannot do it it is absolutely impossible you may say wait a second Ephesians

[35:47] 4 4 says that the church is one body so I even though I do not really want to take part [35:55] in the local church I will just do it on my own at home by myself and I will just [36:02] call it the church just me and Jesus that is all I need I do not play well with others

[36:10] they do not play well with me my friends if other people do not play well with you it [36:16] is also vice versa so maybe you should stop blaming everybody else here is the reality [36:25] just me and Jesus that is all I need friends that is not a biblical statement there is [36:34] no text in scripture that says that now the scripture does tell us God in you puts you [36:43] to the church is following him you cannot love the universal church without loving the [36:51] local church it is impossible so the little c obviously the local church is vitally important

[36:59] the new testament for the most part is written and even addressed to local churches the

[37:10] mindset that you as an individual can follow Jesus without the church is unheard of in [37:20] the bible it is not understood that way Jesus does not save the individual and then leave [37:28] you by yourself to disciple yourself to lead yourself to guide yourself to know what is [37:36] best for yourself you were doing that just fine without Jesus so what has changed?

[37:46] Friends what has often happened in our culture is that we have a culture of great individualism [37:55] it is really what defines being an American to many of us and I have no statements on [38:02] that I like that they leave me alone but the reality is that in God’s church what many [38:09] of us have allowed to do is the culture that surrounds us defines the church rather than [38:15] the church and the scriptures defining the culture around us and so what we do is the [38:24] mindset that we have programmed ourselves to have defines our outlook on discipleship

[38:33] more than the scriptures define our outlook and discipleship because let’s be honest [38:41] who likes authority and most of us we see the church and pastors which I am one as [38:54] authority figures in our lives and who wants to deal with that? The church is the church [39:03] but the reality this morning is that God has called us into a great people into a [39:08] great kingdom and if we follow his word those fears that you have of the church being your [39:17] worst enemy will not come to fruition so long as all of us are seeking to follow his word

[39:27] most of our bad experiences in churches have come because either A there was sin in leadership [39:33] or B I will be honest with you or sin in your life and so your reaction was to throw the [39:43] baby out with the bath water so if that is what the church is I want no part so now [39:49] maybe you attend every Sunday but you take no part in the life of the church you take [39:56] no part in discipleship you allow no authority in your life from anybody in the church you [40:02] don’t allow even scripture itself as it defines church to impact how you view yourself

[40:07] and how you view discipleship and how you view God’s plan in your life but you still [40:14] show up because frankly you just haven’t found that other way yet so I guess I still need [40:19] to go to church for instance if that is all you have is going to church it is just this [40:31] meeting where somebody yells at you for 45 minutes oh my goodness stop beating yourself

[40:41] up the church is so much more the church is a family the church is God’s kingdom the [40:50] church is supposed to be a picture of what is to come and I am calling you this morning [40:58] to trust Jesus above your experiences because I will be honest with you I know some of your [41:04] experiences because you have told me and often times it brings me great pain when I hear [41:09] about your experiences you should hear some of mine working churches long enough it gets [41:17] bad but here is the reality I have to trust Jesus more than I trust my experience because

[41:25] that is what faith is so I will not let go of God’s vision for his church I must grab [41:33] it I must love it Ephesians chapter 4 is what many proclaim and say it is one body [41:41] so I can just do whatever I want I am still a part of the church I am still a part of [41:45] the one body but if we go down just a little bit further into verse 12 we see God’s true [41:52] vision for what it means to be that one body he says and he gave the apostles the prophets [41:56] the evangelists the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry

[42:01] for building up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and [42:05] the knowledge of the son of God to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the [42:10] fullness of Christ so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves [42:16] and carried about by every wind of doctrine by human cunning by craftiness and deceitful [42:22] schemes rather speaking the truth and love we are to grow up in every way into him who [42:28] is the head into Christ from whom the whole body joined together and held together by

[42:33] every joint with which it is equipped when we each part is working properly makes the [42:39] body grow so that it builds itself up in love what is that ministry?

[42:47] That ministry is the building of God’s church by becoming more like Jesus we do this by [42:54] knowing his truth so that we know truth from error and by making confession of Jesus by [42:59] proclaiming the gospel to people so that they too may join the church that’s practically [43:07] God gave certain offices and certain giftings and certain authorities into the church so [43:14] that when you come to Christ there will be those who are further along down the road [43:20] who can teach you how to follow Jesus but quite often our cultural arrogance calls

[43:30] us to say who do you think you are? I’ll be honest I don’t think I’m anybody I think [43:36] Jesus is God and that has changed my life and I want to obey him above absolutely everything [43:44] else and I desire to be used by him to help others grow in their knowledge of scripture [43:54] but the reality is many times we are so prideful that we miss out on what God has for us because [44:02] of our refusal to repent of sins and grow in him and often times fear trumps faith

[44:19] this puts feet to how Matthew 16 19 impacts our lives one of the most misquoted texts [44:30] in all scripture I’ll be honest with you right now it’s been used really bad a lot [44:34] Matthew 16 19 Jesus says I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven and whatever [44:40] you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed [44:44] in heaven now you will turn on TV and see people binding and loosing all sorts of things [44:50] and it gets crazy after a while and just don’t watch television church just don’t stop please

[44:58] I’m begging you but what does he mean? I bind this headache no that’s not what he means [45:04] sometimes you just need Tylenol alright seriously it’s not always a demon alright we’ll talk [45:12] about that in cow tipping I’m getting out of hand here alright seriously just take [45:17] a Tylenol it usually works you can pray about it maybe it will heal you but don’t bind [45:21] it or anything it’s just a headache alright but what does he mean? What Jesus is saying [45:29] here is that in the confession that’s being made that he is God that he is the son of

[45:37] God that he is building a church and that church is to continue to make that confession [45:46] and when that confession is being made people will hear it and when they make that confession [45:52] too then they are a part of the church as well that’s the keys to the kingdom of God

[45:59] but unfortunately there will be people who will not trust Jesus and they are bound and [46:07] they are not loosed but here is what he is saying you as an individual when you make [46:13] a confession about Jesus you do not have the authority to make the journey your way [46:19] by yourself Jesus is saying the keys of the kingdom aren’t in your pocket they are with [46:26] the corporate body the church the church is God’s plan A and there is no plan B and that [46:36] when we divorce ourselves from being a part of the local church we are seeking wrongly

[46:46] to try to divorce ourselves from God’s vision in our lives what’s our response? Our response [46:52] then finishing out should be a trusting of Jesus that leads to committing to be and [47:00] build God’s church we must trust Jesus as the Lord and God of redemption as I opened [47:08] with friends number one going to church is worthless if you don’t know Jesus you can [47:15] join every small group we have go to every Bible study that anyone starts you can park [47:22] then come in and usher then run out and serve in village kids you can come up here and sing

[47:27] with the band you can come up here and try to preach you can do all sorts of things

[47:34] and it is worthless if you don’t know Jesus friends Jesus is God the church is not but [47:44] the church when he redeems you he calls you into participation with the church the church [47:55] is where Jesus is walking it is where he is leading therefore if you desire to be [48:02] a follower of Jesus understand that when he is the line leader he is going to get you [48:08] into the church because that is where he is going and then if it is a biblical church [48:12] the church together will follow him following Jesus means to come into fellowship and participation

[48:20] with his church he does not give multiple choices for different personality types and [48:25] experiences God loves his church and uses those in it to mature one another for the [48:31] purpose of his mission think about it this way one reading of the New Testament especially [48:37] the history of the church found in Acts will lead us to understand the natural step of [48:42] living out faith in Jesus always leads to a radical commitment and involvement in the [48:47] fellowship of the local church in Acts chapter 2 we see the church form we see Peter preach

[48:54] the gospel for the first time and what happens ultimately communities of fellowship form

[49:01] as soon as people repent they run and start community groups they start sharing meals [49:08] together they start reading the apostles teachings together they start praying together and then [49:14] as the church grows in Acts guess what they do they form leadership they organize they [49:20] call people to serve in different places and then when they work when they travel when [49:27] they eat when they live when they have babies guess what everybody joins the church and [49:34] when people start traveling guess what they do they start starting new churches all over

[49:41] the world and so everything in their minds was overcome by this vision that God wants [49:49] us to spread the gospel and the way that we spread the gospel is by teaching one another [49:54] is by loving one another is by praying with each other is by caring for one another and [50:00] that is the church God’s vision is the lives of those redeemed by Jesus be committed to [50:10] building his church our vision for our lives must change guys this week and the next couple [50:23] weeks are going to sound radical where your personal life is concerned but here is the

[50:33] key Francis Chan asked us a couple of times of people if you were left alone on a desert [50:39] island and you have never been a part of any culture in the world and you just had [50:47] a bible and by reading the scriptures you come to faith in Jesus Christ and then you [50:56] read the rest of the new testament you read Acts 1 and 2 Corinthians Philippians Ephesians [51:01] Colossians all of them would you have the same vision for God’s church and you would [51:09] have the same vision for God’s church that you have right now or have your experiences

[51:16] and your understanding of culture changed how you view God’s church so much that your [51:23] vision and your commitment and your involvement in God’s church is something that is not found [51:29] in scripture and if that is the answer what needs to change?

[51:41] Is your fear overcoming your faith? Is your unwilling to commit to something greater [51:50] than you that might change your life bigger than your trust that Jesus is God? God’s church

[52:05] will be so beautiful but to get it there we have to get to work let the truth of the [52:19] gospel change you as the band comes up I know that when we talk about things like this [52:32] our minds start going a thousand miles per hour we start thinking about where am I right [52:39] where am I wrong what needs to change in my life what do I need to do with this? For [52:46] a moment I want you to press pause and I want you just to spend a moment on the confession [52:54] of Peter that built the church because that is what this is all about you are the Christ

[53:01] the Son of the living God I want you to think about that I want you [53:07] to consider it and I want to ask you this morning if you really believe it not just [53:17] do you believe there was a Jesus do you believe there was a cross believe maybe they may have [53:25] risen from the dead what I want to ask you this morning is do you believe he is God [53:30] do you believe that he has forgiven your sins have you trusted in his love for your [53:41] life because that is what he is building the church

[53:47] on friends I want you to be there in Revelation chapter [53:51] 7 I want you to know the greatness of God

[53:57] we have all sinned against him we have all fallen short of what he expects of us [54:01] you have I have all of us have but in his great love

[54:11] he chased down a rebel like me and said Steve I love you [54:16] Steve I forgive you and Steve I am going to take the penalty for your [54:20] sin on myself and because of that I am redeemed [54:24] I have done nothing to deserve it that is grace [54:30] he gives me his love and I do not deserve it the reality this morning is that he wants [54:36] to give his love to each and every person in this room this morning

[54:41] and through us take it to the world together if you do not know him today you can be redeemed [54:52] I would love to talk to you about it in just a minute I will be right over here I would [54:55] love to pray with you for those of you in here that have a story [55:00] like mine he has redeemed you this morning I want you to spend a few moments [55:06] just praising God you will get to lunch soon I promise

[55:11] but I want to spend a few moments with my church [55:15] I want to spend a few moments savoring Jesus what he is for us [55:22] what he wants for us and frankly just the fact of the matter that he loves us [55:27] and he tells us to do that through communion the bread represents his broken body [55:35] and the cup represents his shed blood it represents the great price [55:41] that he gladly paid to forgive us of our sins

[55:47] and if you are in here and you are redeemed I am not inviting you [55:53] he is he says come [55:58] proclaim your trust that he is the Christ that he is the son of the living God [56:06] by reflecting on his death and resurrection for you [56:11] and when you do this I want you to do it realizing that you are [56:15] doing it publicly with the church of Jesus Christ

[56:20] if you are redeemed the tables are open if you are not redeemed [56:25] it is not because I think I am any better than you [56:28] or anybody in here thinks they are better than you [56:31] but without knowing the God of the universe sharing a meal with him [56:37] is meaningless but you can know him today [56:42] when you are ready come