1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,600 Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. 2 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:17,720 How do we know where to find answers to the toughest questions in life? 3 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:22,160 While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search and how do we discover 4 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:23,160 this truth? 5 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:30,280 Today, in this teaching podcast, John Metter, lead pastor of Cross City Church, takes a 6 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:43,600 specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth for the life we're searching for. 7 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:47,480 We are so ready to get into the Word today, I hope, and if you have your Bibles, take 8 00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:50,000 them to Ephesians 2 today. 9 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:54,760 This is the final message of a series we've been in through all the summer called Rooted. 10 00:00:54,760 --> 00:01:00,160 Over the last 10 or 12 weeks, we've been walking through various incredibly important questions 11 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:03,120 for those who come to know Christ as Lord and Savior. 12 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:06,920 There are really basic questions, but we want to make sure everybody knows the answers to 13 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:09,680 questions like, who is God? 14 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:11,860 How does God speak to us? 15 00:01:11,860 --> 00:01:14,280 Where is God when I'm suffering? 16 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:16,480 How can I make the most out of my life? 17 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:17,920 How and why do I tell others? 18 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:20,200 What's God's view of money? 19 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:21,800 How can I pass truth on? 20 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:24,440 And today, why is the church important? 21 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:26,480 This is the last one in our series. 22 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:30,800 By the way, we have eight different small groups walking through the Rooted Material, 23 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:36,520 and we're walking on a way to find where everyone who comes into our church, if they're led 24 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:39,440 to be a part of our church, we want them to go through the Rooted Material because it's 25 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:43,480 so important to know how we are grounded in truth. 26 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:47,680 That's the only thing that helps us to stand firm when the world around us is just really 27 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:50,680 in panic mode. 28 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:51,680 So take your Bibles today. 29 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:54,240 We'll ask the question, why is the church important? 30 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:58,800 And we'll read out of Ephesians chapter two, and let's stand together as I read verses 31 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:02,920 two, or verses 13 through verse 22. 32 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:10,840 Now when we read this today, I confess to you, this is a very complicated set of words. 33 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:18,640 This paragraph or two is filled with expressions and all kinds of verbs and adjectives and 34 00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:23,120 nouns and all kinds of flowery language as well. 35 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:27,720 And what I want to do is walk through this and then come back for a quick pass over it 36 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:29,520 and get the basics out of this text. 37 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:32,040 We will not mine the depths of this text today. 38 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:34,160 It would take weeks and weeks to do that. 39 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:39,920 But this text is one that'll keep you reading it as you try to find out what is it that 40 00:02:39,920 --> 00:02:44,200 God is saying about the church to me through this text. 41 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:49,280 And we hope to get you started with that question and that conversation today. 42 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:53,240 Beginning in verse 13, after taking the first 10 verses of Ephesians two to talk about how 43 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:59,840 we are saved by God's grace, how we were separated from God, dead in our trespasses and sins. 44 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:02,040 That's Ephesians two, one, two, and three. 45 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:04,040 It says about God, who has risen in mercy. 46 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,000 And we talked about that a few weeks ago. 47 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:09,120 The great salvation that we have through Jesus Christ. 48 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:13,920 Now he talks about the church beginning in verse 13. 49 00:03:13,920 --> 00:03:21,760 But now in Christ Jesus, you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the 50 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:23,640 blood of Christ. 51 00:03:23,640 --> 00:03:26,720 For he himself is our peace, who made both groups into one. 52 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:30,080 Now keep in mind he's speaking of Jews and Gentiles. 53 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:32,060 That is Jews and everyone else. 54 00:03:32,060 --> 00:03:36,480 If you're not a Jewish person, then you're a Gentile. 55 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:38,540 So all of us is what he's talking about. 56 00:03:38,540 --> 00:03:43,400 For he himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier 57 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:50,080 of the dividing wall by abolishing in his flesh the enmity, which is the law of commandments 58 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:53,480 and contained in ordinances. 59 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:59,120 So that in himself he might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace. 60 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:05,540 And might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross by it having put 61 00:04:05,540 --> 00:04:07,520 to death the enmity. 62 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:10,560 And he came and preached peace to you who were far away. 63 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:11,960 That's a great word. 64 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:13,960 And peace to those who were near. 65 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:19,000 For through him we both have our access in one spirit to the Father. 66 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:23,680 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints 67 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:26,160 and are of God's household. 68 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:30,160 Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself 69 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:35,940 being the cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy 70 00:04:35,940 --> 00:04:41,800 temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the 71 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:42,800 spirit. 72 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:44,480 I told you that was a mouthful, right? 73 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:46,200 And it really is. 74 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:48,120 But it has so much truth for us. 75 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:49,120 Let's go to the Lord in prayer. 76 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:55,160 Father, we need the power of your Holy Spirit to illuminate these words for us to shine 77 00:04:55,160 --> 00:05:00,960 light on our hearts and our minds, but also on these words inspired by your Holy Spirit, 78 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:06,040 by the Applauds of Paul, written by the Applauds of Paul through your power to reveal to us 79 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:07,280 the things about the church. 80 00:05:07,280 --> 00:05:11,880 So Lord, help us to know our connection to the church, why it's so important and why 81 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:16,960 we meet and what we're doing while we're on this planet until you return. 82 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:18,840 Thank you Father for calling us to this. 83 00:05:18,840 --> 00:05:20,800 I ask this in Jesus' name. 84 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:22,400 Everybody said amen. 85 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:23,400 Please be seated. 86 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:30,480 Now today as I begin to talk about the church, I'm going to spend a few minutes talking 87 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:32,440 about the way the world views the church. 88 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:38,200 I'm going to spend some time talking about how some who are followers of Christ view 89 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:39,200 the church. 90 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:41,080 I'm going to talk about history just a tiny bit. 91 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:44,040 And by history I mean the last 25 or 30 years. 92 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:45,440 So recent history. 93 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:51,440 Let me give you first of all some results of a poll that is a widely accepted poll. 94 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:56,560 In the year 2000, 45% of Americans polled were practicing Christians. 95 00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:02,040 And the definition of a practicing Christian was someone who professes Christ and attends 96 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:04,760 a religious service once a week. 97 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:07,200 That was their definition of practicing Christian. 98 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:15,640 So in 2000, 45% of Americans polled were practicing Christians and 35% were non-practicing Christians. 99 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:19,840 They said they believe in Christianity or Christ or God, but they weren't involved 100 00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:27,240 in any church services or any small groups or any other visible connection. 101 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:35,120 Twenty years later, by 2020, only 25% of those polled were practicing Christians and 43% 102 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:37,720 were non-practicing Christians. 103 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:44,720 In 2022, just after pandemic, more than 50% of those who said they were practicing Christians 104 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:47,600 also said they primarily worshiped online. 105 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:53,200 And that means that they weren't really face to face, side by side with anybody else who 106 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:55,880 named the name of Christ. 107 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:57,880 Now here's another stat that's really amazing to me. 108 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:06,080 The average Christian today attends a worship service 1.8 times per month. 109 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:13,160 And on any given Sunday, only 3 in 10 Christians attend services according to the Gallup Polls. 110 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:17,000 And I got that figure 1.8 times a month and I began to think about it. 111 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:21,280 And I thought 1.8 times a month doesn't really do anything at all. 112 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:28,920 If I only mowed my lawn 1.8 times a month, my neighbors would be knocking on my door. 113 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:35,680 If I only worked out 1.8 times a month, well, then I'm not going to be in very good shape. 114 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:41,520 I could say I'm a movie buff, but if I only watch 1.8 movies a month, I'm not a movie 115 00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:42,520 buff. 116 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:48,280 I'm not a Cowboys fan, but if I only watch 1.8 football games a month during the season, 117 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:50,840 then I'm not really a Cowboys football fan. 118 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:56,760 So how is it if I call myself a practicing Christian and only participate in any form 119 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:02,080 1.8 times a month that I'm seeing accurately what I am? 120 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:07,920 Now I don't necessarily believe that that poll applies exactly to us. 121 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:13,880 However, it's the state of Christianity in America today. 122 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:20,120 And what I want to do today is contrast that with the original biblical vision Jesus had 123 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:26,720 for the church and the Apostles Paul's description of what the church ought to be like. 124 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:32,760 As we walk through that today, I want to ask the question, and the question I think that's 125 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:37,960 important to ask is, is the de-emphasis of the church that we see in even Christian culture 126 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:43,720 today, is that de-emphasis of the church what Jesus had in mind when he formed the church? 127 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:49,480 That's a rhetorical question, and it's not really up for debate because it's not what 128 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:50,480 he had in mind. 129 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:54,120 But here's something even more frightening. 130 00:08:54,120 --> 00:09:00,160 At the same time, Christians have de-emphasized their involvement in the church. 131 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:07,120 They've also de-emphasized their connection to truth and morality. 132 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:12,120 Deconstruction has happened at about the same rate in our country as our stepping away from 133 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:18,560 being involved with others and the teaching of the word and prayer and the challenge that 134 00:09:18,560 --> 00:09:21,080 other believers bring to our lives. 135 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:26,220 In other words, we're not in alignment with Jesus' vision of the church. 136 00:09:26,220 --> 00:09:31,520 So today, I want to spend a few moments talking about Jesus' vision for the church. 137 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:37,880 Jesus envisioned the church to be established as the building and the body and the people 138 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:40,240 who have faith in common. 139 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:45,560 He wanted us to be together as a group, and it's the organization that he created to carry 140 00:09:45,560 --> 00:09:48,760 out his ministry on earth until he comes back. 141 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:51,240 And when he comes back, who's he coming back for? 142 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:53,960 He's coming back for the church. 143 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:59,200 And he calls us the bride, and he wants us to be spotless and without blemish as he comes 144 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:00,200 back for us. 145 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:05,440 In other words, he wants us to be following the plan that he laid down for us from the 146 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:09,680 beginning of the world, but that we came into when we came to faith in Jesus Christ. 147 00:10:09,680 --> 00:10:14,960 Now today, in spite of all the difficult words that we'll kind of unpack today, there are 148 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:18,440 three words that are very simple that will flow throughout this entire message. 149 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:22,320 And those three words we've used a lot in the course of my time here, and those three 150 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:26,560 words are believe and belong and begin. 151 00:10:26,560 --> 00:10:32,520 I'm going to tell you what it means for you to believe and to belong to the New Testament 152 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:34,640 church and to begin your spiritual journey. 153 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:37,600 And we're going to walk through those in three different ways. 154 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:42,520 First of all, I want you to see that this text tells us about the church, that the church 155 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:44,880 is a people who believe. 156 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:47,440 The church is not these buildings. 157 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:48,880 The church is not the organization. 158 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:49,880 The church is not the staff. 159 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:51,400 It's not the pastor. 160 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:54,800 The church is a group of people who believe in Jesus Christ. 161 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:57,360 Now go to verse 13 again. 162 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:02,320 But now in Christ Jesus, you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the 163 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:04,000 blood of Christ. 164 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:07,680 Now remember, Ephesians chapter two, verse one says you were dead and you're trespassing 165 00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:08,680 in sin. 166 00:11:08,680 --> 00:11:14,720 You're following the course of the world, but God, who's rich in mercy through Jesus 167 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:15,920 Christ saved you. 168 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:20,200 So it says you who were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 169 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:26,240 And it goes on to say for he himself is our peace. 170 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:31,120 Paul emphasizes faith that we have in Jesus in the first 10 verses of Ephesians two. 171 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:36,780 And then he says, once you have faith in Jesus Christ, you've been brought into one group 172 00:11:36,780 --> 00:11:40,720 of people that we call the church of Jesus Christ. 173 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:42,600 And we're a diverse group of people, folks. 174 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:47,440 We are all kinds of people coming from all kinds of thoughts and backgrounds and ethnicities 175 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:48,640 and color. 176 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:52,360 We have all kinds of culture that we come out of, but all of us have come to one place 177 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:55,440 and we are one people in Jesus Christ. 178 00:11:55,440 --> 00:11:58,920 We sang a song about it a moment ago. 179 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:04,520 In first Peter chapter two, verse nine and 10, Peter said to a church that was under 180 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:13,560 incredible persecution, he says, but you were a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy 181 00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:18,560 nation, a people for God's own possession. 182 00:12:18,560 --> 00:12:22,520 So that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into 183 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:23,980 his marvelous light. 184 00:12:23,980 --> 00:12:28,800 For you were once not a people and now you are the people of God. 185 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:33,360 At one point you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 186 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:38,240 You are, if you've come to Christ, you are the people of God. 187 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:41,240 I want you to turn to your neighbor and say, you're my people. 188 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:42,240 Say that to them. 189 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:43,240 Go ahead and look at them. 190 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:44,640 You're my people. 191 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:50,480 Do you know that if you're seated next to somebody that is a believer in Jesus Christ, 192 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:51,480 they're your people. 193 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:56,080 They're your people, not because they look like you and not because they talk like you. 194 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:59,640 They're your people not because of the same size of you or because they came from the 195 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:04,520 same biological family, but they're your people because they came from the same spiritual 196 00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:06,800 family. 197 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:07,800 God is your father. 198 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:09,600 You have one father. 199 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:13,160 When we pray, our father who art in heaven, that's who we're praying to. 200 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:15,640 We are people of God. 201 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:20,360 You and I need to remember that the church is about the people of God. 202 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:28,320 Now, as we dive into this, keep in mind that Paul is talking about in Ephesians 2 the vertical 203 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:30,880 relationship of who we are. 204 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:35,040 It says, if you look at these verses, how have we been brought near? 205 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:38,000 By the blood of Christ, not by anything else. 206 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:39,000 Who is our peace? 207 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:40,960 He himself is our peace. 208 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:43,960 I don't have peace because everything's going well. 209 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:47,840 I have peace because Jesus himself is my peace. 210 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:52,480 I have been brought near by working hard to be right with God or by getting into the right 211 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:53,480 church. 212 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:57,640 I'm made right because of Jesus Christ making me right. 213 00:13:57,640 --> 00:13:58,880 I have peace with God. 214 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:01,240 I've been brought near by Jesus Christ. 215 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:04,600 All that talks about the vertical relationship. 216 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:10,080 Paul in Romans chapter 5 verse 1 says, therefore having been justified by faith, we have, say 217 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:15,600 it with me, peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 218 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:16,600 And that's true. 219 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:21,120 If you look at a picture of the cross, and I love to look at the cross, and of course 220 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:25,040 we love the cross in every way you can love the cross, I think. 221 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:28,960 We even named our church Cross City Church because the cross is so central to everything 222 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:30,880 that we think and say. 223 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:36,580 But the vertical beam of that cross is a beautiful picture of the fact that it reaches heavenward 224 00:14:36,580 --> 00:14:40,000 and that it's planted into the earth, into the ground. 225 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:44,080 And I love the statement that was said years ago by someone who says Jesus died on the 226 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:47,480 cross and when he died on the cross he reached with his hand upward and grabbed the hand 227 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:48,480 of God. 228 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:53,320 And he reached with his other hand downward and grabbed the hand of mankind and he brought 229 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:58,760 the hand of God down to earth and he brought the hand of mankind up to the cross and there 230 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:01,880 he put those hands together and made us one in Christ. 231 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:06,120 I love the picture of the cross if that is. 232 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:11,320 I mean this is no insignificant act that Jesus did on the cross and so it means that it's 233 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:15,280 a very significant change that happens to your life when you come to faith in Jesus 234 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:17,160 Christ. 235 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:19,760 We often share this verse on the screen when we pray. 236 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:20,920 It's Romans 15 13. 237 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:27,560 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that you will 238 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:30,440 abandon hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 239 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:34,440 The peace, the joy that comes from Christ is amazing. 240 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:39,680 And all who are part of the church of Jesus Christ became part of the church of Jesus 241 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:44,560 Christ because they have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. 242 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:47,720 You know if somebody calls our church office and it rarely happens, in fact I'm not sure 243 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:52,960 if it ever happens, if they call and say hey what's it take to join your organization? 244 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:54,800 Are there membership dues? 245 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:55,800 Are there meetings? 246 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:58,320 What's it take to be a member of the church? 247 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:01,160 We don't talk to them about membership matters at that moment. 248 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:03,320 We talk to them about relationship matters. 249 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:06,400 At that point we say what's your relationship with Jesus Christ? 250 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:10,880 And the reason we do that is because church membership is not about a piece of paper, 251 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:13,320 it's about a relationship with Jesus. 252 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:16,480 I mean it's so important for us to get that right. 253 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:22,360 So Paul is saying by way of foundation believing in Jesus Christ is the way that you start 254 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:27,520 being connected to the church and becoming the church. 255 00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:32,960 I love it when I see people come to that point in their lives when they're ready to put their 256 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:35,200 faith and trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior. 257 00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:36,200 Don't you love that? 258 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:38,840 When they respond to the decision station. 259 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:43,280 Last week I was walking around the room and people stood up and followed me to a decision 260 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:44,280 moment. 261 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:48,880 I love it when someone comes to faith and sits down with somebody else and says I really 262 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:52,040 need to know how do I get forgiveness of sin? 263 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:55,760 How do I have a relationship with God? 264 00:16:55,760 --> 00:17:00,080 And someone leads them in a very simple prayer that says put your faith and trust in Jesus 265 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:01,080 Christ. 266 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:03,120 Those are sacred moments. 267 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:08,120 Those are moments by which a person moves from being far away to being nearer by the 268 00:17:08,120 --> 00:17:12,080 blood of Jesus Christ and by faith in Jesus Christ. 269 00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:15,320 And that's really what it means when someone comes to faith in Jesus. 270 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:20,000 And then once they come to faith in Jesus then it's important for us to teach those 271 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:24,680 who come to faith what the important truths of Scripture are. 272 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:25,680 That's one thing to say. 273 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:27,460 Well I'm glad you've come to faith in Jesus. 274 00:17:27,460 --> 00:17:29,440 Let me give you a copy of this Bible. 275 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:32,960 Now in this Bible there are only 66 different books written by a number of different authors 276 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:34,920 under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 277 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:40,480 Probably has 2,000 pages in it but if you read this it'll have all your answers. 278 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:43,840 Now is what I said true? 279 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:45,320 It's true. 280 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:48,080 If I would read this whole book it'd have all the answers. 281 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:51,940 But that's not how most people come to grasp truth. 282 00:17:51,940 --> 00:17:56,840 They come to grasp truth when they began to hear it taught, when they have others share 283 00:17:56,840 --> 00:18:02,440 with them different aspects of the Scripture, when they began to dive in as a lifestyle 284 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:05,080 instead of trying to read it like a book. 285 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:07,720 That's why we have something like a doctrinal statement. 286 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:11,920 We have our doctrinal statement on our website saying these are the important things for 287 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:13,840 you to know what to believe. 288 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:16,400 And here are the passages that we receive them from. 289 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:20,520 Here are the places where we learned about the atonement of Christ or forgiveness of 290 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:26,040 sin or the power of the Holy Spirit or whatever doctrine you may want to talk about. 291 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:29,000 We teach that in our next step classes as well. 292 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:34,280 So the church is not only about believing in Jesus Christ but understanding how we ought 293 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:38,600 to think about truth that Jesus gave us. 294 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:42,080 It's also important that we follow the Lord in baptism. 295 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:43,200 Last week was a great week. 296 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:47,040 We were able to baptize a number of people on the stage here and then a number of others 297 00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:48,320 in our commons area. 298 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:50,560 But you know what that's all about, right? 299 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:57,240 It's not about people getting in that water to become clean because of the water. 300 00:18:57,240 --> 00:19:01,600 It's about people who have put their faith in Jesus wanting to demonstrate outwardly 301 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:04,400 what just took place inwardly. 302 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:09,440 In other words, when I baptize someone I always say, buried with Christ in baptism into death, 303 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:12,020 raised to walk in the notice of life. 304 00:19:12,020 --> 00:19:15,600 And that's why you celebrate because you know that they've already placed their faith in 305 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:17,640 Jesus and now we're celebrating that. 306 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:21,880 And they're saying, I'm not ashamed and I love to see that happen over and over again. 307 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:25,080 It's kind of a strange thing that we do when we baptize people. 308 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:29,840 I mean, who else in the world actually does this except kids in the swimming pool like 309 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:30,840 when they're little, right? 310 00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:31,840 They dunk people. 311 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:35,840 Baptists dunk people for different reasons other than to get them wet. 312 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:41,680 We do it so that everyone else will know this is what it meant to die and to be buried in 313 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:46,960 your sin but raised to walk in the newness of life with the power of Jesus Christ. 314 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:51,280 That's why we clap when people come out of that water wet and dripping in every way. 315 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:56,880 We celebrate that because they're demonstrating outwardly what happened inwardly in their 316 00:19:56,880 --> 00:19:57,880 life. 317 00:19:57,880 --> 00:19:58,880 Baptism is a key thing. 318 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:03,560 We take the Lord's Supper and when we take the Lord's Supper or communion, this little 319 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:09,680 piece of bread and this little cup symbolize the body and the blood of Jesus and we do 320 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:12,840 that not with roshas celebration. 321 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:19,320 We don't clap loudly when we do that but we do it with a solemn spirit that says, wow, 322 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:26,960 he loves me so much that his body was nailed to the tree and his blood was shed just to 323 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:28,560 forgive me of sin. 324 00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:31,600 Wow, what kind of love is that? 325 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:33,520 And we're amazed and astounded by that. 326 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:37,960 We celebrate the covenant relationship we have with Jesus Christ and all that happens 327 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:43,600 because we believe in Jesus Christ to be our Lord and our Savior. 328 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:44,600 That's amazing. 329 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:52,520 You're a group of people that have been called by Jesus Christ to be with other people because 330 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:54,640 of your belief in Jesus. 331 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:59,040 But the second thing I want to point out about the church today is that the church is a family 332 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:00,040 to which we belong. 333 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:04,640 In other words, you belong to the family of faith. 334 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:10,880 Now the fact that you believe means that you are connected with God and part of the faith 335 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:15,240 people but now I'm looking at the horizontal aspect of that. 336 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:21,440 We talked about the vertical but now the horizontal is what's being brought up in Ephesians 2. 337 00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:25,880 In verse 15 and 16, Paul says, so that in himself he might make the two into one new 338 00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:33,840 man, thus establishing peace and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross. 339 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:38,080 You don't have to really know much about biblical history to know that the Jews and the Gentiles 340 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:41,600 were not good friends. 341 00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:45,880 And because of that there was enmity and there was hatred, there were wars, all kinds of 342 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:48,560 problems between the two. 343 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:52,760 But when Jesus Christ came as a Jewish man dying on the cross for all mankind, all of 344 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:56,840 a sudden the fact that it was changed completely. 345 00:21:56,840 --> 00:22:02,440 And now Paul is saying because of what Jesus did, you people who hated each other are now 346 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:07,560 in the same spiritual family and you've got something in common. 347 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:13,120 He's your Savior and God is your Father and today you are a people that have a family 348 00:22:13,120 --> 00:22:19,000 group all around you and I love the fact that God does this around the world. 349 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:22,280 We live in a very diverse part of the United States of America. 350 00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:26,040 Trinity High School across the street from our church is the most diverse high school 351 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:30,640 in America by a recent poll that was given last year. 352 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:32,600 That's a diverse group of people. 353 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:37,080 Seventy-five different languages are spoken in the homes of the students of Trinity High 354 00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:38,080 School. 355 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:41,720 That means that over the years when people have come to faith in Jesus maybe through 356 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:46,120 the schools or through folks that just live in the area, we have become a very diverse 357 00:22:46,120 --> 00:22:48,200 group of people. 358 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:52,400 We have 40 different nationalities that worship with us on any given week. 359 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:56,280 Some of them worship in our Espanol service, some in our international service, some in 360 00:22:56,280 --> 00:23:00,440 our early service, some in our late service, some in North, but 40 different nationalities 361 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:01,960 that worship together. 362 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:06,560 Where else other than the body of Christ can there be a family of God with that kind of 363 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:12,160 diversity that love each other and get along with each other in such a miraculous way except 364 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:15,080 the Church of Jesus Christ? 365 00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:18,000 Wow. 366 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:22,520 That's what God had in mind. 367 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:28,120 You know, in a purely biological sense, when you marry someone, you marry the bride or 368 00:23:28,120 --> 00:23:33,320 the groom, but you really also get their whole family. 369 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:41,400 Various family members, some of them normal, some of them crazy, some of them weird, or 370 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:46,120 maybe they're all normal and you're the weird one, I don't know. 371 00:23:46,120 --> 00:23:50,080 It's kind of cool, it's kind of fun, it's kind of unusual because you're going to be 372 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:51,080 committed to them. 373 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:52,800 They're now family, right? 374 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:57,040 And you may not have ever known them before, but now they're family, and so it's a different 375 00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,240 dynamic. 376 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:05,320 Yesterday I went to a very celebrated first birthday of my only grandchild, and there 377 00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:13,320 were 37 people at that birthday party of that one-year-old little baby girl, and about 20 378 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:18,280 of them I'd never seen before in my life, but we're family because of the connection 379 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:20,240 with that little girl. 380 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:25,160 By the way, I can't imagine how a one-year-old child could not be spoiled after having 37 381 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:31,920 people fawn over her for two hours, but that's another subject. 382 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:36,840 We're now related, we're now connected because of that one little child. 383 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:44,320 A few thousand years ago a child was born named Jesus, and we're all in faith related 384 00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:49,920 to each other by faith in Jesus Christ in a far superior way than any biological family 385 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:52,800 can ever be connected. 386 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:57,200 And I want you to think about this for just a moment because knowing who your people are 387 00:24:57,200 --> 00:25:03,200 is one thing, but knowing who your family is is really, really specific. 388 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:11,160 I'm part of the same people group as people in the nation of Brazil or Kenya or Mexico, 389 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:12,160 wherever it may be. 390 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:15,120 If they come to faith in Jesus, I'm part of that people group. 391 00:25:15,120 --> 00:25:22,100 But there's something about the family as we meet together that accelerates our relationship 392 00:25:22,100 --> 00:25:27,080 and our commitment to Christ is also a commitment to the family of God. 393 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:32,240 I mean, he's my father, but you're my brother and sister. 394 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:36,800 As you look around, everyone who is in faith is your brother and sister in Christ. 395 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:42,000 And together we're a family, but we're also an army, a body, we're a tribe, we're a building, 396 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,240 we're the people of God. 397 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:50,240 And that means that we need to know how to get along and be committed to each other as 398 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:51,240 a family. 399 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:54,040 And that commitment is big. 400 00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:59,060 John Stott said this, you find it in page 200 of the root of book that we have used 401 00:25:59,060 --> 00:26:00,060 this series. 402 00:26:00,060 --> 00:26:03,920 He said, I'm assuming that we're all committed to the church. 403 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:06,200 We're not only Christian people, we're also church people. 404 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:10,120 We're not only committed to Christ, we're also committed to the body of Christ for the 405 00:26:10,120 --> 00:26:13,520 church lies at the very center of the eternal purpose of God. 406 00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:14,720 Get this next line. 407 00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:18,720 It is not a divine afterthought. 408 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:20,640 It is not an accident of history. 409 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,920 All these people just happen to gather together. 410 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:28,160 On the contrary, the church is God's new community. 411 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:32,960 And whether you know it or not, you need the friendship and the accountability and the 412 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:38,560 relationship and the encouragement and the prayer and yes, the reproof or rebuke. 413 00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:41,260 You and I need that in the body of Christ. 414 00:26:41,260 --> 00:26:46,000 We need family around us committed to Christ first, but committed to each other as brothers 415 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:47,440 and sisters of Christ. 416 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:52,360 Otherwise we will not be all we need to be. 417 00:26:52,360 --> 00:26:58,680 The church by Jesus' perspective is that incredible family of faith and what we do in small groups 418 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:06,120 and large is so incredibly important as we relate to each other, first of all to Christ 419 00:27:06,120 --> 00:27:12,000 and then to each other in the same way of unconditional love, agape love. 420 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:15,560 In Romans chapter 12 verse 9 through 16, there's a series of verses. 421 00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:20,400 Paul writes at the church at Rome, these verses grab my heart. 422 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:21,400 They're good. 423 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:23,200 And I want to put them on the screen for you. 424 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:27,720 You can also have them up in your Bible, Romans chapter 12 verses 9 through 16. 425 00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:31,680 But there Paul begins to talk about what we do in the body of Christ. 426 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:34,600 So let me just take a step back here for a moment. 427 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:39,880 The very first line of this passage is a line that focuses on the umbrella of what he's 428 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:40,880 going to talk about. 429 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:43,880 And it says, let love be without hypocrisy. 430 00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:51,440 Speaking of the church, he says, abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. 431 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:54,120 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. 432 00:27:54,120 --> 00:27:56,640 This is the brother sister relationship. 433 00:27:56,640 --> 00:28:02,520 Give preference to one another in honor, not lagging behind in diligence. 434 00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:04,480 In other words, don't be lazy about this. 435 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:05,480 Don't ignore this. 436 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:06,880 Don't put this on the back shelf. 437 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:07,880 This is family. 438 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:09,880 You don't put this off. 439 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:17,800 He goes on and says, by way of the passion, I would say, be fervent in spirit. 440 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:19,320 Serve the Lord. 441 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:21,280 Rejoice in hope. 442 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:23,680 Persevering in tribulation. 443 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:25,080 Devoted to prayer. 444 00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:27,720 Contributing to the needs of the saints. 445 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:30,720 Practicing hospitality. 446 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:33,320 And those are some great phrases, aren't they? 447 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:38,880 Wouldn't you like to be a member of a family that practices that kind of thing? 448 00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:40,560 You can say yes at this point. 449 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:41,560 Amen. 450 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:44,760 I want to be a part of a family that does that kind of thing. 451 00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:48,320 And I can't do that kind of thing without the power of Christ and you can't either. 452 00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:52,540 And the truth is, this is what the church was designed to be, all these things. 453 00:28:52,540 --> 00:28:58,080 And this verse tells us, this passage tells us that we are to live out our best life with 454 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:00,320 each other as the body of Christ. 455 00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:04,000 And it's so important that we learn to do that. 456 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:09,080 I wrote this down over the course of the week as to the reason why we're called to that. 457 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:10,680 And here's what I wrote down. 458 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:14,720 God designed the church to be what each individual needs. 459 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:20,160 A home to understand and practice faith and a family to be loved by others who believed. 460 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:23,640 Now look at me for just a minute. 461 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:27,280 There are some of us that have found that our biological families don't always provide 462 00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:29,400 that for us. 463 00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:35,040 There are some of us who have family members who do not believe and they're not sympathetic 464 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:37,940 with what we believe once we come to faith in Jesus Christ. 465 00:29:37,940 --> 00:29:42,140 And that's going to be increasingly an issue in the world we live in. 466 00:29:42,140 --> 00:29:45,120 That means that they won't support you in your faith walk sometimes. 467 00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:50,980 That means they won't agree with you with your moral choices and your moral stances 468 00:29:50,980 --> 00:29:54,200 and what you know to be truth that they don't see as truth. 469 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:58,680 And sometimes there's a real division in a biological family because you put your faith 470 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:03,360 and hope in Jesus Christ and you know your eternity is secured with him but they don't 471 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:04,640 see it that way. 472 00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:07,720 And it begins to be hard and difficult. 473 00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:13,760 And because of that you need your spiritual family to say yes love your biological family 474 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:17,120 but also know we're here for you when nobody else is. 475 00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:18,360 We've got to be like that. 476 00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:25,240 And that's part of why Christ wanted the church to be that very thing. 477 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:31,560 You know when Jesus was teaching the disciples, he taught them that he would bring peace but 478 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:35,840 he also said that when it came to social relationships it wouldn't always be peaceful. 479 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:40,440 In Luke chapter 12 he said, do you suppose that I came to bring peace on earth and by 480 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:42,840 that he meant social peace? 481 00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:47,000 I tell you no but rather division. 482 00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:52,040 And while it's not your intent to create division sometimes you're embracing truth that Jesus 483 00:30:52,040 --> 00:30:56,920 gives you division by those who refuse to acknowledge that. 484 00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:00,720 But you're a people and you're part of the family of God. 485 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:03,520 And that's why we need to be family with each other. 486 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:09,360 Then thirdly, finally, the church is a house where we begin to grow. 487 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:14,160 Now this is where the passage gets a bit complicated and we're going to try to walk through this 488 00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:15,800 gradually. 489 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:20,600 If you look at verse 21 and 22 it says, in whom the whole building, the house, being 490 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:26,920 fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord in whom you also are being built 491 00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:33,240 together, and look at this last line, into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. 492 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:35,920 Man, I like that end goal. 493 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:40,520 A dwelling of God, a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. 494 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:43,760 Meditate on that with me for just a minute. 495 00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:50,240 Paul the apostle says the church should be the dwelling place of God in the Spirit. 496 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:59,920 God, while omnipresent, is most manifested, most revealed, and most operates through this 497 00:31:59,920 --> 00:32:03,560 spiritual house called the church of Jesus Christ. 498 00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:08,280 In no way does that take away from the inward dwelling of the Holy Spirit in your personal 499 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:12,560 life, but it maximizes the fact that when our group of people who are indwelt by the 500 00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:17,120 Holy Spirit get together, watch out because God is going to do a greater thing when we 501 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:19,960 are together. 502 00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:24,240 And as you look at that last passage, every one of those verbs, if you were to dig into 503 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:30,000 them, are present, passive verbs, which means we are the subject of the action. 504 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:35,360 Someone is acting on us to help us be what we should be. 505 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:38,320 Let me go through it very quickly. 506 00:32:38,320 --> 00:32:41,720 Being fitted together means being placed. 507 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:45,760 The Holy Spirit brought you here today, and this may be the first time you've ever been 508 00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:50,280 here or it may be the 100th time you've been here, but you were placed by God in this place 509 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:51,840 today for a reason. 510 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:57,160 I believe that God places His people in the body of Christ for a reason. 511 00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:01,440 He saves you, He places you for a reason. 512 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:08,320 And when people begin to find their fit and they begin to serve, and they begin to be 513 00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:14,240 served and they begin to reach out to other people, it's amazing what happens when we 514 00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:16,480 see that we fit. 515 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:22,200 Our gifts have been given and we're exercising them, how we began to grow and how God begins 516 00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:25,080 to use us in a very powerful way. 517 00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:27,040 Being fitted together means being placed. 518 00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:29,440 Then the next line is growing into a holy temple. 519 00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:33,160 That really means being influenced by others around you. 520 00:33:33,160 --> 00:33:36,600 We begin to grow when we allow others to influence us. 521 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:39,820 I'll tell you over the years, every place I've been as a pastor, there's always been 522 00:33:39,820 --> 00:33:44,680 somebody in that church that I look to to mentor me in some way. 523 00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:48,680 And I know I'm supposed to be the pastor and I'm supposed to have most of the answers, 524 00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:53,240 but there's always been some people that were so mature that I just met with them over and 525 00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:54,240 over. 526 00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:55,240 Tell me everything you know. 527 00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:56,240 And they grew me. 528 00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:58,240 And that's true of all of us in the body of Christ. 529 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:02,320 There's someone around wherever you are that can influence you and grow you. 530 00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:09,600 And finally, being built together means we're a part of something bigger than just ourselves. 531 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:17,000 And together we move forward in this culture to impact people with the gospel of Jesus. 532 00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:23,840 Now as a man, when I get around a camp or a campfire, I like to mess with the burning 533 00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:24,840 logs. 534 00:34:24,840 --> 00:34:26,520 How many men in this room always mess with the burning logs? 535 00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:27,520 Raise your hand. 536 00:34:27,520 --> 00:34:29,440 Some of you raise your hand very fast. 537 00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:34,560 And recently my wife and I went camping and so we built this amazing, amazing fire. 538 00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:36,600 I'm so proud of the way I stacked the logs. 539 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:40,000 Perfect because it got really hot really fast. 540 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:43,760 But at some point one of those logs wasn't burning as hot as I felt like it should be. 541 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:45,360 So I just moved it out for just a few moments. 542 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:48,720 I was able to grab the log and hold it and it was lit. 543 00:34:48,720 --> 00:34:57,640 It had fire, but as I held it out from the rest of the fire, it quickly grew dim. 544 00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:00,480 I had fire, but I didn't have a blaze. 545 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:04,800 So I placed it a little bit better on the campfire that I'd built. 546 00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:07,840 And before long I didn't have fire, I had a blaze. 547 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:11,240 The difference between a fire and a blaze is significant. 548 00:35:11,240 --> 00:35:14,120 One is warm, the other is hot. 549 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:16,520 One is impressive, the other is really impressive. 550 00:35:16,520 --> 00:35:18,800 This fire was this big, it burned almost all night. 551 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:24,160 I'm so proud of myself. 552 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:29,300 But listen, you're indwelt by the Holy Spirit as a believer. 553 00:35:29,300 --> 00:35:32,400 But when you're interacting with others, it's a blaze. 554 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:33,400 It's a blaze. 555 00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:34,400 It's not just a fire. 556 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:35,400 It's a blaze. 557 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:40,320 God's design for the church is that we would operate that well together in such a powerful 558 00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:44,280 way that it would be a blazing fire. 559 00:35:44,280 --> 00:35:46,960 And our cold, dark world needs a blazing fire. 560 00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:52,000 It needs a church that's alive, a church that people know that they believe and that brings 561 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:53,000 them in. 562 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:58,520 They have a family of faith and we're a house that Jesus is building up and we're impacting 563 00:35:58,520 --> 00:35:59,520 others around us. 564 00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:03,500 That speaks about the power of relationships, the power of spiritual gifts, the power of 565 00:36:03,500 --> 00:36:09,000 corporate prayer, the willingness to stand when nobody else is standing for those who 566 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:13,120 are hurting the most, the power of an invite culture where hundreds and thousands of people 567 00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:17,640 go out and invite their friends to hear about the truth of Jesus Christ. 568 00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:18,640 And here's what it says to me. 569 00:36:18,640 --> 00:36:24,440 It says to me that we need to be present, that we need to be engaged, that we need to 570 00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:30,760 be involved for us to be all that Christ calls us to be as a church. 571 00:36:30,760 --> 00:36:37,280 You see the church is important because it's your people and it's your family and it's 572 00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:39,280 your house. 573 00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:46,400 It's really your home and it will be until you get an eternal home called heaven. 574 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:54,280 We move from this house to one that's far more glorious, far more difficult to describe, 575 00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:59,800 being built for us which we eagerly anticipate in heaven. 576 00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:07,440 That's why the church is here and that's why you need to commit yourself to the church. 577 00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:09,440 You know in just a few moments we'll give an invitation. 578 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:13,360 The invitation is usually three-fold and I would say that today I invite you to do one 579 00:37:13,360 --> 00:37:16,040 of the three things. 580 00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:20,420 Our invitation stations are here and if you would like to stop and talk to someone about 581 00:37:20,420 --> 00:37:27,040 your faith relationship with Jesus or any other decision, we're here to help you. 582 00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:32,280 We've been trained, we're equipped, we are people who have helped many other people with 583 00:37:32,280 --> 00:37:33,840 these faith decisions. 584 00:37:33,840 --> 00:37:37,240 So let us talk to you today, pray with you today, and as you leave you can see on either 585 00:37:37,240 --> 00:37:40,320 side of the building on your way out these decision stations. 586 00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:41,320 That's number one. 587 00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:45,240 Number two, I invite you if you're a guest to come to our guest reception area where 588 00:37:45,240 --> 00:37:46,240 I will be. 589 00:37:46,240 --> 00:37:48,000 I would love to welcome you personally and get to know you. 590 00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:52,080 It's hard for me to be able to visit with you when we're in this room but in that room 591 00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:56,120 that gives us a chance to talk and I'll share a little bit about church with you if you'll 592 00:37:56,120 --> 00:37:58,320 join me back there for just a few moments. 593 00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:02,920 Thirdly, even though our series on Rooted Ends this week, I really think you shouldn't 594 00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:06,960 even think about missing the next two or three weeks because the next two or three weeks 595 00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:12,960 are going to be some extremely personal messages about my own journey through the things that 596 00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:14,560 I've walked through this year. 597 00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:19,640 Some of you know I've gone through some cancer surgery and been the recipient of a ton of 598 00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:21,920 prayer that has been lifting me up. 599 00:38:21,920 --> 00:38:25,760 There's just some things I want to share with you as a church, as a body that will be very 600 00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:27,760 personal and I hope encouraging to you. 601 00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:29,920 So don't miss these weeks ahead. 602 00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:34,320 It's not a normal series but it will be I think impactful to your life. 603 00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:37,360 Would you stand with me as I close in prayer today? 604 00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:45,440 Father, we are so thankful that we can gather as a people, as a family to let you build 605 00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:51,840 us as a house which is the dwelling place of God in the Spirit. 606 00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:52,880 What a line Lord. 607 00:38:52,880 --> 00:38:54,760 Thank you for giving us that. 608 00:38:54,760 --> 00:39:00,960 As we meditate on that and contemplate that and as we are mesmerized by how big that vision 609 00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:04,880 is, Lord help us to at least scratch the surface of it to become that. 610 00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:09,440 Father, today for those that are at a point of decision, help them. 611 00:39:09,440 --> 00:39:15,800 Have the courage and the boldness to reach out to others and to be encouraged to place 612 00:39:15,800 --> 00:39:21,200 their trust with you or with this church and whatever decision they need to make today. 613 00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:23,040 Father, thank you that you love us so much. 614 00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:25,800 I ask all this in Jesus name, amen.